gen psych exam 2
A common theme runs throughout most of the functions of consciousness: Consciousness plays an enormous role in:
(1) creating new mental representations and (2) making changes in existing representations.
problems with adoption studies
- Children are often adopted by relatives (e.g.,aunts, grandparents), so there is some genetic relatedness. - Adoptive parents might treat their adoptive children differently than their biological children.
function 1: prioritizing
- Consciousness is drawn to novel and unexpected events and to unsolved problems - It makes such events priorities that need to be dealt with - For example, we read with ease when nothing unexpected is encountered - But if we encounter a mispteak, we pause and become conscious of the eerrer
Paul broca
- French physician and researcher - assessed a patient nicknamed "tan" by hospital staff - patient could say nothing other than "tan", even though he could understand what others were saying - when tan died, Broca did an autopsy - discovered a lesion due to syphilis in the area now called Broca's area
divided attention studies
- In divided attention studies, your attention can be divided between different aspects of the same stimulus - For example, you might be asked to name (and therefore pay attention to) either the shapes of objects, or their colors, or their sizes. - Example: The Stroop Test Named after John Ridley Stroop
the triune brain
- Paul Maclean 3 parts of the brain 1. reptilian brain 2. old mammalian brain 3. primate (neomammalian) brain
why is altruism a problem
- Since altruism involves a cost to the self, it would seem that people who are not altruistic would have an advantage - One would expect an advantageous trait (selfishness)to eventually spread over generations, and altruismwould be weeded out. - But we know this hasn't happened: altruism is common.
dual tasks studies
- Subjects are required to perform two tasks at the same time. e.g., solving a puzzle, and pushing a button every fifth time you hear a buzzer - Often, performance is perfect when doing each task separately - But performance degrades when trying to do both at once
modularity
- The human mind is largely composed of highly specialized cognitive systems or modules that evolved to deal with specific problems. - Swiss army knife metaphor: the mind is a collection of specialized tools
blind spot
- There is an area of missing information in our field of vision known as the blindspot. This occurs because the eye has no receptor cells at the place where the optic nerve leaves the eye. - We have a blind spot in each eye, but we do not experience them. - The mind is unconsciously modeling(creating representations) of the surrounding area. - This model of the surrounding context is used to fill in the gap in our visual field
split brain patients
- With the corpus callosum severed, objects presented in the right visual field can be named. ( left hemisphere processes language) - Objects in the left visual field cannot. ( info can't get to language areas, which are in left hemisphere)
function of genes
- a gene is a stretch of DNA that produces a specific protein, which in turn forms the building blocks of our bodies - proteins build our physical structures, including our nervous and endocrine system - these systems form the physical hardware that shapes our behavior, emotions, and motivations
gene-environment interaction example
- a genetic predisposition that makes a child restless and hyperactive can evoke angry responses from his parents - these angry responses can in turn affect a child's personality and self-concept
STRUCTURES OF THE BRAINSTEM thalamus
- a sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem - directs messages from the senses to appropriate areas in the cortex for processing
about evolutionary psychology (EP)
- asks questions about the nature of the human mind and tries to explain that nature using evolutionary theory - tries to explain why human mind and behavior differs from that of other species
shared environment
- aspects of a family that are generally the same for all children in a household, school, etc - same parents, same family income, same house, same entertainment, same values taught
what does the reptilian brain (brainstem) do
- basic automatic life-preserving functions: breathing, heartbeat, hunger, digestion - movement: balance, coordination, fight, flight, run
EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES OF ALTRUISM costly display theory
- being altruistic shows that we have resources to burn - this could make us attractive and more likely to mate and spread our genes - might explain some types of altruism toward strangers
reptiles (most)
- cold blooded - environment regulates internal temp - level of activity dependent on temp - lay eggs outside body - hatched offspring mature - no parental investment - solitary/ asocial
the split brain
- corpus callosum: a bundle of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres - if surgically severed for treatment for epilepsy, hemispheres cannot communicate directly
is heritability inflated for MZ twins reared together?
- estimates of heritability in identical twins might be inflated if identical twins are treated more similarly than other siblings (dressed alike, similar names) - the best evidence against this idea was obtained by Thomas Bouchard and his colleagues - Their studies of over 100 identical twins raised apart(MZA) reveal that twins raised apart are often as similar,sometimes more similar, than twins raised together(MZT)
family studies
- examine family members on a psychological trait and examine correlations between family members
turkheimer's three laws
- first law: all human behavioral traits are heritable - second law: the effect of being raised in the same family is smaller than the effect of genes - third law: a substantial portion of the variation in complex human behavioral traits is not accounted for by the effects of genes or families
gene-environment interaction
- genes can influence traits, which can in turn can affect environments, including our social environments - impact of genes on behavior depends on the environment where behavior develops
heritability
- h2 - numerical index (either a proportion of percentage) of the degree to which differences in phenotypes are due to differences in genotypes - all other influences are due to various environmental factors
APPROACHES TO SEX DIFFERENCES Standard Social Science Model (SSSM)
- human behavior is mainly the product of learning - if sex differences are found, they are the result of cultural forces (learned gender norms) that shape the "blank slate" of human nature
chromosomes and inheritance
- humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes - we received half a set of chromosomes from each biological parent - the 23rd pair are the sex chromosomes, which determine our biological sex
CONTRASTING CS AND UCS PROCESSES conscious processes
- limited capacity - slow - error-prone/easily disrupted - serial processing (one thing at a time)
PRIMARY LIMBIC STRUCTURES hippocampus
- linked to memory - degeneration of hippocampus in Alzheimer's
wernicke's area
- located in left hemisphere - involved in the comprehension (understanding) of language
according to evolutionary psychology
- natural selection produced the human mind by selecting genes that made us better adapted to our environments - our minds are shaped primarily by the environment humans encountered in what EP calls the environment of evolutionary adaptedness
monozygotic twins
- one egg fertilized - identical - share exactly the same genotype
what does the old mammalian brain (limbic system) do
- regulates complex physiology involved with the autonomic nervous system and endocrine system - emotional recognition (perception and empathy) - emotional experience and expression - greater memory (for others)
PRIMARY LIMBIC STRUCTURES hypothalamus
- regulation of body temp - governs endocrine system via pituitary gland
the cerebellum
- the "little brain" attached to the rear of the brainstem. It helps coordinate voluntary movements and balance - the pons in the brainstem works with the cerebellum to direct movement
genes
- the building blocks of heredity (transmitted to offspring) - are simply segments of DNA - the particular structure of genes in our DNA influences our biological and psychological development
limbic resonance
- the fact that mammals recognize and respond to each other emotionally is due to our shared limbic system - tom lewis refers to this emotional connection as limbic resonance
qualia
- the raw "feel" of conscious experience - the experienced redness of red, coldness of cold, the smell of apples
adoption studies
- the study of first degree relatives who have been raised in different families and environments (via adoption) - If a person is more similar to biological relatives than to adoptive relatives (e.g., in terms of psychological traits), then a genetic component can be inferred
APPROACHES TO SEX DIFFERENCES EP approach
- there are sex differences in several domains of functioning - these differences are innate - they are based on the fact that males and females faced different adaptive problems in the EEA
problems with family studies
- traits that have a genetic basis tend to run in families - but just because a trait runs in families doesn't mean that trait is heritable - traits might run in families because of shared environment rather than shared genes
dizygotic twins
- two eggs fertilized at the same time - have 50% of their genes (specific alleles) in common
broca's area
- usually in the left hemisphere, - involved in production of language - also directs the muscle movements in speech production
CONTRASTING CS AND UCS PROCESSES unconscious processes
- vast capacity - fast - accurate and efficient - parallel processing (many things happening)
blindsight
- vision without consciousness (Lawrence weizkrantz) - found in some people with damage to their visual cortex (occipital love) - these patients report no sensation of vision (no visual qualia)
mammals (most)
- warm blooded - temp regulated internally (homeostatic system with a set point) - more complexity and energy required to keep internal systems regulated - live births - nursing infants - longish periods of immaturity of young - much parental investment - social and group oriented
how do we form meaningful perceptions from sensory information
- we organize it, usually unconsciously - gestalt psychologists showed that people spontaneously organize stimuli into meaningful wholes (called gestalts)
mismatch theory
Because cultural change has out run our slow biological change, our minds today might not be optimally adapted to our current environment
structure of the cortex
Each brain hemisphere is divided into four lobes that are separated by prominent fissures. These lobes are the frontal lobe (forehead), parietal lobe (top to rear head), occipital lobe (back head) and temporal lobe (side of head).
Auditory cortex (temporal lobe)
Functional MRI show that the auditory cortex is active in when we are listening to speech or music, when we use"inner speech" (talk to ourselves), and when patients have auditory hallucinations (e.g., hear voices)
what is natural selection
Natural selection is an evolutionary process throughwhich adaptive traits are passed on to ongoinggenerations because these traits help animals surviveand reproduce.
perceptual constancy
Our ability to see objects as appearing the same even under different lighting conditions, at different distances and angles
adaptationism
The human mind is largely the product of natural selection, developed over evolutionary history to solve adaptive problems confronting our species. - the major adaptive problems are survival and reproduction
visual cortex (occipital lobe)
The visual cortex (occipital lobe) is active when we look at faces, words, pictures,etc., and also when we use visual imagery
size constancy
We automatically andunconsciouslyinterpret familiarobjects (of knownsize) as farther awaywhen they appearsmaller
natural selection is a
a theory of changes in characteristics of a species, and potentially of the origins of new species (arising from existing species), a process called speciation
alleles
alternative forms of a particular genes, each form encoding for a protein with different structure - located at same position on a given chromosome
Motor cortex (frontal lobe)
an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls body movements
altruism
any action that benefits another at some cost to the self - heroic altruism and everyday altruism
what is the nature-nurture debate
are life outcomes largely fixed by our innate psychological dispositions and capacities, or does our environment have radical effects on our psychology
phenotype
are observed physical and psychological characteristics ex: eye color, blood type, height
intentions are often
conscious
explicit goals are
conscious representations
STRUCTURES OF THE BRAINSTEM cerebellum
controls balance and movement
STRUCTURES OF THE BRAINSTEM medulla
controls heartbeat and breathing
for EP, the major differences between the sexes are based on the fact that reproduction (spread of genes) has __________ costs for males and females
different
behavior genetics attempts to
estimate the heritability of psychological traits
EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES OF ALTRUISM kin selection theory (inclusive fitness theory)
helping relatives (genetically related) helps spread our own genes - we tend to help kin who are more likely to reproduce
when traits are more strongly related in identical twins than in fraternal twins, ______ heritability can be inferred
high
right brain functions
insight, 3D forms, art awareness, imagination, music awareness, left hand control
PRIMARY LIMBIC STRUCTURES amygdala
linked to emotions
nativism
many of the capacities of the human mind are innate, hardwired rather than learned or acquired from experience - nature rather than nurture is emphasized
Women have different and stronger preferences about mating partners than do men; Women seek...
men with potential for providing resources and protection: maturity, ambition, dominance, and boldness.
effects of shared environment
much research suggests that such shared family factors predict little about many psychological traits
three tenets of evolutionary psychology
nativism, adaptationism, modularity
EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES OF ALTRUISM group selection theory
natural selection does not only operate on individuals but also on human groups - groups compete over resources - groups that contain more cooperative altruists are more likely to win in competition - could explain altruism to strangers
STRUCTURES OF THE BRAINSTEM reticular formation
plays an important role in controlling arousal, attention, and consciousness
sensory cortex (parietal cortex)
receives information from skin surface and sense organs
Shape constancy
refers to the ability to perceive objects as having a constant shape despite receiving different sensory images. This helps us see the door as a rectangle as it opens
what are some characteristics that might run in families but are mostly due to learning
religious doctrines and values, political party affiliation, favorite teams, specific skills, specific knowledge,
Women have different and stronger preferences about mating partners than do men; Men focus on the...
reproductive potential of a woman: youth,health, & physical attractiveness
motor control of the left side of the body is processed by the _____ hemisphere of the brain
right
visual information from the left visual field is processed by the ______ hemisphere of the brain
right
evolutionary psychology is concerned with
shared psychological characteristics in a species
genotype
specific genetic makeup of an individual. the "sum" of all alleles present in an individual
consciousness is like a ________. it can focus on only one thing at a time
spotlight
behavior genetics
studies our psychological differences and weighs the relative effects of heredity (nature) and environment (nurture)
dichotomous listening task
subjects are presented a different stream of info in each ear via headphones (e.g., two different news reports). They must listen to only one report. - Participants cannot recall what was said in other ear
selective attention
the ability to focus on single stimulus to the exclusion of other stimuli
twin studies
the comparison of twins with unrelated individuals, or comparisons of identical twins to fraternal twins
genome
the complete set of instructions for making a type of organism, containing all the genes in that organism. Thus the human genomes makes us human
Phenomenology
the detailed description of conscious experience (qualia)
Habituation
the fading from CS awareness of a repeated stimulus
primate (neo- mammalian brain): the cerebral cortex across species
the outermost covering of the brain, largely responsible for higher-order mental processes
sensation
the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment - the brain receives input from the sensory organs
perception
the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events - the brain makes sense out of the input from sensory organs
familial aggregation
the tendency of a trait to run in families, especially first-degree relatives
Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (EEA)
this was the environment humans encountered around 200,000 years ago
EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES OF ALTRUISM reciprocal altruism theory
tit-for-tat; we all feel it natural that favors will be returned in the future - could partly explain altruism toward genetically unrelated friends who will be near to us in the future
non shared environment
unique experiences had by individuals in a family, school, etc.
left brain functions
written language, number skills, reasoning, spoken language, scientific skills, right hand control
