Exam 1 Flashcards
What is science?
realizes it might be wrong. over many studies we build up proper results. we don’t “prove” things.
What is pseudoscience?
information that is not supported by science but may appear to be. a set of claims that seems scientific but isn’t. lacks safeguards against confirmation bias and belief perseverance.
Confirmation bias
tendency to prefer information that confirms what a person thought in the first place
belief perseverance
tendency to maintain a belief even when evidence suggests it’s incorrect.
warning signs of pseudoscience
overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypothesis. ad hoc: a loophole or other excuse that people defending a theory can use to protect their theory from falsification
Falsification
proof that something is false
anecdotal evidence,
evidence based on anecdotes. heavily relied on personal testimony.
What fallacies make us susceptible to pseudoscience?
Emotional reasoning fallacy, bandwagon, not me, argument from antiquity.
Emotional reasoning fallacy
use our emotions as guides for evaluation validity of a claim
bandwagon
assuming a claim must be correct bc lots of people believe it.
“not me” fallacy
believing you’re immune from errors in thinking that afflict other people
argument from antiquity fallacy
assuming a belief must be accurate bc it’s been around for a long time
dangers of pseudoscience
1) opportunity costs-> missing opportunity 2) Direct harm-> cause actual harm
scientific skepticism/critical thinking
evaluating all claims with an open mind BUT insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them
principles of scientific thinking
ruling out rival hypothesis (are there other responses we could have found the results), falsifiability, replicability (can you replicate the same results)
psychology
scientific studies of behavior and mental processes. scientific studies of mind, brain, and behavior.
industrial/organizational psychology
psychology of work. who to select. how to train. are they engaged?
steps of the scientific method
1)pose a question 2) conduct a literature review 3) develop hypothesis/research question 4) do the research 5) analyze and draw conclusions
construct
what you want to measure (?) ex: intelligence
operational
what you use to measure constructs (?) ex: IQ tests
reliability
consistency. how to measure it: parallel forms
validity
it tells us whether the test is measuring what it’s supposed to measure
naturalistic observation
observing people/animals in the real world (secretly)
pros of naturalistic obersvation
it’s likely to apply to the real world
cons of naturalistic observation
unlikely to see rare events. can’t tell whether x caused y. if people knew they’re being watched they may change their behavior
case studies
detailed observations about 1 (or a few) individuals
pros of case studies
prove that something does exist. useful if something is in rare occurrence
cons of case studies
anecdotal. can’t say x caused y
pros of surveys and questionnaires
easy to use. cheap. gather a lot of info quickly
cons of surveys and questionnaires
people may lie to make themselves sound better. easy to make a mistake sampling people
random sampling
procedure that ensures every person in a population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate. who responds is also important.
correlation studies
measure two or more things and see if they’re related
pros of correlation studies
can help predict things
cons of correlation studies
can’t cay x caused y. correlation isn’t causation.
0, -1, and 1
0 is weak correlation, -1 and 1 are strong. direction: negative and positive.
experiments
can determine cause and effect.
requirements for experiments
1) random assignments of participants to conditions. a control group. one or more experimental groups. 2) manipulation of independent variable (IV)
control group
doesn’t receive treatment/manipulation
experimental group
receives treatment/manipulation
independent variable
what the experimenter manipulates
dependent variable
the outcome. what’s being measured changes due to the level of the IV
placebo effect
when the people in the experiment think they’re getting the treatment but they’re not and have symptoms of the treatment
double blind procedure
A double-blind study is one in which neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment. This procedure is utilized to prevent bias in research results.
Institutional Review Board (IRB)
they review the ethics of a study and approves of it or not.
consent
consent form: tells the purpose of the study, duration, potential risks/discomfort/adverse effects, allowed to withdrawal, gives contact info for principle investigator
debriefing
informs about any deception. gives info about what the study is about
mean
average.
pros of mean
useful for lots of statistical analysis.
cons of mean
extreme values can effect the results (really high and low numbers)
median
middle number in an ordered set
mode
the number that is repeated the most
variability
how loosely or tightly clustered the data points are.
standard deviation
a measure of variability
inferential statistics
stats that allow us to determine whether we can generalize out findings from the sample to the population.
statistical significance
tests to determine statistically is we can generalize our findings due to random chance. affected by sample size
practical significance
is the effect large enough to matter
parts of the neuron
dendrites, soma, axon, myelin sheath, axon terminal, synapse
dendrites
receive signals from other neurons
soma
cell body performs basic activities to keep neuron functional
axon
carries into towards other neurons
myelin sheath
protective sleeve of fatty material that surrounds the axon. glial cells promote new connections among nerve cells, inc. reliability of signal/transmission
axon terminal
where neuro chemicals leave. knob-like structures: release neuro chemicals into the synapse
synapse
the gap between two dendrites
resting potential
neuron has slight negative charge. no neurotransmitters acting on neuron
action potential
electrical impulse travels down axon. it triggers release of neuro chemicals. it is how neurons communicate.
inhibitory signal
more negative charge, less likely to have action potential
excitatory signal
if a signal is strong enough-> action potential
all or none
axon fires or it doesn’t
absolute refractory period
brief interval after action potential where new action potential can’t happen
reuptake
The reabsorption of a secreted substance by the cell that originally produced and secreted it. (goes back home)
cerebrum(forebrain)
part of the brain that allows advances intellectual abilities
corpus callosum
bundle or neurons that connects and allows communication between the two hemispheres of the brain
cerebral cortex
outermost part of the cerebrum (forebrain), responsible for analyzing sensory info and helping to perform complex brain function
frontal lobe
responsible for complex thinking tasks, planning, purposeful activities, motor function, language, memory and executive functioning(overseeing and organizing)
Motor cortex
inside frontal lobe next to parietal. responsible for voluntary movement
prefrontal cortex
for thinking, executive control, planning, language, mood, personality and self-awareness.
broca’s area
in prefrontal that helps control speech production. problems: long pauses between words, relevant words, not many words, grammar
parietal lobe
for touch and perception. if damaged: ignoring everything on one side of visual field.
somatosensory cortex
inside parietal and next to frontal. involved in receiving info from the senses. sensitive to touch, pressure, pain, and temperature. relays visual and touch info to motor cortext
occipitcal lobe
vision
temporal lobe
plays role in hearing, understanding language and memory.
auditory cortex
devoted to hearing
lower part of temporal lobe
critical to storing memories of autobiographical events
wernicke’s area
in temporal lobe and (slightly) in parietal. above and behind left ear. aids in understanding speech. when damaged people speak gibberish
thalamus
brains main sensory processing area. gateway from sensory organs to primary sensory cortext
limbic system
emotional center of the brain, plays role in smell, motivation, and memory . processes info about out internal states (BP, HR, and sweat) includes hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus
hypothalamus
regulates and maintains constant body states. plays roles in emotion, and motivation. helps regulate hunger, thirst, sexual motivation and emotional behaviors. controls body temp. HR, and breathing
amygdala
important for emotional, especially fear
hippocampus
responsible for memory ,especially spatial memory (mental maps) and long-term memory. important for forming new memories bc you need the hippocampus to convert short-term memories to long-term
cerebellum
important for balance, enables us to coordinate movement and learn motor skills
are concussions ans subconcussive impacts dangerous?
yes(?)
10% myth
false
plasticity
the brain’s ability to change and adapt as a result of experience.
neurogenesis
Neurogenesis refers to the process by which neurons or nerve cells are generated in the brain.
behavioral genetics
tries to answer nature vs. nuture
family studies
researchers look at traits, disorders, etc, that run in families. could be due to genes or environment
twin studies
Comparisons between monozygotic (identical) twins and dizygotic (fraternal) twins are conducted to evaluate the degree of genetic and environmental influence on a specific trait.
adoption studies
used to estimate the degree to which a trait varies in response to environmental and genetic variation.
sensation
detection of physical energy by sense organs
perception
brains interpretation of raw sensory inputs. perception isn’t a perfect translation of the world around us
process of perception
event->sensation -> transduction -> perception
transduction
each sense organ has a mechanism for converting external stimulus into neural messages
perceptions can be influences by
synesthesia and the mcGurk effect.
synesthesia
cross-modal sensations. ex: hearing sounds when seeing colors or tasting/smelling words.
McGurk Effect
the words we perceive others saying are influenced by vision and hearing
sensory interaction
the idea that senses can influence each other
inattention blindness
failure to notice something in your visual field bc your attention was focused elsewhere. it’s likely to happen with things we find interesting/important
change blindness
a failure to notice changes in the visual field simply bc a person expects otherwise
selective attention
when the brain pays more attention to one sensory channel than others
pupil
circular hole where light enters the eye
iris
colors circular muscle in the center of the eye that controls pupil and how much light enters the eye
cornea
covers the iris and pupil. contains cells that focus light on retina
lens
the clear layer under the surface of the eye that maintains focus on an object by varying its own shape
retina
membrane at the back of the eye responsible for converting light into neural activity (transduction)
fovea
central part of retina. responsible for activity contains many cones (for color) no rods
rods
receptor cells in retina detect shades of grey. allows us to see basic shapes and forms, allows us to see levels of lights
cones
allow us to see color
steps of seeing
cornea-> pupil (iris controls)->lens (focus light)-> retina
Optic Nerve
nerve that travels from retina to brain
trichromatic theory
cones for blue, green and red.
opponent process theory
we perceive colors in terms of three pairs. red/green, blue/yellow, and black/white. ex: after images
blindisght
the ability of people who are blind and have damage to their cortex to make correct guesses about thing around them
visual agnosia
can identify things but can’t recognize the name
pinna
the part of the ear that you can
ear canal
conducts sound waves to the eardrum
eardrum
a surface stretched taut across the ear canal aka tympanic membrane
ossicles
three smallest bones in the body. vibrate at the frequency of the sound. transmit vibrations from the eardrum to the innter ear
cochlea
inner part filled with thick liquid. vibrations disturbs fluid. hair cells in the fluid convert the movement into action potential (transduction)
types of taste
sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami, fatty(?), starch(?)
somatosensory
controls sense of touch, temp., and pain.
automatic responses
somatic nerves-> spinal cord. signal goes to the spinal cord & back without going to the brain)
pain
different people have different tolerances . has emotional component. controlling thoughts can hep with pain. not feeling pain is bad
pain
different people have different tolerances . has emotional component. controlling thoughts can hep with pain. not feeling pain is bad
Proprioception/Kinesthetic Sense
sense of body position
vestibular sense
our sense of balance/equilibrium detects movement of gravity
semi circular canals
send info to our brain stem and cerebrum. • Disagreements between the vestibular sense and vision can lead to car sickness
top-down processing
expectations and previous experiences influences what you perceive
bottom up processing
what you sense becomes a perception with no influence of expectations or previous experiences; data driven
perceptual constancy
process by which we perceive stimuli consistently across varied conditions
shape constancy
see how the shape of something varies but we still recognize it
size constancy
as people/objects are farther from us they take up less space in out visual field
color constancy
we evaluate colors in terms of context. how brains factor in lighting when determining what color something is.
gestalts principle of organization
rules governing how we perceive objects as wholes within their overall context
proximity
physically close -> same group
similarity
similar items are more likely to form a group than other dissimilar ones
continuity
we perceive objects as whole even if other objects block part of them.
closure
when partial information is present our brains fill in what’s missing
symmetry
we perceive objects that are symmetrically arranged as wholes more often than those that aren’t
figure ground
we focus on what we believed to be the central figure and ignore the background
monocular depth cues
the qualities of visual stimuli that indicate depth when only using one eye
relative size
close objects are larger
surface texture/texture gradient
closer objects have more detailed texture
interposition
of one blocks another the first object is the closer object
linear perspective
parallel lines seem to converge farther away
light and shadow
objects cast shadows that give a sense of their 3D form
height and plane
distant objects are higher than nearer objects
binocular depth cues
the qualities of visual stimuli that indicate depth using both eyes
binocular disparity/retinal disparity
for closer objects there more disparity between what each eye sees than there is for more far away objects
binocular convergence
for objects tat are far away our eyes look straight ahead. the closer an object is the more our eyes turn inward (converge)
three systems of memory
1) sensory memory 2)short-term memory 3)long-term memory
sensory memory
a brief storage of perceptual info before it’s passed to ST memory. maintains memories in “buffer” area. allows us to fill in the blanks
iconic memory
visual sensory memory of all the info your eyes took in during the previous sseconds
echoic memory
auditory sensory memory of all the info the ears took in the previous few seconds
short-term memory
memory system that retains info for limited durations then discards the information/passes it on to LT memory
working memory
our ability to hold info. we’re currently thinking about attending to, or processing actively
duration of ST
no more than 20 seconds
capacity of of ST
7+ or -2
chunking
organizing info into meaningful grouping allowing us to extend the span of our set memory
rehearsal
repeating into to extend the duration of retention in ST memory
maintenance rehearsal
repeating stimuli in their original form to retain them in ST memory
elaborate rehearsal
adding meaning/association to improve retention of info in ST memory
long term memory
relatively enduring (minutes to years) retention of info stored regarding our facts, experience, and skills
how to ST and LT differ?
short term: 7+ or -2 and 20 sec.
Long term: huge and decades
explicit memory
memories we recall intentionally and of which we have conscious memory
semantic memory
our knowledge or facts about the work
episodic memories:
our recollection of events in our lives, personal, and first hand experiences
implicit memories
memories we dont deliberately remember or reflect on consciously
procedural memory
memory for how to do things (motor skills and habits)
priming:
our ability to identify a stimulus more easily/quickly after we’ve encountered similar stimuli
three processes of memory
Encoding-> Storage-> retrieval
encoding
the process of getting info to out memory banks. must be paying attention in order to encode
levels of processing
visual, phonological (sound) and semantic (meaning)
mnemonics
a specific technique or strategy deliberately used to enhance memory. must be internal not external ex: chunking or roygbiv
storage
process of keeping info in our memories
schema
organized knowledge structure or mental model that we’ve stored in our memory
problems with schemas
over simplifies things, may cause us to use stereotypes
retrieval
reactivation or reconstruction of experiences from our memory store
retrieval error
can’t access the info at the moment but do know the info
retrieval cues
hints that make it easier for us to recall info
ways to access memory
recall, recognition, relearning
recall
generating previously remembered info
recognition
selecting previously remembered info from an array of options
relearning
reaquiring knowledge that we’d previously learned but largely forgotten over time. measured in terms of savings
distributed practice
over time
massed practice
all at once
Suggestive Memory Techniques
procedures that encourage patients to recall memories that may or may not have taken place. can often create new recollections
misinformation effect
the tendency of false or misleading information presented after the fact to be mistakenly incorporated into memory
implanted memories
ask participants if they saw bugs bunny at Disneyland and they said yes
eye witness testimony
Most common cause of wrongful convictions. Confidence isn’t correlated well with actual accuracy. most accurate when closer to the time of the crime
problems with eye witnesses
identifying people of other races. weapon focus. line ups
Primacy Effect
The tendency to show greater memory for information that comes first in a sequence.
Recency Effect
The tendency to show greater memory for information that comes last in a sequence.
decay
memory fades due to passage of time
interference
memories encoded in long-term memory are forgotten, and cannot be retrieved into short-term memory effectively due to either memories interfering, or hampering, one another
