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Course Summary / Final Exam Review

+Summary+ Chapter 1 Introduction & Perspectives ➔ Opposites attract? ◆ false - we are attracted to people who are similar to us. ➔ Nature vs nurture ➔ Our intelligence is 60 % genetics & 40% environment (we do inherit intelligence) ◆ Introvert or extrovert is largely genetic ➔ Subliminal messages influence us? ◆ Its below what our senses can detect ◆ False ➔ Mozart makes babies babies? ◆ False ➔ Schizophrenia means multiple personalities? ◆ Fasle ➔ We only use 10% of our brains? ◆ False What is psychology? ➔ Uses scientific methods and procedures to test how and why we are a certain way ➔ We also study:

◆ Overt actions - something you can see and measure ◆ Social relationships - every possible human interaction. Eg. parent, intimate, friendship ◆ Mental processes ◆ Emotional responses ◆ Physiological responses- minds and bodies are linked... we cannot understand the mind until we understand the body. ● Physical reactions - fight or flight response Psychological Perspectives ➔ A specific perspective on the study of behaviour is called a school of psychological thought. Roots of psychology ➔ Philosophy ➔ Theology ➔ medicine Birth of psychology ➔ Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ◆ Established first lab in germany ◆ Started a lab and studied consciousness (our awareness) ◆ Voluntarism perspective (first brand or perspective of psych) - he didn't consider it to be called that at first ◆ Everything we do we do for a reason and we can shift our attention around in order to serve our purpose for whatever it is. ◆ Experiments he conducted had to do with reaction time ➔ G. stanley Hall (1846-1924) ◆ Established the first lab in North america. Structure ➔ The structure is what the thing is made out of ➔ Scientists tried to discover the structure of consciousness - “ if we can figure out what consciousness is made out of, it will help us understand a lot more. ◆ To this day... we still do not know what it is physically made up of ◆ Method used: Introspection ◆ The method they used to do this is called “introspection” - used to be given some sort of stimulation (give them an object or tube) and they would then have to describe what they were feeling... you cannot describe what the thing is, you have to describe it from a sensory perspective. ◆ Introspection as a method was very flawed Functionalism ➔ Structure is what it is made out of and function is how it works! ➔ Trying to discover not just the mind's structure but HOW and WHY it is related to consciousness. ➔ William james (1842-1910) ◆ Discovered functionalism ➔ Consciousness seems to only be uniquely HUMAN ➔ Why did humans evolve consciousness? ➔ Method: introspection & animal studies ➔ He said our conscious experience is like a river - it flows. It's always hard to hold onto bc if you ask someone what you’re thinking, you disrupt the process by asking that. Gestalt psychology ➔ German world that means “whole” or “configuration” ➔ Developed this idea from introspection

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ➔ Their point was we already organize everything into sensory bits and they really believed in how we organize our sensory information ➔ THE WHOLES IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS!!! ➔ Method: analyzing and perceptual frameworks ◆ Ex. cake - when you describe a cake to an alien used say it's yummy, sweet, its square... not describe the ingredients that go into it, therefore, “THE WHOLE IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF ITS PARTS” Psychoanalytic Approach ➔ Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939) ◆ Says consciousness stems from unconsciousness - it dictates and controls everything that happens on the surface” ● Assumes the unconscious mental process direct behaviour ◆ Sex and aggresion he added during WWII ➔ Method: Psychoanalysis (ex. Free association, dream analysis) - he developed something that can reveal your unconsciousness to you through these methods ➔ This approach really changed how things were done at the time ➔ Became super scandalous to people Behaviourism ◆ RADICAL FOR BEHAVIOURISM DOMINATED PSYCH ◆ Believed that humans are a collection of behaviour and that there is no ‘self’ ➔ 1920s ➔ Rejects study of consciousness and directly studies what is only OBSERVABLE ◆ Have to be able to test and measure only what you can SEE. ➔ Method: empirical observation, learning techniques Humanistic Psychology ➔ Before this psychologists were stripping away from the human ➔ They felt that there was more to humans than seeking pleasure or pain ➔ Humans are the only species that only set goals in life and have a constant desire to be happy

➔ J.B. Watson (1878-1958)

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review

➔ B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

➔ Self-actualization - to become our best version of ourselves (we are not being driven by our environment but to be better for ourselves).. ◆ You can't self-actualize until you have met all your other needs ➔ When we get stuck in some of the categories in MASLOW’S theory, we need to seek for humanistic therapy to get unstuck ➔ Method: self-actualization Cognitive Psychology ➔ Focuses on the mental processes and activities involved in perception, learning, memory and thinking ➔ “Cognitive revolution” - to be able to study more than behaviour w technology ➔ George Miller ◆ Did memory studies ◆ And our short term memory can hold 5-9 items ( 7 plus or minus 2) ➔ Behaviourist were anti-consciousness however... cognitive psychologists did not say that they were anti-behaviour or anything.. They still were behaviourists. Neuroscience perspective ➔ Most dominant perspective in modern psych ➔ Says behavior and biology interact in important ways and focuses on physiological functions by looking at biological foundations. ➔ Method: Genetics, brain & hormone research Evolutionary perspective ➔ Assume that behaviours that help organize adapty will be passed on to successive generations ◆ They believe how we behave right now will be passed onto future generations ◆ Things like technology are changing our brains Positive Psychology ➔ Launched by Martin Seligman ➔ Method: studying positive subjective experiences, individual traits, and institutions. ➔ They've been focusing on: happiness, successful relationships, what makes a person a genius, spirituality, mindfulness etc.. ➔ FOCUSES ON POSITIVE SHI Eclecticism

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ➔ Practice of using whatever clinical and counseling techniques are appropriate for an individual client ➔ Method: combining elements from a variety of sources

CHAPTER 2 Psychology as a science ➔ There are 2 essential beliefs: ◆ The universe operates according to certain natural laws. ◆ Such laws are discoverable and testable. ➔ The scientific method ◆ Deductive reasoning ● moves from a general panness to a general conclusion ● Problem deductive reasoning is that these principles don’t apply to everything ● Can be subject to bias ○ Our beliefs can become distorted based on reality ◆ Inductive reason ● You start with small observations first and then based on those you can draw out a general conclusion ● After obserservations and general conclusions you form a theory ◆ Hypothetico-Deductive Reasoning ● Beginning with an educated guess about how the world works and then designing small controlled observations to support or invalidate that hypothesis. ● Hypothesis - an educated guess (you have reviewed all the literature and then make an educated guess) ➔ The scientific method ◆ 1. Narrow down what you want to focus on ◆ 2. Develop a testable hypothesis ◆ Variable ● A condition, event, or situation that is studied in and experiment ● INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLE ***tested on ◆ Operational definition ● Meaning that something is working ● Defining variable in terms of the set of methods or procedure used to measure that variable.(indep = hunger & depend= attention span) ◆ 3. Select a research method, choose participants, and collect the data ● Now at the point of no return - it's too late to make any changes ● (participant = human; subject = animal) - use of language ● Sample ○ A group of participants representative of the population

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ○ If our sample does not represent our population our study is useless ● Population ○ The entire group you might be interested in studying ● Random selection ○ Always look for random selections in studies so its not biased ○ Every person in the population has an equal chance of being chosen ◆ 4. Analyze the data & accept or reject the hypothesis ● Draw conclusions around your data and if they are meaningful we seek scientific review, publish, & replicate. ◆ 5. Seek scientific review, publish, and replicate. ◆ 6. Build a Theory ➔ Research Methods ◆ Experiment → controlled observation in which researchers manipulated the pressure or amount of the independent variable to see what effect it has on the dependent variable ◆ 2 GROUPS ● Experimental group - the group exposed to the independent variable ● Control group - the comparison group ● Extraneous variables - any other thing that could come in and change the outcome of the study ● ( a third group would be a placebo group) ◆ Experimenter Bias ● A researcher's expectations about the results may influence their findings ● Also known as self-fulfilling prophecy ◆ Self-fulfilling prophecy ● The unwitting creation by a researcher of a situation that leads to the predicted results. ➔ Avoiding pitfalls ◆ Double-blind technique ● Neither the experimenter nor the participants know who is in the control group or the experimental group. ◆ Placebo effect ● Often there is an effect due to having a treatment but not necessarily because the treatment is working. ◆ Demand Characteristics

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ● Elements of a situation that may tip off a participant as to the purpose of the study. ● When someone starts acting weird when they're in an experiment. ○ Most people try to do what the experimenter would want them to do lol ○ TO MINIMIZE: ◆ Decreased interaction w participants ◆ Use unobtrusive measures (rather than taking notes they audio record or hide the cameras and keep a neutral facial expressions). ◆ Deception - often will have a cover story for the research. Sometimes they will not tell them the purpose of the study and keep it lowkey. Or have a confederate (someone they plant or hire during the experiment acting as a participant so you get a natural response etc..) have to be very careful when using deception and cannot cause harm ◆ Social desirability bias ● Tendency to give socially approved answers rather than what they really think (ex miss america bs). ● How to eliminate this or decrease this: ○ Have questions answered via online rather than face-to-face ○ Icebreaker questions ◆ Hawthorne effect ● People behave differently when they know they are being observed ● This effect stemmed from them wanting to increase productivity in their workers ○ People worked harder when they knew they were being watched ○ These situations should feel authentic and comfortable ➔ Other research methods ◆ Questionnaires ● Giving it to lots of people in a short amount of time ● Drawbacks ○ Limits responses if its multiple choice ○ Participants misinterpreting questions

○ People don't fill out your questions honestly ○ Trust that ppl are taking it seriously ◆ Interviews ● Very structured and controlled ● Write out a detailed script and stick to it ● Script prompts: “ please continue etcc” ● Gives you really rich data ● Drawbacks: ○ Language barrier ○ Usually can't get a very big sample and interviews are very time consuming ○ After you are done interview you have to transcribe each interview word for word and then sort and code each interview TIME CONSUMING AF ◆ Naturalistic observations ● Watching what's happening and taking notes ● Observation of events from a distance ◆ Case Studies ● An in-depth analysis of an individual group or event 7

Course Summary / Final Exam Review ● The problem with case studies... the researchers can become too attached to the study and emotionally involved. Case studies also don't have a wide application of human functioning ◆ CoRRELATIONAL STUDIES ● They show the degree of relatedness between two variables ● Informative research ● designs show the extent to which 2 variables are related to each other. ➔ Statistics ◆ Inferential stats ● Used after we have done an experiment or summarized the data we have looked at ● We are trying to search for a significant (it is very specifically referring to inferential data) research ◆ Descriptive stats ● Used to organize and summarize data ● 3 m’s - mean, medium, & mode ● Correction of 0 means no correlation at all ◆ JUST TELLS US THAT THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP NOTHING ELSE(NOT CAUSATION) ◆ Correlation coefficients ● -1.00 0 + 1.00 ● Correlation of 1 means they are absolutely correlated ● Look at the sign and number value ● positive /negative correlation does not mean good or bad ... just tells us the direction ● ANYTIME U SEE POSITIVE CORRE - THEY MOVE TOGETHER ● A NEGATIVE CORRELATION - THEY MOVE IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS (INVERSE RELATIONSHIP) ● # value ---> tells you strength of correlation ● Anything between 0.2-0.6 = moderATE ● EX. sharks and ice cream is not causation... its correlation bc they both come ➔ Ethics in research ◆ The rules concerning proper unacceptable conduct that investigators use to guide their

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review research. ◆ These rules concern: ● The treatment of animals ● The rights of human beings ● The responsibilities of investigators ◆ A research ethics board will require: ● Informed consent ● Protection of participants from harm & discomfort ● Confidentiality ● Voluntary participation ● A debriefing

➔ Nature vs. Nurture ◆ How much of it is due to environment and genetics ◆ Nature - genetics ◆ Nurture - environment ◆ Brain is malleable to a certain extent and can be rewired ➔ Nervous system ◆ Will allow us to do everything ◆ Your nervous system processes sensory information from the outside and sends signals from your body to the brain. ◆ Physical chain of events taking place in your body and making everything happen ◆ Sometimes you have to take a look at the persons nervous system and see what's going on in there ◆ Made up of GLIA CELLS ● Glue of the nervous system ● May actually play a role in modulating neurotransmission ➔ The Neuron ◆ Basic building block of the nervous system as a whole ◆ The more chain of neurons communicate the more consolidated it becomes

You see a humans abilities and skills and things that they are really good at through a neuron Some neurons: ● Sensory neurons ● Motor neurons ● 1. Afferent - carry signals from the hand and arm to the spinal cord

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ● 2. Efferent neurons - carry signals from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles Our spinal cord receives the sensory information and sends it out to the brain Structure Cell body - contains nucleus Dendrites - receivers of messages from adjacent neurons Axon- long slender projection → covered in myelin sheath (insulated and protects neuron?) Terminal Buttons - end points of each neuron ◆ Small space between the axon terminals of one neuron and the receptor sites of another ➔ Electrochemical Processes ◆ Chemicals in our body are electrically charged ◆ Ion channels ● A gate in the cell membrane that allows certain ions in and out of membrane ◆ Inside of a neuron carries a (-) charge ◆ Outside of a neuron carries a (+) charge ◆ When a neuron has been stimulated the cell depolarizes ( neurons firing etc.. we are talking about action potentials being initiated) ◆ ACTION POTENTIAL ● An electrical current that travels down an axon ◆ ALL-OR-NONE LAW ● Neurons fire at full strength or not at all ● If we want to know the strength of the stimulus by the rate (how many neurons it fires at once) ◆ REFRACTORY PERIOD ● The recovery period of a Neuron after it fires ● After it fires during which it cannot fire again ● ABSOLUTE REFRACTORY PERIOD ○ When a neuron cannot fire at all ● Relative Refractory Period ○ A neuron can only fire if it is given stimulus hire than the initial stimulus ➔ Neurotransmitters ◆ Chemicals that move across the synaptic space ◆ They communicate with other neurons by binding to the receptor sites on the dendrites of the next neuron ◆ POSTSYNAPTIC POTENTIAL ● The change in the membrane of the neuron after receiving neurotransmitters

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ◆ EXCITATORY PSP ● When neurotransmitters cause a neuron to five more easily ◆ INHIBITORY PSP ➔ Neurotrans ◆ GABA ● Inhibits neurons ● Involved in every behaviour: learning memory, anxiety ● When someone gets anxiety, the body releases gaba to inhibit the stress response and when this continues to happen the gaba stops working ◆ Serotonin ● Happy hormone ◆ ➔ The Neural Synapse ● Used to treat some depression ◆ Acetylcholine ● Released to our muscles by our motor neurons ● Arousal ● Sexuality ● Thrist ● Learning ● Memory recall - patients with alzheimer's show low levels of ACH ◆ Endorphins ● Inhibit pain and make you feel good ● We release endorphins after every pleasurable activity. ➔ Psychopharmacology ◆ The study of how drugs affect behavior ◆ 2 main effects ● Mimic the effects of neurotransmitter ● Or oppose the effects of neurotransmitter ◆ Agonists ● Chemicals that mimic the actions of a neurotransmitter ◆ Antagonists ● Chemicals oppose the actions of a neurotransmitter ➔ The Nervous System ◆ Central Nervous System ● Consists of the brain and spinal cord

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ● Most heavily protected areas of the body ● Depends entirely on the information it receives from the peripheral nervous system ◆ Peripheral Nervous System ● Connects the CNS to the rest of the body ➔ The PNS ◆ Somatic nervous system ● Carries inv]formation to the skeletal muscles; affects bodily movement ◆ Autonomic nervous system ● Functions of the body that we don't control - they are automatic ● SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ○ STRESS ○ Becomes most active during emergency situations ○ “Fight or flight” ○ When you fall down and you're really embarrassed and you get hot for a second ○ Your heart and your lungs get activated ○ Alot of systems get shutdown ○ The first organ to get drained in a fight or flight sitch is your brain ○ Our body releases more epinephrine and cortisol ◆ Epinephrine is pushing your blood up to your skin ◆ Cortisols jobs is to hold on to or find extra fat reserves ● Gaining weight around your midsection when you're stressed ● And breaking out when you're stressed ● PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM ○ RELAXER ○ “Rest & Digest” ○ Has opposite response to SNS

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review ○ Calming process ○ Controls the ongoing maintenance process of the body ➔ The Central Nervous System ◆ Brain ◆ Spinal Cord ● Major neural pathway ● Interneurons ● Spinal reflexes ● Contains afferents and efferent neurons ➔ The Brain ◆ Regulates, monitors, processes and guides other nervous system activity ◆ 2 cerebral hemispheres ➔ Brain Organization ◆ 1.Different regions carry out different types of information processing. ◆ 2.Identifiable neural pathways. - they are all connected ◆ 3.Organized regions that can be mapped ◆ 4.Hierarchically organized - structures lowered down control the most basic physical functions and as we get up the top it's more learning moving etc..(low = physical function, high = more cognitive and psychological ◆ 5.One side of the brain controls the other size of the body. THIS ➔ The Hindbrain ◆ Medulla ● the most organizationally primitive of the divisions of the brain ● Consists of the medulla, the reticular form ● Heart Rate breathing function etc ● VITAL ◆ Reticular formation ● Controls arousal, sleep attention and vomiting behaviour ● Neurons also release

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Course Summary / Final Exam Review serotonin ● Also determines whether you're introverted or extroverted ◆ Pons ● Involved in eye movement & facial expressions ◆ Cerebellum ● Affects balance, coordinati...