Exam 3 Flashcards
What is a point prediction? Come up with your own example. Is it easy to make point predictions in Psychology?
- Specific estimate or forecast of a particular outcome or value, usually represented as a single point on a scale. It’s a prediction that provides a precise numerical value rather than a range or distribution.
- For example, predicting a score a student will get on their upcoming math test. If estimated that the student will score 85 out of 100, that’s a point prediction.
- In psychology, making point predictions can be challenging due to the complexity and variability of human behavior.
What is the hierarchy of science? How does it help us understand research and explanatory power – or the ability to “explain” phenomena in people and make point predictions?
Description of how we study the world, helps to understand biology and chemistry and other sciences. and their changes.
What did we learn about Depression in the brain?
-Reduced receptor density in cortical
regions such as the ventral prefrontal
cortex, a region involved in behavioral
inhibition (inability of serotonin to reach the
receptor site)
-Brain abnormalities in people with
mood disorders (major
depression and bipolar disorder)
What does the front lobe do and when is it developed?
- By 25 or 30 fully developed
-Ability to understand time, planning, future discounting, waiting for gratification
Why do teens die in the US? What specifically are they doing – or not doing – while driving that increases their likelihood of death?
- Motor Vehicle Collisions
- Homicide
- Suicide
What were some important take home messages about teen pregnancy in the US?
- Creates health risks for baby and mother
- Results in low birth weight, neurological problems, childhood illness.
- Most mothers drop out of school and never catch up economically.
- Adolescent mothers often have depression and second child, but education and LARC
help reduce rates of both.
If you go to the doctor and request STI testing, which STIs will you be tested for? Which will you not be tested for?
- Chlamydia and HIV
What is methylation? Write down as much information about methylation as you can remember? What points did I make about methylation in lecture?
Chemical reaction in the body in which a small molecule called a methyl group gets added to DNA, proteins, or other molecules
Why does the CDC care about tracking condom use?
- CDC can assess trends in safer sex practices, identify populations at higher risk for STIs or unintended pregnancies, and develop targeted interventions and educational campaigns to promote safer sexual behavio
What was the analogy I describe with the brain in a field of lightning?
What are some components of the innate immune system?
- physical/mechanical/chemical barriers: skin, stomach kills pathogens, chemicals in blood
- inflammation: get a cut, pain and swelling
- phagocytosis/PRR: immune cells digest foreign pathogens, monocytes migrate
- interferon: interfere and fight infection with viral replication
Distinguish between whats you and whats foreign, wants to get rid of
What was the importance of the study about rats with Lupus?
- Once the association is learned, the taste alone
(with no injection at all) reduces inflammation
& symptoms of Lupus almost as much as the
drug alone - Disorder immune system attack themselves, dampen immune system
- Biological quick of body, assuming drink and medicine related, drink became alone able to dampen immune system because brain asumed drink helped and not medicine ( actually proved to help)
What was significant about the Serotonin Transporter Gene?
- Association of this variant with various psychiatric disorders
What is comparative psychology?
- Focuses on studying the behavior and mental processes of non-human animals, with the aim of understanding both the differences and similarities between species.
How are the immune system and stress related? Why does this make sense?
- Stress can compromise immune
functioning, in part, because it
increases negative emotions - Stress creates cortisol which can boost your immunity by limiting inflammation. But over time, your body gets used to having too much cortisol in your blood, which paves the way for more inflammation and can suppress your immune system’s ability to fight off invaders.
How does social interaction buffer against stress?
- Access to social support may be an important
modulator dampening of HPA axis response to
stressor - Socially isolated people
are more stressed for lack of
social outlets and support
What are some relationships that we see between parts of the innate immune system (i.e., interferon) and mental health conditions?
- Interferons: Direct impact on mental health and depression
- Give to individuals who have cancers, killing power to increase power of natural killer cells
- Got depressed not because of cancer, compound was eliminated, interferon and increase in depression
- The link between psych and immune system
glucocccorticords: dampen immune
What happens to the immune system during a short-term stressor?
- Produce changes in
the immune system
that enable wound
repair and infection
prevention. - Up-regulation of
natural immunity
and down-
regulation of
specific immunity.
What happens to the immune system during chronic stress?
Increased Prolonged Stress
= Chronically lower
immune response
What famous study taught us the importance of social hierarchy? What else did we learn from that study?
- Sapolsky observed that male baboons living in hierarchical societies exhibited higher levels of stress, particularly those occupying lower ranks in the social hierarchy. These lower-ranking males experienced elevated levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, due to factors like increased aggression, limited access to resources, and social instability.
What impact does longterm caregiving have on the body?
- Depression and anxiety
- A weakened immune system
What did we learn from R. Sapolsky’s baboons? Write down everything you can remember.
Immune respnse is meant to save your life
- lack of control, increase stress, further down on hierarchy
- rank level of stress, dominant have low stress
- low rankers, increased hr and bp
Why were R. Sapolsky’s baboons a good representation of humans?
- similar bodily structure
- have social and emotional stresses
What are the various types of breast cancers? Which is the hardest to treat? Why?
- Benign breast tumors: Diagnosis:
* Breast self-exam, clinical
exam, mammogram,
MRI, and biopsy.
* Fibroadenoma
* Phyllodes Tumors
* Papillomas - Malignant Breast Tumors
* Estrogen Positive
* Progesterone Positive
* Er/Pr Positive
* HER2 Positive
* Triple Negative
- Triple-negative breast cancer is harder to treat, and more likely to come back (recur) than cancers that are hormone receptor-positive or HER2-positiv
What are the two most common cancers in the US?
1.Breast
2. Prostate
What % of cancers are caused by genetics?
five to 10 per cent of cancers are actually hereditary
What are some genes associated with breast cancer?
Genetic factors (BRCA1 or
BRCA2 mutation, CHEK2)
What are the two main goals of science?
understanding and prediction
