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Mental states, thoughts and feelings
Mind
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any observable action
behavior
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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
7 Themes of Psychological Science
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Biological
Individual
Social
Cultural
Levels of Analysis
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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
Structuralism
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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
introspection
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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
Functionalism
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the mind's continuous stream of ever changing thoughts
stream of consciousness
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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
Gestalt
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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
Psyhchoanalitic
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try to bring patient's unconscious into conscious awareness
Through dream interpretation, also free association
Psychoanalysis
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letting the patient talk for however long- the unconscious will eventually reveal itself
free association
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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
Behaviorism
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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
Humanistic
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I'm mad at you
I'm hearing that you're mad at me...
The person will gain insight into their thinking this way
Rogerian Therapy
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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
Cognitive Revolution
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The study of how people think, learn and remember
Cognitive Psychology
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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
Social Revolution
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Uses interactionalist perspective
Crosses boundaries and schools of thought
Modern Psychology
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4 Canons of Science
- 1. Determinism
- 2. Empericism
- 3. Parsimony
- 4. Testability
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Scientific Method
- 1. Observation--> theorize
- 2. Hypothesis
- 3. Translate Variables
- 4. Choose Research Method
- 5. Conduct Study
- 6. Analyze Data--> support or refute hypothesis
- 7. Further Inquiry
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To make variables concrete and measurable
Operationalize
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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
Case Study
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Questions many participants about phenomena of interest
Pros- real-life, greater generalizability, wide variety of events
Cons- self-report bias, lack of insight
Survey
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People are unwilling to admit things about themselves or are unaware of a certain bias
Self-report Bias
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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
Descriptive Studies
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Type of Descriptive study in which the observer remains separated from situation and makes no attempt to change it
Naturalistic Observation
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Type of Descriptive Study in which the researcher is involved in situation
Participant Observation
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The phenomena when the presence of an observer changes the behavior of things being studied
Reactivity
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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
Longitudenal Studies
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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
Cross-sectional Studies
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the systematic errors in observation that occur becasue of an observer's expectations
Observer Bias
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Actual change in the behavior of the people/things being observed due to observer's bias
Experimenter Expectency Effect
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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
Correlational Research
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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
Directionality Problem
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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.
Third Variable Problem
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A study that tests causal hypotheses by measuring and manipulating variables
Pros- can determine causal relationships
Cons- artificial, limited to certain topics
Experimental Study
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Causal Variable
The manipulated Variable
Independent Variable
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The outcome
The measured varaible
Dependent Variable
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Hallmarks of Good Experiment
- 1. Avoids confounds
- 2. Avoids Bias (experimenter and participant
- 3. Psychologically Real
- 4. Uses reliable and valid measures
- 5. Ethical
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Placing participants into conditions randomly--> this makes groups equivalent on average
Random Assignment
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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
Confound
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How to avoid confounds
- Rigid Control
- Randomly vary as many "nonessentials" as possible so differences will average out
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Ways an experimenter or participant could (even unconsciously) influence the results of the experiment to fit hypothesis
Bias
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Observer- observer expectations alters the way one sees the behavior
Experimenter Expectancy- subtle differences in treatement that could influence participant behavior
Experimenter Bias
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The participant in the study changes their behavior because they want to "look good" ex.
Participant Bias
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A procedure in which paticipants don't know the hypothesis and observers do not know which group they are observalbe
Double-Blind Procedure
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How stable are the operations
Replicability
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Operations are good and measure what they are believed to be measuring
Construct Validity
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Lack of Confounds
Internal Validity
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generalizability of findings, true outside of the study? in the real world?
external validity
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The benefits of teh study must outweigh the costs to the participants
Research Ethics
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they review all research done in the university settings
Institutional Review BOards
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informed of what will happen to them (to a certain extent)
Informed Consent
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measures the electrical activity in brain
EEG (electroencephalogram)
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experimental techniques that make brain structures and activity visible, measure changes in rate or speed of blood flow
Brain Imaging
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a method of brain imaging that assesses the metabolic activity by using a radioactive substance injected into the bloodstream
Positron Emision Tomography (PET)
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Method of brain imagaing- produces high quality images by using a strong magnetic field
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
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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
Funcional MRI (fMRI)
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uses strong magnets to briefly interupt normal brain activity in a specific region as a way to study brain regions
Transcranial Magnetic Simulation (TMS)
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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"
genes
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actual genetic constitution
genotype
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observable expression of characteristics
results form both genetic and environmental influences
pheontype
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a trait influenced by many genes
polygenic
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identical twins, formed by 1 zygote spliting into two
monozygotic
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fraternal twin siblings who results from 2 sperately fertilized eggs
no more similar than family siblings
diozygotic
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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
Hereditability
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genetics and environment working in concert to support a trait
can lead to inferential mistakes
niche
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knocking out or disrupting a gene to see its effects on behavior/function
knockout
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basic unit of the nervous system, operates through electrical impulses which communicate with other ________ through chemical signals
neurons
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type of neuron that receives signals from outside the nervous system
sensory neurons
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type of neurons which transmit signals to muscles to contract or relax to control movement
motor neurons
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type of neurons that communicate with other neurons--> these are the most numerous
generally in specific brain regions
interneurons
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short, branchlike appendages that detect information form other neurons
dendrites
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where information from thousands of neurons is collected and processed
cell body
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a long narrow outgrowth by which information is transmitted to other neurons--> transmit electrical impulses
axons
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small nodules at the end of axons
they release chemical signals from the neuron to the synapse
terminal buttons
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site for chemical communication between neurons, contains extracellular fluid
area between neurons- neurons do not actual touch
synapse, synaptic cleft
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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")
myelin sheath
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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
nodes of Ranvier
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the electrical charge of a neuron when it is not active (resting)
neuron is slightly negative on inside compared to outside (polarized)
resting membrance potential
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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
action potential
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firing of a neuron
sodium channels--> sodium comes in giving it a slightly positive charge-->potasium channels open--> potasium rushes out --> sodium gates close--> potassium gates close-->repolarization
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absolute time of 1-2 milliseconds in which a neuron cannot fire following an action potential
post-firing refractory periods
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a neuron can fire after being fired, but it has a higher threshold
relative refractory period
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neuron either fires or doesn't
all or none principal
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chemical substances that carry signals across synaptic cleft
they bind and attach themselves to receptors that "match" them
influence thoughts, emotions, behavior
neurotransmitters
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specialized protein molecules, on the postsynaptic membrane where neurotransmitters bind themselves
this causes an excitatory or inhibitory signal
receptors
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process where a neurotransmitter is taken back into the presynaptic terminal buttons--> stopping its activity
reuptake
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an enzyme destorys the transmitter substance in the synaptic cleft
enzyme deactivation
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where neurotransmitters can reattach themselves to the presynaptic membrane to signal the neuron when to stop releasing neurotransmitters
autoreceptors
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drugs which enhance neurotransmitters' actions
agonist
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drugs that inhibit actions of a specific neurotransmitter
antagonists
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