MCAT Psychology Khan Academy
Silent generation
1925-1945
Millennials (Generation Y)
1980s-2000s
agender
A person who identifies self as without gender
Relative Deprivation Theory
Actions of groups that are oppressed/deprived of rights that others in society enjoy. ex. Civil Rights Movements
Retrieval
Anytime you pull something out of long-term memory, and bringing it into conscious memory (working memory) you're engaging in retrieval. o Ex: Process is occurring every time you need to remember a name, bday, directions, etc. • Memory of retrieval from most difficult to easiest: Free Recall, Cud recall, recognition.
long-term memory
Capacity is unlimited. 2 main categories: explicit (declarative) and implicit (non-declarative). It is unlimited.
Myers Briggs Personality Test
Carl Jung - 4 letters that characterize you in one of 16 personality types. There are a set of traits/behaviors based on these! o ESTJ: extraversion (E), sensing (S), thinking (T), judgment (J) o INFP: introversion (I), intuition (N), feeling (F), perception (P)
Psychoactive Drugs
Drugs that can alter our consciousness, and perceptions. They can alter our perception, increase our mood, calm us down, make us feel more alert, etc. Classified by action and effects they have on our bodies. • 4 main categories of psychoactive drugs: depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens
Sick role
Expectation in society that allows you to take a break from responsibilities . However, if you don't get better or return you are viewed as deviant
Shadowing task
Experiment that studies selective attention. In this task you are wearing headphones and they have two different sounds in each. Left ear hear one thing, right ear another thing. Told to repeat everything said in one ear and ignore the other. Focus on one ear and ignore the other (selective attention). Based on the unattended information that we do and don't end up comprehending - we can learn about how selective attention works by seeing what they filter out in other ear.
Stroop effect
Explains the decreased speed of naming the color of ink used to print words when the color of ink and the word itself are of different colors.
Hierarchical Semantic Network
First semantic network theory suggested that we stored information in a hierarchical way -We store information at the highest category possible. Broad categories/characteristics are stored at higher level nodes
meaning-focused coping
Stress-reducing technique that refers to anything you might think, feel, and do to give a positive meaning to a stressful situation
Andrew Meltzoff
Studied imitation and deferred imitation by infants; discovered that infant's imitative abilities involve flexibility and adaptability -Evidence suggests we have mirror neurons
Net Migration
The difference between the level of immigration and the level of emigration.
Unconscious mind
Unconscious mind is the bottom part of the iceberg is the larger part of the mind (most of the mind is unconscious just like most of an iceberg is beneath water). -Consists of primitive, instinctual wishes and information that cannot be accessed. § Not to be confused with Subconscious mind/precocious mind: consists of information that becomes accessible once you direct your attention to it (memory recall for example).
Hypothesis of Relative Deprivation
Upsurge in prejudice when people are deprived of something they feel entitled to -Relative depreciation is the discrepancy of what they are entitled to and what they get)
Tastant
a substance that stimulates the sense of taste
Mass psychogenic illness, or epidemic hysteria
Mass hysteria can be a result of of psychology, like when large amount of people believe they have same illness despite lack of disease. • Ex. after anthrax attack in US, after reports there were over 2000 false alarms. Individuals reported false symptoms of anthrax infection and because they believed they were exposed (which induced false symptoms).
Amnesia
Medial temporal lobe injury
Theory of Intersectionality
Multiple different areas of potential discrimination overlap with one another and exist alongside one another
Disengagement Theory
Older adults and society separate, assume that they become more self-absorbed as they age. Considers elderly people still involved in society as not adjusting well
"Just World Hypothesis"
Predictable result as a consequence for our actions. Noble actions performed/good deeds by an individual are rewarded, while evil acts/deeds are always punished -overemphasizes/attribute people's actions to personal/dispositional/internal factors and underemphasise situational factors that are at play.
Glutamate
most common excitatory neurotransmitter; associated with increased cortical arousal.
Suburbanization
movement away from cities to get a larger home (American dream), but commute for work can be long and harder to get quick medical help. However, suburbs form their own economic centres and become independent to cities they border
Fungiform papillae
mushroom-shaped structures located on the tip and sides of the tongue, which contain taste buds.
Central Sleep Apnea
central (brain is part of CNS)), sleep (at night), apnea (effects airflow). • Looking for apnea without obstructions. Looking at 5+ apneas/hour during sleep. • Problem with the brains control system for ventilation (that control brain for breathing)
Neural Plasticity
changes in brain size/ and involves function of environmental influences
Social scripts
culturally provided mental instructions for how to act in various situations
Transdermal Injection Route of Drug Entry
drug is absorbed through skin, ex. Nicotine patch. Drug in patch has to be pretty potent, released into bloodstream over several hours. o Transdermal administration occurs slowly, since the drugs have to be absorbed through the skin before the effects can be felt.
Normative influence
even if you know what's right, go with group's negative actions to to avoid social rejection
Positive emotions
evoke more activity on left side
Cluster C Personality disorder
has three personality disorders (ADO) o Avoidant: inhibited, feel inadequate and try to avoid putting themselves in a situation where they can be criticized o Dependent: submissive and clingy o Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorders (OCPD): Very focused on life being ordered and things being perfect and for them being in control to an extent where it annoys other people
Means-end analysis
heuristic where we analyze main problem and break it down into smaller problems. We then attack the problem that has the most difference between current state and goal state. Solve Biggest --> Smallest Problem Current State --> Goal State
Hippocampus
key role in forming new memories. Convert STM (Short term memory) -> LTM (long term memory). If destroyed, still have old memories intact, just can't make new ones (anterograde amnesia).
Gestalt Principle: Continuity
lines are seen as following the smoothest path. Ex: You group the line together
Emotion
made of 3 components: cognitive, physiological, and behavioural responses.
Temporal confounds
time related confounding variables
Conscious mind
top of iceberg is the conscious part of mind (small, tip of the iceberg), These are the mental functions you are aware of.
Convergent intelligence
was proposed by Guilford to describe IQ test related intelligence, such as puzzles, vocabulary words, and arithmetic.
Phototransduction cascade
what happens when light hits rod/cone § Light hits rods (which causes rod turns off) --> bipolar cell (turns on) --> retinal ganglion cell (turns on) --> optic nerve --> BRAIN. § The phototransduction cascade is the process of rod turning from ON --> OFF
Groupthink
occurs when maintaining harmony among group members is more important than carefully analyzing problem at hand. -Happens in very cohesive, insulated groups -Often have important/respected leaders, and in the interest of group "unity" individuals suppress/sensor their own opinions
Peptide neurotransmitters
opiods (endorphin). Perception of pain
Dis-assortative Mating (Non-Assortative Mating)
opposite of assortative mating - situation where individuals with individuals with different or diverse traits mate with higher frequency than with random mating
Conformity
peer pressure" - how we adjust our behaviour/thinking (cognition) to match group. o Can be positive. Ex: If you see a bunch of people running out of a building, that you are just about to enter, you would probably conform to this behavior and run away as well o Can lead to negative behavior. Ex. smoking
Phonology
phonetic component, actual sound of a language. "a sound system" § 40 phonemes (smallest unit of sound) in English language § Distinction between sounds: categorical perception. Children must learn to do this! • In ASL - hand movements and locations are analogous to sound is spoken language, they are classified as phonemes (smallest unit of language) § Acronym: Phone = sound
Choroid
pigmented black in humans, is a network of blood vessels that helps nourish the retina. It black all light is absorbed. Some animals have a different colored choroid which gives them better night vision.
Secondary trait
preferences or attitude. Ex. love for modern art, reluctance to eat meat
Morphology
refers to the structure of words. Many words are composed of multiple building blocks called morphemes (smallest significant unit of meaning of a word). "A grammatical system, which puts meaningful elements together into 'words'. § In ASL, when hand shape and location are combined, they form morphemes.
Spacing
spreading out study sessions overtime in shorter periods rather than cramming them into one study session
Theory of Differential Association
states that deviance is a learned behavior that results from continuous exposure to others whom violate norms and laws - learn from observation of others. Rejects norms/values and believes new behavior as norm.
Self-fulfilling prophecy
stereotypes can lead to behaviours that affirm the original stereotypes. o "City dwellers are rude" (cognition, stereotyping) -> I don't like them (affective component, prejudice) -> I will avoid them (behavioural component, discrimination)
Caffeine
stimulant -(inhibits adenosine receptors) can disrupt your sleep. Increases energy, can disrupt sleep for several hours -Withdrawal symptoms: From coffee: irritability, difficulty concentrating, depression,
Sects
tend to be smaller and are established in protest of established church. They break away from churches. Ex. Mormon/Amish
Deindividuation
those in group are more likely to act inappropriately because crowd conceals person's identity Ex: behavior of some on Black Friday. Presence of large group there is violence (shoppers trample employees, shot shoppers, stolen goods from stores). Presence of large group decreases their inhibition/guilt, hence increases antisocial/deviant behavior
Phallic stage
age 3-6, children discover difference between males and females. Oedipus complex and Electra complex at this stage. Oedipus complex also develops - boys view fathers as rivals for mother's affection. -Describes feeling of wanting to possess the mother and replace the father. -Electra complex (by Carl-Jung) is the equivalent for young girls to their fathers. Resoled through process of identification, where child starts to understand and develop similar characteristics as same-sex parent. o If fixation occurs, cause homosexuality/exhibitionism
Modernization Theory
all countries follow similar path of development from traditional to modern society. With some help traditional countries can develop similarly to today's developed countries did. o Looks at internal social dynamics as country adapts to new technologies o Looks at political and social changes that occur during adaptation as well.
Gordon Allport
all of us have different traits. Came up with list of 4500 different descriptive words for traits. From those he was able to come up with 3 basic categories of traits: cardinal traits, central traits, and secondary traits. Individuals have a subset of traits from a universal set of possible traits.
Amphetamines and methamphetamines
also trigger release of dopamine, feeling of euphoria for up to 8 hours. Once effect wears off - experience irritability, insomnia, seizures, depression o Meth is highly addictive. o Long-term Meth addicts may lose ability to maintain normal level of dopamine because brain tries to adjust to intense highs. o Amphetamines block the reuptake of dopamine, which stimulates an increase in the release of dopamine from the presynaptic membrane.
Monoamine neurotransmitters (biogenetic amines)
amino group and aromatic group connected by 2-carbon chain. Cognition/thinking/emotion/attention. Drugs o Subgroup: catecholamine's (benzene w/ 2 hydroxyl groups)
Haloperidol
an antipsychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia.
The McGurk effect
an error in perception that occurs when we misperceive sounds because the audio and visual parts of the speech are mismatched.
glass ceiling effect
an invisible barrier limiting career advancement of women and minorities
Anomia
anomic aphasia- inability to name things Acronym: n = Think Name or prefix "anom-aly" § Anomic aphasia is characterized by problems difficulties in naming objects or in retrieving words. o Other loss of communication including inability reading, spelling, grammar, pronunciation
Exchange Theory / Exchange-Rational Choice Theory
application of rational choice theory to social interactions. Exchange theory addresses decision making via cost benefit analyses o Looks at society as series of interactions between individuals. o Used to study family relationships, work relationships, partner selection, parenting, etc. (interpersonal interactions).
Vigilance attention and signal detection
are processes that attempt to detect a signal or target of interest. This allows responses to be primed and quick actions undertaken in response to the signal or target of interest, i.e. a pothole in the road is detected and avoidance actions are undertaken. o Vigilance (like active search, selective attention, and divided attention) is a type of attention. These types of attention are often described as main functions rather than subfunctions of attention; describes an individual's state of alertness, watchfulness and preparedness
Posterior chamber
area behind the iris to the back of lens; also filled with aqueous humor.
vibrational theory of olfaction
asserts that the vibrational frequency of a molecule gives that molecule its specific odor profile.
Suspensory ligaments
attached to a ciliary muscle. These two things together form the ciliary body, what secrets the aqueous humor.
Implicit bias
attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner
Genital stage
back on libido, because individual develops strong sexual interests. -Before this stage, focus on individual needs. Now, focus on needs of others. -No adult fixation - person is mentally healthy -Goal: establish balance between various life areas (well balanced, warm, caring)
Ego
"The Reality Principle" - Operates on secondary processes. (Reality testing) Mediates the demands of reality vs. the desires of the Id. The self. This is who we identify with/believe ourselves to be.
Fad
"fleeting behavior" is something that becomes incredibly popular very quickly, but loses popular just as quickly. Last for short period of time, but reach influence of large # of people in that time. Not necessarily in line with normal behavior. Perceived as cool/interesting by large group of people § Ex. is a "cinnamon challenge"
Optimism bias
belief bad things happen to others, but not to us
Hyper-globalists
believe the state is losing sovereignty and sharing power with other actors -individual countries become less important as countries become interdepend and global society takes presence
lens
bends the light so it goes to back of eyeball - focuses light specifically on the fovea of the retina. Adjust how much it bends the light by changing its shape, using the suspensory ligaments.
Recognition
best out of the 3 tests/easiest to recall. Present two words, and say which one you heard. Retrieval of correct word is highly likely. Ex. What was on the list? Fork or spoon and you answer fork.
Inhalation Route of Drug Entry
breathing or snorting or smoking, because once you inhale goes straight to brain. Insufflation, inhaling drugs through the nose, is highly addictive but less addictive than drugs that are injected. - 10 seconds. faster Ex. Tobacco or cocaine
ill heath magnet
can also drag people away, can't participate in society
MDMA
can be a stimulant or hallucinogen
Emotional memories
can be positive or negatively valenced. Highly emotional memories that feel extremely vivid are called flashbulb memories (term coined by Brown and Kulik (1977)) - and even though they seem as real as life, they are still susceptible to reconstruction as less emotional memories.
poverty magnet
can drag people away from the core part of society, and experience a greater degree of social exclusion.
Reinforcement-modeling
can lead to aggression through positive reinforcement. Parents who give into demands of temper tantrum leads to more tantrums
PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scans
can't give us detail of structure, but can combine them with CAT scans and MRIs -Inject glucose into cells and see what areas of brain are more active at given point in time (Active cells = use most glucose) -More invasive -Three-dimensional images of tracer concentration within the body are then constructed by computer analysis § low resolution
Etiology
cause of disease
substance-induced disorders
conditions that are caused by substance. -Can be substance induced mood disorders (high mood -mania/low mood - depression), or disorders related to anxiety, sleep, sexual function, psychosis (loss of contact with reality, characterized by seeing things, hearing voices, becoming paranoid).
Drugs Sociocultural Aspect
curiosity, novelty of drug, rebel, poor control of user, cope with stress, low self-esteem (remember: one of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs, right below self-actualization), relief from fatigue, feel good, and more prevalent in areas of higher poverty
labeled-line theory of olfaction
describes a scenario where each receptor would respond to specific stimuli and is directly linked to the brain.
Obedience
describes how we follow orders/obey authority. No cognitive component. Ex. "I'm just following orders" o Can be positive. Ex: Firefighter tells you to not enter a building because it's on fire - you would probably acknowledge authority and obey. o Can be negative: ex. normal people committed such negative acts during the Holocaust due to obedience. • Both conformity and obedience can be positive (useful/helpful/important aspects) or negative in their effects on social behavior in society
Multiple Approach-Avoidance
describes the internal mental debate (sometimes called a conflict) that weighs the pros and cons of differing situations that have both good and bad elements. The name comes from visualizing yourself approaching and avoiding different aspects of situations at the same time
Smell
desensitized receptors in your nose to molecule sensory information over time
Parallel Processing
detect/focus all information (color, form, motion) at same time
Cannon-Bard theory
disagreed with James-Lange, and found flaws in idea that physiological response triggered emotion. § Flaws they found: • Noticed many different emotions had same physiological responses • Physiological response system was too slow to produce emotion that seemed to happen almost instantly later. § They believed physiological response and emotion occurred simultaneously. § Simultaneously experience arousal and aggression Event -> Physiological Response + Emotion at same time.
Pegword + Method of Loci
(two methods that are good for remembering things in order that you already know. Verbally anchors and links words).
Drive Reduction Theory
- focuses on drives vs. needs. § Need is lack or deprivation that will energize the drive, or aroused state. § That drive is the aroused state. Fulfilling the drive will reduce the need. This need-drive balance is what maintains homeostasis. Typically basic, essential, and physiological § Ex. You are at the gym and need for water. Trainer says you need to do more exercise. In this example, need: water, drive: thirst. Doing push ups is means to fulfill drive for water
monocular cues
-These give humans a sense of form of an object -Can infer with one eye § Relative size - The closer an object it is perceived as being bigger -can also give a sense of motion (motion parallax)
Social Anomie
-breakdown of social bonds between an individual and community -describes the alienation that individuals feel when social norms and social bonds are weak -A situation in which society does not have the support of a firm collective consciousness. -Social anomie can result in social groups disbanding, and alienation from social groups -To resolve social anomie, social norms must be strengthened and groups must redevelop sets of shared norms -Means that there is a weakened sense of morality and criteria for behavior. o Associated with functionalist theoretical paradigm in sociology
Systematic Desensitization
-developed by Joseph Wolpe -process that involvers teaching the client to replace feelings of anxiety with relaxation -works great with phobias o Most of the time, systematic desensitization occurs graduall
Index of dissimilarity
0 is total segregation, and 100 perfect distributions
Sleep apnea
1 in 20 people -People with it are often unaware. Stop breathing while sleeping - body realizes you're not getting enough oxygen, wake up just long enough to gasp for air and fall back asleep without realizing. Can happen 100x/night! o Don't get enough N3 (Stage 3; slow-wave) sleep. o Snoring is an indication, or fatigue in morning after full night of sleep.
4 main points of culture
1. People share culture in society 2. Culture is adaptive 3. Culture builds on itself 4. Culture is transmitted
Cialidini's Six key principles of influence
1. Reciprocity 2. Commitment and Consistency 3. Social Proff 4. Authority 5. Liking 6. Scarcity
3 things needed for social movement to form:
1. Relative deprivation 2. Feeling of Deserving better 3. Conventional means are useless
Social movement Stages
1. begins with shared idea shared by a few, o 2. incipient stage - public takes notice of the situation that they consider to be a problem o 3. People begin to organize in a group and raise up o 4. They will either succeed in changing the society or have to adapt. In the end, they become part of bureaucracy they try to change. If they are successful, they become absorbed into institutions once desired changes have been achieved. If failed = they are not active anymore but leave a mark on society/culture. § Our culture and society is formed from past social movements
In order for this climate to help someone reach self-actualization, 2 conditions that need to be met:
1. when individual is genuine; one has to be open and revealing about themselves without fear of being wrong 2. unconditional positive regard
Kitty Genovese
28 year old women living in NYC who was stabbed, raped, and robbed while 38 people were in vicinity (witnesses). Horrific attack spanned over half an hour. Kitty was pleading for help and the victim later returned to kill her. 38 witnesses didn't take action because there were so many other people present in the vicinity.
Ethnography
A detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork -Study of particular people and places
Positive Priming
A positive prime speeds up processing. caused by simply experiencing the stimulus. Positive priming is thought to be caused by spreading activation. This means that the first stimulus activates parts of a particular representation or association in memory just before carrying out an action or task. The representation is already partially activated when the second stimulus is encountered, so less additional activation is needed for one to become consciously aware of it.
gentrification
A process of converting an urban neighborhood from a predominantly low-income renter-occupied area to a predominantly middle-class owner-occupied area.
Mimicry
Ability of an animal to look like another more harmful animal
nociception
Ability to sense Pain SLOW
Quasi-Experimental Design
An experiment that does not require random assignment to conditions. -describes an effect on a specific cohort of the population
Pragmatics
Dependences of language on context and pre-existing knowledge. § Pragmatics are affected by prosody - the rhythm, cadence, and inflection of our voices. o Although all animal species communicate through some form of language, as far as we know, human language is unique. o The ease with which a culture learns a language is impacted greatly by the complexity of the language's syntax and semantics
Dependent Stressor
Depressed person would be expected to experience a greater number of stressful events that he or she influences (i.e., dependent stressors)
Taste/Smell
Do not synapse on the thalamus. Oribofrontal cortex is first place of integration.
Dreaming
Everybody dreams during REM sleep. Can tell someone is dreaming because eyes are moving rapidly under eyelids, and brainwaves look like they are completely awake. -These are the memorable dreams (NREM ones are not memorable) • Activity in prefrontal cortex during REM sleep is decreased - part responsible for logic
James-Lange theory
Experience of emotion is due to perception of physiological responses. § Ex. Holding pet cat (Event) -> increased HR/neurotransmitters/smile (Physiological response) à Interpretation of Physiological response -> happiness (emotion). It's not the cat making you happy...its something the cat is doing to your body makes you happy. When sad, don't cry because you're sad, you're sad because you cry. § Ex2: A man, who is allergic to bees, encounters a bee. The man's heart beat increases, he starts sweating, and he interprets these physiological changes as the emotion fear. § Ex. physiological arousal followed by aggressive emotions (not simultaneous). Awareness of physiological processes occurring that make you happy. Event --> Physiological Response (PR) --> Interpretation of PR --> Emotion -Acronym: J/L are one (1) apart on the alphabet, so they have a physiologic response first (1st) which leads to emotion.
Sweet, umami, and bitter cells rely on...
GPCR receptors
most powerful predictor of friendships and relationships
Geographical proximity
McDonaldization
George Ritzer's term describing the spread of bureaucratic rationalization and the accompanying increases in efficiency and dehumanization
iris
Gives the eye color. The muscle that constricts/relaxes to change the size of the pupil.
Induced States of Consciousness
Hypnosis + medication are examples. Does not occur naturally
Permanent reflexes
Important for newborns and also present throughout life § Breathing reflex - inhalation and exhalation § Eyeblink reflex - involuntary blinking of eye when something comes near head/bright light § Pupillary reflex - constrict pupil when bright light § Swallowing reflex - swallowing food happens automatically
Psychological factors of depression
In depression the following occur: • Behavioral theory - "learned helplessness" - begin to feel powerless if they have no control over the environment they are in repeatedly • "Cognitive theory" - cognitive distortions - getting trapped in negative thought pattern • Cognitive theory - attribution. These form a pessimistic /negative attributional style which makes people vulnerable to depression
What is light?
Light is an electromagnetic wave. o Electromagnetic (EM) spectrum contains everything from gamma rays (low wavelength) to AM/FM waves (long wavelength) • Light enters pupil and goes to retina, which contains rods and cones o There are 120 million rods, for night vision § Light comes in, goes through pupil, and hits rod. Normally rod is turned on, but when light hits, it turns off. § When rod is off, it turns on a bipolar cell, which turns on a retinal ganglion cell, which goes into the optic nerve and enters the brain. o There are 6-7 million cones § 3 types: red, green, blue o Almost all cones are centered in fovea (details), which is the center of the macula. • Ex. Helps us search for Waldo.
Mnemonic Devices
Link what you are trying to learn into previously exist long-term information that is already in your memory. Types of mnemonics: o Imagery - crazier the better o Pegword system - Verbal anchors link words that rhyme with the number - EX.1 is bun, 2 is shoe, 3 is tree, 4 is door, 5 is skydive, 6 is sticks, 7 is heaven, etc. Then you pair list to each of the words you are trying to remember using imagery (another mnemonic technique) like Broccoli looks like a tree so it's 4th on the list.
Location of Somatosensation
Location-specific stimuli by nerves are sent to brain. Relies on dermatomes
Neurocognitive Disorders
Loss of cognitive/other functions of the brain after nervous system has developed. Big categories within this, one is delirium (reversible episode of cognitive/higher brain problems, many causes - drugs/abnormalities in blood/infections). Dementia and its milder versions are usually irreversible and progressive (usually caused by Alzheimer's disease or stroke).
Spatial mismatch
Low income households reside far from where suitable job opportunities are
Face validity
Measures whether a test looks like it tests what it is supposed to test -measure of how representative a research project is 'at face value,' and whether it appears to be a good project the degree to which a lay person who takes a cursory look at an experiment agrees that an experimenter is measuring what they say they are measuring.
Interposition (overlap)
Perception that one object is in front of another. An object that is in the front is closer
Dependency Theory
Reaction to Modernization theory. Uses idea of Core + Periphery countries to look at inequalities between countries. Periphery countries (3rd world countries) export resources to Core countries (first world). This is not because they are in an earlier stage of development but because they have been integrated into the world economy as an undeveloped countries. They don't have means to become a developed nation. They will remain poor and dependent on wealthier nations.
Somatosensation
Receive information about the types of somatosensation, the Intensity, Timing, and Location • Types: Temperature (thermoception), pressure (mechanoception), pain (nociception), and position (proprioception) • Intensity - how quickly neurons fire for us to notice. Slow = low intensity, fast = high intensity
What happens if we put salty receptor inside a sweet cell?
Receptors in membrane bind to glucose. But let's insert a salty receptor. Since axon from cell leads to brain, if NaCl comes in, it activates the receptor, + ions go inside, sweet cell depolarizes and fires AP, and brain interprets it as a sweet signal. Put a salty receptor in a sweet cell, can trick your brain into thinking salt is sugar!
Variable-Ratio
Reinforcement is delivered after average # of right responses has occurred
Variable-Interval
Responses are reinforced after a variable amount of time has passed, regardless on amount Ex. bonus can come randomly on different days. • VR is most effective (acronym: produces a Very-Rapid response)
Rote rehearsal
Say the same thing over and over remember. least effective technique. Ex. Remembering someone's name is bob that you just met, and you can't after a while. -Doesn't require you to process the information. More successful techniques involve tying in the new information to previously known information. o Rote rehearsal is simply repeating information. It requires the least amount of cognitive effort.
Thalamus
Sensory functions, because all senses have pathways that travel to the thalamus. Also higher functions of brain such as cognition and emotion
Charles Cooley - Looking Glass Self
Socialization also shapes our self-image and self-concept, and Charles Cooley used the term "looking glass self" to describe this process - idea that a person's sense of self develops from interpersonal interactions with others. • Thought this happened in 3 steps o 1) How do I appear to others? o 2) What must others think of me? o 3) Revise how we think about ourselves (based on correct OR incorrect perceptions on others evaluations). • Critical aspect of this theory is Cooley believed we are not actually being influenced by opinions of others, but what we imagine the opinions of other people to be -The looking-glass self suggests that the self-concept is influenced by how we perceive that others are viewing us. Based on the looking-glass self, a person who acquires a stigmatized illness is likely to internalize the stigmatization directed against him or her..
Hypochondriac
a person obsessed with health; having imaginary illnesses
Comparative Study/Research
a research methodology in the social sciences that aims to make comparisons across different countries or cultures. A major problem in comparative research is that the data sets in different countries may not use the same categories, or define categories differently (for example by using different definitions of poverty
Oligarchy
a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution.
Age Stratification Theory
a theory which states that members of society are stratified by age, just as they are stratified by race, class, and gender
Reconstructive bias
a type of bias related to memory: we may not remember as accurately when under high amounts of stress
Freudian slip
a verbal mistake that is thought to reveal an unconscious belief, thought, or emotion
Selective Attention
ability to focus on task at hand while ignoring other information
Gender Dysphoria
distress/disability caused by person identifying as a different gender than society represents them as. Must cause distress/disability.
Personality Disorders
distress/disability related to personality. Involves long-term mental and behavioural features that are characteristic of a person, huge spectrum of personality types considered acceptable from a culture.
Depressants
drugs that lower your body's basic functions and neural activity, lower CNS activity (decrease arousal/stimulation in areas of our brain) -ex. Decrease Heart rate, decreased BP, decreased processing/reaction time (makes us act/think slowly), etc. -Three categories: alcohol, barbiturates, and benzodiazepines o Vasodilate at low, vasoconstrictor at high o The most popular depressant is alcohol. § Decreased inhibitions, so decreasing cognitive control § Lack of coordination, slurring of speech § Think more slowly, disrupt REM sleep (and form memories)
Iron rule of oligarchy
even most democratic of organizations become more bureaucratic over time until they're governed by select few -Conflict theory explains it. Once person gains leadership role in organization they might be hesitant to give it up. (those with power have vested interest in keeping it)
Cocaine
even stronger stimulant - causes brain to releases so much dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine that it depletes your brain's supply. Intense crash and very depressed when it wears off. o Regular users can experience disturbances, emotional suspicion, convulsions, cardiac arrest, and respiratory failure.
Modified Semantic Network
every individual semantic network develops based on experience and knowledge. Some links might be shorter/longer for different individuals and there may be direct links for higher order categories to exemplars.
Negative emotions
evoke more activity on right side
Overconfidence
ex. Going into test without knowing a lot of info. Could be due to fluency (ease of processing) during studying. Ex. Can happen in a test if you never tested yourself to see if you really knew the answers. Can overestimate ability to produce answers when you need too. Can also experience overconfidence in an argument.
Coping
expending conscious effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress or conflict. The effectiveness of the coping efforts depends on the type of stress and/or conflict, the particular individual, and the circumstances
Type II error
false negative
Paul Ekman
found 6 main universal emotions which can be identified by everyone around the world - happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger and surprise. Consistent facial expressions across culture and easily recognizable. (acronym: 6 universal emotions are: FAHDSS)
5 Factor Model (Big 5 Personality Traits)
found in all people of all populations. o Openness - independent vs. conforming, imagining vs. practical), o Conscientiousness - careful vs. careless, disciplined vs. impulse, organized or not o Extroversion - talkative or quiet, fun loving or sober o Agreeableness - kind vs. cold, appreciative vs. unfriendly o Neuroticism - stable vs. tense, calm vs anxious, secure vs. insecure o Use acronym OCEAN
Histamine
from Hypothalamus sends to cerebral cortex.
Biological factors of depression
genetic component (from family/twin studies) o Depression is super complicated though: 5-HTTLPR Gene associated with depression, but ONLY if individual is in a stressful environment. If someone is in a low stress environment, they have a decreased risk for depression. • Decreased activation in prefrontal cortex (associated with difficult in generating actions and decreased decision making capacity) • Lower levels of activity in reward circuit in the brain. • Associated with NT - fewer receptors for serotonin (monoamine) and NE (monoamine/catecholamine).
Cost signalling
giving signals to others that person who's giving has resources. People have increased trust in those they know have helped others in the past. Signals that the person is open to cooperation
Cluster B Personality disorder
has four personality disorders: o Antisocial: little or no regard for others. Commit crimes and show no remorse. Inconsiderate of others. o Borderline: Unstable relationships, emotions are unstable, variable self-image and compulsive (which can put them in danger) o Histrionic: Are very attention seeking. Display emotions outwardly, wear bright clothes o Narcissistic: huge egos, need for admiration and praise, grandiose
Cluster A Personality disorder
has three personality disorders: PSS o Paranoid: profound distrust + suspicion of other people. o Schizoid: emotionally detached in relationships and shows little emotion o Schizotypal: odd beliefs/ magical thinking
Binet's idea of mental age
how a child at a specific age performs intellectually compared to average intellectual performance for that physical age in years.
Assimilation
how we describe new information/experiences in terms of our current understanding/schemas.
Accommodation
how we later adjust our schemas to incorporate new experiences -to remember
Signal Detection Theory
how we make decision under conditions of uncertainty - discerning between important stimuli and unimportant "noise" • At what point can we detect a signal o Options: hit/miss/false alarm/correct rejection § Hit, the subject responded affirmative when a signal was present, § False Alarm, the subject perceived a signal when there was none present; § Correct Rejection, a correct negative answer for no signal § Miss, a negative response to a present signal *Note: Do not mistake this for Type I/Type II errors. This is different terminology.
Galton's idea of hereditary genius
human ability is hereditary
Bipolar I disorder
hypermania w/ or w/o major depressive disorder
Ego depletion
idea that self-control is a limited resource. If you use a lot of it, it can get used up, and less of it to use in the future which can affect a later unrelated task that also requires self-control. This is true because self-control requires lots of energy and focus.
Internalization
idea/belief/behaviour has been integrated into our own values. We conform to the belief privately. Stronger than other types of conformity
Belief perseverance
ignore/rationalize disconfirming facts, ex. During elections learned about and then ignore facts about someone you like.
similarity bias
implies we will not befriend people different from us
anterograde amnesia
inability to encode new memories.
Anosmia
inability to perceive odor. (Acronym: aNOSEmia = Smell) • The pathway for olfaction goes from the olfactory bulb to the amygdala and the piriform cortex. From there the signal is transmitted to the orbitofrontal cortex.
Retrograde amnesia
inability to recall info previously encoded
Prosopagnosia
inability to recognize faces
receptive aphasia
inability to understand spoken or written words -fluent aphasia -weirnicke's aphasia
Retina
inside, back area filled with photoreceptors, where the ray of light is converted from a physical waveform to a electrochemical impulse that the brain can interpret.
Executive attention
involved in goal-directed behavior, monitoring conflicts between internal processes, and anticipating the effects of behavior. Dopamine from the ventral tegmental area is associated with executing attention
Cortical cooling (Cryogenic blockade)
involves cooling down neurons until they stop firing. § Cryoloop - surgically implanted between skull and brain. Most important part is it's temporary/reversible, unlike other techniques. K/O nerves - see effect, and then bring the animal back to normal functioning. o Temporary lesions can be created via neurochemical means. Muscimol can bind to GABA receptors and inhibit those neurons
Phobias
irrationally afraid of specific objects or specific situation. Focused anxiety o Can be debilitating (ex. Phobia of leaving your home) or can have a normal life (ex. Phobia of snakes) o Tend to form a pattern. People tend to have phobias of specific subtypes of things typically § Generally associated with fear of animals, insects, blood, heights, or enclosed spaces. These are common but there are more. § People get by by avoiding the source of their phobia o Social Phobias: Fear of different social situations. not as easy to avoid. § Ex; shyness, or intense fear of being scrutinized by other § People avoid talking to people or places where they might be judged or situations that might lead to embarrassment
Marijuana
is also a mild hallucinogen. Main active chemical is THC, which heightens sensitivity to sounds, tastes, smells. o Like alcohol, (depressant) - reduces inhibition, impairs motor and coordination skills, perceptual skills o Disrupt memory formation and short-term recall. o Stays in body up to a week's so regular users need less of the drug rather than more to receive the same high. o Used as medicine to relieve pain and nausea
Negative priming
is an implicit memory effect in which prior exposure to a stimulus unfavorably influences the response to the same stimulus. Caused by experiencing the stimulus, and then ignoring it. Negative prime lowers the speed to slower than un-primed levels
Kinaesthesia
is talking about movement of the body. Kinaesthesia is more behavioural. o You teach yourself how to move to successfully complete the task at hand. o Ex: "If I move in this direction, I will hit the baseball."
Halo effect
is tendency people have inherently good/bad natures, rather than looking at individual characteristics. Ex. the physical attractiveness stereotype - believe attractive people have more positive personality traits
Covert orienting
is the act of bringing the spotlight of attention on an object or event without body or eye movement.
Operationalization /operationalized
is the process of strictly defining variables into measurable factors. The process defines fuzzy concepts and allows them to be measured, empirically and quantitatively. Allows for the establishment of a causal relationship between variables. You want to manipulate the variable at varying levels for this to occur.
Relapse
is when patient can slip and go back -Depends on environmental triggers and drug they were addicted too. -More addictive substances make relapse more likely. -Encountering anything that one used to associate with the drug makes relapse more likely as well. This is why it's hard for people to stay clean
Gestalt Principle: Similarity
items similar to one another grouped together by brain. Ex: The brain automatically organizes these squares and circles in columns, and not in rows.
Ethnocentric
judging someone else's culture from the position of your own culture o Viewing our own culture to be superior to that of others o Can lead to cultural bias and prejudice o Using one's own cultural standards, such as norms and values, to make judgements about another culture.
Drowsiness
just before falling asleep/after waking up. Can also be self-induced in deep meditation.
Vygotsky - Language
language and thought are both independent, but converge through development. Eventually learn to use them at same time via socialization - Believed children developed language through social interaction with adults who already knew the language. Through the interaction, they learnt to connect the thoughts and the language they eventually learn.
Mass hysteria
large # of people who experience unmanageable delusions and anxiety at same time. Reactions spread rapidly and reach more people through rumours and fears. Often takes the form of panic reactions and negative news or potential threat.
Macrosociology
large scale perspective, looking at big phenomena that affect big portion of population. Social structures and institutions, whole civilizations/populations. -Looking for patterns and effects the big picture has on lives on small groups. -Broad social trends in cities, and statistical data (as long as you're careful about not making wrong interpretations) -Deals with matters like poverty, war, health care, world economy
C. Robert Cloninger
linked personality to brain systems in reward/motivation/punishment, such as low dopamine correlating with higher impulsivity
Prosody
located on right hemisphere -concerned with larger units of speech like syllables -contribute to linguistic functions such as intonation, tone, stress, and rhythm. -may reflect various features of the speaker or the utterance: the emotional state of the speaker; the form of the utterance (statement, question, or command); the presence of irony or sarcasm; emphasis, contrast, and focus; or other elements of language that may not be encoded by grammar or by choice of vocabulary.
Informative influence
look to group for guidance when you don't know what to do and you assume the group is correct. § Ex: You have never interacted with a dog before and you are uncertain about how to train a dog and you are uncertain if it's an appropriate method to use a shock collar. You look for the group for guidance and you assume they are correct
Resource Mobilization Theory
looks at social movements from different angle. Instead of looking at deprivation of people, focuses on factors that help/hinder a social movement like access to resources. Gathering together people of a shared idea is not allowed everywhere. Also, for a social movement you need money, materials, political influence, media, and strong organizational base to recruit members - charismatic figure needed (unite people/members/oppressed on a single idea)
Perceived control
many studies show lack of control associated with higher stress. Low SES increases stress.
Tolerance
means you get used to a drug so you need more of it to achieve the same effect. § Tolerance is a shift in the dose-response curve that causes decreased sensitivity to a drug due to exposure.
Sleepwalking/sleep talking
mostly genetic, occur during N3 (stage 3; slow wave) and are harmless. Occur more often in children (partly because they have more N3 stage sleep than adults).
Latent period
no focus of libido. A period of exploration, libido present but directed into other areas such as intellectual pursuits and social interactions. Important in development of social and communication skills. -Children concerned with peer relationships, hobbies, and other interests. Play is between same gender children. o Fixation doesn't develop into adult fixation.
Sleep
not aware of self or world around you
Acetylcholine
nuclei (Basilis and septal nuclei ) in frontal lobe that releases it to cerebral cortex, Released for LMNs, and the autonomic nervous system.
Three types of hormone effects:
o Autocrine - effects the cell that makes it o Paracrine - regional effect o Endocrine signals - response that is far away
Upper motor signs:
o Hyperreflexia - increase in the muscle stretch reflexes. Cause is unclear, but when muscle spindle receptors are activated, without periodic stimulation of LMNs by UMNs, they become hypersensitive and you get bigger reflex. o Clonus - rhythmic contractions of antagonist muscle. Ex. Foot goes involuntarily up and down. Cause is hyperreflexia, because if doctor pulls on foot activates muscle stretch reflex, so triggers antagonist muscles. o Hypertonia - increased tone of skeletal muscles. Increase muscle tension, reduce muscle stretch. o Extensor Plantar Response - if you take a hard object and scrape along bottom of foot, normal response is flexor - toes will come down on the object. But with extensor, toes extend up.
2 classification systems
o ICD-10 is International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision. System from the WHO - 11 top level categories o DSM-5 is Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition, from the American Psychiatric Association (APA) -20 top level categories.
Cultures have different ways they explain success and failure
o In individualistic cultures (Western - Europe/America), success is overattributed to internal and failure is over-attributed to external/situational factors. o In collectivist cultures (Eastern - Africa/Asia), success is attributed to external and failure to internal factors
Cochlear Implants
o Individuals who have a problem with conduction of sound waves from cochlea to brain. -partially restores hearing -Unlike hearing aids, which amplify sound, a cochlear implant bypasses damaged portions of the ear to deliver sound signals to the hearing (auditory) nerve. -Cochlear implants use a sound processor that fits behind the ear. The processor captures sound signals and sends them to a receiver implanted under the skin behind the ear. The receiver sends the signals to electrodes implanted in the inner ear (cochlea). -The signals stimulate the auditory nerve, which then directs them to the brain. The brain interprets those signals as sounds, though these sounds won't be just like normal hearing. -It takes time and training to learn to interpret the signals received from a cochlear implant. Within a year of use, most people with cochlear implants make considerable gains in understanding speech.
Innate behavioural traits
o Inherited - innate behaviours are encoded by DNA o Intrinsic - present even if you're raised in isolation. Ex. Pooping, peeing, etc. o Stereotypic - performed the same way each time. o Inflexible - not modifiable by experience. o Consummate - fully developed right away, at first performance. Not influenced by experience.
Social effects of timing of puberty
o Males: Early puberty boys have both negative and positive consequences § Positive: stronger/taller (more athletic) popular/independent. § Negative: increase delinquency and alcohol use. o Females: Only negatives § Negative: teasing, sexual harassment. Out of synch with friends in interests
Hormone concentration is regulated by
o Metabolism (metabolized by liver and makes bile) and kidney (excretes them into urine after breakdown). o Secretion: controlled by negative feedback loops. § Ex: Hypothalamus -(TRH) à Anterior pituitary -(TSH)-à Thyroid ---(T3 (thyroxin)). • T3 negative feedback to TSH/TRH
Immature Defense Mechanisms
o Projection - throw your attributes to someone else - like accusing another person of being jealous when you are the one being jealous o Passive Aggression - aggressively doing something for someone and failing to do it or doing it slowly. Passive way to express your anger PP
When comparing rates to determine if something has a strong environmental or genetic component:
o Strong genetic component: § Identical twins =/= Fraternal Twins § Identical twins raised together = Identical twins raised apart § Adoptive child = Biological parents o Strong Environmental component: § Identical twins = Fraternal Twins § Identical twins raised together = /= Identical twins raised apart § Adoptive child = adoptive parents
2 types of social constructionism
o Weak social constructionism proposes that social constructs are dependent on: § Brute facts, which are the most basic and fundamental facts. . § Institutional facts are created by social conventions and do rely on other facts. o Strong social constructionism states that whole of reality is dependent on language and social habits; all knowledge is social construct and there are no brute facts -Main criticism to social constructionism is it doesn't consider effects of natural phenomenon on society, and for strong social constructionism it has difficulties explaining those phenomena because they don't depend on human speech or action.
Attentional capture
occurs when attention is attracted by the motion of an object or stimulus.
independent stressor
occurs without the person's influence. Equal amounts.
Social support
one of best coping mechanisms of stress. Allows us to confide thee painful/difficult feelings and allows us to understand we are not alone in stress, which helps in our perceived control and optimism. § Socially supported communities are identified as having better Eating/exercise/sleeping patterns. Marriage, domesticated animals, close friendships have been shown to decrease stress.
Impression management
our attempt to control how others see us on the front stage. Do this because we want to be viewed in a positive way. There are multiple social situations which require different scripts from you as an actor and hence there are multiple front stages, and you have to play a different front stage role every time. We manage our sense of self in social interactions.
Authoritative parenting
parenting style characterized by emotional warmth, high standards for behavior, explanation and consistent enforcement of rules, and inclusion of children in decision making
Serotonin
partially responsible for feelings of satiation. So if serotonin goes down, you are less likely to be satiated or content. • Reward pathway cycle is very biologically driven. • Evidence of reward pathway/biological basis of drug dependence: Comes from animal models o Scientists gave rats hooked up IV that gives them cocaine if they push a lever. When the rats do this, the rats learn quickly to push the lever. Rats will seek the drug and also will try to increase dosage if allowed.
Expansive Population Pyramid
population with a high birth rate and low life expectancy Fewer old people than young High birth rate and high death rates.
Crystallized Intelligence
refers to accumulated knowledge and verbal skills. § Fluid intelligence tends to decrease as we move into older adulthood, while crystalized increases or stays same. § Cattell defined crystallized intelligence as the ability to retrieve and acquire knowledge § Crystallized intelligence is based on fact, experience, prior learning and accumulates as one ages.
Intoxication
refers to behavioural and psychological effects on the person. These are drug-specific. Ex. "drunk" (intoxication w/ alcohol) or "high" (intoxicated with another substance)
High culture
refers to patterns of experiences and attitudes that exist in the highest class segments of a society. This tends to be associated with wealth and formality
Popular culture
refers to patterns of experiences and attitudes that exist within mainstream normative society - like attending a game or watching a parade
Transformationalist Grammar
refers to the different ways that words can be arranged to convey the same information.
Anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic
requires a person to create a set point or anchor. The answer is adjusted based on comparing new information to the anchor
Sensation
requires a physical stimulus to be converted into a neural impulse. • In the case of the eye, light is being converted to a neural impulse by a photoreceptor.
fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
same image from MRI but can look at which structures are active! -Neurons that are active require oxygen. -Measuring relative amounts of oxygenated vs deoxygenated blood in the brain - we can figure out what brain areas are being used for a certain task. § MRI registers magnetic changes via radio waves and fMRI is a calculated composite of several MRI images registering the changes (shows activity as colored areas over MRI)
dual coding hypothesis
says it's easier to remember words associated with images than either one alone. -Paivio proposes that the human mind operates with two distinct classes of mental representation (or "codes"), verbal representations and mental images -Human memory thus comprises two functionally independent (although interacting) systems or stores, verbal memory and image memory -Imagery potentiates recall of verbal material because when a word evokes an associated image (either spontaneously, or through deliberate effort) two separate but linked memory traces are laid down, one in each of the memory stores
Hyperglobalist Perspective
sees globalization as a new age in human history - countries become interdependent and nation states themselves are less important. Countries become one global society. Theorists don't agree if this good or bad. Driven by a legitimate process.
Treisman's Attenuation Theory
sensory register --> attenuator --> perceptual process --> conscious
Broadbent's Early Selection Theory
sensory register --> selective filter --> perceptual process --> conscious
Steric theory of olfaction
shape theory, asserts that odors fit into receptors similar to a lock-and-key.
Thomas theorem
situations that are defined as real are real in their consequences -In other words, the interpretation of a situation causes the action -Guy in prison with a violent history thinks other people in the prison are talking about him even though they arent, but, since he thinks they are he goes over and hits them. His perception of the situation led to the action -If you believe something, it will affect your behavior regardless of reality. Ex: boy is scared of ghosts so he can't sleep. His behavior is determined by his belief, not reality.
Compliance
situations where we do behaviour to get a reward or avoid punishment. Tendency to go along with behaviour without questioning why. Compliance goes away once rewards/punishments removed. § "Compliance refers to a change in behavior that is requested by another person or group; the individual acted in some way because others asked him or her to do so (but it was possible to refuse or decline.) • Compliance is the tendency to agree to do what is requested especially if there are certain factors present: a feeling that there is give and take, believability, likability, limited supply and positive feedback from others. Robert Cialdini studied how successful marketing results in consumer compliance. For example, soft drink labels have long used celebrities to increase compliance. The ordinary consumer would buy the drink because they liked the celebrity, assumed that the celebrity approved of the product, and believed what he had to say about it. § Ex. paying taxes (I will get punished if I don't pay my taxes). TSA screenings (nobody likes them, but you won't be allowed on the plane if you don't)
Change vs compliance
small rewards change cognitions, large rewards - just compliance
Dissociation
the ability of the mind to separate and compartmentalize thoughts, memories, and emotions. This is often associated with post traumatic stress syndrome.
Haptic perception
the active exploration of the environment by touching and grasping objects with our hands
anthropomorphism
the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to a god, animal, or object.
Intergenerational mobility
the change that family members make in social class from one generation to the next
Social potency trait
the degree to which a person assumes leadership roles and mastery of roles in social situations. Common in twins reared separately.
Cultural imperialism
the deliberate imposition of one's own cultural values on another culture
Visual agnosia
the inability to recognize a visual stimulus despite the ability to see and describe it
Hidden curriculum
the informal and unofficial aspects of culture that children are taught in school -we learn how to stand in line, wait our turn, and treat our peers. We internalize social inequalities, when boys and girls are treated differently by their teachers.
Convergent Validity
the measure should correlate more strongly with other measures of the same constructs
Folkways
the mildest type of norm, just common rules/manners we are supposed to follow on a day to day base. Traditions individuals have followed for a long time, ex. opening the door, helping a person who's dropped item, or saying thank you. Not engaging results in a consequences that is not severe/consistent. No actual punishment. § Ex: Friend's pants zipper is undone. Tell your friend your zipper is undone (common courtesy) but not telling friends leads to no consequences.
Gestalt Principle: Symmetry
the mind perceives objects as being symmetrical and forming around a center point.
Benzodiazepines
the most commonly prescribed suppressant. Subscribed for same things as barbiturates - sleep aids (to treat insomnia) or anti-anxiety or seizures (anticonvulsant) § Enhance your brain's response to GABA. They open up GABA-activated chloride (Cl-) channels in your neurons, and make neurons more (-) charged. § 3 types: short, intermediate, and long-acting. Short and intermediate are usually for sleep, while long acting is for anxiety. § -zelam, -zolam § Benzodiazepines and alcohol bind to a site on the GABAA receptor complex that regulates the sensitivity of the receptor complex -depressant. Commonly prescribed. o Short-acting (preferred for insomnia) , intermediate acting, long acting (preferred to treat anxiety)
Social Capital
the networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.
Pupil
the opening in the middle of the iris. The size of the pupil can get bigger/smaller based on the iris relaxing/contracting respectively. The pupil modulates the amount of light able to enter the eyeball.
Mere exposure effect
the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them
Cultural capital
the symbolic and interactional resources that people use to their advantage in various situations
fundamental attribution error
the tendency for observers, when analyzing another's behavior, to underestimate the impact of the situation (external factors) and to overestimate the impact of personal disposition (internal factors)
Regression to the mean
the tendency of extreme scores on a variable to be followed by, or associated with, less extreme scores -If the first measurement is extreme, second measurement will be closer to the mean
Gender schema theory
the theory that children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male and female and that they adjust their behavior accordingly
Opponent-process theory
the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision. For example, some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green
Assortative Mating
the type of mating that occurs when an organism selects a mating partner that resembles itself
Secularization
the weakening of social and political power of religious organizations, as religious involvement declines
Activity Theory
theory of adjustment to aging that assumes older people are happier if they remain active in some way, such as volunteering or developing a hobby
Conjunctiva
thin layer of cells that lines the inside of your eyelids from the eye
Relative height
things higher are perceived to be farther away than those that are lower
Self-referencing
think about new info and how it relates to you personally o Related idea: preparing to teach - idea that you are learning this material in order to teach it to someone else. You learn it a lot better because you put more effort into organizing it and understanding the information the best you can (involves great deal of processing)
Universalism
thought determines language completely. Your thought dictates language. -A Universalist believes that human cognition shapes language and language is created from a set of universal semantic distinctions and constructions shape human language. -Ex: The New Guinea people only think about dark and light. If they had other thoughts, they would develop words for them.
Encoding
transferring information from the temporary store in working memory into permanent store in long-term memory. o Working Memory: processing anything that you're thinking about at this particular moment. 7+/- 2 o If you want to remember more than 7 things, need to process that info so it stays in long-term memory. • Encoding is more successful when more cognitive effort is actively used. Combining encoding strategies is more useful than using only one.
Cornea
transparent thick sheet of fibrous tissue, anterior 1/6th; starts to bends light, first part of eye light hits.
latent functions
unintended beneficial consequences of people's actions -indirect effects of institutions. (unrecognized consequences)
Availability heuristic
using examples that come to mind. Helpful, but our easily memorable experiences don't match real state of the world. o The availability heuristic is a decision making heuristic where choices are based on quick, easily accessible examples. o Ex. More shark attacks on news so you think a shark attack = more fatal. But, firework accidents are more fatal (have a higher risk) but are less available (less publicized).
Shading and contour
using light and shadows to perceive form depth/contours - crater/mountain.
Resource model of attention
we have limited resources in attention. Resources are easily overtasked if we try to pay attention to multiple things @ once. o Both models say something about our ability to multitask - not very good at it. o Supported by research study: ex. Dichotic listening task, you aren't able to focus on both the "attended channel" and the "unattended channel". You are able to recall info from the attended channel, but not the unattended channel.
3x2 factorial design (read "three by two")
we have three levels of the first variable crossed with two levels of the second variable. Such a design gives us 3x2=6 treatment conditions in the experiment. Two independent variables, 3 of first, 2 of 2nd.
Bipolar II disorder
when it remains hypomania + one major depressive episode
Learned helplessness
you learn from having control ripped out of hands that you don't have control, so lose ability to identify coping mechanisms because taking less control of outcome of your life. Cycle continues downward into major depression.
sanctions
§ Positive sanction - a reward for conforming to norms. § Negative sanction - a punishment for violating norms. § Formal sanction - officially recognized and enforced. § Informal sanction - unofficially recognized and does not result in specific punishment
Sex (sexual response) Hormonal Aspect
§ Prolactin is related to sexual gratification and is associated with relieving sexual arousal after an orgasm. § Endorphins produce feelings of euphoria and pleasure, and are released post-orgasm. § Oxytocin is released after an orgasm to facilitate bonds and feelings of connectedness between sexual partners.
Auditory Processing
• Brain relies on cochlea to differentiate between 2 different sounds. o We can hear frequencies between 20-20,000Hz.
Structure of the Nervous System
• CNS and PNS • CNS = brain and spinal cord o Brain includes cerebrum, cerebral hemispheres, brainstem (midbrain, pons, and medulla), and cerebellum. o Forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain. Forebrain becomes cerebrum, midbrain becomes midbrain, and hindbrain becomes pons/medulla/cerebellum • PNS = everything else. Cranial (12 pairs) + spinal nerves (31 pairs) o Nerves, ganglia. Afferent and efferent neurons.
Responding to Stress
• Cannon was interested in the homeostatic response to stress. -the "fight and flight response" • Stressors like threats and dangers trigger our fight or flight system - the nervous system (sympathetic nervous system) (part of the ANS) and the endocrine response.
Overview of the Functions of the Cerebral Cortex.
• Cerebral cortex bumps = increase cellular mass/surface area. • Acronym: F-POT • Frontal lobe - motor cortex (body movements), prefrontal cortex (executive function, surprise/direct other areas of brain), Broca's area (speech production)
Hemisphere Differences and Hemisphere Dominance
• Contralateral control: left brain controls right body and right brain controls left body. -Basically true for all of your senses. [This doesn't apply to smell: which is ipsilateral (same side) o Left hemisphere is dominant for vast majority of people o Domain hemisphere: language, math, o Non-dominant: emotional tone of language, if people are happy/sad/anxious, creativity, music, special processing, big picture concepts. o Hemispheres communicate via corpus collosum
Brain Changes During Adolescence
• During adolescence there is a change in many structures. Specific changes include changes in: Prefrontal cortex, limbic system, corpus collosum. Global changes: Changes occurring throughout the brain • Specific changes: o Prefrontal cortex is developed during adolescence. Responsible for higher order cognition (thinking about future, planning, decision making, ability to inhibit certain behavior and focus on long-term goals). Develops into early 20s. Explains why teenagers show poor judgement. o Limbic system - § Amygdala - responsible for emotions/emotional responses. Explains why teenagers are moody and have emotional outbursts (yelling at parents, slamming door) § Hypothalamus - regulates endocrine system (hormones) § Limbic system also includes other structures, but these top two are importan • Global Changes o Increase myelination (faster communication of neurons- faster connections b/t brain areas) o Increase in brain volume in early adolescence and then decrease later in adolescence. Synaptic pruning - breaking down connections between certain neurons. Focus resources on the ones we use the most. What we do during our teenage users - shapes us for life. What we spend our time doing = what is reinforced.
Conflict Theory
• Focuses on inequalities of different groups in society, based on ideas of Karl Marx that believed society evolved through several stages: feudalism -> capitalism -> socialism.
Audition
• For us to hear sound we need two things (for audition to occur): 1. pressurized sound wave (a stimuli) 2. hair cell (a receptor, located in the cochlea) • What is a pressurized sound wave? Ex. In between your hands are a bunch of air molecules, and when hands move towards each other, there is less space so the molecules compress and there is a higher pressure. The air molecules are becoming pressurized. . • Air molecules are pressurized and try to escape, creating areas of high and low pressure - known as sound waves
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development
• Piaget argued children weren't miniature adults. Believed they actively construct their understanding of world as they grow. As their bodies grow, their minds grow as well. • Piaget's Stages of Development - Acronym: 1 is bun, 2 is shoe, 3 Is tree, 4 is door • Later, developmentalists have come and figured out that children don't necessarily develop these abilities in certain age brackets, but they do tend to progress in a predictable fashion and thanks to Piaget now we know that children are more than just miniature adults
Visual Cues
• allows us to perceptually organize by taking into account the following cues: depth, form, motion, constancy • Humans have two eyes which allow them to receive visual cues from their environment by binocular cues. -Provide sense of depth. • This gives them retinal disparity. Eyes are ~2.5 inches apart which allows humans to get slightly different views of objects
Amino acid neurotransmitters
GABA (CNS) + Glycine (PNS)
Xenocentrism
a belief that another culture is superior to one's own
left superior temporal sulcus
associated with anger
ANOVA
ANalysis Of VAriance - btwn means of 3 or more groups
Life Course Theory
Aging is a social, psychological, and biological process that begins from the time you are born until you die.
Rods
Detect light. Rod shaped.
Self-Stigma
acceptance of prejudice and discrimination based on internalized negative societal beliefs or stereotypes
Foliate papillae
folded structures at the back of the tongue on both sides, which contain taste buds.
Basal ganglia
major role in motor functions, don't have UMNs but help motor areas to perform proper movements. Also cognition + emotion
Photopic vision
occurs at levels of high light levels
Social dysfunction
process that has undesirable consequences and may reduce the stability of society.
Reward Pathway in the Brain
• When you first experience happiness/reward (verbal-praise pleasure, hug, ate cake) your brain is responding. • Your brain says, "this was good", "let's do it again" (occurs in response to food, social interactions, sex, and stimulants such as cocaine, amphetamines, metaemphatime, MDMA, nicotine, caffeine). The drugs that activate this drug circuit more are more addictive. • Dopamine • Serotonin
Algorithm
methodical approach. A logical step-by-step procedure of trying solutions till you hit the right one. Not efficient, but are guaranteed to find the correct solution eventually
Hearing adaptation
inner ear muscle: higher noise = muscle contract (this dampens vibrations in inner ear, protects ear drum) -does not work for immediate noises like a gun shot, but it works for being at a rock concert for an entire afternoon
proactive coping
up-front efforts to ward off or modify the onset of a stressful event -Anticipation is when one reduces the stress of some difficult challenge by anticipating what it will be like and preparing for how one is going to cope with it.
MEG (Megnetoencephalogram)
(aka SQUIDS - Superconducting quantum interference device)- better resolution than EEG, but rarer because requires a large machine and special room to shield it -Records the magnetic fields produced by electric currents in the brain. Measured by using SQUIDS. (acronym: MEGa SQUIDS are invasive)
outsourcing
Hiring workers in other countries to do a set of jobs -made possible by globalization -leads to greater profits for company (lower wage workers in other countries) and more employment in hostcountries.
Observational learning
(aka social learning/vicarious learning) is learned through watching and imitating others - such as modeling actions of another. o Mirror neurons found that support this. o Aggression is environmentally learnt and mass-media can have an performance effect (performance is situationally dependent depending on If the actor is rewarded or punished)
interference
2 types: retroactive and proactive o Retroactive interference - new learning impairs old info. Refers to later information interfering with memory for earlier information. § ex. Writing new address makes it difficult to recall your old address o Proactive interference - something you learned in past impairs learning in future. Earlier information interferes with later information. § ex. New password learning - prior pw learning impairs ability to learn new one.
Classical conditioning
(also known as Pavlovian or respondent conditioning) a learning process in which an innate response to a potent stimulus comes to be elicited in response to a previously neutral stimulus; this is achieved by repeated pairings of the neutral stimulus with the potent stimulus. • Classical does not involve change in behaviour like operant conditioning. o Unconditioned means it's innate, already do naturally, and not learned. o While conditioned means it's a learned behavior. • Conditioning is produced when the neutral stimulus is presented shortly before the unconditioned stimulus - presentation of both stimuli is caused a trial. Pairing the two stimuli together is how you establish classical conditioning
Hawthorne effect
(also referred to as the observer effect) is a type of reactivity in which individuals modify or improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. (acronym: observe the THORNes) o The Hawthorne effect occurs when an individual participant changes his or her behavior, specifically due the awareness of being observed
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development: Stage 2
2-6/7 years old (approx.) - Preoperational stage (operational = mental operations like imagining things") - When children are going to develop/engage in pretend play. -Start to use symbols to represent things -Very egocentric - only concerned about themselves, no empathy § The preoperational stage is associated with an inability to understand the perspective of others. § magical thinking -conservation tasks are a challenge during this stage -assimilation also occurs
Conformity
"peer pressure", tendency for people to bring behaviour in line with group norms. Powerful in social situations. We use social situations (especially ones with peers) to determine what is acceptable, when to question authorities, and get feedback on behavior. o This is why it is important for people to have positive peers. If group behavior is positive, then there will be peace, harmony, happiness o Negative peers = negative behaviors, which can be catastrophic
Motion parallax
"relative motion" Things farther away move slower, closer moves faster; monocular cue
fertility rate
# number of births a woman is expected to give birth to in her child bearing years. On avg women in US gives birth to 2.1 children in her life. • >2 = increase in population • = 2, no increase/decrease in population. • <2 = decrease the population
Total Population Decrease Rate
(#death + # Emigration)/1000. Multiply Rate by population and you get the population decrease
Delta wvaes
(0.5-3 Hz) - Slower/lower frequency than theta waves. Deep sleep or coma.
Beta waves
(12-30Hz) - associated with awake/concentration. If you are alert for too long, beta levels get high and you experience increased stress, anxiety, restlessness- constant awakened alertness.
Theta waves
(4-7 Hz) - slower/lower frequency than alpha waves. -Drowsiness/right after you fall asleep/when you are sleeping lightly.
Alpha waves
(8-13 Hz) - in daydreaming state. Lower frequency than beta waves. Disappear in drowsiness but reappear later in deep sleep
Jeffrey Alan Gray
(Biopsychological theory of personality) proposed personality is governed by the behavioural inhibition (punishment/avoidance) and activation (reward) system. (acronym: 50 shades of Gray is based on punishment/rewards)
Growth Rate
(People added to population - people removed)/(Initial Population) *100= (Total Population Increase - Total population decrease)/(Initial Population)*100= (Births + Immigration - Deaths - Emigration)/(Initial Population)*100 [Can be calculated as Current Population - Initial Population / (Initial) * 100]
Medicalization
"concept of medicalization refers to the process in which something, usually a behavioral problem (such as, for example, alcoholism) becomes described and treated as a medical condition when it was not previously conceived in that way. -occurs when human conditions previously considered normal get defined as medical conditions and are subject to studies, diagnosis, and treatment. Ex. mental health type issues (sadness/attention), and physical issues like birth. People are over diagnosed (depression/ADD). Sad =/= depressed and can't focus =/= ADD. Birth - women and doctors plan C-section instead of natural births.
Acute Withdrawal
(few weeks, physical withdrawal symptoms, different for each drug/person). For alcohol, only 2 days after cessation of consumption, improvement seen 4-5 days.
Post-Acute Withdrawal
(fewer physical symptoms, more emotional/psychologic symptoms, same symptoms for everyone) • Common symptoms: (PAWS - Post acute withdrawal symptoms) Mood swings, Anxiety, Irritability, Tiredness, Variable energy, Low enthusiasm, Variable concentration, Disturbed sleep • Post-acute withdrawal feels like a rollercoaster of symptoms. In the beginning, your symptoms will change minute to minute and hour to hour. Later as you recover further they will disappear for a few weeks or months only to return again. As you continue to recover the good stretches will get longer and longer. But the bad periods of post-acute withdrawal can be just as intense and last just as long. • Each post-acute withdrawal episode usually last for a few days. Once you've been in recovery for a while, you will find that each post-acute withdrawal episode usually lasts for a few days. There is no obvious trigger for most episodes. You will wake up one day feeling irritable and have low energy. If you hang on for just a few days, it will lift just as quickly as it started. After a while you'll develop confidence that you can get through post-acute withdrawal, because you'll know that each episode is time limited. • Post-acute withdrawal usually lasts for 2 years. This is one of the most important things you need to remember. If you're up for the challenge you can get though this. But if you think that post-acute withdrawal will only last for a few months, then you'll get caught off guard, and when you're disappointed you're more likely to relapse. • Can be trigger for relapse
Hypothalamus
(hypo - below, thalamus, tiny structure) - for limbic system, it regulates the Autonomic nervous system (ANS) - (fight or flight vs. rest and digest). Controlling endocrine system by triggers hormones like epinephrine/norepinephrine.; responsible for hunger, sleep, thirst, sex
growth mindset
(intelligence is changeable if you learn more). Those with growth mindset accomplish more in careers. o Fixed Mindset: Praise that reinforces a fixed mindset describes characteristics and actions as innate and unchangeable. o A growth mindset praises effort, perseverance, improvement, and strategies rather than the end result. Eg. "You worked really hard on your assignment"
Stereotype threat
(negative consequence of stereotyping) - self-fulfilling fear that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype. o Ex. Blue and red students, both perform equally. Next time, implement negative stereotype about blue students, blue students perform worse
Social Cognitive Theory
(originally called social learning theory) is theory of behaviour change that emphasizes interactions between people and their environment. -Unlike behaviourism (where environment controls us entirely), cognition is also important o Social factors, observational learning, and environmental factors
insomnia
(persistent trouble falling asleep or staying asleep). Various medications but taking them too long leads to dependence and tolerance. o Treatments can involve psychological training and lifestyle changes (exercising regularly or relaxing before bed). This is a better alternative to medication
Cognitive Approach to Motivation
(rational and decision making ability) - thought processes drive behavior. Ex. Light bulb going off in one's head.
Hallucinogens
(referred to as psychedelics): o Distorted perceptions/hallucinations - seeing or hearing things different from how things actually are. o Heighted sensations. Based on reality but is different from what's going on in the world around o Can give them energy or calm them down o Emotional responses - Feeling of connectedness and mood swings (changing moods) o Exact effect can be different depending on an individual's personality or who they are § Examples:, mescaline, peyote, PCP, LSD, psilocybin (active ingredient in mushroom) o LSD modifies serotonin neurotransmission, especially the 5-HT2 receptor family. o Dilation of pupil (mydriasis) -Some hallucinogens are used for PTSD treatment. Allow people to access painful memories from past that's detached from strong emotions - so they can come to terms with it.
Weak Linguistic Determinism
(relativism) language influences thought. It makes it easier/more common for us to think in certain ways based on how our language is structured. • Linguistic Relativism - There are differences in language between cultures. • Example: The girl pushes the boy. If you imagine that statement with girl on the left, your native language probably reads from left to right like English. If you drew it with the girl on the right, your native language probably reads right to left like Hebrew. Right to left vs. left to right language influences what direction you imagine girl pushing boy. • Weak Linguistic Determinism believes linguistic structure influences but does not determine the context of everyday encounters.
Schachter-Singer
(two-factor theory of emotion)- physiological and cognitive responses simultaneously form experience of emotion. If we become physiologically aroused, we don't feel a specific emotion until we're able to label/ identify reason for situation. § Ex: Holding your cat (event) à Physiological response of increase HR/or changes in NT level à label the situation and identify reason for physiological response and event (This is really nice, I like holding my cat, this makes me happy) --> emotion (Happy) § EX2 A man, who is allergic to bees, encounters a bee. Simultaneously, the man interprets that his allergy to bees makes this encounter threatening, his heart beat increases, and he starts sweating. He labels the emotion he is experiencing as fear. Event --> PR + Identify reason for the situation (PR) (consciously) --> Emotion
Incentive Theory
- Reward, intangible or tangible is presented after the occurrence of an action w/ intention of causing the behavior to occur again. -This causes a positive association and meaning toward a behavior -Argues that individuals are motivated to engage in behaviors that produce rewards or incentives.
Learned behavioural traits
- persistent changes in our behavior that result from our experiences. Not present at birth, but is acquired after experience with the environment. Have the following characteristics: o Non-inherited - acquired only through observation/experience o Extrinsic - absent when animals are raised in isolation, ex. social skills o Permutable - pattern/sequence that is changeable o Adaptable - capable of being modified in response to changing conditions o Progressive - subject to improvement or refined through practice over time
Intramuscular Injection Route of Drug Entry
-needle stuck into muscle. Can deliver drugs to your system slowly or quickly. -the fastest route of entry. Most abused drugs are injected intravenously, however. • Faster route of entry = more addictive potential. • Addiction/reward pathway takes over rational choices. Negative consequences don't affect the brain. o Animal model: § If you give a non-addicted rat regular food it likes with a substance that makes it sick, the rat learns to avoid the food. It stops liking it. § If you give an addicted rat its favorite drug paired with a substance that makes it sick, it still wants that drug. • Addiction has physiological components as well o Increased genetic risk - if someone in your family has drug addiction, you have an increased risk as well. o Environment/your choices make a difference too.
Explicit Memory
-Declarative are facts/events you can clearly/explicitly describe -Type of long term memory that focuses on recalling previous experiences and information -Can be divided into two categories, episodic and semantic
Aging and Cognitive Abilities
-Most people associate aging with declines in cognitive performance, but some abilities decline, some remain stable, and some improve. • Stable - implicit memory (aka procedural memories ex. riding a bike), and recognition memory (being able to pick something out of a list) • Improve - semantic memories improve till around age 60, so older adults have better verbal skills (they are great at crossword puzzles!). Also crystallized IQ is improved (ability to use knowledge and experience. Typically tested by analogy tests and reading comprehension). Also better at emotional reasoning. • Decline - recall becomes more difficult (although recognition is stable), episodic memories impaired (forming new episodic memories is difficult, old memories stable), processing speed (older people have a harder time outputting a response), and divided attention (becomes harder to switch attention between task and become easily distracted). Also prospective memory (remembering to do things in future) is decreased
Temporal Monotocity
-assumes that adding pain at end of painful experience will worsen retrospective evaluation of experienced pain and adding pleasure at end will enhance retrospective evaluation
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development: Stage 1
0-2 years old - Sensorimotor Stage (sensory = senses - children gather information about the world via sight, smell, taste, hearing, touch etc. + motor = active, as you develop how to use senses you learn to move your body around). -Main task/awareness develops is object permanence: objects exist even if they can't see them. § Infant's on the other hand don't realize objects still exist if they can't see them (they have not developed object permanence). Ex: if you take a ball away from an infant, they will stop looking for it. This is also why they love peek-a-boo. § Sensorimotor stage involves issues such as object permanence and stranger anxiety.
3 main characteristics that impact on how we are persuaded for/against a message:
1) Message characteristics - message itself, clarity, was it logical, how well thought message it 2) Source characteristics - the environment around the message and the speaker's background 3) Target characteristics -characteristics of listener such as mood, self-esteem, alertness, intelligence, etc. How we receive a message.
Sound (auditory waves) path
1. First hit outer part of ear, known as the pinna. 2. Then the sound gets funneled from the pinna to the auditory canal (external auditory meatus). 3. Then from the auditory canal they hit the tympanic membrane (eardrum). 4. As pressurized wave hits eardrum, it vibrates back and forth, causing 3 bones to vibrate in this order: i. malleus (hammer) ii. incus (anvil) iii. stapes (stirrup) *These bones combined are also referred to as the ossicles. 5. Stapes is attached to oval window (aka elliptical window). The oval window then vibrates back and forth. 6. As it gets vibrated, it pushes fluid and causes it to go in/around cochlea (a round structure lined with hair cells). 7. At tip of cochlea (inner most part of circle), where can the fluid now go? It can only go back, but goes back to the round window (circular window) and pushes it out. 8. The reason doesn't go back to oval window, is because in middle of cochlea is a membrane - the organ of Corti (includes the basilar membrane and the tectorial membrane). 9. As hair cells (cilia) move back and forth in the cochlea - electric impulse is transported by auditory nerve to the brain. o Place theory is a theory of hearing which states that our perception of sound depends on where each component frequency produces vibrations along the basilar membrane - posits that one is able to hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different places along the cochlea's basilar membrane 10. The above process of fluid going around the cochlea keeps occurring till the energy of the sound wave dissipates and stops moving. Occurs more = more hair cells vibrate.
Demographic transition Model - 5 stages:
1. High birth and death rates. Stable population. High Stationary Pyramid § 2. High birth rate and declining death rates (better sanitation and food supply). Increase in population. Population of older people increases. Early Expanding Pyramid § 3. Lower birth rates (contraceptives, and social values changing) and sometimes continued decline in death rates. Population stops growing as quickly. Late expansive pyramid § 4. Birth rates and death rates balance. Population stabilizes. Lots of people because of all the growth in 1-3. Low-Stationary Pyramid § 5. Speculative Stage; population could remain stable, increase, or decrease (decrease=constrictive pyramid). Less births and more deaths.
Classical psychophysical methods
1. Method of limits - stimulus starts out at a level so low that the stimulus could not be detected - level is gradually increased until the participant reports that they are aware of it - threshold is considered to be the level of the stimulus property at which the stimuli are just detected - ascending and descending methods are used alternately and the thresholds are averaged - disadvantage: subject may become accustomed to reporting that they perceive a stimulus and may continue reporting the same way even beyond the threshold (the error of habituation); may also anticipate that the stimulus is about to become detectable or undetectable and may make a premature judgment (the error of anticipation). 2. Method of constant stimuli -instead of being presented in ascending or descending order, the levels of a certain property of the stimulus are not related from one trial to the next, but presented randomly - prevents the subject from being able to predict the level of the next stimulus, and therefore reduces errors of habituation and expectation 3. Method of adjustment - asks the subject to control the level of the stimulus - instructs them to alter it until it is just barely detectable against the background noise, or is the same as the level of another stimulus -also called the method of average error -difference between the variable stimuli and the standard one is recorded after each adjustment and the error is tabulated for a considerable series - mean is calculated giving the average error which can be taken as the measure of sensitivity
Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development
1. Oral age 0-1 yrs: libido/sense of interaction is centered around baby's mouth (rooting/sucking reflex), vital for sucking/eating. Infant derives pleasure via oral stimulation (tasting/sucking). Because infant completely dependent on parents/caretakers, baby also develops sense of trust and comfort. o If fixation here, issues with dependency or aggression. Also smoking or biting fingers/nails, suck their thumb, people who overeat. 2. Anus age 1-3 yrs: centered around anus, ex. toilet training. Leads to developing control/independence, encouraging child to feel positive outcomes and helps child feel capable and productive. Serve as basis for competent, productive, creative adults. o If fixation occurs, have problems with orderliness and messiness (can be overly orderly or messy) 3. Phallic age 3-6 yrs: Genitals, masturbation, oedipus complex, electra complex o successful resolution = gender identification o fixation = difficulty w/ intimate relationships 4. Latency age 6-12: sexual feelings dormant o successful resolution = social interaction 4. Genital age 12+: back on libido, because individual develops strong sexual interests. Before this stage, focus on individual needs. Now, focus on needs of others. -No adult fixation - person is mentally healthy -Goal: establish balance between various life areas(well balanced, warm, caring)
Kohlberg Moral Development
1. Pre-Conventional (pre-adolescent) o 1. Obedience vs. Punishment - reasoning is based on physical consequences of actions, so obeying the rules is a means to avoid punishment. § Age: Children. o 2. Individualism and Exchange or SELF-Interest - recognize not just one right view by authorities, different individuals have different viewpoints. Doing what is right for personal gain. 2. Conventional o 3. Societal Norms /Acceptance- Good Boy and Good Girl - Authority is internalized, but not questioned, and reasoning is based on group person belongs. Individual is good in order to be seen as good by others, emphasis on conformity o 4. Law and Order / Law abidance - maintaining social order, child is aware of wider roles of society and obeying laws. "to follow rules" • 3. Post-Conventional o 5. Social Contract - Individual becomes aware that even though rules and laws exist for greater good, there are times this law works against interest of particular people. o 6. Universal Ethical Principle - people develop own set of moral guidelines, which may or may not fit the law, and principles apply to everyone. People who uphold and believe in these have to be prepared to act towards these even if they have to obey consequences/disapproval/imprisonment.
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development: Stage 4
12+ years old - Formal operational stage - reason abstract consequences, and reason consequences; moral reasoning. At this point children are reasoning more like adults and they continue to develop that overtime. § In the formal operational stage, a child will be able to think logically about abstract ideas, hypothetical situations, and use abstract thinking to solve novel problems. • Development moves along in a state of equilibrium as we assimilate and/or accommodate new info we come across. -Most information we encounter, we can assimilate and be back at a state of equilibrium. Information --> assimilation --> equilibrium. But, sometimes assimilation can't cause us to come into equilibrium and we engage in accommodation when the information we receive cannot be assimilated (information -> accommodation -> equilibrium) to reach equilibrium again
GI (Greatest) generation
1901-1924 oldest people
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
3 phases by Hans Selye: o 1. Alarm phase - stress reaction kicks in, heart races, resources mobilized - "Ready for fight or flight" o 2. Resistance - fleeing, huddling, temperature elevated, BP high, breathing rate high, body bathed in cortisol. o 3. Exhaustion - if resistance isn't followed by recovery, our body's stress resources are depleted, our tissues become damaged and our dampened immunity can make us susceptible to illness. Negative impact of long term stress. • We are equipped to short-term stress. But if we have them daily, but there will be serious negative consequences if they are maintained daily/long term.
Feature Detection
3 things to consider when looking at any object: o Color: § Cones • RED (60%), GREEN (30%), BLUE (10%). • Remember, red objects reflect red, green objects reflect green, and blue objects reflect blue. § If object reflects red --> red light hits red cone --> fire axon potential --> brain is like OH RED!) o Form: We need to figure out boundaries of the object and shape of the object. § Parvocellular pathway: good at spatial resolution (boundaries and shape—high levels of details), and color. But poor temporal (can't detect motion—only stationary.) Cones responsible o Motion: § Magnocellular pathway: has high temporal resolution (think time, motion) resolution [encodes motion]. But has poor spatial resolution; no color). Rods responsible.
Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development: Stage 3
7-11 years old- Concrete operational "(operational = mental operations". Learn idea of conservation. § Can do test to find out if they're in this stage -Also begin to learn empathy; begin reasoning of math skills. § describes children who are able to grasp concrete (real) events logically, conversion, and reversibility (refers to the ability to recognize that numbers or objects can be changed and returned to their original condition. § No hypothetical reasoning (mastered in next stage)
Timeline of language acquisition
9 to 12 months: babbling 12 to 18 months: about one word per month 18 to 20 months: "explosion of language" and combining words 2 to 3 years: longer sentences (3 words or more) 5 years: language rules largely mastered
Ecclesia
A dominant religious organization that includes most members of society, is recognized as the national or official religion, and tolerates no other religions
patriarchy
A form of social organization in which males dominate females
Conflict theory
A Macrosociology theory that views society as being in competition for limited resources. According to conflict theory, society is a place where there will be inequality in resources, therefore individuals will compete for social, political, and material resources like money, land, power, and leisure
micro-culture
A group of people living within a society who share cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors. -can't support people throughout their lifespan, refers to groups/organizations only affecting limited period of one's life. Ex. Girl scouts, college sororities, boarding school.
Functionalism
A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish. -comes from macrosociology - looks at society as a whole and how institutions that make up the society adapt to keep society stable and functioning o It says that society is heading towards equilibrium -Ex. local businesses must adapt to new ways to cater to customers (in response to a disrupter such as amazon for example) o Also called structural functionalism. The structural functionalism approach is a macro-sociological analysis, with a broad focus on social structures that shape society as a whole o Problems of functionalism: focuses entirely on institutions without regard for individual (only acknowledged). Also largely unable to explain social change and conflict, so focussed on equilibrium (between social facts and institutions) little change and conflict is modelled and no conflict can occur. More to society than just stable state of its part, but functionalism is still useful in examining the functions of its integral parts.
Limbic System
A set of structures in the brain, and many structures play an important role in regulating emotions. Experts can't agree on what structures make up the entire limbic system. • Responsible for storage/retrieval of memories, especially ones tied to emotions. • Structures of the limbic system: Acronym: hippo wearing a HAT (HAT Hippo): Hypothalamus, Amygdala, Thalamus, and Hippocampus.
Lexicon
A set of vocabulary items. entire set of morphemes in a language o ASL that would mean the total combinations of hand movements, locations, facial expressions, and body language that help them to form meaningful words. o Lexical access refers to identifying a word and connecting it to its meaning, which has been stored in long-term memory -semantics is (linguistics) a branch of linguistics studying the meaning of words while lexicon is the vocabulary of a language
conflict perspective
A sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation -focuses on how the media portrays and reflects and exacerbate divisions that exist in society
Social desirability bias
A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself -the tendency for people to say what they believe is appropriate or acceptable
Pluralism
A theory of government that holds that open, multiple, and competing groups can check the asserted power by any one group.
Vehicular control
A vehicular control is a type of negative control, since the purpose is to observe the group when the IV is not present. But because the procedure of the experiment (beyond the IV) might in some way affect the outcome, instead of doing nothing to the control group --which is what you probably normally think of when you think of a negative control group-- you give them all the same procedure minus the actual variable of interest. For example, administering a saline drug instead of a real drug.
Which of the following is an inhibitory neurotransmitter? A)GABA B)Epinephrine C)Norepinephrine D)Glutamate
A. GABA is one of the primary inhibitory neurotransmitters. -Choices B, C, and D are excitatory neurotransmitters.
Components of Attitude
ABC model of attitude: o Affective (emotional) o Behavioural - how we act or behave towards object/subject o Cognitive component -form thoughts/beliefs, and have knowledge about subject/topic that will influence and shape our attitude
thermoception
Ability to sense temperature SLOW In order for us to sense temperature, we rely on the TrypV1 receptor. o Interestingly, this receptor is also sensitive to pain. o There are thousands of these in membranes. Heat causes a conformational change (change in physical structure) in the protein. o When cell is poked, thousands of cells are broken up, and releases different molecules that bind to TrypV1 receptor. Causes change in conformational change, which activates the cell and sends signal to brain.
insula and basal ganglia
Associated with disgust -The insula is the brain structure most associated with disgust. The anterior insula receives signals from the senses of olfaction and gustation (mouth/nose are in front of body), while the posterior insula receives signals from audition and somatosensation (rear of body) -Most perception of warmth occurs the insula
Aversive Conditioning
Aversive conditioning is usually used to stop a particular behavior. The process involves pairing a habit a person wishes to break, such as smoking or bed-wetting, with an unpleasant stimulus such as electric shock or nausea. If I wanted to stop Shanikwa from smoking I could shock her every time she smokes. The shock is the UCS and the pain is the UCR. Once the smoking becomes associated with the electric shock (acquisition), Shanikwa will experience pain when she smokes, even without the shock. Thus the smoking will become the CS and the pain the CR (but only if the shock is no longer given).
A group of scientists meets to discuss the ethics of CRISP-Cas9 technology. Prior to the meeting, most of the scientists believe that the technology has some potential negatives. After the meeting, the scientists decide to publish a paper denouncing the technology and discontinuing its use. This is an example of: A) Groupthink B) Group polarization C) Group dichotomy D) Symbolic interactionism
B is the correct answer. Group polarization describes the process by which individuals in a group take a more extreme viewpoint collectively than any one individual would have taken. -Groupthink describes the tendency of groups to arrive at uncreative solutions in order to support harmony (choice A is incorrect). -Group dichotomy is a made-up term (choice C is incorrect). -Symbolic interactionism is a sociological theory that states that meaning is based on a shared understanding of symbols, which is not what is occurring in this case (choice D is incorrect). An example of symbolic interactionism might be the shared understanding of a high-five as "good job" between two members of a soccer team.
A humanistic psychologist would most likely support which of the following statements? A) Individuals are all part of a collective consciousness through which knowledge is maintained. B) Individuals are unique in their own way. C) A child is most likely to misbehave due to a lack of proper neurotransmitters. D) Dreams contain information that individuals repress.
B is the correct answer. The humanistic perspective emphasizes individuality and uniqueness (choice B is correct). -Choice A reflects Jung's theory -Choice C reflects the biological perspective -Choice D reflects Freud's psychoanalytic perspective.
Which of the following BEST describes the mechanism by which excitatory neurotransmitters function? A)Open voltage-gated potassium channels B)Make post-synaptic neuron more likely to depolarize C)Decrease likelihood of generating an action potential D)Open ligand-gated potassium channels
B. Excitatory neurotransmitters are involved in increasing the likelihood of an action potential, which are caused by depolarization of the post-synaptic neuron (choice B is correct; choice C is incorrect). -Voltage-gated potassium channels lead to repolarization, not depolarization (choice A is incorrect).
Foraging
Behavior associated with recognizing, searching for, capturing, and consuming food.
Prototype Willingness Model (PWM)
Behavior is a function of: 1. Past behavior 2. Attitudes 3. Subjective norms 4. Intentions 5. Willingness 6. Models/Prototyping
Theories of Language and Cognition
Behaviourists - empiricist, believe language is just conditioned behavior. Nativists - rationalist, language must be innate. Materialist - look at what happens in brain when people think/speak/write.
Global Aphasia
Both Broca's Aphasia and Wernicke's aphasia are damaged. § Global aphasia is a combination of impaired comprehension and production of speech. o 2 areas (Wernicke's and Broca's) are connected by a bundle of nerve areas are connected by bundle of nerves fibers called the arcuate fasciculus, also found in deaf people who know sign language. Not specific to spoken language, but brain adapts to whatever modality is needed for communication. o When this is damaged, conduction aphasia (also called associative aphasia) - ability to conduct between listening and speaking is disrupted. Makes it difficult for people with this to repeat things even when they understand what is being said. Associated with damage to the arcuate fasciculus
Two identical twins who grow up in separate households with different socioeconomic environments score 37 points apart on an IQ test. Which of the following best describes this result? A) Influence of genetics on intelligence B) Unreliability of the IQ test C) Standard deviation of the IQ test D) Influence of environment on intelligence
Both genetics and the environment play a role in intelligence. Here, the genetic influence appears smaller since the twins score differently on the IQ test, and the environment seems to be the key factor in the differences in their IQ scores (choice D is correct; choice A is incorrect). -While the IQ test does have its flaws, it is a standardized exam, so it is unlikely to be completely unreliable (choice B is incorrect). -The standard deviation is 15 points on an IQ test, and the two scores fall well outside of two standard deviations. As a result, it is unlikely that the standard deviation explains the score differences (choice C is incorrect).
Which of the following is not a primary drive? A) Hunger B) Thirst C) Friendship D) Shelter
C is the correct answer. Primary drives are drives that are needed for survival and motivate actions to reduce the drive (part of drive-reduction theory). For example, if you are hungry, you eat and thereby reduce your hunger. Hunger, thirst, and shelter are primary drives, while friendship is not (choice C is correct).
Drugs can be classified by legal status or how likely they are to be abused
o Active substance: THC o Cannabis metabolites can be present in the blood of users for up to 3 months. o Tolerance can increase the amount of cannabis needed for impairment and THC metabolites and many other constituents of cannabis accumulate in fat cells for three months or more.
After several years of wearing only sandals, a student still remembers how to tie her shoes. This is an example of retrieving information from: A) Short-term memory B) Working memory C) Procedural memory D) Echoic memory
C) Procedural memory - is a type of long-term memory that involves remembering how to do things, such as tying a shoe or riding a bike (choice C is correct). -Short-term memory holds information for a very short amount of time—often only a few seconds (choice A is incorrect). -Working memory is a form of short-term memory (choice B is incorrect). -Echoic memory allows one to remember something that was just heard for less than a second, even if there is no active recall (choice D is incorrect).
Gross vs fine motor skills
o Gross motor skills: legs/arms. Develop before. o Fine motor skills: color picture/cutting with a scissor
N3 (Stage 3)
slow wave sleep. Very difficult to awaken. Characterized by delta waves. Where sleep walking/talking in sleep happens. -Declarative Memory consolidation. "regular breathing and regular slow brain waves"
Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance is the discomfort experienced when holding 2 or more conflicting cognitions (ideas, believes, values, emotional reactions). • We want to reduce the discomfort by minimizing the dissonance/inconsistencies/ CONTRADICTIONS • 4 things we do to reduce that Cognitive Discomfort o 1. Modify our cognitions - Change/alteration in the cognition (thinking process) in a person's action/behavior to reduce the discomfort a person has with that attitude/behavior o 2. Trivialize - make less important/make trivial, change the importance of their cognition o 3. Add - adding more cognitions, to make contradictions more comfortable. o 4. Deny - denying the facts
Type of Maladaptive Coping Mechanism: Surrender
Compliance, Dependence: Relies on others, gives in, seeks affiliation, passive, dependent, submissive, clinging, avoids conflict, people-pleasing
Semantic Networks
Concepts are organized in your mind as connected ideas. For closely related ideas, they might be closer and longer for less closely related ideas
Monocular cue of constancy
Constancy - Our perception of object doesn't change even if the image cast on the retina is different • Size Constancy: One that appears larger because its closer, we still think it is the same size. • Shape Constancy: a changing shape still maintains the same shape perception. Ex. A door opening means the shape is changing. But we still believe the door a rectangle • Color Constancy: despite changes in lighting which change the image color falling on our retina, we understand (perceive) that the object is the same color.
Method of Constant Stimulation
Constant stimuli rather than ascending or descending order -Varying levels presented randomly -This prevents the subject from being able to predict the level of the next stimulus, and therefore reduces errors of habituation and expectation
Counterconditioning
Counterconditioning (also called stimulus substitution) is a form of respondent conditioning that involves the conditioning of an unwanted behavior or response to a stimulus into a wanted behavior or response by the association of positive actions with the stimulus. o Counter conditioning is very similar to extinction seen in classical conditioning. It is the process of getting rid of an unwanted response. But in counter conditioning the unwanted response does not just disappear, it is replaced by a new, wanted response. "The conditioned stimulus is presented with the unconditioned stimulus". -One of the most widely used types of counter conditioning is systematic desensitization. • Extinction occurs in both operant and classical conditioning. • Phobic responses are acquired through classical conditioning.
Anti-Malthusian Theorem
Couples only want to have one child or have children later in life. (low birth rate) -Better standard of living = smaller families because children are economic burden
Socioeconomic Gradient
Created when the incidence of disease is correlated to wealth or status (rich outlive the poor vastly) -inverse relationship between social class or income and health
Cross tolerance
Cross-tolerance is a phenomenon that occurs when tolerance to the effects of a certain drug produces tolerance to another drug. It often happens between two drugs with similar functions or effects—for example, acting on the same cell receptor or affecting the transmission of certain neurotransmitters. "cross-tolerance of barbiturates with alcohol was observed"
Efferent Neurons in PNS
Ctrl smooth muscle cells, cardiac muscle, and gland cells
Minimum Justification Principle
When someone does something and there is minimal justification for them doing it, this creates more dissonance than if they can explain it through a significant rationale. Can occur after buying something you didn't want too.
A student remembers a bird's chirp sound for a few seconds before forgetting. This is an example of retrieving information from: A) Short-term memory B) Working memory C) Procedural memory D) Echoic memory
D) Echoic memory - allows one to remember something that was just recently heard (choice D is correct) -Procedural memory is a type of long-term memory that involves remembering how to do things, such as tying a shoe or riding a bike (choice C is incorrect). -Short-term memory holds information for a very short amount of time—often only a few seconds (choice A is incorrect). -Working memory is a form of short-term memory (choice B is incorrect).
Which of the following neurotransmitters is the MOST involved in emotional states and moods? A)Acetylcholine B)Epinephrine C)Norepinephrine D)Serotonin
D. Serotonin is heavily involved in regulating emotional states and moods. -Acetylcholine is involved in voluntary muscle movement (choice A is incorrect). -Epinephrine is involved in the sympathetic nervous system response (choice B is incorrect). -Norepinephrine is involved in attention and consciousness (choice C is incorrect).
Thantos
Death Drive. Self-Destructive/Harmful to Others. Comes with Fear, anger (inward or outward), hate.
Vygotsky Sociocultural Development
Development to Higher Mental Functions (Cognition) from Elementary Mental Functions (Social Interactions): o 1. Requires cooperative and collaborative dialogue from a MKO (more knowledgeable other) - a person with a better understanding than the learner. -The interaction with the learner + MKO -> Learning + Higher M.F (Independence) o 2. Zone of proximal development - part where most sensitive instruction/guidance should be given -ZPD is the link between the zone of can't do and can do. Allows learner to use their skills they already have and expand learning to things they can't do. o 3. Language - the main means by which adults transmit info to children, and a powerful tool of intellectual adaptation.
Somatic Symptom and Related Disorders
Distress/disability from symptoms similar to those that may occur to illness unrelated to mental disorder, but of psychological origin with or without having a general medical condition at the same time. § Example is someone that has abdominal pain, caused by psychological disorders such as stress without any physical signs.
Gestation
Divide it into months (9 months-10 months) or trimesters ( 3 months each) or divide into weeks (10/20/30/40 weeks) o Time 0 = Last menstrual period - LMP o Fertilization = week 2. Fertilization: egg + sperm genetic material combines o Embryogenesis - divided cells and have organ system formed. By week 10 = fetal development o Birth at 24 weeks: 50% survival. After 23 weeks - rate of less complication decreases o Birth at 40 weeks= full term (term: 37-42 weeks). Before 37 (preterm) after 42 (postterm). Complications at both pre and postterm. o End of gestation - birth
N1 (Stage 1)
Dominated by theta waves. § Strange sensations - hypnagonic hallucinations, hearing or seeing things that aren't there ex. seeing flash of light, or someone calling your name, doorbell, etc. § Or the Tetris effect - if you play Tetris right before bed, you might see visual images of blocks during sleep. OR Ex. Been on a boat all day, yo might still feel like you are on water even when on dry land § Also a feeling of falling - hypnic jerks- muscle twitches you sometimes experience as you fall asleep.
Exogenous /External Cues
Don't have to tell ourselves to look for them in order for them to capture our attention -Ex. Bright colors, loud noises, "pop-out effect") • Exogenous attention is driven by bottom-up or external events, i.e. pop-out.
Labelled lines model
Each taste bud receptor has 5 axons, all which send separate taste information to different parts of the gustatory (taste) cortex. Remain separate to the brain. And they all synapse on diff parts of the gustatory (taste) cortex. o Ex. Glucose hits tongue àactivates sweet cell (because it has sweet sensitive receptors), triggers cascade of events so cell depolarizes, and travels down axon to the brain. o Glucose binds GPCR, conformational change, G-protein dissociates, opens ion channels, cause cell to depolarize and fire an AP
Encoding Specificity
Enhanced memory when testing takes place under the same conditions as learning.
Secondary appraisal
Evaluation of the individual's ability to cope with the situation. What is the individual's material preparedness to deal with stressor? Appraisal of harm, threat, and challenge (how to overcome it). § Harm: what damage has already been caused § Threat: How much damage could be caused § Challenge: How can the situation be overcome or conquered.
Past-In-Present discrimination
Even if discrimination done in the past is no longer allowed, can still have consequences for people in the present
Misleading information
Ex: Participants watched a traffic safety video in which they observed a car crash, and then then participants were asked questions on what happened and the key question was "how fast cars were the cars going when they hit each other" "Some people got the question with the word "hit" and some got "smash". Those participants who received the question with the word "smashed", they were more likely to say there was glass on the ground in the video (even though there was not any glass on the ground) • False/misleading information is problematic for police officers to ask leading questions. Even simple phrases can impact recall.
REM (rapid-eye movement) stage
Eyes move rapidly beneath your eyelids but most of your other muscles are paralyzed. Most dreaming occurs during REM sleep, so paralysation inhibits actions. Most important for memory consolidation. Formation of episodic memories. Combination of alpha, beta, and dyssynchronous waves, similar to beta waves seen when awake. -Acronym: BATS-Drink Blood (beta alpha theta sleepspindle/K-complex delta beta) o Sometimes called paradoxical sleep, because brain is active and awake but body prevents it from doing anything o Waking up during REM sleep allows you to remember your dream o REM sleep more before you wake up o More N3 sleep right as you go to bed o Consolidate procedural memories
Alfred -Binet
First to develop an intelligence test, but wasn't intending too. He developed a test in order to establish a child's mental age and measure a child's intellectual development and predict how well they will do in school later on.
Sympathetic Response to stress
Flight or flight: § This triggers our "get out of danger mode" § See increased heart rate and increased respiration (more energy + oxygen in blood + more CO2 expelled), increased peripheral vasoconstriction (push more blood to our core area/vital organs that it is hard to live without. We take blood out of the extremities like our legs/arms which are less essential for our survival), and turn off digestion/immune/ovulation (less crucial).
Operant conditioning
Focuses on the relationship between behavior and their consequences, and how those in turn influence the behavior (classical conditioning no change in behavior) • two types of consequences: reinforcement (increase a behavior) and punishment (decrease a behavior) o Positive reinforcement = something is being added to increase tendency of behavior o Negative reinforcement = taking something away to increase tendency behavior will occur again o Positive punishment = something is added to decrease tendency something will occur again o Negative punishment = something taken away in effort to decrease tendency it'll occur again o The immediacy of feedback is an important factor in influencing behavior • Token economy - system of behavior modification based on systematic reinforcement of target behavior, reinforcers are "tokens" that can be exchanged for other reinforcers • Operant Extinction: In operant conditioning it results from some response by the organism no longer being reinforced
Law of Common Fate
For example, if there are an array of dots and half the dots are moving upward while the other half are moving downward, we would perceive the upward moving dots and the downward moving dots as two distinct units.
Max Weber
German sociologist that regarded the development of rational social orders as humanity's greatest achievement. Saw bureaucratization (the process whereby labor is divided into an organized community and individuals acquire a sense of personal identity by finding roles for themselves in large systems) as the driving force in modern society.
Fixation
Getting stuck on a wrong approach to a problem. o If we can start solving the problem, it typically occurs through an insight - that aha moment. Insight is hard to predict and hard to encourage, particularly when you are fixated on seeing a problem from the same inefficient approach.
Convergence
Gives humans an idea of depth as well based on how much eyeballs are turned. § Things far away - muscles of eyes relaxed. § Things close to us - muscles of eyes contract.
Describe the difference between habituation and dishabituation
Habituation is the desensitization to a repeated stimulus. e.g. the subject begins to tune out the stimulus Dishabituation is the sensitization to a previously habituated stimulus. e.g. the subject begins to notice the repeated stimulus again
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
Has 2 branches - sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest). -Different actions in your body
Cued recall (Recall cues)
Having extra clues to remember the words. Still have to produce an answer but still get more cues to help you. The added cues help you retrieve the information from your long term memory. Get more retrieval cues, tend to do better than free recall. For example, giving you the cue of "pl____" and asking for what word was on a list and you answer "planet". This would be easy.
Early developmental trajectory
Helping behaviors begin early. Some newborns cry when other newborns cry (they recognize other babies distress). Helping behavior begins around age 2, children share toys and play act helping/altruism. Age 4 begin actually begin helping. o Says that altruism might be a normal human behavior because it occurs at such a young age. We have a tendency to help other people without an alternative motive.
Social selection
Idea that an individual's health can influence their social mobility. Social conditions can affect reproductive rates of individual in a population
Normative Social Influence
If we do something to gain respect/support of peers, we're complying with social norms. Because of this we might go with group outwardly, but internally believe something differently.
Likelihood someone will obey - following orders without question/protest. OBEDIENCE
In order to prevent negative consequences from disobeying. o Depends on type of authority giving orders. o Our closeness to authority giving orders- more likely to accept orders from someone we respect o Physical proximity - more likely to comply with someone we are close to o Legitimacy of authority - if wearing lab coat/carry a clipboard we are more likely to obey o Also institutional authority - well-respected university o Victim distance - in original Milgram study, teacher couldn't see learner (victim). If could see participant, reduced likelihood participant (teacher) would obey experimenter. o Depersonalization - when leaner/victim is made to seem less human through stereotypes/prejudices, people are less likely to object against them o Role models for defiance - more likely to disobey orders when we see others doing the same.
Type of Maladaptive Coping Mechanism: Overcompensation
Includes: o Aggression, Hostility: Counterattacks through defying, abusing, blaming, attacking, or criticizing others o Dominance, Excessive Self-assertion: Controls others through direct means to accomplish goals o Recognition-seeking, Status-seeking: Overcompensates through impressing, high achievement, status, attention-seeking, etc. o Manipulation, Exploitation: Meets own needs through covert manipulation, seduction, dishonesty, or conning o Passive-aggressiveness, Rebellion: Appears overtly compliant while punishing others or rebelling covertly through procrastination, pouting, "backstabbing," lateness, complaining, rebellion, non-performance, etc. o Excessive Orderliness, Obsessionality: Maintains strict order, tight selfcontrol, or high level of predictability through order & planning, excessive adherence to routine or ritual, or undue caution. Devotes inordinate time to finding the best way to accomplish tasks or avoid negative outcomes.
Bystander Effect
Individual may feel less inclined to take action because of presence of others in the group. The bystander effect refers to a group process in which individuals observe an injustice or a crime being perpetuated and do not intervene. o Small group = less bystander effect. Large group = more bystander effect
Current Population
Initial Population + Births - Deaths + Immigrating In - Emigrating out [ If this is a negative number, you have a negative growth rate for that country]
Rational Choice Theory
It assumes that individuals act in their own best interest, carefully weighing the costs and benefits of possible alternatives 3 main assumptions: § 1. Completeness (every action can be ranked), ex. A is preferable to B which is preferable to C. (C is not then preferable to A). (A>B>C) § 2. Transitivity (since A is preferable to B is preferable to C, therefore, A is also preferable to C). (same as math A >B >C, Therefore A>C). § 3.) Independence of irrelevant alternatives (if I have a fourth option X, won't change order of how I ranked first 3 options. Just add it in to existing order. (A>B>C, & B>X>C, Therefore: A>B>X>C).
Strong Linguistic Determinism (aka Sapir-Whorfian hypothesis)
Language determines thought completely. People understand their world through language, and language in turn shapes how we experience the world. • Ex. Native tribe called Hopi without grammatical tense in language so they couldn't think about time in same way. • The linguistic relativity hypothesis (Whorfian) asserts that cognition and perception are determined by language one speaks. • Whorfian theory believes linguistic structure determines how and about what an individual is able to think.
Linguistic Determinism
Language has an influence on thought. They are called the Weak and Strong hypothesis - referring to ho much influence they think language has on thought.
Central trait
Less dominant than cardinal. ex. honesty, sociability, shyness
Eros Drives
Life Drive. Like health, safety, sex. Comes with love, cooperation, collaboration. Working with others to promote your and others wellbeing
Maladaptive Coping Mechanisms
Maladaptive techniques are more effective in the short term rather than long term coping process o Examples of maladaptive behavior strategies include dissociation, sensitization, safety behaviors, anxious avoidance, and escape (including self-medication).
Lesion Studies
Not done with humans! -Brain function studied by destroying parts of brain and then studying resulting changes in behavior -Functions that no longer can be performed are the ones that were performed with that brain area. • Lesion studies can be performed in the following ways o Tissue removal: surgical removal, surgical aspiration (sucking out brain tissue), or severing the nerve with a scalpel (less invasive) o Radiofrequency lesions - used to destroy tissue on surface of brain and deep inside brain; wire is inserted into brain to determine the area. Then pass high frequency current which heats up and destroys tissue. -You can't tell if this area was responsible for the behavior that is not responding, or just has an axon passing through. o Neurochemical lesions - MUCH MORE PRECISE METHOD. (excitotoxins are chemicals that bind to glutamate receptors and cause influx of calcium that causes so much excitement that kills the neuron/ excites it to death)
substance-use-disorders
Occurs when use the drug causes a serious/real degree of impairment in functioning in life, at work, school, or home. Not everyone experiences this (ex. Not everyone who drinks alcohol or smokes cigarettes have a substance use disorder) o With Substance-Use- disorder, we are looking at a problem with their substance use. -only drug for which we can't develop substance-use disorder is caffeine
Decay
One reason forgetting happens -When we don't encode something well or don't retrieve it for a while, we can't recall it anymore -One theory is that the pathway between cue and memory become weaker over time or periods of disuse which makes it harder to stimulate those neurons o Later, people replicated this experiment with different patterns and time intervals and found that the more integrated the initial memory, still follows same pattern but it takes a longer time to forget. Most forgetting happens first few days but after that point forgetting will levels out • Just because you can't retrieve something doesn't mean it's completely gone. One way you can tell if someone has learnt something before is how quickly relearning happens.
Amplification is up regulation
Opposite of sensory adaptation. o Ex. Light hits photoreceptor in eye and can cause cell to fire. When cell fires AP, can be connected to 2 cells, which also fire AP and so on. By the time gets to the brain, it is amplified
bureaucracy
Organizations achieve maximum efficiency through bureaucracy - the rules, structures, and rankings that guide organizations. (DOES NOT mean something negative, lines, or red tape) o Bureaucratization - process by which organizations become increasingly governed by laws and policy. Ex. customer service, now move through 12 menu options before reaching someone to help you
Rural rebound
People getting sick of cities and moving back to rural areas
justification of effort
People may modify their attitudes to match their behaviors -people do something they don't want to justify effort they put into it, such as going to med school after working so hard o Effort justification is an idea and paradigm in social psychology stemming from Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. Effort justification is people'sctendency to attribute a greater value (greater than the objective value) to ancoutcome they had to put effort into acquiring or achieving.
Continuity Theory
People try to maintain same basic structure throughout their lives. As they age, they make decision to adapt to external changes and internal changes of aging
Cosmopolites
People who live in a city because of its cultural attractions, restaurants, and other features of the best that a city has to offer
Transformationalist Perspective
doesn't have specific cause or outcome. Believe national governments are changing, perhaps becoming less important but difficult to explain change so simply. They see the world order is changing. Just a new world order is being developing. Many factors that influence change of world patterns but outcome unknown. CHANGING
Raymond Cattell
Proposed we all had 16 essential personality traits that represent basic dimensions of personality. Turned this into the 16 personality factor questionnaire (16 PF). (Acronym: 16 Cattell)
LSD
Prototypical hallucinogen. Interferes with serotonin, which causes people to experience hallucinations. o Hallucinations are visual instead of auditory
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Psychological treatment for drug treatment. -Addresses both cognitive and behavioural components of addiction -Patients learn to recognize problematic thought patterns and develop more positive thought patterns and coping behaviors. -They learn to anticipate problematic situations (ex. Going to a party where there is alcohol for an alcoholic) and to self-monitor for cravings so they can apply their coping strategies early. Used successfully for patients addicted to alcohol, cocaine, methamphetamine, and nicotine o Skills people learn in CBT are long-lasting!
Agents of Socialization
Refers to parts of society that are important for socialization (the process of learning the norms and values in a society)
Fixed-Ratio
Reinforcement only occurs after a fixed # of responses -Jobs that demand someone to work in a fast paced manner typically pay workers on fixed-ratio
Serotonin
Released by lots of nuclei from all over the brainstem (midbrain, pons, and medulla) called raphe nuclei to cerebral cortex release serotonin. Raphe nuclei also -send serotonin to other parts of the nervous system. [Like Sex= messy. From everywhere down low (brain stem)]
Partial Report Technique
Report one part of a whole field in cued recall. The partial report condition required participants to identify a subset of the characters from the visual display using cued recall. The cue was a tone which sounded at various time intervals (~50 ms) following the offset of the stimulus. -The frequency of the tone (high, medium, or low) indicated which set of characters within the display were to be reported. -This type of sampling revealed that immediately after stimulus offset, participants could recall most letters (9 out of 12 letters) in a given row suggesting that 75% of the entire visual display was accessible to memory
Endogenous Cues / Internal Cues
Require internal knowledge to understand the cue and the intention to follow it -Ex. A mouse arrow, would need internal arrow of what an arrow is to follow it and to know it's not just a random line. • Endogenous attention is driven by top-down or internal events, i.e. the cocktail effect. • Cocktail party effect - ability to concentrate on one voice amongst a crowd. Or when someone calls your name (endogenous cue: meaning of name draws attention)
Spreading activation
Says all ideas in your brain are connected together. Pulling up one memory pulls up others as well. • Node link strength is a function of exposure. Increased exposure increases node link strength. • The relative strength of the node links determines the amount of activation emitted to a network or a specific node. • Stronger nodal links decrease processing time. • Learning reduces processing time.
Cognitive Economy Principle
Says that our brain is efficient. o Evidence: How long it takes people to verify certain statements. For example, it takes people little time to verify a canary is canary, more time to verify canary is a bird, and even more to verify canary is an animal. § Longer the distance between nodes or more notes in between = longer it takes to verify the connection. § Problem: But, not true for all categories. People tend to categorize a pig as an animal faster than a pig is a mammal.
Spotlight model of attention
Selective attention - takes info from 5 senses, but don't pay attention to everything. -In the spotlight model, the focus is the central area of attention, which takes in highly detailed information. The fringe takes in less detailed information, and the margin is the cutoff for taking in any information. o Aware of things on an unconscious level - ex. Priming, where exposure to one stimulus affects response to another stimulus, even if we haven't been consciously paying attention to it. o We're primed to respond to our name. Why it's a strong prime for pulling our attention.
non-associative learning
Sensitization and Habituation are the two forms of non-associative learning - learning where no punishment/rewarding is occurring with increase/decrease of response. habituated: - the same stimuli results is a decreased response with episode of stimuli sensitization: non-associative learning process in which repeated administrations of a stimulus results in the progressive amplification of a response.
Sex (sexual response) Biological Aspect
Sexual response cycle. • First part of cycle is excitement phase, marked by increased heart rate, muscle tension, BP, etc. • Second is plateau. • Then 3rd - orgasm. • 4th is resolution/refractory period.
Psychoanalytic Theory
Sigmund Freud -personality is shaped by childhood experiences person's unconscious thoughts/desires, feelings, and past memories • Personality has memories, beliefs, urges, drives, and instincts that we are not always aware of that make up the unconscious. o 2 instinctual drives motivate human behavior: § Libido -natural energy source - fuels energy of mind for motivation for survival, growth, pleasure, etc. § Death instinct - drives aggressive behaviors fueled by unconscious wish to die or hurt oneself/others • Central to his theory is libido. Libido is natural energy source that fuels the mechanisms of the mind. o When this energy is stuck/fixated at various stages of psychosexual development, conflicts can occur that have lifelong effects. o Fixation at a particular stage is what predicts adult personality.
Sleep Stages
Sleep stages: Your brain goes through distinct brain patterns during sleep. 4 main stages that occur in 90 min cycles. • First three stages are categorized in non-rapid eye movement sleep (non-REM) - N1, N2, N3 • Cycle through these 4-5 times per sleep, each one 90 minutes. Order within cycle goes from N1 -> N2 -> N3 -> N2 -> REM -> N1. How long each stage lasts depends on how long you've been asleep and your age (babies spend more time in REM sleep)
Interactionist approach
Sometimes called social interactionist approach. -Believe biological and social factors have to interact in order for children to learn language. -Children's desire to communicate with others - such as adults in their life, makes them motivated to learn language. Associated with Vygotsky.
Taboos
Taboo
Traditionalism
Tendency to follow authority. Shown to be common in twins
Operational Span Testing
Test to see the general capacity of working memory tasks 1. patients are asked to read and verify a simple math problem (is 4/2 -1 = 1?) 2. asked to read a word such as SNOW 3. after doing a series of problems and words they are asked to recall the word that followed each operation -The maximum number of words that can be recalled is the "operation span".
Behaviourist Theory
The behaviourist theory says personality is the result of learned behavior patterns based on a person's environment - it's deterministic, in that people begin as blank states and the environment completely determines their behavior/personalities. -Do not take thoughts and feelings into account. • Focuses on observable and measurable behaviour, rather than mental/emotional. o The psychoanalytic theory would be the most opposite of this theory (focuses on mental behaviour). 1. Skinner - strict behaviourist, associated with concept of operant conditioning. 2. Pavlov - associated with classical conditioning o People have consistent behavior patterns because we have specific response tendencies, but these can change, and that's why our personality develops over our entire lifespan. Constantly evolving and changing.
tyranny of choice
The impairment of effective decision making when confronted with an overwhelming number of options -can lead people to decision paralysis and increased regret over choice made -personal control is important
Superego
The internalization of cultural ideals and parental sanctions. "Morals" -The Superego inhibits Sexual and Aggressive impulses, and tries to replace reality with morality, striving for perfection. -The Superego has subsystems: - The Conscious: what you should not be "wrong" - The Ego Ideal - what you should/want to be "right"
Method of Adjustment- method of average error
The method of adjustment asks the subject to control the level of the stimulus, instructs them to alter it until it is just barely detectable against the background noise, or is the same as the level of another stimulus. -This is repeated many times. -In this method the observer himself controls the magnitude of the variable stimulus beginning with a variable that is distinctly greater or lesser than a standard one and he varies it until he is satisfied by the subjectivity of two. -The difference between the variable stimuli and the standard one is recorded after each adjustment and the error is tabulated for a considerable series. -At the end mean is calculated giving the average error which can be taken as the measure of sensitivity.
Absolute Threshold of Sensation
The minimum intensity of stimulus needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time. • At low levels of stimulus, some subjects can detect and some can't. -Also there are differences in an individual. • Not the same as the difference threshold (JND - Just Noticeable Difference) - that's the smallest difference that can be detected 50% of the time. Related but different concepts. • Absolute threshold can be influenced by a # of factors. -Not a fixed unchanging number. Particularly, it is influenced by a variety of Psychological states. o Expectations - ex. Are you expecting a text. o Experience (how familiar you are with it) - ex. Are you familiar of the phones text vibration sound. o Motivation - ex. Are you interested in the response of the text o Alertness - Are you awake our drowsy. Ex. You will notice text if you are awake
gatekeeping
The process by which a small number of people/corporations control what info is presented to the media
The Flynn effect
The rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations
Social facts
The ways of thinking, acting, and feeling that are external to the individual and exert pressure on the individual -Example: Marriage: Social groups tend to have the same ideas toward marriage, such as the appropriate age to get married and what a ceremony should look like. Attitudes that violate those social facts, such as bigamy or polygamy in the Western world, are regarded with disgust.
Whole Report Technique
The whole report condition required participants to recall as many elements from the original display in their proper spatial locations as possible. Participants were typically able to recall three to five characters from the twelve character display (~35%). This suggests that whole report is limited by a memory system with a capacity of four-to-five items. -This shows that the whole reporting method is erroneously concluding low memory capacity because as you recall items you interfere with your sensory memory.
World-Systems Theory
Theory originated by Immanuel Wallerstein and illuminated by his three-tier structure, proposing that social change in the developing world is inextricably linked to the economic activities of the developed world. -Importance of world as a unit rather than individual countries. Divides world into 3 countries: o Core = Western Europe and US. Strong Central Government with enough tax to support it. Economically diversified, industrialized, and independent of outside control o Periphery = Latin America and Africa. Relatively weak government, greatly influenced by and depend on core countries and transnational corporations. Economy focused on narrow economic activity (1 type usually) like extracting raw material. High percentage of poor/uneducated people and strong upper class that controls most of economy. Huge inequalities. o Semi-periphery = India and Brazil, middle-ground between core and periphery. Not dominant in international trade but diversified/developed economy. These semi-periphery countries can come either from periphery countries moving up to core countries or core countries declining towards periphery status
Neonatal Reflexes
These disappear as a baby ages § Rooting reflex: automatically turn the face toward the stimulus and make sucking (rooting) motions with the mouth when the cheek or lip is touched § Babinski Reflex - occurs after the sole of the foot has been firmly stroked. The big toe then moves upward or toward the top surface of the foot § Monro reflex - startle reaction. Fan out arms then back. Disappears in 4-6 month of age. § Tonic Neck Reflex (aka fencing posture)- how when a baby's head is turned, the arm on that side straightens while the arm on the side that is opposite bends. Disappears at 6 months of age. § Galant reflex: when Skin is stroked, baby moves/swings to the side it was stroked. Disappears at 6 months. § Palmer grasp reflex: children closes their hands on anything that comes in their palm. Disappears at 3-4 months, then child grasps things voluntarily § Sucking reflex: How a baby will suck on any object that is placed in its mouth. Disappears at 3-4 months § Stepping reflex: Hold an infant upright and their feet touch a flat surface, they will start to step as if they are trying to walk. Disappears in first two months. § Swimming reflex: infants in water move legs/arms in a swimming motion; involuntarily hold breaths. Allows a small infant to swim/float for a short period of time. Disappears at 6 months of age
MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging)
This method uses radio waves and they are exposed to a magnetic field. -The radio waves are then added to the magnetic field and disrupts orientation of atoms. As atoms move back to alignment with magnetic field they release signals and those are used to create image. -This also doesn't tell us anything about brain function either.
Embedded Field Study
This study would occur if the researchers posed as patients, for example.
Gestalt Principles
Tries to explain how we perceive things the way we do
Heritability
Variability of traits can be attributed to differences in genes. o Percentage of variation of traits due to genes o Heritability estimates define the amount of variance that can be attributed to genes in specific subgroups of individuals. • Assume we say heritability of intelligence (a trait) is 50%. NOT saying that intelligence is 50% genetic, saying that the difference in intelligence is 50% attributable by genes. § Heritability = h^2
Situational Approach to Behavior
We are placed in new situations every day. These situations affect our behavior. Under the branch of social psychology
extinction
When a CS does not elicit a CR anymore. • In classical conditioning, behavior that is typically in response to one stimuli becomes the response due to another stimulus (due to pairing)
Extinctive Burst
When an animal no longer receives regular reinforcement, its original behavior will sometimes spike (meaning increase dramatically) - this is known as an extinction burst. o While extinction, when implemented consistently over time, results in the eventual decrease of the undesired behavior, in the short-term the subject might exhibit an extinction burst. -often occurs when the extinction procedure has just begun
source monitoring
When people recall information they often forget the information's source - an error in source monitoring. o Source monitoring can be improved by using more retrieval cues, discovering and noting relations and extended reasoning. ex. angry with someone but forgot it happened in a dream. Or recognize someone but don't know from where.
Hypoventilation Disorder
When we are not able to ventilate our lungs fully and remove all CO2. Results in a buildup of CO2, and a decrease in O2. Can occur due to medications that repress respiratory functions (narcotic pain killers such as opioids) or if there is a problem with the lungs or chest wall. A common occurrence is due to obesity. • High CO2 can cause right sided heart failure • Low O2 effects all organs/tissues of bodies. Cognitive impairment, heart problems (arrhythmias - abnormal heart rhythms), and polycythemia (elevated RBC in blood)
projection bias
When we assume others share the same beliefs we do
CAT (Computerized Axial Tomography) scans
X-rays to create image of the brain (tumor/abnormal swelling/bleeding...but it can't tell us anything about what areas of the brain are active in a given time.) • CT scans are a computerized composite of X-ray images that are slightly lower resolution than MRI -not as good for soft tissue but are faster than MRIs -Sometimes CT scans are combined with a radioactive dye (like a PET scan) to show structure and activity imposed in one image
Theories of Intelligence
[Acronym: ST[A]G[E]S of Intelligence - Spearman, Thurnstone, Gardner, Sternberg. In order from General (1) -> Multiple Mental Abilities (7) to Multiple Intelligence 7-9, to Triarchic Multiple Intelligence (revamped Multiple Intelligence to 3)
Lewis Terman
a Psychologist of Stanford University furthered/modified Binet's Intelligence test and also incorporated teenagers and adults. This was named the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. Terman noted that Binet's test was not predictive of US children. The Stanford-Binet test started being used to measure intelligence of immigrants (which was a huge problem -the test tested language ability which presented a clear issue, a language barrier) o Now, intelligence tests are being designed to make them more applicable to all cultures.
Labeling Theory
a behavior is deviant if people have judged the behavior and labelled it as deviant. Depends on what's acceptable in that society. - Labelling theory calls attention to the power that stereotypes can have in determining how individuals are perceived
Yerkes-Dodson Law
a bell shaped curve. o The relationship between long term memory and fear follows a Yerkes-Dodson curve. o This means that extreme emotional responses usually impact memory negatively. o Moderate emotions, like mild fear, are associated with optimal memory recall.
cognitive theory
a bridge between classic behaviourism and other theories like psychoanalytic. Because cognitive theory treats thinking as a behaviour, and has a lot in common with behaviour theory (Albert Bandura comb)
Basal forebrain
a collection of structures located to the front of and below the striatum. It includes the nucleus accumbens, nucleus basalis, and medial septal nuclei. These structures are important in the production of acetylcholine, which is then distributed widely throughout the brain. The basal forebrain is considered to be the major cholinergic output of the central nervous system (CNS)
Illness anxiety disorder
a disorder in which a person interprets normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease -Individuals diagnosed with illness anxiety disorder are often more concerned with illness or the idea of being ill and often lack or have minimal somatic symptoms.
slum
a heavily populated urban informal settlement characterized by substandard housing and squalor.[1] While slums differ in size and other characteristics from country to country, most lack reliable sanitation services, supply of clean water
Representativeness heuristic
a heuristic where people look for the most representative answer, and look to match prototype - a given concept to what is typical/representative. o Can lead to a conjunction fallacy: which means co-occurrence of two instances is more likely than a single one. People tend to think the probability of 2 events occurring together is higher than the probability of one alone (ex. Linda being a bank teller and feminist is greater than just being a bank teller o When a decision's probability is judged based on how similar or representative the aspect is to a specific person, group, or population and the degree that it reflects the features of the population as a whole, this is described as the use of a representativeness heuristic.
Test-retest reliability
a method for determining the reliability of a test by comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions -shown by a high positive correlation between the first and second administration of a test. Retest reliability, or consistency when a measure is taken multiple times.
Cannabis (Marijuana)
a mix of all. Can be a hallucinogen and also be a depressant or a stimulant
Molecular Genetics
a new field of science that looks at the molecular structure and function of genes. As we study gene and environments interaction we are getting to understand specific gene that is regulating our behavior. We are looking at specific parts of DNA
Weaker genetic traits
achievement, closeness o Specific genes that relate to personality, people with longer dopamine-4 receptor gene are more likely to be thrill seekers. o just because you have gene doesn't mean you'll express it - depends on environment as well. o Temperament - innate disposition, our mood/activity level, and is consistent throughout our life
Fixed-Interval
acronym: Interval = TIME. ex. receives pay check every 2 weeks - in this case, time is constant. Pay doesn't change if he sells 1 car or 100 cars. Less incentive to sell cars. Response rate is slower
Confirmation bias
actively seek out only confirming facts. Ex. Only read stories about how wonderful candidate was.
Overt orienting
a person turns all or part of the body to alter or maximize the sensory impact of an event.
Critical Period/Sensitive period
a point in early development that can have a significant influence on physiological or behavioral functioning in later life.
Gustducin
a protein associated with the sensation of taste • Front 2/3rd carries signals via 7th cranial nerve via the chorda tympani • Posterior (Rear 1/3rd ) carries signals via the 9th and 10th cranial nerves (glossopharyngeal and vagus)
orbitofrontal cortex
a region of the brain in which impulses involving excretion, sexuality, violence, and other primitive activities normally arise -associated with the processing of both positively and negatively balanced emotions -involved in the cognitive process of decision-making -Humans suffering damage to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) are often described as impulsive
Caste system
a social structure in which classes are determined by heredity -very little social mobility, because your role is determined entirely by background you're born to and who you're married to
Master Status
a status that has special importance for social identity, often shaping a person's entire life
Gate control theory of olfaction
a theory of the processes of nociception. The gate control theory of pain asserts that non-painful input closes the "gates" to painful input, which prevents pain sensation from traveling to the central nervous system. Therefore, stimulation by non-noxious input is able to suppress pain
corpus callosum
a thick band of nerve fibers which connects the two hemispheres -if severed, this disrupts communication; creates a split-brain patient • Brain has contralateral organization: left visual field info gets proceed by right side and vice versa. • If you see an object with your left visual field, it is sent to your right hemisphere - You won't be able to name it because the right hemisphere information can't communicate with the left hemisphere language parts; has to be in right visual field before brain can name it • You would be able to pick up the object since your right hemisphere controls your left body movements o Left side needed for language, right side needed for action/perception/attention
Conditioned memory
a type of memory that is formed based on your associations between two things. For example, if your professor rings a bell at the end of the exam, you will remember the bell as the sign that the exam is over.
Mediating Variable
a variable that helps explain the relationship between two other variables -A mediating variable specifies a given cause (original predictor variable, independent variable) that works indirectly through a more direct cause (mediator variable) to a final effect (outcome variable, dependent variable). The mediator adds to the overall variance accounted for in the data and can explain how the dependent and independent variables are related. a moderator variable is one that influences the strength of a relationship between two other variables, and a mediator variable is one that explains the relationship between the two other variables
Bipolar and Related Disorders
abnormal negative mood, but these may have periods of abnormally positive mood called mania § Mania is characterized by little sleep, talking quickly, making bad decisions due to impaired judgement, making bad decisions based on bad assessment of risk or abilities of a task. Can leads to social/legal problems
two main Neurotransmitters in PNS
acetylcholine and epinephrine
two main Neurotransmitters in ANS
acetylcholine and norepinephrine
Alerting attention
affected by regular aging but deficits are not often associated with schizophrenia. Neurotransmitter modulation of this attentional network is associated with norepinephrine produced in the locus ceruleus. -Alerting is the process involved in becoming and staying attentive toward the surroundings. It appears to exist in the frontal and parietal lobes of the right hemisphere, and is modulated by norepinephrine. Orienting is the directing of attention to a specific stimulus.
Anal stage
age 1-3, centered around anus, ex. toilet training. Leads to developing control/independence, encouraging child to feel positive outcomes and helps child feel capable and productive. Serve as basis for competent, productive, creative adults. o If fixation occurs, have problems with orderliness and messiness.
Amygdala
aka aggression center. If you stimulate amygdala, produces anger/violence and fear/anxiety. o If you destroy it, get mellowing effect -Kluver-Bucy syndrome - bilateral destruction (destruction of both) of amygdala can result in hyperorality (put things in mouth a lot), hypersexuality, and disinhibited behaviour. These are all drunken behaviours
3 types of intelligences
analytical intelligence (Academic abilities - to solve well defined problems), creative intelligence (ability to adapt to new situations and generate novel ideas and adapt) and practical intelligence (solve ill-defined problems, such as how to get a bookcase up a curvy staircase) - proposed by Robert Sternburg. o IQ score measures only analytical intelligence. Scales are scored so average person score is 100. Depending on where you are in relation to 100 - it effects where you are at large. o Standard Deviation = 15. o High analytical intelligence = tend to do better at school. -Those who have high IQ, creative, and/or practical intelligence do not tend to have better marriages, achieve greater physical/mental wellbeing/raise their kids better
NorePinephrine
area in Pons called the locus coeruleus that releases it to cerebral cortex. Also ANS, but less so than Ach.
Ghettoes
areas where specific racial, ethnic, or religious minorities are concentrated, usually due to social or economic inequities
Primary appraisal
assessing stress in present situation. 3 categories of response to this primary appraisal - irrelevant, benign/positive, or stressful/negative. If primary appraisal is negative (stressful), move forward with secondary appraisal. § Irrelevant - I see the stress but it's not important. § Benign/Positive - Ex: a dinosaur takes out the dog - the rabbits enemy § Stressful/Negative - the stressor is actually threatening. Ex. Rabbit having to run away from the dog.
Semantics
association of meaning with a word. Semantics are the broad meanings of each word, phrase, sentence, or text. N400 response, bigger with bigger violation.
Divided Attention
attention is a limited resource. Can't split it very well. -Doing 2x at once you end up switching between tasks rather than doing them simultaneously. Divided attention occurs when an individual must perform two tasks which require attention, simultaneously. • Joint attention is the focusing of attention on an object by two separate individuals.
Continuous reinforcement
becomes less reinforcing so there is a need for ulterior reinforcement. Continuous reinforcement occurs on a 1:1 ratio - this means that for each behavior, there is a reward. Discovered by B. F. Skinner via reward schedules with animals but apply to animals as well.
Reciprocal altruism
behavior that benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future -People are also more cooperative if they will interact with that person again in the future. Giving with expectation of future reward
Temperament
broader than personality. It's their characteristic emotional reactivity, intensity, - their shyness and their sociability. Temperament seems to be established before babies are exposed to environment. Persistent as person ages. • Personality, unlike psychological characteristics/abnormalities is believed to be constant over a person's lifetime.
Piaget - Language
came up w/ cognitive development in children. He believed once children were able to think a certain way, they then developed language to describe those thoughts --> influences build it. Language influence is influenced by cognitive development. § For example, when children develop object permanents, they start to develop words like gone and missing, find, etc. § Although the use of language begins in the sensorimotor stage, Piaget believed that the world of a child in this stage is understood through sensation and action. § During the preoperational stage, according to Piaget, the world is understood mainly through the use of language and mental imagery. § A child in the concrete operational stage of development will use categories, logic, and concrete reasoning to understand the world. § A person will describe and understand the world through scientific reasoning, hypothetical situations, and abstract relationships in the formal operational stage, according to Piaget
Electroencephalograms (EEGs)
can measure brainwaves. o 4 main types: alpha, beta, delta, theta o Each type oscillates at diff frequency and associated with different type of consciousness.
narcolepsy
can't help themselves from falling asleep. Various fits of sleepiness, going into REM sleep. Have fits (usually 5 minutes) that can occur any time o Cause is not completely known. Indications that it is genetic, and linked to absence of alertness neurotransmitter. o Neurochemical interventions can cause someone to overcome narcolepsy potentially. o 1 in 2000 people
Altruism
care about welfare of other people and are acting to help them. Beneficial to society and also individuals
Korsakoff's Syndrome
caused by lack of vitamin B1 or thiamine; caused by malnutrition, eating disorders, and especially alcoholism. -These groups don't process/absorb all the nutrients they need o Most cases Not caused by brain injuries o Thiamine converts carbohydrates into glucose cells need for energy. Important for normal functioning of neurons. o At first, damage to certain areas causes poor balance, abnormal eye movements, mild confusion, and/or memory loss. -At this stage called Wernicke's encephalopathy - precursor to Korsakoff's syndrome. If Wernicke's encephalopathy is diagnosed in time it can reverse the damage or at least prevent further damage. -If untreated, will progress to Korsakoff's Syndrome, which has a main symptom of severe memory loss, accompanied by confabulation o Korsakoff's syndrome is not progressive, unlike AD; if people are diagnosed and treated, they can better. o Treatment typically includes thiamine injections, staying on a healthy diet, abstain from alcohol, take vitamins, and relearn things o Individuals with Korsakoff syndrome have problem forming new memories and recalling old memories (anterograde and retrograde amnesia respectively)
phenylketonuria (PKU)
caused by mutations to a gene that encodes a liver enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) -because enzyme is missing, amino acid phenylalanine doesn't get converted into tyrosine -A genetic condition that causes a build-up of phenylalanine which then cause brain problems o Symptoms of PKU can be managed by a specific diet, which is a less problematic environment for the individual with PKU. § The expression of PKU is dependent on the environment. § Even though PKU is highly heritable, it is still modifiable and can be managed via the environment.
Anxiety
centers on amygdala. Amygdala - fears and phobias, fits in perfectly with response to stress. Perceive more things as fearful. § Accompanies the flight aspect of sympathetic response
epigenetics
changes to gene expression resulting from changes other than to gene/DNA sequence. Ex. Addition of methyl groups to the gene, which make it more difficult for TFs to come in and activate gene. [Methylation inhibits activation of certain genes.]. Epigenetics can override our behavior. o Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression that results in something other than changes to a DNA sequence. One epigenetic change is methylation, which can make it more difficult for a gene to be expressed.
Cardinal traits
characteristics that direct most of person's activities - the dominant trait that influence all of our behaviours, including secondary and central traits.
Depression/Major Depressive Disorder
characterized by prolonged feeling of helplessness and discouragement about the future. Individuals with this disorder have the following: o Has physical and emotional component § Suicidal thoughts: low self-esteem, low mood § Interests decreased: lack of interest (anhedonia) § Guilt: § Energy decreased - lethargy (feeling fatigued) § Concentration decreased - trouble making decisions § Appetite disturbance (increased or decreased) § Psychomotor changes/symptoms (agitation or retardation) § Sleep disturbances (increased or decreased) § + Weight gain or loss. o Can be triggered by a life event (loss/break up) but doesn't have to be. o Common for people to have anxiety disorders with it.
Learning (Behaviorist) theory
children aren't born with anything, they only acquire language through operant conditioning. Child learns to say "mama" because every time they say that, mom reinforces child. But doesn't explain how they can produce words they've never heard before or unique sentences. Associated with BF Skinner. Language is learned.
Escape
closely related to avoidance. This technique is often demonstrated by people who experience panic attacks or have phobias. -These people want to flee the situation at the first sign of anxiety.
Complex behavior
combination of innate and learned behavior. Relationship between genes and environment in adaptation. Can be a spectrum, most behaviors fit between innate and learned.
Categorical self
comes once baby realizes they're separate (comes after existential self)- becoming aware that even though we're separate/distinct objects/beings, we also exist in the world with others. And each of these objects/entities has properties. Ex. age and gender are the first categories first babies learn, then skills and size. Then, as we grow older, compare ourselves with others - traits, comparisons, careers (these are more developed categories)
Exurbs
communities that arise farther out than the suburbs and are typically populated by residents of high socioeconomic status
Meritocracy
concept that people achieve social position solely based on ability and achievements. Highly idealized. Birth/parental background doesn't matter. Extreme social mobility. Equal opportunity.
Role conflict
conflict/tension between two or more different statuses, unlike role strain. The different statuses compete for someone's time
Hypothalamus
controls the pituitary gland, the master gland that controls all other glands in body.
Cheynes-Stroke breathing
crescendo then decrescendo -breathing followed by stop in breathing. Normal breathing pattern is inhale/exhale changes from a normal fixed pattern. • Believed heart failure/stroke/renal failure is the cause.
Skeptical Perspective
critical of globalization, considers it as being regionalized instead of globalized. Third world countries aren't being integrated into global economy with same benefits as first world countries. Current economy is not leading towards global capitalism. Transnational corporations still tied to their home countries and national borders remain important. CRTIICAL.
Nigrescence Model
cultural identity development model (specifically for blacks): 1) preencounter (to racism) 2) encounter 3) immersion-emersion (into personal culture) 4) internalization 5) internalization-commitment
Strength of a signal is variable d', and c is strategy
d': Strength § hit > miss (when there is a strong signal), § miss > hit (weak signal) c: strategy § 2 strategies • Conservative strategy - always say no unless 100% sure signal is present. -->Limitation: might get some misses. • Liberal strategy- always say yes, even if get false alarms
N2 (Stage 2)
deeper stage of sleep. People in N2 are harder to awaken. We see more theta waves, as well as sleep spindles and K-complexes. § Sleep spindles are a burst of rapid brain activity. Some researchers think that sleep spindles help inhibit certain perceptions so we maintain a tranquil state during sleep. Sleep spindles in some parts of brain associated with ability to sleep through loud noises. § K-complexes - supress cortical arousal and keep you asleep. Also help sleep-based memory consolidation (some memories are transferred to long term memory during sleep, particularly declarative/explicit memories). Even though they occur naturally, you can also make them occur by gently touching someone sleeping. "that touch was not threatening, stay asleep brain"
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
describes a person whose general state is tense and uneasy to a degree it influences their life (don't eat well or are sleep deprived for example). This anxiety must last for 6 months or more. o Identifiable physical symptoms: eyelids, twitching eyelids, trembling, fidgeting o Population it affects: women (2/3rd are women) o Source of anxiety: unclear o Can't identify the cause of their stress so they can't deal with it or identify it/cause o Can lead to high blood pressure and other bodily symptoms o Usually have also depression (not part of this disorder but can go along with it) o Continuous high level of anxiety
Mead
developed the idea of social behaviourism, the mind and self-emerge through the process of communicating with others (beginning of symbolic interactionism). o Infants + children were not influenced by others in any way, merely imitate others, and see themselves as being the focus of their own world and don't care what others think of them -Lack ability to take perspective of another person - related to Piaget's concept of egocentrism. o As we grow up, our belief on how others perceive us is more important, this happens through 3 stages: preparatory, play stage, and game stage. These occur overtime as a child grows. o 1. Preparatory stage [INFANTS] -interaction through imitation, ex. play with pots and pans when parents are cooking. As they grow older, focus more on communication with others instead of simple imitation, and get practice using symbols (gestures/words). Can't take perspective of others. o 2. Play stage [CHILDREN] - more aware of social relationships, reflected in children's tendency to pretend play as others like firefighters, doctors, etc. Mentally assuming perspective of others and acting based on their perceived point of view. Focused on role-taking: mentally taking perspective of another person and acting on that perceived viewpoint. § Way beyond immigration. They create social-interactions (not just mimicking) § Children consider attitudes, belief, and behaviors of individuals closest to them. o 3. Game stage [OLDER CHILDREN; AGE 7+] - Start to understand attitudes/beliefs/behavior of "generalized other" (society as a whole). With this comes whole new understanding of society. Children start to realize that people perform in ways not only on what they personally believe but what also in the ways society more broadly expects of them and they understand that people can take on multiple roles -Also realize others have opinions about them and those perceptions others have are based on how they act and what they say -They begin to be influenced by these perceptions and are concerned by reactions of others to what they do. o Believe this last stage led to development of the "I" and "me". § Me = what we learn through interactions with others. -How individual believes the generalized other perceives us, the social self, and learned through interactions with others. Socialized and conforming aspect of self. § I = the response of the individual to the "me". I thinks about what those things mean. aka attitudes of others. The spontaneous, less socialized component of the Self.
Aphasia
disorder that involves language. Aphasia is a communication disorder that causes problems with language, like speaking, listening reading, and writing. o When Broca's is damaged, people have trouble producing speech. Broca's aphasia (also called non-fluent aphasia). -Acronym: Broca's aphasia = Broken speech. Damage to the language production centers of the brain. Produce broken/halted speech. Frontal lobe region damaged. § Broca's aphasia is characterized by apraxia, a disorder of motor planning, which causes problems producing speech. -Wernicke's aphasia (also called fluent aphasia /receptive aphasia) - is different pattern of behavior - words they make don't make any sense. They also can't understand what others say. Temporal lobe region damaged. § Wernicke's aphasia is characterized by difficulty understanding spoken words and sentences, as well as difficulty producing sentences that make sense. § Persons with Wernicke's aphasia can produce many words and they often speak using grammatically correct sentences with normal rate and prosody. § "Word Salad" = lacking meaning of produced speech which is normal (prosody)
Pathological Defence Mechanisms
distort reality o Denial - person pretends something hasn't happened. Most important defence mechanism. (acronym: PATHOLOGICAL liar/denier) § Ex: if someone has breast cancer, they just deny the fact that they do.
Anxiety Disorders
distress/disability from abnormal worry/fear. Some are specific to certain stimuli like phobias, while others are not specific to certain stimuli, including generalized anxiety disorder. -Panic disorder involves panic attacks (intense anxiety) § Social anxiety disorder a false cognition leads to a fear of humiliation, embarrassment, rejection, negative evaluation, or rejection by others. • Selective mutism is an anxiety disorder characterized by difficulty speaking in social situations, but the individual is developmentally normative in terms of their language and communication ability. § General Anxiety Disorder: Individuals with generalized anxiety disorder experience excessive and persistent worry or anxiety regarding many different spheres of life that cause distress, impairment, or maladaptive behavior.
Dissociative Disorders
distress/disability from abnormalities of identity or memory. § Ex: Multiple personalities, people who have lost memories for part of their lives.
Depressive Disorders
distress/disability from abnormally negative mood. § Mood (how someone feels such as sad) becomes affect (how mood is displayed to others - person crying) -Hopelessness, loss of enjoyment in activities. High risk of suicide
Other Disorders
distress/disability from any person that appears to have a mental disorder causing distress/disability but doesn't fit into other categories. Rare.
Disruptive, Impulse-Control, and Conduct Disorders
distress/disability from behaviors that are unacceptably disruptive or impulsive for someone's culture. Inability to control inappropriate behaviours
Paraphilic Disorders
distress/disability from having sexual arousal to unusual stimuli for a person's culture
Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders
distress/disability from obsessions or compulsions. § Obsessions - thoughts that occur involuntarily, often unwelcome. Occur repeatedly. § Compulsions - activities that one must do and are often related to an obsession. § Ex. obsession with hands being dirty, compulsion to wash them many times a day.
Elimination Disorders
distress/disability from urination/defecation at inappropriate times or places. § Ex. Urinary accidents
Stimulants
drugs that excite your CNS, increase HR/BP, alertness, more awake, more energetic. Can cause people to feel glittery. Examples include: o Caffeine, Amphetamines (Adderall), Methamphetamines (Meth), MDMA (Molly/Ecstasy), Cocaine, Nicotine, THC (Marijuana/Cannabis - also a hallucinogen/depressant) o Cocaine - can be used as a anesthetic/ o Vasodilate o Effect is similar to stress, increased glucose metabolism in brain. § Cocaine: blocks dopamine reuptake. § Amphetamines both block dopamine reuptake and stimulate presynaptic dopamine release. § Caffeine inhibits the enzyme that breaks down cAMP (cyclic adenosine monophosphate). § Nicotine acts on acetylcholine § THC works on anandamide. Increase dopamine and GABA activity. o Stimulants and depressants are functionally opposite but don't actually work on the same things at a neurochemical level. Drinking coffee after drinking alcohol won't make you sober; it will just make you an alert drunk person. o Vasoconstrictor
Lower motor neurons (LMN)
efferent neurons of the PNS -A nerve cell that goes from the spinal cord to a muscle. The cell body of a lower motor neuron is in the spinal cord and its termination is in a skeletal muscle. The loss of lower motor neurons leads to weakness, twitching of muscle (fasciculation), and loss of muscle mass (muscle atrophy)
Surface traits
evident from a person's behavior, while source traits are factors underlying human personality (fewer and more abstract).
Lazarus Theory
experience of emotion depends on how the situation is cognitively appraised (labelled). § If we label emotion as good, it is positive § If we label emotion as bad, it is negative § How we label event is based on cultural/individual differences. § Event is the same and depending on label it produces two very different emotions • Ex: activity of jumping off a plane is terrifying for some but exhilarating for others depending on label. • Ex2: A man, who is allergic to bees, encounters a bee. Simultaneously, the man interprets that his allergy to bees makes this encounter threatening, his heart beat increases, and he starts sweating. He labels the emotion he is experiencing as fear. § Ex. Event (holding cat) --> labelling situation/appraising (cognitive) happiness --> emotion (joy) + physiological response. Event --> Label the event (appraisal) --> emotion + PR based on appraisal. + if label is + - if appraisal is - about the event. Lazarus - "LAzarus" = "LAbel" leads to emotion and physiologic response
diffusion of responsibility theory
explains bystander effect -When individuals are in presence of others where help is needed, feel less personal responsibility and less likely to take action when needed
EEG (Electroencephalogram)
external, can't tell us about activity of individual/groups of neurons. Can only look at sum total. Can tell us about seizures, sleep stage, cognitive tasks. Not invasive! We don't get a picture of a brain from this method, but we get an EEG. Easier set up than MEG.
Microsociology
face to face interactions, families, schools, other social interactions. Interpretive analysis of the society, look at sample of society and how individual interactions would affect larger groups in society. Ex. doctor-patient interactions, or family dynamics. o Symbolic interactionism - social theory that's a micro-perspective, focuses on the individual and significance they give to objects, events, symbols, etc. in their lives.
Change blindness
fail to notice changes from a previous to a current state in environment. (Different from in-attentional blindness, a subtle but importance difference) ex: don't notice when your mom gets a haircut. o Ex. Famous study done where a person asks a stranger in a big city to give directions. The person is swapped with another person and the direction giver does not notice that this was a different person that they were now giving directions too
Type I error
false positive
Daydreaming
feel more relaxed, not as focussed as alertness. Can also be light meditation (self-induced)
Constrictive period
fewer young people than old people. (in developed countries). Mortality rate of country with lots of old people does not compare well with a country where people are dying young from disease
Attention
focus/concentrating on something at the exclusion of the other stimuli in environment. • When you divide your attention on one task between 2 (ex: watch TV and studying together) you're exercising your selective attention: you are selecting one at a time (either TV or studying - can't do both). It's like a flashlight on your attention -you can move it around at any spot. At any given moment illuminating one area of interest. Only have ability to focus on one thing at the exclusion of everything else. • Selective attention is the ability to maintain attention while being presented with masking or interfering stimuli.
Fundamental attribution error
focuses only on actions of others, tendency to believe that others in out-groups behave a certain way based on inherent personalities/flaws -Idea of attributing character too strongly to explain another group's actions • Important to have compassion for all people - victims and aggressor, don't know how you'd act in their place.
Method of loci
good for remembering things in order, link info to locations. Tie information you need to remember to certain stops along a route that you already know. Ex. Bananas raining down on bus stop you get on, next stop there are oranges being thrown at, and the final stop you have a cat eating blueberries. Again, this method also ties imagery
2 areas of brain with most glucocorticoid (secreted in response to stress) receptors
hippocampus and frontal cortex • Hippocampus - learning and memory • Frontal cortex responsible for impulse control, reasoning, judgment, planning. We do see atrophy in these areas subjected to stress. • One of major emotional responses of stress is depression (problem is anhedonia - inability to experience pleasure, so perceive more stressors) o Biological backing: The anterior cingulate (anterior part of the frontal cortex) stops responding to serotonin. (acronym: anterior cingulate responds to serotonin - Anterior designers are CINGLEate (single) and love SEXetonin....when they get stressed they stop having SEXetonin (stop responding to serotonin)
Attribution theory
how we explain behaviours of others around us. o Explain the behavior of other people by breaking down our understanding/explanation of their behaviours to factors about them, and factors related to their environment/surroundings. o Internal (dispositional attribution) - about them o External (situational attribution) - environment o Behavior of others often have a combination of internal and external factors.
Framing effects
how you present the decision can affect decisions as well. o Ex. Disease that will kill 600 people, option A is 100% chance exactly 200 people saved, option B 30% chance all 600 saved and 2/3rd chance 0 will be saved. Which option do you pick? OR A. 100% chance 400 die B. 1/3 chance no one dies and 2/3 chance 600 die. o In first example, most people will pick A. In second, most pick B. o If choice is framed based on how many people will be saved, you more likely pick it. If choice framed based on how many people die and have an option that no one dies. You chose an option based on how its framed despite the choices being the exact same. • These factors that impact decisions (heuristics, biases, and framing) show us that our decisions are not as black and white or consistent as we think they are.
Cyclothymic disorder
hypomania + dysthymia (continuous long-term (chronic) form of depression) Bipolar II covers from severe depression to hypomania (a tighter band of the mood swings because the "highs" are not as high as the bipolar I). Cyclothymia covers from moderate depression to hypomania.
Strain Theory
if person is blocked from attaining a culturally accepted goal, may become frustrated/strained and turn to deviance. -Society values a certain behavior but the opportunity to be successful is not made available to everyone -The lack of equal opportunity results in increased access to illegal means to achieve success. o Ex: athlete attends a school that doesn't have proper baseball training equipment or no coach, or funding. Athlete becomes frustrated and turns to deviant behavior. School lacks the resources, so athlete tries steroids to level the playing field
Relative Poverty
in developed countries, use a different marker - a % level below the median country of the country. Ex. In Us, instead of $1-2 a day, median income is above $80/day. -Relative poverty is not about survival, its people whose incomes are so low in their own society they're being excluded from society.
Agraphia
inability to write. Acronym: G think Gel pen
False information
inaccurate recollections of an event. o Ex: Experiment done where participants watched a car stop at a yield sign. After the video, participants were given a written description on what happened, and some of the descriptions included false information about the car stopping saying that the car stopped at a stop sign instead of a yield sign. Those who got the false information, more likely claimed the car stopped at a stop sign than the yield sign.
Ca2+
indicator of chelation. This positively charged ion is extremely versatile. A rise in this ion, postsynaptically, in dendritic spines is essential for activity-dependent plasticity. This ion is an important second messenger in the neuron. Abnormal amounts of signaling in this ion has been implicated in disease states such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.
Beck's Cognitive therapy (CT)
individuals can move toward overcoming difficulties and meeting their goals by identifying and changing unhelpful or inaccurate thinking, problematic behavior, and distressing emotional responses. -This involves the individual working collaboratively with the therapist to develop skills for testing and modifying beliefs, identifying distorted thinking, relating to others in different ways, and changing behavior
Scapegoats
individuals or groups blamed for wrongs that were not of their doing
Social Proof
influence tactic that relies on the tendency people have to behave in a particular way because others are doing so -Positive influence created when someone finds out that others are doing something.
Oral Route of Drug Entry
ingesting something, one of slowest routes because goes through GI tract - half hour. Ex. Pill, alcohol.
Id
innate. The reservoir of all psychic energy. The id seeks to discharge tension arising from internal needs or external stimulation. It is made up of all instincts and wants to get rid of all uncomfortable feelings. (This is called a "Drive Reduction Theory"). o "The pleasure principle"- To gain pleasure or avoid pain. To accomplish this it uses: -Reflex actions (for instance sneezing) -Primary Processes (Forming a mental image of the desired object) - Wish fulfillment- The image of your desire which temporarily restores comfort.
Neurodevelopmental Disorders
involve distress/disability due to abnormality in development of nervous system -Includes intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorders, and ADHD. § Autism spectrum disorder is characterized by a variety of issues related to social and communication abilities, and first symptoms of the disorder typically include delayed language development and unusual communication patterns. § Specific Learning Disabilities • Dyscalculia - mathematics learning disorder. Removed • Dysgraphia - writing disorder - removed. § Developmental coordination disorder is characterized by difficulties in acquiring and coordinating motor movements.
Schizophrenia Spectrum and other Psychotic Disorders
involves distress/disability from psychosis, which involves delusions, hallucinations -disorganized thinking can occur and negative symptoms (decreased emotional expression, decreased motivation, decreased social behavior) -Schizophrenia has many of these features while other psychosis disorders have some
Orienting attention
involves the capacity to change the focus of attention from one stimulus to another stimulus. This network is predominantly modulated by acetylcholine produced in the basal forebrain.
Motivational interviewing
involves working with patient to find intrinsic motivation to change. Very focus, goal directed therapy. Few sessions and can be doorway for patient to engage in another treatment (like CBT or group meetings).
Socialization
is a life-long process where we learn how to interact with others. Everything we consider to be normal is actually learned through socialization - how we learn to walk/talk/feed ourselves, and how we learn behavioral norms that help us fit in.
Autobiographical memory
is a memory system consisting of episodes recollected from an individual's life, based on a combination of episodic (personal experiences and specific objects, people and events experienced at particular time and place) and semantic (general knowledge and facts about the world) memory.
Neustress
is a neutral type of stress. Neustress happens when you are exposed to something stressful, but it doesn't actively or directly affect you. For example, news about a natural disaster on the other side of the world may be very stressful, but your body doesn't perceive that stress as good or bad for you so you aren't affected.
Social loafing
is a tendency to put forth less effort in group task if the individual contributions aren't evaluated
Segregation
is a way of separating out groups of people and giving them access to a separate set of resources within the same society o Idea "separate but equal", which is rarely true in practice. o Segregated people often have worse resources
Fluid Intelligence
is ability to reason quickly and abstractly, such as when solving novel logic problems. § fluid intelligence is the ability to think on one's feet, be adaptable, and solve problems using deductive and inductive reasoning. § Cattell defined fluid intelligence as: in novel situations, the ability to recognize and reason relationships between objects or ideas independent of previous experience. § Fluid intelligence helps one see patterns, organize and identify feature and spatial relationships to solve complex problems
Existential self
is most basic part of self-concept, the sense of being separate and distinct from others. Awareness that the self is constant/consistent throughout life (Ex: if someone says they are "tired" that isn't them All the time. This is NOT their self-concept because self-concept is Consistent)
Drive-reduction motivation
is motivation based on the need to fulfill a certain drive, like hunger or thirst.
Collective behavior
is not the same as group behavior, because of a few reasons. o First, collective behavior is time-limited, and involves short social interactions, while groups stay together and socialize for long period of time. o Collectives can be open, while groups can be exclusive. o Collectives have loose norms (which are murkily defined), while groups have strongly held/well-defined norms. • Collective behavior generally violates widely held societal norms and it times it can be very destructive. • Collective behavior is often driven by group dynamics, such as deindividualization. • Sociologists have identified 3 types of collective behavior: fads, mass hysteria, and riots
Attribution
is the process of inferring causes of events/behaviors. o Attribution can either internal or external, our focus will be on external. o Everyday, we make tons of attributions on environment, our own behavior, and those around us o Inference a person is behaving a certain way based on situation they're in
Heuristics
mental shortcut that allows us to find solution quicker than other 2, Reduces the # of solutions we need to try by taking an approach as to what possibilities could exist and eliminates trying unlikely possibilities. Don't guarantee a correct solution, but they do simply complex problems and reduce total # of solutions we will try in order to get to a more manageable #
Working memory (Short-Term Memory)
is the sensory information you actually process. -Consists of what you are thinking about at the moment -Capacity is Magic number 7 . Working memory can hold 7 +/- 2 pieces of info at a time. o Explains the serial position effect (primacy and recency effects) o Processing occurs at the visuo-spacial sketchpad and phonologic loop. § Visuo-spatial sketchpad: Visual + spatial info are processed in the § Phonological loop: verbal info (any words + numbers in both iconic and echoic memory) is processed. Ex. Repeating a phone # to yourself. The Phonological Store is believed that the phonological store capacity is around 2 seconds.
Instinctual drift
it is the phenomenon whereby established habits, learned using operant techniques, eventually are replaced by innate food-related behaviors o Instinctive drift or instinctual drift is the tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with a conditioned response
Personality disorder
marked deviation from how we expect the people to behave or how the person is experiencing the world. This difference leads to distress/functioning. • There are 10 personality disorders which are split up into three clusters • Cluster A (odd and eccentric traits) • Cluster B (dramatic, emotional, erratic traits) • Cluster C (anxiety and fearful). • How to memorize: A= weird, B = wild, C = worried
Exogamy
marriage between people of different social categories -a social arrangement where marriage is allowed only outside a social group. The social groups define the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity.
Endogamy
marriage between people of the same social category -the practice of marrying within a specific ethnic group, class, or social group, rejecting others on such a basis as being unsuitable for marriage or for other close personal relationships
Heterogamy
marriage between people with differing social characteristics
Homogamy
marriage between people with the same social characteristics
Inter-rater reliability
measure of agreement among observers on how they record and classify a particular event -consistency when two different people measure the same thing
Concurrent validity
measures the test against a benchmark test and highcorrelation indicates that the test has strong criterion validity. -Concurrent validity measures how well a test matches up with a benchmark test, which is usually another valid measure of the same construct
Self-serving bias
mechanism of preserving our self-esteem, more common in individualistic cultures. If we succeed it's due to our internal/personal qualities, but if we fail no hit on self-esteem because likely to do with things outside of our control
Utilitarian Organizations
members are paid/rewarded for their efforts, ex. Businesses and government jobs, and universities (receive diploma in exchange for your time).
Normative Organizations
members come together through shared goals, ex. religion groups or MADD (Mothers against Drunk Driving). Positive sense of unity and purpose.
Coercive Organization
members don't have choice about membership, ex. people in a prison, or the military (you need to be discharged to leave).Usually highly structured and have very strict rules
Somatic Symptom Disorders
mental disorders manifesting in physical (somatic) symptoms. o Can be any symptom. Wrist pain or general feeling of fatigue o May or may not be able to explain what we see (the physical condition). May or may not be related to a physical condition o Must cause functional impairments. Stops them from going to school or enjoying life. T -characterized by an extreme focus on physical symptoms — such as pain or fatigue — that causes major emotional distress and problems functioning
Schemas
mental models - Frameworks for us organize and interpret new information. Piaget belief of cognitive development was in the development of schemas. To develop these, you need to be able to grow/change them - which happens through assimilation and accommodations.
Couterbalancing
method to control for any effect that the order of presenting stimuli might have on the dependent variable
Hypomania
mild forms of mania is sometimes not that bad. Lots of energy and don't need to sleep a lot so you get lots of work done. You also feel good. Creativity. • A hypomanic episode is a period of abnormally elevated mood and abnormally increased energy lasting at least 4 consecutive days; however, the episode is not severe enough to cause impairment in functioning or to require hospitalization. • A manic episode is a period of abnormally elevated mood and abnormally increased energy lasting at least 7 consecutive days; however, the episode is severe enough to cause impairment in functioning or to require hospitalization
public declarations
more likely to follow through if you've told everyone
Cults
more radical, reject values of outside society. Rise when there's a breakdown of societal belief systems, but usually short-lived because depend on inspirational leader who will only live so long.
Secondary deviance
more serious consequences, characterized by severe negative reaction that produces a stigmatizing label and results in more deviant behavior
alcohol
most common depressant. o Common depressant symptoms o Disrupts REM cycle - for memories /new synapses is reduced o Disinhibited - removes inhibitions. Acting on impulses. reduced self-awareness and control o Alcohol is a CNS depressant that is absorbed through the cell membrane.
GABA (brain) and Glycine (spinal cord)
most common inhibitory NTs ]TWO other G's are inhibitory]
Injection Route of Drug Entry
most direct, intravenous means goes right to vein. Takes effects within seconds. Fastest Can be very dangerous (likely to inject bacteria and unexpected toxins) especially when using an infected needle.
Social facilitation
most dominant response for particular behavior would be shown o Presence of others increases your arousal - your general physiological or psychological excitement (Increased HR, faster breathing, activation of autonomic nervous system) and is known as nervous energy. -Presence of others improves performance (helps) on simple tasks, and hinders it on difficult tasks/unpracticed tasks. (This is known as Yerkes-Dodson Law).
Parenting style
mothers who are sensitive to child and responsive had secure attachment, and those insensitive/unresponsive formed insecure attachments. § Insensitive parenting does not mean child abuse/neglect.
horizontally / horizontal mobility
move within the same class. Ex. Accountant switches job to different accounting company
intra-generational mobility
movement up or down a social stratification hierarchy within the course of a personal career
Primary deviance
no big consequences, reaction to deviant behavior ismvery mild and does not affect person's self-esteem -Individual is able to continue to behaves in same way without feeling immoral/wrong Ex. athletes of team use steroids, so the act of a player is not labeled as deviant and his actions go unnoticed.
Free recall
no cues in recalling. Better recalling first items on a list (primacy effect) as well as last few (recency effect). Harder to remember things in the middle of a list. Recency effect is not as strong if there is an interpretation after list is called. Curve is called the serial position curve/effect: the overall tendency to recall first few items well, last few items well, and middle items not so great.
Permissive parenting/Indulgent parenting
non-directive and lenient. Few behavioral expectations for child
Mores
norms based on some moral value/belief (dependent on group's values of right and wrong). Generally produce strong feelings. -Usually a strong reaction if more is violated -Ex. Truthfulness (tell the truth because it's the right thing to do, when public figures are not truthful it causes outrage because the figure has done something wrong) -Don't have serious consequences
Laws
norms still based on right and wrong, but have formal/consistent consequences.
non-binary gender
not identifying w/ any specific gender
4 major categories of stressors
o 1. Significant life changes - changes in your personal life. Ex. Death of loved one, marriage, loss of job, having children, leaving home, etc. o 2. Catastrophic events - A large scale event that everyone considers threatening. Ex. wars, natural disasters etc. o 3. Daily hassles - Seemingly minor events/hassles of daily life Ex. long store lines, forgetting car keys, aggravating roommates, email spam, car engine burns out, finding dog poop on your carpet, and tire punctured, expectations not communicated well b/w you and your spouse, inability to let go of an unobtainable goal etc. § Daily hassles often accompanies low SES- inadequate income or unemployment § For minorities daily hassles might include racism. § Many consider (like Mike Lazarus and Connor McDonald) the most important form of stress. o 4. Ambient stressors - Global stressors that are integrated into the environment. Perceivable, but hard to control. Can negatively impact us without us being aware of them. Stuff we just put up with in our lives. Ex. Pollution, noise, crowding
Elaboration Likelihood Model for Persuasion (ELM)
o 2 ways in which information is processed: § Central Route of Persuasion: The degree of attitude change depends on quality of the arguments by the persuader. How much we are persuaded depends on quality of persuasion. ARGUMENT/Words are central! § Peripheral Route of Persuasion: looks at superficial/expertise/non-verbal persuasion cues, such as attractiveness/status of persuader
mature defense mechanisms
o Acronym: Mature HASS o Humor - expressing humor/jokes to be truthful and alleviate feelings but make them socially acceptable o Sublimation - channeling negative to positive energy. Ex. Violent energy, instead of expressing violence you become a boxer. Transform into socially acceptable behaviors. o Suppression - conscious thought get pushed to unconscious but can access thoughts at a later time. o Altruism - in service of others - we feel fulfilled and gain pleasure/satisfaction.
Attitude to behavior process model (Attitude -> Behavior)
o An event triggers our attitude (something that will influence our perception of an object) o Then attitude + some outside knowledge (what regarded as appropriate behavior) together determines behavior. o Ex. Tommy has attitude that junk food is unhealthy, because many of his relatives have heart related diseases associated with poor eating habits. So when he's at home he does not eat chips/soda/candy because of his knowledge that these foods are bad for his health and maintains a healthy lifestyle no matter where he is
distal stimulus vs proximal stimulus
o An example would be a person looking at a shoe on the floor. The shoe itself is the distal stimulus. The image recorded onto the person's retina (sensory receptor) is proximal stimulus. o Another example would be a telephone ringing. The ringing of the telephone is the distal stimulus. The sound being recognized and understood as the ringing of a telephone, by our sensory receptors, is the proximal stimulus
Biological Basis of Depression
o Areas with abnormal activity involve the frontal lobe and limbic structures. o Decreased activity in frontal lobe and increased activity in limbic structures --> abnormal hormones in body o Collection of neurons have cell bodies in brain stem while axons project into frontal lobe/limbic system. • Medications that affect serotonin, NE, and dopamine often improve symptoms o Monoamines include adrenaline (epinephrine), norepinephrine, dopamine, serotonin, and melatonin § Catecholamine (Subclass) includes dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (2 OH groups on phenyl) • May include genetics, but psychosocial factors can also be linked such as childhood abuse, stressful events or limited social support; likely combination of biological and psychosocial factors.
Endocrine system relation to behaviour
o Behaviour coordinated response to environment o Hormones effect how we respond to attitude/personality. o Cognitive behavioral therapy: Control what your body is doing physiologically with your mind. When you are afraid for example, epinephrine causes increase heart rate etc. (fight or flight response). When you are no longer scared, become calmer and hormones then get reduced.
Vygotsky - Sociocultural Cognitive development theory
o Believed children learned actively through hands-on processes, and suggest parents/caregivers/cultural beliefs/language/attitudes are all responsible for development of higher function of learning. o Child internalizes information w/ interactions with others. This social-interaction is important development of cognition.
Biomedical vs. biopsychosocial models.
o Biomedical = focuses on biological, physical abnormalities. § Ex. Abnormalities of cell of the brain that might cause disorders or having abnormal pattern of connections b/w cells of the brain o BioPsychoSocial = also considers abnormalities and might be useful for cause or classification of mental disorder but also includes psychological and cultural/social factors that might be useful for cause or classification of mental disorder.
Both Rogers + Maslow
o Central feature of our personality is self-concept - achieved when we bring genuineness and acceptance together to achieve growth-promoting climate. o When there's discrepancy between conscious values and unconscious true values leads to tension, must be resolved. o Genuine + acceptance = self-concept o Importance of congruency between self-concept and our actions to feel fulfilled.
3 categories of symptoms of Schizophrenia: cognitive, positive, negative symptoms
o Cognitive symptoms- attention, organization, planning abilities § disorganized thinking, slow thinking, difficulty understanding, poor concentration, poor memory, difficulty expressing thought, difficulty integrating thoughts, feelings and behavior o Negative symptoms - blunted emotions, loss of enjoyment § Lack of emotional expression • Affective flattening § Lack of interest or enthusiasm - Problems with motivation; lack of selfcare. • Avolition § Seeming lack of interest in the world § Speech difficulties and abnormalities - Inability to carry a conversation • Alogia, or poverty of speech o Positive symptoms- "psychosis" - hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech/thinking, disorganized behavior, catatonic behavior § Catatonic schizophrenia: a type (or subtype) of schizophrenia that includes extremes of behavior. At one end of the extreme the patient cannot speak, move or respond - there is a dramatic reduction in activity where virtually all movement stops, as in a catatonic stupor.
Two views of institutions
o Conservative View: institutions are natural by-products of human nature. o Progressive View: institutions are artificial creations that need to be redesigned if they are not helpful. Ex. Businesses
1 general intelligence - Spearman
o Evidence comes from fact people who score well on one test also tend to score well on other types of test, ex. Verbal and math skills. relative to other people, you tend to equal in both skills, although relative to oneself they might be different o Factor underlying these consistent abilities is called g factor (acronym: g = general intelligence)
physical abnormalities in Schizophrenia brain
o Fluid filled regions enlarged b/c less tissue of the brain o Cerebral cortex size decreased - in frontal and temporal lobes. § Organization of the Cerebral cortex (cortical layers) particularly in frontal and temporal lobes is disturbed § Frontal and temporal lobe activity is also seen in same areas of structural/physical abnormality. o Abnormal development of brain is most likely what leads to this disease. o Some features of schizophrenia also involve abnormalities in dopamine (increase). T o A # of medications that affect dopamine transmission often improve symptoms o The mesocorticolimbic pathway Is affected § Meso = "midbrain" - where VTA (Ventrotangmental area). § limbic = "collection of structures inside of the brain" involved in emotions/motivations/etc. § Often divided into mesocortical pathway (VTA to the frontal lobe) and mesolimbic pathway (VTA to limbic structures) § Abnormal activity of mesocorticolimbic pathway. One way of thinking about schizophrenia is abnormal activity is mesocorticolimbic pathway leads to dysfunction in parts of frontal cortex that cause cognitive symptoms, and limbic structure causes negative symptoms, and abnormal activity in temporal cortex causes positive symptoms. • Abnormalities are likely much more complicated.
Social psychology
o Focuses on interactions between individual and their environment. o One situation is not predictive of how someone will act in another situation. • Hard to predict behavior based off 1 situation. Have to acknowledge we sometimes behave differently
Factors that Influence Conformity and Obedience
o Group size - more likely to conform in groups of 3-5. o Unanimity - when opinions of group are unanimous (everyone agrees). o Group status - why children more likely to go along with popular group o Group cohesion- if we feel no connection with group, feel less of need to go along with that group. o Observed behavior - whether we believe our behaviour is observed o Public response - if we think we're met with acceptance vs. shunning. (happy to conform if we will be met with shunning, but will happily not conform if we think we will be met with acceptance)
Bobo doll experiment
o Had group of children doing arts and crafts, but in middle of it suddenly man appeared and started hitting this inflatable Bob doll. Also screaming "kick it, hit it, etc". Did for 10 minutes straight. Some children observed the behavior, others weren't fazed. o Then man left, and researchers gave kids an impossible puzzle to solve to frustrate the children. Researchers brought into the room Researched how the kids reacted to frustration. Many children would come up to the doll and hit it, and ones hitting it were yelling kick it, hit it - the same words as the man whom they learned the behavior from. Revealed that kids can observe and learn from it. o Why people use this to argue to ban violent games and movies. o But learning behavior vs. performing it is different. Many of the kids were aggressive to the doll, others weren't aggressive. So how come some kids different? Did the other kids learn the behavior? o Did second experiment, set up TV that showed a bobo doll and someone being aggressive to it. But difference here was video showed afterwards that person was punished. Some of the kids again walked up to bobo doll and hit it. What about kids that didn't? § Researchers bribed kids, offered them stickers/juice if they imitate behavior. Kids were able to imitate the aggressive behavior. Concept called learning-performance distinction - learning a behaviour and performing it are 2 different things. § Not performing it doesn't mean you didn't learn it! • Am I motivated to learn something? o Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory - Attention, Memory, Imitation, Motivation. Acronym: "AM I Motivated?" o Ex. Want to teach you to draw a star. In order to learn it, need a long enough attention span, the memory to remember it, and be able to imitate it. Question is, are you motivated enough to do it? If you are, you do the action (draw the star).
Neurotic Defence Mechanisms
o Intellectualization - taking intellectual aspects and detaching to the emotional aspects of the situation. Separating emotion from ideas o Rationalization - making yourself believe you were not on fault - avoids blame to oneself o Regression - acting like a baby in some situations o Repression - unconscious process where thoughts pushed down to unconscious o Displacement - person anger at someone but displaces it to someone else o Reaction Formation - unconscious feelings that make person do complete opposite. RRRRID
Theory of planned behavior
o Intentions + Implications: We consider our implications of our actions before we decide on how to behave. T -The best predictor of our behavior is the strength of these intensions and implications. o Intensions are based on 3 things: 1. Our attitudes towards a certain behavior (ex. I like/favor studying), 2. Subjective norms - what we think others think about our behavior 3. Perceived behavioural control
Conversion Disorder
o Neurological symptoms that we see are incompatible with any known neurological or mental condition. We cannot explain these symptoms based on test or clinical exam. o The DSM-5 criteria for conversion disorder states the individual Must exhibit at least one symptom of altered voluntary motor or sensory function that shows internal inconsistency, causes distress or impairment, and cannot be explained by another mental or medical disorder -a condition in which you have physical symptoms of a health problem but no injury or illness to explain them
Opiates/Opioids
o Opiates - natural o Opioids - synthetic o Like depressants: Decrease CNS function, decrease HR/BP, cause relaxation, induce sleep (hence can be used to treat pain and anxiety). o BUT it is NOT a depressant. Work on different mechanisms at the neurochemical level o Analgesic - reduce perception of pain o ex. heroine, codeine, morphine, oxycodone o Used to treat pain because they act at body's receptor sites for endorphins. o Different class than depressants, even though overlapping for anxiety, rest act on GABA receptors while opiates act on endorphin Receptors o Lead to euphoria, why taken recreationally o An opiate binds to opioid receptors by mimicking endorphins. o Vasodilator, and pupillary constriction o Die by respiratory failure -can be used to treat pain/anxiety o Examples: Opiates: (acronym: T = Tree = Natural). Morphine/codeine o Opioids: oxycodone/hydrocodone (prescription), heroin o Act on endorphin receptors. NOT a DEPRESSANT but can be used for anxiety/pain o Used to treat pain (endorphins) o Euphoria o Methadone = treatment • Drugs and opiates can be addictive
Factitious Disorder
o Patients want to be sick. The patient will falsify or disease their signs or symptoms to get a diagnosis/treatment. -Ex. They might injure themselves, falsify tests. This is often called Munchausen's syndrome. o Munchausen's by proxy -when one person makes another person look ill so medical attention/treatment provided further for another individual -- like in "The Stranger" o People do this to be in sick role (not for money)
Deutch & Deutch's Late Selection Theory
o Places Broadband selective filter after perceptual processes. This means that you DO register and assign everything meaning but then selective filter decides what you pass on to conscious awareness. § Deutsch and Deutsch's late selection theory moved the selective filter from before perception to after the perceptual process. § Sensory register -> perceptual process -> selective filter -> Conscious o Some problems - This whole process has to occur quickly, but given limited resources of attention and knowing are brains are super-efficient it seems wasteful to spend all that effort assigning meaning to things first which you won't ever need.
Hormones can be:
o Protein/polypeptide: Small -> large (100) o Steroid: from cholesterol (lipid - not charged and can pass freely through membrane) o Tyrosine derivative: from tyrosine. Thyroid hormones and catecholamine's (adrenal medulla produces this)
prefrontal cortex
o Responsible for many higher-order functions, everything that distinguishes humans. Executive control - solve problems, make decisions, how you act in social situations. o Undergoes most development from birth o Helps manage how you behave in social situations o Phineas Gage had iron rod penetrate his prefrontal cortex. After incident, rude and rough, behaved inappropriately.
SNS and PNS
o SNS starts middle of spinal cord -> short axon synapses with short ganglia close to spine -> second neuron goes to the target cell (smooth, cardiac, gland cells) o PNS -> starts at the brain stem or bottom of spinal cord -> 1st neuron sends long axon -> synapse with ganglion of second neuron -> sends short axon to target cell § General - both have 2 chains of axons. SNS is short and then long. PNS is long and then short. § SNS - "Fight or Flight" - blood flow to intestine decreases -> goes to skeletal muscle; HR increases; sweat glands activated § PNS - Rest or Digest - blood flow to intestine increases; HR decreases; salivary glands activated
Type of Maladaptive Coping Mechanism: Avoidance
o Social withdrawal, Excessive autonomy: Copes through social isolation, disconnection, and withdrawal. -May demonstrate an exaggerated focus on independence and self-reliance, rather than involvement with others. -Sometimes retreats through private activities such as excessive tv watching, reading, recreational computing, or solitary work. o Compulsive Stimulation-seeking: Seeks excitement or distraction through compulsive shopping, sex, gambling, risk-taking, physical activity, novelty, etc. o Addictive Self-Soothing: Avoids through addictions involving the body, such as alcohol, drugs, overeating, excessive masturbation, etc. o Psychological Withdrawal: Copes through dissociation, numbness, denial, fantasy, or other internal forms of psychological escape CASP
Foot in the door phenomenon
o We have a tendency to agree to small actions first. Eventually over time comply with much larger actions. o Basic concept of how people are brainwashed too. Door is eventually pushed completely open over time. o Society behaviors strongly feed into your attitude.
Multitasking/divided attention
o What about talking on phone or texting while driving? Maybe not multitasking, just switching spotlight (attention) back and forth. § Results in a high # of car accidents o What about singing along to radio or talking to a passenger while driving? o Three factors have an influence our ability to perform multiple tasks at once: o Task similarity - ex. Listening to radio or listening to interview while writing a paper. Better to listen to classical music, because harder to multitask with similar tasks. Easier to multitask with music. o Task difficulty - harder tasks require more focus. Ex. Texting while driving is more difficult than talking to a passenger in a car. Also, you turn off/down radio in an unfamiliar town...because driving requires more focus/becomes a harder task when you don't know where you are going. o Practice - activities well practiced become automatic processes, or things that occur without need for attention. Whether task is automatic vs controlled is determined by the amount of practice. A controlled task is harder, and would struggle to complete if attention is divided. Automatic task occurs with greater experience.
Problems with Zimbardo Prison Study
o Zimbardo himself played role of prison warden (to observe behaviors of input), but by doing so he compromised his objectivity (not a neutral observer). He was so involved that he passively allowed a lot of unethical behavior. Why didn't stop? He himself thought they were faking it to get released. • Also, according to scientific methodology, this wasn't a good experiment. What were the operational definitions of dependent/independent variables? What was being manipulated, what was being measured, where were controls, etc.? Also small sample size? Different results if other people were involved? (Cant replicate so hard to know!) Also good example of demand characteristics (how much of behavior was influenced by how they thought experimenter wanted them to behave consciously or unconsciously). o Possible that all participants were acting the way that Zimbardo wanted them to act. • Also could have been affected by selection bias - no deception in study, so what kind of student willingly signs up to be in prison for 2 weeks? So, was this really random sample? • Overall: these criticisms don't discredit its results. The results of the study line up with other studies of conformity and obedience with stricter methodologies.
Availability vs. representativeness heuristic:
o availability = actual memories in mind, o representativeness = not thinking of exact memories, thinking of a prototype of idea (general typical concept)
Melodic Intonation Therapy (MIT)
objective: " to stimulate recovery of propositional speech skills of individuals who, despite relatively good auditory comprehension, are severely nonfluent in their ability to communicate even through single words -works best with non-fluent forms of aphasia
Distal stimuli
objects and events out in the world about you. Aware of and respond to this - this is what is important.
Neglect syndrome
occurs when damage to the brain causes a change or loss in the capacity of the spatial dimension of divided attention.
Baby boomers
people born between 1946 and 1964
Generation X
people born between 1965 and 1978
Flashbulb memories
people claimed to remember detail of what they were doing when they received news about an emotionally arousing event
Optimum Arousal Theory
people want to reach full arousal/alertness. Drive to get full arousal, and natural high - a state we enjoy. Ex. Why people go to amusement parks.
gender fluid
people who perceive gender as more of a continuum and not limited to two mutually exclusive categories
emotional intelligence
perceive, understand, and manage and use emotions in interactions with others.
Prodrome
period of time before schizophrenia before symptoms are actually present. o Deterioration in person's behavior and functioning. o Prodrome leads to schizophrenia Positive symptom: Hallucinations-sensory perceptions w/o stimuli like hearing or seeing not there. o Positive symptom: Delusions • Common schizophrenic delusions include: § Delusions of persecution - Belief that others, often a vague "they," are out to get him or her § Delusions of reference - A neutral environmental event is believed to have a special and personal meaning § Delusions of grandeur - Belief that one is a famous or important figure Delusions of control - Belief that one's thoughts or actions are being controlled by outside, alien forces, thought broadcasting, thought insertion, thought withdrawal
Group polarization
phenomenon where group decision-making amplifies the original opinion of group members. A stronger version of the decision is adopted. § For a view point to influence a groups final decision making: • All the views do not have equal influence. • Viewpoint is shared by majority of members of the group • Arguments made tend to favor popular/majority group view • Any criticism is directed towards minority view • Confirmation bias: group members seek out information that support the majority view.
Meso-level
population size falls between micro and macro levels. They are medium sized groups such as communities, organizations, cities, states, clans, and tribes
priming
previous experiences influence current interpretation of an event. refers to the change in the response towards a stimulus due to a subconscious memory effect. Priming is an implicit memory effect in which exposure to one stimulus (i.e., perceptual pattern) influences the response to another stimulus.
Priming
prior activation of nodes/associations, often without our awareness. Ex. hearing a story about apple and asked to name word starting with A. Ex: reading a story that is about rabbits and then hearing the word hair/hare - you are more likely to think of the word as hare.
Implicit Memories /Non-Declarative
procedural memories -formed unconsciously -non-declarative and unconscious, while explicit memories are declarative and conscious.
Dopamine
produced in the arcuate nucleus -dopamine released regulates the secretion prolactin by inhibiting its release in the anterior pituitary o Dopamine, produced in the substantia nigra, is transmitted from neuron soma to axons projecting into the caudate nucleus via the nigrostriatal pathway -Pathway associated w/ motor planning and purposeful movement o Dopamine, produced in the VTA is transmitted from the VTA to the pre-frontal cortex via the mesocortical pathway -pathway associated w/ cognition, affect, and negative symptoms of schizophrenia - The mesolimbic pathway is associated with reward, motivation, and many of the positive symptoms of schizophrenia
paraventricular nucleus
produces oxytocin (PVN, PVA, or PVH) is a neuronal nucleus in the hypothalamus. It contains groups of neurons that can be activated by stressful and/or physiological changes. Many PVN neurons project directly to the posterior pituitary where they release oxytocin or vasopressin into the general circulation. Other PVN neurons control various anterior pituitary functions, while still others directly regulate appetite and autonomic functions in the brainstem and spinal cord.
Hans Eysenck
proposed extroversion level is based on differences in the reticular formation (controls arousal and consciousness)- introverts are more aroused than extroverts so they seek lower levels of stimulation. -Allport said we have diff unique subsets, while Eysenck says we all have them but just express them in different degrees o Eysenck says we have 3 major dimensions of personality, which encompass all traits we all possess, but the degrees to which we individually express them are different. These 3 are: o Psychoticism -degree to which reality is distorted. o extroversion (vs. introversion) - degree of sociability o neuroticism -emotional stability § We do not all necessarily have psychoticism. o Use acronym: PEN (Eysenck's PEN)
Information processing model
proposes our brains are similar to computers. We get input from environment, process it, and output decisions. Doesn't describe where things happen in the brain. INPUT --> PROCESS --> OUTPUT o The information-processing model is a bottom-up or stimulus driven model. o The information-processing model assumes limited storage capacity. o The human brain is believed to have a limited capacity for attention. o The information-processing model assumes serial processing; however, the human brain has the capacity for parallel processing. o First stage is getting the input - occurs in sensory memory (sensory register). Where you first interact with information in your environment. Temporary register of all information your senses you're taking in. o Sensory Memory (Register): Two components based on type of input. You have iconic (memory for what you see, lasts half a second) and echoic (what you hear, lasts 3-4 seconds) memory. Defined by time.
diathesis-stress model
psychological theory that attempts to explain behavior as a predispositional vulnerability together with stress from life experiences. -a psychological theory that explains behavior as both a result of biological and genetic factors ("nature"), and life experiences ("nurture"). -Diathesis is the heriditary predispostion to a disorder -Stress is the environmental load put on the organism. This theory is often used to describe the pronunciation of mental disorders, like schizophrenia, that are produced by the interaction of a vulnerable hereditary predisposition, with precipitating events in the environment. This theory was originally introduced as a means to explain some of the underlying causes of schizophrenia
2 different ways a person can conform
publicly or privately. o If you privately conform- change behaviors and opinions to align with group. § Ex: If you privately conformed to the shock collar, you would leave the situation with a genuine belief that the best way to train a dog is with a shock collar o If publicly conform - you're outwardly changing but inside you maintain core beliefs. You only outwardly agree with the group. § Ex: you agree to the shock color in the group situation but you also know that the treats is a more effective route. You are not convinced. When you are alone you train the dog with a treat.
Gestalt Principle: Pragnanz
reality organized reduced to simplest form possible. Ex. Olympic rings, where the brain automatically organizes these into 5 circles, instead of more complex shapes.
Low-effort syndrome or low-effort coping
refers to the coping responses of minority groups in an attempt to fit into the dominant culture. For example, minority students at school may learn to put in only minimal effort as they believe they are being discriminated against by the dominant culture.
confidence level
refers to the percentage of all possible samples that can be expected to include the true population parameter. For example, suppose all possible samples were selected from the same population, and a confidence interval were computed for each sample. -A 95% confidence level implies that 95% of the confidence intervals would include the true population parameter
Normative culture
refers to values and behaviors that are in line with larger societal norms (like avoidance of crime).
Pancreas
regulates blood sugar. Not tied to pituitary gland. • Concentration: very low concentration (pictograms/mL). Hormones go everywhere but are only picked up by cells that have receptors
Intuition
relying on instinct. High chance of error
Evolutionary Approach to Motivation
role instincts play in motivation. What do humans do to survive? What is not-learned and just instinct § Ex. Think about baby, cries, sleep, eat. Basic instincts that all humans have.
Thalamus
sensory relay station, everything you hear/taste/etc. Senses come through your nerves and end up in thalamus, which directs them to appropriate areas in cortex, and other areas of the brain. Emotions contingent on senses. Smell is only one that bypasses the thalamus - goes to areas closer to amygdala
Symbolic Interactionism
society is a product of everyday interactions of individuals. Looking at how people behave in normal everyday situations and helps us to better understand and define deviance. • Views of deviance include theory of differential association, labeling theory, and strain theory -Examines small scale (or micro level) social interactions, focusing attention on how shared meaning is established among individuals or small groups • "explains social phenomena in terms of the meanings that they hold when people interact with one another. • Addresses the subjective meanings people believe to be true - meaning is the central aspect of human behavior.
Parietal lobe
somatosensory cortex (touch/pressure/pain), spatial manipulation (orient in 3D) o SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX: motor cortex (frontal) + Somatosensory cortex (parietal). Somatosensory cortex - Involved in receiving sensory signals from the skin
Anterior chamber
space filled with aqueous humour, which provides pressure to maintain shape of eyeball; allows nutrients and minerals to supply cells of cornea/iris.
Tonotopy
spatial arrangement of where sounds of different frequency are processed in the brain
Fovea
special part of macula. Completely covered in cones, no rods. *Rest of the retina is covered in primarily rods.
Moderating Variable
specifies conditions under which a given predictor is related to an outcome. The moderator explains 'when' a dependent and independent variable are related. A moderator variable is one that influences the strength of a relationship between two other variables.
Nicotine
stimulant -Increase HR/BP. also disrupts sleep and can suppress appetite (why some people gain weight when they quit smoking) o At high levels, nicotine can cause muscles to relax and release stress-reducing neurotransmitters (to counteract hyper alertness). o Nicotine is a CNS stimulant, which works as an acetylcholine receptor agonist -Withdrawal symptoms: Nicotine: (more addictive than coffee) Anxiety, insomnia, irritability, distractibility
Richard Lazarus - Stress
stress arises less from physical events but more from the assessment/interpretation of those stresses/events. Appraisal. This is the Appraisal theory of stress. There are two stages to the cognitive stages of stress - the primary appraisal and the secondary appraisal.
social coping
stress-reducing technique that involves seeking both instrumental and emotional support from others
Ethology
study of animal behavior
Authoritarian parenting
style of parenting in which parent is rigid and overly strict, showing little warmth to the child
Group meetings
such as AA (alcohol anonymous) or NA (narcotics anonymous) involve 12-step program that help people go through process of recovery. o Three categories of 12 steps: o Acceptance -acknowledge addiction is a chronic progressive diseases that you can't control on your own. "I have a problem" o Surrender - give yourself over to higher power and accept help offered through that power and group o Active Involvement in meetings/activities - can include helping other addicts o Steps are sequential but one can experience certain steps repeatedly over time
Empathy-Altruism Hypothesis
suggests some people are altruistic due to empathy. -High empathy = high in altruistic behaviors. Those who score higher on empathy are more altruistic
Ecstasy/MDMA/Molly
synthetic drug between a stimulant and hallucinogen. o Like stimulant - Increases dopamine and serotonin and euphoria. Also stimulates the body's CNS. Effects include: high BP, dehydration, overheating, death § Can damage neurons that produce serotonin, which has several functions including moderating mood. No serotonin = depressed mood o Causes hallucinogen - hallucinations and heightened sensations, ex. artificial feeling of social connectedness and intimacy
Evolutionary game theory
tells us those with best fit to environment will survive and pass on to offspring and those genes will become more common in successive generations An important difference between evolutionary game theory and general game theory: § Game theory involves intention, where participants reasoning about behaviours of others. § Evolutionary game theory different because decisions might not have a conscious intention on part of players.
Homophily
tendency for people to form social networks, including friendships, marriage, business relationships, and many other types of relationships, with others who are similar
Door in the Face Phenomenon
tendency for people who won't agree to a large task, but then agree when a smaller request is made
Generalization
tendency/ability of a stimulus similar to conditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response, and more similar the stimulus is to original conditioned stimulus -the greater the conditioned response. o Has an adaptive value. o Generalization allows us to make appropriate response to similar stimuli
Meditation
training people to self-regulate their attention and awareness. Can be guided and focused on something in particular, like breathing, but meditation can also be unfocussed - mind wanders freely. o More alpha waves than normal relaxation in light meditation. o In deep meditation have increased theta waves in brain (only experts typically) o No long term studies. But those who regularly go to deep meditation, have shown increased activity in prefrontal cortex, right hippocampus, and right anterior insula - increased attention control (the goal of meditation). o Can be helpful for people with ADHD, or in aging.
Dementia
term for decline in memory and other cognitive functions to the point of interfering with normal daily life - results from excessive damage to brain tissue, ex. From strokes or other causes. o Most common form is Alzheimer's Disease (AD) -Neurons die off over time and as neurons die off, cerebral cortex shrinks in size. § Alzheimer's disease is a progressive brain disorder that affects different aspects of memory over time. § Earliest symptoms are memory loss, particularly difficulty to retrieve or decode recent memories. • In the early stages, most patients have difficulty remembering the name of a person they just met (loss of short term memory), most patients can still remember details about their childhood (episodic), how to use objects (implicit procedural), and general info that they've learned throughout their life (semantic) § Other symptoms are difficulties with: attention, planning, semantic memory, and abstract thinking. As it progresses, more severe language difficulties appear and greater memory loss, such as inability to recognize close family and friends. • They initially have trouble with short term memory, which eventually progresses into problems with long-term memory (like episodic, procedural, and semantic memory loss) § Continual progression might lead to: emotional instability and loss of control over bodily functions. § Cause is unknown and diseases is terminal § Buildup of amyloid plaques in brain.
Discriminant validity
tests whether concepts or measurements that are not supposed to be related are actually unrelated
Mass Society Theory
the basic idea is that people who are socially isolated are especially vulnerable to the appeals of extremist movements -Skepticism about groups that were involved in social movement, said social movements would only form for people seeking refuge from main society. Ex. Nazism, Fascism, Stalinism (social movements in 20th century that destroyed millions of lives). [People who joined social movements were dysfunctional, irrational, and dangerous]. -Theory did not persist. People only join to satisfy a psychological need for involvement -mass society: a society whose members are characterized by having segmentalized, impersonal relations, a high degree of physical and social mobility, a spectator relation to events, and a pronounced tendency to conform to external popular norms.
Context
the environment you encode and take the test (retrieve the information) is helpful. . Not always the case, so if you can't take test in same place, studying in different places gives you diff cues for retrieval - so multiple cues that will help you remember the material. Ex: Scuba divers learnt info in water or on land, then later tested in water or land. Those people who learned and were tested in the same place scored better than learning in one location than getting tested in another.
Frustration Aggression Hypothesis
the extent to which people feel frustrated predicts the likelihood that they will act aggressively
perceived similarity
the extent to which the individual believes his or her partner is similar on important characteristics
Construct validity
the extent to which variables measure what they are supposed to measure -describes the extent to which the theory is supported by the data or results of the research
Racialization
the formation of a new racial identity by drawing ideological boundaries of difference around a formerly unnoticed group of people -Racial identity ascribed to a minority group
Source amnesia
the inability to remember where, when or how previously learned information has been acquired, while retaining the factual knowledge.
Proximal stimuli
the patterns of stimuli from these objects and events that actually reach your senses (eyes, ears, etc.). It is the light that is actually falling on the retina
Fecundity
the potential reproductive capacity of a female
Cultural relativism
the practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of one's own culture. Judge and understand another culture from within their culture - o No absolute right or wrong, but we have different cultures which are themselves valid.
Kin selection
the process by which evolution selects for individuals who cooperate with their relatives -people act more altruistically to close/kin than distant/non-kin people
Role Exit
the process of disengagement from a role that is central to one's self-identity in order to establish a new role and identity
manifest functions
the recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern
Impersonality
the removal of personal feelings from a professional situation
Social epidemiology
the study of how health and disease are distributed throughout a society's population
Barbiturates
used to induce sleep or reduce anxiety (calm them down) Depress your CNS. Anesthesia or anticonvulsant (drugs that reduce seizures) § Not often prescribed due to negative side effects such as reduced memory, judgement and concentration, with alcohol can lead to death (most drugs w/ alcohol are bad) § -barbital -used to be called a tranquilizer. Depressant. o Induce sleep, reduce anxiety. o Side effects: reduced memory + judgement + concentration o Combined with alcohol = leads to death
Hypnotism
usually involves getting person to relax and focus on breathing, and they become more susceptible to suggestion in this state - but only if they want to. More alpha waves in this stage - an awake but relaxed state. o Some use hypnosis to retrieve memories, very dangerous because memories are malleable; can create false memories o Some people feel that hypnosis can control pain. o 2 theories for how it works: Dissociation Theory (hypnotism is an extreme form of divided consciousness) and the Social Influence Theory (people do and report what's expected of them, like actors caught up in their roles) o Refocused attention: sometimes it's used to treat pain. Reduced activity in areas that process sensory input. Although it doesn't block it out, it might inhibit attention that inhibit.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
want to satisfy needs in particular order. o There are 5 needs. § Acronyms: Please Stop Liking Stupid Shit • 1. Physiological - food, water, breathing, sleep. Essential to survive. Basic need • 2. Safety - safety of employment, health, resources, property • 3. Love - need to belong, acceptance from friends/family intimacy, love • 4. Self-esteem -feel confident and sense of achievement, recognition, competence of skill. Respect. • 5. Self-actualization - one reaching their maximal potential, achieving the most one can be
In-attentional blindness - aka Perceptual Blindness
we aren't aware of things not in our visual field when our attention is directed elsewhere in that field. "miss something right in front of you" o In-attentional blindness is the inability to recognize an unexpected object, event, or stimulus that is in 'plain sight'. This is due to a psychological lapse in attention, rather than a defect or deficit in sensory perception. o Ex: you can't say where the nearest fire extinguisher is because you fail to notice it because your attention is typically elsewhere. This is true even though fire extinguishers are brightly colored and essential to survival (which should bring them to your attention)
Chunking
we group info we're getting into meaningful categories we already know to ease memorization. o Ex: Chunk the following list : bananas, oranges, blueberries, bread, rice, chicken, peanuts, baking soda, flour, eggs, butter § Bananas, orange, blueberries = fruits § Bread, rice = grains § Chicken , peanuts = proteins § Baking soda, flour, eggs, butter = baking supplies § Example Illustrates that it's easier to remember things if they are chunked/tied together in some way.
Important agents of socialization
what's used to transmit (pass around) culture, values, beliefs about acceptable behaviors, and beliefs. Agents include people, organizations, and institutions that help us learn about our social world. o Examples of Agents of Socialization: popular culture, family, and religion. o Our family - most important agent of socialization. When you are a child, totally dependent on others to survive. Your parents teach you how to care for yourself, how close relationships work, their beliefs/values/norms, how to talk to others. § Malcom Gladwell's Book "Outlier" - Looks at how family plays a role in socialization. How wealthy parents raise kids vs. less fortunate parents raise children. One example is trip to doctor's office- wealthy parents encouraged to ask questions, while kids less fortunate unlikely to criticize doctor. Wealthy kids encouraged to challenge authority, while less wealthy kids taught to listen to authority. Shows us how kids are raised and how it affects their interactions with others (in this case authority). o School is important. Schools teach life skills along with science and math- don't learn from academic curriculum, but learn social skills from interactions with teachers and other students - We learn the importance of obeying authority, act interested, learn to be quiet, to wait etc. Part of the "hidden curriculum": standard behaviors that are deemed acceptable that are subtly taught by teachers. o Peers teach us develop our social behaviours. Peers values and behaviors contradict values of our families/parents at times, and influence us. Peer pressure. How our values of our peers influence us. § We must decide on what values to keep and what values to get rid off § Ex. Peers pressure us to drink/do drugs as teenagers. What movies/music we watch and listen to. o Mass media - television, internet, radio, book, magazines. When you are young, you learn things through mass media that parents would not approve of. Today, children are exposed to a lot of content intended for mature audiences - violent TV shows. Enforces gender and other stereotypes. Ex: Children's books is another agent of socialization.
Anxious avoidance
when a person avoids anxiety provoking situations by all means. This is the most common strategy
Sensitization
when a person seeks to learn about, rehearse, and/or anticipate fearful events in a protective effort to prevent these events from occurring in the first place.
Obstructive Sleep Apnea
when airways are obstructed. Soft tissues around our neck can relax at night and potentially cause obstruction of airflow for a short period of time. Gets worse as people get older. • At nighttime, this causes snoring or gasping or pauses in breathing. • At daytime, people are tired/sleepy and unrefreshed Diagnosed by: Sleep study (a polysomnography) and looking for 15+ "apneas"/hour (Apnea - lack of airflow).
Non-associative learning
when an organism is repeatedly exposed to one type of stimulus, ex. habituation and sensitization. In habituation, person tunes out the stimulus. Dishabituation occurs when previously habituated stimulus is removed. Sensitization is increase in responsiveness to a repeated stimulus.
Associative learning
when one event is connected to another, ex. classical and operant conditioning.
Identification
when people act/dress a certain way to be like someone they respect. Will do this as long as they maintain respect for that individual
Addiction
when searching for coping mechanisms there are good options and bad options. These terrible options lead to addiction often. ex. Alcohol, tobacco, etc. § Impairment to frontal cortex (reasoning), so impaired judgement can increase likelihood of inappropriate coping mechanisms
Informational Social Influence
when we conform because we feel others are more knowledgeable than us, because we think they know something we don't
Role strain
when you can't carry out all obligations of a status, tensions within one status. Causes individual to be pulled many directions by one status, ex. a student has to write two papers, five reading assignments, give a speech, two lab reports in one week.
Withdrawal
when you stop after using for prolonged time. We get withdrawal symptoms. Can become sick or ill, or it can be fatal (depending on the substance/drug) -Two Stages: acute and post-acute
Circadian Rhythms
why you get sleepy in afternoon. They're our regular body rhythms across 24-hour period. Controlled by melatonin, produced in the pineal gland. o Control our body temperature, sleep cycle, etc. o Daylight is big queue, even artificial light. o Also change as you age - younger people are night owls, but older people go to bed early.
Theory by Karl Marx
workers in working class don't realize they're being exploited and oppressed by this capitalistic model of working o Workers can develop class consciousness, and realize they have solidarity with one another and struggle to overcome this oppression and exploitation. Involves seizing and obtaining means and redistributing the means of production among the workers. o False consciousness - unlike class consciousness, instead of seeing they have solidarity with one another, they're unable to see their oppression. And owners can promote this false consciousness by controlling classes, making it more difficult for workers to see their oppression
State-dependent
your state at the moment you encode. When you are in a certain mood when you encode you can then remember it when you are in the same mood
Endocrine response
§ Adrenal glands - • The adrenal medulla release catecholamine's (epinephrine/adrenaline and norepinephrine/noradrenaline). -Developed from ectoderm. • The adrenal cortex release glucocorticoid (cortisol) - steroid hormone redistributes glucose energy in body and suppressing immune system -Developed by endoderm. • Play a role in development of muscles/bones. o Tend and befriend response - sometimes better response to stress is to have support systems. Oxytocin is important for this - peer bonding and moderates the stress response. Oxytocin is strongly linked to estrogen (a major sex hormone in women), so why this response is stronger in women
3 main parts of external attribution
§ Consistency (does person usually behave this way) § Distinctiveness (does person behave differently in different situations) § Consensus (do others behave similarly in situation?). • If person behaves different in different situations (distinctive) and others behave similarly in the same situation (consensus) then we know the behavior is due to the situation (external). Situation is effecting behavior
Drugs Biological Aspect
§ Genetic: family member or family history/genetic predisposition - then you have a higher chance of abusing the drug. § withdrawal and cravings, § biochemical factors - imbalance in our brains § Drugs like marijuana and heroin mimic neurotransmitters of our brain. Cocaine causes the abnormal release of natural NTs like dopamine - affects our limbic system. • Dopamine overstimulates/activates our brain limbic system (which controls movement, emotion, motivation, pleasure). Why we perceive emotions and mood altering properties of drugs. We become in a state of euphoria - total happiness. o If we continue to use a drug, we abuse the drug. Reinforcing effect - we want to constantly stimulate the brain by using drugs.
Theories of Emotion (Recap)
§ James-Lange: physiological -> emotion § Cannon-Bard: physiological + emotion § Schachter-Singer: physiological + cognitive -> emotion § Lazarus: cognitive -> emotion + physiological
Food (eating) biological aspect
§ Lateral Hypothalamus: In normal conditions, LH sends positive signal to us to start eating § Ventromedial Hypothalamus: it signals to us to stop eating -Lectin present in high amounts in blood when full (appetite suppressing hormone)
Anger
§ Meyer Friedman and Ray Rosenman were testing notion that stress is associated with increased vulnerability to heart disease, and when they interviewed the patients during their study and characterized them as either Type A or Type B. § Type A is easily angered individuals, aggressive, competitive § Type B is easy going
Parasympathetic: "rest and digest" effects
§ Pupils constrict § Increased Salvation § Decrease respiratory rate/decreased heart rate (back to normal) § Increase glucose storage (digesting food) § Decrease in adrenalin § Increase digestion
3 main types of innate behavior:
§ Reflexes - Sensory and motor nerve loop response w/o thinking. (ex. Knee-jerk response. § Orientation Behaviors - regulating specially in our environments • Ex. Kinesis, our change in speed (orthokinesis), change in rate in turning (klinokinesis). Can be in response to a stimulus (like tripping on a sidewalk - your body would change speed/kinesis). § Fixed-action pattern (FAP) - sequence of coordinated movement performed without interruption. Similar to a reflex, but more complicated
3 different components of self concept
§ Self-image: what we believe we are. The view we have of ourselves. § Self-esteem/self-worth: how much value we place on ourselves § Ideal-self: what we wish/aspire to be § When the ideal self and real self are similar, the result is a positive self-concept. § When the ideal self does not match the real self, the result is incongruity.
Theory of General Intelligence
§ Theorist: • Charles Spearman § Summary: • Used factor analysis to identify cluster of related abilities • 1 general intelligence • g factor - can predict our intelligence in multiple academic areas § Strength/Evidence: • Theory highly supported by research. • Those who score high in one area also score highly in other areas. • Ex. scoring high in verbal intelligence correlated to high special reasoning. § Problems: • Controversial • Can one factor explain all of the diverse human abilities? • Limited in what it considers to be intelligence.
Theory of Multiple Intelligence
§ Theorist: • Howard Gardner § Summary: • Expanded ideas of what can be included in intelligence. • Gardner divided into 7 then 9 independent intelligence (they don't depend on each other and hence intelligence in 1 area does not predict intelligence in another); • logical-mathematical intelligence, verbal-linguistic, spatial-visual, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical. Later 2 added: naturalist, and existential intelligence. § Strength/Evidence: • You can have different strengths independently. • Intelligence is more than just "book smarts." § Problems: • No way to test this theory (not supported by research). • Intelligence vs. talents/abilities (but maybe this is just a labeling)
Theory of Primary Mental Abilities
§ Theorist: • L.L. Thurnstone § Summary: • 7 factors of intelligence: word fluency, verbal comprehension, spatial reasoning, perceptual speed, numerical ability, inductive reasoning, and memory. § Strength/Evidence: • Breakdown seems intuitive • Ex. Possible to have high inductive skills w/o high verbal comprehension § Problems: • How can scores vary together statistically (suggests underlying intelligence factor)? • Limited in what it considers to be intelligence.
Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
§ Theorist: • Robert Sternberg § Summary: • 3 independent intelligences • based on real world success: analytical (problem solving ability), creative intelligence, and practical intelligence. § Strength/Evidence: • Reliable, easy to study by research. § Problems: • Research shows that scores of all intelligences vary together. • Are these 3 sides of the same coin?
Internal Factors that Influence Conformity and Obedience
§ prior commitments (if we say something earlier that goes against group, we will decrease conformity because we are less likely to say something different later. If we said something earlier that is along the lines of the group, we will have increased conformity because we will say the same thing now § feelings of insecurity - more likely to follow judgements of others (conformity)
Sympathetic: "result due to fear" - effects
§ pupils dilate (want to be able to see better/bring in more light), § Decrease in salivation (nervous when you are doing public speaking) § increase respiration rate (more O2) § increase heart rate (more O2) § Increase glucose release (more energy) § Increase adrenaline (epinephrine) and norepinephrine § Decrease in digestion (takes too much energy, want to divert energy to other areas)
Sex (sexual response) Sociocultural Aspect
§ varied sexual response due too: age, cultural background (certain practices acceptable in certain cultures but not others), stimulus (determined by how responsive we are to visual/tactile stimuli), emotions (psychological influence), and desires (to procreate or not).
Operant Conditioning: Shaping
• "I want to learn to do a headstand" - emphasize learn. Learning through successively reinforcing behaviors that approximate the target behavior is shaping. • What is the target behavior? The final behavior you wish to train. Ex. headstand. o Showing up to yoga class, won't necessarily make you learn it. o Next, put hands on mat (downward dog). Then forearms on mat. Each is then reinforced behavior until next step. o Finally, put legs up - the target. • Example of Shaping: To teach a bird to perform a complex task (spin in a circle and press a button) you might reward it at varying steps through the process over time. So, for example, you might give it a treat every time it turns a little. After a while you only give it a treat when it makes a full circle. After this you only give it a treat if it makes a full circle and maybe bends towards the button. Finally, you reward the bird only for completing the full task. In this way, it learns to perform a different part of the task in small intervals. Another example is a dog who can shake hands/roll over on commands.
Erikson's Psychosocial Development
• Another key difference between his and Freud's theory was he suggested there was plenty of room for growth throughout one's life (not just childhood). ▪ 1st Stage (0-1): Trust vs Mistrust. Infant's physical and emotional needs must be met, otherwise will later mistrust the world and relationships ▪ 2nd Stage (1-3): Toddler must resolve crisis of autonomy vs shame and doubt. Needs to explore and make mistakes, otherwise will be dependent as an adult. ▪ 3rd Stage (3-6): Preschool-age must resolve the crisis of initiative vs guilt. Needs to be let to make decisions, or may be guilty taking initiative and will allow others to choose, as an adult. ▪ 4th Stage (6-12): School-age child must resolve crisis of industry vs inferiority. Needs to succeed in school and attain personal goals, or may feel inadequate as an adult ▪ 5th Stage (12-18): adolescent child must resolve crisis of identity vs role confusion. If he does not test limits and clarify his identity, goals, and life meaning, he will develop role confusion. ▪ 6th Stage (18-35): Young adult faces the crisis of intimacy vs isolation. If a person does not form intimate relationships at this stage, he may become alienated and isolated ▪ 7th Stage (35-60): middle age person must resolve crisis of generativity vs stagnation. If he does not feel productive by helping the next generation and resolving differences between actual accomplishments and earlier dreams, he may become stuck in psychological stagnation. ▪ 8th Stage: later life, person must resolve crisis of integrity vs despair. If person looks back with regrets and a lack of personal worth, he may feel hopeless, guilty, and self-loathing
Long Term Potentiation and Synaptic Plasticity
• Brain doesn't grow new cells to store memories - connections between neurons strengthen. Called long-term potentiation (LTP), one example of synaptic plasticity. • Neurons communicate using electrochemical signals - through synapse. Pre-synaptic neurons release neurotransmitters on post-synaptic neurons, allowing Na+ and Ca2+ to flow in. • With repeated stimulation, the same pre-synaptic neuron stimulation converts into greater post-synaptic neuron potential- stronger synapse, and when it lasts long time it is called long-term potentiation. This is how learning occurs! • In LTP, the same presynaptic stimulation will elicit a stronger and stronger response in the postsynaptic neuron. This mechanism is what allows for facilitated recollection. o In this mechanism, equal levels of presynaptic stimulation result in greater postsynaptic potential o The greater the postsynaptic potential, the more ion channels will open in the neuron. This will result in a stronger neural response.
The Old Brain
• Brain needs to take care of survival at the minimum. • Brain structures are building on itself (on top of old ones); Inside of brain = older structures/most simple • Superficial = higher order • Old Brain: o brainstem. (mostly covered by brain) and is the medulla and pons o Reticular formation: from brainstem to other brain areas. It filters info and sends important info to the thalamus. Sleep/wake cycle (arousal) o Thalamus (above brainstem) relay station (eye/ear info) goes to thalamus. o Cerebellum - coordinates voluntary movement
dopamine
• Brain releases neurotransmitter called dopamine. Produced in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), in the midbrain. o VTA sends dopamine to the amygdala (controls emotions), nucleus accumbens (NAcc , controls motor functions), prefrontal cortex (focus attention and planning), and hippocampus (part of the temporal lobe, involved in memory formation). o NAcc, amygdala and hippocampus are part of the mesolimbic pathway. (HAN) • Different stimuli active circuit to diff degrees. • VTA releases dopamine to parts of brain that have dopamine uptake receptors- o Amygdala (connected to hippocampus that controls emotion) says this was enjoyable. o Hippocampus remembers everything about this environments so we can do it again o nucleus accumbens - controls motor function o Prefrontal cortex focuses attention o You do it again, dopamine is released and you have continued pleasure. • At same time dopamine goes up (increase sense of euphoria), serotonin goes down.
Major Motor Milestones
• Children come into the world with Reflexes: Pre-programmed motor skills. Involuntary motor movement/automatic. • Over time, there are voluntary movements that developed. This happens quickly. o 2-4 months: heads up/chests up o 2- 5months: roll over o 5-8 months: sit up o 5-10 months: stand with support (furniture/people) o 6-11 months: pull up to standing position o 7-12 months: children are able to crawl o 7-13 months: walk while holding onto furniture o 10-14 months: Stand on their own o 11-15 months: walk alone o Skill can develop in a wide range of time. There are many individual differences. 50% will develop before, 50% after! (it's usually a median number that is given)!
Sociocultural/Environment factors of depression
• Co-rumination/Empathy: having a friend/roommate/partner with depression can increase likelihood of individuals around you getting depression. Might be due to people talking about problems and the negatives of them instead of how to solve them. You also take on the (empathize) with the emotions of those close to you. This empathy might cause depression. • Low Socioeconomic status or those who lost a job/struggling to keep a job have a higher risk of developing depression • Social isolation/child abuse • Internalization of prejudice = higher likelihood of depression o Ex. You grow up in a household that has negative attitudes toward homosexuality and you start to like people of the same sex. This can lead to depression
Brainstem
• Connects all parts of the brain together, including the cranial nerves • Midbrain, pons, medulla (also called medulla oblongata) • Neuron somas scattered throughout brainstem is the reticular formation - big role in autonomic functions, and controlling things like respiration, digestion, and lower/higher functions. • Long tracts - collections of axons connecting cerebrum and brainstem. 2 long tracts that are important: motor (UMNs), and somatosensory. • Cranial nerves - most of cranial nerves are attached to the brainstem, doing many things. 12 pairs. All sorts of functions.
Cerebellum
• Coordinates movement: motor plan info is sent to cerebellum, also receives position sense information (ex. Muscle stretch fibres), and sends feedback to the cerebellum and motor areas of motor cortex. • Middle of cerebellum coordinates middle body movement and walking, while the sides are involved in movements of the limbs - arms and legs. -Also speech and movement of eyes.
Dream Theories - Freud and Activation Synthesis Hypothesis
• Do our dreams have a meaning? o Sigmund Freud's theory of dreams says dreams represent our unconscious § What happens? Literal meaning. Manifest content. • ex. Monster chasing you § What is hidden meaning? Latent content. • ex. Job pushing you out. § Dreams have meaning. Interpreting them can help us resolve and identify hidden conflict. o Activation Synthesis Hypothesis § Brain gets a lot of neural impulses in brainstem, which is sometimes interpreted by the frontal cortex. § Brainstem = activation, and cortex = synthesis. § Our brain is simply trying to find meaning from random brain activity. Therefore dreams might not have meaning.
Three Components of Emotion and the Universal Emotions
• Emotions are subjective experiences accompanied by physiological, behavioural, and cognitive changes. All interrelated. Every emotion produces different physiological changes in the body which can include changes in patterns of brain activation, neurotransmitter production, autonomic nervous system activity
Dissociate Identity Disorder
• Formerly called multiple personality disorder • Two or more distinct personalities exist in a single body • The two identities are distinct from each other. Each has its own: o mannerisms, o emotional responses, o distinct "physical changes" -not actually different physical differences but one identity could identify as right handed and another as left handed o Denial - denying the existence of the other identity
Gray and White Matter
• Gray matter contains most of the neuron somas. • White matter contains myelinated axons. • In spinal cord, grey is on inside and white matter on outside. • For brain --> differ: White on inside and grey on outside. Axons go down tracts of white matter
Physical Effects of Stress
• Heart o Increased B.P, hypertension (HBP) • Metabolism o During stress, body secretes cortisol and glucagon, which converts glycogen to glucose. Glucose increases in our blood which remains floating around in blood vessels o Too much blood sugar can also cause heart disease • Reproductive o shut down during stress response. o In women - FSH/LH and then estrogen/progesterone can be inhibited which reduce reproductive abilities o Boys have a reduced testosterone • Immune Function o Causes inflammation - acute stress can lead to overuse of immune system o Chronic stress: stop activating immune system response and it suppresses you
Sleep Disorders
• Interesting more sleep = less accidents, less sleep = more accidents o Also more susceptible to obesity - body makes more cortisol, and the hunger hormone (ghrelin). o Can also increase your risk for depression. REM sleep helps brain process emotional experiences, which can help protect against depression (not certain about this link). o Can get back on track by paying back "sleep debt" (paying back sleep) o An infant (age 4 months to 11 months) should get at least 12 hours. o A preschooler (age 3 to 5 years old) should get at least 10 hours of sleep a night. o A school age child (age 6 to 13 years old) should get at least 9 hours of sleep a night. o Older adults = at least 7 hrs
Language and the Brain
• Language is divided into many sub functions • 90% of people, language is in left hemisphere (both right and left handed people!) -Whatever is dominant, 2 main areas are Broca's area (speak/language expression, frontal lobe) and Wernicke's area (temporal lobe (sound processing), understand)
Milgram Studies on Obedience
• Milgram studies were done to study the willingness of participants to obey authority figures that instructed them to perform behaviors that conflicted with their personal beliefs and morals. • Deceived study participants • When participants arrived at lab, participants were told the study they were participating in was going to be looking at effects of punishment on memory/learning o In the study there was the experimenter, one confederate (in on the study) participant, and another participant (real participant) -Between the two experiments, they "randomly" decided who was going to be the learner and who was going to be the teacher; confederate always got learner role, and real experiment got the teacher role -learner would be shocked whenever they gave the wrong answer § Whenever the learner made error, teacher was instructed to give shocks with increasing increments with each wrong answer § At the first couple shocks, the learner would not elicit much of a reaction; After several increasing shocks, learner would cry out in pain/pound out on wall § Finally, all responses from learner would cease and only silence o Teacher instructed to continue by experimenter when teacher looked @ experimenter for guidance o Experiment stopped when teacher had 4 verbal protests about the study or when they gave the 450V shock three times. • Results: 65% of participants shocked all the way; teachers had protested and were trembling, but still obeyed commander and shocked to 450V
Biological Basis of Alzheimer's disease
• Most common disorder in dementia category, or neurocognitive disorders • Loss of cognitive functions • Memory decreases • Normal motor functions are fine until later stages where they lose basic activities of daily living (ADL) • Brain tissue has decreased in size significantly - shriveled up, atrophy (cerebrum dramatically decreases) • Starts in temporal lobes, important for memory • Later, atrophy spreads to parietal and frontal lobes • Under microscope, 3 main abnormalities: loss of neurons, plaques (amyloid) and tangles (neurofibrillary tangles, clumps of a protein tau. • Group of neurons at base of cerebrum, called the nucleus basalis is often lost early - important for cognitive functions - send long axons to cerebral cortex and through cerebrum, and release acetylcholine. • Things that decrease it - higher education, challenging jobs with difficult thinking
Noam Chomsky
• Nativist (innatist/Biological) perspective - children are born with ability to learn language. Associated with Noam Chomsky. Thought humans had a language acquisition device (LAD) that allowed them to learn language. Idea that this ability exists - all languages shared universal grammar (same basic elements like nouns, verb, etc.) So LAD enables child to pick up on understand/pick up on those types of words and their organization within a sentence for any language. o Goes along with idea there's a "critical period" (also called sensitive period), thought to be from birth to age 8-9, the period of time a child is most able to learn a language. After that, becomes harder because LAD only operates in that critical period. Once you start using it, LAD starts specializing for your language and unable to detect others.
Asch Conformity Studies (Asch Line Studies)
• One of most famous conformity experiments. • Was interested in studying how group behavior can influence behavior of an individual. o First trial, each participant everyone gives what is obviously right answer o Third trial, answer remains just as obvious, but the first participant gives the wrong answer. The second group member than gives the same wrong answer. • The study found: 75% of participants give the wrong answer (conform to the wrong answer) at least once and 37% conform every single time the group does o Example of Normative social influence: Most participants said the answer they gave was incorrect but went along with it because they would otherwise feel ridiculed by the group. o Example of Informational Social Influence: Some study participants conformed because they doubted their own response.
What Can We Learn from Milgram Experiment?
• One of most famous psychological study • Regular everyday people will comply with an authority figure even if it goes against their moral values and harming others. • Study has been replicated, and results remain same, no matter what country/time period/location. Full compliance always hovered at 61-66% • Study was perceived to be unethical today and at the time too in the 1960s. o Milgram was denied tenure at Harvard and kept from entering lots of academic institutions because of the negative perceptions associated with the experiment. • Things we should avoid: o Many participants really felt ashamed about what they had done, but even ashamed participants tended to speak poorly of the victims - he wouldn't have been shocked if he answered correctly/was smarter, the "just world phenomenon" - idea that universe is fair so people must get what they deserve - belief good things happen to good people, and vice versa (bad things happen to bad people). Some people use this to justify their actions. Assuming things had gone bad to the victim because he was deficient. o Also, many participants were comforted by passing responsibility of actions to others (when experimenter said they'd take full responsibility and participant would not be responsible for the harm, participants felt more comfortable). "I was just following orders". (seen in other cases of atrocities) o Is there a way we can stop this from happening, stop us from obeying authority in these controversial situations? § Be aware of the just world phenomena- and try to stop ourselves from making judgements about people for being in the situations they are in. For example: Stop thinking that people are poor because they didn't do well in school, didn't work hard enough, and didn't care enough. Stop believing in the just world phenomena. § Remind ourselves to take responsibility for our own actions. Avoid placing blame on others. Stop the passing-responsibility to others § Also, caution ourselves against self-serving bias - that we could never commit acts like this, because apparently, in the right situations most of us would.
Biological Basis of Parkinson's Disease
• Progressive • motor abnormalities and mental dysfunction (neural) -Most common: slowed movements, tremors, increased muscle tone (stiffer), abnormal walking, and poor balance (leading to falls) • Brain: in brainstem, the substantia nigra is less dark or not dark at all in Parkinson's disease patients. -Suggests only one type of neuron is involved -Motor abnormalities related to loss of dopaminergic neurons at the substantia nigra. o Substantia nigra = part of the basal ganglia § Basal ganglia processes that info and sends it back to areas of cerebral cortex to influence areas of activity such as motor cortex. o striatum = area of basal ganglia; loss of dopamine neurons protecting from substantia nigra to the striatum causes most of motor abnormalities of Parkinson's o Under the microscope, we see "diseases neurons" which are degenerating in the substantia nigra -Often contains Lewy bodies - contain a protein alpha synuclein, a normal protein present in brain cells under normal conditions are clumped together in Parkinson's disease. • Risk factors: genetic mutations
Psychoactive Drugs: Depressants and Opiates
• Psychoactive Drugs: Alter your consciousness by altering your perceptions and moods. • Depressants: lower HR, reaction time, processing speed, slowing of neural processing/sympathetic nervous system. Act on GABA (inhibitory neuro transmitter) receptors, open up Cl- channels on your neuron and inhibit excitation.
Zimbardo Prison Study - the Stanford Prison Experiment
• Purpose: how conformity/obedience can result in acts different from usual (on their own) or even contrary to how they think they would act. The answer is complicated (not only bad people do bad things). Certain situations can make otherwise ordinary people behave in strange ways. • Goal: How social norms/conventions can influence behaviours of participants playing the roles of prisoners/guards. • Prisoners/guards get so caught up in roles that they had to stop experiment early. • Participants knew all about the study - no physical or psychological deception • Prison had no windows and clocks so it became an environment different from outside world. • Half of prisoners left from breakdowns; no guards left
Muscle Stretch Reflex
• Reflexes have 2 parts - afferent (stimulus) and efferent (response). o Somatosensory neurons (afferent) in muscle spindles form excitatory synapse in spinal cord with another neuron in the spinal cord, which sends axon out back to same muscle that was stretched, and excite skeletal muscle cells to contract - lower motor neurons (efferent).
Why do dreams occur? Few theories:
• Sigmund Freud o Dreams are our unconscious thoughts and desires that need to be interpreted. -Little scientific support. • Evolutionary biology o Threat simulation, to prepare for real world. o Problem solving o No purpose • Other o Maintain brain flexibility - allows us to learn and be creative when we are awake o Consolidate thoughts to long-term memory, and cleaning up thoughts. People who learn + sleep retain more than those who do not sleep. o Preserve and developing neural pathways.
Peripheral Somatosensation
• Somatosensation includes 5 main ones - position, vibration, touch, pain, temperature. o Position + vibration + touch = mechanoreceptors § Nocireceptors and thermoreceptors = slow § Position/Vibration/Touch (Mechanoreceptors) = Fast o Mechanoreceptors tend to have large diameter and thick myelin sheath; therefore, they conduct fast. o Noci- and thermo- have small and have thin myelin or no myelin->slow • Receptors send info through afferent axons
Somatosensory Tracts
• Somatosensory information travels in 2 big category pathways: 1) position sense, vibration sense, and fine touch 2) pain, temperature, gross(less precise) touch • Deliver info to spinal cord • Spinal cord carries info to the brain in one of the tracts. Crosses other side immediately, then goes to cerebrum
Subcortical Cerebrum
• Subcortical cerebral nuclei that are located deep part of the cerebrum • Internal capsule - contains many important pathways, including the corticospinal tract • Corpus collosum - connects right and left cerebral hemispheres.
Closer Look at the Stanford Prison Experiment
• The experiment shows us: o the influence situation can have on our behavior - might be due to situational attribution (due to situation), not dispositional attribution (internal characteristics/personalities of people) o It becomes much easier to behave badly towards individuals who suffer from deindividualization (loss of self) o Bad behavior caused cognitive dissonance - guards knowing their behavior was inappropriate, tried to reduce their mental distress by cognitive dissonance reduction - overly justified their behaviors - everything happened because prisoners were whims or they deserved it. o Also role of internalization - participants internalized their prison roles. Prisoners incorporated their roles into beliefs, and let it influence their attitudes/cognitions/behaviours.
Humanistic Theory
• The humanistic theory (developed by Carl Rogers) focuses on healthy personality development, and humans are seen as inherently good. -The most basic motive of all people is the actualizing tendency (self-actualization), innate drive to maintain and enhance oneself to full potential. It also says that people have free will. Person will grow towards self-actualization as long as there are no obstacles. • Primary difference between Freud's psychoanalytical theories is Freud's theory was deterministic - behaviour is determined by unconscious desires. • Humanistic Theory focuses on the conscious, and says people are inherently good, and we are self-motivated to improve (so we can reach self-actualization). (Freud theory focuses on mental conflicts (fixations))
Treatments and Triggers for Drug Dependence
• Treatments for a drug addiction address both physiological + psychological symptoms. • To treat, detoxification (detox) - separating addict from the drug. Sometimes require strong medications for strong addictions (have to break the addiction cycle). -Reduce withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia, and dysphoria (dissatisfaction with life) -Important to prevent relapse during this early stage by minimizing negative symptoms.
Upper Motor Neurons
• UMNs control the LMNs • Found in the cerebral cortex, and synapse on LMNs in the brainstem or spinal cord • carry information down to activate interneurons and lower motor neurons, which in turn directly signal muscles to contract or relax • Can divide them into tracts depending if they go to brainstem, or spinal cord o UMN starts in cerebral cortex, axon travels down through brainstem, and where it meets the spinal cord most of these axons cross and travel down other side until they reach LMN. This collection of axons is called the corticospinal tract. o If it goes to brainstem, called corticobulbar tract
olfactory bulb
(called a glomerulus) is a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell. It sends olfactory information to be further processed in the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and the hippocampus where it plays a role in emotion, memory and learning o has receptors each sensitive to 1 type of molecule. o Molecule travels into nose, binds one of receptors on nerve endings; this triggers a cascade of events that cause cell to fire. o AP will end up in olfactory bulb. o receptors then synapse on a mitral/tufted cell that project to the brain molecule --> nose --> GCPR receptor --> G protein dissociates & binds to ion channel --> AP --> olfactory bulb --> mitral/tufted cell --> brain
Signal Detection Theory Distribution
- The difference between means of the two is d'. So if signal shifted to right, d' would be big and easy to detect. If left, d' very small and more difficult to detect. - X-axis has intensity. - The strategy C can be expressed via choice of threshold - what threshold individual deems as necessary for them to say Yes vs. No. Ex. B, D, C, beta, just diff variables. - If we were to use the strategy B, let's say choose this threshold -> 2. - Anything > 2 will say Yes; Anything <2, say No - So probability of hit is shaded yellow, and false alarm is purple - D strategy: D = (d'- B), so let's say d' in this example is 1, so 2-1=-1. So if we use D strategy, anything above -1 = Yes; anything below -1 = No. - C strategy is an ideal observer. Minimizes miss and false alarm. C = B - d'/2. So in our example, it's 2- . = 1.5. So anything above a 1.5 is YES, anything below 1.5 is NO. § When C = 0, participant is ideal observer. If <1 --> liberal. If >1 --> conservative. - Beta strategy: set value of threshold to the ratio of height of signal distribution to height of noise distribution, i.e. ln beta = d' x C = 1 x 1.5 = 1.5. So e^1.5 = beta = 4.48.
How does the cochlea distinguish between sounds of varying frequencies and how is this distension maintained by the brain?
-Brain uses basilar tuning - there are varying hair cells in cochlea and allows brain to distinguish between high and low frequency sounds. >Hair cells at base (start of cochlea) of cochlea are activated by high frequency sounds, and those at apex (end of cochlea) by low frequency sounds. T § As sounds of different frequencies reach the ear, they will stimulate different parts of the basilar membrane. § Apex = 25 Hz (low freq, HIGH wavelength) § Base = 1600 Hz (high freq, LOW wavelength) § As sound enters the cochlea, it travels and activates the hair cell that matches its frequency and it is mapped to a particular part of the brain. -The primary auditory cortex receives all info from cochlea. It is separated by regions which detect different frequencies (0.5 kHz - 16 kHz). § If this didn't occur, brain wouldn't be able to distinguish between different sound frequencies. § So with basilar tuning, brain can distinguish diff frequencies - tonotopical mapping.
accessory olfactory epithelium
-Specialized part of olfactory epithelium in animals It sends projections to the accessory olfactory bulb which then sends signals to the brain. o Within the accessory olfactory epithelium, you have a structure called the vomeronasal system. o In vomeronasal system, there are basal cells and apical cells. They have receptors at tips. o Molecule will come in and activate receptor on basal cell/apical cell here. Basal cell sends axon through accessory olfactory bulb to glomerulus, then mitral or tufted cell which eventually goes to the amygdala (part of the brain) o Signal transduction is where signal binds to receptor, which binds to GPCR. o In humans have vomeronasal organ, but no accessory olfactory bulb. As a result, we rely very little on pheromones.
Cross section of Organ of Corti
-includes three rows of outer hair cells and one row of inner hair cells. Vibrations caused by sound waves bend the stereocilia on these hair cells via an electromechanical forc o Upper and lower membranes, and little hair cells. As fluid flows around the organ, it causes hair cells to move back and forth. o At the upper membrane: The hair cells/cilia are called the hair bundle and it is made of little filaments. Each filament is called a kinocilium. Tip of each kinocilium is connected by a tip link which is attached to gate of K+ channel. When the tip links get pushed back and forth by endolymph movement, they stretch and allows K+ to flow inside the cell from the endolymph (which is K+ rich) o Ca2+ cells get activated when K+ is inside, so Ca2+ also flows into the cell, and causes an AP, which then activates a spiral ganglion cell, which then activates the auditory nerve.
Sight
down regulation or up regulation to light intensity. § Down regulation: light adaptation. When it is bright out, pupils constrict (less light enters back of eye), and the desensitization of rods and cones become desensitized to light) § Up regulation: dark regulation. Pupils dilate-, rods and cones start synthesizing light sensitive molecules
Cones
Detect color and discern high level of detail in what you are observing. Cone shaped.
Timing of Somatosensation
Neuron encodes 3 ways for timing: non adapting, fast adapting, or slow adapting • Non-adapting- neuron consistency fires at a constant rate • Slow-adapting - neuron fires in beginning of stimulus and calms down after a while • Fast-adapting - neuron fires as soon as stimulus start...then stops firing. Starts again when stimulus stops)
Touch
temperature receptors desensitized over time
Sclera
Usually absorbs by the time the light gets to this. The whites of the eye, thick fibrous tissue that covers posterior 5/6th of eyeball (cornea covers the anterior 1/6). Attachment point for muscles. Extra layer of protection and structure of eyeball. Lined with the conjunctiva.
How does a molecule bind to a receptor and cause an AP?
• Smell (olfaction) and taste (gustation) doesn't synapse on to thalamus and hence are both ipsilateral while vision/hearing/touch are contralateral. molecule --> nose --> GCPR receptor --> G protein dissociates & binds to ion channel --> AP --> olfactory bulb --> mitral/tufted cell --> brain
Filiform papillae
do not contain taste buds and exist all over the tongue. The center of the tongue contains only filiform papillae. This is why stimulation of the center of thetongue does not cause a taste sensation, while the back and perimeter produce a broad range of taste sensations.
Vitreous chamber
filled with vitreous humour, a jelly-like substance to provide pressure to eyeball and gives nutrients to inside of eyeball.
Circumvallate papillae
flat mound structures that are found at the back of the tongue and contain taste buds.
Optic nerves
from each eye networks the electrical signal to the brain and converge from each eye at the optic chiasm and then break off and dig deeper into the brain o Now....all light from the nasal side of both eyes cross to the other side so left nasal info goes to the right side and vice versa. o On the other hand, all axons leading from the temporal side DO NOT CROSS the optic chiasm. o What it effectively does, is the right visual field goes to the left brain and the left visual field goes to the right side of the brain
Sour and salty rely on...
ion channels. -They bind to receptor directly, ex. NaCl binds to receptor and causes ion channel to open, and + ions outside flow in. Cell depolarizes and fires an AP. o Salty tastants bind to salt receptors which detect the presence of sodium ions and should not be chosen by the researchers. o Sour tastants bind to sourness receptors that react with hydrogen cations (H+). Once H+ binds to the receptor, it closes potassium channels.
Sensory Adaptation
is change over time of receptor to a constant stimulus - down regulation of a sensory receptor in the body o Ex. As you push down with hand, receptors experience constant pressure. But after few seconds receptors no longer fire. o Important because if cell is overexcited cell can die. Ex. If too much pain signal in pain receptor (capsaicin), cell can die. o Ex; light pressure receptor in your hand. They fire constantly, but over time they adapt and stop firing if there is no change in stimuli. Information does not get sent to the brain if there is no change in stimuli.
Transmission
is the electrical activation of one neuron by another neuron
Proprioception
is the sense of the position of the body in space i.e. "sense of balance/where you are in space --Experiment: goggles that make everything upside down and the perception of the world, and eventually you would accommodate over time, and flip it back over.
The Phototransduction Cascade (PTC)
makes the brain recognize that there is light entering the eyeball. The process of making the light --> neural impulse by turning off a rod. The neural impulse can turn on other cells and eventually be processed by the brain. • As soon as light is presented to a rod, it takes light and converts it to a neural impulse. o Inside rod are a lot of optic disks stacked on top of one another - these disks contain lots of proteins o One is rhodopsin (on a cone the same protein is called a photopsin), a multimeric protein with 7 discs, which contains a small molecule called retinal (11-cis retinal). When light hit, comes through pupil and hit the retinal, then (in rods) some of the light hits rhodopsin (which contains the retina) and causes the retinal to change conformation from bent to straight conformation (11-trans retinal). o When retinal changes shape, rhodopsin changes shape (closely linked molecules). This begins the cascade. o Next, there's a molecule called transducin made of 3 different parts - alpha, beta, gamma that is attached to the rhodopsin typically. When the rhodopsin changes shape, transducin breaks from rhodopsin, and alpha subunit binds to another disk protein called phosphodiesterase (PDE). § PDE takes cGMP and converts it to regular GMP. [So when light hits, lower concentration of cGMP and increases concentration of GMP]. § Lots of Na+ channels on the rods allow Na+ ions to come in, • cGMP bound to Na+ channel, keeps the channel open and hence "ON", as cGMP concentration decreases (due to the PDE which converts it into GMP), Na+ channel closes and cell turns "OFF" • When Na+ channels become unbound of cGMP, less Na+ enters the cell, then cell hyperpolarization and turn "OFF" § Next, bipolar cells (two variants: ON CENTER and OFF CENTER). • When light hits ROD, turned off à ON CENTER bipolar cells active, OFF CENTER bipolar cells inactive. • When ON CENTER bipolar cells turned on, this activates ON CENTER retinal ganglion cell, which sends signal to optic nerve to brain. • When dark, ROD turned on --> ON CENTER bipolar cells inactive, OFF CENTER bipolar cells active. • When OFF CENTER bipolar cells turned on, this activates OFF CENTER retinal ganglion cell, which sends signal to optic nerve to brain.
Processing
neural transformation of multiple neural signals into a perception.
3 types of nerve fibres
o A-beta fibres - Fast ones are thick and covered in myelin (less resistance, high conductance) o A-delta fibres -- smaller diameter, less myelin. o C fibres - small diameter, unmyelinated (lingering sense of pain).
General classification of the ear
o External/Outer ear: from pinna to tympanic membrane o Middle ear: From malleus to stapes (three ossicles) o Inner ear: Cochlea and semicircular canals
Gestalt Principle: Closure
objects grouped together are seen as a whole. Mind fills in missing information. Ex. You fill in the triangle even though there is none.
Gestalt Principle: Proximity
objects that are close are grouped together, we naturally group the closer things together rather than things that are farther apart. Ex: We group things close to one another together.
Mesopic vision
occurs at dawn or dusk and involves both rods and cones
Scotopic vision
occurs at levels of very low light
Transduction
occurs whenever energy is transformed from one form to another; in this case, light energy is transformed to electrical energy by rods and cones.
Macula
special part of retina rich in cones, but there are also rods
Law of Past Experiences
under some circumstances visual stimuli are categorized according to past experience. For example, . If an individual reads an English word they have never seen, they use the law of past experience to interpret the letters "L" and "I" as two letters beside each other, rather than using the law of closure to combine the letters and interpret the object as an uppercase U
Weber's Law
• 2 vs. 2.05 lb weight feel the same. • 2 vs. 2.2 lb weight difference would be noticeable. • The threshold at which you're able to notice a change in any sensation is the just noticeable difference (JND) • So now take 5 lb weight, in this case if you replace by 5.2 weight, might not be noticeable. But if you take a 5.5 lb it is noticeable. • I = initial intensity of stimulus (2 or 5 lb), ΔI = JND (0.2 or 0.5). • Thus, Weber's Law is: ΔI (JND)/I (initial intensity) = k (constant) -ex. 0.2/2 = 0.5/5 = 0.1, change must be 0.1 of initial intensity to be noticeable • If we take Weber's Law and rearrange it, we can see that it predicts a linear relationship between incremental threshold and background intensity. I = Ik -If you plot I against ΔI it's constant
Somatosensory Homunculus
• A map of your body in your brain. Information all comes to the "sensory strip". It is a topological map of the entire body in the cortex. Different areas of the body have signals that go to different parts on this strip. • This part of cortex/parietal lobe is called the sensory cortex - contains the homunculus. • If there was a brain tumor, to figure out what part it's in neurosurgeons can touch diff parts of cortex and stimulate them. If surgeon touches part of cortex patients can say they feel it. Do it to make sure they aren't removing parts in sensation, which would make patients loose sensation in those areas.
Photoreceptors (Rods and Cones)
• A photoreceptor is a specialized nerve that can take light and convert to neural impulse. • Inside rods are optic discs, which are large membrane bound structures - thousands of them. In membrane of each optic disc are proteins that fire APs to the brain. • Cones are also specialized nerves with same internal structure as rod • Rods contain rhodopsin; cones have similar protein photopsin. • If light hits a rhodopsin, will trigger the phototransduction cascade. Same process happens in a cone. • Differences between rods and cones: o MORE RODS THAN CONES (each eye has 120M rods vs. 6M cones or 20x more rods than cones.) More important to see light than detail initially! o Cones are concentrated in the fovea. o Rods are 1000x more sensitive to light than cones. Better at detecting light - telling us whether light is present i.e. black/white vision. o Cones detect color primarily but also some light (three types : 60% Red, 30% Green, 10% Blue) o Rods have slow recovery time vs. cones have fast recovery time. Takes a while to adjust to dark - rods need to be reactivated. Cones adapt to change quickly (fire more frequently)
sound waves
• Air molecules are pressurized and try to escape, creating areas of high and low pressure o Sound waves can be far apart or close together § Higher wavelength (smaller frequency) = travel farther = penetrate deeper into the cochlea. o You can listen to different frequencies at same time - if you add diff frequency waves together, get weird frequency. Ear has to break this up. Able to do that because sound waves travel different lengths along cochlea.
Bottom-Up vs. Top-Down Processing
• Bottom up Processing: Begins with stimulus. Stimulus influences what we perceive (our perception). o No preconceived cognitive constructs of the stimulus (never seen it before) o Data driven. And the stimulus directs cognitive awareness of what you're looking at (object) o Inductive Reasoning. Always correct. • Top-down Processing: uses background knowledge influences perception Ex. Where's waldo o Theory driven. Perception influenced by our expectation o Deductive Reasoning o ex. creating a cube when it's not there! Not always correct.
proprioception
• How can you walk in a pitch-black room? You rely on your sense of balance/position -proprioception. o Tiny little receptor/sensor (known as a spindle) located in our muscles sends signals that go up to spinal cord and to the brain. Spindle has a protein that is sensitive to stretching. o Sensors contract with muscles - so we're able to tell how contracted or relaxed every muscle in our body is. o Cognitive awareness of your body in space. Subconscious. Not always thinking about it.
Visual Field Processing
• How our brain makes sense of what we're looking at. Right side of body controlled by left side, vice versa. • All right visual field goes to left side of brain; all left visual field goes to right side of brain. • Ray of light from the left visual field hits the NASAL side of the left eye and hits the TEMPORAL side of the right eye o Ray of light from the right visual field hits the NASAL side of the right eye and hits the TEMPORAL side of the left eye
The Vestibular System
• Type of sensation: Balance and spatial orientation • Comes from both inner ear and limbs. • Focus on inner ear - semicircular canals (posterior, lateral, and anterior; each orthogonal to each other) • Canal is filled with endolymph, and when we rotate the fluid shifts in the semicircular canals - allows us to detect what direction our head is moving in, and because we can detect how quickly the endolymph is moving we can determine the strength of rotation. • Otolithic organs (utricle and saccule) help us to detect linear acceleration and head positioning. In these are CaCO3 (Calcium carbonate) crystals attached to hair cells in viscous gel. If we go from lying down to standing up, they move, and pull on hair cells, which triggers AP -- These would not work very well w/o gravity! • Also contribute to dizziness and vertigo (when you or objects around you are moving when they are not) o Endolymph doesn't stop spinning the same time as we do, so it continues moving and indicates to brain we're still moving even when we've stopped - results in feeling of dizziness.
Gustation - Structure and Function
• We have 5 main tastes, each taste depends on a specific receptor that is localized on the tongue - bitter, salty, sweet, sour, and umami (ability to taste glutamate). • The gustatory system consists of taste receptor cells in taste buds. Taste buds, in turn, are contained in structures called papillae. • Taste buds are concentrated anteriorly (front) on the tongue. Taste buds can be fungiform (anterior), foliate (side), and circumvallate (back). o In each taste bud are the 5-receptor cells that can detect each taste. Each taste can be detected anywhere on the tongue. Each taste bud has cells specialized for each of the 5 tastes.
Olfaction - Structure and Function
• When you have a cold, you aren't able to taste things very well. o If your smell is knocked out/closed, you can't taste things as well. • Separating the olfactory epithelium from the brain is the cribriform plate (bone with little holes that allow olfactory sensory to send projections to the brain). Above the cribriform plate is an extension from the brain - olfactory bulb
Photoreceptor Distribution in Retina
• Where optic nerve connects to retina, blind spot - no cones or rods. • Rods are found mostly in periphery. • Cones are found primarily in the fovea, and few dispersed through the rest of eye. • At the fovea (dimple in retina) - there no axons in way of light so get higher resolution. • At the periphery - light has to go through bundle of axons and some energy lost. -Thus, at fovea light hits cones directly. At the periphery, less light gets to the rods.
Pheromones
• Why do dogs pee on fire hydrant? There are molecules released in the urine, which can be sensed by other animals through the nose - pheromones. o They're specialized olfactory cells. o Cause some sort of response in animal smelling them. -a chemical signal released by 1 member of the species and sensed by another species to trigger an innate response. o Really important in animals, particularly insects - linked to mating, fighting, and communication.