lecture 1-9 Flashcards
who was Wilhelm Wundt?
founder of experimental psychology
from Germany
what is voluntarism?
the idea that everybody has free will and the power to make their own decisions
who created structuralism?
Edward Tichener
who created functionalism?
William James
scientific theories must be
- testable
- falsifiable
- parsimonious
what is intergroup contact therapy?
positive intergroup contact can reduce prejudice
what is the only type of method that can proves causation
experiments
problems with correlational studies?
directionality problem; does A affect B or vice versa
third-variable problem; is there a third variable that hasn’t been considered but is affecting the final conclusion
what is a confounding variable?
anything that may unintentionally vary along with the independent variable
what does WEIRD stand for?
western educated individuals industrialized rich democratic nations
how to think critically for research claims
what was actually measured
who were the participants
are they justified
what are the two main components of the nervous system
central and peripheral
what are the two main components of the peripheral nervous system
somatic and autonomic
what are the two main components of the autonomic nervous system
sympathetic and parasympatheic
what are the types of neurons
sensory neurones
motor neurones
interneurones
afferent neurones are
sensory neurones
efferent neurones are
motor neurones
what are nodes of ranvier
spots between the myelin on the axon
schwann cells are
a type of glial cell
all or none principle
a neurone fires with the same potency every time
at rest, neurones are
polarized
negative
what charged elements are inside the cells
Na+
K-
four f’s of the hypothalamus
fighting
feeding
fleeing
fornicating
lobes of the brain
frontal
temporal
parietal
occipital
brain plasticity
the brain’s ability to be changed or reorganized as a result of experience, drugs, or injury
how does the sympathetic nervous system prepare the body for action
dilates pupils relaxes bronchi accelerates 7 strengthens heartbeat contracts blood vessels inhibits digestion
what does the endocrine system use and what does the nervous system use
endocrine: hormones
nervous: electrochemical signals
order of sensation (besides smell)
thalamus before being referred to the correct lobe
what is contralateral organization
the phenomenon that sensations from the right side of the body are processed in the left brain hemisphere and vice versa
nocireceptors
pain receptors
myelinated (A delta) fibres
sharp, immediate pain
protection
lightly/non-myelinated (C delta) fibres
dull, steady pain
recuperation
what are the two types of processing streams from the primary visual cortex
dorsal and ventral
what is the dorsal stream specialized for
spatial perception
where things are in relation to others
a parietal stream
what is the ventral stream specialized for
perception and recognition of objects
e.g. colour and shapes
a temporal stream
short wavelengths are
blue
medium wavelengths are
green
long wavelengths are
red
the three opposing pairs are
black/white
red/green
blue/yellow
figure ground relationship
whatever is not the focus of the visual field is assigned to the background
proximity
the closet two figures are, the more likely we are to group them together and see them as being part of the same object
similarity
we tend to group figures according to how closely they resemble one another
continuation
we tend to interpret intersecting lines as continuous rather than as changing directions radically
closure
we tend to complete figures that have gaps
illusory contours
we tend to perceive contours, even when they don’t exist
the sally-anne task determines
whether a child has theory of mind yet
Jean Piaget created
the stages of cognitive development
what are the stages of cognitive development and their ages
sensorimotor - 0 to 2
pre-operational - 2 to 7
concrete operational - 7 to 11
formal operational stage - 11+
Lev Vygotsky created
theory of child development with regards to the zone of proximal development and scaffolding
the zones of proximal development are
things the learner can do
things the learner can’t do
things the learner can do with assistance
scaffolding is
a type of learning where a teacher works through a problem before allowing the learner to attempt it, and being of assistance when needed
how do we know what infants know
preferential looking technique (if they look interested/disinterested and the amount of time spent looking at the object)
habituation/orienting reflex (if they are surprised/interested when things challenge our previous beliefs)
when does a second period of overproduction occur
just before adolescence, followed by a decade of pruning
