Midterm Review Flashcards
What are the two roots of psychology?
Philosophy and natural sciences
What early ideas have influenced modern psychology?
Greek philosopher (observation has natural explanations), British empiricism (knowledge comes from experience), Physicans (brain –> mind), Scientists (Each nerve –> one type of information), Hermann von Helmholtz (study of reaction time), Gustav Fechner (identify softest sound –> mental process)
Who is the “father of modern psychology” and what is his idea?
Wilhelm Wundt, Structuralism (further spread by Edward Tichener) –> break mind into smallest elements of mental experience
What is the first psychological eperiment?
Reaction time study by Wundt.
Stimulus –> Press a key
Different stimuli –> Press different buttons (Choice reaction time) [Stroop Task]
What is an opposition to structuralism?
Gestalt psychology –> Breaking “whole” perception would lose important psychological information
(Max Wertheimer)
What is functionalism and who is it proposed by?
The idea that behaviors are purposeful and lead to survival (asking “why”)
William James
What is behaviorism and who are some of its followers?
Study observable, measurable behaviors.
Ivan Pavlov (Classical conditioning, salivating dogs)
John B. Watson (Advertisement, “Little Albert”)
Edward Thorndike (Effect of consequence on behavior)
B. F. Skinner (Skinner Box)
What is the current view of behaviorism?
Should not solely study observable behaviors.
Cognitive revolution –> mental processes can be studied scientifically (Mathematics & Computer Science)
What are the five perspectives of psychology?
Biological/Evolutionary, Cognitive (mental processes, e.g.: thinking, problem solving, information processing), social/personality (effect of presence of others & individual differences), developmental (across lifespan), clinical (disorder and wellbeing)
What are the research methods commonly used in psychology?
Observation, survey, correlation, experiment
What are the pros and cons of observation?
Pros: natural, no interruption, cheap, useful for forming hypothesis
Cons: bias, no strong claim, no casual relationship
What are the pros and cons of survey?
Pros: rich data, cheap, useful as initial evidence
Cons: Bias, no casual relationship
What are some biases involved in survey?
Remebered vs. Experienced Self (Electric Shock –> Mild electric shock in the end)
Accessibility (Media Bias –> Train or airplane is safer)
Context (Wording –> Sexual harrassment survey/working atmosphere survey)
What are the pros and cons of correlation?
Similar to survey
Cannot suggest causal relationship
Bi-directionality & Possibility of Third Factor
What are components of experimental procedure?
Randomization --> Randomly assigned to experimental/control group Independent variable (manipulated, "cause") Dependent variable (measured, "effect")
What is reliability?
Whether the experiment can be repeated and yield consistent results
What is validity?
Internal: only the manipulated variable could have produced the results
External: whether the results can be generalized beyond the study
What are some threats to validity?
WEIRD population (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) –> Fail to consider cultural diversity
What is an experiment conducted in real world?
Field Experiment
What is cross-sectional study?
Gather groups of people of varying ages to study
Cohort Effect: Born in different time period
What is longitudinal study?
A group of people observed for a long period of time.
No cohort effect, too costly
What is mixed longitudinal study?
A group from a range of ages observed for a limited period of time.
(Reduced cohort effect, less costly)
What is behavioral genetics?
The study of the strength of genetic influenced on behavior
Heritability: likelihood that variations across individuals are due to genetics
What are candidate genes?
Genes that affect a condition more than others.
Molecular genetics
What is functional genetics?
Uses genomewide association studies to study the effect of the genome on individual traits
What is epigenetics?
Studies how genes have different effects in different situations.
What are some examples of how genes affect behavior?
5-HTT gene: Short allele –> sensitive to negaitve emotions –> more likely to develop emotional problems after being bullied
Smaller hippocampus size –> vulnerable trait for PTSD (Twin study –> War does not change hippocampus size)
What is optogenetics?
The technology to use light to control living tissues, can be used to monitor individual neuron.
How do males and females differ in mate-seeking?
Female: long-term, more investment, resource/commitment
Male: Short-term, more mates, fertility
What are some studies related to mate-seeking?
Waist hip ratio has more effect on coffee conversation and dating, while income has more effect on long-term relationship and marriage.
Expansive posture –> more attraction (field experiment)
Language style matching
What is the structure of a neuron?
Dendrites (receiving) –> Cell body/soma (processing) –> Axon (sending)
What are some functions of glia?
Structural matrix, body functions, clean up debris of damaged neuron, blood-brain barrier (prevent toxins from entering), myelin (fast signaling)
Forms scar tissue when damage is in CNS, helps damaged axon grow in PNS
Describe the process of generating a neural impulse.
Resting potential (negative interior) --> depolarized --> threshold reached --> ion channels open --> action potential --> refractory period Myelinated axon: flows beneath neurons, action potential at nodes of ranvier
What are some important neurotransmitters?
Acetylcholine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, endorphin, glutamate, GABA
What are the functions of acetylcholine? What substance acts on it? What diseases are associated with it?
Movement, memory, autonomous nervous system
Nicotine
Alzheimer’s disease
What are the functions of epinephrine?
Arousal
What are the functions of norepinephrine? What diseases are associated with it?
Arousal and vigilance
Bipolar disorder & PTSD
What are the functions of dopamine? What substances act on it? What diseases are associated with it?
Movement, planning, reward
Cocaine & methamphetamine
Parkinson’s disease,schizophrenia, ADHD