PSYC 1000 Midterm Review covers units 1-6 PDF

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Psyc 1000 Midterm 1 Review covers units one to six. Includes visual aids and definitions of key terms and descriptions of core concepts....

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PSYC 1000 MIDTERM REVIEW ➔

Covers-1.2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 6.1, 6.2, 6.

Chapter 1-History of Psychology Psychology ➔ The scientific study of mental processes and behavior Mental Processes ➔ Activities of our brain when engaged in thinking, observing, and using language Behaviour ➔ Observable activities of an organism Four Goals of Psychologists (PECD) ➔ Prediction of the circumstances that lead to the expression of a specific behavior ◆ When are we more likely to see aggressive behaviour? ➔ Explanation of these observations ◆ What causes aggressive behaviour? ➔ Controlling behaviour ◆ How can we prevent the expression of aggression? ➔ Description of what we observe ◆ What is aggression? Level of Analysis ➔ Mental processes and behaviors can be studied at multiple levels of analysis The Brain-brain structure and function ○ How does stimulation of the amygdala affect aggression? The person-thoughts and feelings ○ How do personality factors influence aggressive behaviour The Group-family, friends, culture ○ How does exposure to violence in the media effect aggression? Psychology's roots in Philosophy Philosophy-the study of knowledge and reality ◆ Ancient greek philosophers asked questions about the human mind ● mind-body relation, nature vs nurture question ● It wasn't just what they asked but how they developed scientific methods Psychology's roots in Physiology Francis Bacon-created empiricism: the view that all knowledge comes from experience Descartes-contemplated mind body dualism: mind as distinct from the body and connected to the body via the pineal gland John Locke-argued we are born with tabula rasa and that we learn by experience

Psychology's roots in Psychophysics Psychophysics-the study of the relationship between physical stimuli and their psychological effects ◆ Pioneered by J  ohannes Muller in the 1800’s Hermon Helmholtz- measured the speed of neural impulses Gustav Fechner-one of the founders of experimental psychology; showed how mental events can be quantified Path to contemporary Psychology Whilhelm Wundt ◆ Opened the first psychology lab in 1879 in Leipzig ◆ Made psychology a science by adding ● Carefully measured observations ● Experiments

G.Stanley.Hall ◆ Established the first psychology lab in North America in 1883 ◆ Launched Americas first psychology journal in 1887 ◆ Major player in establishing the American Psychology Association(APA)in 1892 James Mark Baldwin ◆ Established the first psychology lab in Canada at U of T in 1890

Battle of the schools Structuralism

Led by Edward Tichner ● Sought to understand the basic elements of consciousness ◆ Relied on introspection ● Reporting on sensations and other elements of experience ● Not very scientific Functionalism Led by William James ● Sought to understand the function or purpose of consciousness ● Wrote “Principals of Psychology”(published in 1890) ● Lead to other schools of thought ○ Behaviorism ○ Applied psychology Gestalt Psychologist Said consciousness cannot be broken down into elements ◆ We perceive things as whole perceptual units ● The whole is greater than the sum of its parts ◆ Learning is tied to what we perceive Perspectives on behaviour=different vantage points for analyzing behavior and its quantities ➔ Major perspectives in psychology ◆ Psychoanalysis ◆ Behaviourism ◆ Humanistic psychology ◆ Cognitive psychology ◆ psychobiology/neuroscience Psychoanalysis ➔ Founded by sigmund freud in the early 1900s ➔ Focuses on the role of the unconscious ➔ Drives, wishes, needs, and desires which we are not aware of ➔ Emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences Behaviourism ➔ Dominant school of thought in the early 1900s ➔ Founded by John B Watson ◆ Emphasized psychology's focus on observable behaviour ◆ Showed that phobias can be learned (Little Albert) Ivan Pavlov ◆ Studied classical conditioning in dogs B.F Skinner ◆ Showed how consequences of behaviour can influence future behavior ◆ Studied rats and pigeons Albert Bandura ◆ Described learning by social observation

Humanistic Psychology ➔ Argued that psychoanalysis and behaviorism were de-humanizing

➔ Emphasized the unique qualities of humans ◆ Focused on freedom and personal growth ➔ Led by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers Cognitive Psychology Cognition-mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge ➔ 1950’s and 1960’s -Niesser, Miller, and Chomsky(to name a few) ◆ Applied the scientific method to study the mind ◆ Became the dominant perspective in psychology Psychobiology/Neuroscience ➔ Explained behaviour in terms of psychological processes Karl Lashely(1950’s)-observed behavioral changes in rats after removing parts of their brains Donald Hebb(1950’s)-cell assemblies describe neural networks Wilder Penfield(1970’s)-mild electrical stimulation of different areas of the brain evokes different responses Roger Sperry(1980’s)-left and right brain functions

Chapter 2-Research Methods Do we need psychological research? ➔ Our natural thinking style can fail! ◆ Eg: ● Hindsight bias-a finding may seem obvious after the fact ● Overconfidence error-we over estimate how accurate and skilled we are ● Mistakenly perceiving order in random events-makes us think we can make predictions from a random series ➔ Using science makes us objective and accurate Five characteristics of good research 1. Use of objective measures 2. Generalizability of results 3. Reducing sources of bias 4. Reporting the findings 5. Replication Use of objective measures ➔ The measure is consistent across instruments and observers ➔ Use of operational definitions help with objectivity ➔ The measures must be valid-does it actually measure what it claims to measure? ➔ The measure must be reliable-do we get the same score over time and across observers? ◆ Test-retest reliability ◆ Alternate forms of reliability ◆ Inter-rater reliability

Generalizability of results ➔ How likely are the results to be found in other people, situations, or events? ➔ Ultimately, researchers attempt to make conclusions about population based on the data collected from a sample Population: a large group of people whose behaviour you're trying to understand Sample: a subset of the population that you test in your study ➔ In order to make conclusions about a population based on a sample, you need ○ Sample=population Random sampling: make sure that every individual in the population has equal chance of being included in your sample Convenience sampling: using samples of individuals who are most readily available Reducing sources of bias Researcher bias: when the researchers own expectations or theoretical slant can influence the study Three ways researcher bias can occur: ● Intentional ● Wish fulfillment ● Accidental and inadvertent ◆ Can control using a double blind procedure ● Neither the researcher nor the participants know what group their in Participant biases: Hawthorne affect: ● when participants show a change in their behaviour because they know they are being observed Demand characteristics: ● Inadvertent cues detected by the participants about how they are expected to behave in the study ○ Social desirability: when participant responses are based more on social acceptability than honesty ○ Placebo affect: when participants show a change in behaviour due to their expectation that their behaviour should change ● How to minimize sources of participant bias: ○ Assure participants that their answers are anonymous and confidential ○ Assure participants that you're not looking at their individual responses but only group averages ○ Use a blind procedure ◆ Single blind versus double blind procedure Reporting the findings ➔ Written publication in a research journal and/or presentation at a conference Peer review: allows your work to be reviewed, criticized, and scrutinized by other experts in the field. Replication

➔ The process of repeating a study and finding a similar outcome each time Five signs of poor research: ➔ If you don't do the five things of good research, but also, ◆ Untestable hypothesis ◆ Anecdotal evidence ◆ Data selection bias ◆ Appeal to authority ◆ Appeals to (so-called) common sense, tradition, or novelty The Ethical Code ➔ Psychological researchers are expected to adhere to a certain set of ethical codes that, at the core, involve respecting the dignity and welfare of all research participants. Ethics Review ➔ A detailed proposal is needed for ethics review that include: ◆ Why study is necessary? ◆ What you expect to find ◆ How you will get your data ● Participants ○ How will you find them? ○ How will you treat them? ○ What consent must they provide?

Informed consent ➔ A key element of the ethical code ➔ States that participants have the right to be informed of all aspects of the activity and have the freedom to participate or not ◆ The problem is that this is not always possible ● Deception ● Animal subjects ● Vulnerable populations (mentally challenged, children) Other key elements of the ethical code Debriefing: after participation, P’s are fully informed of the purpose of the study Confidentiality: must keep all information about P’s in the strictest confidence Anonymity: none of the P’s information is linked to the data Research designs Research methods: a set of methods that allows a researcher to test a hypothesis or a specific prediction about a behaviour Two main types of research methods that psychologists use: Experimental research-allows causal conclusions Correlational research-how are variables related to each other? Descriptive Research ➔ Allows researchers to describe the characteristics of the phenomenon of interest in the study ➔ Use three methods of data collection to gather this information ◆ Case study ● An in-depth investigation of a single participant using a bunch of different data collection techniques ○ Advantage- can be a source of support for the theories about the cause of a behaviour ○ Disadvantage- results may not generalize to the rest of the population ◆ Surveys and questionnaires ● Participants are asked a series f questions about their behaviour

Advantage-good to study behaviours that cannot directly be observed, can collect a lot of data in a short period of time. ○ Disadvantage- careful of wording effects; results depend on what the participants themselves say ◆ Naturalistic observation ● Observing and recording the participant’s natural behaviour, without influencing the participant ○ Advantage- behaviour is studied under natural conditions ○ Disadvantage- difficult to not influence behaviour; requires a lot of patience ○

Correlation Research ➔ Interest is in the relation between two variables ➔ Researcher just measures 2 or more variables and uses statistics to see if they are related ➔ Nothing is manipulated

➔ The calculated statistic is called correlation coefficient as is symbolized by ’r’ ➔ The value of ’r’ tells you how much the two variables you measured are related

➔ Correlation is NOT causation ➔ A relationship between two variables does not mean that one variable caused the other, because it is equally plausible that; ◆ X causes y ◆ Y causes x ◆ There is some other third variable involved ➔ Advantage-useful for studying topics that cant be studied using experimental methods ➔ Disadvantage- does not allow causal conclusions Experimental Research ➔ The researcher manipulates a variable ➔ There are different groups of participants, and each group is exposed to something different ➔ Allows cause-effect conclusions Definitions; Independent variable- the variable that is manipulated  e variable that is measured Dependant variable- th Experimental group- the group that receives the manipulation Control group- the group that does not receive the manipulation

Experimental variations Between subjects design-when each participant serves in only one group and is only tested once Within subjects design-when each participant is tested in each experimental condition

➔ Manipulate more than one variable

➔ Use more than one dependant variable ◆ Eg; ● # of words remembered ● Time before remembering the first word ● Time taken before remembering the last word ● Time taken to remember all the words ● Time taken to study the list perfectly Quasi-experiments: ◆ When the group comparisons in an experiment are based on predetermined characteristics instead of random assignment ◆ Useful to pint out differences among preexisting groups, but not causal conclusions Advantages- cause effect conclusions Disadvantages- artificial and too simple, may have ethical and/or practical issues Why statistics? Descriptive statistics allows raw data to be organized into meaningful descriptions Inferential statistics Used to determine whether the findings in the study would likely be found in the population as a whole ◆ Used to determine whether the findings are genuine and not due to chance Descriptive Statistics Central tendency: a numerical value that represents the centre of the score you collected ◆ Mean ◆ Median ◆ Mode Variability: a numerical value that represents how different the scores you collected are from each other ◆ Range ◆ Variance ◆ Standard deviation Inferential Statistics ➔ Occurs when you have a very low probability that your findings are due to chance Very low probability: 5% ● >>p=0.05 level of significance

➔ T-test: comparing two groups F-test: comparing more than two groups R-test: looking at the relationship between variables

Chapter 3-Neuroscience Two main categories of cells ➔ Glial cells ◆ Found throughout the nervous system ◆ Provide structural support, nourishment, and installation to the neurons Neurons ◆ Directly involved in communications ◆ Receive, integrate, and transmit information to and from other neurons

Resting Potential

➔ If an axon is not sending or receiving any signals, then it is negatively charged at about -70mV 2 reasons for negative charge Concentration gradient- the tendency for molecules, which are always in motion, to distribute themselves evenly in their environment ○ Will move from high concentration to low, and from low to high Electrostatic gradient-ions will attract or repel each other depending on their electric charge ○ Opposites attract Organic ions(A-) ◆ Stuck inside cells Potassium ions(K+) Flows relatively freely across membrane ◆ Concentration gradient wants to push k+ outside cell ◆ Electrostatic gradient wants to keep k+ inside cell Sodium ions(Na+) ◆ Concentration and electrostatic both want to push Na+ inside cell

Why does Na+ stay concentrated outside the cell? ➔ Difficult to move across membrane Sodium potassium pump ◆ Continuously pushes 3 Na+ ions outside the cell in exchange for two K+ ions Action potential ➔ Na+ ions would rush into the cell ➔ This is what basically causes an action potential ◆ A sudden and brief increase in the permeability in the cells membrane to Na+ ➔ Done with help from voltage-gated sodium channel ◆ Detects the charge separation across the membrane and opens up channels for Na+ to cross the membrane ➔ First the membrane must be depolarized, or made less negative by 10 to 20 mV ➔ If cell depolarization reaches a certain level, called threshold, then Na+ channels open ➔ Neurons electric charge swing automatically to the positive side, reaching a charge of +40 mV ➔ Voltage-gated sodium channels remain closed until cell returns to resting state ➔ K+ channels also open, but with a bit of a lag ➔ Concentration and electrostatic gradients work harder to force K+ ions outside the cell ➔ Shifts permeability advantage back to k+ ions ➔ Causes cell to be hyperpolarized All or None principle ➔ Once a neuron’s electric charge reaches threshold and an action potential is triggered, that action potential will always occur with the same strength -represent information that isn’t all-or-none, but continuous ➔ Can vary rate of firing and number of neurons firing

Neurotransmitters ➔ 100-150 different neurotransmitters ◆ More substances suspected ➔ Each has a different effect ◆ Specific inhibitory or excitatory effect ◆ Several linked to psychological specific phenomenon Neural Communication ➔ Action potential reaches axon terminals ◆ Each axon terminal contains many synaptic vesicles, or small balloon-like objects that contain molecules of a neurotransmitter ➔ Causes some of the synaptic vesicles to open ◆ Neurotransmitters are released into the synaptic cleft ➔ Some neurotransmitters reach the postsynaptic neuron and bind with postsynaptic receptors ◆ Causes specific channels to open, allowing a specific type of ion to pass in or out of the cell Excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) ➔ If a positive ion channel opens that allow positive ions to flow into the cell, the cell will depolarize and it will be easier to reach the threshold of an action potential Inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) ➔ If a negative ion channel opens and negative ions are forced into the cell, the cell will hyperpolarize and it will be harder to reach the threshold of an action potential ➔ Can also occur if potassium channels open and K+ is forced outside the cell (leaves the cell more negative) One neuron can receive many EPSPs and IPSPs at the same time ➔ Not an all-or-none process like the action potential ➔ Summed effect of EPSPs and IPSPs determine the neuron’s polarization Reuptake: ➔ Occurs when the axon terminals quickly remove the neurotransmitters from the synaptic cleft Studying the Brain Insights from brain damage ◆ Study what happens when a part of the brain isn't working properly ● Case studies, lesioning (morris water maze), electrical stimulation, TMS Neuroimaging ◆ Study the normal working brain ● Brain structure; ○ CT scan, MRI, DTI ● Brain functions; ○ EEG, MEG, PET scan, fMRI

Computerized tomography(CT): assembles 2D x-rays to form 3D images of the brain -used to determine cause of a stroke, asses other brain injuries, detect abnormalities of the body such as tumors Magnetic Resonance imaging(MRI):brain structure mapped out using magnetic fieldsused to diagnose tumors Diffusion tensor imaging(DTI):diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging- used to discover hidden brain injuries  EEG):electrical activity of many neutrons in the brain is Electroencephalogram ( measured by electrodes that are attached to the scalp Magnetoencephalography(MEG):measures the tiny magnetic fields created by the electrical activity of neurons in the brain-used to find problems related to electrical activity of the brain Positron Emission Tomography(PET):individual ingests harmless dose of radioactive substance that enters blood stream , and PET machine can detect different levels of action in diff regions when person does cognitive tasks and blood flows to certain parts Functional Magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI):Measures the differences in blood oxygen in the different regions of the brain as person does cognitive tasks Divisions of the Nervous system Central nervous system (CNS) ◆ Brain and spinal cord Peripheral nervous system ◆ Connect cns with muscles, glands, and sensory receptors

The autonomic nervous system Sympathetic NS ◆ Arouses (fight or flight) Parasympathetic NS ◆ Calms (rest and digest) The CNS Spinal cord ◆ Most nerves enter/leave through the spinal cord ◆ Spinal reflexes do not involve the bain Brain

◆ Number of structures controlling behaviour ● Both voluntary and involuntary ◆ 2 hemispheres (left and right) ● Number of structures within and beneath Organization of the brain ● Hindbrain-survival functions ● Midbrain-sensation and action ● Forebrain-memory, thought, and action ◆ Each region corresponds to where they are located relative to the spinal cord Organization of the brain

Cerebral Cortex

Hemispheric Lateralization

Neuroplasticity

Chapter 4-Sensation and Perception Sensation: ➔ Stimulus-detection process ➔ Organs translate stimuli into nerve impulses Perception: ➔ Organizing and giving meaning to input

➔ Our interpretation of sensory input is not just dependant on the sensory input itself Psychophysics ➔ Studies relat...