Midterm 1 Lectures 1-6 Flashcards
Is psychology visceral?
Yes, we feel emotional, take in sensations, and produce behaviours such as thoughts and actions
What is psychology?
The study of behaviour, thought and experience, and how they can be affected by physical, mental, social and environmental factors
What are the goals of psychology?
- to understand how different brain strucutre work together to produce our behaviour
- to understand how nature (genetics) and nurture (our upbringing and environment) interact to make us who we are
- to understand how previous experiences influence how we think and act
- to understand how groups- family, culture and crowds- affect the individual
- to understand how feeling of control can influence our happiness and health
- to understand how each of these factors can influence our well-being and could contribute to psychological disorders
What is the scientific method?
A person who carefully follows a system of observing, predicting, and testing is conducting science whether the subject matter is chemicals, physiology, human memory, or social interactions
The scienfitic method is a way of thinking/accpeting the universe how do they apporach it?
In a systematic way (methods guess, test etc)
What is the scientific method approach?
way of learning about the world through collecting obbservations, devloping theories to explain them, and using theories to make predictions (make hypothesis and contstuct tho
Why is a hypothesis useful?
Is a TESTABLE prediction about processes that can be observed and measured
What does a hypothesis need?
- Can be supported or rejected
- TESTABLE
- It cannot be proven becasue a future experiment can show that it is wrong or limited in some way
- Support or rejection occurs after those test it
- To be tested it must be falsifiable
What does falsifiable mean?
The hypothesis is precise enough that it can be proven false
What is pseudoscience?
An idea that is presented as science but does not utilize basic principles of scientific thinking or procedure
What is a theory?
An explanation for a broad range of observations that also generates a new hypothesis and integrates numerous findings into a coherant whole
What is a narrative that connects observations?
Theories
What are some common misconceptions of scientific theories?
- Theories are not the same as opinions or beliefs
A theory can help scientists develop testable hypotheses, opinions do not need to be testable or even logical
What is a characteristic of a good theory?
Can explain previous research and can lead to even more testable hypotheses
The quality of a theory is…
Not related to the number of people who beleive it to be true
What levels can occur with behaviour?
The activity of cells in different parts of the brain, thought processes such as language and memory, sociocultural processes that shape daily life for millions of people
What is the biopsychosical model?
means of explaining behaviour as a product of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors
What are examples of biological, psychological, and social factors in the biopsychosocial model?
Biological:
- Brain structures and chemicals
- Hormones
- External substances (drugs)
Psychological:
- Memories
- Emotions
- Personalities
- How the previous factors shape the way we think about and respond to different people and situations
Social:
- Family
- Peers
- Ethnicity
What is scientific literacy?
the ability to understand, analyze and apply scientific info
What does being scientific literate mean?
Means that you will be able to read and interpret new terminology, or know where to go to find out more
What makes one not scientifically literate?
Memorizing terms as you dont know where to go from there or how to apply
Why is generalization important?
Shows us that the studies conducted in universities and hospitals can provide insight into behaviours that extend far beyond the confines of the lab
What is critical thinking?
Involves excercising curiosity and skepticism when evaluating claims of others, and with our own assumptions and beliefs (critical to think and evaluate)
What does critical thinking mean?
Not being negative or critical, but means you intentionally examine knowledge, beliefs and the means by which conclusions were obtained
What are skills to develop critical thinking?
- Be curious
- Examine the nature and source of the evidence; not all research is quality
- Examine assumptions and biases; this includes your own assumptions
- Avoid overly emotional thinking. Emotions can tell us what we value, but they are not always helpful when it comes to making critical decisions
- Tolerate ambiguity (being open to more then one viewpoint). Most complex issues do not have clear-cut-answers
- Consider alternative viewpoints and alternative interpretations of the evidence
What is the principle of parsimony? (parsely simple choose that)
The simplest of all competing explanations of a phenomenon should be the one we accept
What 2 beliefs does science stem off of?
Empiricism and determinism
What is empiricism? (e with e)
A philisophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience
What is determinism?
Beliefs that all events are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships
What is an example of determinism?
You smell cookies (cause), and showing signs of hunger (effect)
What did ancient egyptians do in terms of insight into behaviour?
doctors noticed that damage to different brain areas led to vastly different impairments
- this was the first recording of bio to behaviour
What did hippocrates do?
Developed the first personality classification scheme
What did the Greeks believe?
That four humours and fluids flowed throughout the body and influenced health and personality
- Blood
- Yellow bile
- Black bile
- Phlegm
What are Galen’s four temperaments?
- Sanguine (blood): a tendency to be impulsive, pleasure-seeking, and charismatic
- Choleric (yellow bile): tendency to be ambitious, energetic and a bit agressive
- Melancholic (black bile): tendency to be independent, perfectionistic, anf a bit introverted
- Phlegmatic (phlegm): tendency to be quiet, relaxed, and content with life
What was the end of the 5th century called?
The dark ages
When did psychology become scientific?
The late 1800s
What is Zeitgeist? (like Zelga fortune tellers)
General set of beliefs of a particular culutre at a specific time in history
What prevented zeitgeist?
Prevented psychological science from emerging in the 1600s
What is dualism?
The idea that there are properties of humans that are not material
- Idea that one can view human behaviour as being the result of predictable physical laws
What is materialism?
The belief that humans, and other living beings are made of just physical matter
Who was Gustav Fechner? (fetch to move)
- Interested in the natural world of moving objects and energy
- Turned his knowledge to a psychological question about how the physical and mental worlds interact
- He founded PSYCHOPHYSICS
- He made formulas to calculate the chanfe in weight then applied formula to change brightness, loudness and other perceptual experiences
What is psychophysics?
Field of study that explores how physical energy such as light and sound and their intensity relate to psychological experience
Who was Charles Darwin?
- Noticed that animal groups isolated from another often differed by only minor variations in physical features
- Theory of evolution by natural selection
- Genetically inherited traits that contribute to survival and reproductive success are likely to fluorish
- Darwin also explained human behaviour
- Certain behaviours have helped our ancestors survive and reproduce
- Memory, emotions, forming social bonds, etc
What is clinical psychology?
Field of psychology that concentrates on the diagnosis and treatment of the psychological disorder
What does localization of brain function mean? (localized parts)
Idea that certain parts of the brain control speicifc mental abiltiies and personality characteristics
What is phrenology?
- Believe that the brain consists of 27 organs that correspond to mental triats and disposition that could be detected by examining the surface of the skull
- Different traits and abilities were distributed across different regions of the brain
- If a person had a specific trait that part of the brain would be larger
- Larger brain areas would cause bumps on the head
What did Franz Mesmer believe? (m and m)
- Prolonged exposure to magnets could redirect the flow of metallic fluids in the body which cures diesease and insanity
- Named the phenomenon hypnosis
- Placebo effects
Who was Sigmund Freud?
- Used hypnonsis to treat patients
- Cured several patients of hysterical paralysis a condition in which the individual loses feeling and control in a specific body part despite the lack of neurologcal damage or disease
- He developed the psychoanalysis technique
What is psychoanalysis?
A psychoanalytical approach that attemps to explain how behaviour and personlity are influenced by unconsnscious processes
What do conscious experiences include?
Include perceptions, thoughts, a sense of self and the sense that we are in control
What do unconscious experiences include?
Contain forgotten episodes from early childhood as well as urged to fulfill self-serving sexual and agressive impulses, when in hypnonsis has more control and direct access into the individuals unconscious mind
What did Freud emphasize?
How childhood experiences influences our behaviour as adults
What becomes statistical methods for measuring human traits?
Economics, sociology, and anthropology
What did Galton state? (Galton different name like Dalton)
- He studied the individual differences between people
- Great achievement tended to run in families
- Genetics explain physical and psychological differences in populations
- Developed emincence: combo or ability, morality and achievement
- Closer the relative the more similar the traits
What is a nature and nurture relationship?
The inquiry into how hereditary (nature) and environment (nurture) influence behaviour and mental processes
What did Galton believe in in regards to nature vs nurture?
Nature side
What is another word for good genes
Eugenics
What did Wilhelm Wundt do? (strong name for…)
- He established psychology as an independent scientific field
- Established the first lab dedicated to studying human behaviour
- Conducted experiments on how people sense and perceive
What is structuralism? (how structures act together)
An attempt to analyze the conscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements and to understand how these elements work together
Who was Edward Titchener? (science chem)
- Used the same method of introspection to deivse an organized map of the structure of human consciousness
- Chose elements as an analogy to the periodic table in the physical sciences
- Believed that mental experiences were made up of a limited number of sensations which were analogues to the elements in physics and chemistry
Who was William James?
- Published the Principles of Psychology in 1890 (first textbook in psychology)
- Combined knowledge of physiology and interest in philosophy of mental activity
- Influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary principles
- Examined behaviour in context of how our thoughts and actions help us adapt to our environment; led to develop functionalism
What is functionalism?
The study of the purpose and function of behaviour and conscious experience
What are functionalists beliefs?
To fully understand ones behaviour, one must try to figure out what purpose it may have served over the course of our evolution
Who was Edwin Twitmyer and what did he accomplish? (twitch like moving)
- Interested in reflexes
- created contraption of a rubber mallet
What is behaviourism? (how one acts)
- Approach that dominated the first half of the 20th century studying only observable behaviour, with little to no reference to mental events or insights as possible influences on behaviour
Who is Ivan Pavlov and what did he contribute?
- Won nobel prize for research on digestive system noticed that dogs in his lab began to salivate when the tech entered the room and turned on the device that distributed meat powder (food)
- Salivation showed that the dogs learned an association between the technician and machine noises
- Led to research mechanisms on learning
Who was John B. Watson (B and B) and what did he create?
- Behaviourism was championed
- Believed that all behaviour could be explained through conditioning
- Believed in power of experience and could morph a personality if you morphed the environment
- Explored the connection between scientific research (collecting data and testing theories) and application (using psychology to solve real world problems and improve lives)
Who was Edward Thorndike? (thorn behaviours changed based on positive satisfaction)
- Shown that frequency of different behaviours could be changed based on whether or not that behaviour led to positive consequences or “satisfaction”
B.F Skinner? (skin avoid actions…)
- Radical behaviour, the foundation was how the organism responded to rewards and punishments
- Repeat actions that are rewarded
- Avoid actions that lead to punishment
What did Watson state?
That behavioural psychology recongizes no line between man and brute
Who is Norman Triplett? (showed triplets and with 3 act differently)
- Conducted one of the first formal experiments
- Observed that cyclidts ride faster in the presence of other people when riding alone
- Published the first social psychology research in 1898
- Published a few psychology textbook in 1908
What did the events in Nazi-controlled Germany before and during World War II contribute to?
Development of this new persepctive in psych, helped to explain the role that social factors play in human behaviour
What is social psychology?
Study of how the influence of other people on our behaviour
Personality psychology is?
The study of how different personality characteristics can influence how we think and act, some people are talkative and outgoing and some are quiet
What is the difference between social and personality psychology
Social: effect on external factors
Personality: effect of interal traits
Who was Kurt Lewin?
- Described the difference between social and personality psychology
- Suggested that behaviour is a function of the individual and the environment
- Behaviours could be predicted and explained through understanding how an individual with a specific set of traits would respond in context that involed a set of conditions
What did Europeans focus on in the early 1900s?
Formed the basis of cognitive perspective
Who was Hermann Ebbinghaus
Collected reams of data on remembering and forgetting
Who was Frederick Bartlett?
Found that memory was not like a photograph, cultural knowledge and previous expeirence shape what elements of an event or storyline are judged to be important enough to remember
What is Gestalt Psych? (gest whole part not one)
An apporach emphasizing that psychologists need to focus on the whole of perception and epxerience rather than its parts
What did Noam Chomsky propose?
That grammar and vocabular were far too complex to be explained in terms: the alternative was to propose abstract mental processes
Who was Ulrich Neisser? (rich bc cogntive brain =money)
Congnitive psychology
What is cognitive psychology?
A modern psychological perspective that focuses on processes such as memory, thinking, language
What is humanistic psychology?
Focuses on the unique aspects of each individual human, each person’s freedom to act, their rational thought, and the belief that humans are fundamentally different from other animals
Who is Carl Rogers? (roger successful and grow to full potential successful tennis player)
- Focused on the positive aspects of humanity and the factors that lead to a productive and fulfilling life
- Believed that humans strive to develop a sense of self and are motivated to personally grow and fulfill their potential
Who was Donald Hebb? What was his law? (bb brain)
- Examined how cells in brain stimulate another cell, metabolic and physical changed occur to stregthen this relationship
- Cells that fire together wire together
Law:
- Memory is related to activity occuring at the cellular level
- Reinforced the notion that behaviour can be studied at a number of levels ranging from neurons to the entire brain
Who is Wilder Penfield? (used a pen to make a map of brain)
- Founded relationship between the brain and everyday behaviours
- Developed a surigcal procuedre to help patients with epilepsy
- Created precise maps of the sensory and motor (movement) cortices in the brain
- How work showed that people’s subjective experiences can be represented in the brain
Who is Anna Freud and Karen Horney?
- Contributed to understanding of personality
- Sex differences in power were due to rampant sexism in politics, business world, academia and the home
- Examined important issues such as women’s health, violence towards women and experiences unique to females
Who is Shelly Taylor? (shelly muston examined stress)
- Examined sex differences in response to stress
- Found that white males in general produce a “fight or flight” response to stress, females are more likely to seek out social supports, a tendency called the “tend and befriend” response
What is the cross culture psychology?
Field that draws comparisons about individual and group behavior among cultures
What does culutre psychology help with?
- Helps to understand the role of society in shaping behaviour, beliefs anf values
- Compare the responses of North American research participants to those of individuals in non-Western countries such as China or Japan
- Allows us to examine how people respond when being pulled in different directions by family history and the culture of their current country
What does fmri help with?
Allow us to detect activity through entire brain
- Used to understand the neural mechanism for cognitive behaviours such as memory, emotion and decision making
- Known as cognitive neuroscience
What does positive psychology help with?
Helps people see good in their life by promting self-acceptance and improving social relationships with others
Five characteristics of quality scientific research
- It is based on measurements that are objective, valid and reliable
- It can be generlaized
- It uses techniques that reduce bias
- It is made public
- It can be replicated
What is objective measurement?
The measure of an entity or behaviour that, within an allowed margin or error, is consistent across instruments and observers
eg. weight in pounds or kg
What is a variable?
The object, concept, or event being controlled
What are operational definitions? (operations measures)
Are statements that describe the procedures (or operations) and specific measures that are used to record observations ex. depression can be defined as a “score of 20 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory”
What is validity?
Refers to the degree to which an instrument or procedure measures what it claims to measure
What is reliability?
Measure demonstrates reliability when it provides consistent and stable answers across multiple observations and points in time
What are important components of scientific research?
Validity and reliability
What is test-retest reliability?
Examines whether scores on a given measure of behaviour are consistent across test sections
What does alternate form reliability mean? (other)
Form examines whether different forms of the same test produce the sane results
What does inter-rater reliability mean?
Rates arrive at a similar conclusion
What does generalizability mean?
Refers to the degree to which one set or results can be applied to other situations, individuals or events ex. more people invest in a program works better than you invest instead of one person suggesting; the more generlaized the results the more likely you are to produce it (more people general population)
What is a sample?
A select group of population members
Random sample?
A sampling technique in which every individual of a population has an equal chance of being included; IDEAL METHOD!!!!
Conveince sample?
Samples of people who are most readily available ex. intro pysch students
What does ecological validity mean?
Results of a lab can be applied or repeated in the natural environment
What is one thing not to do with research?
DO NOT over generalize
What is researcher bias?
several types of bias can be unintentionally introduced by researchers ex. experimenter may treat participants in different experimental conditions differently, thus making it impossible to know if any differences were due to experimental manipulation being tested or instead because of experimenters behaviour
What are subject biases?
When they introduce their own biases; trying to give what they think ther researchers are looking for
What is the Hawthorne effect? (observed like a hawk)
A behaviour that occurs as a result of being observed ex. in factory changing the conditoins did not make them work harder, the supervisors watching them did
What is social desirability?
Participants may respond in ways that increase the chances that they will be viewed favourably by the experimenter and/or other participants; change their response to try and “please” the interviewer etc. what they think they are looking for
What do people do to avoid social desirability and scued results?
Researchers use computers that allow people to respond with anonymity, reducing the desire to appear likeable
What is the placebo effect?
a measurable and experiences improvement in health or behaviour that cannot be attributuable to a medication or treatment (make people think they are better, like a control group, my placebo pills)
What are demand characteristics (demand them to act a certain way)
Inadvertent cues given off by the experimenter or the experimental context that give info about how participants are expected to behave
What are techniques that reduce bias?
- Anonymity: each response are recorded without any name or other personal info that could link a particular person with a result
- Placebos: important element is that participant nor experimenter knows the exact treatment for any individual
- Double blind study: a study in which neither the participant nor experimenter know the exact treamtnet for any individual
How does one share the results of a study?
Academic journals resemble magazines, journal articles represent primary research or reviews of multiple studies on a single topic
What are 5 Characteristics of Poor Research?
- Produces untestable hypothesis
- It relies in anecotes and personal experiences
- It includes a biased selection of data
- It makes appeals to authroity rather than facts
- It makes appeals to common sense
What does a hypothesis need to make it testible?
Needs to be FALSIFIABLE
What does falsifiable mean?
Hypothesis is preicse enough that it could be proven false
What is anecdotal evidence? (personal)
An individuals story or testimony about an observation or event that is used to make a claim as evidence for ex. this website cuased somone to lose weight, but multiple factors can be attributed to that
What does appeal to authority mean?
The belief that an “experts” claim even when no supporting data or scientific evidence is present eg. theresa tam says to get vaccines and wear masks
What does applealing to common sense mean?
One believing that a claim that sounds true but lacks evidence eg. the world was the stationary center of the unvierse
What is research design?
A set of methods that allows for a hypothesis to be tested
Research design influence how investigstors?
- Organize the stimuli used to test the hypotehssis
- Make observstions and measurements
- Evaluate results
What are variables?
A variable is a property or object, organism, event, or something else that can take on different values. How frequently you laugh is a variable that could be measured and and analyzed
What is an operational definition?
Details that define exactly how the variable with be controlled or measured for a specific study. For sense of humour, this definition might be “the score on the Coping Humour Scale”
What is data?
When scientists collect observations about the variables of interest, the info they record is called data
What is qualitative research?
Involves examining an issue or behaviour without preforming numerical measurments of the variables
- Tkaes rhe form of interviews in which participants describe their thoughts and feelings about events or experiences
Quantitative Research is?
Examining a behaviour or issue using numerical measurements and/or stats majority of psychological studies are quantitative in nature
Case studies are?
An in-depth report about the details of a specific case
What do case studies allow clincians to learn?
- Allow clinicians and researhcers to present more details about an individual than would be possible in a research report involving a number of people
- Used for our understanding of the brain and its ability to repair istelf
- Ex. saw how anxiety was cured and the time and point where the treatment helped
What is naturalisitic observation?
Form of research where they observe people or animals in their natural settings
- Helps tp get more accurate results (if someone was watching you, you might change your behaviours)
What does self-reporting mean?
reponses are provided direclty by the people who are being studied, usually through face to face interviews, phone surveys etc
What is corelational research?
Measuring the degree of association between two or more variables ex. what is the average education level of canadians over he age of 30? what is the average income of canadians over the age of 30?
What is an example of a positive correlation?
A sense of humour is associated with good health (does not mean that humour is responsible for good health)
What is a third variable problem?
The possibility that a third, unmeasured variable is responsible for a well-estalbished correlation between two variables for ex, the negative correlation between sleep and irritability, could account for stress, depression, diet and workload could casue increased irritability and lost sleep
What are illusory correlations? (illusion)
relationships that only exist in the mind, rather than in reality eg, opposties attract; studies show that people are more likely to be with one who are similar to them
What does random assingment mean?
A technique for dividing samples into two or more groups in which participants are equally likely to be placed in any condition of the experiment
- Allows us to assume two groups will be equal
Counfounding variable? (found new info)
A variable outside of the researcher’s control that might affect or provide an alternative explanation for the results-could enter the picture
What is an independant variable?
The variable that the experimenter manipulates
What is the dependent variable
The observation of measurement that is recorded during the experiment and compare across all groups
Experimental group?
Group that recieves treatment
Control group?
Group that does not recieve the treatment, serves as a baseline
What is between-subject design?
Experimental design in which we compare the prefromance of participants who are in different groups
What is the Quasi-Experimental Method? (quasi is chosen)
Technique in which two or more groups that are compared are selected based on predtermined characteristics rather than random assignments ex. chose those in hopsitals for a study cant use people who are not in hospitals
What is the REB (research ethics board)
committee of researchers and officials at an institution charged with the protection of human research participants
What is the instituional review board (IRB’s)?
Help to ensure that researchers abide by ethical rules and how 1) the committee weighs potential risks to the volunteer against the possible benefits of research and 2) the volunteers agree to participate in research
What does informed consent mean?
A potential volunteer must be informed (know the purpose, tasks, and risks involved in the study) and give consent (agree to participate based on the info provided) without pressure
What must one have to be truly informed of the study:
- The topic of study
- The nature of any stimuli to which they will be exposed (eg images, sound, smells)
- The nature of any tasks they will complete (eg tests, puzzles)
- The duration of the study
- Any potential physical, psychological, or social risks
- Steps that the researchers take to minimize those risks
What id deception?
Misleading or only partially informing participants of the true topic or hypothesis under investigation
What does it mean for one to have full consent?
- Have the freedom to choose: individuals should not be at risk for financial loss, physical harm, or damage to their reputation if they choose not to participate
- Equal oppurtunities: volunteers should have choices. For example, if volunteers have intro psychology students seeking credit, they must have non-research alternatives available to them for credit should they choose not to participate
- The right to withdraw
- The right to withold responses
What is anonymity?
Data collected during research cannot be connected to individual participants
What is confidentiality?
Researchers cannot share specific data or observations that can relate to an individual, second all records must be kept secure
What are characteristics that animals need to be utilized for lab testing
- Must share the same physiological and behavioural features of the disease and appear in humans
- Both the animal model and the “real” disorder must involve similar brain strucutres
- The tests used to measure behaviours must be valid
What is decriptive stats?
A set of techniques used to organize, summarize, and intepret data
What is frequency?
The number of observations that fall within a certain category or range of scores eg. histograms are a simple way to present data and are great for giving researchers and students with an inital idea of what the data looks like
What is normal distribution?
Sometimes called a bell curve, a symmtetrical distrubution with values clustered around a central, mean value
What is skewed distribution?
An asymmetrical distribution with a large cluster of scores on one side and a long “tail” on the other
Central tendency?
A measure of the central point of a distribution
Mean
Average set of numbers (used most)
Median
Midpoint
Mode
Value that occurs the most (used least)
Variability
The degree to which scores are disepered in a distribution in other words, some scores spread oit while others are more clustered
Low variability
Means most scores are similar
What can variability be caused by?
measurement errors, imperfect measurements tools, differences between participants in the study
Standard deviation
measure of variability around the mean
What does large standard deviation mean?
Means lots of variability in the data and that those values are spread out from the mean, it allows people to see different scores relate to the mean and to each other
What is a hypothesis test?
A method of evaluating whether differences among groups are meaningful
What is statistical significance?
Concept that implies that the means of groups are farther apart than you would expect them to be by random chance alone
What is a null hypothesis? (not realistic)
assumes that any differences between groups (or conditions) are due to chance
Experimental hypothesis
Assumes that any differences are due to a variable controlled by the experimenter
What is the probability of results being due to chance
Known as a “p-value”, they exist but are compicated and are problematic (most likely do not need to know lower p-values have great significance and higher not significant)
2 problems with significance testing…
- If a fluke can occur 5% of the time, the more tests you preform the more likely you are to have one due to chance
- As you increase the number of participants, it becomes easier to find significant effects
What are effect sizes?
Tells the researcher whether the difference is statistically small or large, allow one to adjust how much they beleive their hypothesis is true
What is influenced by our genes?
- Physical traits such as eye colour
- Behaviour
Where is our genetic code found?
In nucleus
How is our genetic material organized?
- Genetic material is organized into genes
- Genes are responsible for guiding the process of creating proteins that make up our physical structure
What do nucelotides help with?
Represent the instructions or code used to create proteins
Genotype
the genetic makeup of an organism
Phenotype
physical traits and behavioural characteristics that show genetic variation, like eye colour
How do phenotypes develop?
Nucleotide sequencing as well as interactions within the environment
What are chromosomes
structures in the cellular nucleus that are lined with all the genes an individual inherits
Homozygous
If two genes on a pair of chromsomes are the same
Heterozygous
If two genes at a given location on a pair of chromosomes differ
What is behavioural genomics?
study of DNA and the ways in which specific genes are related to behaviour
Human Genome Project
Effort to idenfity the components of the entire human genome
Even though single genes have been identified for risk factors for different diseases, a combo of them or what else…
Environmental factors
Is it true that only one gene can affect one trait
NOT TRUE
Behavioural genetics
the study of how genes and the environment influence behaviour
Monozygotic twins
Come from a single ovum (egg), which makes them genetically identical (almost 100% genetic similarity)
Dizygotic twins: (fraternal twins)
come from two separate eggs fertilized by two different sperm cells that share the same womb; these twins have approx 50% if their genes in common
Longitudal studies (long)
Studies that follow the same individuals for many years
Heritability
A statistic, expressed as a number between zero and one, that represents the degree to which genetic differences among individuals contribute to individual differences in a behaviour or trait found in a population
What does a heritability of 0 and 1 mean?
Heritability of 0 means that genes do not contribute to individual differences in a trait, whereas a heritability of 1.0 indicates that genes account for all individuals’ differences in a trait
Gene expression
occurs when the info in our genes is used to produce proteins (or other gene products, such as ribosomal RNA)
Some genes are expressed and some and some switch on/off
If some genes fail to be activated (or expressed) properly, people may be at a greater risk for developing brain-related disorders
Ex. Those with autism had less gene expression in several regions of their brain, the decrease in gene expression was linked to problems with language, decision making and understanding other people emotions
Epigenetics
this study of changes in gene expression that occur as a result of experience and that do not alter the genetic code
Gene expression can be influenced by the environment is an example of
Social part of the biopsychosocial model of behaviour
CRISPR-Cas9 (CRISPR)
a technique that allows genetic material to be removed, added, or altered in specific locations of the genome
Charles Darwin’s Discoveries
- He identified fossils from several extinct species; this discovery showed that not all species were able to survive in this environment, but some species did have characteristics that allowed them to flourish
- He noticed small differences between the same species of birds on different islands
Charles Darwin Natural Selection
the process by which favorable traits become increaisngly common in a population of interbreeding individuals, while traits that are unfavorable become less common
Evolution
the change in the frequency of genes occuring in an interbreeding population over generations
Evolutionary Psychology
attempts to explain human behaviours based on the beneficial function(s) they may have served in our species’ evolutionary history
Hunter-Gatherer theory
which links performance on specific tasks to the different roles performed by males and females over the course of our evolutionary history
Neurons
one of the major types of cells found in the nervous system, which are responsible for sending and receiving messages throughout the body
What is the purpose of the neuron
to “fire” to receive input from one group of neurons and to then influence the activity of other neurons
- Will lead to some form of behaviour
Cell body (also known as a “soma”)
Is a part of the neuron that contains the nucelus that houses the cells genetic mateiral
Dendrites
small branches radiating from the cell body that receive messages from other cells and transmit those messages towards the rest of the cell
Axon hillock
impulses from other cells that travel across the neuron to the base of the cell body
Axon
the electric impulses will travel from the axon hillock along a tail-like structure that protrudes from the cell body; it transports info in the form of electrochemical reactions from the cell body to the end of the neuron
Axon terminal
when the activity reaches the end of the axon; they are bulb like extensions filled with vesticles; they contain neurotransmitters (the chemicals that function as messengers allowing neurons to communicate with each other)
Sensory neurons
receive info from the bodily senses and bring it toward the brain often via the spinal cord
Motor neurons
carry messages away from the brain and spinal cord and toward muscles to control their flexion and extension
Neurogenesis
the formation of new neurons; in a limited number of brain regions, particualrly in the hippocampus, a region critical for learning and memory
How do new cells grow
Stem cells
Glial cells
specialized cells of the nervous system that are involved in mounting immune responses in the brain, removing waste, and synchronizing the activity of the billions of neurons that constitute the nervous system
What do glial cells do
-They insulate the axon of a neuron
-Form a myelin sheath (a fatty sheath that insulates axons from one another)
-This results in increased speed and efficiency of neural communication
-When the sheath is damaged can cause multiple sclerosis (a disease in which the immune system does not recognize myelin and attacks it)
Resting potential
the stable state during which the cell is not transmitting messages
Electrostatic gradient
the inside and outside of the cell have different charges (negative and positive)
Concentration gradient
means that different types of ions are more densely packed on one side of the membrane then on the other
Ion channels
small pores on the neuron’s cell membrane, open, there is a tendency for positively charged sodium ions to rush into the cell
Action potential:
a wave of electrical activity that originates at the beginning of the axon near the cell body and travels down its length
Hyperpolarized (hyper means negative)
cell is more negative than its normal resting potential
Refractory period
a neuron can’t fire
Synapse
an area consisting of a neuron’s axon terminals and a different neuron’s dendrites
Presynaptic cell
is the neuron that releases its neurotransmitter into the synapse
Postsynaptic cell
is the neuron that receives neurotransmitters from the presynaptic cell
All-or-none principle (same strength or nothing)
Individual nerve cells fire at the same strength every time an action potential occurs
Inhibitory
it has decreased the likelihood that an action potential will occur
Synaptic cleft
the minute space between the axon terminal (terminal button) and the dendrite
Reuptake (reabsorbed what not needed)
a process whereby neurotransmitter molecules that have been released into the synapse are reabsorbed into the axon terminals of the presynaptic neuron
- Serves a sort of recycling for neurotransmitters
What does glutamate do?
Excites nervous system; memory and autonomic nervous system reactions
GABA (gamma-amino butyric acid)
Inhibits brain activity; lowers arousal, anxiety, and excitation; facilitates sleep
Acetylcholine (action)
Movement;attention
Dopamine
Control of movement; reward-seeking behaviour; cognition and attention
Norepinephrine
Memory; attention to new or important stimuli; regulation of sleep and mood
Serotonin
Regulation of sleep, appetite, mood
What are monoamines
dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin
Agonists
drugs that enhance or mimic the effects of a neurotransmitters action
Direct agonist
physically binds to that neurotransmitter’s receptors at the postsynaptic cells (eg nicotine molecules attach themselves to receptors that acetylcholine molecules would normally stimulate)
indirect agonist
facilitates the effects of a neurotransmitter, but does not physically bind to the same part of the receptor as the neurotrasmitter (eg a drug that blocks the process of reuptake would be an indirect agonist)
Antagonists
inhibit neurotransmitter activity by blocking receptors or preventing synthesis of a neurotransmitter (eg botox derived from the nerve paralyzing bacterium that causes botulism, blocks the action of acetylcholine by binding to its postsynaptic receptor sites)
Hormones
chemicals secreted by the glands of the endocrine system
What is the main difference between neurotransmitters and hormones
Neurotransmitters work almost immediately within the microscopic space of the synapse, whereas hormones are secreted into the bloodstream and travel throughout the body
Hypothalamus (+ important for basics)
brain structure that regulates basic biological needs and motivational systems; hypothalamus releases specialized chemicals called releasing factors that stimulate the pituitary gland
Pituitary gland
the master gland of the endocrine system that produces hormones and sends commands about hormone production to other glands of the endocrine system
Adrenal glands (drain stress)
a pair of endocrine glands located adjacent to the kidneys that release stress hormones, such as cortisol and epinephrine
- Cortisol and epinephrine help to mobilize the body during stress, thus providing enough energy for you to deal with the sudden increase in activity necessary to respond to the stress-inducing situation
Endorphins
hormones produced by the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus that function to reduce pain and induce feelings of pleasure
Testosterone
hormone that serves many functions, including driving physical and sexual development over the long term
What does the central nervous system consist of
brain and the spinal cord
Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
a division of the nervous system that transmits signals between the brain and the rest of the body and is divided into two subcomponents;
Somatic nervous system: consists of nerves that control skeletal muscles, which are responsible for voluntary and reflexive movement; any voluntary movement
Autonomic system: occurs outside of conscious control; the portion of the peripheral nervous system that regulates activity of organs and glands
What is sympathetic and parasympathetic?
Sympathetic (sympathy jump like omg): is responsible for fight of flight response of an increased heart rate, dilated pupils, and decreased salivary flow; responses that prepare the body for action
Parasympathetic: helps to maintain homeostatic balance in the presence of change; following sympathetic arousal; it works to return the body to a baseline, non-emergency state
Parts of the hindbrain? (back cerebellum at back)
-Brainstem: breathing, heart rate, sleep, and wakefulness
- Cerebellum: balance, coordinatoin, and timing of movements; attention anf emotion
Parts of the midbrain? (in middle superior)
- Superior colliculus: visual attention
- Inferior colliculus: orintating auditory attention
Parts of the forebrain (front, a)
- Basal ganglia: movement, reward processing
- Amydala: emotion
-Hippocampus: memory
- Hypothalamus (hypo cold temp): temperature regulation, motivation (hunger, thirst, sex)
- Thalamus: sensory relay station
Parts of the cerebral cortex?
- Occipital lobe: visual processing
- Parietal: sesnory processing, bodily awareness
- Temporal lobe: hearing, object recongiction, language, emotion
- Frontal lobe: thought, planning, language, movement
What are the 2 parts of the brainstem?
Medulla (main): connect with the body to perform basic functions such as regulating breathing, heart rate, sneezing, salivating, and even vomiting
Pons: general levels of wakefulness and has a role in dreaming; also part of those that control balance, eye movements, and swallowing
What is reticular formation?
Extends from the medulla upwards to the midbrain and is involved with attention and alertness; also communicates with cells in spinal cord with walking and posture
What are ventricles?
ventricles have cerebrospinal fluid, a solution that helps to eliminate wastes and provides nutrition and hormones to the brain and spinal cord
Practicing a skill is an example of what brain structure?
Basal ganglia (basal cooking skill)
What is the limbic system?
Nework involved in emotion and memory
What is the outer layer of the brain involved in?
Higher functions like thought, language, and personality
What are four lobes and what do they do?
Occipital lobes: where visual info is processed; occipital lobes receive visual info from the thalamus
Parietal lobes: involved in our experiences of touch and body awareness; preform mathematical, visuospatial, and attention tasks
Temporal lobe: involved in hearing, language and some higher-level aspects of visions such as face and object recognition
Frontal lobe: higher cognitive functions, such as planning, regulating impulses and emotions, language production, and voluntary movement
What is the corpus callosm?
a collection of neural fibres connecting the two cerebral hemispheres
What does the left hemisphere help with?
language and math
What does right hemisphere help with?
specialized for cognitive tasks that involve visual and spatial skills, recognition of visual stimuli, and musical processing
Neuroplasticity
the capacity of the brain to change and rewire itself based on individual experience
Lesioning of the brain
technique in which researchers intentionally damage an area in the brain (a lesion is abnormal or damaged brain tissue); creating lesions allows researchers to isolate the brain damage to a single brain structure
Sham group (experimental set of…)
a set of animals that go through all the surgical procedures aside from the lesion itself to control the effects of stress, anesthesia, and the annoyance of stitches
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
a procedure in which an electromagnetic pulse is delivered to a targeted region of the brain; results in a temporary disruption of brain activity
Structural neuroimaging
a type of brain scanning that produces images of the different structures of the brain; used to measure the size of different brain areas and to determine whether any brain injury has occurred
Computerized tomography (or CT scan)
a structural neuroimaging technique in which X-rays are sent through the brain by a tube that rotates around the head; X-rays will pass through dense tissue (eg grey matter) at a different speed than they will pass through less dense tissue, like fluid in the ventricles
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
structural imaging technique in which clear images of the brain are created based on how different neural regions absorb and release energy while in a magnetic field
What is better CT or MRI scans?
MRI’s produce much clearer images than CT scans and are more accurate at detecting forms of damage; CTs are still used for those who may contain metal in their bodies, CT scans are also cheaper
Diffusion tensor imaging (or DTI)
tructural neuroimaging allowing researchers or medical personnel to measure white-matter pathways in the brain (white matter damage has shown to have been associated with an increasing amount of brain disorders)
Functional neuroimaging
type of brain scanning that provides info about which areas of the brain are active when a person performs a particular behaviour
Electroencephalogram (EEG)
measures patterns of brain activity with the use of multiple electrodes attached to the scalp: the neural firing of the billions of cells in the brain can be detected with these electrodes, and depicted in an EEG; they tell us a lot about brain activity during sleep, during wakefulness, and while patients or research participants are engaged in a particular cognitive activity, are also used to detect when patients with epilepsy are having a seizure
Event- Related Potentials
ERPs are useful for measuring when brain activity is occurring, but are much less effective at identifying where the activity is taking place
Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
a technique that measures the magnetic fields created by the electrical activity of nerve cells in the brain. For example, with the study with the happy and fearful faces, MEG could measure when an image was detected and when it was recognized as being a face
Positron emission tomography (or PET)
a type of scan in which a low level of radioactive isotope is injected in the blood and its movement to regions of the brain engaged in a particular task is measured; shows metabolic activity in the brain, also allows researchers to measure the involvement of specific types of receptors (eg types of dopamine receptors) in different brain regions while people perform an experimental task, issue is takes a long time to acquire
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (or fMRI)
measures brain activity by detecting the influx of oxygen-rich blood in neural areas that were just active; can see what areas of the brain are active when a person is performing different tasks like remembering a list of words
- When a brain area is involved with a function it will use up oxygen; the result is that blood in these areas will be deoxygenated (without oxygen molecules). The body responds by sending in more oxygen-rich blood to replace the deoxygenated blood; these two types of blood have different magnetic properties, so by measuring the changing magnetic properties of the blood in different areas of the brain, it is possible to see which areas were active when the person performed a specific task
Why is EEG, MEG, PET, fMRI scans bad sometimes?
- Poor spatial resolution (does not give a picture of the individual brain structure)
- Poor sptial resolution
- Poor temporal resolution (takes two mins to scan brain)
- Temporal resolution takes 2 seconds to scan brain
Sensation
the process of detecting external events with sense organs and turning those stimuli into neural sights. Eg the sound of someone’s voice is simply air particles pushing against the eardrum
Perception
involves attending to, organizing, and interpreting stimuli that we sense. Eg organizing the different vibrations of the eardrum in a way that allows you to recognize them as a human voice and linking together the stimulation of groups of receptors in the eye into the visual experience of seeing someone walk towards you
Transduction
when receptors transform the physical energy of the outside world into neural impulses
Sense: Vision Stimuli? Type of Receptor?
Light waves, light-sensitive structures at the back of the eye
Sense: Hearing Stimuli? Type of Receptor?
Sound waves, hair cells that respond to pressure changes in the ear
Sense: Touch Stimuli? Type of Receptor?
Pressure, stretching, warming, cooling, or piercing of the skin surface, different types of nerve endings that respond to pressure, temperature changes, and pain
Sense: Taste Stimuli? Type of Receptor?
Chemicals on the tongue and in the mouth, cells lining the taste buds of the tongue
Sense: Smell Stimuli? Type of Receptor?
Chemicals contacting mucus-lined membranes of the nose, nerve endings that respond selectively to different compounds
Johannes Muller
German physiologist known as the doctrine of specific nerve energies: the idea that different senses are seperated in the brain (Eg. Visual info gets sent to occipital lobes)
Sensory adaptation (adapt to it)
the reduction of activity in sensory receptors with repeated exposure to a stimulus
What are the benefits to sensory adaptation?
- Provides the benefit of allowing us to adjust to our surroundings and shift our focus to other events that may be important
- Sensory adaptation can also be bad for ex. One may get used to listening to loud music in our headphones, which can damage the auditory system
William Gustav Fechner
German physicist who was interested in visions. In 1839, he developed an eye disorder that forced him to resign from his position. He created psychophysics: the field of study that explores how physical energy such as light and sound and their intensity relate to psychological experience. A popular approach was to measure the minimum amount of a stimulus needed for detection, and the degree to which a stimulus must change in strength for the change to be perceptible to people
What is psychophysics?
The field of study that explores how physical energy such as light and sound and their intensity relate to psychological experience
Absolute threshold
minimum amount of energy or quantity for a stimulus required for it to be reliably detected at least 50% of the time it is presented For example, you had headphones on and listened to words. However, they manipulated the volume at which the words were presented so that some could be heard and some could be heard and some could not be. The absolute threshold would be the volume at which you could detect the words more than 50% of the time
A Difference Threshold
smallest difference between stimuli that can be reliably detected at least 50% of the time. When you add salt to your food, for example, you are attempting to cross a difference threshold that your taste receptors can register
Erns Weber (weber salt proportion to salt to food)
a German physician and one of the founders of the equation
- Weber’s Law: states that the just noticeable difference between two stimuli changes as a proportion of those stimuli small coffee small sugar, big coffee more sugar
Signal detection theory
States that whether a stimulus is perceived depends on both the sensory experience and the judgement made by the subject
Subliminal perception (liminal limited dont realize)
meaning perception below the threshold of conscious awareness
Priming
previous exposure to a stimulus can influence that individuals later responses, either to the same stimulus or to one that is related to it
Cognitive Psychology Experiments
experimenters present a word or image for a fraction of a second. Followed by another image which is presented for a longer period of time.
Gestalt psychology (digestion whole)
Approach to perception that emphasizes that “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” in other words, the individual parts of an image have little meaning on their own, but when combined the whole takes on a significant perceived form
Figure-ground principle
one principle is that objects or figures tend to stand out against a background
What are two other Gestalt principles that influence perception?
Proximity and Similarity
Closure?
Refers to tendency to fill in gaps to complete a whole object
Top-Down processing
when our perceptions are infleunced by our expectations by our prior knowledge
Bottom-up processing
occurs when we perceive individual bits of sensory info (eg sounds) and use them to construct a more complex perception (eg a message), occurs when one encounters something that is unfamiliar or difficult to recognize
Perceptual set (pay attention, our perception)
a filter that influences what aspects of a scene we percieve or pay attention to
Divided attention
Paying attention to more than one stimulus at a time
Selective attention
involves focusing on one event or task, such as focused driving without distraction; your perception of other parts of your environment might suffer most of time it is beneficial though
Inattentional blindness
a failure to notice clearly visible events or objects because attention is directed elsewhere
Primary function of the eye is to…
gather light and change it into an action potential
- Light travels in waves that vary in terms of length and amplitude
Wavelength
Refers to the distance between the peaks of wave
Long wavelengths produce
red
Short wavelengths produce
blue
Amplitude
refers to the height of a wave
Low amplitude is…
Dim
High amplitude is…
Bright
Sclera is?
is a white, outer surface of the eye
Cornea is?
clear layer that covers the front portion of the eye and contributes to the eye’s ability to focus
Pupil is?
regulates the amount of light that enters by changing its size; it dilates (expands) to allow more light to enter and constricts (shrinks) to allow less light into the eye
Iris is?
the change in the pupil’s size performed by the iris; it is a round muscle that adjusts the size of the pupil; also gives eyes their colour
Lens
behind the pupil a clear structure that focuses light onto the back of the eye
Retina is?
lines the inner surface of the back of the eye and consists of specialized receptors that absorb light and send signals related to the properties of light to the brain
photoreceptors
At the back of the retina there are receptors
What happens after the info is brought to the photoreceptors?
transmitted to the ganglion cells closer to the front of the retina
Optic nerve
a dense bundle of fibers that connect to the brain
Optic disk
it travels through the back of the eye it creates an area on the retina with no photoreceptors; results in a blindspot (space in the retina that lacks photoreceptors)
What are two types of photoreceptors?
Rods: are photoreceptors that occupy peripheral regions of the retina; they are highly sensitive under low light levels
Cones: are photoreceptors that are sensitive to the different wavelengths of light that we perceive as colour; and are around the fovea
What is the fovea?
Central region of the retina
Dark adaptation
process by which rods and cones become increasingly sensitive to light under low levels of illumination
We do not see at night because rods are more active than cones under low light levels
Thomas Young and Hermann von Helmholtz (HVM 3)
discovered 3 types of cones
Trichromatic theory (or Young-Helmholtz theory)
maintains that colour vision is determined by three different cone types that are sensitive to short, medium and long wavelengths of light; colours that associate with blue, green and red
Ewald Hering
proposed the opponent-process theory of colour perception: states that we percieve colours in terms of opposing pairs, red to green, yellow to blue, and white to black
What are common visual disorders?
Most forms of colour blindness affect the ability to distinguish between red and green
Means that cones do not contain the correct protein
Nearsightedness another word for it is?
Myopia occurs when the eyeball is slightly elongated; can see objects close up but have difficulty seing objects far away
Farsightedness
hyperopia occurs when the length of the eye is shorter than normal, the image is focused behind the retina, can see things far away but not close up
What does LASIK do?
surgeons create a small flap on the surface of the eye, they then use a laser to reshape the cornea so that incoming light focuses on the retina, which produces close to perfect vision
In nearsighted patients, the doctors attempt to flatten the cornea, whereas in farsighted patients, the attempt to make the cornea steeper
Optic chiasm
the point at which the optic nerve cross at the midline of the brai
Feature detection cells
these cells respond selectively to simple and specific aspects of a stimulus, such as angle and edges
Ventral stream (v end, bottom)
extends from the visual cortex to the lower part of the temporal lobe (object recognition)
Doral stream
extends from the visual cortex to the parietal lobe
Prosopagnosia
inability to recognize faces
Perceptual constancy
the ability to perceive objects as having constant shape, size, and colour despite changes in perspective
Binocular depth cues
are distant cues that are based on the differing perspectives of both eyes
Convergence (converge look at one thing)
occurs when the eye muscles contract so that both eyes focus on a single object
Retinal disparity (r and relative position)
the difference in the relative position of an object as seen by both eyes, which provides information to the brain about depth
Monocular cues
are depth cues that we can perceive with only one eye
The function of the ear is to
gather sound waves and turn them into neural signals
Sound waves
changes in mechanical pressure transmitted through solids, liquids, or gases
What are two characteristics of important characteristics?
Frequency: wavelength measured in hertz (Hz), the number of cycles a sound wave travels oer second
Pitch: is the perceptual experience of sound wave frequencies, high frequency sounds such as tires screeching on the road, have short wavelengths and a high pitch
Loudness
a function of sounds wave amplitude expressed in units called decibels (dB)
Pinna
the outer regions that helps channel sound waves to the ear and allows you to determine the source or location of a sound
The middle ear has three tiny moveable bones called ossicles
known individually as the malleus (hammer), incus (anvil), and stapes (stirrup)
The ossicles attach to an inner ear structure called the….
cochlea
What is the cochlea?
a fluid filled membrane that is coiled in a snail-like shape and contains the structures that convert sound into neural impulses
Sound Localization
he process of identifying where sound comes from, is handled by parts of the brainstem as well as by a midbrain structure called the inferior colliculus
How does one localize sound?
- We take advantage of the slight time difference between a sound hitting both ears to estimate the direction of the source
- We localize sound by using differences in the intensity in which sound is heard by both ears
How do we perceive pitch?
Arrangement of hair cells along the basilar membrane
Place theory of hearing
based on the location (place) along the basilar membrane that sound stimulates
Frequency theory
the perception of pitch is related to the frequency at which the basilar membrane vibrates
Primary auditory cortex
Is a major perceptual centre of the brain involved in perceiving what we hear. The auditory cortex is organized in a similar way to cochlea
Basal ganglia
part of perceiving musical beats
Vestibular system
Manaages balance; a sensory system in the ear that provides info about spatial orientation of the head as well as head motion
Vestibular sacks
structures that influence your ability to detect when your head is no longer in an upright position
What are the vestibular sacks made up (2 parts)
- Made up of two parts the utricle: little pouch and saccule: little sac
- The bottom of these sacs is lined with cilia embedded in a gelatinous substance when you tilt your head, the gelatin moves and causes the cilia to bend. This bending of the cilia opens up ion channels, leading to an action potential
Semicircular canals
Are three fluid-filled canals found in the inner ear that respond when your head moves in different directions (up-down, left-right, forward-backward)
This constant input from the vestibular system allows us to keep our head upright and to maintain our balance
One simple method of testing sensitivity, or acuity, is to use…
two-point threshold test; regions with high acuity, such as fingertips, can detect the two separate, but closely spaced, pressure points of the device, whereas less sensitive regions, such as the lower back, will percieve the same stimuli as only one pressure point
Haptics
is the active, exploratory aspect of touch sensation and perception. Active touch involves feedback. For example, you handle an object, such as a piece of fruit, you move your fingers over its surface to identify whether any faults may be present. Your fingertips can help you determine whether the object is the appropriate shape and can detect bruising or abnormalities that may make it unsuitable to eat
Kinesthesis
the sense of bodily motion and position; receptors for this reside in the muscles, joints and tendons
Nociception
is the activity of nerve pathways that respond to uncomfortable stimulation; Are receptors that initiate pain messages that travel to the central nervous system
What are two types of nerve fibres transmit pain messages
Fast fibres register sharp, immediate pain, such as the pain felt when your skin is scraped or cut
Slow fibres: register chronic, dull pain such as the lingering feelings of bumping your knee into the coffee table
Gate control theory (some lets nerves in some lets nerves out)
Explains our experience of pain as an interaction between nerves that transmit pain messages and those that inhibit these messages
Phantom limb sensations
are experienced by amputees, who report pain and other sensations coming from the absent limb
Chemical senses comprise a combo of both
taste and smell
The Gustatory system (Gus mouse likes food)
functions in the sensation and perception of taste
Receptors for taste are located
in the visible, small bumps (papillae) that are distributed over the surface of the tongue
Why do people experience taste more vividly then others?
Number of taste buds present on the tongue influence the psychological experience of taste
The olfactory system is involved
in smell
Olfactory epithelium
thin layer of cells that are lined by sensory receptors called cilia (contain proteins that bind with airborne molecules that enter the nasal cavity)
Olfactory bulb
on the bottom surface of the frontal lobe, which serves as the brain’s central region for processing smells
Multimodal integration
the ability to combine sensation from different modalities such as vision and hearing into a single integrated perception
McGurk effect?
when there is expectation biased the perception of the presented sounds (ba like ga)
Synesthesia
When you combine multiple senses seeing green and red for numbers for example
Consciousness
is a person’s subjective awareness, including thoughts, perceptions, experiences of the world, and self-awareness
For example, some scientists have categorized our different states of consciousness based on a person’s wakefulness and awareness (do you understand your thoughts and surroundings)
What is Infradian?
any rhythm that occurs over a period of time longer than a day best known cycle is the menstrual cycle
Circadian rhythms
daily cycles of approx 24 hrs feel hungry for ex
Ultradian rhythms
frequent eg heart rate
Suprachiasmatic nucleus
cells in the retina of the eye relay messages about light levels in the environment to here, in turn, communicates signals to pineal gland, pineal gland releases a hormone called melatonin, which peaks in concentration at nighttime
Entrainment (entertainment light synchronized by external cues)
when biological rhythms become synchronized to external cues such as light, temperature, or even clock
Endogenous rhythms
biological rhythms that are generated by our body independent of external cues as light
Chronotype
the tendency to prefer sleeping earlier or later in a given 24-hour period
Polysomnography
set of objective measurements used to examine physiological variables during sleep
Stages of sleep in terms of an EEG
Brain waves slow down and become higher in amplitude (known as theta waves) Breathing, blood pressure, and heart rate all decrease slightly as one begins to sleep
Brain continues to slow, includes sleep spindles (clusters of high frequency but low amplitude waves), which are detected as periodic bursts
Brain waves continue to slow down and assume a new form called delta waves (large, looping waves that are high amplitude and low frequency)
Stage 4 hardest to awaken
REM sleep: a stage of sleep characterized by quickening brain waves, inhibited body movement, and rapid eye movement (REM) brain waves same as when awake
Why do we need sleep?
- Restore and repair: hypothesis: idea that the body needs to restore energy levels and repair any wear and tear experienced during the day’s activities
- Preserve and protect: hypothesis suggests that two more adaptive functions of sleep are preserving energy and protecting the organism from harm
Sleep deprivation
occurs when an individual cannot or does not sleep
What are the effect if not sleeping?
fatigue, difficulties with mulittasking, maintaing attention for long periods of time, assessing risks, incorporating new info into a strategy, working memory, inhibiting responses, and keeping info in the correct temporal order, issues arise with coordination
Sleep displacement
occurs when people are prevented from sleeping at the normal time although they may be able to sleep earlier or later in the day than usual
Jet lag
is a discomfort a person feels when sleep cycles are out of synchronization with light and darkness
Sigmund Freud in 1899 what did he create?
The Interpretation of Dreams; He viewed dreams as unconscious expression of wish fulfillment
He believed that humans are motivate by primal urges with sex and aggression being the most dominant
Imagery can take what 2 forms:
- Manifest content: involves images and storylines that we dream about; the manifest content involves sexuality and aggression, consistent with the view that dreams are a form of wish fulfilment
- Latent content (underlying meaning): is a symbolic meaning of a dream built on supressed sexual or aggressive urges. Because the true meaning of the dream is latent, Freud advocated dream work, the recording and interpreting of dreams
Rosalind Cartright proposed that…
Problem-Solving Theory, thoughts and concerns from walking to sleeping, and that dreams may function to facilitate finding solutions to problems encountered while awake
The activation synthesis hypothesis
suggests that dreams arise from brain activity originating from bursts of excitatory messages from the pons, a part of the brainstem
- Produces tell tale signs of eye movement and patterns of EEG during REM sleep
- Stimulates the occipital and temporal lobes producing dreams
Insomnia
a disorder characterized by an extreme lack of sleep
Secondary insomnia
when insomnia occurs as part of another problem such as depression, pain etc
Insomnia disorder
when insomnia is the only symptom that a person is showing
Nightmares
vivid and disturbing dreams that occur during REM sleep
Night terrors
intense bouts of panic and arousal that awaken the individual, typically in a heightened emotional state, these episodes happen during NREM sleep, and the majority of people who experience them typically do not recall any specific dream content
REM behaviour disorder
condition that does not show the typical restriction of movement during REM sleep
Somnambulism (s and s)
sleepwaling, a disorder that involves wandering and performing other activities while asleep; occurs during NREM sleep, stages 3 and 4 and is more prevalent during childhood
Sleep apnea
is a disorder characterized by a temporary inability to breathe during sleep
Narcolepsy
is a disorder in which a person experiences daytime sleepiness and even sleep attacks
- Orexin helps to maintain wakefulness; individuals with narcolepsy have fewer brain cells that produce it, resulting in a greater difficulty to maintain wakefulness
What helps people sleep?
Cannabis: people use this drug to induce sleepiness
Non-drug ways to help sleep
-Use your bed for sleeping only, not for working or studying
-Do not turn sleep into work
Keep your clock out of sight
-Get exercise during the day, will help you sleep better
-Avoid substances that disrupt sleep like caffeine, tea, cannabis and alcohol
-If you lie in bed worrying at night schedule evening time to deal with stress
-If you lie in bed without sleeping for 30 mins, get up and do something else until you are about to fall asleep
-Get up at the same time every morning
-If you still have problems sleeping go see a sleep specialist
What is hypnosis?
is actually a procedure of inducing a heightened state of suggestibility; hypnosis is not a trance
Ideomotor suggestions
are related to specific actions that could be performed, such as adopting a specific position
Challenge suggestions
indicate actions that are not to be performed, so that the subject appears to lose the ability to perform an action
Cognitive-perceptual suggestions
involve a subject remembering or forgetting specific info, or experiencing altered perceptions such as reduced pain sensations
Hypnotist could not…
make someone do something against their will
Hypnosis is based off an interaction between…
- Automatic (unconscious) thoughts and behaviours
- Supervisory system sometimes referred to as executive processing, that is involved in processes such as the control of attention and problem solving
Dissociation theory
explains hypnosis as a unique state in which consciousness is divided into two parts: a lower-level system involved with perception and movement and an “executive” system that evaluates and monitors these behaviours
Social-cognitive theory
explains hypnosis by emhasizing the degree to which beliefs and expectations contribute to increased suggestibility
Cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT)
Can be used for depression, anxiety, eating disorders, hot flashes of cancer survivors
Most helpful is on treating pain
Mind wandering
an unintentional redicrection of attention from the current task to an unrelated train of thought
Default mode network
network of brain regions, that is most active when the individual is awake but not responding to external stimuli in other words when people are paying attention to their internal thoughts rather than to an outside stimulus or task
Beneficial to mind wander?
as they had a tendency to think about the future; future focus may allow us to think about possible plans of action before we are actually in that situation
Brain death
lowest level of consciousness in a person who is still alive; condition of the brain that no longer functions; people who are brain dead have no hope of recovery because the brainstem regions responsible for basic life functions like breathing and maintaining the heartbeat do not function
Coma
state marked by complete loss of consciousness; due to damage of the brainstem or to widespread damage to both hemispheres of the brain
Persistent vegetative state
state of minimal to no consciousness in which the patients eyes may be open, and the individual will develop sleep-wake cycles without clear signs of consciousness; they do not have damage to the brainstem but rather damage to the grey and white matter of both hemispheres; recovery is time dependent
What is the most common tool to check for consciousness? (anthony…)
Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) a 15-item checklist for physician
What happens if a patient scores a 9 or below
Means there is a disturbance of consciousness
Minimally conscious state (MCS)
disordered state of consciousness marked by the ability to show some behaviours that suggest at least partial consciousness, even if on an inconsistent basis
Locked-in Syndrome
disorder in which the patient is aware and awake, but because they cant move their body appears unconscious
The difference between a drug and a non drug are that…
drugs are taken because the user has an intended effect in mind
Drugs influence
the amount of activity occurring in the synapse
The short term effects of drugs can be caused by a number of brain mechanisms…
- Altering the amount of the neurotransmitter being released into the synapse
- Preventing the reputable (ie reabsorption back into the cell that released it) of the neurotransmitter once it has been released, thereby allowing it to have a longer influence on other neurons
- Blocking the receptor thag the neurotransmitter would normally bind to
- Binding to the receptor in place of the neurotransmitter
Dopamine releases in two brain areas…
the nucleus accumbens and the ventral tegmental area is related to the “high” associated with drugs
Overdoses are more common when
they are taken in a new environment then old
Tolerance
when repeated use of a drug results in a need for a higher dose to get the intended effect
Down-regulation
when recpetors are overstimulated by neurotransmitters, often during drug use, the neuron fire at a higher rate then normal, in order to counteract this effect and return the firing rate to normal, some of the receptors move farther away from the synapse so that they are more difficult to stimulate
Physical dependence
the need to take a drug to ward off unpleasant physical withdrawal symptoms
Psychological dependence
occurs when emotional need for a drug develops without any underlying physical dependence
can genes can influence addictive behaviours?
Yes
What are stimulants, what are their psychological effects, chemical effects, tolerance and the likelihood of dependence?
Caffeine, cocaine, amphetamine, ectasy give euphoria, increased energy, lowered inhibitions, increase dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, tolerance develops quickly, dependence is high. Category of drugs that speed up the acivity of the nervous system, enhacing wakefulness and alertness
What are hallucinogens, what are their psychological effects, chemical effects, tolerance and the likelihood of dependence?
LSD, psilocybin, DMT, ketamine, have a major distribution of sensory and perceptual experiences. Fear, panic, paranoia, increase serotonin activity, block glutamate receptors, the tolerance develops slowly, the dependance is low. The are also known as psychedelics, substances that produce perceptual distortions, these last for more than 12 hours
What are opiates: what are their psychological effects, chemical effects, tolerance and the likelihood of dependence?
Heroin, intense eurphoria and pain relfied, stimulate endorphin receptors, tolerance develops quikcly and the dependance is very high. Also called narcotics are drugs such as heroin and morphine that reduce pain and induce exptermely intense feelings of euphoria
What are sedatives, what are their psychological effects, chemical effects, tolerance and the likelihood of dependence?
Babrbiturates, benzodiazepines, helps with drowsiness, relaxion and sleep, helps increase GABA activitt, tolerance develops quickly and the dependance is high. Sedatives “downers” depress the activity of the central nervous system eg Xanax
Alcohol, what is their psychological effects, chemical effects, tolerance and the likelihood of dependence?
Euphoria, relaxation, lowered inhibtions, faciliates GABA activity, also stimulates endorphin and dopamine receptors, tolerance develops gradually, and moderate to high dependence. The release of GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter reduces the activity of the central nervous sytem which explains the impairemnt in balance and coordination
Cannabis, what is their psychological effects, chemical effects, tolerance and the likelihood of dependence?
Euphoria, relation, distorted sensory experiences, paranoia, stimulates cannabinoid receptors, develops slwoly and low depenendence. Produces a combo of hallucinogenic, stimulant, and relaxing (narcotic effects)
What are psychoactive drugs?
substances that affect thinking, behaviour, perception, and emotion
What is the stroop test?
ability to inhibit reading a word in favopur of identifying its colour
What is Salivia divinorum
is a herb that grows in Central and South America. When smoked or chewed, salvia induces highly intense but short-lived hallucinations
Learning
process by which behaviour or knowledge changes because of experience
Ivan Pavlov
Studied digestion, using dogs as a model species for his experiments
Psychic secretions (Pavlov)
if dogs salivate in anticipation of food, then perhaps the salivary response can also be learned (saw that dogs salivated just by the sight of certain foods)
Classical conditioning or Pavlovian conditioning
associative learning in which an organism learns to associate a neutral stimulus (eg a sound) with a biologically relevant stimulus (eg food) which results in a change in the response to the previously neutral stimulus (eg salivation)
Stimulus
an external event or cue that elicits a perceptual response; this occurs regardless of whether the event is important or not some stimuli such as food, water, pain or sexual contact elicit responses instinctively (without any learning)
Unconditioned stimulus (US)
stimulus that elicits a reflexive response without learning
Unconditioned response (UR)
is a reflexive, unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus eg hunger, drooling, expressions of pain, and sexual responses. For example, in Pavlov’s experiment, meat powder elicited unconditioned salivation in his dogs link between US and UR is UNLEARNED
Conditioned stimulus (CS)
a once neutral stimulus that later elicits a conditioned response because it has a history of being paired with an unconditioned stimulus
Conditioned response (CR)
is a learned response that occurs to the conditioned stimulus. In other words, after being paired with the US, the once-neutral metronome clicking in Pavlov’s experiment became a conditioned stimulus (CS) because it elicited the conditioned response of salivation. To establish that conditioning has taken place, the metronome’s sound (CS) must elicit salivation in the absence of food (US)
What is the difference between a conditioned response and an unconditioned response: in Pavlov’s experiment, they are both salivation
UR is a naturally occurring response, whereas a CR must be learned
Two defensive responses associated with fear:
Freezing and Fleeing
Hebb’s rule (needs strong to help the weak)
when a weak connection between neurons is stimulated at the same time as a strong connection, the weak connection becomes strengthened
Example of US, UR, CS and CR:
Needle at doctor’s office:
US: needle
UR: causes pain
NS: office is neutral stimulus
CS: the sights and sounds of the doctor’s office
CR: fear
Acquisition (a starting point)
is the initial phase of learning in which a response is established (needs to be consistent)
Extinction
Reduction of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus no longer occur together
- Food with metronome must be present of reaction stops completely
Spontaneous Recovery
or the reoccurrence of a previously extinguished conditioned response, typically after some time has passed since extinction eg.dogs starts salivating but stopped being exposed to stimulus
Stimulus generalization (the stimulus are general, give similar responses)
is a process in which a response that originally occurred for a specific stimulus also occurs for different, though similar, stimuli
Discrimination (discriminatory towards one)
occurs when an organism learns to response to one original conditioned stimulus but not to new stimuli that may be like the original stimulus
Conditioned emotional responses
consist of emotional and physiological responses that develop to a specific object or situation
Wht book did Watson publish in 1928?
Watson published a book called Psychological Care of Infant and Child
Amydgala controls?
Fear
Reason why fear stays is because…
The neural connections related to conditioned fear remain intact, even after extinction has occurred
Psychopathy
have been known to disregard the feelings of others
Conditioned Taste Aversions
Will not eat a food since you have had bad experiences with it
Preparedness
a biological predisposition to rapidly learn a response to a particular class of stimuli
Latent inhibition (inhibited by allowing it to affect you)
which happens when frequent experience with a stimulus before it is paired with a US makes it less likely that conditioning will occur after a single episode of illness
Evaluative conditioning
experimenters pair a stimulus (eg a shape) with either a positive or a negative stimulus (eg an angry face)
Operant conditioning (operates on environment)
a type of learning in which behaviour is influenced by consequences; term operant is used because the individual operates on the environment before consequences can occur
Contigency
a consequence depends upon an action
Reinforcement (if you are good reinforce good behaviour)
is a process in which an event or reward that follows a response increases the likelihood of that response occurring again
Edward Thorndike proposed the law….
law of effect: the idea that responses followed by satisfaction will occur again in the same situation, whereas those that are not followed by satisfaction become less likely
Reinforcer
is a stimulus that is contingent upon a response and that increases the probability of that response occurring again (so, a reinforcer would be a stimulus like food, whereas reinforcement would be the changes in the frequency of a behavior like lever pressing that occur because of the food reward)
Punishment
is a process that decreases the future probability of a response
Punisher
is a stimulus that is contingent upon a response, and that results in a decrease in behaviour; eg getting yelled at, loosing money, or going to jail- will make it less likely that a particular response will occur again
Differences between classical and operant conditioning
is that classical is that a response is not required for a reward, eg Pavlov and his dog’s meat powder was presented regardless of whether salivation occurred, in classical learning has taken place if a conditioned response develops following pairings of the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus. In operant, a response and a consequence are required for learning to take place, without a response of some kind, there can be no consequence
Reinforcement
Promote behaviour
Punishment
discourage behaviour
Positive
add stimulus
Negative
remove stimulus
Positive reinforcement
strengthening of behaviour after potential reinforcers such as praise, money, or nourishment follow that behaviour eg a child gets allowance for making their bed, so they are likely to do it again in the future
Negative reinforcement
have to do an essay and have quizzes, and prof says if you do a good essay don’t have to do quizzes removes the quiz, to promote students doing well on essay. Ex. Companies have to pay tax but government says if you find a way to remove carbon emissions then have to pay less taxes. If parents said if helping little brother do homework then don’t have to do dishes (give incentives by removing something negative)
Positive punishment
A pet owner scolds their dog for jumping up on a house guest, and now the dog is less likely to do it again (learn from mistakes)
Negative punishment
A parent takes away TV privileges to stop the children from fighting
Avoidance learning (avoiding issues)
type of negative reinforcement at removes the possibility that a stimulus will occur ex. Leaving a sports event early to avoid crowds and traffic congestion, and paying bills on time to avoid late fees
Escape learning (escape a situation)
occurs if a response removes stimulus that is already present eg covering your ears upon hearing overwhelming music
Shaping (shape into humans)
is done in a step-by-step fashion until the desired response, is learned
Chaining
involves linking together two oe more shaped behaviour into a more complec action or sequence of actions
Applied behaviour analysis
involves using close observation, prompting, and reinforcement to teach behaviours
- Are used to help people develop skills that they have difficulty attaining due to conditons such as autism
Primary reinforcers
consist of reinforcing stimuli that satisfy basic motivational needs- needs that affect an individual’s ability to survive (and, if possible, reproduce) examples of these include food, water, shelter and sexual contact
Secondary reinforcers
consist of stimuli that acquire reinforcing effects only after we learn that they have value. Money, “likes” on social media, and earning XP on video games are examples of this
Nucleus accumbens
becomes activated during the processing of all kinds of rewards, including primary ones such as eating and having sex, as well as artifical rewards such as using cocaine and smoking
Discriminative stimulus
a cue or event that indicates a response, if made, will be reinforced. Before we pour a cup of coffee, we might check whether the light on the coffee maker is on-a discriminative stimulus that tells us the beverage is hot, and reinforcing, ex you might ask to borrow your parents car when they show signs of being in a good mood, in this case, your parents’ mood (smiling, laughing, etc) will dictate whether you perform a behaviour (asking to borrow the car)
Discrimination (stays to one task)
occurs when an organism learns to respond to one original discriminative stimulus but not to new stimuli that may be like the original stimulus for ex a pigeon may learn that it will receive a reward if it pecks at the key with a 1000-Hz tone, but not if it preforms the same action following a 2000-Hz tone
Generalization
takes place when an operant response occurs in response to a new stimulus that is similar to the stimulus present during original learning, in that case a pigeon who learned to peck the key after hearing a 1000-Hz tone may attempt to peck the key whenever any tone is presented, if petting a neigbours border collie led to a child laughing and playing with the animal, then they might be more likely to pet other dogs or even other furry animals
Extinction
the weakening of an operant response when reinforcement is no longer available, if you lose your internet connection, for example, you will probably stop trying to refresh your web browser because there is no reinforcement to do so- the behaviour will no longer be preformed
Schedules of reinforcement
rules that determine when reinforcement is available; can have a dramatic effect on the learning, relearning, or unlearning of responses
Continuous reinforcement
every response made results in reinforcement
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement
only a certain number of responses are rewarded, or a certain amount of time must pass before reinforcement is available eg. Phoneing a friend only sometimes will they pick up
Ratio schedule
means that the reinforcements are based on the amount of responding,
Fixed ratio schedule
reinforcement delivered after a specific number of responses have been completed ex. A rat may be required to press a lever 10 times to receive food
Variable-ratio schedule
the number of responses required to receive reinforcement varies according to an average (example slot machines, since the odds are that the slot machine will not give anything back, but sometimes a player will win a small amount of money)
Interval schedule
means that the reinforcements are based on the amount of time between reinforcements, not the number of responses an animal (or human) makes
Fixed schedule
means schedule of reinforcement reamins the same over time; reinforces the first response occurring after a set amount of time passes ex if your psych prof gives you an exam every 4 weeks, your reinforcement for studying is on a fixed-interval schedule
Variable schedule
means that the schedule of reinforcement, although linked to an average (eg, 10 level presses or 10 seconds), varies from reinforcement to reinforcement; the response is reinforced following a variable amount of time, ex if you were watching the sky during a meteor shower, you would be rewarded for looking upward at irregular times
Partial reinforcement effect
refers to which organisms that have been conditioned under partial reinforcement resist extinction longer than those conditioned under continuous reinforcement; most likely because the person is used to not getting reinforcement for every response; and a lack
Latent learning
learning that is not immediately expressed by a response until the organism is reinforced for doing so (late takes time to absorb)
S-O-R stands for (stimulus-organism-response theory)
Agreed that thinking took place; but disagreed about the content and causes of the thoughts
- Assumed that individual differences were based on people’s cognitive interpretation of that situation, in other words, what that stimulus meant to them (basically how people interpret things in different ways)
Observational learning
involves changes in behaviour and knowledge that result from watching others, ex dietary preferences, clothing styles, athletic events, holiday rituals, music tastes
Four processes involved in observational learning:
Attention to the act or behaviour
Memory for it
Ability to reproduce it
Motivation to do so
Imitation
recreating someone else’s motor behaviour or expression
Mirror neurons
linked to many functions ranging from understanding other people’s emotional states to observational learning
When did the replication crisis start?
Median power of studies: below 0.50
Expectation: less than 50% of published findings should be significant
Evidence: 90% of more of studies are
HARK ing
Hypothesisising After Results are Known hypotheses are adapted to fit the observed data
p-hacking
Data manipulation or selection that makes the p-value more favourable
Cherry Picking
Reporting only results that are favourable and signigicant
Selective omission
The omission of results that contradict the hypothesis
Data snooping
The collection of data exactly until results show a faviourable p-value
Behavioural priming
Subliminal words or images can influence behaviour
Bargh, Chen, and Burrows (1996) (Chen old asian man)
Priming participants with concepts related to the elderly stereotype caused them to walk more slowly at the end of the experiment
What practices led to the replication crisis
- Overreliance on statistical significance testing
- Fixation on new, surprising research findings (see file-drawer effect)
- ADOPTION OF LESS THAN RIGOROUS RESEARCH METHODS
Whar are forces that drive evolution?
- Mutation
- Migration
- Genetic Drift
- Natural Selecton
Direct fitness
Individuals reporductive success
Indirect fitness
Individuals contribution to reporductive success of kin
What does EEA stand for?
Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness not for our species
