Cheat sheet Flashcards
Behaviourism perspective (Learning)
3 Major types of learnign:
1) Classical conditioning (involuntary
responses): Pavlov- Stimulus response (e.g TV Ads)
2) Operant Conditioning (voluntary
responses): B. F. Skinner- Operating on Environment
response comes first, and the consequence tends to modify
this response in the future. In operant conditioning, the consequences
of behaviour are manipulated to increase or decrease
the frequency of a response or to shape an entirely new
response.
Learning from consequences of actions
3) Observational Learning: Media, social networks, Television.
What is ID?
The unconscious system of the personality, which contains the life and death instincts and operates on the pleasure principle.
What is ego?
- Freudian theory
- Logical, rational, realistic part of personality
- Evolves and drives its energy from ID
- Tries to satisfy the demands of ID
- It is the conscious mind.
What makes up conscious and unconscious mind?
Conscious: ego
Unconscious: superego + Id
What is applied psychology?
Applied psychologists use their knowledge of research methodology to examine how various aspects of human life such as emotion, motivation,
social interactions, and cognitive errors affect our health, our decisions, and our work
What is physiological perspective
The role of biological processes and structures, as well as heredity , in explaining behavior
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs (self-actualization)
Basic needs (PSYCHOLOGICAL NEEDS-food, water, rest, warmth; SAFETY NEEDS- security, safety)
Psychological needs ( BELONGINGNESS AND LOVE NEEDS: intimate relationship and love needs : ESTEEM NEEDS: prestige and feeling of accomplishment)
Self-fulfillment needs ( SELF-ACTUALIZATION: achieving one’s full potential, including creative activeness)
What is operant conditioning?
A type of learning in which the consequences of behaviour tend to modify that behaviour in the future (behaviour that is reinforced tends to be repeated; behaviour that is
ignored or punished is less likely to be repeated).
Operational definition meaning
an exact definition
What is correlation coefficient
A correlation coefficient is a numerical value indicating the degree and direction of the relationship between two variables
How to calculate if the number fits the norm?
Add the standard deviation value to the mean value to get the first number for the range and subtract form the mean value to get the second number for the range E.g Average weight is 115. SD=3 68% 112-118 pounds 95%- 109-124 99%- 106-127
What is the normal curve?
Curve where most of the values cluster at the average. Bell curve
What are glial cells?
Cells that help to make the brain more efficient by holding the neurons together, removing waste products such as dead
neurons, making the myelin coating for the axons, and performing other manufacturing, nourishing, and cleanup tasks.
What are the types of neurons and their function?
- Afferent (incoming neurons) - carry impulses from sense organs to brain e.g skin to brain
- Efferent neuron- from brain to glands & muscles
- Inter-neurons- most numerous. Carry info between neurons
- Mirror neurons- When our neurons fire empathetically when we observe someone e.g mental rehearsal in sports
What is resting potential?
The membrane potential
of a neuron at rest, about 70 millivolts.
What is cell body and its functions?
Soma/ cell body contains the nucleus and carries out the metabolic,
or life-sustaining, functions of the neuron
What is action potential?
This inflow of positive ions causes the membrane potential to change abruptly to a positive value attaining action potential
What are neurotransmitters?
Chemicals that are released into the synaptic cleft from the axon terminal of the sending neuron, cross the synapse, and bind to appropriate receptors on the dendrites or cell body of the receiving neuron, influencing the cell either to fire or not to fire.
What is a synapse?
The junction where the axon of a sending neuron communicates with a receiving neuron across the synaptic cleft.
Describe Dopamine
Excitatory/ Inhibitory
Function
Too much/little
- Both excitatory and inhibitory
- Serves many functions
- Critical for motor and memory
- Reward pathway
- Learning, attention, movement, and reinforcement.
- Important to our ability to feel pleasure
- Too MUCH-> schizophrenic behaviour. Anti-psychotic drugs block dopamine
- Too LITTLE: Parkinson’s disease
Describe Glutamate
Excitatory/ Inhibitory
Function
- Primary excitory NT, released by 40% of our neurons
- Enhances action potential-> neurons are more likely to fire
- Involved in most aspect of brain functioning
- Active in higher frontal brain centers: learning, thought, memory
Describe Endorphin
Excitatory/ Inhibitory
Function
- Pain reducers, wide variety of drugs
- Triggered by drugs like opium, heroin and morphine
- Inhibitory NT resulting in floating calm
- Causes respiration to slow down -> danger
- Hunger regulation-> weight suppression
- Sexual pleasure
- The drop often results in post-partum depression
Describe Acetylcholine (Ach)
Excitatory/ Inhibitory
Function
Acetylcholine (Ach)
- May produce either excitatory or inhibitory effects
- Control of the muscles
- Atention, learning, sleep and memory
Ach may enhance memory. Alzheimer’s disease may be connected with a lack of Ach
Describe Acetylcholine (Ach)
Excitatory/ Inhibitory
Function
Too much/little
- Inhibitory mood transmitter: relaxation, sleep
- plays an important role in regulating mood, sleep, impulsivity, aggression, and appetite
Lack of serotonin:
- mood disorder (Prozac targets serotonin neurons)
- anxiety
- Impulsivity issues
- Aggression
Parasympathetic vs Sympathetic
Sympathetic is responsible for the response commonly referred to as “fight or flight,” (raises heart rate) while parasympathetic is referred to as “rest and digest.”
Describe Autonomic nervous system
- Divides into 2: Parasympathetic and Sympathetic
- Automatic control of internal body functions: breathing, heart, digestion
Describe MRI scan
A diagnostic scanning technique
that produces high-resolution images of the structures of the brain.
Functional MRI looks at the brain in action.
Describe PET scan
Brain activity, using radioactive isotopes or oxygen with low radioactivity inhaled. Shows how the brain consumes glucose and oxygen
Describe CAT scan
special rotating X-ray tests that produce cross-sectional images of the body using X-rays and a computer. CT scans are also referred to as computerized axial tomography.
What are the structures in the bottom of the brain
There are 4 of them making up “Brain stem”:
1) Medulla
2) Pons
3) Cerebellum
4) Reticular activating area
Describe medulla
- Controls autonomic functions such as breathing, digestion, heart and blood vessel function, swallowing, and sneezing, orgasm.
- Motor and sensory neurones from the midbrain and forebrain travel through the medulla.
Describe Pons
- Sits directly above the medulla.
- Function: Connects upper and lower parts of the brain.
- Serves as a message station between several areas of the brain. It helps relay messages from the cortex and the cerebellum.
- Sleep cycles
Describe cerebellum
- Behind and above the ears
- Responsible for balance and posture
- Movement coordination, everyday movements
- Sensitive to drugs and alcohol
- Role in habit formation
Describe thalamus
- 2 egg shaped structures above the brain stem
- Relay center of motor and sensory signals to the cerebral cortex
- All senses pass through the thalamus apart from smell
Which parts of the brain are located above the brain stem?
- Thalamus
- Hypothalamus
- Limbic system (Amygdala + Hippocampus)
Describe hypothalamus
- The master regulator
- Below thalamus
Regulates:
- Release of hormones
- Body temperature
- Daily physiological cycles
- Appetite
- Managing of sexual behavior
- Emotional responses
- The master regulator
- Below thalamus
Regulates:
- Release of hormones
- Body temperature
- Daily physiological cycles
- Appetite
- Managing of sexual behavior
- Emotional responses
Two main structures: Amygdala and Hippocampus Collectively involved in emotional expression, memory, and motivation
Located in the front
Not developed fully until 25
What are the gender differences in the brain?
1) Evolutionary forces. Male the hunter: Aggressive. Woman the caregiver: Emotional
2) Structural differences. Females have a thicker corpus callosum- greater emotional awareness. More aware about their surrounding world
3) Pathways. Males & females carry out the same task in different manner
4) Limbic response. Females generate greater response in limbic system when they encounter something sad
What is reticulum formation
A structure in the brainstem that plays a crucial role in arousal and attention and screens sensory messages entering the brain.
Describe hypothalamus
Key hormones: Oxytocin
- Produced by hypothalamus, released by pituitary - Love hormone - Social bonding for both sexes: promotes pro-social behavior - Babies bolding though mom's milk. Oxytocin is found in milk - Sexual activity- release of oxytocin - Intensity of orgasm - Also linked to stress reduction
What are the lobes of the brain?
- Frontal lobe: personality site
- Temporal lobe: hearing
- Parietal lobe
- Occipital lobe: vision center
Describe the frontal lobe
- Areas/components
- What is these area’s become damaged
- Largest lobe
- Contains motor cortex: a strip of tissue at the back of the frontal area that controls voluntary motion. Fine motor (takes up bigger part of motor cortex) and gross motor
- Broca’s area (left frontal lobe)- speech, sounds and cognitive skills
- Frontal association area: thinking, motivation, planning for the future, impulse control, and emotional responses. If damaged -> personality change. e.g Phineas Gage
Defien Broca’s Aphasia
An impairment in the ability to physically produce speech sounds or, in extreme cases,
an inability to speak at all; caused by damage to Broca’s area.
Describe parietal lobe
- Located directly behind frontal lobe, top-middle of the brain
- Contains somatosensory cortex (front strip of brain tissue) - sensation, touch, skin
- The two halves of the somatosensory cortex are wired to opposite sides of the body.
- Reception and processing of touch. pressure, temperature, pain
If damaged: cannot tell a difference between textures
Describe the Occipital Lobe
Location
Function
Damage consequences
- Behind the parietal lobes at the rear of the brain
- Reception and interpretation of visual information
- Primary visual cortex (very back of the occipital lobes) is where vision registers in the cerebral cortex.
- The left visual field is registered in the right visual cortex, right visual field
is registered in the left visual cortex. - A person with damage to one primary visual cortex will have partial vision in both eyes
- The association areas in occipital lobe hold memories of past visual experiences
and enable us to recognize what is familiar among the things we see. When these areas are damaged, people can lose their ability to identify objects visually, although they are still able to identify the same objects by touch or through some other sense.
Describe temporal lobe
- Located slightly above the ears
- Involved in the reception and interpretation of auditory stimuli
- Primary auditory cortex is where hearing registers
- Contains Wernicke’s area in the left temporal
Describe Wernicke’s area and consequences of it being damaged
Wernicke’s area: The language area in the temporal lobe involved in comprehension of the spoken word and in formulation of coherent speech and written language.
Wernicke’s aphasia: the patient’s spoken language is fluent, but the content is either vague or incomprehensible to the
listener.
Functions of the right hemisphere + damage
- visual-spatial relations
- lIstening, hearing
- The right hemisphere processes information holistically
- appears to be more specialized for complex
perceptual tasks. Consequently, the right hemisphere is better at
recognizing patterns, whether of familiar voices, melodies and music or things seen.
If damaged: no sense of humour and no understanding of sarcasm
Functions of left hemisphere + damage
- Most of the language functions, including speaking, writing, reading, and understanding the spoken word
- It is specialized for mathematical abilities, particularly calculation;
- Processes information in an analytical and sequential, or step-by-step, manner.
- Logic is primarily though not exclusively a left-hemisphere activity.
- The left hemisphere coordinates complex movements by directly controlling the right side of the body and by indirectly controlling the movements of the left side of the body. It accomplishes this by sending orders across the corpus callosum to the right hemisphere so that the proper movements will be coordinated and executed smoothly.
If damaged: can’t speak
What is the endocrine system?
Glands that manufacture and release hormones that are carried by the bloodstream and act on the different part of the body
Name the glands in the endocrine system
- Pituitary
- Thyroid
- Pineal
- Pancreas
- Adrenal
Describe the pituitary gland
- The master gland that release hormones to stimulate other glands
- Located at the base of the brain
- Produces growth hormone -> Gigantism or Dwarfism
Describe the thyroid gland
- Located in the throat
- Releases thyroxine- metabolism/ break down of food
- Too much -> hyper, action, thin
- Too little -> sluggish, overweight
Describe the Pineal gland
- Location: the brain
- Secretes melatonin
- Sleep cycle regulation
Describe Pancreas
- Located between stomach and intestines
- Secrete insulin
- Normal level -> hunger, low-> diabetes
- Sight and smell of food can result in production of insulin
Describe the adrenal glands
- Located above kidneys
- Turned on by ACTH released by pituitary
- Produce Epinephrin & Norepinephrine: act on the sympathetic nervous system
What happens during PMS?
Pre-menstrual syndrome: affects serotonin levels may lead to anxiety, depression and fluid retention
Role of sex glands in women
varies produce estrogen & progesterone
Regulate menstrual cycle **FSH (reduced or declined due to pregnancy)
Maintain gestation - child carrying (9 months of carrying the baby)
Role of sex glands in men
Testes produce testosterone: sperm count, sexual maturity and prenatal sexual differentiation
What are adoptee studies?
A method researchers use to study the relative effects of heredity and environment on behaviour and ability in children who are adopted shortly after birth, by comparing them with their biological and adoptive parents.
