Psychology 2

Sleep:

A regular state of rest and reduced consciousness deemed physiologically necessary at approximate 24- hour intervals (ex, circadian rhythms). CORTISOL levels are higher when a person is awake and alert and lower during sleep. The hormone MELATONIN is released by the pineal gland, at least in part due to decreasing levels of light.

HYPNOSIS:

A trance- like state under which a person becomes highly suggestible. It is induced by a therapist and can serve to recall repressed memories, control pain, or stop undesirable behaviors (ex, weight loss, addictions).

Label the following as examples of inductive or deductive reasoning. a) Some people believe dogs are more intelligent than cats. My dog can play fetch, but my cat cannot. Therefore, dogs are smarter than cats. b) The veterinarian visited all of the horses in the county last week. All of the horses the veterinarian visited were brown. Therefore, all of the horses in the county are brown.

A) This is an example of inductive reasoning. Inductive reasoning involves making generalizations from specific observations. The statement "my dog can play fetch, but my cat cannot" is an observation that is used to make the generalization "therefore, dogs are smarter than cats." B) This is an example of deductive reasoning. Deductive reasoning occurs when an assumed premise is explored to reach a logical conclusion. The statement "the veterinarian visited all of the horses in the county last week" is a premise. The statement "all of the horses the veterinarian visited were brown" is another premise. The logical conclusion to draw then would be "....all of the horses in the county are brown."

Parasomnias=

Abnormal movements, behavior, perceptions, or emotions during sleep. -Sleepwalking (a.k.a, sommambulism) -Night terrors (a.k.a, pavor nocturnus)= Experience of severe anxiety, dread, or terror, during the first few hours of Stages 3-4 (non-REM) sleep. Most common in children. Associated with screaming, thrashing, or suddenly sitting up in bed, and hyperstimulation of the sympathetic nervous system.

James - Lange Theory

According to the James - Lange theory, physiological arousal precedes the identification of emotion. An individual first experiences the physiological symptoms of a given emotion and then labels this emotion.

Cognitive Dissonance

According to the cognitive dissonance theory, when an individual's attitudes are incongruent with his or her behavior, this leads to cognitive dissonance. To eliminate cognitive dissonance, the individual can either change his or her attitudes or his or her behavior. The theory posits that individuals are more likely to adjust their attitudes to align with their behavior than the other way around. Ex. Obese patients are likely to question the importance of the information provided in a study regarding the benefits of a healthy diet, so they can continue their unhealthy lifestyle.

Describe the general physiological and psychological effects of ALCOHOL and BARBITURATES/BENZODIAZEPINES:

Alcohol is a "messy" drug with effects on all sorts of neurotransmitter systems. In general, it is considered a depressant drug because of its ability to agonize GABA neurotransmission (a feature it shares with both the barbiturates and benzodiazepenes). The specific effects of these depressants vary widely as a function of dose. At low doses, they can result in relatively minor mood changes and mild impairment of coordination. At high doses, these drugs can result in unconsciousness and in the case of alcohol and barbiturates, death. Using alcohol in conjunction with either benzodiazepenes or barbiturates can exacerbate the effects of these drugs in the user and make negative outcomes much more likely.

States of Consciousness =

Alertness, Sleep, Dreaming, Hypnosis, Meditation, and Drug-Altered.

Barriers to Effective Problem Solving (PS) Cognitive Bias:

An error in thinking that leads to inaccuracy, illogical thought, a lack of objectivity, a failure to consider all available options or consequences, or prejudice toward one approach or outcome.

A token Economy

An example is rewarding individual with secondary reinforcers that can be exchanged for appetitive stimuli is typical of a token economy.

Information Processing Theory (a.k.a, information processing model) : Obstacle Evaluation

An individual's skill level in problem-solving does not depend solely on their cognitive development level, but largely on the nature and context of the problem/ obstacle.

MEDITATION:

An intentionally altered state of consciousness intended to improve focus or overall well-being. Meditation is a part of many religious beliefs. It is not well defined scientifically, but it has been shown to be associated with a relaxed, slower wave state of arousal reproducible on an EEG.

Eugenics:

Any belief, method, or practice designed to improve the genetic makeup of the human race, usually by preventing the birth, reproduction rate, or survival of individuals deemed to have "less-desirable" genes. Today, eugenics is almost universally considered unethical by scientists and non-scientists alike.

Theories of Intelligence Galton:

Argued that individual heritable characteristics contributed to intelligence as much as any gene contributes to physical traits. Although he introduces "genetic intelligence", he also pioneered the nature vs. nurture debate (he coined the actual phrase) by conducting the first twin studies involving monozygotic and dizygotic twins. Galton was the first to use the questionnaire / survey as an experimental tool. Finally Galton introduced the concept of "correlation" and the method of calculating statistical correlations.

Information Processing Theory (a.k.a, information processing model) : Analysis of Stimuli

As a part of decision-making, stimuli are altered and analyzed by the brain, not just responded to automatically.

Important Note

As you age, you lose working memory and rote memory, but semantic memory --- the memory of the meaning of things, understanding, and concept-based knowledge remains relatively stable.

A collegiate basketball player makes a high percentage of his free-throw shots. He has repeated the same motion so many times, he now performs the task effortlessly and without much thought -- an example of automatic processing. Which region of the brain is responsible for the motor learning exhibited by this basketball player?

Automated motor learning is most closely associated with the CEREBELLUM.

Base Rate Fallacy:

Base rate fallacies occur when representativeness heuristics are used in error. In these situations, individuals fail to take into account general information when dealing with specific cases. So for instance, when asked if an individual who is described as thin with horned-rimmed glasses and wearing a tweed coat with leather patches on the elbows is more likely a server at a restaurant or has a PhD in English history, most people would choose the latter. This occurs despite the fact that basic probability (a much smaller percentage of the population has a PhD in English history than those who are servers in restaurants) would dictate otherwise.

Berkson's Fallacy

Berkson's fallacy is most commonly understood as the sampling bias that results from selecting both the observed and control population from a hospital setting. This results in bias because a control from the hospital location is likely far different from a general population control.

Controlled and Automatic Processing

CONTROLLED processing requires attention, while AUTOMATIC processing does not. When you are first learning to drive a car, that task requires an incredible amount of attention, and it would be difficult to engage in some other task that required attention at the same time. However, as tasks become well-learned, processing becomes more automatic and requires less active attention. This is why you can engage in a task like driving and carrying on a meaningful conversation once you have mastered driving.

Narcolepsy=

Chronic neurological disorder caused by autoimmune attack of the neurons that release hypocretin -- a hormone that normally regulates sleep-wake cycles. Symptoms include cataplexy and inappropriate daytime sleep. Patients experience daytime sleepiness similar to that described by normal adults after 24-48 hours of sleep deprivation. During narcolepsy episodes the individual enters REM sleep after 5 minutes or less, when REM is normally reached after 90-120 minutes. Cataplexy= Sudden, transient periods of muscle weakness or paralysis during which the patient remains fully conscious and aware.

Attention

Concentration on one aspect of environmental stimuli while ignoring or excluding other stimuli.

Symbolic Interactionism

Concerns the inter- subjective negotiation of symbols or meanings.

Jean Piaget

Considered to bet he father of developmental psychology and a major contributor to Cognitive Theory.

Other Influences on Cognitive Development (CD) CULTURE:

Different expectations and traditions; different cultures will reward different behaviors because of different values.

Sleep-wake disorders Dissomnias=

Difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or avoiding sleep. -Insomnia: Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. -Sleep Apnea: Difficulty breathing while asleep. Cognitive-behavioral therapy would be the most beneficial to someone who is suffering from insomnia as this form of therapy is short-term therapy that focuses on helping clients deal with a very specific problem, such as insomnia. During this form of therapy clients learn how to identify and change patterns that negatively influence behavior.

Dispositional Attribution

Dispositional attributions generally involve making assumptions about an individual's personality or character. (Example, assuming that the driver is simply a reckless person is a dispositional attribution. )

Cognitive Theory (Hall)=

Dreams are a conceptualization of our experiences; they are visualizations of our thoughts and perceptions about five concepts: our self, others, the world around us, morals, and conflict.

Problem-Solving Theory=

Dreams are a way for the mind to solve problems encountered while awake. Some proponents suggest the way for the mind to solve problems encountered while awake. Some proponents suggest the unconscious dreaming mind is better suited for more capable of solving problems than the awake mind -- unrestricted by reality or more sensitive to subtle clues.

Psychoanalytic Theory (Freud) =

Dreams are expressions of unconscious desires, thoughts and motivations. Dreams can serve as a virtual form of wish fulfillment.

Drug- Altered state of consciousness:

Drug Types: 1) Depressants = Alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepines. 2) Stimulants = Amphetamines, cocaine, ecstasy. 3) Hallucinogens= LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) peyote, mushrooms 4) Pain killers = Opiates, opioids, morphine (endorphin agonist) 5) Marijuana = Listed separately because it can be categorized as a stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogen based on its various effects.

Explain Duncker's candle problem and provide a conceptual definition for functional fixedness.

Duncker's candle problem is a task that is used to determine how certain types of cognitive bias might influence one's ability to solve a problem. During this task, individuals are asked to fix a burning candle to a corkboard without dripping wax onto a table. The individuals are provided (or are shown a picture of) a book of matches, a box of thumbtacks, and a candle. The correct solution is to empty the box of thumbtacks, secure the box to the wall using the thumbtacks, place the candle in the box, and to light the candle. Many people struggle in solving this task because they cannot conceive of using the box of thumbtacks for anything other than pinning something to a corkboard. This inability to recognize that any given object might serve purposes other than those for which it is traditionally used is an example of functional fixedness.

Binet

First to develop an intelligence scale, the Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale, and the concept of mental age vs. chronological age. Binet's purpose was to identify children who needed extra educational help or attention in school. Adapted by a Stanford professor to create the Stanford-Binet IQ test widely in use today.

IQ Correlations:

IQ is positively correlated with the following, and negatively correlated with the opposite, or lack thereof. As usual, intelligence is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. - High level of parental expectation - Higher socioeconomic status - Early educational intervention - Adequate nutrition

STANFORD-BINET IQ TEST (S-B):

IQ stands for Intelligence Quotient and is given by the formula below. The mean is 100 and the standard deviation is 15. S-B tests linguistic intellect and logical-mathematical intellect. S-B is considered a best practice for evaluating differences in intellectual ability. However, the test, and IQ testing generally, is not without criticism. An IQ test measure only certain types of intellect and should NOT be interpreted as implying that IQ is fixed and unchangeable. IQ= mental age /chronological age x 100

Primacy Effect

Improved memory for earlier information is an example of the primacy effect.

Belief Perseverance:

In cases in which we are confronted with evidence that clearly contradicts our previously held belief, yet continue to hold onto it, we are engaging in belief perseverance. To expand on the example from above, someone would be demonstrating belief perseverance if they continue to assert that elderly people make poor drivers even after reading a news story that indicates that a much higher percentage of younger drivers are involved in automobile accidents than elderly drivers.

Divided Attention

In tasks that require divided attention, we must split our attention among multiple tasks. You engage in divided attention when you do something like drive a car while engaging in a conversation with a passenger in the car.

Other Influences on Cognitive Development (CD) HEREDITY:

Inheritance of genetic predispositions; inherited disorders such as Down's Syndrome or Autism.

Variations in Intellectual Ability:

Intelligence follows a Normal Distribution (a.k.a, Gaussian)

Spearman

Introduced the concept of General Intelligence -- often called the "g factor" and assigned a lowercase variable, g. Spearman argued that general intelligence was the bedrock intellect from which all other forms of intelligence are developed.

Brain Waves

Level of consciousness is associated with different brain wave patterns on an electroencephalograph (EEG). Frequency decreases linearly; alpha > beta > theta> delta. Alpha = very relaxed, or meditating Beta = Awake and alert (normal alert consciousness) Theta = Light Sleep Delta = Deep Sleep

Information Processing Theory=

Memories and information accumulated during the day are consolidated during sleep. Dreaming is the cerebral cortex associating images or meaning with this consolidation process.

Important Note

Narcolepsy is a prime candidate for MCAT 2015 passages and questions. First, it is a bio-sychological topic -- an ideal fit for the new emphasis on "biological relevance." Second, it is a synthesis of multiple MCAT-2015 concepts. Narcolepsy is a chronic disease, a psychological disorder, a neurological disorder, a hormone deficiency, and an autoimmune disease..... all wrapped up into one.

Specific Real Area Bias

Occurs when the sampling for a study occurs at one location, which results in the omission of other populations.

Theories of Intelligence Gardener:

Often calles "Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligence's". Gardner identified eight types of intelligence. His theory challenges the concept that all students learn in the same way, or that numerical measure of intelligence are sufficient. Gardner noted that IQ tests examine only the last two intelligences, and that Western cultures favor the last two over the previous six.

Barriers to Effective Problem Solving (PS) Functional Fixedness:

One example of a mental set in which, when solving a problem, we can only visualize using an object or tool in the ways we have seen it used previously.

Overconfidence Bias:

One of the reasons we might do so relates to the fact that we tend to be very sure of our own judgments and opinions. In fact, overconfidence leads us to assert much more confidence than. We're very unlikely to question the wisdom of our decisions because we suffer from the overconfidence bias. In simple terms, this refers to the fact that we are convinced that we've arrived at the correct decision even when we are wrong.

Provide two additional real-life examples of functional fixedness.

Other examples of functional fixedness might involve searching for hours for a screwdriver to repair a knob on a kitchen drawer without recognizing that one of the knives in the drawer could serve a screwdriver's function. Another example of functional fixedness might occur if you failed to recognize that the heel of your shoe would make an excellent hammer in a pinch.

Cognitive Changes in Late Adulthood Age-related Memory Changes:

Overall memory = Declines Procedural memory = Stable Working memory = Significant Decline Semantic memory = Stable

Paradoxical Sleep:

Phrase used to describe the ironic fact that during REM sleep alertness, heart rate, breathing, and EEG patterns are nearly that of wakefulness, and yet one's muscles are paralyzed.

Schemas (alternate plural form = Schemata)

Piaget believed schemas were an important part of how we learn. You will hear about schemas not only from Piaget, but throughout psychology. It is an important an yet slightly abstract concept.

Sleep-wake disorders Physiological Effects of Chronic Sleep Deprivation=

Positively correlated with decreased cognitive functioning, depression, and multiple chronic diseases including: heart disease, high blood pressure, obesity, and diabetes.

Barriers to Effective Problem Solving (PS) Mental Set:

Predetermined mental framework for approaching a problem; a tendency to rely on approaches and solutions that have worked in the past. Mental sets can lead to rigid thinking and a lack of cognitive flexibility.

Proactive Interference

Proactive interference refers to earlier information interfering with memory for later information.

Rapid- eye movement sleep (REM):

REM is an intervallic period of sleep denoted by rapid or random eye movements and a heightened sense of alertness that is greater than any of the sleep stages. It occurs in between the other stages of sleep, with several periods of REM happening throughout the night. The first REM periods are shorter and the longest REM period usually occurs in the morning right before waking. Most vivid dreams are thought to occur during REM sleep.

Recency Effect

Recency effect refers to improved memory for the later information that is still in working memory.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development (CD)

1) Sensorimotor 2) Preoperational 3) Concrete Operational 4) Formal Operational

Approaches to Problem Solving (PS)

1) Trial and Error = Try it out, test both or multiple options, and discover what works and what doesn't. Only effective when there are relatively few available options. 2) Algorithms= mathematical formulas or a step-by-step, flowchart-like approach. 3) Heuristics = "Rules of Thumb". Heuristics can be helpful in problem solving, but can also cause functional fixedness and a lack of cognitive flexibility. - Represented Heuristic = Reliance on prototypes or stereotypes as a shortcut to making a decision or judgment. - Availability Heuristic = Favoring the most easily recalled or imagined solution as a shortcut to making a decision or judgement. - Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristic = Giving higher priority to the very first piece of information received and/ or framing subsequent information around it. 4) Intuition = One's "gut feeling." Often based on previous experience, in which case it is an example of unconsciously applying a heuristic, or mental set. 5) Deductive Reasoning= Top-Down reasoning. (Taking a lot of information and breaking down the info). Deductive reasoning uses a general statement to draw conclusions about specific examples. 6) Inductive Reasoning= Bottom-Up reasoning. (Starting small and going big). Inductive reasoning uses a very small set of observations as the basis for forming a statement about a larger set of possible observations.

Gardener's Eight Theories of Intelligence

1) Visual-Spatial 2) Bodily- Kinesthetic 3) Musical 4) Interpersonal 5) Intrapersonal 6) Naturalistic 7) **** Linguistic***** 8) *****Logical-Mathematical*****

Meritocracy

A meritocracy is when societal rewards, status, and positions, are awarded to individuals based on their own ability and work (that is, merit). In order for a meritocracy to operate, everyone within the society would need the same opportunity to succeed, so that rewards are actually based (primarily) on merit.

Confirmation Bias:

A number of cognitive biases influence the way in which we think. Often times, these biases can interfere with our ability to make sound judgments and good decisions. Ultimately, we tend to overestimate how "right" we are about some particular opinion or thought and we become subject to the effects of the confirmation bias by seeking out information that agrees with our own perspective and paying less attention to any information that might challenge our previously held beliefs. So for instance, if someone believed that elderly individuals are bad drivers, they will take notice each time they encounter an elderly person who is driving recklessly. They will fail to notice the many examples of good driving exhibited by elderly people around them.

Retroactive Interference

Retroactive interference refers to later information interfering with memory for earlier information.

Provide a conceptual definition for the term schema, as used by psychologists.

Schemas are patterns of thought that we use to create categories of information or behavior and to understand the relationship that exists among those categories.

Selective attention

Selective attention refers to the process by which we focus on one aspect in our environments while ignoring others. Selective attention can lead to inattentional blindness (e.g. think of the example of the involving the gorilla that walked amongst the basketball players dressing in black and white that was likely mentioned in your psychology textbook) because we are "blind" to those aspects of the visual field upon which we are not focused.

Self-serving bias

Self-serving bias suggests that when explaining their own behavior, individuals attribute positive behaviors to internal, stable sources, but attribute negative behaviors to external sources. Self-serving bias occurs when a person attributes personal successes to internal factors and personal failures to external factors.

Dreaming:

Several theories have been proposed to explain the phenomenon of dreaming.

Stages of Sleep:

Stage one = Falling asleep, EEG is a mix of alpha and theta waves. Stage two= Deeper sleep, EEG is theta waves mixed with sleep spindles and K complexes. Stage three = Transitional, EEG is mostly theta waves, but delta waves begin to appear. Stage four = Deep sleep, often called "delta sleep" because the EEG contains slow (low frequency) delta waves.

Alertness:

State of consciousness in which a person is awake, responsive, and capable of processing information.

Information Processing Theory (a.k.a, information processing model) : Situational Modification

Stored decision-making and problem-solving experiences from the past can be extrapolated to solve new problems.

The Cocktail Party Effect

The cocktail party effect is a specific instance in which we may suddenly shift our attention to something that was previously ignored because of some cue that draws our attention. This gets its name from the experience we have all had where we are at some gathering and we tune out the noise around us to focus on a conversation that we are having with someone nearby. However, if someone says our name, our attention is now suddenly shifted to hear what is being said to or about us.

Foot in the door technique

The foot-in-the-door technique refers to convincing individuals to make a small commitment toward a cause, because this small commitment increases the likelihood of a larger commitment toward the same cause in the future.

Activation- Synthesis Theory=

The limbic system is randomly active during sleep, mimicking incoming stimuli. Dreams are an attempt by the cerebral cortex to synthesize and interpret this activity in a logical way.

Neural Pathway:

The reticular formation of the brain stem stimulate the prefrontal cortex to maintain alertness. Loss of this function= coma.

Provide two additional real-life examples of how the use of schemas could have undesirable results.

The use of schemas might also have undesirable results. For instance, the first time the child sees a goat, he or she may classify it as a dog. In the end, the child would likely have to amend the schema for dog to exclude those furry four-legged creatures that do not fit into the category of dog.

How do people use schemas to process new information? What generally happens when a person finds new information that does not fit within one of their existing schemas?

They prove useful because they allow us to speed up processing of the tremendous amount of information that bombards us each day, but they can also bias the ways in which we deal with new information to create stereotypes about a category of individuals or objects and prevent us from retaining information that doesn't fit the schema.We often assimilate new information to fit into an existing schema, but we can also accommodate, or amend, the schema to include new information.

Information Processing Theory (a.k.a, information processing model) : Thinking

Thinking includes perception of stimuli, encoding that stimuli, and storage of that information for later retrieval.

Suppose a patient is taking a an experimental steroid-derived drug suspected to be a steroid antagonist. The patient complains of difficulty sleeping at night and difficulty staying awake during the day. A medical student suggests the drug may be interfering with the normal action of melatonin. Is the student's suggestion a plausible explanation for these observations? Why or why not?

This is a plausible proposition. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the pineal gland that tends to be elevated during times of sleep and lower in times of wakefulness. While melatonin is not a steroid hormone, there is some "cross-talk" between steroidal hormone systems and the melatonin system. The suprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus is involved in the regulation of cortisol secretion from the adrenal glands and melatonin secretion from the pineal. Drugs with steroidal activity might affect the timing of the release of each of these hormones that could interfere with sleep.

Michael can solve algebra problems more quickly than his little brother, Alan. Michael also has a larger vocabulary. However, on a recent administration of the Stanford - Binet IQ test Alan scored higher than Michael. Assuming there were no errors or bias in the test, how is this possible?

This is possible because the Stanford-Binet scale is calculated as a function of mental age (MA), divided by chronological age (CA), times 100 (IQ = MA/CA*100). One brother may be more intelligent on various measures, but because he is also older, the denominator (chronological age) will be larger. If both brothers have exactly the same mental age, the older brother will have the smaller IQ. A second reason this could occur is because the exam measures more than algebra and vocabulary. It is possible the brothers have drastically different intellect in the other areas measured by the test.

Weber's Law

Webers law states that just noticeable difference is a ratio of the existing stimulus intensity.

Regions responsible for maintaining conscious alertness are?

When asked to associate alertness with a brain region, THINK: Reticular Formation. The reticular formation communicates with the thalamus and the cerebral cortex to regulate what information comes to our consciousness and regulates states of consciousness such as alertness and sleep. Injury to the reticular formation can induce coma.

Galton's Genetic Bias and Eugenics:

When you see Galton THINK: Nature, NOT Nurture. Despite his twin studies providing groundbreaking evidence for nurture, Galton leaned toward a stronger genetic component. In fact, this bias led him to be a strong proponent of eugenics.

Provide two real-life examples of a case in which schemas are used to efficiently process new information in an unfamiliar situation.

You might have developed a schema for how to be a successful student in grade school. As a part of this schema, you incorporated the ideas of taking notes regularly, asking questions for clarification, and reviewing those notes in preparing for tests. Once you arrived to college, you were able to use this schema to approach how to be a successful college student. As young children learn language, they probably create schemas about the people, places, and things that they are learning to speak about. For instance, a young child may determine that furry four- legged creatures fit into the schema of "dog." So, they are able to identify a great dane as a dog as well as a chihuahua.

Dramaturgical analysis

developed by Erving Goffman that uses the metaphor of the theater as stage, along with actors, audiences and performance regions.

Other Influences on Cognitive Development (CD) ENVIRONMENT:

different parenting styles can reward different behaviors; exposure to environmental chemicals or toxins; fetal environment (ex, fetal alcohol syndrome).

Other Influences on Cognitive Development (CD) BIOLOGY:

metabolic or other biological conditions can alter cognition or cause brain damage.

Structural Functionalism

sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote stability.

Social Conflict Theory

sees society as an arena of inequality that generates conflict and change.

Social exchange theory

sees society as made up of individuals engaging in hedonistic calculus - rewards - costs = outcome.

Cognitive Changes in Late Adulthood Age-related Physical Changes:

the brain literally shrinks in size, AND neural plasticity decreases. Loss of Neurons: The frontal lobe and corpus callosum lose neurons at the fastest rate; the cerebellum eventually loses about 25% of its neurons.

Neural Plasticity

the brain's ability to change structure and function to accommodate new memories, make new connections, create new motor skills, etc.