Midterm Material (Chapter 1 - 6) Flashcards
Introspection
Studying one’s own mind and behaviour.
Arguments against introspection as a method to study behaviour empirically is that it does not allow for any independent objective evaluation of a claim.
Willhelm Wundt
- Advocated to make psychology an independent discipline (a study)
- Intended to push subjectivity and bring objectivity as a tool to study psychology
- Psychology was born; the study of mind through empirical methods.
- Established the first psychology lab, in Europe (Germany?)
G. Stanley Hall
Brief student of Willhem Wundt and established the first psychology lab in the US.
Structuralism
One of the first schools of Psychology. Led by Edwards Titchener, this school of thought was based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these elements are related. They relied a lot on the use of introspection.
Edward Titchener
Most influential figure in the Structuralist school of thought of Psychology.
Functionalism
One of the first schools of Psychology. Led by William James, this school of thought was based on the notion that the task of psychology is about investigating the function or purpose of consciousness, rather than its structure.
This led to an investigation of mental testing, developmental patterns, and sex differences.
This school’s view may have attracted the first women into psychology.
William James
Most influential figure in the Functionalist school of thought of psychology.
Behaviourism
Came after Structuralism and Functionalism, the first schools. Descendant of Functionalism.
Founded by John Watson, it was a reorientation of psychology as an objective science of ONLY observable behaviour.
Behaviourists had an inclination for nurture over nature.
John Watson
Founder of the school of thought, Behaviourism.
Watson argued strongly for nurture.
Observable behaviour
Observable responses or activities by an organism.
Stimulus/stimuli
any detectable input from the environment.
Nature vs. Nurture
One of the oldest questions in psychology: Are we who we are because of nature or nurture? How much can our environment mold us?
Behaviourists took the side of Nurture.
Sigmund Freud
Founder of the psychoanalytic school of thought.
His work with people with psychological problems led him to believe that people are influenced by unconscious forces; that is, thoughts, memories, and desires that are outside conscious awareness.
Unconscious experience
Aspects of experience below the surface of conscious awareness that influence behaviour.
B.F. Skinner
- Skinner championed a return to the strict focus on OBSERVABLE behaviour only; he didn’t deny that mental events exist, just that they cannot be studied scientifically and are therefore outside the realm of the science of psychology.
- Fundamental principle is that organisms tend to repeat responses that lead to positive outcomes and vice versa.
- Asserted that all behaviour is governed by external stimuli, that people are controlled by their environments, not themselves, and that free will is an illusion.
Conditioning
Revolves around the notion that certain stimuli that originally would not cause a specific response from a subject can be conditioned to do so.
Two types of conditioning: Classical (Ivan Pavlov) and Operant (B.F. Skinner).
Humanistic Psychology
- Psychoanalytic and behaviourist approaches were de-humanizing.
- Emphasis on the unique qualities of humans: freedom and personal growth.
Cognition
Mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge.
Multicultural Psycholgy
Psychologists began to recognize that they neglect of cultural variables has diminished the value of their work, and are devoting increased attention to culture as a determinant to behaviour.
Ethnocentrism
Viewing one’s own group as superior and as the standard for judging.
Evolutionary Psychology
Evolution occurs for behavioural, as well as physical, characteristics.
Studies natural selection of various behaviours and emotions.
Positive Psychology
Uses theory and research to better understand the positive aspects of human existence.
Theory
A system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations.
Operational definitions
Describes the actions or operations that will be used to measure or control a variable in a study.
Participants/Subjects
Persons or animals whose behaviour is systematically observed in a study.
Sample
A number of subjects taken from a total number, that should generalize that total number. Example, if sample is SMU students, the samples should include students from all faculties and departments.
Population
A total amount of subjects, which in most cases is impossible to gather. Example, all SMU students.
Hypothesis
Tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.
Steps in the scientific method
- Formulate a testable hypothesis
- Select a research method and design
- Collect the data
- Analyze the data and draw conclusions.
- Report the findings.
Experiment
It’s a research method in which the investigator manipulates a variable under carefully controlled conditions and observes whether an changes occur in a second variable as a result.
Experimental group
Consists of the subjects who receive some special treatment in regard to the independent variable.
Control group
Consists of subjects who do not receive the special treatment in regard to the independent variable given to the experimental group.
Independent variable
It’s a condition or event that an experimenter varies in order to see its impact on another variable.
Dependent variable
It’s the variable that that is thought to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable.
Extraneous variable
It’s a variable other than the independent variable that may influence the dependent variable and can affect the study in ways not desired.
A Confounding of variables
This occurs when two variables are linked together in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their specific effects.
Advantages of experimental research
The power of the experimental method lies in the ability to draw conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships from an experiment. No other research method has this power.
Disadvantages of experimental research
Experiments are often artificial; researchers have to come up with contrived settings so that they have control over the environment.
Some experiments cannot be done because of ethical concerns; for example, you would never want to malnourish infants on purpose to see what the effects are on intelligence.
Others cannot be done because of practical issues: there’s no way we can randomly assign families to live in urban vs. rural areas so we can determine the effects of city vs. country living.
Naturalistic observation
In a naturalistic observation a researcher engages in careful observation of behaviour without intervening directly with the research subjects.
Case studies
It’s an in-depth investigation of an individual subject.
Surveys
A questionnaire or interview to gather information about specific aspects of participant’s behaviour.
General statistics
it’s the use of mathematics to organize, summarize, and interpret numerical data.
Descriptive statistics
Used to organize and summarize data. Consists on the use of samples, populations, median, correlation, etc.
Measures of central tendency
The median - is the score that falls exactly in the center of a distribution of scores.
The mean - is the arithmetic average of the score in a distribution.
The mode - is the most frequent score in a distribution.
Find the median:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
3
Find the mean:
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
21/6
Find the mode:
1, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
1
Variability.
Refers to how much the scores in a data set vary from each other and from the mean.
Standard deviation
Can determine positions of the samples in terms of the variability: 2Omega, negativeOmega, etc. Think of the bell curve.
Correlation
A correlation exists when two variables are related to each other.
Correlation is a value from -1 to 1. its absolute magnitude determines the strength of the correlation. If greater than 0, the correlation is positive, meaning tat as one variable increases, so does the other. If less than 0, the correlation is negative, meaning that as one variable increases, the other decreases.
What can be said about correlation and causation?
they are unrelated. Correlation does not equal causation. Smart people can have big feet, but that does not mean that being smart increases your feet size, or viceversa.
Inferential statistics
Are used to interpret data and draw conclusions.
- Are findings real or due to chance?
Statistical significance
Is said to exist when the probability that the observed findings are due to chance is very low.
Very low is usually defined as 5 in 100; the .05 rule.
Meta-analysis
It is the combination of the statistical results of many studies of the same question, yielding an estimate of the size and consistency of a variable’s effect.
Sampling bias
it exists when a sample is NOT representative of the population from which it was drawn.
Placebo effect
These occur when participants’ expectations lead them to experience some change even though they receive empty, fake or ineffectual treatment.
Self-reporting bias
Several self-reports can be plagued by several kinds of distortion from the participant:
Social desirability bias - a tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself.
Response set - a tendency to respond to questions in a particular way that is unrelated to the content of the questions; as an example, agree to nearly everything in a questionnaire.
Halo Effect - a tendency to let one’s overall evaluation spill over to influence more specific ratings.
Experimenter bias and the double-blind procedure
Experimenter bias occurs when a researcher’s expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained.
the double-blind procedure is a research strategy to neutralize experimenter bias in which neither subjects nor experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups.
Which organizations have ethical standards for research and with what purpose?
The American Psychology Association (APA) and the Canadian Psychology Association (CPA). With the purpose of ensuring both humans and animals to be treated with dignity.
Neuron
Individual cells in the nervous systems that receive, integrate and transmit information.
Soma
Cell body of the neuron. Contains the cell nucleus and much of the chemical machinery common to most cells.
Glia
Cells found throughout the nervous system that provide various types of support for neurons. They support the neurons` structure and provide insulation.
Dendrites
Parts of the neuron that are specialized to receive information.
Axon
it is a long, thin fibre that transmits signals away from the soma to other neurons or to muscles or glands.
Myelin Sheath
It is insulating material, derived from glial cells, that encases some axons. Speeds up transmissions that move along axons.
Terminal buttons
They are small knobs located at the end of the axon that secrete chemicals called neurotransmitters.
Neurotransmitters
Chemicals that transmit information from one neuron to another. They are contained inside synaptic vesicles.
Synapse
Junction where information is transmitted from one neuron to another, through neurotransmitters.
Resting Potential
The resting potential of a neuron is its stable, negative charge when the cell is inactive.
Synaptic cleft
a microscopic gap in the synapse; separates the terminal button of a neuron and the cell membrane of another.
Action potential
Very brief shift in a neuron’s electrical charge that travels along an axon. It’s this potential that produces communication from one neuron to another.
Post-synaptic potential (PSP)
This occurs when a neurotransmitter of one neuron and a receptor molecule of another neuron combine, causing this reaction inside the cell membrane of the second neuron. Two types of messages can be sent from cell to cell: excitatory and inhibitory.
The all-or-none law
This law suggests that a neuron’s action potential does not have a variable magnitude, but rather it can only fire, or not fire to send signals. But it can’t send signals of different magnitudes.
Excitatory PSP
It is a positive voltage shift that increases the likelihood that the post-synaptic neuron will fire action potentials.
Inhibitory PSP
it is a negative voltage shift that decreases the likelihood that the post-synaptic neuron will fire action potentials.
How do excitatory and inhibitory PSPs work in neural networks?
These two balance themselves. A neuron will not fire an action potential with just one excitatory, but rather, there would have to be a quantity of excitatory and small quantity of inhibitory PSPs for the neuron to fire.
Furthermore, specific types of neurotransmitters have to fit in specific receptor sites.
Agonist in neural process
It is a chemical that mimics the action of a neurotransmitter.
Antagonist in neural process
it is a chemical that opposes the action of a neurotransmitter.
What are the two systems the Human Nervous System consists of?
The Central Nervous System and the Peripheral Nervous System.
Central Nervous System
This system consists of the brain and the spinal cord.
The brain integrates information from inside and outside the body, coordinates the body’s actions, and enables us to talk, think, remember, plan, create and dream. The spinal cord connects the brain to the rest of the body through the peripheral nervous system.
Peripheral Nervous System
It is made up of all those nerves that lie outside the brain and spinal cord. Nerves are bundles of neuron fibres (axons) that are routed together in the peripheral nervous system.
Afferent nerve fibres
These are axons that carry information inward to the central nervous system from the periphery of the body.
Efferent nerve fibres
These are axons that carry information outward from the central nervous system to the periphery of the body.
Somatic Nervous System
This system, which is part of the Peripheral Nervous System, is made up of nerves that connect to skeletal muscles and to sensory receptors; controls our voluntary functions (movement).
Autonomic Nervous System
This system, which is part of the Peripheral Nervous System, is made up of nerves that connect to the heart, blood vessels, smooth muscles, and glands; controls our involuntary functions (heart rate, digestion).
Divisions of the Autonomic Nervous System
The sympathetic division and the parasympathetic division.
Sympathetic Division
It is the branch of the Autonomic Nervous System that mobilizes the body’s resources for emergencies.
Remember “Flight-or-flight”.
Parasympathetic Division
It is the branch of the Autonomic Nervous System that generally conserves bodily resources.
EEG
The electroencephalograph (EEG) is a device that monitors electrical activity of the brain using recording electrodes attached to the surface of the scalp.
Lesioning
A damage in a certain area of the brain. Psychologists often study subjects with brain damages in order to study the consequences of the damage, which can provide insight on the functions of said brain area.
MRI and fMRI
(Functional) Magnetic Resonance Imaging. These use magnetic fields, radio waves, and computer enhancement to map our brain structure. Furthermore, the fMRI can monitor blood flow and oxygen consumption in the brain to identify high activity areas.
Hindbrain (what does it consist of? and what does each part do?)
The hindbrain is located at the lower end of the brain, where the spinal cord joins the brainstem. It includes the cerebellum and two structures found in the lower part of the brain-stem: the medulla and the pons.
The medulla is in charge of circulation, breathing, muscle tone, and regulating reflexes. The pons is important in sleep and arousal. The cerebellum is critical in the coordination of movement and equilibrium.
Midbrain (what does it consist of? and what does it generally do?)
The midbrain is the segment of the brainstem that lies between the hindbrain and the forebrain.
It is involved in sensory functions such as locating where things are in space. It also contains structures which are important for voluntary movement (Parkinson’s disease is due to degeneration of the substantial nigra, a structure in the midbrain).
Forebrain (what does it consist of? and what does it generally do?)
The forebrain is the largest and most complex region of the brain, encompassing a variety of structures, including the thalamus, hypothalamus, limbic system, and cerebrum.
It is responsible for emotion, complex thought and logic.
Thalamus
Structure found in the forebrain. It is the way station for all incoming sensory information before it is passed on to appropriate higher brain regions.
Hypothalamus
Structure found in the forebrain. It is the regulator of basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, sex drive, and temperature regulation.
Limbic System
Structure found in the forebrain. It is a loosely connected network of structures involved in emotion, motivation, memory, and other aspects of behaviour;
Cerebrum
Structure found in the forebrain. It is the largest and most complex portion of the human brain. The cerebrum is responsible for complex mental activities such as learning, remembering, thinking, and consciousness. It is divided into the 2 cerebral hemispheres, left half hemisphere and right half hemisphere, which are connected and communicate through the corpus callosum. Also both hemispheres are divided into 4 lobes: the occipital, temporal, parietal and frontal lobes.
Left Hemisphere
Specialized in verbal processing: language, speech, reading, writing.
Right Hemisphere
Specialized in nonverbal processing: spatial, musical, visual recognition.
The Occipital lobe
Located at the back of the brain, includes the primary visual cortex, where most visual signals are sent and visual processing begins.
The Temporal lobe
Located near the temples (temporal), lies below the parietal lobe. It includes the primary auditory cortex, which is devoted to auditory processing.
The Parietal lobe
The Parietal lobe is forward to the Occipital lobe. It includes the primary somatosensory cortex, which registers the sense of touch.
The Frontal lobe
This lobe includes the executive control system and the primary motor cortex, which is the principal area that controls the movement of muscles.
Boca’s area
Area in the left hemisphere of the brain, the hemisphere specialized in verbal processing. Boca’s area is involved in speech production.
Wernicke’s area
Area in the left hemisphere of the brain, the hemisphere specialized in verbal processing. Wernicke’s area is involved in language comprehension.
Hormones and the pulsatile release
Hormones are contained in glands inside the body and help control body functioning.
Hormones are chemical messengers in the bloodstream that are secreted by the endocrine glands in a pulsatile manner; that is, several times per day in brief bursts or pulses that last only a few minutes; the levels of hormones increase and decrease in a rhythmic pattern throughout the day.
The endocrine system
This system consists of glands (pituitary, adrenal gland, pancreas, etc.) that release hormones into the bloodstream.
Pituitary gland
This gland releases a great variety of hormones that fan out around the body, stimulating actions in the other endocrine glands.
Thyroid gland
Controls metabolic rate.
Adrenal gland
Control salt and carbohydrate metabolism.
Pancreas
Secretes insulin to control sugar metabolism.
Behavioural genetics
an interdisciplinary field that studies the influence of genetic factors on behavioural traits.
Chromosomes
These are strands of DNA molecules that carry genetic information.
Genes
These are DNA segments that serve as the key functional units in hereditary transmission.
There are dominant and recessive genes.
Dominant genes
These are expressed when paired genes are different.
Recessive genes
These are masked when paired genes are different.
Homozygous genes
These refer to two genes in an specific pair that are the same.
Heterozygous genes
These refer to two genes in an specific pair that are different.
Genotype
This refers to a person’s genetic makeup. Genotype is determined at conception and is fixed forever.
Phenotype
This refers to the ways in which a person's genotype is manifested in observable characteristics. Phenotype characteristics (hair colour) may change over time. They may also be modified by environmental factors.
Sensation
It is the stimulation of sense organs.
Perception
It is the selection, organization and interpretation of sensory input.
Psychophysics
The study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience.
Synesthesia
Condition in which perceptual or cognitive activities (listening to music, reading) trigger exceptional experiences such as taste and colour.
Absolute threshold
It is the minimum amount of stimulation that an organism can detect.
Just noticeable difference
It is the smallest difference in the amount of stimulation that a specific sense can detect. To put it simply, our body could detect a difference between 5 grams; it would perceive that 50 grams is heavier than 45.
Weber’s law
This law states that the size of a just noticeable difference is a constant proportion of the size of the initial stimulus.
You should be just able to detect the difference between a 300 gram weight and a 310 gram weight; the just noticeable difference for 300 grams is 10 grams.
Fechner’s law
Fechner’s Law asserts that larger and larger increases in stimulus intensity are required to produce JNDs in the magnitude of sensation.
Signal-detection theory
This theory proposes that the detection of stimuli involves decision processes as well as sensory processes, which are both influenced by a variety of factors besides stimulus intensity.
Given an experiment; an actual stimulus condition and a subject’s response, 4 outcomes can occur: given 00, 01, 10, 11 (respectively, 0 = present, 1 = absent) the outcomes are “hit”, “false alarm”, “miss” and “correct rejection”.
Sensory adaptation
It is a gradual decline in sensitivity due to prolonged stimulation.
Light as a wave: Amplitude, Wavelength and Purity.
The wave’s amplitude is perceived as the brightness of the colour, higher amplitude being more bright; the wavelength as the colour; a shorter wavelength yielding purple and X-rays; and purity is is perceived as the saturation of the colour, a higher purity yields a higher saturation (the colour is seen better).
Cornea
Transparent window at the front of the eye, where light first must enter.
Pupil
It is the opening in the centre of the iris that helps regulate the amount of light passing into the rear chamber of the eye.
Iris
it is the coloured ring of muscle around the pupil (the black centre of the eye), which constricts or dilates depending on the amount of light present in the environment, and changes the size of the pupil.
Lens
It is the transparent eye structure that focuses the light rays falling on the retina.
Retina
It is the neural tissue lining the inside back surface of the eye; it absorbs light, processes images, and sends visual information to the brain.
Rods
These are specialized receptors located in the retina that play a key role in night vision and peripheral vision.
Cones
These are specialized receptors inside the retina that play a key role in daylight vision and colour vision.
Optic chiasm
It is the point at which the optic nerves from the inside half of each eye cross over and then project to the opposite half of the brain.
Visual Agnosia
The inability to recognize objects.
Prosopagnosia
The inability to recognize familiar faces.
The trichromatic theory of colour
This theory of colour vision holds that the human eye has three types of receptors with differing sensitivities to different light wavelengths.
Opponent process theory of colour
This theory of colour vision holds that colour perception depends on receptors that make antagonistic responses to three pairs of colours: Blue and yellow, red and green, black and white.
Reversible figures
A drawing that is compatible with to interpretations that can shift back and forth.
Perceptual sets
It is a readiness to perceive a stimulus in a particular way.
Innatentional blindness
It involves the failure to see fully visible objects or events in a visual display.
Feature detection theory (bottom-up processing)
It is the process of detecting specific elements in visual input and assembling them into a more complex form.
Form perception (top-down processing)
It is a progression from the whole to the elements. “With bottom-up processing, readers would have to analyze features of letters in words to recognize them and then assemble the letters into words”
Gestalt Principles
A series of principles that emerged form the “Form perception, top-down processing”. These are 7: figure, ground, proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, simplicity.
Figure and ground
Two of the Gestalt principles: Visual displays are divided into figure and ground in order to organize visual perceptions.
Proximity
Elements that are closed to one another tend to be grouped together.
Closure
Viewers tend to supply missing elements to close or complete a familiar figure.
Similarity
Elements that are similar tend to be grouped together
Simplicity
Viewers tend to organize elements in the simplest way possible.
Continuity
Viewers tend to see elements in ways that produce smooth continuations.
Binocular depth clues
These are clues about distance based on the differing views of the two eyes.
Monocular depth clues
These are clues about distance based on the image in either eye alone.
Perceptual constancies
These are tendencies to experience a stable perception in the face of continually changing sensory input.
Optical illusion
It involves an apparently inexplicable discrepancy between the appearance of a visual stimulus and its physical reality.
Sound as a wave: Amplitude, frequencyand purity
The wave’s amplitude is perceived as the loudness of the noise, higher amplitude being louder; the frequency as the pitch; a higher frequency being perceived as high-pitch; and purity is is perceived as the timbre.
Ear divisions
The Ear: Three Divisions
- The external ear consists of the pinna, which collects sound.
- The middle ear consists of a mechanical chain made up of three tiny bones in the ear: the hammer, anvil, and stirrup, known collectively as the ossicles.
- The inner ear consists of the cochlea, a fluid-filled, coiled tunnel that contains the hair cells, the auditory receptors. The hair cells are lined up on the basilar membrane.
Basilar membrane
It runs the length of the spiralled cochlea, and holds the auditory receptors.
Gustation
Taste (gustation) has as its physical stimulus chemical substances that are dissolvable in water. Receptors for taste are clusters of cells found in the taste buds. These cells absorb chemicals, trigger neural impulses, and send the information throughout the thalamus and on to the cortex.
Primary tastes
These are 4: Sour, bitter, salty and sweet. A possible fifth one called umami, which describes the savoury taste of glutamate found in foods like meats and cheese.
Olfaction
Smell (olfaction) operates much like the sense of taste. The physical stimuli are chemical substances carried in the air that are dissolved in fluid, the mucous in the nose.
Smelling process
- Olfactory receptors are called olfactory cilia and are located in the upper portion of the nasal passages.
- The olfactory receptors synapse directly with cells in the olfactory bulb at the base of the brain. Olfaction is the only sense, therefore, that is not routed through the thalamus.
Physical stimuli for sense of touch
Mechanical, thermal and chemical energy interacting with the skin.
Receptors on the skin send the information to the brainstem through the spinal column, where then it crosses to the opposite side of the brain and onto the thalamus and the somatosensory cortex in the parietal lobe.
There exists a slow and fast pathway for pain receptors.
Kinesthetic sense
Another sensory system aside from the main 5.
This system monitors the position of the various parts of the body.
Vestibular sense
Another sensory system aside from the main 5.
This system responds to gravity and keeps you informed of your body’s location in space.
Consciousness
Our awareness of internal and external stimuli (including events, internal sensations, thoughts, etc.), is constantly changing. This was recognized by William James in 1902 when he discussed the “stream of consciousness,” an endless flow of ideas.
States of consciousness
There are 4 states that have been derived from wav activity inside the brain:
Normal waking thought, alert problem solving, distinguished by beta waves (13-24 Hz).
Deep relaxation, blank mind, meditation, distinguished by alpha waves (8-12 Hz)
Light Sleep, distinguished by theta waves (4-7 Hz).
Deep sleep, distinguished by delta waves (less than 4 Hz)
Circadian Rythms
These are the 24-hour biological cycles found in humans and man other species.
Melatonin
It is a hormone secreted by the pineal glandin order to adjust the our biological clock. It’s levels in the body are highly related to the amount of light entering our eyes.
The stages of sleep
- Stage 1 is a brief, transitional stage of light sleep that lasts between 1 and 7 minutes. The EEG moves from predominately alpha waves, when the person is just about to fall asleep, to more theta activity. Hypnic jerks, those brief muscle contractions that occur when one is falling asleep, occur in this stage.
- Stage 2 is characterized by more mixed brain wave activity with brief bursts of higher-frequency brain waves, called sleep spindles.
- Stages 3 and 4 are characterized by low frequency delta waves.
- It takes about 30 minutes to reach stage 4, and usually people stay there for about 30 minutes. Then the cycle reverses. When stage 1 should be next in line in the cycle, something interesting happens: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep begins. REM sleep is characterized by an EEG that looks awake and alert and by rapidly moving eyes behind the lids, an irregular pulse and breathing rate, and loss of muscle tone. When someone is awakened from REM sleep, they report vivid dreaming.
Describe selective sleep deprivation and its consequences
When researchers wake subjects up whenever they go into REM sleep, thus depriving them of this one particular stage, they find that soon the person will try to go back into REM faster. Pretty soon, the researchers have to wake them up almost constantly. The increasing frequency of movement into REM within the sleep cycle is termed REM rebound, and it suggests that the body, for some reason, needs REM. The same rebound effect has been found for slow-wave sleep.
Describe sleep deprivation and its consequences
Sleep restriction, or partial deprivation, occurs when people make do with less sleep than normal. This is very common and can cause negative effects, particularly in performance, with long-lasting, difficult, or monotonous tasks, which can be very, very costly. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and the Exxon Valdez were all ecological disasters caused in part by sleep-deprived workers.
Insomnia
This refers to chronic problems in getting adequate sleep.
Narcolepsy
It is a disease marked by sudden and irresistible onsets of sleep during normal waking periods.
Sleep apnea
It involves frequent, reflexive gasping for air that awakens a person and disrupts sleep.
Nightmares
These are anxiety-arousing dreams that lead to awakening, usually from REM sleep.
Night terrors
These are abrupt awakenings from non-REM sleep, accompanied by intense autonomic arousal and feelings of panic.
Somambulism
Also called sleepwalking, occurs when a person rises and wanders about while remaining asleep.
Hyperarousal model of insomnia
According to this model, some people exhibit hormonal patterns that fuel arousal, elevated heart rate, high metabolic activation, increased body temperature, and EEG patterns associated with arousal. This physiological activation makes these people more vulnerable to insomnia.
REM sleep behavioural disorder.
People who exhibit this syndrome may talk, yell, flail about or leap out of bed during their REM sleep.
Perspectives on dreaming
Sigmund Freud’s wish fulfillment: the day residue shapes dreams that satisfy unconscious needs.
Rosalind Cartwright’s problem-solving view: We think through major problems in our lives.
Hobson & McCarley’s activation synthesis model: A story is created to make sense of internal signals.
The manifest content
In dream theory, this consists of the plot of a dream at the surface level.
The latent content
In dream theory, this refers to the hidden or disguised meaning of the events in the plot.
Hypnosis
It is a systematic procedure that typically produces a heightened state of suggestibility.
Hypnotic susceptibility
People differ in how easily they can be hypnotized. This is termed hypnotic susceptibility. Ten percent of people are especially easy to hypnotize, and ten percent especially difficult.
Effects of hypnosis
Phenomena that can be produced through hypnosis are many, including experiences such as anesthesia during medical or dental procedures, hallucinations (seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or smelling something that is not there), disinhibition (doing things you would normally be more inhibited about doing, like taking off your clothes in public)
Meditation
This refers to a number of practices that train attention to heighten awareness and bring mental processes under greater voluntary control.
Focused attention
In mediation, focused attention tries to concentrate on one mantra, or object, or idea while shutting out all other distractions
Open monitoring
Open monitoring is more akin to being mindful and receiving sensory and other stimulation in an objection non-judgemental or reactive fashion.
Psychoactive drugs
These are chemical substances that modify mental, emotional or behavioural functioning.
Narcotics
These are drugs that are able to relieve pain.
Sedatives
These are sleep-inducing drugs that tend to decrease central nervous system activation and behavioural activity.
Stimulants
These are drugs that tend to increase central nervous system activation and behavioural activity.
Hallucinogens
These are a diverse group of drugs that have powerful effects on mental and emotional functioning, marked most prominently by distortions in sensory and perceptual experience.
Cannabis
Cannabis is the hemp plant from which marijuana, hashish, and THC are derived. THC, the active chemical ingredient, causes a mild, relaxed euphoria and enhanced sensory awareness.
Alcohol
When people drink heavily, the effect is a relaxed euphoria that temporarily boosts self-esteem and decreases inhibitions.
Learning
It is any relative durable change in behaviour or knowledge that is due to experience.
Phobias
These are irrational fears to specific objects or situations.
Conditioning
it involves learning connections between events that occur in an organism’s environment,
Classical conditioning
It is a type of learning in which a stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus. Contributed by Ivan Pavlov.
Unconditioned stimulus
In classical conditioning, it is a stimulus that evokes an unconditioned response without previous conditioning.
Neutral Stimulus
In classical conditioning, it is a stimulus that evokes no response.
Conditioned stimulus
In classical conditioning, it is a previously neutral stimulus that has. through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a conditioned response.
Unconditioned response
In classical conditioning, it is an unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus that occurs without previous conditioning.
Conditioned response
In classical conditioning, it is a learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus that occurs because of previous conditioning.
Trial
In classical conditioning, it consists of any presentation of a stimulus or pair of stimuli.
Elicited response
In classical conditioning, these are conditioned responses that are relatively automatic or involuntary, characterized as reflexes too.
Classical Acquisition
In classical conditioning, It refers to the initial stage of learning something.
Classical extinction
In classical conditioning, it is the gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned response tendency. It is said to be ocurring when the CS is being presented without the UCS, gradually shaping the CS as ineffective.
Classical spontaneous recovery
In classical conditioning, it is the reappearance of an extinguished response after a period of nonexposure of the conditioned stimulus.
Classical generalization
In classical conditioning, it occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus response in the same way to a new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
Classical discrimination
In classical conditioning, it occurs when an organism that has learned a response to a specific stimulus does not respond in the same way to new stimuli that are similar to the original stimulus.
Stimulus contiguity
Conditioning has been shown to depend on stimulus contiguity; that is, the occurring of stimuli together in time and space.
Simultaneous conditioning
CS and UCS begin and end together.
Short-delayed conditioning
CS begins just before the UCS, end together.
Trace conditioning
CS begins and ends before UCS is presented.
Operant conditioning
It is a form of learning in which responses come to be controlled by their consequences. Contributed by B. F. Skinner
Operant Acquisition
In operant conditioning, it refers to the initial stage of learning.
Operant shaping
Learning operant responses usually occurs through a gradual process called shaping, which consists of the reinforcement of closer and closer approximations of a desired response.
Operant extinction
Extinction in operant conditioning refers to the gradual weakening and disappearance of a response tendency, because the response is no longer followed by a reinforcer; for example, when you stop giving food when the rat presses the lever. This results in a brief surge of responding followed by a gradual decline until it approaches zero.
Operant generalization
occurs when a new stimulus is responded to as if it were the original.
Operant discrimination
occurs when an organism responds to one stimulus, but not another one similar to it.
Skinner box
Also called an operant chamber, is a small enclosure in which an animal can make a specific response that is recorded while the consequences of the response are systematically controlled.
Reinforcement contingencies
In operant conditioning, these are the circumstances or rules that determine whether responses lead to the presentation of reinforcers.
Primary reinforcers
In operant conditioning, these are the events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs.
Secondary reinforcers
In operant conditioning, these are events that acquire reinforcing qualities by being associated with primary reinforcers.
Continuous reinforcement
Continuous reinforcement occurs when every instance of a designated response is reinforced (this can lead to faster acquisition and faster extinction).
Intermittent reinforcement
Intermittent reinforcement occurs when a designated response is reinforced only some of the time (greater resistance to extinction).
Ratio schedules
Ratio schedules require the organism to make the designated response a certain number of times to gain each reinforcer. A fixed-ratio schedule entails giving a reinforcer after a fixed number of non-reinforced responses. A variable ratio schedule entails giving a reinforcer after a variable number of non-reinforced responses.
Interval schedules
Interval schedules require a time period to pass between the presentation of reinforcers. A fixed-interval schedule entails reinforcing the first response that occurs after a fixed time interval has elapsed. A variable-interval schedule entails giving the reinforcer for the first response after a variable time interval has elapsed.
Positive and negative Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement occurs when a response is strengthened because it is followed by a presentation of a rewarding stimulus.
Negative reinforcement occurs when a response is strengthened because it is followed by the removal of an unpleasant stimulus.
Positive and negative punishment
Positive punishment occurs when a response is weakened because it is followed by a presentation of an unpleasant stimulus.
negative punishment occurs when a response is weakened because it is followed by the removal of a pleasant stimulus.
Observational learning
This occurs when an organism’s responding is influenced by the observation of others, who are called models. Contributed by Albert Bandura.
Vicarious conditioning
In observational learning, vicarious conditioning occurs by an organism watching another organism (a model) be conditioned.
Observational attention
In observational learning, it is to learn through observation by paying attention to another person’s behaviour and its consequences.
Observational retention
In observational learning, this is to store in memory a mental representation of what you have witnessed.
Observational reproduction
In observational learning, it is the ability to reproduce an observed response.
Observational motivation
In observational learning, it is to reproduce an observed response through motivation. it depends on whether you encounter a situation in which you believe that the response is likely to pay off.
Mirror neurons
These are neurons that are activated by performing an action or by seeing another person perform the same action. These neurons allow us to mirror the observed person.
