Psych 101---1 Flashcards
father of psychology. Established first psychology lab. Participants would report their sensations, which were thought to be the key to analyzing the structure of the mind
Wilhelm Wundt
Sensations and perceptions make up our conscious experiences
structuralism
thought the focus should be on the function of the mind and how we adapt to our changing environments, rather than the structure of consciousness
William James
asked whats the function of consciousness
functionalism
thought neither of the two previous approaches were comprehensive.
Max Wertheimer
The whole is more than the sum of its parts (especially in regards to perception)
gestalt approach
said “give me a dozen healthy infants..I will train them to become any type of specialist I select-doctor, lawyer, artist..”
John Watson
emphasizes the objective, scientific analysis of observable behaviors, it was the dominant force in psychology from 1920s-1960s
behaviorism
the systematic, scientific study of behavior and mental processes
psychology
what are the four goals of psychology
i) Describe different ways in which organisms behave
i) Explain the causes of behavior
ii) Predict how organisms behave in certain situations
iii) Control an organisms behaviors
how our genes, hormones, and nervous system interact with our environment to influence learning, personality, memory, motivation, and emotions. (viewing CT scans of two twins, one with schizophrenia one without it, you can see the difference in the brain)
biological approach
how we process, store, and use information and how this information influences what we attend to, perceive, learn, remember, believe, and feel.
cognitive approach
studies how organisms learn new behaviors or modify existing ones, depending on whether events in their environments reward of punish these behaviors.
behavioral approach
Stresses the influence of unconscious fears, desires, and motivations on thoughts, behaviors, and the development of personality traits and psychological problems later in life.
psychoanalytic approach
Emphasizes that each individual has a great freedom in directing his or her future, a large capacity for personal growth, a considerable amount of intrinsic worth, and enormous potential for self-fulfillment.
humanistic approach
Studies the influence of social and cultural factors on psychological and behavioral functioning
sociocultural approach
studies how evolutionary ideas, such as natural selection and adaptation, explain human behaviors and mental processes
evolutionary approach
Studies how the biological, psychological, and social influences explain human health and illness
bio psychosocial approach
a physician who diagnoses physical and neurological causes of abnormal behavior and treats these behaviors, often with prescription drugs. (M.D. or D.O.)
psychiatrist
has spent four to five years in graduate education and has earned a doctorate in psychology. Clinical vs experimental (Ph.D, Psy.D, or Ed.D.)
psychologist
includes the assessment and treatment of people with psychological problems, such as grief, anxiety, or stress (ask questions like which type of therapy is most effective for this type of disorder? How do people develop phobias?)
clinical/counseling
examines moral, social, emotional, and cognitive development throughout a persons entire life (why do some babies cry more than others? What happens to our sex drive as we age?)
developmental
involves the study of social interactions, stereotypes, prejudices, attitudes, conformity, aggression, etc. (how does being in a group affect one’s behavior? How can people make a good impression on others?)
social
includes the areas of sensation, perception, learning, motivation, etc. (why does an animal press a bar to obtain food? Can learning principles he used to discipline children?)
experimental
: involves research on the physical and chemical changes that occur during stress, learning, and emotions and how our nervous system interacts with the environment. (how do brain cells change during alzheimer’s disease? How do genes affect your intelligence?)
biological
: focuses on measurement of peoples abilities, skills, intelligence, personality, and abnormal behaviors. (what do college entrance tests show? What career best fits my abilities?)
psychometrics
focuses on how we process, store, and retrieve information and how cognitive processes influence our behavior. (what is the best way to learn new information? Do men and women think differently?)
cognitive
examines the relationships of people and their work environments. (how can we increase the productivity of workers? How can we select employees who will be successful?)
industrial/organizational
a) A multistep technique of gathering information and answering questions so that errors and biases are minimized
scientific method
surveys and polls
descriptive research
questions that allow respondents to answer in whatever way they see fit. Ex: what are comments about this professor?
open ended questions
people give their opinion by picking the best of two or more options. (likert scale: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree)
forced choice questions
when we watch, and systematically record what a person or think is doing. Can be bad because your bias can affect your interpretation of what you see
observational research
when people change their behavior when they know they’re being watched
reactivity
doing an in depth research on a single person
case study
a topic that deals with the magnitude and direction of relationships, primarily concerned with whether or not a relationship exists between two variables.
correlation research
manipulate at least one variable and measure another
experimental research
the variable we manipulate, the one that receives change
independent variable
the measured variable
dependent variable
the variable that an experimenter holds constant on purpose
control variable
in 1932, the US public health service began studying the effects of untreated syphilis in poor, African American males. The researchers wanted to better understand the progression of the disease, (since there was no “real” cure at the time) until the participants had died. The study lasted 40 years, the researchers made a series of abysmal ethical decisions:
i) The men were told that they were being treated
ii) The men who did not have syphilis-and then contracted it-were not told that they had the disease
iii) The men never received any beneficial treatment
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study
Milgram ran a series of experiments on obedience to authority that was very unethical
the mil gram obedience study
contained 3 principles for conducting research with human participants:
i) Respect for persons: informed consent
ii) Beneficence: can’t harm your participants, and have to take steps to insure your participants are not harmed
iii) Justice: is it worth it to harm your participants? IRB
the belmont report
900 billion: support cells, they insulate, feed and guide growth
glial cells
send and receive electrical signals
neurons
provides fuel, manufactures chemicals, and maintains the working order of the entire neuron
cell body
receive signals from other neurons, muscles, or sensory organs and pass these signals to the cell body
dendrites
carries signals away from the cell body to neighboring neurons, organs, or muscles
axons
insulates the axon and prevents interference from other electrical signals
myelin sheath
contain chemicals called neurotransmitters which are used to communicate with neighboring cells
axon terminal (terminal bulbs)
small space between the axon terminal and the adjacent body organ, muscle, or cell body
synapse
brain and spinal cord
central nervous system
bundles of axons and dendrites that come from the spinal cord
nerves
nerves
peripheral nervous system
the axon has a charge (or potential)
resting state
an electric current that is generated by the influx of sodium ions inside the axon
action potential
a series of action potentials that happen segment by segment down the axon, is created.
nerve impulse
release their transmitters which communicate with the neighboring organs, muscles, or cell bodies and either inhibit of exile their function
terminal bulbs
ii) Chemical messenger that carries information between nerves and body organs, such as muscles and heart
transmitters
a special class of transmitters that are made in the brain, used to communicate between neurons during mental or physical activity.
neurotransmitters
glutamate, dopamine, serotonin, gamma-amino butyric acid(gaba), acetylcholine, norepinephrine
common neurotransmitters
similar to neurotransmitters, but smaller
a) Used to communicate between neurons during mental of physical activity
neuropeptides
naturally occurring chemical released in response to paths or series
endorphin
an unlearned, involuntary reaction to know stimulus
reflex
is a process through which neurotransmitters are removed from the synapse by being transported back into the end bulbs. Dopamine remains in the synapse and produces a feeling of euphoria
reuptake
enters the bloodstream, reaches the muscles, and blocks the receptors on muscles. When the receptors are blocked, the muscles become paralyzed
curare
chemical keys are similar to naturally occurring endorphins. Laughter and Hallucinations
salvias
i) Accidental errors in genetic instructions that lead to a change
genetic mutations
i) The genes that will help an organism survive and reproduce will continue in a species, while the genes that do not, will not
natural selection
studies how evolutionary ideas such as adaptation and natural selection explain human behaviors and mental processes
the evolutionary approach
brain and spinal cord (both made up of neurons, bundles of axons, and dendrites) main function of those is to send and receive messages
central nervous system
regulates heart rate, blood pressure, hormones
autonomic nervous system
: increases physiological arousal and prepares the body for action
sympathetic nervous system
returns the body to a relaxed state
parasympathetic nervous system
A network of nerves that connect either to sensory receptors or to muscles that you can move voluntarily
somatic nervous system
very well developed in humans
i) Largest part of the brain
ii) Left and right hemispheres; connected by the corpus callosum
iii) Learning and memory, speaking and language, emotion, planning, decision making
forebrain
reward/pleasure center
i) Awesome
ii) Relays visual and auditory information
midbrain
evolutionarily primitive
i) Has remained fairly constant throughout evolution
ii) Contains 3 major parts: pons (regulates sleep), medulla (regulates heart rate and breathing), cerebellum (controls motor function)
hindbrain
interpreting emotions, socially normal, healthy personality, decision making, planning, reasoning…executive functions. Also contains the motor cortex, which is involved in all voluntary motor movements. (motor homunculus)
frontal lobe
processing sensory information from body parts including touching, feeling temperature, pain and attending to
parietal lobe
processes information about touch, the location of limbs, pain, temperature
somatosensory cortex
involved in hearing, speaking coherently, and understanding written and spoken word: contains the primary auditory cortex and the auditory association area: receives signals from the ear and transforms the sounds into recognizable auditory information
temporal lobe
necessary for speaking in coherent sentences and understanding speech
wernicke’s area
used for combing sounds into words and arranging words into sentences
broca’s area
a disturbance of comprehension or expression of language
aphasia
involved in processing visual information including seeing colors and recognizing objects, animals, and people. Contains the primary visual cortex and the visual association area. Receives signals from the eyes, transforms them into basic sensations such as color, light, texture…then transforms the sensations into meaningful perceptions
occipital lobe
interconnected section of the forebrain that regulates many motivational behaviors: eating drinking, sex, emotional behaviors
limbic system
involved in saving temporary memories and putting them into permanent storage in various other parts of the brain: memory
hippocampus
evaluating emotional significance of stimuli, especially fear, threat, distress
amygdale
sensory relay. Every sense that comes in through your brain is relayed through the thalamus
thalamus
regulates the four f’s (fight or flight response, feeding, intercourse)
hypothalamus
i) Measures the electrical activity and provides information about brain activity, can show what areas of the brain are active during certain cognitive tasks
Electroencephalograph (EEG)
i) Measures the amount of radiation that is absorbed by neurons
ii) Active neurons absorb more than less active neurons
iii) Different levels of absorption are represented by different colors
Positron emission tomography (PET)
i) Measures the change in activity of functioning neurons during a cognitive task
Functional magnetic resonance imaging
meaningless bits of information that result when the brain processes the electrical signals
sensations
meaningful sensory experiences that result when the brain combines hundreds of senses
perception
a segment of electromagnetic energy that we can see because these waves are the correct length to stimulate the receptors in the eye
the visible spectrum
focuses light waves into a more narrow beam
cornea
allows light to enter the eye
pupil
the muscle around the pupil that controls how much light enters the eye
iris
: focuses light waves into an even more narrow beam than the cornea
lens
contains photoreceptors which begin the transduction process
retina
: optic nerve to lateral geniculate nucleus (thalamus) to primary visual cortex to visual association area
vision pathway
free nerve endings wrap around the base of each hair follicle
hair receptors
these receptors transmit information about pain and temperature
free nerve ending
receptors that send information based on vibration
sensory receptors
i) Stimulus: various chemicals
(1) Sweet salty sour bitter umami
gustation
iii) Only direct pathways straight to your brain
iv) Pathway: thalamus then outward for processing
olfaction
the point at which a stimulus is perceived and below which it is not perceived
threshold
the smallest increase or decrease in the intensity of a stimulus that a person can detect 50% of the time
just noticeable difference
the minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect 50% of the time
absolute threshold
guided by previous knowledge to recognize the whole pattern
top down processing
begins with bits and pieces of information that, when combined, lead to the recognition of the whole pattern
bottom up processing
gestalt psychologists came up with rules to explain how our brains combine and organize individual pieces of elements into a meaningful perception
organizational rules
picking out an object from its background (pick out an object from its background)
figure ground rule
we tend to fill in missing parts of a figure to see it as complete
closure
we tend to group elements together that appear similar
similarity
we group together objects that are physically close together
proximity
stimuli are organized in the simplest way possible
simplicity
we tend to favor smooth or continuous paths
continuity
a) We perceive sizes, shapes, brightness, and colors as remaining the same even though their physical characteristics are constantly changing
perceptual constancy
our tendency to perceive objects as remaining the same size even when their image is on the retina are continually growing and shrinking
size constancy
our tendency to perceive an object as retaining its same shape, even though you view it from different angles
shape constancy
our tendency to perceive colors as the same in different lighting
brightness and color constancy
the ability of your eye and brain to add a third dimension, depth to all visual perceptions…even though images projected on the retina are in only two dimensions
depth perception
depends on the movement of both eyes for the perception of depth
binocular cues
the brain uses signal sent from the eyes to determine distance
convergence
each eye sees a slightly different picture this is interpreted by the brain and gives us a cue to its distance
retinal disparity
commonly arise from the way objects are arranged in the environment
monocular cues
when parallel line converge in the distance
linear perspective
when we expect that two objects are the same size, but they do not appear to be
relative size
one object overlapping another obejct appears to be closer
interposition
brightly lit objects appear closer
light and shadow
objects with detailed texture appear closer
texture gradient
clearer objects appear to be nearer than hazy objects
atmospheric perspective
faster moving objects appear to be closer to us
motion parallax
different levels of awareness of one’s thoughts and feelings
consciousness
: activities that require full awareness, alertness, and concentration to reach a goal
i) Controlled processes:
activities that require little awareness and do not interfere with other activities
automatic processes
requires a low level of awareness, often occurs during automatic processes, involves fantasizing while awake
daydreaming
awareness that differs from normal consciousness
(1) Can be produced by meditation, hypnosis, psychoactive drugs…
altered states
: five different stages of awareness, responsiveness, and physiological arousal
sleep
a variety of visual, auditory, and tactile images, often connected in strange ways
dreams
: total lack of sensory awareness and complete loss of responsiveness to one’s environment
unconsciousness
internal timing systems that are genetically set to regulate various physiological responses for different periods of time
biological clocks
a biological clock that is set to regulate physiological responses for around 24 hours
circadian rhythm
(2) The location of a biological clock (circadian rhythm) that controls your sleep-wake cycle is
suprachiasmatic nucleus
secreted by the pineal gland during the dark and plays a role in promoting sleep
melatonin
transition from wakefulness to sleep
(a) 1-7 minutes
(b) marked with theta waves
stage one
Marks what we really refer to as sleep
(a) 5-15 minutes
(b) marked with theta waves
stage two
deep sleep
(a) 15-45 minutes
(b) MARKED WITH DELTA WAVES
stage 3 and 4
most of your dreaming occurs in this stage (20% of all sleep)
(a) 15-45 minutes
rapid eye movement
(1) When we are asleep, our censor that protects us from realizing our unconscious desires is turned off
(2) Our desires are manifested in symbols that appear in our dreams
Freud’s theory of dreams
(1) Our dreams reflect the same thoughts, fears, emotions, problems, and concerns that we have when we are awake
extensions of waking life
(1) The section of the brain involved in reasoning is shut down during sleep
(2) As a result, different chemicals and neural influence produce hallucinations, delusions, emotions, and bizarre thought patterns
activation synthesis theory
(1) Dreaming serves a biological function by repeatedly stimulating events that are threatening in our waking lives so we can rehearse our responses
threat simulation theory
difficulties in either going to sleep or staying asleep throughout the night
insomnia
(a) Xanax, restoril
benzodiazepines
ambien, lunesta
non benzodiazepines
repeated periods during sleep where a person stops breathing for 10 seconds or longer
sleep apnea
: a chronic disorder that is characterized by excessive sleepiness, usually in the form of short bursts of sleep attacks throughout the day
narcolepsy
waking up during stage 3 or 4 of sleep with a scream, rapid breathing, increased heart rate
night terror
occur during REM sleep and are anxiety producing images that occur during dreams
nightmares
occurs during stages 3 or 4 and consists of walking around (usually clumsily)
sleepwalking
