MidTerms Flashcards
learn this shit
What were the two early schools of psychology?
Structuralism and Functionalism
Who came up with the idea of Structuralism?
Wilhelm Wundt
Who came up with the idea of Functionalism?
William James
What is Structuralism?
- divides the mind up into segmented structures and described these
- established psychology as a separate discipline
- psychology is the scientific study of the conscious experience
- investigated vision, touch, hearing, taste, attention and emotion
What is Functionalism?
consciousness cannot be broken into its individual components
consciousness consists of a flow of thoughts, stream of consciousness in interaction with environment
- patterns of development during childhood
- behavioural differences between males and females
Psychodynamic - Who came up with it and what is it? How is it tested?
Sigmund Freud - focuses on the unconscious mind. The ice burg metaphor. It is tested by case studies of patients, reflection one’s owns inner thoughts - dreams, fantasies, slips of tongue
Behaviourism - Who came up with it and what is it? How is it tested?
B. F Skinner + James Watson -behaviour is learned by its environment. Only to do with “nurture”, stimulus from the environment went into the black box and a response (the behaviour) came out. It is tested by experimentation on humans and animals - classical conditioning and operant conditioning
Humanistic - Who came up with it and what is it? How is it tested?
Carl Rodgers + Abraham Maslow - people are innately good and will strive to reach their goals and ambitions. It is tested by a person centered perspective - therapeutic approach (counselling)
Cognitive - Who came up with it and what is it? How is it tested?
Piaget - cognitive development. Miller - Memory.
Chomsky - Language.
Newll, Shaw and Simon - Problem Solving
Cognitive process oncides memory, reasonsing, decision making, thoughts etc. The brain is like a computer. It is tested by Human experimentation and cognitive neuroscience (brain damage and effect on cognition)
Evolutionary - Who came up with it and what is it? How is it tested?
Charles Darwin - Human behaviors evolved because they helped our ancestors. Some behaviours are biologically determined (impulse to eat, sex)
What is the Scientific Approach
Assumes events are governed by some lawful order. Psychology research seeks to identify the laws, principles, or consistencies governing behaviour
Advantages to the Scientific Approach
Clarity and Precision and Intolerant of Error
Goals of the Scientific Approach
Description - Understand what we have and summarize data in a way that makes the events and relationship between them easily understandable
Prediction - Being able to predict based on previous research
Understanding - why is something happening and What is the underlying factor?
The Scientific Method
Theory Hypothesis Test Evidence Conclusion
6 Steps in an Experiment
- Framing a hypothesis
- Operationalizing variables
- Developing a standardised procedure
- Selecting and assigning participants
- Applying statistical techniques to the data
- Drawing conclusions
Variable
Independent and dependent
Continuous Varibale
Has a continuum of possible values and varies across this range (colours)
Categorical Variable
Can take on fixed values (make of car)
Basic Concepts in emperical Research
Population:
- the group of people that a researcher is interested in
- representative sample
- typically study samples
Generalisability:
- Internal Sample (procedures are flawed or not)
- External Validity (does it resemble what would happen in the real world?)
Types of Research methods
Descriptive - concerned with describing behaviour Correctional designs - concerned with predicting behaviour Experimental Designs - concerned with establishing the causes of behaviour
Variations in Experimental Designs
Independent Group Designs (between subjects)
Within Subjects (repeated measures)
Multiple IVs in same experiment
Multiple DVs in same experiment
Descriptive Stats
used to organise and summarise
- measures of central tendency
Inferential Stats
Used to interpret data and draw conclusions. tells us if the hypothesis was supported or not. p<0.05 = statistical significance
Problems with stats
Extraneous variables (stuff other than the IV that might influence the DV - age, gender?) Confounding (when 2 variables are linked together so it makes it difficult what actually impacted the DV) Random Assignment of Participants
Advantages of experimental research
cause-effect relationships
Limitations of experimental research
some experiments are artificial
- manipulations of some variables is not ethical, difficult or impossible
descriptive research + disadvantages
case studies, naturalistic observation, survey research. Good generalizability + observation can alter behaviour and cannot establish the cause of behaviour
survey technique + disadvantages
questionnaires and interviews + sampling issues and ppl may not respond accurately
correlational research
used when variables cannot be manipulated correlation coefficient (r) indicates strength. CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSATION
CNS
Central Nervous System (brain, spinal cord)
PNS
Peripheral Nervous System
3 types of Neurons
Sensory - Afferent
Motor - Efferent
Interneurons - nerve cells that connect neurons to other neurons
Anatomy of a Neuron
Dendrites Soma (Cell Body) Axon Myelin Sheath Axon Terminal Synapse Pre Synaptic Neuron Post Synaptic Neuron Synaptic Vesicles Synaptic Cleft Neurotransmitters Node of Ranvier
Steps to Action Potential
- The neuron is at rest, there are more sodium ions outside the cell compared to the potassium ions inside
- Sodium-Potassium pumps out 3 sodium ions and in 2 potassium ions to maintain the resting potential
- A stimulus causes the cell to depolarise past the threshold of excitement, causing sodium ions channel to open
- Sodium ions rush in, cell depolarises
- Action Potential is triggered and travels down the axon as the membrane of the axon depolarizes and repolarizes at each spot on the axon
- The action potential causes the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft, where they bind with receptors on the postsynaptic neuron.
- If a threshold is reached, the post-synaptic neuron is depolarized
Acetylcholine
- excitatory neurotransmitter
- triggers muscle contraction
involved in wakefulness, anger, thirst, aggression
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE
Dopamine
-controlling movement
- moderates mood
positive reinforcement
PARKINSON’S DISEASE (rigidity)
GABA
- inhibitory neurotransmitter
- motor control, vision
- regulates anxiety
USED TO TREAT EPILEPSY AND HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE
Glutamate
- major excitatory neurotransmitter
- associated with learning and memory
ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE (memory impairment)
Serotonin
-various functions like regulating body temp, sleep, mood, appetite, pain
SUICIDE, DEPRESSION, IMPULSIVE BEHAVIOUR
Norepinephrine (noradrenalin)
important for attentiveness
- emotions
- sleeping
- dreaming
- learning
Released as a hormone in the blood and causes heart rate to increase
MANIC DEPRESSION
Invasive Methods of Studying Brain Structure
Autopsies and brain dissection
Neural Staining
Non-Invasive Methods of Studying Brain Structure
MRI -excellent spatial resolution -lesions -strokes DTI -coloured shit
Non-Invasive Methods of Studying Brain Functions
EEG
-excellent temporal resolution (milliseconds)
fMRI
-poor temporal resolution (seconds)
MEG
-similar to EEG
-uses magnetic rather than electrical signals
Invasive Methods of Studying Brain Structure
Lesions
Single cell recording
Possibly TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) - sends a magnetic pulse through the scalp into the brain
Nervous System
PNS and CNS
PNS
Somatic (conveys sensory information to the central nervous system) AFFERENT AND EFFERENT and Autonomic (serves basic life functions like breathing)
Autonomic Nervous System
Sympathetic (readies the body for a threat) and Parasympathetic (clams the body down)
CNS
Spinal Cord (receives sensory input - sends info to the brain) and Brain (directs psychological activity - processes information)
Left Hemisphere
Speech, Reading, Language, Sounds, Complex Movement
Right Hemisphere
Emotional Content, Direction, Distance, Nonverbal Memory, Face and Patterns, Left Visual Field
Corpus Collosum
Communicates between the two hemispheres
Split Brain Patients
Left Hemisphere dominant for language
Right Hemisphere can draw the object
Occipital Lobe
Processes visual information
Anton Banbinski - sufferers are blind but they are adamant that they can see
Parietal Lobe
Processes touch
Egocentric space
-neglect happens when there is damage to the right parietal lobe (ppl do not pay attention to the left side of their world)
Visual attention and information
Temporal Lobe
Processes auditory information
Speech and Language
Symptoms of damage: impaired long term memory, language comprehension, altered personality
Frontal Lobe
High order tasks like social skills and abstract thinking
Prefrontal Cortex
Cognitive control: orchestrate thought and actions in accordance with internal goals
Broca’s Aphasia
Left Frontal Lobe
Speech Production: difficulty putting together grammatical sentences
Wernicke’s Aphasia
Left Temporal Lobe
Language Comprehension: word salad
Hindbrain
Cerebellum, Pons, Medulla and Reticular Formation
Cerebellum
important for balance and coordination
Medulla
Unconscious but vital bodily functions like breathing and blood flow
Reticular formation
involved in consciousness and arousal
Midbrain
Tectum and Tegmentum
Tectum
Visual and Auditory stimuli
Tegmentum
movement and arousal - learning consequences
Forebrain
Thalamus, Hypothalamus, subcortical structures of the cerebrum (limbic system), cerebral cortex (4 lobes)
Thalamus
receives and sends all sensory information to the relevant areas of the brain
Hypothalamus
helps regulate behaviour like eating, sleeping, sexual activity and emotional experience
Limbic System
Thalamus, Hippocampus, Amygdala and Mammillary Body
Hippocampus
Storage of long term memories
Amygdala
processing emotions
