Final Exam (Lectures) Flashcards
Psychology
Science of behavior and mental processes.
Biologically Psychology
Study of how behaviors are related to brain activities.
Cognitive Psychology
Study of mental processes.
Social Psychology
Study of how individuals are influenced by others.
Developmental Psychology
Study of how we change over time.
Personality Psychology
Study of how we change over time.
Clinical Psychology
Study and treatment of abnormal behavior.
Positive Psychology
Study of health and well being.
What are the causes of behavior?
Biological
Cognitive
Learning
Psychoanalysis
Psycho-dynamic
Research Methods
1.Introspection
2.Observation Of Behaviors
3.Scientific Knowledge
Introspection
Looking inwards at your thoughts, feelings, etc.
Observation Of Behavior
Great for generating questions but not for finding answers.
Scientific Knowledge
Beliefs based on evidence gathered in ways that protect us against confirmation bias,
Goals of Science
- Description- What happened?
- Explanation- What caused it to happen?
- Prediction-What is likely to happen?
A theory
A set of ideas used to understand events
Scientific Theories
Testable, measurable, events that can be repeated and seen by others.
Variables
Features of realities that change.
Surveys
Used to show whether variables are related.
Experiments
Show whether changes in one variable cause changes to another.
Independent variable
What an experimenter manipulates (cause).
Dependent Variable
What the experimenter measures (effect).
Control Condition
A situation which participant do not receive the treatment.
Random Assignment
Each participant has an equal chance of being placed in any condition.
External Validity
The results can be applied to other people in other places.
Nervous System
Communication system
Three Types of Neurons
-Sensory Neurons
-Motor Neurons
-Interneurons
Sensory Neurons
Receives stimulation from the environment and sends signals to the brain.
Motor Neurons
Receives messages and and moves muscles.
Interneurons
Relays messages from one neuron to others.
Central Nervous System
Outward pathways that include the brain and spinal cord.
Peripheral Nervous System
Connects to the rest of the body/
Sends inward pathways to control the nervous system.
Sensory and motor neurons.
Somatic and Autonomic.
Somatic System
Controls actions we voluntarily choose to control; muscles.
Autonomic System
Nerve fibers go to organs and glands.
Control is automatic; involuntary actions
Contains two systems:
-Sympathetic
-Parasympathetic
Sympathetic
Arouses the body to prepare for action.
“Fight or Flight”
Parasympathetic
Calms the body to conserve energy.
“Rest and Digest”
Genes
Biological units that contain information for growing and maintaining the body.
-Genes are like a recipe.
Brain Anatomy
Contains two major regions:
1. Brainstem
2. Cerebrum
Brainstem
Includes:
-Medulla
-Pons
-Reticular Formation
-Cerebellum
-Thalamus
-Hypothalamus
-Limbic system
Medulla
Automatic Functions, e.g breathing, and heart rate.
-Bottom of stem
Pons
Involved with sleeping, walking, and dreaming;
relay station that carries signals between the cerebrum and cerebellum.
Reticular Formation
Arouses cortex; screens incoming information and sends it to higher up in the brain.
-monitors just in case something happens; stands guard.
Cerebellum
Regulates movement and balance.
-Remembers simple skills and routines
-Helps control fast movements.
-Analyzes sensory data, and understands words.
-Organizes sensory data and stores memories of our movements.
Thalamus
Receives information from the peripheral nervous system and sends it to the central nervous system and receives from the central nervous system and sends it to the peripheral nervous system
-Size and shape of a walnut at the core of the brain.
Hypothalamus
-Separate clusters of neurons have different functions.
-Responsible for: Fighting, Fleeing, Feeding, and Sex.
-Size and shape of an almond.
Limbic System
-Several loosely connected structures that many complicated behaviors demand on.
-Includes Hippocampus, Amygdala, and Septal Nuclei.
Hippocampus
Forming new memories and learning.
Amygdala
Fear and anger.
Septal Nuclei
Produces endorphins to reduce pain and pleasure when stressed or sad.
Cerebrum
-The cortex which is the outer layer holds the mind.
-Includes cerebral hemispheres.
-Connected by the corpus callosum.
The Cortex
A group of organs.
-Contains lobes; brain regions.
-Lots of neurons with specific jobs.
Lobes of the Cortex
-Frontal Lobe
-Parietal Lobe
-Temporal Lobe
-Occipital Lobe
Frontal Lobe
Planning and Problem-Solving.
Parietal Lobe
Sensory perception.
Temporal Lobe
Auditory signals get processed.
Occipital Lobe
Visual information is processed.
Brocas Area
-Area in the left frontal lobe.
-Damage to this area would cause people to struggle to produce sounds of speech.
Wernicke’s Area
Damage to the left temporal lobe would cause people to struggle with putting together words in meaningful ways.
How do neurons send signals?
Through an electrochemical process.
-Electrical: within a neuron.
-Chemical: Between neurons
Generates impulses signals inside a single neuron and that charge builds up and then will fire and travel down the axon.
Components of Neurons
Contains:
-Soma
-Dendrites
-Axon
Soma
Cell body.
-Takes in nutrients.
-Provides energy.
Dendrites
Receives messages from other neurons.
-Gets stimulated by something outside neurons.
-Treelike; Branches.
Axon
Sends messages to other neurons.
-Carries signals.
-Long tail.
-Signals travel down and head to the dendrites of nearby nerons.
Dopamine
Neurotransmitter that produces pleasure and deep satisfaction.
Circadian Rhythms
24 hr biological cycle.
Suprachiasmatic Nuclei (SCN)
Sends signals its dark outside so we get sleepy and sends signals its light outside so we feel awake.
Electroencephalograph
Converts electric activity in the brian into wavy line = brain waves.
Sleep Stages
-Stage 1
-Stage 2
-Stage 3
-Rem
Stage 1
-Drifting off
-Transitional stage
-About 10 mins
-Theta waves.
Stage 2
-Light sleep
-Irregular brain waves
-Burst of rapid activities
-Slowing down
-Sleep spindles
-Alpha waves
Stage 3
-Deepest sleep
-Very slow
-Delta waves
-Least amount of brain activity
Rem (Rapid Eye Movement)
-Dream sleep
-Looks like beta
Include: Rapid eye movement, irregular breathing, relaxed muscle, higher blood pressure.
Why do we go through Rem?
1.Restoration
2. Brain development
3. We need to sleep
Restoration
Our body needs time to restore itself and build things back up.
Deprivation
This leads to a reduced immune system and in Human Growth Hormone and this leads to high blood pressure, overeating, and weight gaining.
Rem Rebound
Prevented from sleep leads to many more rem episodes.
Brain Development
A lot of brain development occurs in our sleep and in Rem.
Dreams
Story-like dreams occuring during REM
Content of Dreams
-Current concerns
-Activation-synthesis
Priming
Increased readiness of a memory to be activated.
Consciousness
Awareness of perceptio, htoughts, emotions, and the environment.
Components of Conciousness
- Attention
- Awareness
Attention
Concentration of mental activities, which is limited, selective, and may be voluntary or involuntary. (Necessary for awareness)
Awareness
Activetly knowing about events
Benefits of consciousness
- Control over our behaviors
- Be able to use memories, imagination, decisions. and judgements.
Costs of Consciousness
- Self-Critism
- Negative emotions
Multitasking
Switching our attention from one task to another very quickly it seems liek were doing it at the same time.
There are costs:
-It takes longer to complete task
-You make more mistakes for both.
