Chapter 4: Attitudes, Consciousness, Emotion, and Stress Flashcards
Selective attention
the process by which one input is attended to and the rest are tuned out
Donald Broadbent
thought of the brain as a processing system with limited capacity and sought to map out the steps that went into creating memories from sensory data
Broadbent Filter Model of Selective Attention
inputs from the environment first enter a sensory buffer; an input is selected and filtered based on physical characteristics; in the next step, the information enters short-term memory storage, where semantic (meaning-making) processes occur
Attended vs. unattended channels
Attended - the input that is focused on, either through listening or visual aspects, etc.
Unattended - input is ignored through this channel
Cocktail party effect
when information of personal importance from previously unattended channels catches our attention
Selective priming
suggests that people can be selectively primed to observe something, either by encountering it frequently or by having an expectation
Spotlight model
spotlight is a beam that can shine anywhere within an individual’s visual field - beam describes the movement of attention, which precedes corresponding eye movement
Binding problem
info from visual perception is processed by feature detectors in the brain; binding problem is the problem of how all the different inputs are assembled together and related to a single object, rather than something else in the visual field; visual attention solves the problem b/c the feature detector’ input will all be related to the object being attended to
Anne Treisman’s Attentuation Model
tried to account for cocktail party effect; believed that rather than a filter, the mind has an attenuator, which works like a volume knob - it “turns down” the unattended sensory input, rather than eliminating it
Divided attention
concerns when and if we are able to perform multiple tasks simultaneously
Resource model of attention
says that we have a limited pool of resources on which to draw when performing tasks, both modality-specific resources and general resources
if the resources required to perform the multiple tasks simultaneously exceeds the available resources to do so, then the tasks cannot be accomplished at the same time
Performance on multi-tasking
three factors:
Task similarity - if they use the same modality for processing, it’s harder to multitask
Task difficulty - if more difficult, requires more resources and thus makes it harder to multitask
Task practice - practice lowers resource demand
Consciousness
the awareness that we have of ourselves, our internal states, and the environment
Reticular formation - reticular activating system (RAS)
brain structures that control alertness and arousal, the ability to remain attentive to what is going on
Polysomnography (PSG)
a multimodal technique to measure physiological processes during sleep, includes EEG, EMG, and EOG
Alpha waves
when a person is awake, but sleepy and relaxed; low amplitudes and high frequencies; also called neural synchrony
first indicator that a person is ready to drift off to sleep
Stage 1 Non-REM sleep
EEG show Theta waves - low to moderate intensity and intermediate frequency
slow rolling eye movements on EOG and EMG shows moderate activity
person becomes less responsive to stimuli and has fleeting thoughts
Stage 2 sleep
denoted by a change to two distinct wave patterns on EEG; theta waves are intermixed with K-complexes and sleep spindles
no eye movement, moderate activity of EMG; decreased heart rate, respiration, and temperature
K-complexes
has a duration of a half second and is large and slow; occur as a single wave amongst the theta waves
Sleep spindles
bursts of waves with a frequency of 12 Hz and are moderately intense; last half to one second
Stage 3 sleep
slow wave sleep (SWS); characterized by delta waves - high amplitude and low frequency, signifies deepest level of sleep; no eye movement and moderate muscle movement
heart rate and digestion slow, growth hormones are secreted
REM sleep
characterized by bursts of quick eye movement; waves resemble beta waves that are seen when someone’s awake, with low intensity and variable frequency
almost no muscle movement, nearly paralyzed except for sudden bursts or twitches, dreams generally occur
Circadian rhythm
biological clock; refers to the waxing and waving of alertness over the 24 hour day
Light
natural and artificial light activates light-sensitive proteins in the retina - they send signals to the pineal gland, which is responsible for producing melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep
REM rebound
missing REM sleep for one night results in an increase in REM sleep later to make up for it
Manifest vs latent content
Freud believed that the plotlines of dreams (manifest content) were symbolic versions of underlying unconscious drives and wishes that are difficult to express (latent content)
Activation-synthesis theory
suggests that dreams are byproducts of brain activation during REM sleep
Dyssomnias
abnormalities in the amount, quality, or timing of sleep
ex. insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep apnea
Parasomnias
abnormal behaviors that occur during sleep
ex. somnambulism (sleepwalking) and night terrors
Hypnotism
a social interaction in which a hypnotist has a subject focus attention on what is being said, relax and feel tired, and accept suggestions easily through the use of vivid imagination
Dissociation theory
suggests that hypnotism is an extreme form of divided consciousness
Social influence theory
people do and report what’s expected of them; they are like actors who get caught up in their roles
Meditation
refers to a variety of techniques, many of which have been practiced for thousands of years and which usually involve the training of attention
Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)
protocol commonly used in the medical setting to help alleviate stress
Depressants
work by depressing, or slowing down, neural activity; slowing of brain activity related to judgment and inhibition in the frontal lobe; alcohol suppresses REM sleep and works by stimulating GABA and dopamine
ex. alcohol, barbiturates, and opiates
Stimulants
work by either increasing the release of neurotransmitter, reducing the reuptake of neurotransmitters, or both; overall effect is to speed up bodily functions
ex. caffeine, nicotine, cocaine, amphetamines
Hallucinogens
distort perceptions in the absence of any sensory input
ex. LSD and marijuana
Psychological dependence
often associated with the use of a drug in response to painful emotions related to depression, anxiety, or trauma
Physical dependence
evidenced by withdrawal - an uncomfortable and often physically painful experience without the use of a drug
Addiction
biologically based; drugs channel the dopamine circuits in the brain stem, mostly in the nucleus accumbens, the “pleasure center” of the brain
Emotion
consists of 3 components:
Physiological (body) component - arousal or the excitation of the body’s internal state
Behavioral (action) component - some kind of expressive behavior
Cognitive (mind) component - appraisal or interpretation of the situation
Six major universal emotions
the fact that these are universal across cultures supports Darwin’s assertion that emotions had a strong biological basis
happiness, sadness, surprise, fear, disgust, and anger
Yerkes-Dodson Law
relationship between performance and emotional arousal is a U-shaped correlation; people perform best when they are moderately aroused, a “sweet spot” of optimum arousal
James-Lange Theory of emotion
physiological and behavioral responses lead to the cognitive aspect of emotion; a person reacts first and then processes after
ex. sensation of smiling can lead to an increase in experience of happiness
Two problematic assumptions:
assumes that each emotion originates from a distinctive physiological state (but fear and sexual arousal have same physiological patterns)
assumes that we posses the ability to label these physiological states accurately
Cannon-Bard Theory
physiological and cognitive occur simultaneously and independently, then leads to a behavioral reaction;
Able to explain the overlap in physiological states between emotions like fear and sexual arousal because cognitive labeling is independent from the physiological;
Struggles to explain phenomena in which behavioral influences physical and cognitive aspects (ex. smiling increases happiness)
Schachter-Singer Theory
once we experience physiological arousal, we make a conscious cognitive interpretation based on our circumstances, which allows us to identify the emotions and take behavioral action; similar to James-Lange but suggests that cognitive label is given based on general situation - more broad rather than just on physical states; similar to Cannon-bard in that physiological states can be similar but cognitively labeled differently;
Struggles to explain how behavioral responses influence physical and cognitive aspects
Limbic system in emotion
includes amygdala, hippocampus, olfactory bulb, frontal lobe, hypothalamus, and thalamus
Main structure is the amygdala, the coordinator between the hypothalamus (physiological aspects) and the prefrontal cortex (behavioral aspects) - also plays a key role in identification and expression of fear and aggression
Emotion and memory
emotional experiences can be stored as memories that can be recalled; the hippocampus plays a key role in forming memories - emotions are often encoded along with the associated memories
Prefrontal cortex
critical for emotional experience, temperament, and decision making; associated with a reduction in emotional feelings, plays a role in executive functions such as planning, organizing, inhibiting behavior, decision making;
damage to the area (Phineas Gage) can lead to impulsivity
Appraisal
how a stressful event is interpreted by the individual
Catastrophes
unpredictable, large-scale events that include natural disasters and wartime events; almost everyone would appraise as dangerous and stress-inducing
Significant life changes
include events such as moving, leaving home, losing a job, marriage, divorce, death of a loved one, etc.
these events can be risk factors for disease and death
Daily hassles
everyday irritations of life such as bills, traffic, scheduling activities, etc.
fairly universal events, but different people respond to them differently; stressors can accumulate and lead to health problems such as hypertension
Physiological response to stress
body activates 2 parallel systems:
Sympathetic nervous system - fight or flight, responds to acute stress situations, releases epinephrine and norepinephrine - fast acting response
Hypothalamus - releases corticotropin-releasing hormone, which stimulates ACTH release from pituitary, which signals adrenal cortex to release cortisol - a hormone that shifts body from using sugar as an energy source to using fat as an energy source - slow acting for long term stress
Biofeedback
a means for managing stress; recording and feeding back information about subtle autonomic responses in an attempt to train the individual to control those involuntary responses
ex. people can be trained to adjust their muscle tension, heartbeats, respiratory rates
Information processing models
information is taken in from the environment and processed through a series of steps including attention, perception, and storage into memory; along the way, info is systematically transformed
Alan Baddeley’s model
better define short term memory as working memory - it consists of 4 components - a phonological loop, a visuospatial sketchpad, an episodic buffer, and central executive
Phonological loop
allows us to repeat verbal information to help us remember it
Visuospatial sketchpad
similar purpose as phonological loop, except for visuospatial information through the use of mental images
Episodic buffer
where information in the working memory can interact with information in long-term memory
Central executive
the overseer of the entire process, and orchestrates the process by shifting and dividing attention
Jean Piaget
studied cognitive development in children, thought that the process of cognitive development involved forming schemas - mental frameworks that shape and are shaped by our experience
Piaget believed we either assimilate new experiences by conforming them into our existing schemas, or we accommodate by adjusting our schemas
Piaget’s theory of cognitive development
Sensorimotor stage - birth to age 2, babies experience the world through their senses and movement; demonstrate stranger anxiety and learn object permanence - the understanding that things continue to exist when they are out of sight
Preoperational stage - roughly from 2-7, children learn things can be represented through symbols such as words and images
Concrete Operational stage - age 7-12, children learn to think logically about concrete events; learn mathematical concepts and conservation - the idea that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape
Formal Operational Stage - roughly from age 12 through adulthood, people learn abstract and moral reasoning
Problem solving approaches
trial and error, following an algorithm (a step by step procedure), use a heuristic (a mental shortcut)
Confirmation bias
the tendency to search only for information that confirms our preconceived thinking, rather than information that might not support it
Fixation
an inability to see the problem from a fresh perspective
Functional fixation
a tendency to perceive the functions of objects as fixed and unchanging
Representativeness heuristic
tendency to judge the likelihoods of an event occurring based on our typical mental representations of those events
ex. thinking one is more likely to die from a shark attack than from being crushed under a vending machine, because animal attack is more representative of a cause of death is our schema
Availability heuristic
tendency to make judgments based on how readily available information is in our memories; may think an idea is more common than it actually is
ex. watching news about spread of violent crime leads to overprediction of the likelihood of violent crime in one’s own neighborhood
Belief bias
tendency to judge arguments based on what one believes about their conclusions rather than on whether they use sound logic
Belief perseverance
a tendency to cling to beliefs despite the presence of contrary evidence
Overconfidence
an overestimation of the accuracy of knowledge and judgments caused by the use of intuitive heuristics and a tendency to confirm preconceived beliefs
Language acquisition
the way infants learn to understand and speak their native language
B.F. Skinner’s behavioral model
said that infants are trained in language by operant conditioning, and parents provide positive reinforcement
Chomsky’s Language Acquisition device (LAD) or “universal grammar”
an innate feature unique to the human mind that allows people to gain mastery of language from limited exposure during the sensitive developmental years in early childhood
Linguistic relatively hypothesis
asserts that not only do language and thought overlap, but cognition and perception are determined by the language one speaks
Broca’s area (expressive aphasia)
involved in complicated process of speech production; people with Broca’s aphasia know what they want to say, but are unable to communicate it
Wernicke’s area (receptive aphasia)
involved in comprehension of speech and written language; people with Wernicke’s aphasia do not have a problem producing speech but are incapable of producing intelligible, meaningful language
