Exam 3 original studying Flashcards
modularity
also known as localization of function, this is the modern one word term that characterizes the brain
Kant
laid the groundwork (together with Darwin’s science) for early research in experimental psychology
Edward Lee Thorndike
user of cats in puzzle boxes to study learning and came up with law of exercise and law of effect
innate mental processes
emphasized by Germans over sensory-based associations
Weber’s Law
change in R over R equals K, as defined by Fechner’s Formula… just noticeable differences correspond to a constant proportion of a standard stimulus
doctrine of specific nerve energies
each sensory nerve, no matter how it is stimulated, releases an energy specific to that nerve - found by Johannes Muller as an expansion of the Bell-Magendie Law
Bell-Magendie Law
there are two types of nerves: sensory nerves that carry impulses to brain and motor nerves that carry impulses from brain to body muscles and glands
basic science
like physics or psychology, these are the building blocks of their applied fields; civil engineering and mental health practice, respectively
phrenology
pseudoscience examining cranial bumps for correlates in personality, developed by Franz Gall
G.T. Fechner
expanded Weber’s Law by showing that, for just noticeable differences to vary arithmetically, the magnitude of a stimulus must vary geometrically
Pierre Flourens
pioneered extirpation (taking brain regions offline to see what did what) and didn’t find evidence for localization of function but that’s because he sucked and didn’t work stereotaxically
pragmatism
“if an idea works, then it is valid” [James] the belief that usefulness is the best criterion for determining the validity of an idea
resonance place theory
Helmholtz’s theory of auditory perception; hair cells in basilar membrane are stimulated by different frequencies of a sound; think of cochlea and different points at which different frequencies hit
Hermann von Helmholtz
monumental scientific thinker, pioneered work in areas of nerve conduction, sensation, perception, color vision, and much, much, more for ONLY $19.95.
What would a functionalist say is the purpose of consciousness?
to aid an organism in adapting to the environment
unconscious inference
aka perceptual adaptation, this is the process by which remnants of past experience are added to sensations, thereby converting them into perceptions (e.g.: “one time I pet a dog and it felt just like what I feel now so this is likely a dog again”)
thorazine
a medication, popular in the 1950s which causes a chemical lobotomy
mental illness and personal wellbeing
recent focuses of psychology and only a small sample of possible applications of a broad field
Paul Broca
found evidence that part of the left frontal lobe of the cortex is specialized for speech production or articulation
Broca’s aphasia
cannot produce speech
Wernicke’s aphasia
cannot comprehend speech
stream of consciousness
coined by James, used to describe contention that consciousness is continuous and constantly changing - it is a process
stereotaxic instruments
used when lesioning laboratory animals for purposes of psychological research
Bell-Magendie Law
law based on discovery that there are separate aspects of nervous system devoted to sensory and motor activity
aphasia
language and speech abnormality produced by brain damage
Thorndike’s conclusions
- Learning is incremental
- Learning occurs automatically
- Principles of learning may be applied to all mammals
Human voice preference
before a female begins puberty, she will prefer males with higher tones of voice. After puberty, she will prefer males with lower tones of voice (adaptive value of hearing)
William James on the empirical self (three parts)
- the material self is things you could call your own
- the social self is the self known by others
- the spiritual self is your subjective reality
What is a possible adaptive function of color vision?
to see that fresher foods are brighter and better-looking than their rotten counterparts
psychosurgery
surgery done on the brain to treat a mental disorder, like a lobotomy
vitalism
the view that life cannot be reduced to purely physical processes - there is some further, immeasurable life force
how is “risk of conception” understood by men
i don’t fucking know, men rated fertile women as having more attractive voices, this is how men are attuned to fertility?
Law of Effect
- associations followed by reward are strengthened
2. associations followed by punishment are weakened
Law of Exercise
- the more something is practiced, the stronger the neural connections will be
- if something is not practiced, the neural connection will break down
Hugo Munsterberg
applied psychological principles to clinical, forensic, and industrial psychology; father of I/O psych and forensic psych because he applied principles to legal matters and the workplace
