Section 1 Flashcards
Scientific study of behavior & mental process
Psychology
Anything you do
Behavior
A way to ask questions & find answers
Mental Process
Psychology ______________.
Emerged from philosophy & biology
Three levels of analysis (a.k.a Biopsychology)
Bio: Genes/genetic expression
Psycho: Individual differences based on learning, fears, personality, etc.
Social (Cultural): Effect of the social/setting/cultural makeup
Feeling as if you always knew the answer after finding out the answer.
Hindsight Bias
What are the three goals?
Describe behaviors
Predict behaviors
Explain cause of behaviors
More abstract
Conceptual
More Concrete
Operational
Types of descriptive methods
Case Study
Naturalistic Observation
Survey
Studies one person in depth to generalize others
Case Study
Watching and recording behaviors as they occur in habitat
Naturalistic Observation
Many people self report on their own attributes and behaviors
Survey
Systematically measuring relationship between two or more varriables
Correlation
Ranges from -1 to 1, and the closer to |1| the stronger
Correlation Coefficient
Types of correlation
Possitive
Negative
None
As one variable goes up the other goes up
Possitive Correlation
As one variable goes up the other goes down
Negative Correlation
No systematic relationship between variables
No Correlation (None)
Three possible correlation pathways
A causes B
B causes A
A and B are caused by C
Method where one variable is manipulated to see the effects on another
Experiment
Aspects of the experimental method
Independent Variable
Experimental Condition
Control Condition
Dependant Variable
Random Assignment
What the researcher changes or manipulates
Independent Variable (IV)
Where participants are exposed to the “treatment”
Experimental Condition
Where participants are not exposed to the “treatment”
Control Condition
What is being measured, assesses possible changes based on the IV
Dependent Variable (DV)
How participants are distributed into groups
Random Assignment
The average of all observations
Mean
The central most observation
Median
The most common observation
Mode
What makes up the Central Tendency
Mean
Median
Mode
The difference between highest and lowest scores (subtraction)
Range
How far the scores vary from the mean
Standard Deviation
Variability
Range
Standard Deviation
The amount of individual variability within a group due to genes
Heritability
Useful due to genetic and/or environmental similarities
Twin Studies
How do you see the effect of genes if environment is the same?
Compare identical and fraternal twins
How do you see the effect of environment keeping genes the same?
Compare identical twins and separated twins
Relatively stable pattern of emotional responding and intensity
Temperament
Every non-genetic influence starting at conseption
Enviroment
Enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people, and transmitted from one generation to the next.
Culture
An understood rule for accepted and expected behaviors
Norms
Priority given to our own goals (vs. group goals) and definition of the self in terms of personal attributes (vs. group memberships)
Individualism
Priority given to group goals (vs. personal goals) and definition of the self is in terms of group memberships (vs. personal attributes)
Collectivism
A set of societally agreed upon characteristics that are associated with categories of masculinity and feminity
Gender
The biological makeup of an organism
Sex
Expectations about the social position and activities of those who are masculine and femmine
Gender Roles
Articulates what “ought” to be
Prescriptive Gender Role
Describes how things are
Descriptive Gender Role
Our behavior is shaped by rewards and punishments, and is molded after others in our enviroment
Social Learning Theory
Gaining a traditionally gendered (masculine or femmine) role
Gender-typing
Studies the link between biology and behavior
Biological Psychology
Nerve cells that make up the nervous system
Neuron
Gives the brain information from body/world
Sensory
Helps us move
Motor
Messengers for the brain
Interneuron
Chemical messengers that go from one neuron to the next
Neurotransmitters
The body’s communication network
Nervous System
Neurons must _______ before passing information
Reach Threshold
EXAMPLE:
Sodium in/Potassium out
Sequential Depolarization
Incredibly small space between an Axon terminal and another neuron’s dendrites
Synapse
_____ Sends info through the ______ via _______
Neurons
Synaptic Gap
Neurotransmitters
Neuron Demonstration
Dendrites receive a signal (takes on possitive charge (Depolarization))
Transmits information down the Axson/a positive charge charge is released in sequentially
Neurotransmitters cross the synapse gap to beging process in another neuron
Brain and Spinal cord
Central Nervous System
Sensory and motor system in the rest of the body
Peripheral Nervous System
Somatic
Controls voluntary movements
-Sensory and motor inputs
Automatic
Controls non-voluntary (or automatic) processes (eg. Digestions and reflexes)
-Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
Arouses the body
Sympathetic
Calms the body
Parasympathetic
The Somatic and Automatic systems
Peripheral Nervous System
Lateralization
Brain controls opposite halves of the body
Old Brain
Reticular Formation
Medulla
Pons
Cerebellum
Thalamus
Bundle of neurons that help transmit info, and is involved in sleep and paying attention
Reticular Formation
Involved in breathing and heartbeat
Medulla
Involved in coordination of movement
Pons
Also known as “Little brain”
Does many things including: Judging passage of time, aids in learning and memory, helps moderate emotions, and helps discriminate between sensory input
Cerebellum
Also known as the “Sensory Switchboard”
Principally sensory, and relays sensory messages from the brain to the body (eg. Move your hand when you touch something hot)
Thalamus
Lobes and Areas
Frontal Lobe
Parietal Lobe
Temporal Lobe
Occipital Lobe
Broca’s Area
Wernicke’s Area
Seat of Consciousness. Deals with logic and consequences. Doesn’t fully mature until mid-20’s
Frontal Lobe
Lobe involved in sensation
Parietal Lobe
Helps with hearing
Temporal Lobe
Almost exclusively about vision
Occipital Lobe
Production of speech/saying words
Broca’s Area
Comprehension of speech
Wernicke’s Area
The Cortex and Brain Functions
Primary Olfactory Cortex: Smell
Primary Visual Cortex: Vision
Primary Audio Cortex: Hearing
Primary Gustatory Cortex: Taste
Primary motor Cortex: Touch, but movement related
Primary Somatosensory Cortex: Touch, but sensory related. Mostly associated with highly nerve dense areas (finger tips, lips, etc.)
Limbic System
Hypothalamus
Hippocampus
Amygdala
Pituitary Gland
Linked to eating, drinking, and sex (rewards and punishments)
Hypothalamus
Memory
Hippocampus
Emotions and face regulation
Amygdala
Hormones (in charge of all glands)
Pituitary Gland
Ways to measure the brain
EEG (Electroencephalogram)
MRI & fMRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
Measures electrical activity in the brain
EEG (Electroencephalogram)
Accurate for time, but not location (in humans)
EEG (Electroencephalogram)
Images of blood flow in brain
MRI & fMRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
Accurate for location, but not for time
MRI & fMRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
