Final Exam Flashcards
Branches of psychology
- Biopsychology and Evolutionary Psychology
- Sensation and Perception
- Cognitive Psychology
- Developmental Psychology
- Personality Psychology
- Social Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
scientific method
The process scientists use to guide their research
- Ask a question
- create a hypothesis that might answer the question
- design and conduct an experiment
- record result/data
- analyze and conclude
- report
correlation
correlation: relationship between two or more variables
- positive: variables change in same direction
- negative: variables change in different directions
research design groups
groups:
- experimental
- control
neurons
Cells in the brains that allow electrical signals to pass.
Comprises a
soma, the main body,
dendrites, little root-things that connect with the axon of other neurons,
And an axon where electrical signals pass to other neurons at the synapse
neurotransmitters and what they do
Neurotransmitter: a chemical messenger of the nervous system
Sleep deprivation (debt and rebound)
Sleep debt – result of insufficient sleep on a chronic basis.
Sleep rebound – a sleep-deprived individual will tend to take a shorter time to fall asleep during subsequent opportunities for sleep.
Why we sleep
Adaptive Function (Evolutionary Hypotheses)
- Sleep is essential to restore resources, and is an adaptive response to predatory risks, which increase in darkness (not much evidence for this).
Cognitive Function
- Sleep is important for cognitive function/memory; increased sleep deprevation = decreased memory
Benefits of sleep
- Maintaining a healthy weight, lowering stress levels, improving mood, increased motor coordination as well as many benefits related to cognition and memory formation.
Atkinson Shiffrin model
sensory input > sensory memory > STM > LTM
- Sensory memory – storage of brief sensory events, such as sights, sounds, and tastes.
- Short-term memory/working memory – a temporary storage system that processes incoming sensory memory.
- Long-term memory - the continuous storage of information
Types of Long-term memory
Explicit (declarative) memory – memories of facts and events we can consciously remember and recall/declare.
Implicit memory - memories that are not part of our consciousness, formed through behaviors unknowingly.
Cerebral Cortex
brainfacts.org/3d-brain
- outer top layer of brain
- split between left/right hemisphere
-contains frontal, temporal, parietal, and occipital lobes
- connected by corpus callosum
Thalamus
- located in center of brain
- relays sensory information
Limbic System
Involved in memory and emotion
- Amygdala: manages emotion memory and fear
- Hippocampus: associated with learning and memory
- Hypothalamus: regulates homeostatic processes
Hindbrain
Area in back of brain
- Medulla: controls automated processes: breathing, bld. pres., hrt. rt.
- Pons: connects brain and spinal cord, involved in activity during sleep
- Cerebellum: balance, coordination, movement, motor skills
eyewitness testimony reliability
Unreliable, people are suggestible and aren’t focusing on specific details in time of fight or flight
biases
Anchoring - fixation on a detail
Confirmation - fixation on info agreeing with pre-existing beliefs
Hindsight - “I knew it all along!”
representative - unintentionally stereotype someone or something
availability heuristic - focus on info most available to you
observational learning
The idea that leaning occurs form observation and also internal mental states (look below)
Steps in the Modeling Process
1. Attention – focus on the behavior.
2. Retention – remember what you observed.
3. Reproduction – be able to perform the behavior.
4. Motivation – must want to copy the behavior.
Motivation depends on what happened to the model.
Vicarious reinforcement – process where the observer sees the model rewarded, making the observer more likely to imitate the model’s behavior.
Vicarious punishment – process where the observer sees the model punished, making the observer less likely to imitate the model’s behavior.
reciprocal determinism
Behavior, Cognitive Factors, and Situational factors all interact with each other to form personality
Fundamental attribution error
Blame others’ behavior on their character, but blame your own behavior on circumstance.
Groupthink
People change their opinions to conform to the group
bystander effect
The more a person is surrounded by others, the less they are to act due to social loafing.
stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination
Prejudice – a negative attitude and feeling toward an individual based solely on one’s membership in a particular social group. (“I hate Yankees fans; they make me angry.”)
Stereotype – a specific belief or assumption about individuals based solely on their membership in a group. (“Yankees fans are arrogant and obnoxious.”)
Discrimination – a negative action toward an individual as a result of one’s membership in a particular group. (“I would never hire nor become friends with a person if I knew he or she was a Yankees fan.”)
Phillip Zimbardo study
Stanford Prison Experiment: a mock prison was constructed and participants were given roles: prisoner or guard. The participants fell into their roles intensely, demonstrating the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts.
Solomon Asch study
Conformity experiment: one subject and the rest were confederates; asked to look at two pictures of lines and determine which one was equal in height.
- The subject was likely to go along with the group, especially if there was a higher amount of people and they all gave the wrong answer
- Showed the influence of group majority on an individual’s judgement
Stanley Milgram study
Obedience experiment: participants told to ‘shock’ learners under the instruction of an authority figure, and 2/3 participants continued to give shocks to an unresponsive learner
- showed the surprising degree to which people obey authority
cognitive dissonance (and how to reduce)
Psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more inconsistent attitudes, behaviors, or cognitions.
Ways to reduce:
- Change their behavior - quitting smoking.
- Change their belief through rationalization or denial - such as discounting the evidence that smoking is harmful.
- Add a new cognition – “Smoking suppresses appetite so I don’t become overweight, which is good for my health”.
effect of stress on health
Stress can…
- weaken immune system
- contribute to heart disease
- hypertension (high blood pressure)
fight/flight responses
During threatening situation, adrenal glands release adrenaline and noradrenaline (sympathetic nervous system)
3 Stages of physiological stress responses
- Alarm Reaction – the body’s immediate reaction to an emergency; provides energy
- Stage of Resistance – The body has adapted to the stressor but remains alert
- Stage of Exhaustion – Person can no longer adapt to the stressor; physical wear takes its toll on the body’s tissues and organs.
May result in illness, disease, or DEATH.
Ways we cope with stress
Problem-focused coping: identifying the problem, considering solutions and selecting solution. often when stress is seen as controllable
Emotion-focused coping: avoiding, minimizing, or distancing oneself from the problem, seeking happiness or treating symptoms of the stress rather than the problem itself. often used when stress is seen as out of control
- social support
- exercise
- meditation and relaxation
- biofeedback
Anxiety disorder symptoms
Excessive and persistent fear and anxiety, and by related disturbances in behavior.
Generalized Anxiety Disorder:
- restlessness, difficulty concentrating, muscle tension, sleep difficulties
symptoms of depressive/anxiety/personality disorders
substance use disorder: substance tolerance, dependence, and withdrawal
a compulsive pattern of drug use despite negative consequences
Tolerance – occurs when a person requires more and more of a drug to achieve effects previously experienced at lower doses; linked to physiological dependence.
Withdrawal – negative symptoms experienced when drug use is discontinued.
Physiological dependence - involves changes in normal bodily functions and withdrawal upon cessation of use.
Psychological dependence – emotional need for the drug.
categories of substance: depressants
drugs that suppress the central nervous system activity. (Work by binding to GABA receptors which makes the neuron less likely to fire)
Include: Alcohol, Barbiturates (anticonvulsant medication), Benzodiazepines (anti-anxiety medication)
categories of substance: Stimulants
Increase overall levels of neural activity.
(Usually dopamine agonists which work by preventing the reuptake of dopamine.)
Include: Cocaine, Amphetamine, Cathinones (i.e., bath salts), MDMA, caffeine, nicotine, opioids (all highly addictive)
models of psychiatric illness
teratogen
any environmental agent (biological, chemical, or physical) that causes damage to the developing embryo or fetus.
ex. alcohol, smoking, drugs, viruses, radiation
categories of substance: hallucinogens
Cause changes in sensory and perceptual experiences.
Can involve vivid hallucinations but vary depending on which neurotransmitter they effect
Include: Mescaline and LSD (serotonin agonists), PCP and ketamine (NMDA glutamate receptor antagonists).
symptoms of depressive disorders
Diagnosis Criteria
- “Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day” (APA, 2013).
- Loss of interest and pleasure in usual activities.
- At least 5 symptoms for at least a two-week period.
- Symptoms cause significant distress or impair normal functioning
Symptoms
- Weight loss or weight gain/increased or decreased appetite.
- Difficulty falling asleep or too much sleep.
- Psychomotor agitation or psychomotor retardation.
- Fatigue/loss of energy.
- Feelings of worthlessness or guilt.
- Difficulty concentrating, indecisiveness.
- Suicidal ideation – thoughts of death, thinking about/planning suicide, suicide attempt.
