Midterm 1 Flashcards
How is psychology defined?
Psychology is considered:
- a scientific study
- associated with behavior and mental processes
(human nature)
What is the Head versus Heart debate?
Who are the major historical figures associated with this debate?
Which side of the debate do they belong and why?
-The debate was about which organ played a bigger role
in making decisions: the heart or the brain
- Early Egyptians: believed the heart was more important
than the brain
- Plato: Tripartite theory of reasoning ( 3 organs played a
role: rational thinking was attributed to the brain,
emotional thinking was attributed to the heart (courage)
other emotions where attributed to the gut (lust, greed,
etc.)
- Aristotle: Followed the Cardiac Hypothesis of reasoning
(heart was centered, blood is hotter at the heart, you
can feel the heart beat, and the brain cooled down
blood)
-Hippocrates: believed in the humoral theory ( black bile
(melancholic type), yellow bile (choleric type), blood
(sanguine type), phlegm (phlegmatic type)). Also
convinced that the brain was the major control center
- Claude Galen: Brain was the central organ of cognition,
believed in the ventricular theory (thought that the
ventricles is where thinking took place, and assigned
functions to different ventricles)
What is the Localization versus Holism debate?
Who were the major historical figures associated with this debate?
Which side of the debate do they belong and why?
- The debate was whether or not the brain works as one,
using more with difficult tasks, or if certain sections do
certain parts.
How did Rene Descartes think the body and mind interacted?
- Followed a dualism approach
- The body is an automation with tiny tubes or balloons
running into muscles
Who is Wilhelm Wundt?
- established first psych lab in Germany (1879)
-Questioned if you can measure mental processing
|-> Ran experiment: metal ball dropping and hitting a
plate, then patient would hear the noice and press
a button, the delay measured the sound-wave ->
brain -> signal to press the button - Process of introspection: think about the object/sound in
front of you. Look at their emotions, thoughts, and
experiences
-Teacher to Tichnore
What is structuralism and what are the criticism of using objective introspection to gather information?
-Structuralism: is advanced interception, structuralism is
the idea that the consciousness can be broken down
into basic elements
- Criticisms include: indefinite answers, experiences
change per exposer, types of questions change the
experience
Who is the father of psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt
What is functionalism and who is attributed with establishing this paradigm?
-Functionalism: focuses on the adaptive purpose or intent
of cognition and behavior
-Criticisms include: unable to explain social change,
downplays role of individuals
Who established the psychodynamic approach and what did it focus on? Id, Ego, Superego, Criticisms, Levels of consciousness, Defense mechanisms
- Sigmund Freud established the psychodynamic approach
- This approach focused on the unconscious influences
- Id - born with it, strong drive, if you have an impulse to do something you do it
- Ego - developed towards toddler age, rational
component, regulates Id - Superego - developed as you get older, your ideal set,
moral compass - Criticisms: over-sexualized everything, hard to subjectify
and lack of counter evidence (fallibility) - Conscious - Contact with outside world
- Preconscious - Material just beneath the surface of
awareness - Unconscious - difficult to retrieve this material, well
below the surface of awareness - Defense Mechanisms: Ego’s protective method to deal
with unacceptable impulses and anxiety. These include:
Denial (protecting by refusing to perceive it),
Displacement (redirection of an impulse away from the
person who prompts it and onto someone else), and
Projection (projecting one’s unacceptable thought or
impulses onto other)
What is the focus of behaviorism and how did this shape the face of psychology?
-Behaviorism- modifying behavior through rewards and
punishment
Can you explain each of the five modern psychology perspectives discussed in class?
-Biological perspective: looked through a biological lens
-Humanistic perspective: belief in existence of free will
and we are essentially “good” and searching for self-
actualization
- Social-Cultural: Investigate the relationship between
group dynamics and the influences of the cult
-Cognitive: studying mental processes such as: memory,
intelligence, perception, problem solving, and learning
-Developmental- Investigating various changes that can
occur at certain points across the lifespan
How do some of the contemporary paradigms relate to earlier ones of the field?
They encompass parts from all theories
What are the steps of the scientific method?
- Question -> Background research -> Hypothesis ->
Experiment -> Data Analysis -> Replicate
What is the difference between a theory and hypothesis? How do these two concepts relate to one another when it comes to research ideas?
- Theory - an organized set of principles that describes.
predicts. and explains some phenomenon - Hypothesis - A specific testable prediction, often
derived from a theory
What is the difference between the population being studied and the study sample? Are there certain concerns about how the sample should be selected?
- Population - the overall group of people
- Sample - random and representative subset of the
population
What are some of the advantages and disadvantages of using an observational approach to gather data in the study?
- Observation studies: study of participants in their
natural environment - Issues: mustn’t disturb either the
environment or participants - Operational Definitions: the precise manner in which he
characteristics are defined and measured - Issues: People act differently
Can you explain what is meant by a participant observation?
- Participant Observational Design: The researcher
directly places themselves amongst the participants in
the study
What are the pros and cons of surveys?
- Pros: Cheap, easily can act on a mass scale
- Cons: Ppl are not honest, responsive, how the
questions are phrased
When might you use a case study to gather data?
- Case study: a lengthy detailed investigation of an
individual of small group of ppl, usually focus on rare or
extreme cases that cannot be replicated - Issues: takes a large amount of time and money,
application of the information
How can you tell if a correlation is strong? Weak?
- A strong correlation is when the variables are related in
the same direction - A weak correlation is when the relationship is scrambled
What does the negative or positive value of the correlation coefficient tell you about the relationship of the variables?
- The sign shows you what direction the relationship
moves in
Why do we say that a correlation doesn’t infer causation between the variable?
- Correlation does not infer causations because there can
be a relationship between the two variables, but not
they do not necessarily have to cause one another
How does an experimental design hold an advantage over correlations?
- Within experimental designs the investigator carefully manipulates variable(s) to observe their effect on another variable to uncover causation
Can you give hypothetical examples of experimental designs? Make sure to explain the experimental/control group and the independent/dependent variables.
- Independent variable - manipulated variable
- Dependent variable - measured outcome
- Experimental group - receive the manipulation
- Control group - comparison group
What is the nocebo effect? How does it differ from the placebo effect?
- Nocebo effect - a negative attitude or expectation that
leads to harm and/or other undesirable outcomes (Ex.
Sugar pill causes stomach pain) - Placebo effect - any effect on behavior caused by
administration of a placebo, which the participant
assumes to be the active agent
What are some concerns (both from the participant and experimenter’s perspectives) with experimental designs? What can be done to help reduce these concerns?
- Experimental bias: when the research expectation
significantly influence the outcome of the study - A fix to this is running a double blind experiment
What are the main components and function of the central nervous system?
- Brain
- Spinal Cord
What are the functions of the main subdivisions of the peripheral nervous system?
- Autonomic NS - controls unconscious body function (
HR, BP), splits into Sympathetic NS (Fight or Flight), and
Parasympathetic NS (Rest or Digest) - Somatic NS - voluntary movement of muscle and
reflexes
What are the main features of the prototypical neuron?
- Soma - Cell body
- Dendrites - receive messages from other cells
- Axon - passes messages away from the soma to other
neurons, muscles or glands - Terminal Buttons - form junctions with other cells
- Myelin sheath - covers the axon of neurons and helps
speed neural impulses
What was the War of Soups and Sparks?
- Are neurons electrical or chemical
- Between Luigi Galvani and Otto Loewi
Who are Luigi Galvani and Otto Loewi?
- Luigi Galvari - thought he discovered “animal electricity
after seeing frog legs hung on brass hooks on an iron
railing - Otto Loewi - Conducted an experiment with frog’s hearts
to demonstrate a chemical interaction between nerves ,
discovered Ach
Review the precess of producing an action potential in a neuron?
- Intraneural Communication (electrical)
- Resting Potential - state of the inactive neuron
- Depolarization - electrical charge towards the threshold
point to create an action potential (Na+ Channels Open) - Refractory Period - Point where new action potential
cannot be generated
Why do we say producing an action potential is “all or none”?
- You have an action potential or you don’t, you cannot
have half of one.
What is a refractory period in a process of producing an action potential?
- When the neuron cannot fire
What is interneuronal communication?
- Chemical Communication
- Neurotransmitter - a chemical messenger that traverses
the synapse b/w neurons, and bind to the post synaptic
receptor on receiving neuron
How is an excitatory neurotransmitter different than inhibitory neurotransmitter?
- Excitatory neurotransmitter - causes receiving neuron to
fire a action potential - Inhibitory Neurotransmitter - causes reviving neuron to
stop firing action potentials
What is the difference bewteen an agonist and antagonist?
- Agonist - mimic/enhance neurotransmitter effect on
receptor site (increases # of neurotransmitter in synaptic
cleft) - Antagonist - block/reduce cell’s response to other
neurotransmitters (decreases # of neurotransmitter in
synaptic cleft) - Increases/Decreases the likely hood of neurotransmitter
binding to the post-synaptic receptor
What are some of the related functions of GABA, Acetylcholine. Dopamine, and Serotonin?
- GABA - (inhibits serotonin) calming neurotransmitter, has
to do with restorative sleep, too little leads to insomnia - Acetylcholine - helps with memory (CNS), muscle
contraction (Peripheral NS), too little leads to Alzheimer’s - Dopamine - Pleasure neurotransmitter, leads to
schizophrenia (too much) or parkinson’s disease (too
little) - Serotonin - mood neurotransmitter, has to do with
dreaming and hallucinations, can lead to depression
What might happen if we’d experience damage to the hypothalamus?
- Hypothalamus - Plays a crucial role for modulating and
regulating a large # of behaviors from eating to sleeping
(homeostasis) - Damage leads to loss of homeostasis
How is synesthesia thought to be related to the thalamus?
- Synesthesia - the production of sense impression
relating to one sense or part of the body by stimulation
of another sense or part of the body (colors associated
with numbers) - Thalamus is the relay station for sensory information
What type of brain regions are associated with the limbic system?
- Loosely defined group of structures involved with
emotion. motivation, and memory - Hippocampus, Amygdala
What are the main functions of the hippocampus and amygdala?
- Hippocampus - (memory) important for processing and
creating new memories from experiences, contains 10
years of memories - Damage to hippocampus can lead to memory loss, and
inability to form new memories - Amygdala - (emotions) processes of basic negative
emotions such as fear, aggression, and rage - Seizure activity in the amygdala will lead to rage action
or lost of fear response
Explain the main roles of the four lobes of the cerebral cortex?
- Temporal - Important for processing, sounds. including
language as well as recognizing visual information and
accessing new memories - Seizures in the T lobe lead to auditory hallucinations
- Occipital Lobe - important for processing and integrating
components of visual information from color and
contrast to line orientation and shadow (you see a book
with O Lobe, and to know its a book is the T Lobe) - Seizures here lead you to not orient what u see
- Parietal Lobe - important for maintaing aspect of our
attentional system (contains somatosensory cortex) - Damage here leads to Unilateral Neglect
How is the Capgras delusion thought to be associated with the brain?
- The amygdala appears to play a role in emotional
tagging of memories - Forgets mom and what reality they live in
- Nerves b/w Amygdala and Hippocampus are cut
- Auditory receptor ares connected to the amygdala
How is unilateral neglect thought to be associated with he brain?
- loss of attention to one side of space and opposite side
of brain - caused by stroke, due to the damage of one of the main
arteries - Diagnosed by drawings
