Psych 1

Mental states, thoughts and feelings

enables the mind

any observable action

Psychology is an empirical science
Nature and Nurture are inextricably intertwined
The Brain and Mind are Inspererable
A New Biological Rev. is energizing research
The mind is adaptive
Pscyhological science corssese levels of analysis
We often are unaware of the multiple influences on how we think, feel and behave

Biological
Individual
Social
Cultural

William Wundt (founder of modern experimental psychology), Edward Titchener
conscious experience can be studied by examining its borken-down, underlaying components
break down consciousness into its basic elements (like periodic table of elements)
relied on introspection
focused on perception and sensation

systemmatic examination of subjective mental experiences that requires people to inspect and report on the content of their thoughts

took years of practice, can only talk about things in "elemental" form, can't use stored knowledge

William James
Based on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution
the mind is too complex to be studied by breaking down into elements
stream of consciousness could not be frozen in time like sturcturalists desired
argued to studie the functions of the mind (the mind helps humans adapt)
asked: what does the mind do? how is it adaptive? how does it create overt behavior?
Primary Areas: social, practical everday higher order experience

the mind's continuous stream of ever changing thoughts

Max Wertheimer, Kohler
anti-structuralism: the mind is greater than the sum of its elemental parts
Theory: the whole of personal experience is different than the sum of its constitutent elements
we cannot divorce experience from knowledge
Known for optical illusions
*perception of objects is subjective
Primary Areas: sensation, perception

Sigmund Freud
Theory: Behavior is determined by unconscious (below level of conscious awareness) drives and affected heavily by childhood
Primary Areas: personality, development and psychopathology

try to bring patient's unconscious into conscious awareness
Through dream interpretation, also free association

letting the patient talk for however long- the unconscious will eventually reveal itself

John Watson, BF Skinner (elaborated), Ivan Pavlov
If psychology was a science, it had to study things which could be proven (unlike Freud and subconscious)
Theory: emphasizes environmental effects on behavior--> in battle of nature v. nurture, nuture only
Influence of Pavlov: we learn or acquire all our behaviors through enviornment
Studying behavior was end itself, rather than a means to infer mental processes

According to Skinner- mental states nothing more than an illusion. behavior shaped by past results (reward, punishment), not on mental process (tabla rosa)

Primary Areas: learning

Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow
Theory: Humans determine their own fate through free will- everyone can reach full potential once Maslow's pyramid of needs is met (opposite of Freud- childhood shapes future)
Oprah has a humanistic view- shape our own future
Primary Areas- personality, therapy

I'm mad at you
I'm hearing that you're mad at me...
The person will gain insight into their thinking this way

George Miller
Theory: Mental functions important to understanding beahvior (unlike behaviorism)
Info processing more important, not behavior
Brain-hardware, Mind-software

Primary Area- memory, learning, cognitive psychology

The study of how people think, learn and remember

Kurt Lewin
Led on by atrocities of WWII crimes
Theory: Need to understand individual and social pressures to understand/predict behavior
B=f(P,E)
Behavior is a function of the person and the environment
Primary Areas- social cultural

Uses interactionalist perspective
Crosses boundaries and schools of thought

4 Canons of Science

Scientific Method

To make variables concrete and measurable

In depth investigation of a single case
Pros- real-life observation and rich description
Cons- limited generalizability
Used for rare phenomena or situations which ethically cannot be reproduced

Questions many participants about phenomena of interest
Pros- real-life, greater generalizability, wide variety of events
Cons- self-report bias, lack of insight

People are unwilling to admit things about themselves or are unaware of a certain bias

Observational studies, observingand noting behavior to analyze it objectively
Pros- valuable in early stages of research when trying to descern if phenomena exists, takes place in real world setting
Cons- observer bias can lead to error in observation, observer's presence can change behavior of thngs being studied

Type of Descriptive study in which the observer remains separated from situation and makes no attempt to change it

Type of Descriptive Study in which the researcher is involved in situation

The phenomena when the presence of an observer changes the behavior of things being studied

Studies in which you observe and clarify developmental changes that occur in poeple over time, with or without observer intervention
Pros- allow researchers to see developmental changes which gives info about effect of age on the SAME people
Cons- costly, time intensive, lose participants over time

Study in which involves observing and classifying developmental changes that occur in different groups of people at the same time
Pros- faster, less expensive
Cons-unidentified variables could be involved

the systematic errors in observation that occur becasue of an observer's expectations

Actual change in the behavior of the people/things being observed due to observer's bias

A research method that examines how variables are naturally related in the real world, without attempt by researchers to alter them
Pros- Rely on naturally occuring relationship; in real-world
Cons- can never tell us about causation, cannot determine causality because of direction and third variable problem

Cannot be sure if A casues B or B causes A
When researchers find a relationship between two variables in a correlational study, they cannot determine which variable casued the change in the other
They can only say the two are correlated

Instead of A causing B, C could have caused B
When the observer cannot manipulate the Ind. Var. and therefore cannot be confident that another unmeasured variable is not the actual cause of the change in the Dep. Var.

A study that tests causal hypotheses by measuring and manipulating variables
Pros- can determine causal relationships
Cons- artificial, limited to certain topics

Causal Variable
The manipulated Variable

The outcome
The measured varaible

Hallmarks of Good Experiment

Placing participants into conditions randomly--> this makes groups equivalent on average

any alternative variable that could potentially explain differences between groups
*anything beiseds the Ind. Variable that affects the dependent variable, unintentionaly varies and cannot be controlled

How to avoid confounds

Ways an experimenter or participant could (even unconsciously) influence the results of the experiment to fit hypothesis

Observer- observer expectations alters the way one sees the behavior
Experimenter Expectancy- subtle differences in treatement that could influence participant behavior

The participant in the study changes their behavior because they want to "look good" ex.

A procedure in which paticipants don't know the hypothesis and observers do not know which group they are observalbe

How stable are the operations

Operations are good and measure what they are believed to be measuring

Lack of Confounds

generalizability of findings, true outside of the study? in the real world?

The benefits of teh study must outweigh the costs to the participants

they review all research done in the university settings

informed of what will happen to them (to a certain extent)

measures the electrical activity in brain

experimental techniques that make brain structures and activity visible, measure changes in rate or speed of blood flow

a method of brain imaging that assesses the metabolic activity by using a radioactive substance injected into the bloodstream

Method of brain imagaing- produces high quality images by using a strong magnetic field

uses brain's blood flow to map mental activity scanning the brains of participants as they perform tasks
Measures changes in blood's oxygen level

uses strong magnets to briefly interupt normal brain activity in a specific region as a way to study brain regions

segments of DNA that guide the production of proteins to carry out specific tasks, they make up chromosomes
a unit of heredity

can be "on" or "off"

actual genetic constitution

observable expression of characteristics

results form both genetic and environmental influences

a trait influenced by many genes

identical twins, formed by 1 zygote spliting into two

fraternal twin siblings who results from 2 sperately fertilized eggs

no more similar than family siblings

statistical estimate of the variation caused by differences in heredity, in trait with population
Estimate of genetic protion of variation in specific trait
if trait has less variation among family members it is said to be ______
ex: height, weight, happiness

genetics and environment working in concert to support a trait

can lead to inferential mistakes

knocking out or disrupting a gene to see its effects on behavior/function

basic unit of the nervous system, operates through electrical impulses which communicate with other ________ through chemical signals

type of neuron that receives signals from outside the nervous system

type of neurons which transmit signals to muscles to contract or relax to control movement

type of neurons that communicate with other neurons--> these are the most numerous

generally in specific brain regions

short, branchlike appendages that detect information form other neurons

where information from thousands of neurons is collected and processed

a long narrow outgrowth by which information is transmitted to other neurons--> transmit electrical impulses

small nodules at the end of axons

they release chemical signals from the neuron to the synapse

site for chemical communication between neurons, contains extracellular fluid

area between neurons- neurons do not actual touch

a fatty material made up of glial cells, insulates the axon and allows for rapid movement of electrical impulses along the axon

made of glial cells ("glue")

small gaps of exposed axon between segmetns of myelin sheaths. Releases action potential

ion channels allow negatively and positively charged ions to pass in and out of the cell as signals are transmitted down the axon

the electrical charge of a neuron when it is not active (resting)

neuron is slightly negative on inside compared to outside (polarized)

the neural impulse that passes along the axon and subsequently causes the release of chemicals from the terminal buttons

signals either inhibitory (hyperpolarize cell membrane) or excitatory (depolarize cell membrane, making it more likely to fire)
if total amount of excitatory signals surpasses the neuron's threshold, an _________ is generated

firing of a neuron

absolute time of 1-2 milliseconds in which a neuron cannot fire following an action potential

a neuron can fire after being fired, but it has a higher threshold

neuron either fires or doesn't

chemical substances that carry signals across synaptic cleft

they bind and attach themselves to receptors that "match" them

influence thoughts, emotions, behavior

specialized protein molecules, on the postsynaptic membrane where neurotransmitters bind themselves

this causes an excitatory or inhibitory signal

process where a neurotransmitter is taken back into the presynaptic terminal buttons--> stopping its activity

an enzyme destorys the transmitter substance in the synaptic cleft

where neurotransmitters can reattach themselves to the presynaptic membrane to signal the neuron when to stop releasing neurotransmitters

drugs which enhance neurotransmitters' actions

drugs that inhibit actions of a specific neurotransmitter