psychology - exam revision Flashcards
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of thoughts, feelings and behaviours, which are all heavily influenced by biology, past experience and cultural aspects.
psychology vs psychiatry
psychiatrists - prescribe medication and have a training minimum of 9 years. They work with people with mental illnesses. It is a narrow field
psychologists - cannot prescribe medication, minimum of 6 years training. Broad field and work with people without mental illness to assist thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
scientific method steps
- identify the research topic
- create a hypothesis
- design the research
- collect the data
- analyse the data
- interpret and evaluate the results
- report the research and findings.
how is data collected for psychological research?
- case study
- observational study (observed without interference)
- survey
- longitudinal study (repeated observations over time)
- experimental study
ethical considerations definition
precautions taken to protect the physical and psychological well-being of the participants.
ethical guidelines (7)
- no lasting harm to participants
- confidentiality
- voluntary participation
- informed consent
- withdrawal rights
- deception
- debriefing
extraneous variable
like a controlled variable - any aspect of an experimental setting that must be held constant to prevent unplanned environmental variation.
all variables that aren’t the independent variable, that could affect the results of the experiment.
why do you need to control extraneous variables?
to prove that the independent variable and nothing else impacts upon the DV
what is a sample in relation to participants in an experiment
a selection of participants for research is known as sampling. a sample is a subset of a larger group (population) that has chosen to be studied.
convenience sampling
selection of the most accessible and convenient participants.
random sampling
everyone has an equal chance of being chosen, one person being chosen does not impact the chances of another.
e.g. name out of a hat, random number generator
stratified random sampling (#)
the population is divided into subgroups (age, sex, religion etc) and then randomly selected from the subgroup (strata) representative of the population
e.g. If a population comprises 70% boys and 30% girls, the stratified sample will comprise 70% boys and 30% girls
the purpose of an experiment
experiments are aiming to support, research, or refute a hypothesis, by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a factor is manipulated.
independent variable
the thing that will be changed in each experiment
dependent variable
the thing that is being measured in an experiment.
experimental vs control group
the control group is not influenced by the independent variable whilst the experimental group is exposed to the independent variable and is measured accordingly.
types of sampling
convenience sampling, random sampling, stratified random sampling.
role of sensory neurons
detect and send information from our sense organs to the CNS
role of motor neurons
helps us react/engage with the environment, sends information from the CNS to our muscles, organs, and glands.
role of interneurons
connects motor and sensory neurons. Found only in the CNS.
frontal lobe
thinking, personality, behaviour, initiative, planning, self-awareness, decision making speech, production, voluntary control of muscles
occipital lobe
visual information
temporal lobe
responsible for the hearing and understanding of speech
hippocampus
responsible for making new memories; it is also our direction finder or navigator.
corpus callosum
a thick band of nerve axons connecting the left and right hemispheres.
hypothalamus
responsible for regulating body temperature, appetite, thirst and hormones.
amygdala
associated with emotions of fear and anger. Plays a key role in our emotional responses
brain stem
regulates survival functions such as heartbeat, blood pressure, and breathing rates
cerebellum
responsible for coordination, balance, and movement.
pineal gland
controls our internal body clock. regulates our sleep-wake schedules and releases melatonin
parietal lobe
sensations from our skin: touch, pressure, temperature, muscle movement
thalamus
sensory data arrives here and then is relayed to specific areas of the cortex
cerebral cortex
covers the cerebrum. made up of neurons; responsible for conscious thought.
functions of the left hemisphere
- moves voluntary muscles on the right side of the
body
- language
- analytical and logical thought
- judging time and rhythm
- mental arithmetic
- coordination of complex movementsfunctions of the right hemisphere
- voluntary muscles on the left side of the body
- spatial orientation, understanding music
- processing emotional response
- recognition of visual patterns
- identifying shapes
- left vision and hearing.
the difference between CNS and PNS
the CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord, whilst the PNS contains all other nerves outside the CNS. The PNS carries messages to the CNS where the CNS interprets and responds.
How is a message passed between/within neurons?
- dendrites receive electrical impulse messages from neighbouring neurons.
- The soma determines if the message is strong enough to trigger an impulse down the axon
- If an impulse is triggered, electrical charge races along the axon towards the axon terminals
- messages are only sent in one direction to avoid confusion.
neurotransmitter
the body’s natural chemical messengers that can alter the activity of neighbouring neurons. Some excite or trigger a message to be sent, while others slow or stop the activity.
treatment of Alzheimer’s
there is no known treatment but some medicines can reduce the symptoms
- cholinesterase inhibitors
- memantine
- changing lifestyle habits
soma/cell body
determines whether the messages will be sent to other neurons.
ways that a brain injury can be acquired
non-traumatic brain injury - anorexia, - infections - stroke - tumours - metabolic disorders - drug and alcohol abuse traumatic brain injury - assaults - falls - accidents - abuse - surgery
how do neurons communicate with each other?
communication occurs by sending a neurotransmitter across a synapse to the postsynaptic neuron. The neurotransmitter binds to receptor sites of postsynaptic neurons where the soma decides whether to send a message down the axon or not
symptoms of Alzheimer’s
early symptoms - minor memory problems - having difficulty with the right word - misplacing items middle stage symptoms - need help getting dressed, eating, washing etc. - worsened memory problems - delusions and hallucinations may occur later symptoms - worsened symptoms of other stages - may become violent and demanding
causes of alzheimer’s
causes (unknown)
- thought to be caused by abnormal protein buildup in and around brain cells. Proteins are known as amyloid and tau.
What happens during REM sleep
- A period of sleep where your eyes move rapidly for short bursts of time.
- Heart and breathing rate fluctuate, voluntary muscles are very relaxed
- Brainwave activity is increased (similar to those of a person awake and thinking
differences between NREM dreams and REM dreams
REM dreams tend to follow a storyline that can be mundane, dramatic, bizarre. REM dreams are most likely to be remembered and nightmares tend to occur in REM dreams. 90% of dreaming occurs in REM sleep.
NREM dreams are less frequent and more difficult to remember than REM dreams. NREM tend to be more similar to waking thought patterns. They are brief and tend to follow little to no storyline.
how long does a cycle of NREM and REM last
90 minutes on average
primary emotions
Plutchik states there are eight primary emotions
- joy, sadness, trust, fear, disgust, anger, surprise, anticipation.
three components of an emotion
- subjective/cognitive experience (mental component)
- expressive behaviour (action component)
- psychological arousal (body component – sweating, heart rate etc.)
differences between primary and secondary emotions according to Pluchik
Plutchik proposed that the range of emotions we experience are a result of blending primary emotions to create secondary emotions. Secondary emotions are not universal and therefore vary between individuals.
a cluster
A group of movements, postures, and actions that reinforce a common point.
physiological responses and behaviours a person would show when lying
eyes become unfocused, pupils narrow, sweating, increased heart rate.
eyewitness testimony
testimony by an eyewitness, in regards to what they saw during the crime.
role of a forensic psychologist
apply psychological knowledge, theory and skills to the understanding and functioning of legal and criminal justice systems
factors that impact the accuracy of eyewitness memory
retrieval cues
–stimuli that assist our recall of memories.
leading questions
– The leading question has content or is phrased in a way to suggest what answer is desired.
weapons focus
– attention is focused on the weapon and not on the details of a crime
memory decay
– the inability to access or recover information that used to be stored in memory
polygraph
measures physiological reactions in a suspect. It is unreliable as there is no evidence that that pattern of reactions is because of deception, or whether they are just nervous.
different types of stalking
rejected stalker, erotomanic stalker, intimacy-seeking stalker, the predatory stalker, the incompetent stalker, the resentful stalker.
effects of stalking on a person’s psychological wellbeing
feeling powerless, severe stress, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, nightmares, guilt, self-blame, anger, irritability, a desire to withdraw from others, and feeling suspicious and wary of others.
describe one of the four types of serial killers.
mission-oriented = driven to kill in order to eliminate a certain sub-population
serial killers vs mass murderers.
A mass murderer is someone who kills four or more victims in one location or incident. A serial killer is someone who has murdered on at least three occasions with an ‘emotional cooling-off period’ between each murder.
context vs state-dependent cues
context-dependent cues: refers to those cues that are the environmental cues in the specific situation where the memory was formed. Police may take victims back to the scene of the crime to help access the memories formed in that context
state-dependent cues: cues that are associated with an individual’s internal physiological and/or psychological state at the time the memory was formed, which act as retrieval cues.
three stages of memory
- ENCODING: the information must first be converted into a form that our brain can understand
- STORAGE: the information we process is stored in our memory
- RETRIEVAL: recalling information to use it
what is reconstructed memory
Reconstructing a memory with new information. As time progresses, the memory becomes less accurate and reconstructed memory can be inaccurate as we may update our memory with new information which alters the memory.
S.M.A.R.T goals
S: Specific - the more specific your description, the bigger chance you’ll get exactly that
M: Measurable - identify exactly what it is you will see, hear, and feel when you reach your goal, making it measurable
A: Achievement: investigating whether the goal is really acceptable to you
R: Relevant: why do you want to reach this goal? what is the objective?
T: Timely/Time based: Install deadlines for yourself and go after them.
axon terminal
releases the neurotransmitters that relay signals across a synapse.
myelin sheath
fatty covering that covers the axon and helps speed neural impulses by keeping impulses in.
synapse
the site where communication occurs between neurons.
axon
passes messages away from the cell body to the other neurons, muscles, or glands.
dendrites
receive messages from other cells and passes it to the soma
symptoms of Alzheimer’s
early symptoms - minor memory problems - having difficulty with the right word - misplacing items middle stage symptoms - need help getting dressed, eating, washing etc. - worsened memory problems - delusions and hallucinations may occur later symptoms - worsened symptoms of other stages - may become violent and demanding
rejected stalker
has experienced a relationship breakdown but refuses that it is over
intimacy seeking stalker
lonely and tries to seek a close relationship in an inappropriate way. Stalking occurs for a very long time
incompetent stalker
wants a friend/lover but lacks the social skills to develop a relationship. Uses inappropriate measures to keep in contact.
predatory stalker
pursue desires for sexual gratification and control of others through stalker. Secretly follow the victim and maintain surveillance
the erotomanic stalker
has erotomania (believes the other person is in love with them). They have a strong belief even though there may be very strong evidence that suggests otherwise.
the resentful stalker
has become obsessed with their victim over some real/imaginary insult or injury. Stalks to ‘get even’
