The World\'s Greatest Psych Textbook Example PDF PDF

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"The World's Great Psych Textbook" assignment for Dr. Mooney, THHS. Compilation of chapter notes and reflection for each chapter we covered in the book....

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Chapter 1 Thinking Critically with Psychological Science: The Scientific Attitude The attitudes of curiosity, skepticism, and humility serve as the foundation for modern scientific advances. The proposition of research questions leads to studies that perpetuate societal progress and result in critical breakthroughs in science. An important factor of the scientific attitude is not only curiosity, but skepticism. Evidence is essential for proving and solidifying any idea or theory: a system of ideas intended to explain something. It is one thing to make a conjecture, but another to prove it. Scientists seek to prove or disprove a hypothesis or conclusion, based on their own research or that of others, and often recheck their work with similar experiments. Critical thinking evaluates evidence by examining causes, effects, and correlations between variables from experimental data, which leads to the formation of a conclusion. From there, further studies can be conducted, and the scientific cycle repeats itself. Critical thinking and the scientific attitude are paramount for making new, important discoveries in all types of fields. The more we broaden our knowledge, the more progress we are able to make. It is better to be actively curious than passive. Each person should be responsible for fostering their own knowledge, though it is human nature to be lazy. The education system should encourage students to conduct their own studies in multiple classes. Cause and effect relationships are simple to analyze, and building familiarity with the scientific attitude will strengthen the impressionable, malleable minds of the younger generations.

Chapter 2 Neuroscience and Behavior: How Neurotransmitters Influence Us By definition, a neurotransmitter is a chemical substance that is released at the end of a nerve fiber by the arrival of a nerve impulse and, by diffusing across the synapse or junction, causes the transfer of the impulse to another nerve fiber, a muscle fiber, or some other structure. Different types of neurotransmitters can affect our moods, memories, and mental abilities, as each one has a different role. Acetylcholine (ACh) enables muscle action, learning, and memory, and is the messenger at every junction between a motor neuron and skeletal muscle. Endorphins are described as “morphine within”- natural, opiate-like neurotransmitters linked pain control and to pleasure. They help explain positive feelings and natural pain killing. When the brain becomes flooded with opiate drugs such as heroin and morphine, the brain stops producing its own natural opiates. This is the consequence of drug usage.

Neurotransmitters influence mental state, from depression to euphoria, hunger and thinking, addictions and therapy. The issue with the ensuing “feel good” state from self-produced opiates is that it can lead to drug addiction when seeking more of that euphoria. As mentioned above, the constant usage of artificial opiates impedes natural neurotransmitter production. A drug addict can suffer through withdrawal if they do not continue abusing the substances. Drug abuse is related to behavior, and the more we can learn about why substance abuse is so rampant, the more actions we can take to prevent it, especially among minors.

Chapter 3 Nature, Nurture, and Human Diversity: Twin Studies Identical twins are developed from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, and have the same genes. They are from a shared environment, are essentially natural clones, and can only be the same gender. Fraternal twins develop from separate fertilized eggs, but share the womb before birth. Identical twins share 100% of their genes, whereas fraternal twins share 50%. Studies have been conducted on identical twins who were separated at birth. Research has shown remarkable similarities in the life choices of separated identical twins, supporting the idea that genes influence personality. Identical twins can share tastes, physical attributes, abilities, attitudes, interests, and fears.

Studying twins is important because it gives psychologists clues about the extent to which personality is affected by genetics. This is supposed to distinguish environmental influences from genes, leading back to the idea of nature versus nurture. By using twins, it is easier to analyze and compare their behavior over periods of time (a longitudinal study).

Chapter 4 Developing Through the Life Span- Stability Vs. Change There is continuity to personality and yet, happily for troubled children and adolescents, life is a process of becoming: The struggles of the present may be laying a foundation for a happier tomorrow. Researchers agree that the first two years of life provide a poor basis for predicting a person’s eventual traits. Older children and adolescents also change. Despite histories of substance abuse and crimes, adolescents can blossom into mature, successful adults. As people grow older, their personality gradually stabilizes. Some characteristics such as temperament are more stable than others, such as social attitudes, though the stability will increase with age. It is normal for people to change with age. Conscientiousness increases during the 20s and agreeableness during the 30s. These changes can occur without altering a person’s position relative to others of the same age. Life requires both stability and change. Stability enables us to depend on others, provides our identity, and motivates our concern for the healthy development of children. Change motivates our concerns about present influences, and lets us adapt and grow with experience. Researchers viewing development as a slow, continuous process are generally those who emphasize experience and learning. Researchers who place emphasis on biological maturation see development as a series of genetically-predisposed steps. As we age, we may change relative to our earlier selves while sustaining our characteristic traits in comparison to our age group. We can analyze how much we’ve changed by documenting and remembering our past

Chapter 5 Sensation: Sensory Adaptation Sensory adaptation is our diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus. After constant exposure to a stimulus, our nerve cells fire less frequently. The disappearance and reappearance of an image occurs in meaningful units. If a person is shown a word, it will disappear and then vanish. This phenomenon entails our perceptions are organized by the meanings that our minds impose. Although sensory adaptation reduces our sensitivity, it offers an important benefit. It enables us to focus on informative changes in our environment without being distracted by the uninformative constant stimulation. Our sensory adaptors are alert to novelty. We perceive the world not exactly as it is, but as it is useful for us to perceive it.

Sensory adaptation is beneficial to us because it focuses our attention on informative changes in our stimulation, rather than on unchanging elements in our environment. This is why driving, for example, becomes simpler over time. The driver learns to ignore things such as the feeling of their hands on the wheel. Therefore, they are not distracted by insignificant stimuli and can focus on driving safely. Our behavior and attitude may change based on sensory adaptation. Using the driving example, someone who has become accustomed to the feeling of their car and the road may enjoy driving more and will drive frequently as a result. Perhaps they once found the activity a chore and were tense from feeling uncomfortable behind the wheel. However, after overcoming this feeling, they may decide they like driving after all.

Chapter 6 Perception: Selective Attention Selective attention pertains to the idea that at any moment our attention focuses on something precise, only on a limited aspect of all that we experience. We can choose what to be aware of, while some processes are second nature, such as breathing. The cocktail party effect is the ability to attend to one voice among many and hone in on it. Our attention is divided at the level of conscious awareness. Multitasking is difficult and should be avoided. When we are distracted, it leads to inattentional blindness in which we are so focused on one thing, we don’t notice obvious things in our surroundings. This is also referred to as change blindness. Choice blindness is when a switch occurs in preference and the subject does not notice. Pop-out is when one stimulus is so different than the others that it demands our attention.

Due to sensation, our senses of vision, hearing, taste, touch, and smell detect physical energy from the environment and dictate our behavior as it gets encoded as neural signals. Our knowledge and experience shapes how we react to the stimuli, and we choose which stimuli to perceive and process. This focused attention results in different forms of blindness. By studying selective attention, people can find strategies to avoid multitasking, as it is difficult and inefficient.

Chapter 7 States of Consciousness: Awareness and Knowledge Consciousness is our awareness of ourselves and our environment. It brings varied information to the surface, enabling us to reflect and plan. When we learn a complex concept or behavior, our awareness varies with our attentional spotlight. When something becomes second nature, it frees our consciousness to focus on other things. Consciousness allows us to exert voluntary control and to communicate our mental states to others, yet consciousness is just the beginning of understanding information processing. We process a great deal of information outside of our awareness. We alter our attitudes and reconstruct our memories with no awareness of doing so. We process information on two levels. Our conscious processing is serial (sequential) and relatively slow, but this focused state of awareness enables us to perform voluntary acts, solve new problems, and communicate with others. In unconscious processing, we perform familiar tasks automatically, and our sensory systems and neural pathways register stimuli rapidly and simultaneously on multiple tracks, known as parallel processing. Studying consciousness and awareness is important, as it can help us focus our behavior and understand why we are able to block out certain things. This can give us better control over our bodies and shape our day-to-day lives. For example, it can help us mitigate stress. By consciously focusing on addressing our problems and seeking solutions for them, we are improving our mental health and creating the grounds for a healthier life.

Chapter 8 Learning: Observation Observational learning, in which we observe and imitate others, plays a big part in the acquisition of learning. The process of observing and imitating a specific behavior is referred to as modeling. This is how we learn social behaviors. Our trends are based around memes, which are transmitted cultural elements. Neuroscientists have discovered mirror neurons that provide a neural basis for observational learning. This is the origin of the phrase “monkey see, monkey do.” Prosocial (positive) models can have good effects on those who imitate them. People who exemplify nonviolent, helpful behavior can prompt similar behavior in others. Parents are examples of powerful models. Models are most effective when their actions and words are consistent. Observation has a big role in how me learn. A model demonstrates a behavior, and then the person watching will follow suit. This can be a blessing and a curse. Imagine an impressionable young child watching their alcoholic mom take a long swig of vodka after a fight with her husband. This child may be significantly more prone to alcoholism in the future because of this exposure to negative modeling. It is important to monitor our behavior consciously, as our actions will impact future generations who learn from our successes and mistakes.

Chapter 9 Memory: How We Recall To most people, memory is recall, the ability to retrieve information not in conscious awareness. Memory can also be described as any sign that something learned has been retained. Even if one is unable to recall a detail, they can still recognize things relating to it. Our speed at relearning can also contribute to studies of memory. If you once learned something and then forgot it, you can relearn it quicker the second time that learning it for the first time. We remember more than we can recall. Mnemonics are easy ways to help people recall information. They are often acronyms or little sayings that aid us in remembering important details (Ex. PEMDAS as “please excuse my dear aunt Sally”).

Recalling information is important in many ways. It can save us from embarrassment when addressing a coworker, for example. Knowing someone’s name is the first step to developing a positive relationship with them. Recognizing information is important too. So much of our society is based around testing, and one form of testing requires us to identify correct information to complete the assessment. Recalling information can be just as important on these tests.

Chapter 10 Thinking and Language: Problem Solving Cognition pertains to all the mental activities associated with processing, understanding, remembering, and communicating. Cognitive psychologists analyze these mental activities, including the logical and sometimes illogical ways in which we create concepts, solve problems, make decisions, and form judgments. In order to simplify things, we create concepts, which are mental groupings of similar objects. We form our concepts by developing prototypes, which help us associate features with categories. This can be applied to learning and problem solving. For certain problems, we may follow an algorithm, which guarantees a solution after a possibly lengthy process. For other problems, heuristics come in handy. These are quick problemsolving techniques based on patterns we know and recognize. We use heuristics in our day to day life. They are simpler thinking strategies and save a considerable amount of time. Algorithms will guarantee us an eventual answer, but often we cannot afford to waste time in our busy schedules snooping around every aisle in the store when we know full well that fresh broccoli belongs in the produce section. We would have used heuristics to deduce that the broccoli is located in that particular sector of the grocery store. Why are we buying fresh broccoli anyway? Frozen vegetable mix is much more convenient. And since the bag says “mixed vegetables” on it, we can probably deduce it contains the usual carrots, peas, and broccoli. Why? Because of heuristics.

Chapter 11 Stability and Intelligence The stability of intelligence test scores increase with age. By the age of 4, scores vacillate, but begin to predict adolescent and adult scores. At around age 7, scores become fairly stable and consistent. The continuity of the scores over time increases with the age of the child. In addition, high-scoring adolescents tend to have been early readers. There is a correlation between intelligence and reading, and ability which is also encouraged by parents. Intelligence tests can predict aptitude on future exams, such as the SAT.

It may be difficult to find a correlation between behavior and intelligence, but students who do poorly in school may have a tendency to act out. This bad behavior may either be from not being challenged enough, or from feeling like they are being left behind or separated from the pacing of the class. In order to prevent students from falling behind, schools should create more specialized education programs for not just the gifted but also the academically less proficient students.

Chapter 12 Motivation and Work- The Need to Belong The motivation to affiliate, or to feel connected and recognized by others, boosted our ancestors’ chances for survival, which is why humans in every society live in groups. It creates feelings of safety and security. The incentive to belong manifests itself when people seek social acceptance, work to maintain their relationships, and feel love and joy. Alternately, if these needs are not met, people will feel gloomy, lonely, or ostracized. This leads to physical feelings of depression, which is a real pain that increases activity in the same part of the brain areas that respond to physical pain. When people feel like their social needs are being met, they have lower levels of depression, suicide, and premature death. When they are socially secluded, they may engage in self-defeating activities or in antisocial behaviors.

Our behaviors are often driven by the need to seek social acceptance. This is why we form relationships of all sorts and work so hard to control our behaviors in all situations as to seem socially acceptable. We behave differently in the workplace with our boss than we do at home with our spouse and children. Some people are satisfied being alone more than others, whereas some people gravitate towards a group environment where they feel connected and surrounded by a positive (or even negative) social environment.

Chapter 13 Emotion- Facial Expressions Most people can detect nonverbal cues, and we are especially sensitive to nonverbal threats. Experience contributes to our sensitivity to cues, as studies of abused children show. Women tend to be more proficient at reading people’s emotional cues, including those displayed during instances of deception. Women also tend to be more open when it comes to detailing emotional reactions. They also express empathy with ease, as shown in their facial expressions and words. Facial muscles illustrate signs of emotion. It can be difficult to detect or recognize expressions of deceit. In the digital world, our words can be misconstrued due to the lack of facial expressions to convey our true attitudes. This gave rise to the prevalence of emoticons. Culture has an impact on gestures, but facial expressions are virtually universal. Facial expressions are important because they help us convey and interpret emotion.

Understanding the significance of facial expressions is important because it helps humankind interpret the emotions of others. This impacts our behavior in many ways. We will avoid angry-looking or sour-faced people, because there is an implied danger in their countenance. We will want to spend more time with joyful, smiling people, as their faces convey safety and happiness, which can be infectious. It is interesting that even across cultures, there are universal facial expressions to illustrate the same common human emotions. Therefore, even if a language barrier exists between two people or two groups, they can still communicate with their facial expressions and body language.

Chapter 14 Stress and Health- Stress and Illness Certain common but unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, getting irregular exercise, poor nutrition, and exposure to prolonged stress can affect our susceptibility to coronary heart disease, cancer, stroke, and chronic lung diseases, and make us more vulnerable to high blood pressure, skin rashes, and an assortment of other illnesses. Stress is the process by which we respond to stressful events, or stressors. Our appraisals of stressful situations contribute to whether our responses will be healthy feelings of energy, or all-consuming feelings of distress. Our response to stress is an example of mind-body interaction. There is a flood of hormones and functions involved in stress. The concept of general adaptation syndrome describes it as a period of alarm, resistance (coping), and exhaustion (the depletion of reserves following prolonged stress). Stress can also negatively impact the immune system, causing a higher risk of illness.

Prolonged periods of stress can have a severe negative impact on someone. It is important for people to find healthy ways to cope with stress in order to avoid the terrible corporeal consequences. Meditation can help people displace themselves from their stress, and can aid them in reflecting on their biggest problems. Exercise can also help people, as the endorphins create feelings...