Psych Midterm 2 Flashcards
1
Q
What is consciousness?
A
It’s our subjective experience of the world around us, our perspectives, and our mental processes.
2
Q
What does subjective mean?
A
That it’s based on our personal thoughts or feelings: it’s our own report of what we’re experiencing.
3
Q
What are unconscious processes?
A
Processes that occur without our awareness.
4
Q
What’s an example of consciousness and unconscious processes?
A
Being a professor: you’re conscious of being on a stage, teaching a class.
Automatic functions of the body, like your heart beating and you breathing, are unconscious processes.
5
Q
What’s an example of things being perceived unconsciously?
A
Reacting to a ball flying towards you without consciously knowing it’s a ball.
Your conscious mind did not recognize it as a ball, it just told you to move out of the way.
6
Q
Our consciousness highlights everything around us. True or false?
A
False, it’s like a spotlight that only illuminates a limited amount of information.
7
Q
Attention determines what gets the spotlight of consciousness and what doesn’t. True or false?
A
True.
8
Q
We perceive everything around us. True or false?
A
True, but not all of it enters our conscious awareness.
9
Q
No attention means no memory, which ultimately leads to no conscious experience. True or false?
A
True.
10
Q
Is memory consciousness?
A
Most theories say yes.
11
Q
According to theory one, consciousness collaborates with our attention, and our memory acts as the bridge. True or false?
A
False. Consciousness collaborates with our memory, and attention acts as the bridge.
12
Q
What are the 2 theories about attention and consciousness?
A
That 1. Attention causes consciousness and 2. That attention enhances consciousness.
13
Q
According to theory one, attention chooses which stimuli to encode into our memory. True or false?
A
True.
14
Q
According to theory 2, what does attention encode into our memory?
A
Stimuli. It allows us to perceive stimuli in detail
15
Q
According to Theory 2, we are conscious of everything at all times, but our attention plays a crucial role in shaping what we’re aware of. True or false?
A
True.
16
Q
What is blindsight?
A
A rare condition resulting from damage to the primary visual cortex. The eyes can take in information, but due to this damage, this information never reaches conscious awareness.
17
Q
What is the primary visual cortex responsible for?
A
For processing visual information. When it’s damaged, vision can be severely impaired.
18
Q
Can people with blindsight walk and avoid obstacles in their way?
A
Yes. Despite the fact that they have no conscious experience of visual information, they can still react to it unconsciously.
19
Q
What is isolation aphasia?
A
It occurs due to damage in the tracts that connect critical language areas in the brain, including Wernickes area, Brocas area, and the temporal lobe. These areas become isolated from the rest of the brain.
20
Q
What happens in isolation aphasia when the tracts are damaged?
A
You will have no conscious awareness of auditory information. The brain can process sounds, but you have no conscious awareness of them.
21
Q
What is isolation aphasia caused by?
A
Carbon monoxide poisoning.
22
Q
People with isolation aphasia can unconsciously repeat words spoken to them. True or false?
A
True.
23
Q
What are automatic behaviours?
A
Actions we perform without conscious attention. They’re well-practiced routines that we execute unconsciously.
24
Q
What are action slips?
A
They occur during automatic behaviours: they’re unintended behaviours or flaws.
25
What is a blackout?
When someone uses a psychoactive drug in large quantities, leading to a loss of consciousness. They're unaware of their surroundings and have no memory of their actions.
26
Functions can occur outside of conscious experience. What are examples of this?
Automatic processes like breathing, heartbeat, or walking. These are all essential for our survival.
27
What is the purpose of consciousness?
To reduce the amount of errors in our lives, or to enhance our experiences.
28
What is sleep?
A physiological state of reduced consciousness.
29
During sleep, our consciousness can vary. How?
We still have some level of self-awareness: we know who we are.
30
While asleep, our ability to take in information is enhanced. True or false?
False, it's limited. Our brains can process salient sounds while asleep, which can cause us to wake up.
31
When we're awake, we use a lot of conscious resources, so what happens when we're sleeping?
We regenerate these resources. Sleep is like charging our mental batteries.
32
If we want to memorize something, when should we review it?
Right before you fall asleep.
33
When do alpha, beta, theta, and delta waves occur?
Alpha waves occur when you're awake but in a relaxed state.
Beta waves occur when you're awake and alert.
Theta waves indicate light sleep.
Delta waves indicate deep sleep.
34
What are the 5 stages of sleep? (and how long)
1. Drifting (5-10 minutes of your sleep time)
2. Light Sleep (65% of your sleep time)
3/4. Deep Sleep (10-15% of your sleep time)
5. REM sleep (20-25% of your sleep time)
35
What is hypnagogic imagery? What stage of sleep does it occur in?
Dream-like images that fade in and out of our consciousness. Occurs in the drifting stage of sleep.
36
How does the brain begin to power down in the 1st drifting stage?
By transitioning to theta waves.
37
What happens in stage 2, light sleep?
Your brain further powers down and relaxes and bodily functions also start to power down.
38
When do stages 3 and 4, deep sleep, occur?
Early on in your sleep cycle: during the first 3 hours.
39
Why are stages 3 and 4, deep sleep, essential?
For physical restoration, immune function, and energy replenishment. When brain cleaning is most active.
40
What happens during stage 5, REM sleep?
Your brain powers back up, almost returning to an awake state. This is when you dream, and your body becomes paralyzed to stop you from acting out your dreams.
41
Dreaming mostly happens in REM sleep, but what's another stage it may occur in?
Deep sleep.
42
What is the REM rebound?
If you've missed REM sleep, your body will compensate by having longer REM periods. So, the longer, you sleep, the longer your dreams will feel.
43
Why does hypothesis 1 say that we dream? What's their evidence?
Because our dreams prepare us for negative situations we may encounter in real life.
Their evidence is that most dreams revolve around negative and life-relevant experiences.
44
Out of 5, how many of our dreams actually involve realistic scenarios?
1 out of 5.
45
What does the dream continuity hypothesis say about why we dream?
Our dreams tend to mirror our real-life experiences. Our consciousness uses dreams to prepare us for certain threats.
46
What is the Activation Synthesis theory?
It says that during REM sleep, the pons becomes more active, while other cortical regions show decreased activity. This increased activation in the pons sends signals to the forebrain. These signals are then converted into dreams.
47
What does the Activation Synthesis theory say dreams are?
They lack inherent meaning, and are just a result of random neural activity.
48
What is evidence against the Activation Synthesis theory?
If you damage the neural tracts that allow communication between the brainstem (pons) and the forebrain, you'll eliminate dreams. So, despite the pons activity, dreams seem to originate in the forebrain.
When the pons-to-forebrain signal is disrupted, our ability to dream is completely lost, so it's the synthesis in the forebrain that's causing our dreams.
49
What is the neurocognitive theory?
Says our brain functions as it would during wakefulness, but with significantly reduced activity.
Brain regions associated with reasoning show reduced activity and those linked with emotion become more active.
50
What happens when we're dreaming, according to the neurocognitive theory?
Our brain creates a stimulation of our reality, which often reflects our lived circumstances.
51
What kind of processing is happening when we're dreaming, according to neurocognitive theory?
Top-down processing: our dreams are creating a simulation of our reality for exploration.
52
What is insomnia?
An extreme difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.
53
What criteria do you need to meet one of in order to be classified as having insomnia?
Taking longer than 30 minutes to fall asleep every night
Waking up too early
Waking up and being unable to fall back asleep.
54
What is insomnia caused by?
Anxiety and poor sleep hygiene.
55
How can you make insomnia go away?
Stick to a sleeping schedule every night
Do calming activities before bed
Limit poor sleep hygiene.
Avoid stimulants like caffeine, alcohol, or big meals before bedtime.
Avoid medicine as a first resort.
56
What are night terrors?
Sudden, intense episodes that occur during sleep.
It's characterized by screaming, confusion, and extreme fear. The person is not conscious during this: they're still sleeping and won't remember it happening in the morning.
57
What is the psychological/physical cause of night terrors?
There isn't one.
58
At what time in life do night terrors mostly occur?
In children. There's usually no long-term problem associated with them.
59
What is sleepwalking?
A person getting up and moving around while they're still asleep.
60
When sleepwalking, they are acting out their dreams. True or false?
False. They're performing tasks they'd normally do during wakefulness.
61
What stage does sleepwalking occur in?
During 3/4: deep sleep.
62
What are common triggers of sleepwalking?
Stress, anxiety, and fatigue.
Other factors include genetics, sleep deprivation, and irregular sleep patterns.
63
What is REM sleep behaviour disorder?
When people don't experience the normal muscle paralysis during REM sleep, which allows them to act out their dreams.
64
How often does RBD occur for someone who has it? What does it look like?
Every time they go to sleep. They may kick, punch, or even jump out of bed.
65
How many, out of 200 people, does RBD affect?
1 in 200. It's extremely rare.
66
What causes RBD? Which gender is more likely to have it?
It's a physical issue related to the failure of the normal muscle paralysis mechanism.
Males. (Older adults)
67
What is sleep paralysis?
When someone wakes up, is unconscious, but is completely paralyzed. They often experience intense fear, like something/someone is in the room with them, and pressure on their chest.
68
Some people hallucinate and see something in the room with them during sleep paralysis. What you see depends on what?
Your culture.
69
What makes sleep paralysis more likely to occur?
Things like lucid dreaming.
70
Why do most people feel pressure on their chest during sleep paralysis?
It's top-down processing because when we sleep, we breathe less deeply, which during an episode can feel like weight on your chest because you're not taking deep enough breaths.
71
What kind of scenarios do we tend to dream more of?
More about negative scenarios than happy or mundane ones.
72
Where is hypnosis used?
Both by psychologists and health practitioners to perform surgeries.
73
What is hypnosis?
A systematic procedure that invokes a state of relaxation and heightened suggestibility.
74
What is suggestibility?
A mental state where the person becomes more receptive to suggestions: A state where we're more likely to do what we're told.
75
How many people are highly suggestible and how many aren't? (Out of 5)
1 in 5 are and 1 in 5 aren't
76
What does it mean if someone is highly suggestible?
That they're so suggestible that they'll do things they're told to without being formally hypnotized.
77
What is induction?
A systematic procedure to induce the hypnotic state. For example, wiggling your fingers in their face. You must explicitly inform them that you're trying to hypnotize them in order for it to work.
78
What is posthypnotic amnesia?
Forgetting what happened during the session/while you were hypnotized.
79
Hypnosis can create vivid sensory experiences, such as seeing or feeling things that aren't physically present. True or false?
True.
80
What is hypnosis effective in doing and not doing?
In reducing pain perception and overcoming phobias, but it's not effective in enhancing behaviours (you can't make someone do a math test like someone with a PhD would)
81
What is the sociocognitive theory?
It says that hypnosis is a social phenomenon: that people act as if they are hypnotized because they believe they are.
People who are open to suggestion and trust the hypnotist are more likely to respond to hypnosis.
82
What is evidence for the sociocognitive theory?
That people who don't believe in hypnosis or think they can't be hypnotized are less likely to enter a hypnotic state.
Brain imaging studies show no significant change in EEG activity during hypnosis.
Even non-hypnotized people can be influenced to perform similar behaviours if they want to please others or follow social cues.
83
What is the dissociation theory?
Says hypnosis involves a division or splitting of consciousness. It suggests that our awareness can be separated into different components during hypnosis.
84
What's a flexible observer?
Within this split consciousness, there is an unconscious portion (the hidden observer) that can communicate with the hypnotist and adjust actions accordingly.
For example, losing your hearing during hypnosis. You may not consciously experience hearing, but this flexible observer allows you to still repeat what was said during this state if you were asked to.
85
What is evidence for the dissociation theory?
The ability of hypnotized people to perceive no pain during surgery without anesthesia.
While EEG studies show no significant change in brain activity during hypnosis, this theory suggests that other neural processes may be at play.
86
What can psychoactive drugs do?
They can significantly alter our mental processes, mood, and perception.
87
What is withdrawal?
It's when an individual stops taking a drug and after prolonged use, which leads to negative physical and psychological effects due to the drugs sudden absence.
88
What is physical dependence?
When your body relies on a drug to function normally.
89
What is psychological dependence?
It involves intense cravings for a drug due to its perceived positive effects on mood and emotions.
90
When does psychological dependence become problematic?
When it affects our daily functioning.
For example, missing work due to drug-related issues or strained relationships due to drug use.
91
When does an out-of-body experience (OBE) occur?
When one feels like their consciousness has left their physical body and they're viewing themselves from another perspective, like a birds-eye view.
92
What can trigger OBE's?
Extreme stress, sleep deprivation, or other factors.
93
What happens in near-death experiences?
People report encounters with spirits or a being of light. What they see depends on their culture.
94
What is learning?
A relatively durable change in behaviour or knowledge that occurs due to experience.
It's the process by which we acquire new information, skills, or behaviours.
95
What is habituation?
The tendency to discontinue responding to repeatedly occurring uninformative events.
It's when we become accustomed to something and stop paying attention to it: it's like tuning out repetitive or irrelevant stimuli.
96
What is neuroplasticity?
The brain's ability to change and adapt over time.
Our nervous system is constantly adjusting its connections, becoming more or less efficient in certain areas.
97
What happens in our brains when we learn something new?
Our brain creates new neural pathways (tracts) that become more efficient with practice.
98
What happens to neural pathways with habituation?
The ones associated with the behaviour we're habituating become less efficient because we stop using them.
99
What is classical conditioning?
A type of learning in which an organism (person or animal) associates a neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus to produce a specific response.
100
What is a famous example of classical conditioning?
Pavlov training dogs to salivate at the sound of a bell.
101
What is an unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and conditioned response in the case of training the dog to salivate?
UCS - The food, which naturally triggers salivation.
UCR - The salivation, a natural response to food.
CS - The bell, which was initially a neutral stimulus (NS)
CR - Salivation in response to the bell, which is a learned association.
102
What is stimulus-stimulus learning?
In classical conditioning, we implicitly learn that one stimulus (the CS) will lead to the presentation of another stimulus (the UCS), which creates a specific response (the CR).
Previously insignificant stimuli gain importance due to their association with meaningful events.
103
What does classical conditioning work with?
Basic responses, such as fear, hunger, happiness, or anxiety.
They're hardwired into us and can be paired with other stimuli.
104
What are the steps of classical conditioning?
1. The UCS with produce a UCR. At this point, no new behaviour has been learned yet.
2. An NS will become associated with the UCS. When the NS (now called the CS) is paired with the UCS, it becomes associated with the response (ex, if a bell is consistently paired with food, it becomes associated with the response).
3. The CS alone will be able to evoke the CR. They have learned the association between the CR and the response. (ex, the sound of the bell (CS) now triggers salivation (CR) even without the presence of food.
105
How can you prevent habituation during conditioning?
Occasionally present the NS before the UCS. By doing so, you're maintaining the association between the two.
(The bell before the food).
106
When is classical conditioning most effective?
When the CS is presented before the UCS. This order reinforces the association between the 2 stimuli.
107
What is generalization in classical conditioning?
It occurs when an NS that is similar to the CS produces a similar CR.
Ex) Associating a yellow light with an oncoming air puff into your eye. You'll begin to blink when you see the yellow light, even if there's no air puff. Now, if an orange light is introduced, which is similar to yellow, you will blink.
The orange light was never directly conditioned; however, because its similar to yellow, you generalize it.
108
Why does generalization exist in classical conditioning?
It's an adaptive mechanism that allows us to respond to similar stimuli without having to learn each one individually.
109
What is the generalization gradient?
It refers to how a CR changes based on the similarity of an NS to the CS.
It shows how our brain generalizes responses to similar stimuli.
When an NS is more similar to the CS, it will produce a more intense CR.
Ex) If you introduce a purple light, the person's blink will be very short, because purple is not similar to yellow.
110
What is discrimination in classical conditioning?
It occurs when an organism learns to differentiate between similar stimuli and produces different CR's to each of them.
Ex) A yellow light will make you blink, and orange will do the same thing. However, if you condition someone with the orange light without any air puffs, they will implicitly learn the differences between these colours and not blink to orange.
111
What is higher-order conditioning?
It occurs when an initial CS (CS1) is paired with a NS, leading the NS to become a CS2.
Each additional CS produces a response of less strength.
Ex) If you condition a dog to associate a bell (CS1) with receiving food (UCS), they will salivate (CR) to the bell. If you introduce a whistle (NS), the dog may salivate, but not as much as they would to the bell. The whistle has become a CS2.
112
What can conditioned emotional responses be learned through?
When an emotional reaction, like fear, pleasure, or anxiety, is learned through classical conditioning.
These responses can be learned in only one pairing, and are extremely resistant to extinction.
113
What are fetishes?
Sexual attraction to specific objects or body parts.
These preferences can be formed through conditioned emotional responses.
114
What are phobias?
Intense, unreasonable fears of specific things.
Often the result of a conditioned fear response.
115
When do conditioned fear responses occur?
When an initially NS becomes associated with fear or anxiety due to pairing with a frightening event.
It's a type of conditioned emotional response.
116
What's an example of a conditioned fear response?
Little Albert, who was exposed to a rat (NS) and every time he touched the rat, the researchers would make a loud noise (UCS). They were repeatedly paired, and little Albert became terrified of the rat, even without the loud noise. They tried to habituate this fear, but never could.
117
What is operant conditioning?
A type of learning in which behaviour is influenced by its consequences.
It involves adjusting behaviour based on the outcomes (rewards or punishments) that follow.
118
What was Thorndike's puzzle box experiment?
He put cats in puzzle boxes with food at the end. Initially, the cats displayed random behaviours, trying various things to escape. But he observed that they learned over time and their escape times decreased with each trial.
119
What is the Law of Effect?
Proposed by Thorndike.
Behaviours leafing to satisfying outcomes are strengthened, while those leading to unsatisfying outcomes are weakened.
120
Who says that consequences play a crucial role in shaping behaviour?
Thorndike.
121
What did Skinner observe in teaching rats?
That he could teach them a wide range of behaviours by providing appropriate consequences and sometimes very complex behaviours, like dancing.
122
According to Skinner, how is behaviour shaped?
By the environment through a process of stimulus-response learning.
123
What is a stimulus, response, and consequence in stimulus-response learning?
Stimulus: Any external event that triggers a response.
Response: The observable behaviour produced by someone.
Consequences: The outcomes that follow a behaviour.
124
What is reinforcement vs punishment?
Reinforcement is a consequence that makes a behaviour more likely.
Punishment is a consequence that makes a behaviour less likely.
125
According to operant conditioning, our environment provides cues and our actions are influenced by the outcomes. In this sentence, where does stimuli, consequences, and responses fit?
Cues: Stimuli
Actions: Responses
Outcomes: Consequences.
126
What is positive reinforcement?
It occurs when a behaviour is followed by a rewarding consequence, making the behaviour more likely to recur.
When a desirable stimulus is added after a behaviour, strengthening that behaviour.
127
What is negative reinforcement?
It involves removing an aversive stimulus after a behaviour, thereby strengthening the behaviour.
128
What's an example of negative reinforcement?
You're in pain, so you take advil (behaviour). The pill removes the pain (stimulus), making you more likely to take advil again when you're in pain.
129
What's an example of positive reinforcement?
You praise your kid for eating veggies (adding a desirable stimulus), so they're more likely to eat veggies again.
130
What is positive punishment?
It occurs when a behaviour is followed by an unpleasant consequence, making the behaviour less likely to occur.
131
What is negative punishment?
It involves removing a desirable stimulus after a behaviour, weakening the behaviour.
132
What's an example of positive punishment?
If a kid throws a tantrum and gets scolded, they may be less likely to throw tantrums in the future.
133
What's an example of negative punishment?
If a teen breaks curfew and loses phone privileges, they may be less likely to break curfew again.
134
The consequence of a behaviour significantly influences whether that behaviour will occur again or not. True or false?
True. Whether it's positive or negative, the outcome following a behaviour plays a crucial role.
135
What are positive vs negative consequences?
Positive: Adding a stimulus to the situation.
Negative: Removing something from the situation.
136
Why did Skinner find true/pure punishments (where a stimulus is added after a behaviour) to be relatively uncommon/rare?
Because even when we intend to punish, the actual effect often turns out to be reinforcement.
Ex) Spakning is done to discourage, but it can actually reinforce it, because they're receiving attention.
137
Skinner said that instead of rewarding what you want to see, punish what you don't want to see. True or false?
False. He said instead of punishing what you don't want to see, focus on reinforcing behaviours you want to encourage.
138
What is extinction?
The fading of a behaviour due to the absence of reinforcement.
When a previously reinforced behaviour decreases because the reinforcer or the behavioural contingency is removed.
139
What's an example of extinction?
your dog barks excessively for attention. Initially, when you respond to his barking by giving him attention, the behaviour increases. However, if you suddenly stop giving attention when he barks, the behaviour may gradually decrease due to extinction.
140
Which learning process is habituation more complex in, operant or classical conditioning? Why?
In operant because it involves the gradual reduction of a behaviour due to repeated exposure to stimulus.
Ex) You don't like working, but the paycheck is a positive reinforcer, motivating you to keep going. Over time, this becomes habitual.
141
What is generalization in operant conditioning?
When a learned response to a specific stimulus extends to similar stimuli that share certain characteristics.
142
What's an example of generalization in operant conditioning?
Imagine you've mastered a gumball machine. This involves inserting a coin, turning the handle, and receiving a gumball. Now, if you encounter any other coin-operated machine, you'll be able to apply the same procedure.
143
What is discrimination in operant conditioning?
It's the opposite of generalization: it's learning to differentiate between similar stimuli or responses.
144
What's an example of operant conditioning?
When you visit your own fridge, you can grab whatever food you want. However, if you go to a friend's house and grab food without asking, the consequences may be different. You've learned to discriminate between the 2 situations.
145
What are primary reinforcers?
Biological needs or innate stimuli that automatically have reinforcing properties.
We don't need to learn their value: they are inherently rewarding or aversive.
146
What's an example of a primary reinforcer?
Food, water, warmth.
147
What are primary punishers?
They're biological in nature and are inherently aversive, like pain and fear.
148
What are conditioned reinforcers?
They're secondary reinforcers: stimuli that acquire reinforcing properties through association with primary reinforcers.
149
What's an example of a conditioned reinforcer?
Money. Initially, money itself has no inherent value, but when we learn that it can be exchanged for primary reinforcers like food, shelter, and comfort, money becomes reinforcing.
150
What are conditioned punishers?
They're secondary punishers: They become aversive due to their association with primary punishers.
151
What's an example of a conditioned punisher?
The flashing lights of a police car. The lights themselves are neutral, but we've learned that it signals potential punishment.
152
What is continuous reinforcement?
When you reinforce a behaviour every time it occurs. Each response is followed by a reinforcer.
153
What does continuous reinforcement lead to in terms of learning? Why?
Leads to rapid learning because the person quickly associates the behaviour with the reward.
154
What is intermittent reinforcement?
Reinforcing a behaviour only sometimes, but not every time.
155
What are the 2 types of intermittent reinforcement?
Interval schedules, which revolve around time.
Ratio schedules, which revolve around responses.
156
What are the different ways you can use an interval schedule?
A fixed interval (FI) is when reinforcement occurs after a fixed amount of time has passed since the last reinforcement.
A variable interval (VI) is when reinforcement occurs after a varying amount of time has passed.
157
What are the different ways you can use a ratio schedule?
A fixed ratio (FR) is when reinforcement occurs after a fixed number of responses.
A variable ratio (VR) is when reinforcement occurs after a varying amount of responses.
158
Why are variable schedules the most resistant to extinction?
Because they create uncertainty: You never know when the next reinforcement will occur.
159
Behaviours are learned faster in interval schedules than in ratio schedules. True or false?
False, they're learned faster in ratio schedules.
160
What is variable reinforcement?
When rewards (reinforcers) are delivered randomly after a certain number of responses or a random amount of time.
161
Why do people learn behaviour rapidly with variable reinforcement?
Because they become conditioned to expect reinforcement unpredictably. Since the reinforcement is unpredictable, there's no pause in the behaviour, and it's resistant to extinction.
