Final Review Flashcards
What is scientific explanation?
careful and systematic observation of natural phenomenon; method for arriving at knowledge about the natural world, describing it accurately, and explaining why things are the way that they are
Problems in the practice of science?(9)
1) Underpowered
2) Publication bias; “Failed” studies not published
3) Fraud
4) Implausible Results
5) Failures to Replicate
6) P-hacking
7) Vagues theories, broad conclusion
8) Sloppy observation, measurement, experiment
9) Improper statistical analysis (bad p value / incorrect interpretation)
What is pre-registration? importance?
Data analysis plan (how you run/conduct study) posted before they are analyzed
Benefits:
- Distinguishes confirmatory/exploratory analyses
- Reduces p-hacking
What does it mean to say that a study is “underpowered”?
Many studies dont collect sufficient observations/not large enough to detect effects
Correlation vs Causation
correlation: measure of relatedness of two or more variables
causation: determination that one variable causes—is responsible for—an effect
Falsifiability (and the problem w unfalsifiable theories)
ability to disprove
NO WAY TO DISPROVE = UNSCIENTIFIC
- A theory that can account for nearly every possible observation is not a theory at all.
- Unfalsifiability came partly from a reliance on unobservable constructs (“ids” and “egos”).
Three dimensions of methods (observation vs experiment/lab vs field/self report vs behavior)
Observation = watch natural world, don’t intervene
Experimental = intervene, manipulate variable
Lab = in the lab, control variables
Field = outside, natural
Self report = survey
Behavior = watch behavior
What is P-hacking?
Exploiting researcher degrees of freedom to get significant results
Paradox in psych is..?
Most published studies are underpowered AND statistically significant
What are Piaget’s 4 stages of development?
1) Sensorimotor
0-2 yrs
senses & actions
2) Preoperational
2-7 yrs
language & mental images
3) Concrete operational
7-12 yrs
logical thinking & categories
4) Formal operational
12+ yrs
hypothetical thinking & scientific reasoning
Peripheral vs Central nervous system
peripheral:
1) Somatic
- cranial
- spinal
–> process sensory info & control muscle movement
2) Autonomic
- sympathetic
- parasympathetic
–> control muscles & visceral organs
central:
- fore, mid, hindbrain
- mastermind of the body; controlling thoughts, emotions, movements, and senses
Localization vs plasticity
plasticity: experience cause reorganize of brain; ability to change, adapt to experience
localization: specific functions –> specific regions of brain
Basic structures of the brain associated with psychological functioning
frontal lobe:
-movement
-thinking
-behavior
temporal:
-hearing
-learning
-feeling
-memory
parietal:
-language
-touch
occipital:
-sight
cerebellum:
-balance
-coordination
brain stem:
-breathing, heart rate, temp
7 Kinds of imaging methods
1) EEG
2) CAT
3) fMRI
4) TMS
5) PET
6) DOI
7) tDCS
Electromagnetic induction over scalp
*Disrupts neuronal activity in targeted
region (depolarizes or hyper polarizes
neurons)
*(For now) penetration is limited to a
few cm deep, and spatial resolution is
low
*minor side-effects (headaches, scalp
discomfort, rare chance of seizure)
Transcranial
Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
measure of blood flow to areas
of brain (oxygenation)
* decent spatial resolution
* poor temporal resolution (signal
lags)
* expensive, inconvenient
Functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
measures electrical
activity in the brain
* good temporal resolution
(milliseconds)
*poor spatial resolution
*(fairly) non-intrusive
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Structure of a Neuron (axon, dendrite, etc.)
pic on docs
6 Primary neurotransmitters and their functions (incl. how certain drugs act by increasing or decreasing these)
1) Acetylcholine
*stimulates muscle movement, memory, arousal, attention, mood
2) Dopamine
* a monoamine, produces both
excitatory and inhibitory effects and is involved in several functions,
including learning, attention, and movement
* reinforcement; feeling of
reward
* pleasure & addiction
3) Serotonin
* regulating mood, sleep, impulsivity, aggression, and appetite
4) Norepinephrine/noradrenaline
* eating habits (stimulates intake of carbohydrates) and
alertness and wakefulness, and fight-or-flight (drugs such as beta blockers for anxiety target
norepinephrine)
5) GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)
*main inhibitory neurotransmitter in brain (low GABA linked to generalized anxiety
disorder)
6) Endorphins
*relief from pain or the stress of vigorous exercise and produce feelings of pleasure and well-
being (responsible for pleasure of sex/orgasm, eating appetizing foods, etc.)
Drugs affect neurotransmitters (5)
- Cocaine and amphetamines boost dopamine
- Redution of dopamine can help schizophrenia
- Excessive dopamine will get amphetamine psychosis (delusions and hallucinations)
- Not enough dopamine –> tardive dyskinesia (uncontrollable body movement)
- Parkinson’s disease can be treated by increasing the level of dopamine
What is neurotransmitter? Excitatory? Inhibitory?
Chemical messengers that send signals across neurons
* when sent to a 2nd
neuron…
- makes it more likely for next neuron to fire (excitatory)
*or less likely (inhibitory)
Just Noticeable Difference
The smallest difference needed in order to differentiate two stimuli.
Transduction
A process in which (physical) energy converts into another (neural) energy.
Binocular vs Monocular Depth cues
binocular: binocular disparity & convergence
monocular: motion parallax, ponzo, muller-lyer
Gestalt properties of object perception (6)
whole > parts
1) closure
2) proximity
3) symmetry
4) continuity
5) figure-ground
6) common fate
pics on google doc*
The McGurk Effect
perceives mismatch b/w sounds & visual movements of mouth; “ba” vs. “va”
The stages of sleep and their associated brain waves
Stages of sleep (4):
1) Falling asleep (NREM 1) = theta waves
2) Light sleep (NREM 2) = light sleep, sleep spindles (very high intensity brain waves)
3) NREM 3 , 20-25% of sleep = greater muscle relaxation and delta waves
4) REM
Brain activity = same as wakefulness
Dreams during this stage are vivid
What happens during REM sleep?
1) Muscles relaxed
2) Rapid eye movements
3) Dreams
Primary theories as to why we sleep
1) Conservation
2) Restoration
3) Memory consolidation/neural synthesis
Common sleep disorders (7)
1) Insomnia
* difficulty in falling or staying asleep
2) Sleep Apnea
* a disorder in which the person stops breathing for brief periods
while asleep
3) Narcolepsy
* a disorder in which sudden sleep attacks occur in the middle of
waking activities
4) Sleep Paralysis
* the experience of waking up unable to move
5) Night Terrors
* abrupt awakenings with panic and intense emotional arousal
* It is a non-REM parasomnia, occurring during slow wave sleep
6) Somnambulism (sleep walking)
* Also a non-REM parasomnia (2-14% of children)
7) REM Behavior Disorder (RBD)
* Disorder in which people act out their dreams
Freud’s three part structure of the mind (and how each is described)
1) Id (devil) - “dumb,” driven by instinct, present from birth
–does not distinguish between reality and fantasy
–operates according to the pleasure principle
2) Ego (soul) develops out of the id in infancy
–understands reality and logic
–mediator between id and superego
3) Superego (angel)
–internalization of society’s moral standards
–responsible for guilt
Freud’s stages of psychosexual development (and associated ages)
Oral Stage (Birth - 1 Year)
* Mouth –> sexual pleasure
* Weaning a child –> fixation if incorrect
* Fixation –> personality characterized by
passivity, gullibility, immaturity, and unrealistic optimism.
Anal Stage (1 - 3 Years)
* Anus –> pleasure
* Toilet training –> fixation if incorrect
* Fixation –> retentive or expulsive behaviors in
adulthood, or a personality characterized by compulsiveness,
such as a person too concerned with neatness and order.
- anal retentive
Phallic Stage (3 - 5 Years)
* genitals –> pleasure
* Oedipus complex (boys) or Electra complex (girls)
occurs
* Fixation –> excessive masculinity in males; need for attention or domination in females (“penis envy”)
Latency Stage (5 - Puberty)
*Sexuality repressed
*Children participate in hobbies, school and same-sex friendships, –> pleasure
Genital Stage (Puberty On)
*Sexual feelings re-emerge & oriented toward others
*Sexuality is consensual & adult, rather than solitary
and infantile
*Healthy adults find pleasure –> love & work
*Fixated adults have their energy tied up in earlier stages
The Stages of Memory
Sensory Memory (like a “buffer”)
* Unattended information is quickly lost
Short-term Memory (like RAM)/Working Memory
* Unrehearsed information is quickly lost
Long-term Memory (permanent(ish) storage)
* Information is lost over time
What happens in a dichotic listening task?
test w/ 2 messages sent to each ear –> selective attention: repeats 1 of 2 (the one focused on)
What is Inattentive Blindness?
brain filters out info it feels is unimportant in moment, causing failure to notice unexpected things in visual field because focus is on something else in that same field of view (balloon in air that passes by, everyone else sees but u)
Primacy/Recency effects
initial (first few) and recent (last few) most recalled easily
Encoding Specificity (e.g., context-dependent memory/
Scuba Study)
- study in same room as exam
- words on land vs water; recalled better where they learned them
3 main types of learning and how they differ from each
other (habituation, classical, operant conditioning)
- Habituation (non-associative)
- repeated exposure –> fire station siren get used to - Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning (associative)
US –> food
UR–> salivate
CS –> bell
CR –> salivate - Operant (Instrumental) Conditioning (associative)
organisms learn the
relationships between actions and rewards/punishments
+ reinforcement –> reinforcer increases behavior
- -reinforcement –> reward by REMOVING bad thing
punishment –> negative consequence to unwanted behavior
What is spontaneous recovery? (Recognize examples)
Recovery of an extinguished response that occurs with the passage of time after extinction. Can occur after extinction in either classical or instrumental conditioning. (if reintroduce bell with food again, will recover CR)
What is stimulus generalization?
stimuli similar to CS cause CR; dissimilar –> less likely (ex. candy and phone call)
The “Garcia Effect”—what it is and why it was an important demonstration.
When You Only Need Once To Learn -
Taste Aversion
Garcia (1955) found rats given sweetened water, then exposed to
radiation (to induce nausea) avoided sweet water after only one trial
important:
- Organisms are biologically prepared to learn this association
What are display rules?
informal norms about how to appropriately express emotions in a social group or culture
What are the primary functions of emotions?
Motivation to act
* Physiological arousal
* Subjective feeling
* Changes in thought
* Changes in expression (body and face)
