Sleep Disorders

Insomnia: recurring problems in falling or staying asleep

Narcolepsy: characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks
-lapses directing into REM sleep (usually during times of stress or joy)

Sleep apnea: a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and consequent momentary reawakenings

Night terrors: a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified
-occur in stage 4, not REM and are not often remembered

Sleepwalking (somnambulism): sleep walking most often occurs during deep non-REM sleep (stage 3 or stage 4 sleep) early in the night

Dreams: a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind

Manifest content: the remembered storyline of a dream

Latent content: the underlying meaning of a dream

Three theories of why we dream
1. Freud's wish fulfillment theory
-dreams are the key to understanding our inner conflicts
-ideas and thought that are hidden in our unconscious

2. Information processing theory
-dreams act to sort out and understand the memories that you experience that day
-REM sleep does increase after stressful events

3. Activation-synthesis theory: during the night our brainstem released random neural activity, dreams may be a way to make sense of that activity

Sleep Stages

-there are 5 identified stages of sleep
-it takes about 90-100 minutes to pass through the 5 stages
-the brains waves will change according to the sleep stage you are in
-the first four stages are known as NREM sleep...
-the fifth stage is called REM sleep

Stage 1: 
-kind of awake and kind of asleep
-only lasts a few minutes, and you usually experience it once a night
-eyes begin to roll slightly
-your brain produces theta waves (high amplitude, low frequency (slow))

Stage 2: this follows stage 1 sleep and is the "baseline" of sleep
-this stage is part of the 90 minute cycle and occupied approximately 45-60% of sleep
-more theta waves that get progressively slower
-begin to show sleep spindles...short bursts of rapid brain waves

Stage 3 and 4
-slow wave sleep
-you produce delta waves
-if awoken you will be very groggy
-vital for restoring body's growth hormones and good overall health
-May last 15-30 minutes
-it is called "slow wave" sleep because brain activity slows down dramatically from the "theta" rhythm of stage 2 to a much slower rhythm called "delta" and the height or amplitude of the waves increase dramatically
-contrary to popular belief, it is delta sleep that is the "deepest" stage of sleep (not REM) and the most restorative
-it is delta sleep that a sleep-deprived person's brain craved the first and foremost
-in children, delta sleep can occupy up to 40% of all sleep time and this is what makes children unawakeable or "dead asleep" during most of the night

REM sleep
-rapid eye movement
-often called paradoxical sleep
-brain is very active
-dreams usually occur in REM
-body is essentially paralyzed

Stage 5: REM Sleep
-composed 20-25% of a normal nights sleep
-breathing, heart rate and brain wave activity quicken
-vivid dreams can occur
-from REM, you go back to stage 2

Sleep

Sleep: sleep is a state of consciousness
-we are less aware of our surroundings

Conscious
Subconscious
Unconscious: state of sleepiness, altered state

Biological rhythms
Annual cycle: seasonal variations (beats hibernation, seasonal affective disorder)

28 day cycles: menstrual cycle

24 hour cycle: our circadian rhythm

90 minute cycle: sleep cycles

Circadian rhythm:
-24 hour biological clock
-our body temperature and awareness changes throughout the day
-it is best to take a test or study during your circadian peaks

Conditioning and Learning

Operant conditioning: a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement or diminished it followed by punishment

Classical v operant
-they both use acquisition, discrimination, SR, generalization and extinction
-classic conditioning is automatic (respondent behavior) dogs automatically salivate over beat, then bell -no thinking involved
-operant conditioning involves behavior where one can influence their environment behaviors which was have consequences (operant behavior)

Edward thorndike: law of effect; rewarded behavior is likely to occur

Shaping: a procedure in operant conditioning which rein enforcers guide behavior closer and closer towards a goal

Reinforcer: any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
-positive
-negative

Positive reinforcement: strengthens a response by presenting a stimulus after a response

Negative reinforcement: strengthens a response by reducing or removing an aversive stimulus

Primary reinforcement: an innately reinforcing stimuli an

Conditioned (secondary) enforcement: a stimulus that gains it  reenforcing power through it's association with a primary reinforcement

Continuous rein enforcement: reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

Partial reinforcement:
-reinforcing a response only part of the time
- the acquisition process is slower
-greater resistance to extinction


Fixed ratio schedule: a schedule that reinforces a response only after a  number of responses

5/7/15
Variable ratio schedule: a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response after a unpredictable number of responses

Fixed interval schedule: a schedule of reinforcement that reinforcement that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

Variable interval schedule: a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals
-ex: pop quizzes

Punishment: meant to decrease a behavior
▫️positive punishment: addition of something unpleasant
▫️negative punishment (omission training): removal of something pleasant
-punishment works best when it is immediately done after behavior and if it is harsh!

Token economy: every time a desired behavior is performed, a token is given
-they can trade tokens in for a variety of prizes (reinforcers)
-used in homes, prisons, mental institutions and schools

Observational learning: we learn through modeling behavior from others
-observational learning + operant conditioning = social learning theory

Latent learning: Edward toleman
-sometimes learning is not immediately evident

Insight learning: Wolfgang Kohler and his chimpanzees
-some animals learn through the "ah ha" experience

5/14/15

Discrimination: the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that does not signal UCS

Generalization: the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the CS to elicit similar responses

Spontaneous recovery: the reappearance. After a rest period, of an extinguished conditioned response

Extinction: the diminishing of a conditioned response. Will eventually happen when the UCS does not follow the CS

Acquisition: the initial stage of learning
-the phase where the neutral stimulus is associated with the UCS do that the neural stimulus comes to elicit the CR (thus becoming the CS)

Does timing matter?
-the CS should come before the UCS
-they should be very close together In timing

Pavlov spent the rest of his life outlining his ideas. He came up with 5 critical terms that together make up classical conditioning
-acquisition
-extinction
-spontaneous recovery
-generalization
-discrimination

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS): a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response

Unconditional response(UCR): the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the UCS

Classical conditioning: it all started with Ivan Pavlov

Three main types of learning
-classical conditioning
-operant conditioning
-observational conditioning
-latent learning
-abstract learning
-insight learning

Associative learning: learning that certain events occur together

Deja vu: that eerie sense that you have experienced something before
-what is occurring is that the current situation cues past experience that

Conditioned stimulus (CS): an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with the UCS, comes to trigger a response

Conditioned response(CR): the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

Encoding

Things to remember about encoding
1. The next in line effect: we seldom remember what the person has just said or done if we are next
2. Information minutes before sleep is seldom remembered; in the hour before sleep, well remembered
3. Taped info played while asleep is registered by ears, but we do not remember it

Spacing effect: we encode better when we study or practice over time
-do not cram!

Serial positioning effect: our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Semantic encoding: the coding of meaning, like the meaning of words

Acoustic encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words

Visual encoding: the encoding of picture images

Self reference effect: the idea that we remember things (like adjectives) when they are used to describe themselves

Tricks to encode
Use imagery: mental picture

Mnemonic devices use imagery. Like my "peg word" system

Chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units
-often it will occur automatically

Storage
Iconic memory: a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli, a photograph like quality lasting only about a second
-we also have an echoic memory for auditory stimuli

Long term potentiation: long lasting enhancement in signal transmission between two neurons that results from stimulating them synchronously
-in other words they learn to fire together and get better at it...creating a memory

Hippocampus
Damage to the hippocampus disrupts out memory
Left=verbal
Right=visual and locations

Types of retrieval failure
Proactive interference: the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Retroactive interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Memory

Memory: the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information

Memory Process

1. Encoding: The processing of information into the memory system

• Ex: typing info into a computer, getting a girl's name at a party

     2. Storage: the retention of encoded material over time

•   Ex: pressing ctrl s and saving the info, trying to remember her name when you leave the party

     3. Retrieval: the process of getting the information out of memory storage

• finding your document and opening it up, seeing her the next day and calling her the wrong name (retrieval failure)

Recall: you must retrieve the information from your memory (fill in the blanks)

Recognition: you must identify the target from possible targets (multiple choice tests)

Flashbulb memory; a clear moment if an emotionally significant moment or event

Sensory memory: the immediate, initial recording if sensory information in the memory system
-stored just for an instant, and most gets unprocessed
-lasts up to a half a second for visual, it lasts 2-4 seconds for auditory, the capacity of storage is large and any information that is not transferred is lost

Short term memory: memory that holds a few items briefly
-seven digits (plus of minus two)
-the info will be stored into long term or forgotten
-aka working memory
-it has a limited capacity

Working memory has three parts
1. Audio
2. Visual
3. Integration of audio and visual (controls where your attention lies)

Long term memory: permanent and limitless storehouse

Encoding: getting the information in our heads

Two ways to encode information
-automatic processing: unconscious encoding of incidental information, you encode space, time and word meaning without effort, things can become automatic with practice
-effortful processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort, rehearsal is the most common effortful processing technique, through enough rehearsal, what was effortful becomes automatic 

Language

Language: our spoken, written or gestured words and the way we combine them to communicate

Phonemes: in a spoken language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morphemes: in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning
-can be a word or part of a word (prefix or suffix)

Grammar: a system of rules in a language that enables us to communicate and understand others

Semantics: the set of rules by which we derive meaning in a language
-adding ed at the end of words means past tense

Syntax: the rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences
-in English, adjectives come before nouns but not in Spanish

Language development.

Babbling stage: starting at 3-4 months, the infant makes spontaneous sounds. Not limited to the phonemes of the infant's household language

One word stage: 1-2 years old, used one word to communicate big meanings

Two word stage: at age 2, uses two words to communicate meanings-called telegraphic speech

Skinner thought that we can explain language development through social learning theory

Chomsky
Inborn universal grammar
-we acquire language too quickly for it to be learned
-we have this "learning box" inside our heads that enable us to learn any human language

Whorf's linguistic relativity: the idea that language determined the way we think (not vice versa)

Perception

Perception: the process of organizing and interpreting information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Visual capture: the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses

Gestalt psychology: Gestalt means an "organized whole" these psychologists emphasize our tendency to integrate prices of information into meaningful wholes
-the whole is greater than the sum of its part

Figure ground relationship: the organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground)

Grouping: the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into groups that we understand

Proximity: we group nearby figures together

Similarity: we group similar figures together

Continuity: we group continuous patterns together

Connectedness: we group together uniform and linked figures

Depth perception: the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two dimensional
-allow us to judge distance

Binocular cues: depth cues that depend on two eyes

Retina disparity: a binocular cue for seeing depth
-the closet an object comes to you the greater the disparity is between the two images

Monocular cues: depth cues that depend on one eye

Interposition: if something is blocking our view, we perceive it as closer

Relative size: if we know that two objects are similar in size, the one that looks smaller is farther away

Relative clarity: we assume hazy objects are farther away

Texture gradient: the coarser it looks, the closer it is

Relative height: things higher in out field of vision, they look farther away

Relative motion: things that are closer appear to move more quickly

Linear perspective: parallel lines seems to converge with distance

Light and Shadow: dimmer objects appear farther away because they reflect less light

Phi phenomenon: an allusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in succession
-ex; christmas lights

Perceptual consistency: perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination and retinal images  changes

Touch

Receptors located in our skin

Gate control theory of pain: the nervous system blocks or allows pain signals to pass to the brain

Vestibular sense:

• tells us where our body is oriented in space
• our sense of balance
• located in our semicircular canals in our ears

Kinesthetic sense: 

• tells us where are body part are
• receptors located in our muscles and joints

Smell and Taste

Sensory interaction: the principle that one sense may influence another

Taste and smell are chemical senses

Papillae: those bumps on our tongue

-help grip food while your teeth are chewing. They also have another special job-they contain your taste buds

Sweet: located on the tip of the tongue and it is since when our taste buds come in contact with it

Salty: sensed when sensitive taste buds come in contact with salt, located on the front side of the tongue

Sour: sensed when our taste buds comes into contact with acid, located on back side of tongue

Bitter: sensed when our taste buds come in contact with an alkaline chemical, located on base of the tongue

Spicy: sensed when the nocio receptors in our mouth come into contact with a chemical that irritates them

Pheromones: chemical messengers that are picked up through our sense of smell

-found in the early 1930s by studying silkworms

Hearing

Frequency: the number of complete wavelengths that pass through a point at a given time. This determines the pitch of a sound

Amplitude: how loud the sound is. The higher the crest if the wave is the louder the sound is. it is measured in decibels

Helmholtz place theory: we hear different pitches because different sound waves trigger activity at different places among the cochlea's basilar membrane

Frequency theory: we sense pitch by the basilar membrane vibrating at the same rate as the sound

Conduction hearing loss: caused by damage to mechanical system of ear

Sensorineural hearing loss: caused by damage to cochlea's receptor cells or to auditory nerves

Sensation and Perception

Sensation: your window to the world
-Sensation is the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive stimulus from the environment

Perception: interpreting what comes in your window
-perception is essentially an interpretation and elaboration of sensation. Therefore, a sensation refers to the initial steps in the processing of a stimulus
-the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Bottom-up processing: analysis that beings with the sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information

Top-down processing: information processing guided by higher level mental processes
-we when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

Absolute threshold: the minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time

Difference threshold
-the minimum difference that a person can detect between two stimuli
-also known as just noticeable disease

Weber's law: the idea that to perceive different two stimuli they must differ

Signal detection theory:
-we detect a stimulus and other stimuli
-assumes that we do not have an absolute threshold
-we detect stuff based on our experiences, new motivations and fatigue level

Transduction: transforming signals into neural impulses. Information does from the senses to the thalamus. Then to the various areas of the brain
-conversion of one form of energy to another

Sensory adaptation: diminished sensitivity as a result of constant stimuli

Selective attention: focused of conscious awareness in a particular way

Cocktail party effect: ability to listen to notice among many

Wavelength: the distance from the peak of one light wave to the peak of the next
-the distance determines the hue (color) of the light we perceive

Short wavelength = high frequency

Intensity: the amount of energy in a light wave. Determined by the height of the wave; the higher the wave the more intense the light is

Parallel Processing: the processing of several aspects of a problem simultaneuously

•  color
• motion
• form
• depth

Young-helmholtz trichromatic (three color) theory: realized that any color can be created by combining the light waves of three primary colors: red, green, blue

Rods facilitate black and white vision

Cones facilitates color vision

Opponent process theory: we cannot see certain colors together in combination (red green, blue yellow, and white black) these are antagonist/opponent colors

Adolescence

Adolescence: the transition period from childhood to adulthood

Puberty: the sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Primary sexual characteristics:
-body structures that make  reproduction possible

Secondary  sexual characteristics
-non reproductive sexual characteristics
-widening of the hips
-deeper voice
-body hair
-breast development

Landmarks for puberty
-menarche for girls (period)
-first ejaculation for boys - spermarche 

• Adulthood
• All physical abilities essentially peak by our mid twenties
• Physical Milestones
• Menopause- natural rate ending of a woman's ability to reproduce
• These are physical symptoms led by a lack of estrogen
• Men do not experience anything like menopause
• Types of Intelligence
• Crystalized I - Accumulated knowledge
• Increases with age
• Fluid I - Ability to solve problems quickly and think abstractly
• Peaks in the 20's and then decreases over time

• Alzheimer's Disease
• A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, language, and physical functioning
• Runs its course in 5 to 20 years
• Caused by a deterioration of neurons that produce the neurotransmitter... Acetylocholine
• Life Expectancy
• Life expectancy keeps increasing - now about 75
• Women outlive men by about 4 years
• But more men are conceived 126 to 100, then 105 to 100 by birth. In other words, men die easier
• Death
• Elizabeth Kublerr Ross's stages of death
1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance 

4/6/15

Stage theorists: these psychologists believe that we travel from stage to stage throughout our lifetimes

Sigmund Freud

• we all have a libido (sexual drive)
• our libido travels to different areas of our body throughout our development
• if we become preoccupied with any area, Freud said we have become fixated on it

Oral stage (0-1)

• seek pleasure through our mouths 
• babies put everything in their mouths
• psychological task-weaning

Anal stage (1-3)

• psychological task-toilet training
• libido is focused on controlling waste and expelling waste

Phallic stage (3-6)

• children first recognize their gender 
• psychological task-identify with the same sex parent
• causes conflict in families with the Oedipus and Electra complexes

Latency stage (6-11)

• libido is hidden
• cooties stage
• conflicts from earlier stages remain dormant or below the surface

Genital stage (11 and up)

• libido is focused on their genitals
• experience sexual feelings towards others
• conflicts from early childhood reappear

Criticisms of Kohlberg

• Carol Gillian pointed out that Kohlberg only tested boys
• bots tend to have a more absolute value of morality
• girls tend to look at situational factors

Maturation

Maturation: physical growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, regardless of environment
-although the timing of our growth may be different, the sequence is almost always the same

Cognition: all mental activities associated with thinking, knowing and remembering

Cognitive development: researched by Jean Piagnet

Schemas: ways we interpret the world around us (concepts)

Assimilation: incorporating new experiences into existing schemas
-assimilation in high school: when you first meet somebody, you will assimilate them into a schema that you already have

Accommodation: changing an existing schema to adapt to new information

Conservation: refers to the idea that a quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance and is part of logical thinking

Information processing model: says children do not learn in stages but rather in a gradual continuous growth pattern
-studies show that our attention span grows gradually over time

Stranger anxiety: at about a year, infants develop it
-infants do not mind strange people (maybe because everyone is strange to them)
-fear of strangers that infants commonly display
-beginning by about 8 months of age

Separation of anxiety
-distress the infant shows when the object of attachment leaves
-peaks between 14 and 18 months

Attachment: the most important social construct an infant must develop is

• attachment (a bond with caregiver)
• Konrad Lorenz discovered that some animals form attachment through imprinting

Harry Harlow and his monkeys

-showed that monkeys needed touch or body contact to form attachment

For many animals there is a critical period shortly after birth when an organisms exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produce proper development

-those who are deprived of touch have trouble forming attachment when they are older

Mary Ainsworth's displays of attachment 

• Secure attachment (ideal): children show some distress when parent leaves, seek contact at the reunion, explore when parent gone, play and greet when parent present
• Insecure attachments lack one or more of these traits 

Behaviorists: what should the parent do in this scenario (assuming it's real)

Parenting styles:

1. Authoritarian parents: have strict standards for their children behavior
2. Permissive parents: allows freedom, there is lax parenting, don't enforce rules consistently
3. Authoritative parents: set reasonable standards of expectation and they encourage independence 

Developmental Psychology

Developmental psychology: the study of YOU from womb to tomb
-we are going to study how we change physically, socially, cognitively and morally over our time

Nature vs nurture
Nature: the way you were born
Nurture: the way you were raised

Physical development: focus in our physical changes over time

Prenatal development: conception begins with the drop of an egg and the release of about 200 million sperm
-sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to penetrate the egg's surface

Once the sperm penetrates the egg-we have a fertilized egg called a zygote
-1st stage of prenatal development

• lasts about two weeks and consists of rapid cell division
• less then half of all zygotes survive first 2 weeks
• after 10 days after conception, the zygote will attach itself to the uterine wall
• outer part of the zygote becomes the placenta: structure that allows oxygen and nutrients to pass into fetus from mother's bloodstream and bodily waste to pass out to the mother (which filters nutrients)

After two weeks, the zygote developed into an embryo.

• lasts about six weeks
• heart begins to beat and the organs begin to develop

By nine weeks we have a fetus.

• the fetus but he sixth month, the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside of mother

Teratogens: chemical agents that can harm the prenatal environment

• alcohol
• STDs
• HIV
• herpes

Reflexes

-inborn automatic responses

1. Rooting (cheek): when a newborn infant is touched on the cheek, the infant will run its head toward the source of stimulation
2. Grasping: if an object is placed into a baby's palm, the baby will try to grasp the object with his/her fingers
3. Moro (startle): when startled, a baby will fling his or her limbs out and then quickly retract them
4. Babinski (foot): when a baby's foot is stroked, he/she will spread their toes

The Brain

Lesions: removal or destruction of some part of the brain
-frontal lobotomy

Electroencephalogram:

• EEG
• detects brain waves through their electrical output
• used mainly in sleep research

Computerized axial tomography:

• CAT scan
• 3D x-ray of the brain
• good for tumor locating, but tells us nothing about function

Magnetic resonance imaging:

• MRI
• more detailed picture of brain using magnetic field to knock electrons off axis
• takes many still pictures and turns images into a movie like production 

Position emission tomography:

• PET scan
• measures how much of a chemical the brain is using (usually glucose consumption)

Pons

• located just above the medulla
• connects hindbrain with  midbrain and forebrain
• involved in facial expression

Forebrain:

• what makes us human
• largest part of the brain
• made up of thalamus, limbic system and cerebral cortex

Cerebral cortex:

• made of densely packed neurons we call "gray matter"
• glial cells: supported brain cells
• wrinkles are called fissures
• if you lay brain out it would be as big as a large pizza

Hemispheres: divided into two hemispheres

• contra lateral control: right controls left and vice versa
• left hemisphere: logic and sequential tasks
• right hemisphere: spatial and creative tasks

Frontal lobes: 

• abstract thought and emotional control
• contains motor cortex: sends signals to out body controlling muscle movements
• contains Broca's area: responsible for controlling muscles that produce speech
• damage to Broca's area is called Broca's aphasia: unable to make movements to talk

Parietal lobes: 

• contain sensory cortex: received incoming touch sensations from rest of the body
• most of the parietal lobes are made up association area

Association areas: any area not associated with receiving sensory information or coordinating muscle movements 

Occipital lobes:

• deals with vision
• contains visual cortex: interprets messages from our eyes into images we can understand

Temporal lobes:

• process sound sensed by our rate 
• interpreted in auditory cortex
• NOT LATERALIZED
• contains Wernike's area: interprets written and spoken speech
• Wernike's aphasia: unable to understand language; the syntax and grammar jumble 

Brain plasticity: the idea that the brain, when damaged, will attempt to find new ways to reroute messages

Corpus callosum: bridge of nerve fibers that connects or divides the two hemispheres

Cerebrum: 

-largest part of the brain

-divided into left and right hemisphere and divided into lobes

-also contains the cerebral cortex (the gray matter)

-controls voluntary movement, coordinates mental activity, and its the center for all conscious living

The Nervous System

The nervous system: it starts with an individual cell called a neuron

How does a neuron fire?

-resting potential: slightly negative charge

-reach the threshold when enough neurotransmitters reach dendrites

-go into action potential (firing)

The all or none response: the idea that either the neuron fires it or does not

-no part firing 

-like a gun

Neurotransmitters: are chemical messengers that are released by internal buttons through the synapse

Acetylcholine (ACH): 

• deals with motor movement and memory
• too much and you will...
• too little and you will...
• lack of ACH has been linked to Alzheimer's disease

Dopamine:

• deals with motor movement and alertness
• lack of dopamine had been linked to Parkinson's disease
• too much had been linked to schizophrenia

Serotonin: 

• involved in mood control
• lack of serotonin had been linked to clinical depression

Endorphins: 

• involved in pain control
• many do most addictive drugs deal with endorphins

Drugs can be...

• agonists: make neuron fire
• antagonists: stop neural firing
• reuptake inhibitors: block neurotransmitters from entering the neyron

Norepinephrine: helps control alertness and arousal. An undersupply can lead to depression, an oversupply can lead to manic symptoms

GABA (gamma-aminobutytic acid): major inhibitory neurotransmitters. An undersupply can lead to tremors, seizures, and insomnia

Glutamate: major excitatory neurotransmitters; involved in memory. Oversupply can overstimulate the brain leading to migraine (this is ehy some people avoid MSG in food)

Types of neurons

1. Sensory neurons (adherent neurons): take information from the senses to the brain
2. Inter neurons: take messages from sensory neurons to other parts of the brain or to motor neurons
3. Motor neurons (efferent neurons): take information from brain to the rest of the body 

Central nervous system: spinal cord and brain 

Peripheral nervous system: 

• all nerves that are not encased in bone 
• everything but the brain and spinal cord
• is divided into two categories...somatic and autonomic

Somatic nervous system: 

• controls voluntary muscle movement
• uses motor (efferent) neurons

Autonomic nervous system: controls the automatic functions of the body 

• divided into two categories...the sympathetic and the parasympathetic

Sympathetic nervous system:

• flight or fight response
• automatically accelerate heart rate, breathing, dilated pupils, slow down digestion

Parasympathetic nervous system:

• automatically slows the body down after a stressful event
• heart rate and breathing slow down, pupils constrict and digestion speeds up

Reflex: normally sensory (afferent) neurons take info up through spine to the brain 

-some reactions occur when sensory neurons reach the spinal cord

The endocrine system: a system of glands that secrete hormones

-similar to nervous system, except hormones work a lot slower than neurotransmitters

Emotion

Emotion: response of the whole organism
-psysiological arousal
-expressive behaviors
-conscious experience

James Lange theory of emotion: experience of emotion is awareness if physiological response to emotion arousing stimuli

Cannon-bard theory of emotion: emotion arousing stimuli
simultaneously trigger:

• physiological responses 
• subjective experience of emotion

Schachter's two factor theory: to experience emotion one must:

• be physically aroused
• cognitively label the arousal

Polygraph: machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies

• measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion 
• perspiration
• cardiovascular
• breathing changes

Catharsis:

• emotional release
• hypothesis
• "releasing aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

Feel good, do good phenomenon: tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Adaptation level phenomenon: tendency to form judgments relative to a "neutral" level 

• brightness of lights 
• volume of sound
• level of income
• defined by our prior experience

Relative deprivation: perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compared oneself

Intrinsic/Extrinsic

Intrinsic motivators: rewards we wget internally, such as enjoyment or satisfaction

Extrinsic motivators: reward that earn for accomplishments from outside ourselves (grades or money, etc)
-work great in the short run

Over justification effect: promising a reward for doing something you like to do results in you seeking the reward as the motivation for performing the task
-this tends to diminish the intrinsic m motivation to do something

Management Theory

Theory X: mangers believes that employees will work only if rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment

• think employees are extrinsically motivated
• only interested in Maslow's lower needs

Theory Y: managers believe that employees are internally motivated to do good work and policies should encourage this internal notice

• interested in Maslow's higher needs

Motivators

Intrinsic motivators: rewards we get internally, such as enjoyment or satisfaction

Extrinsic motivators: reward for accomplishments from outside ourselves (grades or money, etc..)
-work great in short run

Overjustification effect: promising a reward for doing something you like to do results in you seeking the reward as the motivation for performing the task
-this tends to diminish the intrinsic motivation to do something

Theory X: managers believes that employees will work only if rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment
-think employees are extrinsically motivated
-only interest in maslow's lower needs

Theory Y: managers believe that employees are internally motivated to do good work and policies should encourage this internal notice
-interested in maslow's higher needs

Social conflict situations
1. approach-approach-2 positive outcomes (can only pick one)
2. avoidance-avoidance-2 negative outcomes (can only pick one)
3.approach-avoidance-both options have positive and negative outcomes
4. multiple approach-avoidance-multiple choices, multiple outcomes

Hunger

Hunger does NOT come from our stomach, it comes from our brain

Glucose: the form of sugar that circulates in the door provides the major source of energy

• glucose low= hunger
• glucose high = feel full
• the hormone insulin converts glucose to fat

Lateral hypothalamus: when stimulated it makes you hungry 

-when lesioned (destroyed) you will never be hungry again

Ventromedial hypothalamus: when stimulated you feel full

-when lesioned, you will never feel full again

There are several environmental factors that affect out hunger

1. Availability of food
2. Learned preference and habits
3. Stress

Set point theory: the hypothalamus acts like a thermostat

• wants to maintain a stable weight
• activate the lateral and when you diet and activate the ventromedial when you start to gain weight

Bulimia  nervosa: characterized by binging (eating large amounts of food) and purging (getting rid of the food)

Anorexia nervosa: starve themselves to below 85% of their normal body weight 

• see themselves as fat
• vast majority are women

Obesity: severely overweight to the point where it causes health issues

• mostly eating habits but some people are predisposed towards obesity

Motivation and Emotion

Motivation: a psychological process that directs and maintains your behavior toward a goal

Motives: are the needs, wants, interests, and desires that propel or drive people in certain directions

Instinct theory: we are motivated by our inborn automated behaviors
-but instincts only explain why we do a small fraction of our behaviors

Biological motives
-hunger
-thirst
-sex
-sleep

Social motives:
-achievement
-order
-play
-autonomy
-affiliation

Drive theory: biological internal motivation (homeostasis)

Incentive theory: environmental motivation (not as much homeostasis, more outside factors)

Drive reduction theory: when individuals experience a need or drive, they're motivated to reduce that need or drive
-drive theories assume that people are always trying to reduce internal tension
-therefore drive theories believe that the source of motivation lies within the person (not from the environment)

Aggression/Attraction

Aggression: any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
-in the us, we are much more likely to be murdered compared to most other developed nations

Biology of aggression:
-genetics
-neural influences (is aggression in the brain)
-biochemical

Frustration aggressive principle:
-the blocking of an attempt to achieve some goal
-creates anger which generates aggression

Conflict: a perceived incompatibility of actions, goals, or ideas
-social trap or prisoner's dilemma
-situation where people must choose between an act that is beneficial to themselves but harmful to others and an act that is moderately beneficial to all

5 factors of attraction:
1. Proximity
-geographic nearness
-mere exposure effect: repeated exposure to something breeds liking
-Taiwanese letters
-mirror image concept
2. Reciprocal liking
-you are more likely to like someone who likes you
3. Similarity:
-birds of the same feather flock together
-similarity breeds content
4. Liking through association
-classical conditioning can play a pert in attraction
5. Physical Attractiveness

Passionate love: an aroused state of intense positive absorption of another

Compassionate love: the deep affectionate attachment we feel of those with whom our lives are intertwined

What makes compassionate love work?

• equity: some kind of mutual give and take
• self disclosure: open to people, telling them things about themselves

Altruism: unselfish regard for the welfare of others
-Kitty Genovese case
-bystander effect (bystanders less willing to help if there are other bystanders around)

Social exchange theory: the idea that our social behavior is an exchange process, which we maximize benefits and minimize costs

Peacemaking: give people superordinate (shared) goals that can only be achieved through cooperation
-win win situations through mediation
-GRIT (graduated and reciprocated initiatives in tension reductions)

Social Relations

Social relations: how do we relate to others?
-attraction
-conflict and prejudice
-alrtruism and peacemaking
-aggression

prejudice: an unjustifiable attitude towards a group of people
-overt
-subtle
-usually involves stereotyped beliefs    

Stereotype: generalized belief about a group of people

In-group: "us"; people with whom one shares a common identity

Out-group: "them"; those perceived as different than one's in-group

In-group bias: tendency to favor one's own group

Social Influence

Conformity: adjusting one's behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard

Conditions that strengthen conformity
-one is made to feel incompetent
-group is at least 3 people
-group is unanimous
-one admires the group's status
-one had made no pitot commitment
-the person is observed

Reasons for conforming:
Normative social influence: influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disappointment

Informational social influence: influence resulting from ones willingness to accept others opinions about reality

Group influence on behavior
Social facilitation: improved performance of tasks in the presence of others
-occurs with simple or well learned tasks
-not with tasks that are difficult or not yet mastered

Yerkes-Dodson law: there is an optimal level of arousal for the best performance of any task;
-easy tasks-relatively high
-difficult tasks-low arousal
-other tasks-moderate level

Social loafing: the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were indicidually accountable

Deindividuation: the loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Group polarization: the concept that a group's attitude is one of extremes and rarely moderate

group think: the mode of thinking that occurs then the desire for harmony in a decision making group overrides common sense

self fulfilling prophecies: occurs when one person's belief about others leads one to act in way that induce the others to appear to confirm the belief

Social Psychology

Social Psychology: the study of how we think about, influence and relate to one another

Social thinking: how we think about one another

Attribution theory: the idea that we give a casual explanation for someone's behavior
-we credit that behavior either to the situation or...
-to the person's disposition
Ex: Was my friend a jerk because she had a bad day or is just a bad person

Fundamental attribution error: the tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of person disposition
Ex: how do you view your teacher's behavior? You probably attribute it to their personality other than their profession

Attitudes: a belief or feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something

Do our attitudes guide out actions?
Only if...
-external pressure is minimal
-we are aware of our attitudes
-the attitude is relevant to the behavior

Foot in the door phenomenon: the tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request to comply later with a larger request

Door in face phenomenon: the tendency for people who say no to a huge request, to comply with a smaller one

Zimbardo prison study: role playing affects attitudes. What do you think happened when college students were made to take on the roles of prison guards and inmates

Cognitive dissonance theory: we do not like when we have either conflicting attitudes or when our attitudes do not match our actions
-when they clash, we will change our attitudes



                               

Unit 2: Research Methods

Hypothesis: expresses a relationship between two variables

Independent variable: whatever is being manipulated

Dependent variable: whatever is being measured in the experiment

Operational definitions:
-explain what you mean in your hypothesis
-how will the variables be measured in "real life" terms

Sampling:
-identify the population you want to study

Experimental method:
-looking to prove relationships
-cause=effect
-laboratory v fields experiments

Confounding variable: is anything that could cause a change in b, that is not a
Ex: if i want to prove that smoking causes heart issues, what are some confounding variables? Lifestyle and family history may also affect the heart

Hawthorne effect:
-but even the control may experience changes
-just the fact that you know you are in an experiment can cause change

Correlational method:
-correlation expresses a relationship between two variable
-does not show causation

Positive correlation:
-the variables go in the same direction

Negative correlation:
-the variables go in opposite directions

Survey method:
-most common type of study in psychology
-measures correlation
-cheap and fast
-need a good random sample

Naturalistic observation:
-watch subjects in their natural environment
-do not manipulate the environment

Correlation coefficient:
-a number that measures the strength of a relationship
-range is from -1 to +1
-the relationship gets weaker the closer you get to 0

Case studies:
-a detailed picture of one or a few subjects
-tell us a great story...but it  is just descriptive research
-does not even give us a correlation data

Statistics: recording the results from our studies

Descriptive statistics: just describes sets of data

Z scores:
-a unit the measure the distance of one score from the mean
-a positive z score means a number above the mean
-a negative z score means a number below the mean

Animal research:
-a clear purpose
-treated in a humane way
-acquire animals legally
-least amount of suffering possible

Human research:
-No coercion-must be voluntary
-informed consent
-anonymity
-no significant risk
-must debrief

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenic disorders : about 1 in every 100 person are diagnosed with schizophrenia

Symptoms;
1. Disorganized thinking
2. Disturbed perceptions
3. Inappropriate emotions and actions

Disorganized thinking: the thinking of a person with schizophrenia is fragmented and bizarre and distorted with false beliefs; comes from a breakdown in selective attention they cannot filter out information

Delusions( false beliefs).
-Delusions of persecution(think someone is after them)
-Delusions of grandeur (think they are heavenly like Jesus)

Disturbed perceptions:
-hallucinations: sensory experiences without sensory stimulation

Inappropriate  emotions and actions:     -laugh at inappropriate times
-flat effect: reduction in emotion
-senseless,compulsive acts
-catatonia: motionless, wavy flexibility

Positive symptoms:
-presence of inappropriate symptoms

Negative symptoms:
-absence if appropriate ones

Disorganized schizophrenia:
-disorganized speech it behavior or flat or inappropriate emotion
-imagine the worst

Paranoid schizophrenia:
-preoccupation with delusions Or hallucinations
-somebody is out to get me

Catatonic schizophrenia:
-parrot like repeating of another's speech and movements

Undifferentiated schizophrenia:
-many and varied symptoms

Disorders

Abnormal psychology aka psychological disorders: a "harmful dysfunction" in which behavior is judged to be atypical, disturbing, maladaptive, and unjustifiable

DSM IV: (diagnostic statistical manual or mental disorders): the big book of disorders
-DSM will classify disorders and describe the symptoms
-DSM will NOT explain the causes it possible cures

Neurotic disorders: distressing but one can still function in society and act rationally

Psychotic disorders: person loses contact with reality, experienced distorted perceptions

Anxiety disorders: a grouping conditions where the primary symptoms are anxiety it defenses against anxiety
-the patient fears something awful will happen to them
-they are in a state if intense apprehension, uneasiness, uncertainty, or fear

Phobia: a person experiences sudden episodes of intense dread

Generalized anxiety disorder(GAD): an anxiety disorder in which a perish is continuously tense, apprehensive and in a state if autonomic nervous system arousal
-the patient is constantly tense and worried, feels inadequate, is over sensitive, can't concentrate, and suffers from insomnia

Panic disorder: an anxiety disorder marked by a minute long episode of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking and other frightening sensations

Obsessive compulsive disorder: persistent unwanted thoughts (obsessions) cause someone to feel the need (compulsion) to engage in a particular action
-obsessions about dirt and germs may lead to compulsive hand washing


Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): flashbacks or nightmares following a persons involvement in or observation it an extremely stressful event
-memories of the event cause anxiety

Somatoform disorders: occur when a person manifests a psychological problem through a physiological
Two types...

Hypochondriasis: has frequent complaints for which medical doctors are unable to locate the cause

Conversion disorder: report the existence of severe physical problems with no biological reason
Ex: blindness or paralysis

Dissociative disorders: these disorders involve a disruption in the conscious process
Three types...
Psychogenic amnesia: a person cannot remember things with no physiological basis did the disruption in memory
-retrograde amnesia

Dissociative fugue: people with psychogenic amnesia find themselves in an unfamiliar environment

Dissociative identity disorder: used to be known as multiple personality disorder
-a person has several rather than one integrated personality
-people with DID commonly have a history of childhood abuse or trauma

Mood disorders: experience extreme or inappropriate emotion
1. Major Depression: unhappy for at least two weeks with no apparent cause; is the common cold of psychological disorders
2. Dysthymic disorder: suffering from depression every day for at least 2 years
3.seasonal affective disorder(SAD): experience depression during winter months; based not on temperature, but on amount of sunlight
4. Bipolar: formally manic depression; involved periods of depression and manic episodes; manic episodes involve feeling did high energy (but they tend to differ a lot...some get confident and some get irritable)


Personality disorders: well established, maladaptive ways of behaving that negatively affect peoples ability to function; dominates their personality


Antisocial personality disorder: lack of empathy, little regard for others feelings, view the world as hostile and look out for themselves

Dependent personality disorder: rely too much on the attention and help of others

Histrionic personality disorder: needs to be the center of attention, Whether acting silly or dressing provocatively

Narcissistic personality disorder: having an unwarranted sense of self importance, thinking that you are the center of the universe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E1JiDFxFGk

Intro to Psychology

Psychology: the science of behavior and mental processes
Science: based on research
Behavior: observable, measurable


Goals of psychology
-observe
-predict
-explain
-describe
-control

Mind and body are connected
-the Hebrews
-Aristotle
-Augustine

Mind and body are distinct
-Socrates
-Plato
-Descartes

Some ideas are inborn
-Socrates
-Plato

The mind is a blank slate
-Aristotle
-Locke

Wilhelmina Wundt-father of psychology

Structuralism: broke down mental processes into the most basic components (structures) of conscious experience
-what did you see? Hear? Taste? Smell? Feel? (Introspection)

Functionalism: focused less on the how of sensation and perception, but rather on the why. Emphasized the process of how thoughts formed, changed , and how they adapted


1. Neuroscience perspective: focus in how the physical body and brain creates our emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
2. Evolutionary perspective: focuses on Darwinism, we behave the way we do because we inherited those behaviors
3. Psychodynamic perspective: fathered by sigmund Freud;  our behavior comes from unconscious drives
4. Behavioral perspective: focuses on our observable behaviors; only cares about the behaviors that impair our living, and attempts to change them
5. Cognitive perspective: focuses on How we think (or encode information)
6. Social-cultural perspective: focus on how your culture affects your behavior
7. Humanistic perspective: focuses on positive growth, attempt to seek self-actualization