Psych Test 1

• Wundt, 1879, first psychology lab
• Study of consciousness

Philosophy (Aristotle and Plato) and physiology (Helmholtz)

• The analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind
• Wundt- Subjective observation of one's own experience
• Titchener - Focused on identifying the basic elements of consciousness
• Weakness:  Science requires replicable observations

• The study of the function/purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment
• James
• Consciousness must serve an important biological function, trying to understand those functions.

• The importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
• Freud
• Dark view of human nature emphasizing limitations and problems
• Psychoanalysis - bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness

• The positive potential of human beings.
• Maslow/Rogers

• The scientific study of objectively observable behavior, stimulus-response.
• Watson - Human behavior is powerfully influenced by the environment
• Skinner - How people act in their environment

• Emphasizes we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts.
• The mind imposes organization on what it perceives
• Wertheimer

The study of mental processes including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning

• When we have an idea about the world (theory), we should gather empirical evidence relevant to that idea and then modify the idea to fit the evidence
• Theories make predictions about what we should and should not be able to observe in the world (hypothesis)
• The best way to learn the truth about the world is to develop theories, derive hypotheses from them, test the hypotheses by gathering evidence, and then use that evidence to modify the theories.

A hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon

A falsifiable prediction made by a theory.

A property whose value can vary across individuals or over time

A description of a property in concrete, measurable terms, i.e. happiness is defined by a smile

A technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environment

• Observation
• Tests/questionnaires
• Measure behaviors not susceptible to demands

• A technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables.
• Manipulation
• Random Assignment
• Eliminates the countless differences between groups
• Only good for the parameters set out by the experiment.

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment

The variable that is measured in a study

The group of people who are treated in a particular way, as compared to the control group.

The group of people who are not treated in a particular way

• A measure of the direction and strength of the correlation
• 1 = perfect positive, both variables increase by a fixed amount at the same time
• -1 = perfect negative, 1 variable goes up and the other goes down
• 0 =  no relation in increase/decrease

The fact that two variables are correlated only because each is casually related to a third variable

A written agreement to participate in a study made by an adult who has been informed of all the risks that participation may entail.

A verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study

• Respect for persons
• Beneficent
• Just
• Informed consent
• Freedom from coercion
• Protection from harm
• Risk-benefit analysis
• Deception
• Debriefing
• Confidentiality

Ensure that data is collected ethically

• A procedure that uses a random event to assign people to the experimental or control group
• Statistically significant, odds less than 5% that random assignment failed
• Odds

• Central tendency - mean, median, mode
• Variability - range, standard deviation

The value of the most frequently observed measurement

The average value of all the measurements

The value in the middle, greater than half and less than half the numbers

Receive information from the external world

Carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

Connect to other neurons

• Dendrite - brings in new action potential from other neurons
• Cell body
• Axon - conducts new action potentials
• Myelin sheath - insulating layer, increases speed of transmission

• The difference in electrical charge between the insdie and outside of the cell membrane
• Inside is -70 millivolts
• K⁺ causes resting potential
• K⁺ higher inside the cell, P⁺ higher outside

• The period when a new action potential cannot be initiated
• The ions are balancing via sodium/potassium pump

• AP travels down the axon
• Simultaneous releate of NT from vesicles
• NT released into the synapse where it binds with dendrites on postsynaptic neuron to initiate a new AP
• Reuptake of NT by sending neuron or
• NT broken down by enzymes in the synapse or
• NT binds to autoreceptors on the sending neuron

• Acetylcholine - voluntary motor control
• Dopamine - regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure and emotional arousal
• Glutamate - information transmission throughout the brain
• GABA - inhibitory NT in the brain
• Norepinephrine - influences mood and arousal
• Serotonin - regulation of sleep, wakefulness, eating and aggressive behavior
• Endorphins - pain pathways and emotion centers

• Enhance production of dopamine, L-dopa
• Increase release of NT, prevent reuptake, amphetamine and cocaine
• Bind to autoreceptors and block inhibitory effect, Clonidine
• Bond to postsynaptic receptors and activate them, increase NT effect, nicotine

• Block production of NT, AMPT
• Depletion of NT in vesicles, Reserpine
• Block release of NT, B. toxin
• Activate autoreceptors so they inhibit NT release, caffeine
• Bind to postsynaptic receptors and block NT binding, propranolol, Haldol

Coordinates heart rate, circulation, and respiration

Regulates sleep, wakefulness, and levels of arousal

Controls fine motor skills

Relays and filters information from the senses and transmits the information to the cerebral cortex

Regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst and sexual behavior

Creating new memories and integrating them for storage

Central role in many emotional processes, especially memories

A set of subcortical structures that directs intentional movements

The highest level of the brain, complex perception, emotion, movement and thought

Left brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa

A thick band of nerve fibers that connects large areas of the cerebral cortex on each side of the brain and supports communication of information across the hemispheres

Movement, abstact thinking, planning, memory, judgment

Processing information about touch

Hearing and language

Visual information

A strip of brain tissue in the frontal lobe, represents and controls different skin and body areas

Represents skin areas of the particular parts on the contralateral side of the body

• Adapting to changes in sensory inputs
• Functions assigned to a certain area can be reassigned

• Left frontal lobe
• If damaged, can understand spoken language but cannot produce words

• Upper-left temporal lobe
• Can speak words but cannot understand speech of others if damaged