Psychology Test 3

what leads to efficiency in memory?

-companies try to use the tactic of chunking - remember things by also associating them with outside factors (ex. winston churchill and his tactic for remembering speeches) - associations formed at the time of learning will be the most effective retrieval cues (if we take a test in this room and learn material in this room, the room is the retrieval cue)

Biological factors linked with behavior KEY TERMS

Action potential- an excitation that travels along an axon at a constant strength, no matter how far it travels All-or-none law- the fact that an axon cannot vary the strength or velocity of its action potential Axon- a single, long, thin, straight fiber with branches near its tip Cell body- contains the nucleus of the cell Dendrite- widely branching structures that receive input from other neurons Dopamine- neurotransmitter Glia- cells that support the neurons in many ways such as by insulating them, synchronizing activity among neighboring neurons, and removing waste products Myelin- an insulating sheath that speeds up the transmission of impulses along an axon Neuron- separate cells in the brain Neurotransmitter- a chemical that activates the receptors on other neurons Parkinson's disease- a condition that affects 1-2 percent of people over the age of 65. The main symptoms are difficulty in initiating voluntary movement, slow movement, tremors, rigidity, and depressed mood Postsynaptic neuron- the neuron on the receiving end of the synapse Resting potential - an electrical polarization across the membrane (or covering) of an axon Synapse- the specialized junction between one neuron and another , a neuron releases a chemical that either excites or inhibits the next neuron Terminal bouton- presynaptic ending Alcohol- a class of molecules that includes methanol, ethanol, propyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol), and others. Ethanol is the type that people drink Anxiolytic drugs (tranquilizers)- help people relax Depressant- drugs that decrease arousal, such as alcohol or anxiolytics Endorphins- bind to opiate receptors Hallucinogens/ psychedelics- drugs that induce sensory distortions Narcotics- drugs that produce drowsiness, insensitivity to pain, and decreased responsiveness Opiates- either natural drugs derived from the opium poppy or synthetic drugs with a chemical structure resembling natural opiates Stimulants - drugs that increase energy, alertness, and activity Amygdala Autonomic nervous system Binding problem Blindsight Central nervous system Cerebellum Cerebral cortex Corpus callosum Electroencephalogram (EEG)

memory key terms [continued]

Depth-of-processing principle- how easily you retrieve a memory depends on the number and types of associations you form Retrieval cues- reminders/ associations that prompt your memory later Encoding specificity principle- the associations you form at the time of learning will be the most effective retrieval cues later Mnemonic device- any memory aid based on encoding items in a special way Method of loci- first you memorize a series of places, and then you use a vivid image to associate each location with something you want to remember; example of a mnemonic device Hypermnesia- gain of memory over time Reconstruction- during an experience, you construct a memory, when you try to retrieve that memory, you reconstruct an account based partly on distinct memories and parly on your expectations of what must have happened Hindsight bias- the tendency to mold our recollection of the past to fit how events later turned out Proactive interference- old material increase forgetting of new materials (acting forward in time) Retroactive interference- new materials increase forgetting of old materials (acting backwards) Recovered memories- reports of long lost memories prompted by clinical techniques Repression- the process of moving an unacceptable memory or impulse from the conscious mind to the unconscious mind Dissociation- a memory that one has stored but cannot retrieve Amnesia- loss of memory Hippocampus- a large forebrain structure in the interior of the temporal lobe Anterograde amnesia- inability to store new long-term memory Retrograde amnesia- loss of memory for events that occurred shortly before brain damage Korsakoff's syndrome- a condition caused by a prolonged deficiency of vitamin b (thiamine), usually as a result of chronic alcoholism Confabulations- attempts to fill in the gaps in their memory Alzheimer's disease- a condition occurring mostly in old age, characterized by increasingly severe memory loss, confusion, depression, disordered thinking, and impaired attention Early childhood amnesia or infantile amnesia- scarcity of early episodic memories

Incentives

Drive theories and homeostasis theory overlooks new stimuli arousing behaviors → motivation also includes incentives- stimuli that pull us toward an action - Motivated behavior controlled by drives and incentives - Ex. you eat when you are hungry (drive) and even if you aren't hungry, if you are presented with appealing food (incentive); swim when it is hot to cool off (drive) or just bc you enjoy it (incentive) - Incentive theories- incentives are external stimuli that attract us even if we have no biological need for them; motivations are responses to attractive stimuli; incomplete theory unless combined with drive or homeostasis

alderfer's model

ERG model

goals and deadlines motivate

Most effective goals are difficult, specific, and realistic - Need to take the goal seriously (public commitment), get frequent feedback, need to believe that the reward will be worth the effort - Inappropriate goals can have unfavorable consequences (ex. sacrificing quality for quantity) Realistic? Ppl usually overestimate themselves and underestimate the time it will take to achieve something so need to start earlier and give yourself more time Procrastination (putting something off until later) - How to overcome: confidence- hard to get started if you don't think you will do well - make detailed plans of when, where, how - by estimating your probability of doing a desirable activity increases the probability that you will actually do the action = MERE MEASUREMENT EFFECT - Make a decision about something else first that is unimportant → quick, no-cost decisions gets ppl into the decision making mindset

context of the rise in artificial intelligence: industrial revolution

- Charles Babbage (1792-1871)- we can devise plans for many different types of thinking machines, but in practice, building such machines is very difficult - Ideas too advanced to be implemented in the time period - Turing- broke top secret German codes during WW2; important theoretician behind modern computers; the Colossus - Von neumann (1903-57)- greatest contributor to the realization of computer hardware design - psychology moving away from behaviorism and returning to thinking and mental life- interested in modeling human thinking with machines; behaviorists reject artificial intelligence- exclude thinking and mental life from psychology 1930s- 1940s- move toward cognitive revolution (artificial intelligence) - Frederick Bartlett (1896-1969) → Remembering → memory process is dynamic and involve an effort after meaning → individuals reconstruct their memories/ past to make their experiences meaningful- Schema- an active organization of past experiences giving rise to a broad cognitive structure that represents multiple specific instances of those experiences- Gives ppl orientation and direction for the future - George Miller → people remember better when they chunk items → highlighted the schema mental organization system Edward Tolman (1886-1959)- latent learning - learning that takes place without being currently evident in performance; learning involves acquisition of new knowledge even if it isn't immediately manifested → contradicts behaviorist idea that learning takes place through conditioning - Study where animals could not learn by doing but had to observe → figure out trolley car routes without being transported themselves- animals and humans could develop cognitive maps of their environments → cognitive psychology Jerome Bruner* → subjective biases in the way people perceive the world → showed that perception of the world related to socioeconomic experiences → poorer children overestimated the size of more valuable coins - A study of thinking → thinking is the main topic is psychology; not behaviorism → people manage and impose meaning on the infinite information around them through categorization and other cognitive processes (Bartlett's schema or Miller's chunking) - Ex. few categories of colors represent infinite colors- Human mind filters information and imposes meanings on the world - People construct world views based off of limited, incomplete, and subjectively perceived information Increased communication btwn linguists, computer scientists, psychologists → cognitive revolution* Plans and the structure of behavior → the role of plans is important in human behavior - George Miller plan= temporary and changeable ordered sequence of operations used to carry out a task; allows for feedback so that behavior can be adjusted based off of the acquisition of new information; part of mental life Schema similarly changes with experience No stimuli-response → plan = hierarchy of test-operate-test-exit (TOTE) Noam Chomsky*- linguistic development Behaviorists thought that language learning was learned the same way everything else is learned- through stimulus response mechanisms Chomsky said behaviorist ideas of language learning is inadequate → strengthened the cognitive movement Language is creative and there are limitless variations of sentences that can be formed and words that could be used in ways that they were never used before → cannot be explained by stimulus-response → but language is also rule bound and structured Important aspects of cognitive behavior are built into the brain and inherited human characteristics allow people to learn the rules of their particular heritage languages then apply them to generate sentences creatively Rule following in language → cognitive revolution strengthened

Challenges when studying humans

- humans can change their behavior - ethical issues - take the human out of context and it becomes unrealistic - mundane realism- does the lab setting look like a real life setting?- measure of external validity/ the extent to which experimental findings can be generalized to the real world - labs lack this, but they have experimental realism (the extent to which situations created in social psychology experiments are real and impactful to participants) - labs aren't the real setting where real behavior occurs (ex. aggression in a laboratory vs. in a war zone)

biological factors linked with behavior KEY TERMS [continued]

endocrine system epilepsy frontal lobe functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) hemisphere hormone hypothalamus interpreter magnetoencephalograph (MEG) medulla mirror neurons monism occipital lobe oxytocin parietal lobe peripheral nervous system plasticity pons position-emission tomography (PET) prefrontal cortex primary motor cortex primary somatosensory cortex reflex social neuroscience spinal cord stem cells temporal lobe chromosomes dizygotic twins dominant epigenetics evolution gene heritability monozygotic twins multiplied effect phenylketonuria (PKU) recessive sex-limited gene sex-linked gene X chromosome Y chromosome

sensation and perception KEY TERMS [continued]

endorphin frequency principle gate theory hertz loudness nerve deafness olfaction phantom limb pitch place principle sound waves synesthesia taste taste bud timbre vestibular sense volley principle absolute sensory threshold binocular cues bottom-up prices closure common fate continuation convergence depth perception feature detector figure and ground gestalt psychology good figure induced movement monocular cues moon illusion motion parallax optical illusion proximity retinal disparity reversible figure signal-detection theory similarity stroboscopic movement subliminal perception top-down process visual constancy waterfall illusion

why do we not have memories from when we are younger?

our brain is different; memory changes over time- could be due to repression or because neurological connections had not formed yet and the brain was creating the cell assemblies that we would need later on; certain skills maintain until the end (ex. verbal in old ppl) memory is basically a blank slate in the beginning

sampling

population sampling- rather than taking a survey of the whole teenage population, only take a sample that will represent the population random sampling- everyone has an equal chance of being selected to be in the sample

Weber

protestant ethic is important to industrialization- the idea of self-help and saving investments as godly- there is something virtuous about hard work monetary achievement associated w religion

ivan sechenov and ivan pavlov

psychological phenomena (reflexes - innate or learned) can be explained by physiological functioning - pavlov- classical conditioning- pairing of two stimuli changes the response of one of them to become like the response of the other- only observable behavior, no subjectivity- unconditioned stimulus is paired with conditioned stimulus to lead to a conditioned response believed there were brain changes due to classical conditioning; learning accompanied by changes in particular centers in the brain

participant observation

research enters as a participant to observe; often used when studying different groups of people/ cultures; degree of freedom has increased (less control by the experimenter) - reliability decreases when you move from lab to the field and participant observation; can be argued that it is more valid bc the situation is more realistic or that there is less and less control as you move away from the lab so there is less validity

magnifier effect

when there is a behavioral difference, possibly stemming from a biological one and that difference leads to environmental changes which effects and magnifies the behavioral effect (ex. take twins who happen to be very fast running soccer players, in school there are recognized as great players and they get attention from coaches and colleges and their whole identity revolves around soccer; magnification of contribution of genetic factor)

ratio*

when there is a true zero

associationism- alexander bain

when two psychological experiences (ideas/ sensations) occur simultaneously or close together in time, the association between them is strengthened and increases the probability that in the future on experience will follow the other- when psychological experiences occur close to each other they become associated

mereological fallacy

where you attribute the qualities of whole to parts

REM

Rapid Eye Movement sleep- restful sleep- without it we are insanely tired, it's essential- we don't remember dreams unless we wake up in the middle of one; sensation and perception link up in sleep

cartesian dualism vs. monist perspective

Rene Descartes- the brain is the storage place for information and the center for thinking- argues that the mind (synonymous with the thinking part of the soul) and body are separate entities- the body can be damaged without a corresponding change taking place in the mind- doctrine of cartesian dualism- the mind is separate from the body (rejected by most modern scientists who believe that mind and brain are the same) monism- there is no division between mind and body; mind = brain in action

Millgram*

Shock experiment

Categorical response*

Strictly yes or no ex. do you sleep well at night; do you hear voices

different techniques to map brain activity

TMS- a new technique that knocks out parts of the brain fMRI- a way of taking a snapshot of the brain while thinking; the advantage of this is that a person can be awake and doing something while fMRI is being conducted and shows what parts of the brain are active; uses blood flow as the main indicator; disadvantage- not instant reaction, not REAL time EEG- faster than fMRI (more real-time action); doesn't show what parts of the brain are being used use a combination of these EEG and fMRI for the perfect way to view brains

homeostasis

equilibrium is our goal the maintenance of an optimum level of biological conditions within an organism; the process of maintaining a variable such as body temperature within set range; motivations tend to maintain body states near some optimum intermediate level, they may react to current needs and anticipate future needs; overlooks the important of external stimuli - we seek a state of equilibrium; not zero stimulation - Ex. maintain a constant body temp, weight, amount of water in the body, sensory experience - Anticipates future needs → ex. You can eat a large breakfast now if you know you are not going to be able to eat anything later that day; eating before hibernation - Allostasis- maintaining levels of biological conditions that vary according to an individuals needs and circumstances → prevent difficulties instead of fixing them

potentiation

an increase in responsiveness (to the same kind of stimulation) of cells that have been repeatedly stimulate 3 important characteristics of LTP - COOPERATIVITY- stimulation by just one icon produces weak or imperceptible LTP whereas simultaneous simulation by several axons produced LTP- sub-threshold idea - specificity- changes are specific to activated synapses -associatively - when a weak input is paired with a strong one, later response to the weak input is strengthened

Abraham Maslow -hierarchy of needs

an organization from the more insistent needs to the ones that receive attention only when all the other are under control - Basic physiological needs (oxygen, water) → basic safety needs → psychological needs (social needs- belongingness and love: social interactions → esteem needs: prestige, fame, feelings of accomplishment) → self-fulfillment needs (self-actualization: achieving one's full potential, including creative activities) Self- actualization- the need for creative activities to fulfill your potential - People are more mentally healthy when they can satisfy more of the higher needs - Flaw of the theory- cannot always be taken literally - sometimes we are in situations where we need to prioritize safety over food; depends on the extent to which you are feeling things such as cold/ love → risk your life for a cause → exceptions to the hierarchy of needs are common - Omits parenting → can branch of the needs after basic needs into reproductive needs as opposed to personal needs → secual needs → childbearing needs → child rearing needs - Culturally specific - self-esteem needs may not be important in some cultures (China) we need to satisfy one level to move onto the next -- limitation: we can skip some of the early levels

trichromatic theory

argues that there are 3 types of rods and cones - they respond to 3 wavelengths, so it distinguished between green, blue, and red- the way we see colors depends on the codes responding to these colors - not a complete theory because it fails to address certain things (ex. we experience "after images" - when we look away and see a color)

can machines think?

artificial intelligence- the science of designing machines to simulate human thinking

Interview

ask questions and (typically) record interview as a narrative and after you examine the responses

flashbulb memories

ex. your family will say "I can still remember exactly what I was doing when MLK was killed" - big public event that is usually traumatic that changes things (ex. 9/11)

implicit vs. explicit

explicit- what we are publicly aware of implicit- memories we have but we are not conscious of them, but we are able to show were have this memory through actions- cannot manifest it immediately (ex. losing an address but them somehow managing to find it)

autonomic

built into us and learned is self-explanatory

Research Methods and Statistics Textbook terminology

burden of proof extrasensory perception (ESP) falsifiable hypothesis meta-analysis parsimony replicable result theory 95 percent confidence interval blind observer case history control group convenience sample correlation corrrelation coefficient cross-cultural sample demand characterisitcs dependent variable descriptive statistics double-blind study experiment experimental group experimenter bias illusory correlation independent variable inferential statistics informed consent mean median mode naturalistic observation normal distribution (normal curve) operational definition p < 0.5 placebo random assignment random sample representative sample scatter plot single-blind study statistically significant (statistically reliable results) survey

Controlled observation

can observe interactions in different types of settings; not intervening, simply observing

Sherrington

different research from Pavlov bc he focused on the study of the simple reflection, rather than trying to understand the entire brain: sub-threshold stimulus- a stimulus weaker than required to elicit a reflection response would lead to a response if followed by a sufficient number of other sub-threshold stimuli; summation- build up of events would eventually be strong enough to jump across the connection (synapse) between neurons synapse= the connection- sherrington and michael foster certain neurons can have inhibitory effects on other neurons decreasing their likelihood of firing- how neurons affect each other depends on the communication across the synapse there are both stimulating and inhibitory effects- brain is dynamic

LTP doubts

don't know the means by which memory trace is maintained (postsynaptic vs. presynaptic mechanisms) LTP has not been demonstrated over the long term- MAINTENANCE of changes associated with learning needs to be demonstrated for it to be considered long term; lTP is not long lasting- decays continuously and rapidly LTP is simplistic (regards a short term change in one neuron) compared to the complex learning humans regularly do- criticized in terms of reductionism- learning is a social process and culturally dependent; LTP is a reductionist approach; only represents one biological change associated with some types of learning not yet entirely in fruition

wilder penfield

each memory is stored in a single neuron? no

"memory is like a picture"

- we try to represent that picture - or memory is like a construction and every time we remember, we reconstruct that memory - with each retelling of a story, the story changes and the memory changes

Freud and memory

not interested in brain localization of memory; interested in the suppression of memory due to the association between memories and trauma repression- involves the repression of memories - bad memories are something that can stay with us, but sometimes we try to suppress them (Freud)

reductionism

the attempt to explain behavior with reference to smaller units; assumes that the task of explaining behavior becomes more manageable with smaller units to measure behavior

limitations of the laboratory method

- includes studies of social behavior: prejudice, aggression, altruism, group and inter-group dynamics, conformity, obedience but criticized for lacking real world feelings of hate, passion, historical injustice, etc. but supporters say that they don't try to mimic the real world, rather demonstrate that such things could occur under minimal conditions cultural context of the laboratory method: Western context of U.S. culture: - western populations are more likely to be knowledgeable and better prepared for laboratory research- higher level of "implicit research knowledge"- laboratory methods not suitable for research in all societies and groups - difficult to base HUMAN thought and action on this method - idea of individual society- self help and individual responsibility, mobility, american dream- assumption that you can understand human behavior by studying individuals in isolation and that causes of behavior can be reduced to factors inside individuals; social relationships seen secondary to explaining behavior and context of behavior not accounted for/ doesn't necessarily tell you what will happen outside of the laboratory

extrinsic motivation vs. intrinsic motivation

Extrinsic motivation- motivation based on the rewards the act might bring or the punishments it could avoid Ex. reading a textbook to fulfill an assignment only Intrinsic motivation- motivation based on the pleasure that the act itself provides Ex. playing a video game/ doing a crossword or exercising (extrinsic motivation too) intrinsic- factors internal to us extrinsic- factors external to us

Phrenology

Franz Gall- psychological characteristics of individuals are reflected in the shape and contour of their skulls; cognitive and emotional characteristics cause the shape of specific localized brain regions - causally determine the shape of the skull if a psychological characteristic is dominant in a person, it will show up as more developed in the part of the brain that houses the characteristics and there will be a larger protrusion of the skull in that place; less prominent psychological characteristics - hollow indented brain/ skull reliable but invalid based on inborn characteristics but memory trace is based on changes in the brain as a result of experience

metaphors of thinking

Geographical metaphor - Robert Sternberg → what form does a map of the mind take? Biological metaphor- how does the anatomy and physiology of the brain and nervous system account for intelligence? Computer metaphor → mental states are computational processes

Information processing research grows *(5) → cognitive revolution

Human Problem Solving → Alan Newell and Herbert Simon → use a computer to understand human problem solving- Collect verbal protocols (spoken self-reports of through processes) to understand human problem solving - Introspection- Wilhelm Wundt- small # of participants used to represent all of humankind → flaw overshadowed by information-processing theory - Information processing theory treats all psychological experiences (desires, motives, feelings) as information → can discover physical representations for all psychological experiences at a biological level symbols→ one-to-one token for something → in computers they are organized to causally act on one another Ex. symbol X is a token for joy and triggers Y, a token for dancing

hereditary vs. environmental question- nativist vs. empiricist

Nativist- Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804)- we are born with certain fundamental characteristics such as perceptual systems for experiencing space, time, causation - Noam Chomsky - innate universal cognitive structures that give rise to language Empiricists- John Locke (1632-1704)- argued that thoughts, feelings, and other psychological phenomena become associated through similarity and frequency of contiguity → ideas that resemble one another become associated (similarity) and ideas that are experienced together (contiguity) - Environmental influences shape thought and action - Tabula rasa- blank slate - gradually general characteristics of a person takes shape through development due to experiences Steven Pinker- test the claims of associationists by programming computers to begin as blank slates → have problems dealing with individual ideas → the raw associationist approach/ the idea of absolute dominance of environmental factors over hereditary factors is flawed - Compositionality - the ability to have a representation that is made out of different parts → another problem for associationists - Gestalt dictum (the whole is more important than the sum of its parts) cannot be demonstrated by neural networks bc only humans can derive meaning from both parts and wholes → raw connectionism is not viable → cognition needs inbuilt structures to understand things such as the concept of the individual - Flawed bc computers cannot really be used in the empiricism vs. nativism debate bc the neural networks/ computers could be successful in the future even if they can't do certain things now → Pinker could just be correct based off of the current limitations of neural networks environmental factors- cross-culture studies and specific cases- ex. pima indians- american pima and mexican pima's were cut off, separated from one another- the weight of those in america increased until the people were obese- different environments even though genetically the same

psychology laboratory experiment

a psychology experiment in a laboratory where all characteristics can be controlled- method for assessing human thinking and behavior under controlled conditions; cognitive psychology relies on this; popular bc of its ability to reach a high level of control high reliability due to the great level of control- experimental procedures can be REPLICATED and results can be REPEATED critical of validity (the meaning of what is measured and how it can be interpreted)- laboratory experiments have lower degrees of freedom (the range of behaviors that participants can exhibit is smaller than that of participants involved in other types of research methods) high internal validity- high demonstration that manipulation of independent variables caused a change in dependent variables but low external validity- the extent in which findings would generalize to people and situations outside the laboratory bc people do not behave as they would in the real world as they do in the lab (mundane realism- similarity of events in the experiment to events in the real world; experimental realism- the realism of the experimental situation for participants/ how much it impacts them; cultural realism- recognition of the context as requiring certain types of behavior and not behaving in the culturally appropriate way would be a serious transgression) disadvantage of laboratory psychology- associated with working in (keeping close to hard facts from controlled experiments) as opposed to working out (ex. working in and low degrees of freedom- Skinner Box- rat in a box only had the option of pulling a lever of not; low degrees of freedom but researchers formulated laws of learning based off of this (working in)- laboratory experiments are effective when studying low degrees of freedom in behavior but harder to interpret results when the behavior has high degrees of freedom but still have patterns of predictability bc participants share interpretations of how they should behave Wilhelm Wundt credited with the first psychology laboratory 1879- studied word association through introspection (self-reports by respondent about their private thought processes and experiences) to systematically study cognition (association and memory)- thought that studying values, myths, language and other social features of human life (folk/ cultural psychology) would be inappropriate in a laboratory- proposed second psychology* with working out (developing grand theories without being tied closely to experimental evidence)

pain perception

about sensation and perception- perception allows you to label it as pain context is crucial for how we interpret the sensory input- gate theory of pain- the idea that pain comes about when senses/ stimuli tell us we are in pain. they have to go through the central nervous system/ spinal cord, but we can close that gate through drugs and whatnot; having the ability to control the gate that shuts off the senses so one does not feel the pain (ex. childbirth- different accounts of how to go through childbirth in different cultures)

sensation and perception KEY TERMS

accommodation of the lens blind spot brightness contrast color constancy cone conrea dark adaption electromagnetic spectrum fovea ganglion cells iris lens negative afterimage opponent- process theory optic nerve perception pupil receptor retina retinex theory rod sensation stimulus trichromatic theory (young Helmholtz theory) capsaicin cochlea conduction deafness cutaneous senses

Aggression

aggression between groups that view themselves as different genetically; you collaborate with those who are naturally similar to you Konrad Lorenz- "on aggression"- explains aggression through environmental stuff; aggression rarely done fist to fist (fight) human beings have developed technology that sidesteps very important inhibitory methods ex. 2 wolves are fighting- there is a time where the loser gives the signal of defeat- this is the inhibitor of aggression; in nature you seldom have within species killing aggressively arise and is enabled by the side stepping of inhibition - ways to bring back the inhibitory mechanisms- create guilt- how to prevent mass wars - prevent distancing- media shows shit about war on TV, mechanics to get ppl to not be aware of the realities of war

agnosia vs. aphasia

agnosia: lack of ability to recognize prosopagnosia: face "blindness" aphasia: expressive vs. comprehensive- problems with speech, recognition- Broca's aphasia = expressive; Wernick's = comprehensive

the causal assumption

all behavior is determined by causes (the independent variables are assumed causes and the dependent variables are assumed effects); it is easier for researchers to examine these connections through laboratory techniques

drive theories

motivation is an irritation that continues until we find a way to reduce it; motivations are based on needs or irritations that we try to reduce; they do not specify particular actions; implies that we always try to reduce stimulation, never to increase it and overlooks importance of external stimuli

psychology assumptions

causal universalism- the assumption that cause-effect relationships explain all human behavior and operate in the domain of human behavior in the same way as in the physical world studied by hard scientists; ; lawful universe= all events have a cause; the goal of psychology is to discover the causes of thought and behavior; is all human behavior causally determined? No- free will (ex. can run the red light) claim that if we have all possible information about the individual and the context that we can predict behavior- problem: no science; based on faith that one day we may have this information; also rejects our notion of free will bc implicates causal determination as the reason for behavior- free will is common sense and legal systems hold us responsible for free will must assume that some behavior is not causally determined- most ppl act according to our norma and rules; normative nature of behavior- not to be mistake for the idea that all behavior is causally determined and predictable- high probability that ppl in a society will show similar patterns of behavior but some ppl reject cultural norms (diff generations) - causal/ non causal conceptualization of behavior not the best; can look at the degrees of freedom instead

retinex theory

cerebral cortex compares patterns of light coming from different areas of the retina

Karl Lashley

challenged Pavlov's idea that classical conditioning involves the strengthened physical connection between parts of the brain- argued that cutting the connections should end the learned behavior- found that location of cuts did not matter so much as the size of the cut view brain as more dynamic than just localized compartments functioning speraretly

william james

change takes place in the brain as a result of learning ebbinghaus- through repetition, little bits of information can be remembered for longer periods of time- the experimental tradition- use of nonsense syllables: develop methods for studying memory using bits of info, data, that would be as meaningless as possible- did this research on himself studying how long it took him to learn then relearn- bottleneck theory on short term memory; iconic memory- split second memory- see something for a split second, remember it, then forget it localization- the extent to which different regions of the brain specialize in controlling different functions; technology not as advanced to identify specific brain changes associated with particular acts of learning at the time

alan turing

computers will become efficient enough such that a person would not be able to know the difference between human and computer behind a screen- TURING TEST - machines attempt to SIMULATE (imitate) human thinking - if unable to tell the difference, must conclude that computers can think - simple test in that it is strictly behavioral- don't need to be concerned with what happens within the computer or the human mind, just the output - doesn't address the key concerns of artificial intelligence critiques of the turing test: - Computers lack the ability to be conscious of meaning, which is what thinking is in human context - John Searle - Chinese room - can learn how to use Chinese without actually knowing the meaning but will seem fluent- Criticized that it does not represent the parallel processing in the entire brain - flaw= always looking at the individual person and the individual machine → look at the collective level to understand the differences between human and computer thinking collective turing test - Individualism of western culture → Reductionism approach - Humans don't spend much time in isolation and isolation is thought to be painful - Normative system- the rules, norms, values that regulate the behavior of group members: Collectively shared and collaboratively upheld → needs participation of members Rules come from social interactions → computers lack this ; Act as guides for behavior, not causes of behavior → in computers, rules cause certain outcomes with 100% certainty ; Rule following in human societies still allow for some degrees of freedom, but there are 0 degrees of freedom in rule following in computers - Need to look at how a group of computers interact with how humans interact → look at this in the Turing test → humans and computers should be allowed to communicate between questions → computer interaction with each other is recognizably non human - Computers have a stronger ability to demonstrate human thinking when isolated and looked at through individualism, but human cognition is due to collective, social processes, not necessarily just neurons inside an individual

Scales

continuous scales- the better scale- on a spectrum; allows you to get a variation; can see distribution scores; can reveal bias by not letting people stand in the middle (ex. do you support the death penalty- 1 to 7, 1 being def no and 7 being def yes) nominal scales- distinctions are nominal (ex. joe and john- only know the difference in name) ordinal scale- know some type of order; know that joe is older than john interval scale- know the exact scale between them; joe is 2 yrs older than john

Correlational Methods vs. experimental methods

correlation methods- about associations between variables: the negative or positive associations; DOES NOT MEAN CAUSATION; CANNOT BE USED TO MAKE CAUSAL ASSUMPTIONS experimental methods- involves some kind of manipulation of variables; manipulating IV on DV; variables are controlled; USED TO MAKE CAUSAL ASSUMPTIONS

need for achievement

cultural variation in need for achievement, different cultures nurture this in different ways

david mcclelland

culturally, circumstances arise where society motivates individuals and instills a need for achievement; believed you could nurture this need

Donald Hebb- the organization of behavior

first to discuss neurons- "neurons that fire together, wire together"- as they wire together, they become more strongly linked, neuro-circuits develop as we are experiencing things when an axon of a neuron repeatedly fires another neuron, there can be growth/ metabolic changes in both neurons- repeated association between the neurons can change one or both of them- the changes make it easier for this association to occur in the future - hebbian synapse- a synapse that increases in effectiveness bc of a simultaneous activity in the PRESYNAPTIC NEURON, situated on the releasing end of the synapse and POSTSYNAPTIC NEURONS, situated on the receiving end of the synapse- physical changes in the brain associated with learning; not just limited to the connection between two cells - cell assembly= a cluster of neurons grouped together functionally as a result of being stimulated together in the past (physical record of the learning that took place; working out- theorized and moved conceptual understanding into hard evidence available at the time) Cognitive psychology + better computer technology → artificial intelligence research Neural networks- a large number of usually simple components wired together so they can function as one unit Donald Hebb- influenced neural network research with the "Hebbian synapse" where one nerve cell communicates with another → memory could be encoded through changes here (The Organization of Behavior) Cell assemblies- temporary networks of nerve cells that are the material embodiment of transient cognition; neurons are organized in these ways when there are modifications between their connections; formed when an individual has different thoughts; Influential for researchers studying parallel distributed processing (PDP) as well --- Computer processing models in which information is evaluate in parallel (rather than serially by one processor) and distributed throughout the network--- More advantageous to psychologists over serial models of problem solving - Human brain works closer to how PDP functions → solve problems simultaneously taking and assessing information from different sources to reach a solution - More opportunities to incorporate and test learning in the model → connections in the neural network can be manipulated and can stimulate changes that can come from Hebbian cell assembly ---Nodes- the formats (features, letters, works, etc.) for representing concepts in a semantic network → can manipulate neural networks by altering the different levels of activation for nodes

individual memory vs. collective memory

how do we remember MLK? collective memory- memory reconstructed over time and over generations our collective memory of individual changes- how we teach history in school changes, what we believe what should be taught

brain plasticity

how malleable the brain is; how malleable the cell assemblies are phsycial changes in the brain as a result of experience; if assumed to be ongoing then future experiences also influence behavior challenge of coming up w hard evidence due to technological limitations but eventually we were able to see physical change as a result of repeated stimulation of one neuron by another - LONG TERM POTENTION

drive-reduction theory

humans and animals eat to reduce their hunder, drink to reduce their thirst, have sexual activity to reduce sex drive → if you satisfy all your needs, you become inactive

sapir warf hypothesis

idea that language used limits or structures your experience and how you perceive the world limitation- there are colors that we can see that we do not have words for (color is the property of light- shirt is red because it reflects red and absorbs all other colors)

Karl Popper - Falsifiability*

in order to be a scientific hypothesis, it has to be scientific enough to be falsified

descriptive stats vs. inferential stats

inferential stats- making inferences about a large population using a small sample descriptive stats- the term given to the analysis of data that helps describe, show, or summarize data in a meaningful way such that patterns might emerge from the data

Control and the range of methods

laboratory experiment- all variables are controlled field experiment- variable manipulation in a realistic setting outside of the lab (ex. bystander intervention experiments)- you cannot control ALL the variables and there are a ton of complications that can occur natural experiment- the independent variable is NOT controlled by the experimental (ex. effect of weather on mood); natural events that impact behavior (ex. how an event- earthquake, flood, hurricane, disease, fire, terrorism, traffic- which we have no control over impacts us psychologically); availability heuristic*- estimation of an event is determined by how readily it comes to mind (even though terrorist events don't kill a lot of ppl and are uncommon, we think about them more and make them out to be more than they are)- psychological interpretation of the disaster and the probabilities that we estimate (exaggerate (terrorism) or minimize (earthquake zones)

ludwig Wittgenstein

language can mislead us about the nature of the world

themes in brain research

lateralization (2 hemispheres: let and right) localization- how certain activity seems to be localized in certain parts of the brain (ex. emotions in the amygdala, hypothalamus: eating) the brain has to be considered as an integrated whole- brain damage can lead to some level of compensation (ex. if my left hemisphere is damaged, and my language abilities were damaged, there is compensation in the right hemisphere depending on age- compensation is higher in younger ppl; if we experience damage in left hemisphere for a right handed person, the brain reorganizes and new circuits develop) what is the unit of analysis appropriate in psych? neuron

area of recovered memories

links to trauma, sexual violence ex. woman remembers years later that her uncle molested her when she was younger - false memory debate (memory could have been influenced by experiences that led to the construction of this memory/ influenced by emotions)

class bug experiment

loftus- eyewitness testimony- the impact of suggestion and leading questions - an eyewitness statement can be completely misleading, questions asked in court can lead them in a specific direction- just because they are a witness, does not make that a gold standard- new research with leading questions (ex. in class, talking about the red car hitting the green one and then asking a bunch of different questions, then asking what were the colors of the cars- implanting the memory in the witness

materialist viewpoint vs. monist viewpoint

materialist viewpoint- assumes all thinking has a physical correlate within the person doing the thinking; memory trace represents how learning takes place monist viewpoint- assumes that the mind is nothing more than the function of the brain

memory trace

memory trace= engram= long term potentiation (LTP) the new bits of information that you remember- can be seen when biologically evaluating the body before and after the new information implications- future behavior has lower degrees of freedom bc of the physiological characteristics that changes challenge of finding empirical data to support that the mind and brain are the same- look at memory trace- empirical basis of evidence or brain changes due to learning slowly emerged

Memory KEY TERMS

memory= the retention of information Free recall - to produce a response, as you do on essays tests or short- answered tests Cued recall - improved accuracy; you receive significant hints about the material Recognition- when someone chooses the correct item among several options; third method for testing memory Savings method/ relearning method- detects weakness of memories by comparing the speed of original learning to the speed of relearning explicit/ direct memory- someone who states an answer regards it as a product of memory- free recall, cued recall, recognition, and savings implicit/ indirect memory- an experience influences what you say or do even though you might not be aware of the influence Priming- the result of hearing or reading a word temporarily such that it increases the change that you will use it yourself even if you are not aware of the influence Procedural memories- memories of how to do something Declarative memories- memories we can readily state in words-Depend on different brain areas and procedural memory or habit learning develops gradually while declarative memories develop at once Information processing model- compares human memory to that of a computer; information that enters the system is processed, coded, and stored Short term memory- temporary storage of recent events Long term memory- relatively permanent store Semantic memory- the memory of principles and facts - Ex. remembering the law of gravity Episodic memory- the memory for specific events in your life - Ex. remembering the time you dropped a vase Source amnesia- forgetting when, where, or how you learned something Chunking- grouping items into meaningful sequences or clusters Consolidation- converting a short term memory into a long term memory Working memory- a system for working with current information Executive functioning- governs a shift of attention Primacy effect- the tendency to remember well the first items Recency effect- the tendency to remember the final items

Double blind procedure

when the subject does not know what they are receiving nor does the one administering the test know- both test administration nor the participant know which condition they are in

scientific management approach vs. human relations approach

scientific management approach- you should experiment to find the best way to do the job, select appropriate workers, and train them well to it the right way; Theory X - Don't need workers to take initiative or be creative, you find the most efficient way to do each task with increased speed, decreased effort and avoiding injuries - theory X has its roots in taylorism- an engineer who cam up with the idea that the most efficient way to organize work was to minimize the work of each employee (division of labor/ mass production) Human relations approach- employees like variety in their job, a sense of accomplishment, and a sense of responsibility- Theory Y - Employers enrich jobs and make them meaningful - Disadvantages: takes longer to train workers and the workers expect to be paid more - group performance, job rotations - money is not enough

procedural, declarative, semantic

semantics- based on facts, it's informational procedural- how to do something in terms of a procedure declarative- declaring how to do something

sensation vs. perception

sensation- sensing stimuli (energy from the environment)- how we experience stimuli relies on our sensory capacities (light, how we interpret different amounts of light) perception- how we interpret that energy all humans can sense in a similar way, but out interpretation changes Gestalt believes we are prewired to experience the world in particular ways

short term memory vs long term memory and working memory vs. long term memory

short term- you see if for a few minutes long term- everything else working memory- what we have on our minds at the moment/ what is our attention at the moment- if we keep our attention on that info, it will transfer to long-term memory, keep it in working memory to convert it into long term memory (if you don't, it will become short-term memory, and we will lose it)

gender differences

social biologists argue that the best strategy for passing along genes differs between males and females, leading to behavioral differences male and females have different strategies in picking mates- females focus on resources more than males and males are less choosey about who they sleep with, while women are more selective

schools of psychology that have heavily relied on laboratory

structuralism, behaviorism, and cognitive psychology (behaviorism relied most on laboratory methods but now cognitive psychology relies on it the most) introspection became criticized- Wundt became less important- people thought that it relied on assumption that thought was only possible through images; negated by the idea of the "imageless thought"- can't prove or disprove the imageless thought theory with introspection bc not objective leads to J.B. Watson's behaviorism where psychology can only be considered a science by looking at observable phenomena of stimuli that impact behavior and response- behaviorists focus on the control of all variables except for one stimuli; Skinner Box- saw that responses that were reinforced by positive stimuli were more likely to be repeated, while negative stimuli responses were less likely to be repeated- formulated the laws of learning (working in) 1950s- cognitive revolution- brings the mind and through back to psychology; not just behaviors and stimuli-response; sticks to principles of reductionism- reduces the behavior to cognitive processes, heuristics, and levels of "brain centers" (neurons; neurotransmitters); adopted the causal model of behavior (similarly to behaviorism) where they research to determine causes of behavior

francis

studied fraternal and identical twins; if you can find monozygotic twins* who have grown up in 2 different environments and compare them, you get the contribution of genetic and environmental factors

case of HM

surgeons removed most of his hippocampus to try to control epileptic seizures- suffered from anterograde amnesia (the inability to store new long term memories)- clearly demonstrated the link between brain and memory

Locke

tabula rasa- we are not born with any prewired characteristics and we learn to perceive the world in a particular way helmholts-when we study across cultures, we find variations- suggests that we learn to perceive the world differently since there are differences across cultures

TEMPTATION

temptation- want versus should conflict (doing work vs. procrastinating it until later); battle btwn impulse to do something enjoyable at the moment and an effort to resist it in favor of a later benefit - DELAY OF GRATIFICATION- declining a pleasant activity now in order to get greater pleasure later - Marshmallow experiment - Ability to resist temptation and to delay gratification increases with age - People overestimate their ability to resist temptation and then puts themself in tempting situations but it is better to avoid the tempting situation in the first place - Overcome temptation by committing to an action in advance - Ability to resist temptation depends on what other ppl are doing too; reminder of ethical norms reduces giving into temptation - Resisting temptation now may or may not increase your chances of resisting temptation later

classical psychophsics

the emergence of experimental methods in psychology; worked by taking individuals into a lab and testing them in controlled conditions- in signal detection theory (the modern approach) emotions are brought in as well and there is an effort to make it more complex Fechner- part of this movement: hybrid sciences like biochemistry; his approach was to study the psychological response to physical stimuli- tried to solve a particular problem- the subjective experience of physical stimuli (ex. JND- just noticeable difference- I can start with a very load noise and keep decreasing the intensity until the subject says they can no longer hear the stimulus); they can show a light and change the intensity until you notice the difference (the JND) - demonstrated that there is proportionality in the JND- it changes proportionally depending on the stimulus

embodied cognition

the idea that thinking and experiencing involves the entire body (if i was jealous, it is me as a person who is jealous, but the whole body is involved, not just the amygdala)

Immaneul Kant

the kantian tradition- set characteristics of the mind; emphasized the hard wiring we have; we are born with a sense of time and space, but we have to be taught how to tell time; we know instinctively that time passes

serial order effect

the middle is most likely to be forgotten, when you are learning something, learn it in different orders because its the most likely to be forgotten

motivation

the process that determines the reinforcement value of an outcome → makes you seek something more at one time than another; goal-directed behavior is motivated behavior Theory that motivation is a drive- a state of unrest or irritation that energizes one behavior after another until one of them removes the irritation humans enjoy competing

social psychology

the scientific study of individual behavior in social context (over 80 of this research is conducted in a lab)

techniques for sensory substitution

through using systems that substitute either auditory input of tactile input in place of visual input, we can help the blind to see (involves taking an image which is visual into stimuli which are auditory or tactile

opponent process theory

to see one color in a pair (ex. black and white)- you suppress one to express color constancy, when something is moving and we perceive the color as constant even though the light may be different

stem cell research

undifferentiated cells; we can repair damage to human bodies (ex. alzheimers)

Kant and gibson

we come into this world already tending to perceive the world in particular ways (ex. when we look at trees, we don't have to learn to understand the different textures in the tree

subliminal perception and persuasion

we know that we can communicate messages in a way that will not be detected by those receiving the messages