Psych Exam 1

• Performed to understand the
• fundamental principles of a phenomenon
• Born out of curiosity, just
• to understand
• No other reason for the study
• besides just wanting to know
• Is Nicotine addictive?
• Sex life of mosquitos example

• "Dumb" research
• that later turned into a cure for malaria

Has immediate application with a practical solution

• Focus on effectiveness
• (treatments, medications)
• To help someone or get them well
• Can we block tobacco addiction with a drug that has been shown to block nicotine receptors in the brain?

• No Medical Training
• Intense academic training

Has medical degree and specializes in diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

• Description: describe the behavior “ what is going on?”
• Explanation or understanding: why is it happening?
• Theory: general explanation of a set of observations or facts
• Prediction: will it happen again?
• Control: over other variables that may affect the behavior/ prevent biases

• Faith comes first which can then be backed by experience
• Empiricism starts with experience (fact)
• What we discover today, can change tomorrow because it's based on experiment and hypothesis

• A system for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data.
• Perceiving the Question
• Form Hypothesis
• Test Hypothesis
• Draw Conclusions
• Report Results

Variable that is manipulated in any experiment

Thing being measured.

The group of people used for a study

When the person doesn't answer truthfully

Process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control group randomly, so that each subject has an equal chance of being in either group.

• When neither the researcher or the participator knows who is the control group or
• who has the placebo

Subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment.

Group that receives the treatment.

Participants of the experiment are "blind" to the treatment they receive.

Wundt – objective introspection: process of objectively examining and measuring one's thoughts and mental activities (how people adapt to their surroundings)

James - How the mind allows people to adapt, live, work, and play

Watson – you become what you learn and train for

• Focuses on the biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share.  
• Survival     
• Children
• Difference between men and women (men want to have more kids, women want to settle down with someone
• who will stay)

• Focuses on perception and sensation, particularly the perception of patterns and whole figures   
• Looking at the big picture (whole)

• We can reach our own potential (free will) we make ourselves who we are
• Maslow and Rogers

Memory,thought process, how the brain works

Freud - Subconscious, focus on sexual

Same as psychoanalysis with less focus on sexual

• Study of groups, social roles, and rules of social actions and relationships
• Study of cultural norms, values, and expectations

• Effect of biological causes on behavior.
• Hormones, heredity, brain chemicals, tumors, and diseases.

A measure of the relationship between two variables

Correlation is not necessarily Causation

Study of one individual in great detail.

• Naturalistic Observation
• Laboratory Observation
• Case Study
• Survey

• Medicine
• Chemo Therapy

Does discovery outweigh the consequences?

Branchlike structures that receive messages from other neurons.

Cell body of the neuron

Tubelike structure that carries the neural message to other cells.

• Coating of axon that insulates, protects and speeds up the neural impulse.
• Made of fatty substances by glial cells

• Make up 90% of brain
• Holds neurons in place

• Changes the chemical response
• received at the cell body into a voltage that is sent down the axon (like
• translator)

Inside a synaptic vesicle and then released unto the synaptic cleft (synapse)

• Excitatory ex. Adrenaline, seratonin
• Inhibitory- ex GABA (drowsy relaxed etc)

Chemical substance that blocks or reduces the effects of a neurotransmitter

Chemical substance that mimics or enhances the effects of a neurotransmitter

• The Release of the nerual impulse consisting of a reversal of the eletrical charge within the axon.
• Threshold exceeded- axon hillock
• Flow of ions through channels in membrane (NA+ rushes in and CL- rushes out)
• All or none law - it either happens or it doesn’t.  kinda like eating a cookie (you either eat five cookies or you don't eat any cookies)  Must pass threshold (-55) to fire
• This leads to refractory period (around -90) later returns -70

• Nothing is happening (resting)
• A neuron is in resting potential when there are more positively (NA+ sodium) charged ions outside than inside (CL- chloride on inside)

• Resting potential.  Nothing is happening (resting).  A neuron is in resting potential when there are more positively (NA+ sodium) charged ions outside than inside (CL- chloride on inside)
• Action potential (firing).  Threshold exceeded- axon hillock.  Flow of ions through channels in membrane (NA+ rushes in and CL- rushes out).  All or none law·  it either happens or it doesn’t.  kinda like eating a cookie (you either eat five cookies or you don't eat any cookies)· Must pass threshold (-55) to fire.  This leads to refractory period (around -90) later returns -70
• Returning to resting potential.  Sodium Pump pushes all NA+ out of the neuron and K+ stays in.  Refractory period that overshoots the normal resting potential occurs first (-90)

• Vision center
• Located at back of skull

• Center of decision making
• Planning
• Bring memories in to make decisions
• Reasoning

• Function
• Attention
• Daydreaming/ execution of plans (Einstein had a large parietal cortex)
• Spatial location (drawing a to scale map for example)

• Located behind temples
• Sense of hearing and meaningful speech

Everything inside the spinal column and the skull

• All the nerves outside the spinal column and the skull
• Contains Autonomic and Somatic Nervous System

Nerves that carry information from the senses to the CNS and from the CNS to the voluntary muscles of the body.

• Controls all involuntary muscles, organs, and glands.
• Two Parts: Sympathetic Division and Parasympathetic Division

• Fight-or-flight system
• Responsible for reacting to stressful events and bodily arrousal

• Restores the body to normal function after arousal
• Responsible for day-to-day functioning of the organs and glands

• Location: bottom of the brain at top of spinal column
• controls life-sustaining functions such as heartbeat, breathing, and swallowing
• Here is where nerves cross over to opposite sides of the brain
• Contains Reticular Formation

• Responsible for waking up the brain
• Allows for ignoring constant unchanging information
• Keeps you alert

• Controls all involuntary, rapid, fine motor movement
• Connected to coordination and balance

Crossroads for all information in the brain

• Homeostasis
• Hormone release

• Forming long-term memories (not stored here!)
• Sad case of HM
• Surgically had part of brain removed for treating epilepsy
• Couldn't make new memories

• Inner feelings--emotions - rage; placid, calm response
• Fear, anxiety, aggression and violence

Responsible for higher thought process and interpretation of sensory input

Folds in cortex

• Overlearned behaviors; but more than habit formations
• Automatic behaviors - ex:walking, chewing gum, etc.
• Parkinson's Disease

• Dopamine passes into pleasure center
• Natural reinforcers (eating, kissing, etc) can become addicting when:
• They are highly stimulating version of what our ancestors found irresistible
• Is available in limitless supply
• Comes in varieties (novelty effect)
• We binge and the effect on the pleasure center is rapid and "sledgehammer-like," hitting the brain in large amounts at once

Process by which neurotransmitters are taken back into the synaptic vesicles

The connection of the afferent neurons to the interneurons to the efferent neurons, resulting in a reflex action

Excitatory or inhibitory; involved in memory and control muscle contractions

Excitatory or inhibitory; involved in mood, sleep, and appetite

Major inhibitory neurotransmitter; involved in sleep and inhibits movement

Major Excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in learning, memory formation, and nervous system development

Mainly excitatory; involved in arousal and mood

Excitatory or inhibitory; involved in control of movement and sensations of pleasure

Inhibitory neural regulators; involved in pain relief

Series of X-ray slices combined together using a computer

Brain-imaging method using radio waves and magnetic fields of the body to produce detailed images of the brain

A recording of the electrical activity of large groups of cortical neurons just below the skull, most often using scalp electrodes

Brain-imaging method in which a radioactive sugar is injected into a person and a computer compiles a color-coded image of the activity of the brain

• Activation of receptors in various sense organs
• When chemical receptor is stimulated

When brain processes sensation

• Our past experiences influence what we see and think
• Relationship between sensation and perception is disorientated by the sense (in this case the eye)

Parts of the body that have more sensory neurons

• Protects the eye
• Bends light waves so the image can be focused

Muscles that control the size of the pupil

Iris opening that changes size depending on the amount of light in the environment

Changes shape to bring objects into focus

Located at back of the eye and contains photoreceptor cells

• Central area of retina
• Has greatest density of photoreceptors

Sends visual information to the brain

• Where the optic nerve leaves the eye.
• Contains no photoreceptor cells (rods or cones)

Jelly-like liquid that nourishes and gives shape to the eye.

• Visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina
• Responsible for non-color sensitivity to low levels of light
• Responsible for peripheral vision
• No rods in center of retina

• Visual sensory receptors found at the back of the retina
• Responsible for color vision and sharpness of vision
• Very center of retina made entirely of cones

The recovery of the eye's sensitivity to visual stimuli in darkness after exposure to bright lights.

The recovery of the eye's sensitivity to visual stimuli in light after exposure to darkness

Images that occur when a visual sensation persists for a brief time even after the original stimulus is removed

Theory of color vision that proposes three types of cones: red, blue, and green

Theory of color vision that proposes visual neurons (or groups of neurons) are stimulated by light of one color and inhibited by light of another color

• Eyes contain no cones or cones that don't function
• See everything in shades of gray

• Eye contains one type of cone that doesn't function properly.
• Can't see specific color set: red-green, blue-yellow

The difference in the images between the two eyes, which is greater for objects that are close and smaller for distant objects

The use of pre-existing knowledge to organize individual features into a unified whole

The analysis of the smaller features to build up to a complete perception

Least energy for correct stimulus detection 50% of the time (a bees wing falling on your face is the threshold for touch)

The smallest difference detectable 50% of the time(ex. Hearing and sight tests)

• Brain stops attending to constant, unchanging informative (cognitive)
• Example: A fan, drippy faucet

• Sensory receptors less response to constant stimuli (biological)
• Example: Your wallet, smell of house or perfume, dark theater

The tendency to perceive things a certain way because previous experiences or expectations influence those perceptions