Lecture 5 Flashcards
Tempermant
Innate predisposition towards certain personality characteristics.
Regulatory Genes
Environment influences gene expression through these genes which then affect various steps from DNA to protein and can alter gene expression.
Genetically Based behavioral variation
Behavioral variation accompanies genetic variation and is subject to natural selection.
Adaptive values
Extent to which behaviors/traits contribute to survival in the given environment.
Sensation
Conversion of physical stimuli into electrical signals that are transferred through the nervous system by neurons. How we receive info from the outside world.
Perception
Use of sensory info and pre-existing knowledge to create a functional representation of the world. Interpretation of sensation information
Absolute Threshold
Lowest intensity of a stimulus that can be sensed. (quietest noise, lightest touch, etc.) Intensity level that is detected 50% of the time.
Difference Threshold
(just noticeable difference) Describes the smallest difference that is sufficient for a change in a stimulus to be noticed. Measures a sensory system’s ability to detect small changes from a previously perceived stimulus.
Weber’s Law
An individual can detect a change when it reaches a certain fraction of the original stimulus. The actual amount of change required to reach the difference threshold differs according tot he original stimulus (Turning up lights in bright room vs. dim room)
Signal Detection Theory
Focuses on how an organism differentiates important/meaningful stimuli from those that are not of interest in an environment.
False Alarm Rate
rate at which the observer identifies a signal when there is only background noise
Hit rate
Rate at which the observer correctly recognizes the presence of a signal.
Attention
Selects sensory info for perceptual processing. Determines what stimuli continue to the level of perception after being sensed.
Selective Attention
Focus of attention on one particular stimulus or task at the exclusion of other stimuli. Either/or process. (only certain info is allowed to proceed.)
Divided attention
Splits perceptual resources between multiple stimuli or behaviors. both/and process.
Bottom-Up Processing
Involves the construction of perceptions from individual pieces of information provided by sensory processing.
Top-Down processing
Brings the influence of prior knowledge into play to make perception more efficient. Pre-existing system for organizing incoming information.
Gestalt Principles
Describe the criteria that are used to distinguish between figure and background or between objects in a group and objects out of the group. (Top-down processing. - Nearness, similarity, common region, closure, continuity, figure and ground)
Visual Processing
Interpretation of otherwise raw sensory data to produce visual perception.
Parallel Processing
Involves multiple pieces of info about a stimulus being processed at the same time. Starts at bipolar and ganglion cells in the eye to the LGN and visual cortex.
Feature Detection
Analyzes visual info once it reaches the visual cortex from parallel processing. Type of serial processing, where increasingly complex aspects of the stimulus are processed in sequence.
Consciousness
Awareness of oneself, one’s surroundings, one’s thoughts, and one’s goals.
Alertness
“Default” state of consciousness. Brain is able to attend to tasks and carry out goal-directed processes.
Sleep Stage 1
Light sleep. Includes alpha waves
Sleep Stage 2
Associated with bursts of brain wave actiivty that indicate a full transition into sleep.
Sleep Stage 3
Has delta waves and reflects the transition into deep sleep
Sleep Stage 4
Deepest sleep composed of almost entirely delta waves.
Sleep Cycles
A sleeper goes through a series of cycles with sleep stages repeated throughout the night. First few sleep cycles include the deepest level of sleep. Later in the night, more time is spent in the lighter stages of sleep.
Rapid eye movement sleep (REM)
Separate sleep stage of high brain activity. Occurs in the later sleep cycles later in the night. Period where the brain relives the massive amount of stimuli experienced during the day and consolidating important info into memory and discarding less important info. where dreaming occurs
Non-REM (NREM) sleep
The largest proportion of sleep and brain activity is much lower.
Sleep Disorders
Some aspect of sleep is abnormal leading to negative health consequences.
Sleep Terror Disorder
Nightmares occurring during NREM.
Hypnosis
State of relaxation, focuses attention and increased willingness to relinquish control over one’s own actions. Induced through hypnotist or as self-hypnosis. useful as a treatment for anxiety and pain.
Meditation
Intentional, self-produced state of consciousness induced by relaxing and systematically shifting attention away from day-to-day concerns. Effective coping mechanism for stress.
Consciousness Altering Drugs
Affect nervous system function and psychological characteristics like perception, attention, and emotion. Alter structures and pathways that already exist in the brain.
Stimulants
Raise the level of activity in the CNS. Increase monoamine neurotransmitters such as epinephrine an dopamine. Increased alertness and energy.
Depressants
Cause a decrease of activity in the CNS. Relaxation and decreased alertness.
Hallucinogens
Category of drugs that alter sensory and perceptual experience. Mimic the body’s natural neurotransmitters.
Reward Pathway
Located within the limbic system and is associated with both feelings of reward in day-to-day life and the feelings of pleasure that lead to cravings and addiction. Long-term drug use can alter the reward pathway to produce the characteristic features of drug addiction.
Memory
Involves encoding, storage, and retrieval. The representation and maintenance of info by the nervous system.
Declarative memory
Info that is consciously known. (memory of specific lifetime events and the knowledge of facts.)
Non-Declarative/Procedural memeory
Unconscious ability to remember how to perform a particular task.
Encoding
Memory undergoes this where it is transformed into the type of representation that is used by that particular form of memory storage.
Sensory memory
1st Stage in memory formation. Temporary storage for incoming sensory stimuli. Encoding is the processes of transducing physical stimuli into electrical info. Unconscious, neurological process. Info remains for very limited time.
Short-Term memory
If info receives attention it gains access to short-term memory and consciousness. Other info is lost. Info that has emotional significance or is related to the completion of a task is likely to receive attention
Working memory
Component of short-term memory. Info is usually encoded into working memory through an auditory representation. Working memory is more limited than sensory memory in the number of items that can be stored simultaneously. (7+/- pieces of info)
Long-term memory
Info held here is maintained outside of conscious awareness and can be called back into working memory when needed. No limit on the amount of info that long-term memory maintains. Encoding is meaning.
Neural Plasticity
Ability of the brain’s networks of neurons and their synapses to change. Allows memories to be stored as changes to networks of neurons.
Long-term Potentiation (LTP)
Molecular process underlying the formation of long-term memories through the strengthening of synapses. Describes the likelihood that synaptic input will trigger an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. Increases the likelihood that the corresponding memory will persist in the brain.
Retrieval
Info stored in long-term memory can return to working memory for the purpose of problem-solving and guidance of behavior.
Semantic networks
Long-term memory is organized in networks of meaningful related memories. Activation of one memory leads to the activation of other memories that are also located in or linked to the network of memory.
Spreading Activation
Where one item triggers an activation of related memories.
Recall
Retrieval of a memory “from scratch” (short answer or essay)
Recognition
Correct identification of info that is presented. (multiple choice)
Retrieval cues
environmental stimuli or pieces of info that are associated in some way with the memory being sought. Enhance recall and recognition. (context-dependent and state-dependent)
Priming
Type of retrieval cue that occurs outside of conscious awareness and causes activation of semantic networks. used in marketing.
Role of Emotion
Retrieval cue. Memory retrieval is strongest when the emotional state during retrieval is similar to that of memory formation.
Decay
fading of a memory. Fate of info in working memory that does not get encoded into long-term memory. Weakening of connection that make up the neural network
Primacy Effect
Recall is strongest for things that happened at the beginning.
Recency effect
Recall is strongest for things that happened at the end.
Interference
Similar info prevents the retrieval of a memory.
Retroactive interference
Newly learned material that prevents successful retrieval of related older memories.
Proactive interference
Previously held knowledge prevents successful retrieval of more newly learned info.
Memory Construction
Occurs during retrieval. Provides an opportunity for changes to be made in that network and the associated memory.
Source Monitoring
When a person attributes a memory to a particular source, correctly or not. (recalling that a story was told by a particular person)
Alzheimer’s Disease
Pattern of neurodegenration. Symptoms typically begin with the loss of the ability to from memories of recent events. Hippocampus is first affected. Amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles.
Korsakoff Syndrome
Deficit in the ability to recall recent events while older memories are relatively unaffected. Caused by a nutritional deficiency rather than being age-related. Deficiency in vitamin B1 - severe alcoholism. Damage to frontal cortex and thalamus.
Parkinson’s Disease
Neurodegenerative disease but brain damage is restricted to a specific area rather than being widely distributed. Deterioration within the midbrain which leads to impairment of motor abilities.
