Intro to Psych Exam #1 Flashcards
what are some important milestones in psychology’s early development
1879 in Leipzig, Germany
-Willhelm Wundt: father of psychology
–Started first lab
–1st person to study how we think, behave
–We can measure our experiences
–Studied reaction time: our experiences take time to process
Structuralism
-The structure of the mind
-There is a structure to the mind that can be studied
Introspection
-One talks about their experience
-What I feel, see, hear
-Very biased
Edward Bradford Titchener
-brought structuralism to America
-used introspection – wanted to catalogue people’s experiences
William James – shifts focus to functionalism
-the brain isn’t composed of separate parts
-it works as one to perform a function
-“the running created the fear, the fear doesn’t create the running”
how did psychology continue to develop from the 1920s through today
-forces of psychology
psychoanalytic
behaviorism
cognitive psychology
psychoanalytic
Freudian psychology
-unconscious thought processes
-there is an unconscious desire for death
-there are areas of the brain that influence how we think/behave
-we take in information without being aware of it
-instincts
take away
-an idea we can measure is the idea of familiarity
-our palms respond differently to emotions - sweat glands (galvanic skin test)
behaviorism
with the right set of circumstances/environment, you can make someone whoever you want to make them
behaviorists stressed the idea of psychology being a science
Watson and Skinner
-founders of behaviorism
-stresses protection and control
behaviorism take away
with the right reinforcers you can manipulate behavior
Skinner manipulated his professor
homeless man vs. businessman jaywalking
cognitive psychology
we thing of the brain as a computer system
processes codes and stores information
newer focuses of psychology
humanistic
neuropsychology
evolutionary psychology
sociocultural
humanistic
“the 4th force of psychology”
we need to learn to understand ourselves
very positive view of humanity - “we are a thought seeking people”
emphasize free will and self-actualization
humanistic people
Carl Rogers
-unconditional positive regard
–we need to be in a relationship where we are given unconditional love
Abraham Maslow
-hierarchy of needs
–we are motivated by needs
both stress need for belonging, the need for love
neuropsychology
studies the physical brain
evolutionary psychology
looks at how people have adapted to survive
sociocultural
how society/culture influences who we are
culture has determined what is acceptable for genders
psychology today
the study of behavior and mental processes
biopsychosocial model
brings together biological, psychological, and social aspects
looks like a spinning wheel
-biopsychosocial in the middle
-behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, neuroscience/biopsychology, evolutionary, sociocultural, and psychoanalytic/psychodynamic on the outside
nature vs nurture
“nurture works on what nature endows”
you can help foster something in somebody but you can’t make them something they’re not
natural selection
BOOK
3 levels of analysis
Biological influence
-natural selection
Psychological: learning expectations
Social/cultural: society expectations
hindsight bias
after we find something out we say it was obvious
- good ideas are like good inventions; one they are created they seem obvious
- “I knew the answer was B”
- helps us cope with our situation
- when we gen new information, it is easier to assimilate it into our brain like we already knew it rather than replace old information
judgmental overconfidence
we think we know more than we do
tendency to percieve order in random events
how we make sense of the world
gives us a sense of control
“karma”
why are science-based answers more valid than those based on intuition and common sense?
-look as hindsight bias, overconfidence, and creating patterns
THINK
how do theories advance psychological science
- theory
- hypothesis
- operational definition
- replication
develop a theory -principle that helps organize or predict behavior develop a hypothesis -must be testable -operational definition --how to make a subject testable --finding specific, observable, testable constructs -replicate
how do psychologists observe and describe behavior
- case study
- survey
- population
- random sample
- naturalistic observations
case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys are all forms of descriptive research
- case studies take 1 person, study them, and make observations to generalize to the population
- naturalistic observation observes behavior in the natural setting
- -systematic
- -does not explain behavior
- surveys look at many cases but in less depth
- -wording effects - do a reliability test to determine effects of working
- -must sample randomly to be able to generalize results to the population
positive vs. negative correlation
-why do they enable prediction but not cause and effect
positive
-as one goes up the other goes up
negative
-as one goes up the other goes down
correlation coefficient
how strong the correlation is between variables (positive, negative, zero)
scatterplot
looks at the strength of the correlation and the type of relationship
what are the characteristics of experimentation that make it possible to isolate cause and effect
experiment random assignment double-blind procedure placebo effect experimental group control group independent variable dependent variable confounding variable
why are psychologists concerned with human biology
- biological perspective
- Phineas Gage example
if you don’t understand how something works you can’t understand why it doesn’t work
what are neurons and how do they transmit information
- neuron
- dendrite
- axon
- myelin sheath
- action potential
neuron -a nerve cell -basic building block of the nervous system glial cells -hold neurons together -help insulate and perform clean-up tasks dendrite -look like branches -receives information from another neuron -push message down to the cell body cell body -pushes information down to the axon axon -propagates AP to target cell myelin sheath -helps to insulate the neuron -helps send the information faster
how do nerve cells communicate with other nerve cells
neuron is depolarized, which sends an AP down the axon
-some messages are excitatory, some are inhibitory
neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) send information between neurons at the synapse
how do neurotransmitters influence behavior and how do drugs and other chemicals affect neurotransmission
endorphins
-elevate mood and reduce pain
-body’s natural opiate
-linked to body’s ability to handle stress
serotonin
-mood, sleep, arousal, and appetite
-possibly helps other neurotransmitters function well
-we need amino acids (tryptophan) to stimulate serotonin
dopamine
-influences movement, learning, attention and emotion
-reward and pleasure
-linked to our ability to handle pain
-high levels of dopamine can lead to difficulty with memory and learning
drug use and the brain
drugs mimic neurotransmitters
agonist: mimics
antagonist: block neurotransmitters from passing from neuron to neuron
what are the functions of the nervous system’s main divisions?
- CNS
- PNS
- SNS
- ANS
- SympNS
- PSNS
- reflex
CNS -integrate information from PNS PNS -carries information throughout body SNS -voluntary control ANS -involuntary tasks SympNS -arousal -climax of sexual arousal PSNS -calms -initiates sexual functioning reflex -body reacts without conscious action to a stimulus
how does the endocrine system transmit its information and interact with the nervous system
- hormones
- hypothalamus
- pituitary gland
hormones
-can have a delayed response
hypothalamus
-brain region controlling the pituitary gland
-secretes hormones
pituitary gland
-secretes many different hormones, some of which affect other glands
how do neuroscientists study the brain's connections to behavior and mind -lesion -electroencephalogram (EEG) -positron emission tomography (PET) -magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) fMRI (functional MRI)
lesion
-BOOK
EEG
-measures brainwaves
-used to determine if someone is brain dead
-people with ADHD
–more likely to have theta waves
—waves you have right before entering deep sleep
–there’s an underactivity in the frontal lobe (helps us plan and focus)
PET scan
looks at brain activity
- glucose, blood flow, and oxygen uptake
- blood flow increase will occur to areas of the brain we are using
MRI
gives us a picture of our brain in terms of white matter and grey matter
lets us know places that are under/overdeveloped
can see that people with schizophrenia have an enlarged space in the brain
functional MRI
reveals brain activity and function rather than structures
successive MRI pictures that lets us see the changes in your brain as you do something
case study
-can our thoughts and experiences change our thoughts on pleasure
functions of important lower-level brain structures
- brainstem
- thalamus
- cerebellum
brainstem -medulla --controls HR and breathing -pons --"bridge" --coordinates involuntary movement (posture, swallowing, blinking) -reticular formation --helps regulate alertness/drowsiness --possibly connected to symptoms of ADHD -thalamus thalamus -sensory switchboard -every sense (except for smell) comes through here and goes to other sections of the brain cerebellum -"little brain" -helps coordinate voluntary movement --injury can lead to difficulty walking, balance problems --may be linked to autism
limbic system’s structures and functions
- limbic system
- amygdala
- hypothalamus
- hippocampus
limbic (border) system
- manages emotions
- connects thought to body
- -border between brain stem and cortex
- represents 20% of brain
- coordinates motivations, basic drives, memories
- can also be called the “social reading cue system”
amygdala function
deals with strong emotions
-lets us know if something is dangerous
sends information to prefrontal cortex for interpretation
if amygdala is stimulated we feel self-protection, fear
more active when talking to stranger than someone we trust
triggers adrenal gland to release adrenaline
hypothalamus function
master control center of hormones
-controls internal state of body
maintenance and reward
-could be linked to addiction
hippocampus function
processes memories
neurogenesis
-we continually shape and change our hippocampus
affects stress hormones
-stress hormones make it difficult to learn
-stress hormones also destroy brain cells in hippocampus
cerebral cortex regions
cerebral cortex glial cells (glia) frontal lobes parietal lobes occipital lobes temporal lobes motor cortex sensory cortex
cerebral cortex function
integrates information
body’s ultimate control and information processing system
makes up 85% of total brain weight
glial cells
help insulate and perform cleanup functions
hold neurons together
frontal lobes
executive functions
-judgement, planning, impulse control, self-control
involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments
integrates information from other ares of the brain
motor cortex
decreased activation in persons with schizophrenia
parietal lobes function
include the sensory cortex
allows us to integrate bodily sensations
-awareness of limbs
language abilities
performing spatial and mathematical reasoning
-we can know when someone is thinking about numbers because of activation
-rotate box in space - engineers used parietal lobe
Touch and body position
occipital lobes functions
include the visual areas
receive visual information from the opposite visual field
-thalamus may be connected
visual agnosia
-you can see but you have trouble integrating parts to make a whole
temporal lobes functions
include the auditory processing areas enables us to recognize faces hearing and speaking coherently understanding verbal information prosopagnosia -can't recognize faces
motor cortex
rear of frontal lobes
controls voluntary muscle movements from the opposite side of the body
sensory cortex
receives information on touch, temperature, pain, etc.
to what extent can a damaged brain reorganize itself
- plasticity
- neurogenesis
our brain can change - we can generate new neurons
constraint-induced therapy
-make someone else do a task by doing it for them
–move someone’s hand in the hope of rebuilding neurons
reassignment of function
-persons who are blind, deaf, etc. reassign that part of their brain to help other areas
neurogenesis
-can replace old neurons with new ones
-we continually shape and change our hippocampus
corpus callosum function
connects hemispheres
when severed people were no longer able to connect info from one side of the brain to the other
lateralization does not happen if severed
HE—–ART
-they will say they saw art, but they will point to he if asked what they saw
hemispheres
right hemisphere dominates first 3 years of life
left begins to take effect after this
-partly due to learning thinking
what do split brains reveal about the functions of our two brain hemispheres
BOOK
what is the “dual processing” being revealed by today’s cognitive neuroscience
- consciousness
- blindsight
conscious “high” track makes conscious decisions - thinking
unconscious “low” track takes information we are not aware of
consciousness
ability to act
our awareness of ourselves and the environment
blindsight
a person believes they are no longer able to see
however, they don’t have full damage to their occipital lobe
the person will move so they don’t walk or run into something
selective inattention
what we are not focused on, we do not notice
inattentional blindness
don’t notice gorilla bosed on what you are focusing on
change blindness
don’t realize person is switched
choice blindness
determine favorite of two jams, ask if they want more of the favorite, give them the other one and they will not notice
your brain will adapt to whatever you are given
how do our biological rhythms influence our daily functioning
circadian rhythm
-refers to the body’s natural 24-hour cycle
body temperature rises when waking, dips in the afternoon, and dips at night before bed
pineal gland releases melatonin to signal that it is time for sleep
-optic nerve signals the release of melatonin from the pineal gland
sleep meds reduce restorative sleep
what is the biological rhythm of our sleep and dreaming stages
NREM 1 -starting to go to sleep -theta waves - quick waves -20 minutes NREM-2 -sleep spindles - rapid movement in brain activity -sleep talking most often occurs here NREM-3 -slow wave sleep -lasts 30 minutes -hard to wake up NREM-4 -similar waves to NREM-3 -where you sleepwalk -important for growth and metabolism --growth hormones increase REM sleep -HR rises and breathing becomes rapid -eye movements let us know you are starting to dream sleep paralysis because motor cortex is blocked paradoxical sleep -the brain is active but the body is immobile
alpha waves
sleep
halluciantions
delta waves
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functions of sleep
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what do we dream
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what are the functions of dreams (REM rebound)
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how does sleep loss affect us and what are the major sleep disorders
- insomnia
- narcolepsy
- sleep apnea
- night terrors
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