Term 1 Flashcards
What is psychology?
The science of behaviour and the mind
True or False. The visual system is really good at noticing changes both gradual and sudden
False, the visual system tends to only notice sudden changes rather than gradual changes.
Why is the human visual system better at noticing sudden changes rather than gradual?
It is due to our human biology as we are programmed to make decisions based on human survival. Sudden changes are recognised as a potential risk to human survival and that is why our visual system would notice this change although gradual changes are recognised as low risk to human survival and therefore are not noticed as often.
How do we study psychology?
Using a scientific method to discover reliable knowledge about the world.
What is the scientific method?
The scientific method is a set of rules and techniques that allow researchers to avoid biases and mistakes in reaching conclusions.
What is the bystander effect?
The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a social psychological claim that individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present; the greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that one of them will help
What is the common process of phycological research?
To first describe the situation and the behaviour in the natural environment then predict such as specifying how things may co-vary the finally explain what you may think is the cause of that behaviour. (Description, Prediction, Explanation)
What are the main types of research methods in psychology?
The descriptive method, the correlation method and the experimental method.
What is the descriptive method?
The descriptive method is used to describe characteristics and behaviours of a population or phenomenon being studied. It does not answer questions about how/when/why the characteristics or behaviours occurred.
What is the most important 1st step of research?
Using the descriptive method
What are some techniques that can be used for the descriptive method?
Observation without intervention, Observation with intervention and (sometimes) structured intervention.
What are demand characteristics in psychology?
Demand characteristics are any aspect of an experiment that may reveal the hypothesis being tested or that may cue participants as to what behaviors are expected. aka will change the participants natural answer.
What is observer bias?
Occurs when the observers know the aims of the study study or the hypotheses and allow this knowledge to influence their observations.
What is the difference between observer bias and demand characteristics?
Observer bias is quite similar to demand characteristics except that the bias is with the “observers” of the research (i.e., the research team) rather than the participants.
What is the double blind technique?
A double-blind study is one in which neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment. This procedure is utilized to prevent bias in research results.
What is the correlational method?
The correlational method involves looking at relationships between two or more variables. While researchers can use correlations to see if a relationship exists, the variables themselves are not under the control of the researchers. … In other words, correlational studies cannot prove cause-and-effect relationships.
What is a positive correlation?
When both variables increase or decrease together
What is a negative correlation?
When one variable increases and the other decreases.
What is the correlation range?
0-1, with 0 indicating no correlation and 1 indicating a correlation
What is important to remember about correlation?
That correlation is not causation.
What are the 3 criteria for causality?
- An association or a correlation, 2. A temporal precedence, 3. Genuine relationship
What is the experimental method?
The experimental method involves manipulating one variable to determine if changes in one variable cause changes in another variable. This method relies on controlled methods, random assignment and the manipulation of variables to test a hypothesis.
What are the 4 components of a true experiment?
- Manipulation (The variables of interest: Independent and dependant variables) , 2. Participants (Having random selection and random assignment), 3. Data (Collecting results from the experiment), 4. Interpretation (making a conclusion based on the experiment).
What are independant variables?
The variables which are manipulated during an experiment for example if the variable was participants you would be manipulating how many participants you had.
What are dependant variables?
The variables which are measured for example you could be measuring a response time.
What is important to remember about Interpretation during an experiment?
Not to over-interpret such as state you have a strong conclusion on a topic but rather to say the results indicate this conclusion.
What are the characteristics of good scientific findings?
It will be falsifiable, It will be verifiable (reliable and valid), and public and cumulative.
What does falsifiable mean?
It means that your hypothesis for your experiment must be able to be proven right and wrong.
What does public and cumulative mean in terms of a scientific experiment?
It means that your experiment should be able to be done with the same results by other scientists and in other labs.
What is the behaviour repertoire?
It is the set of behaviours containing everything you do.
What are past repertoires?
All the things you once did but no longer do, for example if your mother passed away behaviours you had to do with her would then become past repertoires as they will be things you no longer do.
What are current repertoires?
All the things that you currently do, such as eating breakfast in the morning.
What are future repertoires?
All the things you may do in the future for example you may learn to fly a plane in the future but you do not to that thing now.
What is science based on and need to survive?
Variability and change (Why Questions)
True or False, Repertoires are always changing and when they do often change in dramatic ways.
True.
Where does variability come from?
- Biological and Physiological factors (Hormonal, effects of the brain and injurys, drug use)
- Developmental processes (Emergent processes)
- EXPERIENCE
What are emergent processes?
Changes that evolve as a system’s overall structure and function is transformed into a new regime of behavior, showing new properties that could not have been predicted to arise prior to the transformation
What is Respondent behaviour?
Respondent behaviour is often called Involuntary behaviour as this behaviour usually cannot be consciously controlled. This behaviour elicited (Drawn out) by sudden stimuli and examples of this behaviour include feeling sadness when someone dies, feeling hungry when smelling food and having an increased heart rate during exercise.
What is the resultant of someone which does not have functioning respondent behaviour?
Mental disorders such as stress disorder and depression.
What is Operant behaviour?
Operant behaviour can be either voluntary or automatic behaviour that humans do to ‘do work’ or ‘operate’ on the world. Examples of this behaviour include sending text messages, listening, running, and reading.
What is likely to happen if someone has faulty Operant behaviour?
This person may form inappropriate, deviant or damaging behaviours.
True or False? Operant and Respondent behaviours cannot occur at the same time and work against each other in day to day living.
False, These behaviours are commonly used at the same time and work together in day to day living.
How does experience add new behaviours the the operant behaviour repertoire?
3 ways. 1: Observation 2: Trial & Error 3: “Shaping”
What is observation learning?
Observation is learning a behaviour through imitating another. Observation learning requires an observer and a model of that specific behaviour.
Who do we tend to imitate?
Those which show a clear demonstration of the imitated behaviour. Those who are similar to you. Those in the same social status as you, and those who express emotion.
Who imitates others?
Species such as humans and most mammals
When do we imitate others?
When we are in unusual or uncertain situations.
What are some examples of behaviours we may learn through observation learning?
Addictions, phobias, morals, problem solving, stereotypes, violent behaviour, prejudice, skills. Ect
What common form of marketing might we see observation learning used in?
Advertisements on television
What is trial and error learning?
Learning a behaviour through trial and error. For example during an experiment by E.L thorndike, cats were placed in a puzzle box and for the cats to get out they needed to complete the box. The more times they completed the box the faster they got.
What is the law of effect?
responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation become more likely to occur again in that situation, and responses that produce a discomforting effect become less likely to occur again in that situation
What are the disadvantages of the trial and error learning style?
It can be slow and tedious and has a risk of frustration for those using this learning behaviour. And frustration = a loss of motivation.
What is the ‘Shaping’ learning method?
It is the art of teaching new behaviours through planning how to change a certain behaviour and rewarding those that follow that planning. Therefore you are purposely ‘shaping’ a certain behaviour.
How do we maintain a new behaviour in our BR (Behaviour repertoire)?
Practice and Reinforcement
What do we mean by practice when trying to maintain your BR (Behaviour repertoire)?
Practice makes perfect
What do we mean by reinforcement when trying to maintain your BR (Behaviour repertoire)?
the nature of consequences
What are motor skills?
Bodily movements in all or parts of our bodies.
What are the different aspects of Motor skills?
Motor skills can be 1. Physical, 2. Verbal and 3. Cognitive
What is it called when you have the capacity to preform motor skills at high performance with minimal or no errors?
Fluency
Compare Massed to spaced practice.
Spaced vs. Massed Practice. Massed Practice refers to conditions in which individuals practice a task continuously without rest. Spaced Practice refers to conditions in which individuals are given rest intervals within the practice sessions.
What is Implicit memory?
Implicit memory is sometimes referred to as unconscious memory or automatic memory. Implicit memory uses past experiences to remember things without thinking about them.
What is Explicit memory?
Explicit memory is the conscious, intentional recollection of factual information, previous experiences, and concepts
What is Reinforcement?
In behavioural psychology, reinforcement is a consequence applied that will strengthen an organism’s future behaviour whenever that behaviour is preceded by a specific antecedent stimulus
How do you know if a behaviour is strong?
The behaviour persists, the frequency of the behaviour increases, the accuracy of the behaviour improves, the behaviour resists disruption and/or distraction.
What is the law of effect?
The law of effect states that if a response in the presence of a stimulus is followed by a satisfying event, the association between the stimulus and the response is strengthened.
Compare reinforcers and Punishers.
A reinforcer is a consequence that makes a behaviour more likely in the future, whereas a punisher is a consequence that makes a behaviour less likely in the future. Therefore Reinforcers always strengthen behaviour and Punishers always weaken behaviour.
What is positive reinforcement?
Positive reinforcement is adding or doing something to increase a response for example a child does chores to receive a star on their star chart.
What is negative reinforcement?
Taking or reducing a negative behaviour to decrease a response, for example wearing your seat belt to avoid injury in your car.
What is the difference between primary and secondary positive reinforcement?
Primary is when you have a strengthening property already and secondary is when you acquire a strengthening property.
What is an example of a primary positive reinforcement?
Examples of primary reinforcers include things that satisfy basic survival needs such as water, food, sleep, air, and sex.
What is an example of a secondary positive reinforcement?
Money is one example of secondary reinforcement. Money can be used to reinforce behaviours because it can be used to acquire primary reinforcers such as food, clothing, and shelter (among other things)
What is token economy?
A token economy is a system of contingency management based on the systematic reinforcement of target behaviour. The reinforcers are symbols or tokens that can be exchanged for other reinforcers. Such as a child’s star chart.
What is the difference between Immediacy and delay in terms of reinforcement?
That delay impairs reinforcement and Immediacy improves reinforcement.
What is intermittent reinforcement in psychology?
Intermittent Reinforcement is a conditioning schedule in which a reward or punishment (reinforcement) is not administered every time the desired response is performed.
Does Intermittent reinforcement in psychology strengthen or weaken behaviour?
It is likely going to strengthen the behaviour unless the conditioning schedule is unrealistic.
What are some day to day examples of negative reinforcement?
Wearing a seatbelt a helmet and deodorant, using contraception, getting vaccinations, using cautious social behaviour, and using an umbrella.
What are some examples of negative reinforcement that is inappropriate (harmful)?
Anxiety & eating disorders, social aggression and emotional repression.
How do we learn to behave in context? (in certain situations)
- Innate stimulus control
- Observational learning
- Direct experience of discrimination training
What is discrimination training?
Discrimination learning is defined in psychology as the ability to respond differently to different stimuli. An example of this would be Go/No training and traffic lights.
What is generalization?
Generalization, in psychology, the tendency to respond in the same way to different but similar stimuli. For example, a dog conditioned to salivate to a tone of a particular pitch and loudness will also salivate with considerable regularity in response to tones of higher and lower pitch.
How do you remove a behaviour from the behaviour repertoire?
Through either 1. Extinction or 2. Punishment.
What influences someones resistance to the extinction of a behaviour?
Quantity & Quality. For example A large quantity of the behaviour (Doing it often) and Better Quality (Doing the behaviour well), this will increase someones resistance to the change of that behaviour.
What is a side effect of the extinction of a behaviour?
Post Extinction response burst
What are some emotional side effects of the extinction of behaviour?
Frustration & aggression & Depression.
True of false? Behaviour extinction is a natural process.
True as the loss of a behaviour will happen naturally and commonly in life for example growing up, experiencing the loss of a loved one, loosing a job, learning a new sport.
What is the definition of punishment?
Punishment is defined as a consequence that follows an operant response which therefore decreases (or attempts to decrease) the likelihood of that response occurring in the future.
True of False? Punishment often does not weaken behaviour
False, punishment always weakens behaviour.
What is positive punishment?
In an attempt to decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring in the future, an operant response is followed by the presentation of an aversive stimulus. For an example humiliation.
What is negative punishment?
In an attempt to decrease the likelihood of a behavior occurring in the future, an operant response is followed by the removal of an appetitive stimulus. For an example taking away a child Ipad.
What is the difference between positive and negative punishment?
Positive punishment is adding a stimulus to remove or reduce a behaviour and negative punishment is removing a stimulus to remove or reduce a behaviour.
Is it possible to remove all punishers (for example if it wall illegal to punish someone)?
No because 1: there are many natural punishers in life such as stubbing your toe is a punishment. 2: Punishers need to be in place for the act of changing very dangerous behaviour for example sending a murderer to prison.
What is the ethical objective of punishment?
To have maximum behaviour change with minimum punishment possible.
What can go wrong when applying positive punishment to remove a behaviour from the behaviour repertorie?
People can adapt and the punishment can escalate with the intensity growing out of control. An example could be child abuse, it may start of as a light smack for a child doing something wrong and as this punishment is repeated the child may get used to this light smack and continue to behave wrongly therefore causing the intensity of the punishment to increase.
What are important rules for the effective use of positive punishment?
- Have consistency & 2. Give Immediate punishment
True or False? Delayed punishment can be effective.
False. Delayed punishment is ineffective
True or False? To eliminate someones behaviour you would strengthen their motivation for their bad behaviour and reduce there alternative behaviours.
False, You would strengthen alternative behaviours and reduce motivation for bad behaviours.
Which is preferred? Positive or Negative punishment?
Negative punishment
Do secondary punishers work in changing behaviours? (Threats and warnings)
The work if the threats and warnings are followed through with.
What are secondary punishers?
Threats and warnings.
What is respondent conditioning?
Classical conditioning (also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning) refers to a learning procedure in which a biologically potent stimulus (e.g. food) is paired with a previously neutral stimulus (e.g. a bell). For example, imagine that you are conditioning a dog to salivate in response to the sound of a bell. You repeatedly pair the presentation of food with the sound of the bell. then when the dogs hears a bell it will salivate.
What is wolpes behaviour theory aka systematic desensitisation?
Systematic desensitisation is when the client is exposed to the anxiety-producing stimulus at a low level, and once no anxiety is present a stronger version of the anxiety-producing stimulus is given. This continues until the individual client no longer feels any anxiety towards the stimulus. This reduces any fear in anticipation someone may feel.
What is cognitive behaviour therapy used for?
Mental disorders such as anxiety, PTSD, and depression.
What is vision important for?
Survival and reproduction. Aka to search and avoid.
Why do some animals have frontal eyes and some have side on eyes?
Frontal eyes help with depth deception which is why predators are more likely to have frontal eyes. And side on eyes are great for seeing more of an animals surroundings but are not so good at depth perception. This is why animals such as rabbits will have side on eyes.
True or False? Is vision constructive?
True
What is Amodal completion? (visual completion)
Amodal completion is the ability to see an entire object despite parts of it being covered by another object in front of it. It is one of the many functions of the visual system which aid in both seeing and understanding objects encountered on an everyday basis.
Why is perception constructive?
So that we can, 1: Predict the future, 2: Classify objects, and 3: Process information selectively
What is the word for having normal vision?
emmetropic
What does emmetropic mean?
Having normal vision
What is the word for having near sighted vision? (your lens are too thick)
Myopic
What does Myopic mean?
To have near sighted vision (Your lens are too thick)
What is the word for having far sighted vision (your lens are too thin)?
Hyperopic
What does hyperopic mean?
Having far sighted vision (your lens are too thin)
What is presbyopia?
long-sightedness caused by loss of elasticity of the lens of the eye, occurring typically in middle and old age.
What are the major types of neurons in the retina?
photoreceptors, bipolar cells, ganglion cells, horizontal cells, and amacrine cells.
What are photoreceptors?
Photoreceptors are the cells in the retina that respond to light
What are the two types of photoreceptors?
Rods and cones
What are rods?
Photoreceptors that are numerous, extremely sensitive to light. They are essential for vision at levels of low light.
Inside the eye where are the rods and cones distributed?
cones are present at a low density throughout the retina, with a sharp peak in the centre of the fovea. Conversely, rods are present at high density throughout most of the retina but are not found in the fovea. Both are not found in the eyes blindspot
What are dark adaption curves?
Consequently, dark adaptation refers to how the eye recovers its sensitivity in the dark following exposure to bright lights. The sensitivity of the rod pathway improves considerably after 5-10 minutes in the dark and is reflected by the second part of the dark adaptation curve
Why cant we see colour in the dark?
Both rods and cones are sensitive to light. The difference between them is that the rods allow us to see in very dim light but don’t permit detection of color, while the cones let us see color but they don’t work in dim light. When it gets dark the cones lose their ability to respond to light.
What are normative/classical theories?
A normative theory (in decision-making) is a theory that is voided of judgments or biases. (How decisions are to be made)
What is rational behaviour?
Rational behavior refers to a decision-making process that is based on making choices that result in the optimal level of benefit or utility for an individual
What is the expected value theory?
Expected value is the average value of a random variable over a large number of experiments . … If we assume the experiment to be a game, the random variable maps game outcomes to winning amounts, and its expected value thus represents the expected average winnings of the game.
What is the expected utility theory?
The expected utility theory deals with the analysis of situations where individuals must make a decision without knowing which outcomes may result from that decision, this is, decision making under uncertainty.
Do people behave consistently?
No
What is the framing effect?
The framing effect is a cognitive bias where people decide on options based on whether the options are presented with positive or negative connotations; e.g. as a loss or as a gain. People tend to avoid risk when a positive frame is presented but seek risks when a negative frame is presented.
What are descriptive theories?
Descriptive theories seek to understand rationality by describing and capturing in statistical terms the decisions that people make.
What is the prospect theory?
Prospect theory assumes that losses and gains are valued differently, and thus individuals make decisions based on perceived gains instead of perceived losses.
What is the status quo bias?
Status quo bias is an emotional bias. It involves people preferring that things stay as they are, or that the current state of affairs remains the same.
What is the endowment effect?
The endowment effect is the finding that people are more likely to retain an object they own than acquire that same object when they do not own it.
What are Heuristics?
Mental shortcuts. is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect or rational, but which is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediate, short-term goal.
What are the three canonical heuristics?
Representativeness, Availability, and Anchoring & Adjustment
What is representativeness?
Representativeness is defined as the level of how well or how accurately something reflects upon a sample. When a study gives a good indication of what the whole population believes, this is an example of a study with good representativeness.
What is the conjunction fallacy?
The probability of two events occurring together is always less than or equal to the probability of either one event occurring along.
What is Availability?
Availability is a heuristic whereby people make judgments about the likelihood of an event based on how easily an example, instance, or case comes to mind.
What is anchoring and adjustment?
Anchoring and adjustment is a psychological heuristic said to influence the way people assess probabilities intuitively. According to this heuristic, people start with an implicitly suggested reference point (the “anchor”) and make adjustments to it to reach their estimate.
What are cones in the eye?
They are photoreceptor cells in the retinas of vertebrate eyes (e.g. the human eye). They respond differently to light of different or color vision and function best in relatively bright light, as opposed to rod cells, which work better in dim light.
Why can we not see the blood vessels in our eyes?
The brain learns to avoid things that don’t move, blood vessels in the eye do not move, therefore, we cannot see them.
Why can’t we see the holes in our vision due to the blindspot in your eye?
Because you brain fills in this spot.
What kind of light can humans see?
Visible light only
What are the 3-Types of cones?
S-Cone, M-Cone, and the L-Cone
What is the criteria to being able to see colour?
You need to have an intact visual system
If you have defects to your cones what is the diagnosis?
Colour blindness
What colour does your S-Cone perceive most to?
Blue
What colour does your M-Cone perceive most to?
Green
What colour does your L-Cone perceive most to?
Red
What is subtractive mixing of colour?
Subtractive color mixing is the kind of mixing you get if you illuminate colored filters with white light from behind,
What is ‘perceived’ size determined by?
The retinal image size
What is ‘perceived’ size influenced by?
By the perceived depth and our knowledge of the world that you have.
What is the Ponzo Illusion?
The Ponzo illusion is a geometrical-optical illusion that was first demonstrated by the Italian psychologist Mario Ponzo in 1911. He suggested that the human mind judges an object’s size based on its background.
What are monocular visual cues?
Monocular cues include size: distant objects subtend smaller visual angles than near objects, grain, size, and motion parallax.
What is Binocular Disparity?
Binocular disparity refers to the difference in image location of an object seen by the left and right eyes, resulting from the eyes’ horizontal separation (Depth perception)
What is the Gestalt approach?
Perception of the whole is more than simply the sum of the individual parts.
What is the principle of proximity?
Things that are near each other tend to be grouped together
What is the principle of similarity?
Similar elements tend to be grouped togeter
What is the principle of Pragnanz?
That every stimulus is seen as simply as possible
What is the principle of good continuation?
Regions that appear to follow in the same contours are grouped together
What is the principle of common fate?
Things that move together are perceived as belonging together.
What are the two parts of the visual field?
The left and the right side
What is the temporal lobe?
The temporal lobe is the region where sound is processed and, not surprisingly, it is also a region where auditory language and speech comprehension systems are located
What is the frontal lobe?
The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that controls important cognitive skills in humans, such as emotional expression, problem solving, memory, language, judgment, and sexual behaviors.
What is the occipital lobe?
The occipital lobe is one of the four major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The occipital lobe is the visual processing center of the mammalian brain containing most of the anatomical region of the visual cortex
What is the parietal lobe?
The parietal lobe is at the back of the brain and is divided into two hemispheres. It functions in processing sensory information regarding the location of parts of the body as well as interpreting visual information and processing language and mathematics
What is the dorsal stream?
(Where pathway) A pathway that carries visual information from the primary visual cortex to the parietal lobe
What is the superior colliculus?
The superior colliculus is a layered, multi-sensory structure. Its upper layer receives visual signals from the retina of the eye, while the lower layers process multiple signals from various other parts of the brain
What is area V1?
The primary visual cortex, which is the first stage of visual cortical processing, where neurons are selective for simple stimulus attributes such as orientation.
What is the lateral geniculate nucleus?
a relay center in the thalamus for the visual pathway. It receives a major sensory input from the retina.
What is the ventral stream?
(What pathway) A pathway that carries visual information from the primary visual cortex to the temporal lobe.
What is the optic nerve?
It is the second of several pairs of cranial nerves. The job of the optic nerve is to transfer visual information from the retina to the vision centers of the brain via electrical impulses.
What is the optic chiasm?
The optic chiasm is an X-shaped structure formed by the crossing of the optic nerves in the brain.
What is the dorsal cortical stream involved with?
Movement and location
What is the Ventral cortical strea involved with?
The perception of colour and form
What is orientation attention?
To do with eye movement. It is voluntary attention (Internally generated) and involuntary generated (Stimulus driven)
What is selective attention?
Selective attention is the process of focusing on a particular object in the environment for a certain period of time.
Discuss overt selection vs covert selection.
covert attention is defined as paying attention without moving the eyes; overt attention is defined as selectively processing one location over others by moving the eyes to point at that location.
What are the 3 types of trials?
Valid trials, invalid trials, and neutral trials
What is effort attention?
When the overall resource is limited but we have control over its allocation
What is action attention?
Attention is critically involved in the selection for unified
action.
What is brockbents filtering theory?
Broadbent proposed the notion that a filter acts as a buffer on incoming sensory information to select what information gains conscious awareness.
What is treisman’s attenuation theory?
a version of the filter theory of attention proposing that unattended messages are attenuated (i.e., processed weakly) but not entirely blocked from further processing.
What is the late selection theory?
Within sensory limits, all stimuli—both attended and unattended—are processed to the same deep level of analysis until stimulus identification occurs; subsequently, only the most important stimuli are selected for further processing.
What is a visual search?
Visual search is a type of perceptual task requiring attention that typically involves an active scan of the visual environment for a particular object or feature (the target) among other objects or features (the distractors). Visual search can take place with or without eye movements.
What is a feature search?
a visual search process that focuses on identifying a previously requested target amongst distractors that differ from the target by a unique visual feature such as color, shape, orientation, or size.
What is a conjunction search?
a visual search process that focuses on identifying a previously requested target surrounded by distractors possessing one or more common visual features with the target itself.
What is the feature integration theory?
when perceiving a stimulus, features are “registered early, automatically, and in parallel, while objects are identified separately” and at a later stage in processing.
What are the 2 types of error in the visual search paradigm?
Feature error, and illusonary conjunction
What is inattentional blindness?
Inattentive blindness results from a lack of attention that is not associated with vision defects or deficits, as an individual fails to perceive an unexpected stimulus in plain sight.
What is an attentional blink?
is the phenomenon that the second of two targets cannot be detected or identified when it appears close in time to the first.
What are the 2 types of error in the visual search paradigm?
Feature error, an illusonary conjunction
What is sound?
sound is the reception of waves through a transmission medium and their perception by the brain.
What are the two ways we interpret sound?
As pressure changes and as experience
What are the 3 physical dimensions of sound?
Frequency, amplitude, and complexity
What do the physical dimensions of sound determine?
They determine what we hear in terms of pitch, loudness and timbre.
What does low frequency look like?
Long waves
What does high frequency look like?
Very short waves
What does low amplitude look like?
Long waves
What does high amplitude look like?
Very short waves
What are the two forms of sound complexity?
Simple and complex (Multiple sounds at once)
What are the functions of the outer ear?
To collect sound waves and help with sound location
What is the function of the middle ear?
To amplify and convey vibrations to the oval window or To efficiently transfer acoustic energy from compression waves in air to fluid–membrane waves within the cochlea
What is berkeley’s place theory?
Place theory is a theory of hearing that states that our perception of sound depends on where each component frequency produces vibrations along the basilar membrane.
What is the function of the inner ear?
It changes sound waves to electrical signals (nerve impulses). This allows the brain to hear and understand sounds.
What is area A1?
A portion of the temporal lobe that contains the primary auditory cortex. Area A1 is important for auditory imagery
What is anchoring and adjustment?
a cognitive heuristics where a person starts off with an initial idea and adjusts their beliefs based off of this starting point.
How many nerve cells (or neurons) does the brain contain?
100 billion
What is each neuron in the brain capable of doing that is very advanced?
Making many interconnections with other neurons. These interconnections are the most advanced areas of the brain
What are interconnections in the brain determined by?
Experience which is largely determined by genetics
True or False? We are all born with equal potential for forming complex conceptual associations within our brain.
False. We do not all have equal potential and this is why some are smarter than others in certain areas.
Why are we able to learn alot about the human brain by studying the brain of other mammals?
Because the brains of all mammals are qualitatively similar but quantitatively different.
What does quantitatively mean?
With regard to the quantity of something rather than its quality. An example of this would be wanting to know how many dunks jack did in a basketball game compared to how well he did them.
What does qualitatively mean?
With regard to the quality or qualities of something rather than its quantity. An example of this would be looking at how well someone did a backflip in a cheer competition rather than how many they did.
What are the cells of the nervous system?
Neurons (Nerve cells) and Neuroglia
What is the CNS, Central nervous system?
The central nervous system (CNS) controls most functions of the body and mind. It consists of two parts: the brain and the spinal cord. .
What is the PNS, peripheral nervous system?
The peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves that branch out from the brain and spinal cord. These nerves form the communication network between the CNS and the body parts. The peripheral nervous system is further subdivided into the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system.
What is the somatic nervous system?
The somatic nervous system is responsible for movement of voluntary muscles and the process known as a reflex arc. This system carries nerve impulses back and forth between the central nervous system, which is the brain and the spinal cord, and the skeletal muscles, skin, and sensory organs
What are dendrites?
a short branched extension of a nerve cell, along which impulses received from other cells at synapses are transmitted to the cell body.
What are axons?
a long threadlike part of a nerve cell along which impulses are conducted from the cell body to other cells.
What is the autonomic nervous system?
The autonomic nervous system is a control system that acts largely unconsciously and regulates bodily functions, such as the heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal.
What is a simple neuron made of?
A typical neuron consists of a cell body (soma), dendrites, and a single axon.
What is the cell body (soma)?
The cell body, also called the soma, is the spherical part of the neuron that contains the nucleus. The cell body connects to the dendrites, which bring information to the neuron, and the axon, which sends information to other neurons.
What are longer axons usually covered with?
A series of insulating fatty cells wrapped around it known as the myelin sheath
What sits at the end of an axon?
Terminal buttons or synaptic knobs.
What are chemical neurotransmitters?
Neurotransmitters are endogenous chemicals that enable neurotransmission. It is a type of chemical messenger which transmits signals across a chemical synapse, such as a neuromuscular junction, from one neuron (nerve cell) to another “target” neuron, muscle cell, or gland cell.
What is a synapse?
a junction between two nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap across which impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter.
What is a synaptic gap?
The minute space between the cell membrane of an axon terminal and of the target cell with which it synapses
True or False, each neuron has between 1000 and 10,000 synapses.
True
What is a nerve impulse?
The signal that travels along the length of a nerve fiber and ends in the release of neurotransmitters. Nerve impulses are the means by which information is transmitted along the neuron and throughout the nervous system.
What are post synaptic potentials? (PSPs)
The electric potential at a dendrite or other surface of a neuron after an impulse has reached it across a synapse.
What is resting potential?
The imbalance of electrical charge that exists between the interior of electrically excitable neurons (nerve cells) and their surroundings
What are excitatory postsynaptic potentials?
PSPs are called excitatory (or EPSPs) if they increase the likelihood of a postsynaptic action potential occurring
What are inhibitory postsynaptic potentials?
PSPs are called inhibitory (or IPSPs) if they decrease the likelihood of a postsynaptic action potential occurring
True or False? EPSPs and IPSPs summate at the axon hillock to produce the 3rd nerve impulse.
False, the 1st nerve impulse.
What is the threshold of activation?
When the depolarisation reaches about -55 mV a neuron will fire an action potential. This is the threshold. If the neuron does not reach this critical threshold level, then no action potential will fire.
What is an action potential in a neuron?
An action potential occurs when a neuron sends information down an axon, away from the cell body. Neuroscientists use other words, such as a “spike” or an “impulse” for the action potential. … Action potentials are caused when different ions cross the neuron membrane. A stimulus first causes sodium channels to open.
What is saltatory conduction?
The process by which if insulating myelin is present on an axon then the nerve impulses that is conducted will “jump” from gap to gap in the myelin layer.
What is continuous neural conduction?
conduction occurs in unmyelinated axons. This process involves the sequential opening of voltage gated Na+ and K+ channels located within the axon membrane along the entire length of the axon to propagate an impulse.
