final psych Flashcards
circadian rhythms
refers to the body’s natural 24- hour cycle matched to the day / night cycle of light and dark
what changes during those 24 hours?
body temperature, arousal/energy, and mental sharpness
“larks” and “owls”?
daily rhythms vary from person to person - OWLS evening peak -> 20 year olds
- LARKS morning peak -> 50 year olds
what to SCN neuron’s link to?
pinsal gland which secretes melatonin
BRAC: Basic Rest Activity Cycle
Beta waves occur when awake and alert (15-30 cps)
Alpha waves occur when relaxed and drowsy (8-12 cps)
Stages of Sleep - Stage 1 is:
light sleep
theta waves (3.5-7.5 cps)
lasts few minutes
may experience body jerks
Stage 2 of Sleeping
sleep deepens - muscles more relaxed
harder to awaken
Stage 3 of Sleeping
sleep deepens
regular appearance of delta waves (0.5-2 cps)
Stage 4 of Sleeping
sleep deepens
delta waves dominate pattern
stage 3 + 4 = “slow wave sleep”
after stage 4, go back through earlier stages stage 3 then 2 but not another stage 1 instead a new one appears = REM
R.E.M (Rapid Eye Movement)
high arousal, frequent dreaming
EUGENE ASERINSKY’S discovery - 1953, dreams occurred during periods of wild brain activity of wild brain activity and REM sleep
what happens during R.E.M?
heart rate rises, breathing becomes rapid, sleep paralysis occurs sometimes known as “paradoxical sleep” and genitals are aroused (may not be caused by dream and stay this way after REM is over)
falling asleep
regulated by basal forebrain + regions of brainstem
r.e.m sleep continued…
regulated by brainstem (reticular formation)
- limbic system activity increases
-motor cortex active but signals are blocked
-decreased activity in prefrontal cortex
why do we sleep?
its evolutionary, and an evolved sleep wake pattern increases the chance of survival
it also reduces PREDATION
& optimizes food acquisition
- mechanism for conserving energy
restoration + evolutionary theories
- contribute to 2 factor model of sleep
INSOMNIA - most common sleep disorder (10-40%) of the population
Pseudoinsomniacs
complain of insomnia but sleep normally
they truly believe they have insomnia
Insomnia treatments =
stimulus control
- based on learning principles
- associate stimuli in sleep environment only with sleep
Cataplexy (Narcolepsy)
sudden loss of muscle tone, cause is unknown and it might be genetic it has EXTREME daytime sleepiness and sudden uncontrollable sleep attacks
sleep apnea
repeated cycle in which breathing stops and restarts during sleep about 1-5% of population
- lasts 20-40 seconds up to 1 min
severe cases = 400-500 times a night COMMON CAUSE - obstruction of upper airway
sleepwalking
occurs in stage 3 + 4
common in children 10-30%
causes - hereditary, stress, alcohol
treatment –> psychotherapy, hypnosis
hallucinogens
modifys brain chemistry
crosses blood - brain barrier
facilitates synaptic transmission
agonists
increase neurotransmitter activity
antagonists
inhibit to decrease neurotransmitter activity
tolerence/ withdrawal
decrease in responsively to drug (need larger dose)
neural - up regulation / homeostasis
metabolic: down regulation
induction of enzymes in the liver
behavioural = learning to recognize and compensate for effects of intoxication
environment is a powerful influence
classical conditioning - environment becomes associated with drug
- physical setting triggers compensatory responses
depressants
decrease nervous system activity
nervous system depressant
initial upper phase then brain centres become depressed
- increases activity of GABA (main inhibitory neurotransmitter)
decreases activity if glutamate (major excitatory neurotransmitter)
combination creates “high” & then down phase
alcohol myopia
shortsightedness in thinking
tranquilizers
depress nervous system
ex. sleeping pills
highly addictive
amphetamines
increase dopamine + nonepinephrine
- heavy use can produce amphetamine psychosis
ecstacy
- MDMA
- feelings of pleasure and empathy
- interferes with serotonin reuptake warmth
cocaine
- blocks reuptake of norepinephrine
- fever, convulsions, hallucinations, delusions
crack
chemically converted form
effects are faster and more intense then coke
opium
product of poppy plant
- morphine, codeine, heroin derived from opium = “opiates”
2% of Americans have used heroin
25% of them have become addicted
behaviourism
treated organism as tabula rasa
john watson + little albert
ethology
focused on animal behaviour in natural environments
personal adaptation
involved learning
interactions with immediate + past environments
species adaptation
involves natural selection
adaptations passed on thru genes
become part of species “nature”
influences of culture
skills, patterns of social behaviour, beliefs and preferences, sense of identity, how brain organizes perception
habituation
decreases in response strength to a repeated stimulus
- not the same as sensory habituation
habituation = simple form of learning
sensory habituation
classical conditioning
when a NEUTRAL STIMULUS produces a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally produces a response, first studied by IVAN PAVLOV
Ivan Pavlov
studied salivary responses in dogs which is a natural response and no learning is involved
noted - dogs salivate at sounds ex. footsteps, tone
acquisition
period during which association is being learned have stimulus + a response to it which requires no learning and pair this response with another stimulus
UCS - UNCONDITIONED STIMULUS
draws out a reflexive or innate, unconditioned response without prior learning
UCR - UNCONDITIONED RESPONSE
response drawn out by UCS without prior learning
CONDITIONED STIMULUS (CS)
through association with UCS, comes to draw out a conditioned response similar to the original UCR
CONDITIONED RESPONSE (CR)
response is drawn out by a conditioned stimulus
are CR and CS the same thing?
yes they are, what draws them out/ elicits them is different
therapies
- exposure therapy
extinction of CR through exposure to CS without presence of UCS
systematic desensitization
muscular relaxation paired with gradual exposure to fear inducing stimulus
flooding
exposure to fearful stimulus
UR exposure therapy
effective for phobias
influences of classical conditioning
attraction of other people
positive, negative attitudes
conditioned aversions
dislike a certain food / drink bc u got sick previously by it before
real life examples of classical conditioning
coyotes killing sheep - problem to sheep farmers
study unconditioned coyotes not to eat the sheep
sheep meat (CS) sprinkled with a chemical (UCS) that would produce a stomachache (UCR) –> AFTER COYOTES ATE THE TREATED MEAT, THEY AVOIDED THE LIVE SHEEP (CR)
in the Rescorla- Wagner model of classical conditioning a CS serves to set up an expectation. The expectation in turn leads to an array of behaviour associated with the presence of the CS.
ESCAPE conditioning
learn responses to terminate aversive stimuli
AVOIDANCE conditioning
learn responses to avoid aversive stimuli
what is the TWO factor theory of avoidance
both classical conditioning and operant conditioning and association between 2 stimuli develops classical conditioning
negative reinforcement maintains avoidance response
operant conditioning
what are the neural elements of operant conditioning
reward centers of the brain are located in the limbic system
what are the structures and pathways in the brain that deliver rewards through stimulation:
medial forebrain bundle, hypothalamus, nucleus accumbent
what are the 4 steps of modelling
attention, retention, reproduction, motivation
3 processes of memory
encoding –> translating into neural code
- storage: retained overtime
- retrieval: pulled back out
know how an experiment is run
explain a memory test
sensory memory
briefly holds sensory info
-iconic stores and visual information
lasts fraction of a second
echoic stores
auditory info
lasts about 2 seconds
partial trace can last longer
SENSORY REGISTERS ARE INITIAC INFO
iconic memory test
when a grid of letters is flashed on a screen for only 1/20th of a second, it is difficult to recall individual letters. But if prompted to remember a particular now right after the grid is shown, research participants will do so with high accuracy
short term / working memory
temporary holds limited amount of information, stores and processes info of which we are conscious
how to increase short term memory
chunking, combining individual items into larger units of meaning
“shelf life” of 20 secs for info
rapidly lost unless we actively do something abt it
a 1959 experiment showed how quickly short term memory fades without rehearsal
3 components of short term memory at work
phonological loop (auditory storage)
visual spatial sketchpad
central executive
(directs attention, integration of input and involvement of pre frontal cortex)
long term memory
recency effect
info still in short term memory known as “double dissociation”
encoding
- effortful processing
auto processing
- recalling what you did yesterday
prior knowledge shapes encoding
development of expert knowledge
process of developing schemas
ex. chess players
types of long term memory
declarative - can be verbalized
2 categories - episodic –> personal experiences
- semantic –> general factual knowledge
procedural
= non declarative memory
= reflected in skills and actions
explicit memory
conscious intentional memory retrieval
implicit memory
memory influences behaviour
- no conscious awareness
what is the case of henry molaison
the removal of his hippocampus at 27 ended his seizures but also ended his ability to form new explicit memories and Henry could learn new skills, procedures, locations of objects but had no memory of the instructors
genotype
the set of genes that an individual inherits
phenotype
observable properties of the body and behavioural traits
how are genes passed along thru reproduction?
dan exists in chromosomes
the normal human cell has 23 chromosome pairs
- all humans have 22 of these pairs, the last pair is XX chromosomes for females and XY for males
mitosis
when cells (other then reproductive cells) divide to create identical cells
meiosis
reproductive cells replicate and divide many times to create non-identical cells
external validity
can the results be applied to other people, setting and conditions
- property of an experiment in which the variables have been operationally defined in a normal, typical or realistic way
ACh
control of behaviour
learning and memory
= memory loss
= convulsions
dopamine
voluntary movement
experiencing pleasure
- linked to Parkinson’s
and schizophrenia
divisions of nervous system
CNS (central nervous system)
- brain + spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System
- connects CNS w/ muscles, glands and sensory receptors
Somatic Nervous System
- sensory + motor neurons bind to create nerves and transmits messages to sensory receptors
automatic nervous system
controls glands and smooth muscles in body organs - sympathetic nervous system: arouses body “fight or flight”
parasympathetic nervous system
slows down body processes
spinal cord
most nerves enter / leave thru spinal cord
spinal reflexes do not involve the brain
brain
1.4kg –> 2% of body weight but 20% of oxygen
metabolic rate = constant
increases slightly when dreaming
dr. Wilder Penfield
- founded montreal neurological institute 1934
he stimulated parts of the cortex with mild electrical current - mapped multiple areas=
motor + sensory areas; areas for smell, touch etc.
electrical recording (eeg)
records electrical activity of thousands of neutrons
some EEG patterns correspond to wakefulness and sleep
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
measures response to magnetic pulse
more sensitive then CT or PET scan
medulla
heart rate + respiration
neurone cross over
pons
regulate sleep, dreaming and respiration
cerebellum
muscular movement
learning + memory
frontal lobes
self awareness, planning, initiative, responsibility and emotional experience
pre frontal cortex
goal setting, judgement and planning
left hemisphere of brain
verbal, logical abilities, positive emotions
right hemisphere
spatial relations, melodies, negative emotions
neural plasticity
change in structure and function
transduction
what takes place when many sensors in the body convert physical signals from the environment into encoded neural signals sent to the CNS
What does lowering the absolute threshold do?
highers the intensity
what can signal detection theory show us?
perception is a decision
how bold or cautious are we?
what is the signal detection theory?
ask participants to indicate if they percieved a stimulus
2 conditions - stimulus present; absent
4 possible outcomes=
hit, miss, false alarm, correct rejection
vision
light waves measured in nanometers
cornea
transparent protective structure
pupil
adjustable opening that controls amount of light
lens
elastic structure for focusing
thinner to focus on nearby objects
retina
photoreceptors transduce light energy into electrical impulses
myopia
nearsightedness
eyeball is longer - back to front
hyperopia
farsightedness
eyeball is too short
lens focuses light behind retina
what are the 2 types of photoreceptors
cones = for colour and detail
function = best in high illumination
rods = function best in low illumination - 500 times more sensitive to light than cones
what do rods and cells have in common?
they have synaptic connections with bipolar cells and bipolar cells synapse with ganglion cells
visual transduction
actiion of photopigments
-absorption of light changes
rate of neurotransmitter releases
and the greater rate of release = stronger the signal is passed on
