First exam Flashcards
Wilhelm Wundt defined psychology as the scientific study of conscious experience, which school of thought/perspective/approach did he establish?
Structuralism
What is a positive correlation?
A positive correlation is a relationship between two variables where if one variable increases, the other one also increases. A positive correlation also exists in one decreases and the other also decreases.
In an experiment, each participant receives one level of the independent variable. The design is called a:
Within subjects design
The three subtypes of descriptive-correlational research are:
naturalistic observation, case study and surveys
In a correlational design, a negative correlation would be seen with:
As values in the first variable increases, values on the second variable increases, or:
As values in the first variable decrease, values on the second variable also decrease.
Ego:
Operates at a conscious level.
Represents your sense of reality
Guides the ID to gratification via realistic and appropriate thought
ID:
Selfish instincts
Largest and least controlled part of the brain
Feeds on needs and desires
Superego:
Ethical standard of society
Limits both the ID + Ego based gratifications
What is the metaphor for Psychodynamic/Psychoanalytic And why?
Iceberg
Conscious mental processes occur at the tip, but why we do what we do/feel what we feel is mostly below our surface, in the unconscious.
What is the metaphor for Behaviourist
And why?
Black Box
Stimulus enters the box and a response comes out.
What happens inside is not the behaviourists’ business. Inaccessible via scientific investigation.
What is the metaphor for Humanistic
And why?
Bottle of Milk
Cream always rises to the top: does not matter how disadvantaged one may be, there is a drive/desire to achieve all that we are capable of.
What is the metaphor for Cognitive
And why?
Computer
Thinking is processing: the environment provides input which is transformed, stored and retrieved using mental “programs” which lead to specific response outputs.
What is the metaphor for Evolutionary
And why?
Race for survival and reproduction
Emphasis on natural selection: adaptive behavioural traits are passed on through the generations
What are the two types of Conditioning?
Operant
Classical
Which 2 famous names used animals in their experiments?
Operant:
B.F. Skinner with pigeons and rats inside the Skinner Box
Classical:
Ivan Pavlov with dogs
What are the 5 stages, from 1-5, in Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs?
Self-actualisation- Morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of predjudice, acceptance of facts.
Esteem- self esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, respect by others.
Love/belonging- Friendship, family, sexual intimacy.
Safety- Security of body, of employment, of resources, of morality, of family, of health, of the preoperty.
Physiological- Breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion.
Which research methods do all 5 perspectives use?
Psychodynamic:
Case Studies
Behaviourists:
Experimental methods
Humanistic:
Person-centred therapeutic methods
Cognitive:
Experimental methods,
Computer modelling
Evolutionary:
Deduction,
Cross-species and cross-cultural comparisons
Definition of Variable
Any phenomenon that can take on more than one value
Definition of Hypothesis
A tentative belief about the way two (or more) variables interact/impact each other.
Definition of Correlational Designs
Concerned with predicting behaviour
Reason for Experimental Designs
Concerned with establishing the causes of behaviour
Definition of Continuous Variable
Has a continuum of possible values and varies across this range
Definition of Negative Correlations
High values of one variable are associated with low values of the other variable.
Three types of Descriptive Design research:
Case studies, naturalistic observations and survey research
Autonomic Nervous System has two divisions:
Sympathetic: Emergency system, typically activated in face of a threat (e.g., fight or flight)
Parasympathetic: Vegetative functions (e.g., digestion), ‘business as normal’
Reason for Central Nervous System (CNS)
Integrates and coordinates all body functions, processes all incoming neural messages, and sends out commands to different parts of the body
The hindbrain
Medulla Oblongata: Extension of spinal cord that regulates heartbeat, circulation and respiration
Cerebellum: Involved in movement, learning and sensory discrimination
Reticular Formation: A network of neurons involved in consciousness and arousal
Pons: Links Medulla Oblongata and Cerebellum with upper part of brainstem
The midbrain
Tectum: involved in orienting to visual and auditory stimuli
Tegmentum: is involved in movement and arousal
Play an important role in learning to produce behaviours that minimise unpleasant (aversive) consequences and maximise pleasant (rewarding) consequences
Other Important Non-cortical Structures
Hypothalamus: Helps regulate eating, sleeping, sexual activity and emotional experiences
Thalamus: Processes incoming sensory information and transmits it to higher brain areas
Basal Ganglia: Involved in the control of movement and also plays a part in ‘automatic’ responses and judgements
Limbic System – main structures
Septal area: nuclei involved in pleasure, relief from pain, emotionally-significant learning
Amygdala: involved in learning and remembering emotionally significant events, and recognition of fear
Hippocampus: involved in the storage of new memories
Speech is localized in the _______ hemisphere
Left
The two brain hemispheres embody different types of processing
Left hemisphere tends to be more analytic
Right hemisphere tends to be more holistic
Females typically score higher on tests of
verbal fluency, perceptual speed and manual dexterity.
Males typically score higher on tests of
mathematical ability and spatial processing.
Memory is
the process by which we take something we have observed (encountered), and convert it into a form we can store, retrieve and use.
Encoding
getting information into memory, forming a
memory code
Storage
refers to keeping the information in memory
Short-term memory (STM)
Information from the sensory registers that is attended to moves into STM
Holds a small amount of information (limited capacity of approximately 7 2 chunks of inormation) for a short period of time (limited duration of approximately 20–30 seconds)
If material is rehearsed then it can be maintained in STM for a longer period (e.g., chanting a phone number until it is dialled = maintenance rehearsal)
Research demonstrating the Serial Position Curve supports the existence of
STM versus LTM
Primacy effect reflects LTM
Recency effect reflects STM
The ‘Working Memory’ Approach of Baddeley memory model
Memory is no longer thought of in terms of a serial processing model
Memory is now thought to be comprised of a number of modules which are discrete but interdependent (parallel processing)
It is recognised that remembering is not always conscious or retroactive
Memory is no longer likened to the processing of a computer
Working memory is temporary storage and processing of information is used to:
solve problems
respond to environmental demands
achieve goals.
Baddeley and Hitch suggest that working memory is comprised of three memory systems.
Working memory systems
Central executive: controls the flow and processing of information (limited capacity)
Visual memory store (visuospatial sketchpad)
A temporary image (20–30 seconds) that stores information about the location and nature of objects
Verbal memory store (phonological loop)
Involves storage of verbal items (equates to STM). It has limited capacity.
Working memory is thought to be directed by the
prefrontal cortex
Implicit memory
memory that is expressed in behaviour but does not require conscious recollection (e.g., driving a car)
Explicit memory
memory that is expressed through conscious recollection (e.g., remembering telephone numbers)
Involves the conscious retrieval of information
Neuropsychology of long-term memory
The medial temporal region (esp. hippocampus) plays a key role in consolidation of explicit declarative information.
Frontal lobes more important in working, procedural, and aspects of episodic memory.
Posterior regions of the cortex are involved in memory by creating mental representations.
Amygdala is important in emotional memory - PTSD
Levels of processing long-term memory
The storage of information in LTM requires that it be cast into a representational form (encoded)
The type and level of encoding influences the accessibility of information
Levels of processing
Shallow processing: focus on the physical characteristics of the stimulus
Deep processing: focus on the meaning of the stimulus
Theories of forgetting
Decay theory: memory is like a fading neural trace that is weakened with disuse
Interference theory: conflict between new and old memories
Proactive: old interferes with new
Retroactive: new interferes with old
Motivated forgetting implies that forgetting can avoid painful memories.
Repressed memories
