Willhelm Wundt
-Structuralist
-Known as the “father of experimental psychology”
-Founder of the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879 |
William James
-Functionalist
-Conscience and behavior helped people and animals adjust to the environment.
-Father of modern Psychology |
Research Methods
-independent variable - cause
-experimental group - exposed to cause
-control group - not exposed to cause
-dependent variable - effect (measures how subjects behave)
-blind study - subjects don't know if they get drug or placebo
-double-blind study - subjects & researchers don't know who gets drug/placebo
-correlation coefficient - describes strength of relationship |
Structuralists
-Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Titchener
-Wanted to discover form of mental experience. Introspection reporting own conscious thoughts and feelings
-Uses the method of introspection to identify the basic elements or “structures” of psychological experience |
Brain Organization
-Cerebral cortex (outer cover) - motor, cognitive, sensory processes
-Frontal Lobes - coordinating movement in higher level thinking (planning & predicting consequences
of behaviors)
- Wernicke's area = language comprehension
- Broca's area = speech production
-Parietal lobes - top of head, behind frontal lobes = touch, hands/feet
-Temporal lobes - above parietal, sides of ears = hearing
-Occipital lobes - base of skull in back = vision (ocular)
Brain Power
A motor homunculus represents a map of brain areas dedicated to motor processing for different anatomical divisions of the body.
A sensory homunculus represents a map of brain areas dedicated to sensory processing for different anatomical divisions of the body.
Biological Approach
-believes us to be as a consequence of our genetics and physiology
-only approach that examines thoughts, feelings, and behaviors from a biological (physical) point of view
-all thoughts, feeling & behavior ultimately have a biological cause |
Psychodynamic Approach
-all human functioning is based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person
-Example...Nail biting may be caused by an anxiety inducing childhood event. |
Sleep Disorders
-Insomnia - recurring difficulty falling asleep.
-Narcolepsy - sudden and uncontrollable attacks of sleep during waking hours.
-Sleep Apnea - stop breathing during sleep which wakes them long enough to breathe. This can occur 100's of times a night |
Gestalt
-theory of mind of the Berlin School of experimental psychology.
-Gestalt psychology tries to understand the laws of our ability to acquire and maintain meaningful
perceptions in an apparently chaotic world.
-Roots in theories by Hume, Goethe, Kant.
-Max Wertheimer's unique contribution was to insist that the "gestalt" is perceptually primary, defining
the parts it was composed from, rather than being a secondary quality that emerges from those parts. |
Perceptual Set
-A predisposition to perceive things in a certain way.
-We often tend to notice only certain aspects of an object or situation while ignoring other details.
-Crying baby girl - weak & scared
-Crying baby boy - strong and mad
-Expect the mail man and hear noises but he is not there. |
Freud - Defense Mechanisms
-regression returning to earlier way of behaving (adult throwing temper tantrum)
-rationalization attempts to justify irrational behavior with rational arguments
-projection attributing characteristics you don't like in yourself to other people
-reaction formation involve doing opposite of what you really want to do
-Sublimation channeling of impulses or energies regarded as unacceptable, especially sexual desires, toward activities regarded as more socially acceptable, often creative activities
-displacement anger is directed elsewhere not necessarily socially acceptably (kick the dog instead of your boss) |
Humanistic Approach
-People aren't merely machines with determined behaviors.
-People are motivated by desire for optimal growth and development
self-actualization.
-All have unique desires/skills/needs. Must be able to express them.
-People basically good, focus on positive aspects of development. |
Naturalistic Observation
-Naturalistic observation is a research method in which people or other subjects are observed in their natural setting.
-Psychologists and other social scientists use naturalistic observation to study specific social or cultural settings that couldn't be investigated in other ways, such as prisons, bars, and hospitals. |
Theories of Emotion
James-Lange Theory
-Stimulating events trigger a physical reaction.
-You are walking down a dark alley late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens. Due to these physiological changes your body prepares for a fearful situation. You then experience fear.
Cannon-Bard Theory
-Stimulating events trigger feelings and physical reactions that occur at the same time.
-You are walking down a dark alley late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens. At the same time as these physiological changes occur you also experience the emotion of fear.
Schachter-Singer (Two-Factor) Theory
-Two factors are needed to experience emotion. First, environmental stimuli elicits a physiological response. Second, we cognitively appraise this physiological activity, and try to give it the correct label.
-You are walking down a dark alley late at night.You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens. Upon noticing this arousal you realize that is comes from the fact that you are walking down a dark alley by yourself. This behavior is dangerous and therefore you feel the emotion of fear.
Lazarus' Cognitive-Mediational Theory
-A thought must come before any emotion or physiological arousal. In other words, you must first think about your situation before you can experience an emotion. the stimulus leads to a personal meaning derived from cognition, leading to both arousal and the emotion.
-The sound of a gunshot, for example, is interpreted as something potentially dangerous and leads to both physiological responses, like a rapid heart rate and trembling, and the subjective experience of fear.
-You are walking down a dark alley late at night. You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens. Upon noticing this arousal you realize that is comes from the fact that you are walking down a dark alley by yourself. This behavior is dangerous and therefore you feel the emotion of fear. |
How the Eye Works
-two photoreceptors in retina, rods & cones - change physical light energy into neural messages (transduction)
-The rods more numerous, (120 million), & more sensitive than cones. But they're not sensitive to color.
-The 6 to 7 million cones provide eye's color sensitivity. They're more concentrated in the central yellow spot (macula). In the center of that region is the "fovea centralis ", a 0.3 mm diameter rod-free area with very thin, densely packed cones. |
Parts of the Eye
-iris - controls pupil size and amount of light
-optic nerve - eye signals to brain
-retina - light sensitive inner eye surface
-lens - between pupil and retina, focuses light |
Stages of Memory
Encoding
Convert so it can be stored.
three ways information can be encoded:
-Visual (picture)
-Acoustic (sound)
-Semantic (meaning)
Storage
-where it’s stored
-how long it lasts for
-how much can be stored
-what kind of information is held
-short term (STM)
-long term (LTM)
Retrieval
-STM is stored and retrieved sequentially
-LTM is stored and retrieved by association
Cognitive Approach
-The mind actively processes information from our senses (touch, taste etc.).
-Between stimulus and response are complex mental processes, which can be studied scientifically.
-Humans can be seen as data processing systems.
-The workings of a computer and the human mind are alike – they encode and store information, and they have outputs. |
Jean Piaget
Stages of Cognitive Development
-Sensorimotor stage: birth to 2 years
-can't differentiate self from environment
-Preoperational stage: ages 2 to 7
-table world, language, symbols, fantasy/reality, object permanence, no logical reasoning, lack conservation, egocentric
-Concrete operational stage: ages 7 to 11
-logic rules, concrete, cause/effect, role taking
-Formal operational stage: ages 12 and up
-logic of science, abstract thinking, metaphors |
Noam Chomsky
Language development - children have language acquisition device - universal built in mental system that steers us toward interpreting and using language in particular ways.
Young-Helmholte Theory
Theory of Color Vision - the sensation of any color can be achieved by the superposition of pure red, green and blue colors
Motivation
Arousal Theory A theory of motivation suggesting that people are motivated to maintain an optimal level of alertness and physical and mental activation.
Instinct Theory all organisms are born with innate biological tendencies to help them survive. All behaviors are driven by instincts (goal-directed and innate patterns of behavior that are not the result of learning or experience). (babies root)
Drive Reduction Theory physiological need creates an aroused tension state (drive) motivating fulfillment of the need -- homeostasis
Theory X type X individuals are inherently lazy and unhappy with their jobs. Therefore, an authoritarian management style is required to ensure fulfillment of the individuals' objectives.
Theory Y managers assume employees can be ambitious, self-motivated and exercise self-control. Employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties and for them, work is as natural as play |
Types of Studies
-Correlational
-seeks to figure out if two or more variables are related and in what way.
-Is smoking associated with Alzheimer's disease?
-Descriptive
-do not test specific relationships between variables, non-experimental
-survey
-Naturalistic
-observes and records behavior in its natural setting while interfering as little as possible with the subjects or behavior
-Quasi-Experiment
-subjects are assigned to groups based on non-random criteria
-Clinical
-separate groups (experimental and control)
-experimental receives treatment and control does not (placebo) |
Drive
Drive - disrupts homeostasis
Instinct - complex behavior, unlearned, same throughout species (baby smiles when eating sweets)
drive reduction theory - physiological need creates an aroused tension state (drive) motivating fulfillment of the need -- homeostasis
Interval Reinforcement
reinforcements after a response at end of a given time period
variable interval schedule time between reinforcements changes
fixed interval schedule occur on the same day each week
ratio schedules partial reinforcement schedules (reinforcement delivered based on the number of correct responses).
fixed ratio schedule correct number of responses required remains the same
variable ratio schedule number of required responses changes
Edward Thorndike
Thorndike studied instrumental conditioning, which involves an increase in the probability of a response occurring as a result of a positive outcome. This type of learning would come to be called operant conditioning by B.F. Skinner.
Law of Effect behavior changes because of consequences
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
Reciprocity Norm
We feel obligated to help those who have helped us.
The kin-selection hypothesis is one explanation.
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY - Aggression & Altruism
Aggression
frustration-aggression hypothesis aggression is always product of frustration and frustration leads to aggression (wrong, sometimes frustration= cry)
more testosterone = more aggression
aggressive cues - guns, knives, black clothing = higher levels of aggression among provoked people = weapons effect
Altruism
Kitty Genovese - raped and murdered 1964 in front of 38 witnesses who did not help (bystander effect)
social-exchange theory = maximize rewards minimize costs (minimax principle)
Encourage helping behavior: social responsibility norm help people who need it & reciprocity norm help people who help us. kin selection hypothesis helping family leads to our genes passed on |
THERAPY - Biological Medical Approach
Rely on drugs or surgery. Alter the way brain functions
Depression - low serotonin neurotransmitter
Anti-depressants (Prozac, Pail, Zoloft) prevent re-uptake of serotonin (SSRI) result in elevated mood
Anti-anxiety drugs (Librium, Valium) reduce arousal, depress activity in CNS
Anti-psychotics (Clozapine, Thorazine) treat symptoms of schizophrenia. block operation of neurotransmitter dopamine
Barbiturates (tranquilizer) (opiate)
Opiates - opium, decreases nervous system, addictive, side effects |
PERSONALITY - Humanistic
People basically good
Carl Rogers "Self Theory" - person centered
true self - talents, thoughts, desires, feelings
self concept - what we think we are like
ideal self - what we think we would like to be
self actualization - accept who you are
conditions of worth - hinder self actualization
Self Esteem literature
Maslow rejected standard tests and measured self concept through therapy and questionaires.
Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development
3 stages of moral development
1. Pre-moral a. Obedience v.s. development
2. Conventional c. good boy, girl-boys and girls are good so they are seen as being a good person. d. law and social order start
3. Post-conventional e. Social Contract f. universal ethical principle
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Functionalism
-Functionalists focus on the purpose of behavior
-An example of functionalism is describing an apple. An apple is provides vitamins to keep you healthy.
-How mental experiences were adaptive & functional for people.
-Believed consciousness and behavior in general, helped people/animals adjust to environments.
-William James, John Dewey, Harvey Carr, John Angell |
Consciousness
Consciousness is a state of being aware and reflecting on the environment around us, not simply reacting to it |
Circadian Rhythm
The internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats on each rotation of the Earth roughly every 24 hours. |
Brain
-Brainstem (Medulla) - breathing & heartbeat
-Reticular formation - arousal, sleep, filters stimuli
-Cerebellum - voluntary movement
-Limbic System (Hippo HAT)
- HIPPOcampus - memory
- Hypothalamus - hunger, thirst, sexual behavior
- pituitary gland - hormones
- Amygdala - fear, anger
- Thalamus - touch, taste, sight, hear
Associative Learning
-Subject links together certain events, behavior, stimuli in process of conditioning.
-Classical Conditioning
-Operant Conditioning
-Observational Learning
Behaviorist
-learned responses to predictable patterns of environmental stimuli
-Pavlov (classical conditioning)
-Skinner (operant conditioning)
-study animals to apply to humans |
Operant Conditioning
-B.F. Skinner
-A method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior.
Classical Conditioning
-Pavlov
-Learning through association
-Ring the bell dog salivates
Observational Learning
-The process of learning by watching the behaviors of others.
-The targeted behavior is watched, memorized, and then mimicked.
-Also known as shaping and modeling, observational learning is most common in children as they imitate behaviors of adults. |
Freud
-1886 specialized in nervous disorders (talking cure)
-ID - pleasure principle (immediate gratification, impulsive) (devil)
-EGO - reality principle (mediates between id & superego) (self)
-SUPEREGO - morality principle (social part, get along with others) (angel)
-Phobia - cause when you want something you can't have |
Freud - Psychosexual Stages
-Freud proposed that personality development in childhood takes place during five psychosexual stages.
-Oral (Birth-1yr)
-Anal (1-3yr)
-Phallic (3-6yr)
-Latency (6yr-pubuerty)
-Genital (puberty adult)
-Oedipus Complex
-Phallic Stage
-children experience an unconscious feeling of desire for their opposite-sex parent and jealousy and envy toward their same-sex parent.
Sensation & Perception
-Sensation
-Bottom up (vision, hearing, smell) receive and relay outside information to the brain
-Perception
-Top Down brain interprets & organizes that information |
Signal Detection Theory
-The ability to notice stimulus varies with psychological factors including motivation, past experience, expectations
-Assumes that there is “noise” in any system.
-If we have an old car, we may hear clunks even when the car is operating effectively,
-The signal is what you are trying to detect. |
Limbic System
-Sometimes called the "emotional brain" because it plays a primary role in range of emotions,
including pain, pleasure, docility, affection and anger.
-The limbic system is made up of the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala and hippocampus.
-Picture a HIPPOpotamus wearing a HAT.
(HIPPOcampus, Hypothalamus, Amygdala and Thalamus) |
Thalamus
-Functions as a sensory relay station
-see, hear, taste and touch |
Amygdala
-Sometimes called the aggression center.
-If you stimulate the amygdala, you can produce feelings of anger and violence, fear and anxiety.
-If you damage your amygdala, it can cause a mellowing effect. That is why benzodiazepine is used to
control anxiety attack.
-Kluver-Bucy syndrome is where there is a bilateral (both) destruction of the amygdala that can cause
hyperorality (put things in your mouth alot), hypersexuality, disinhibited behavior (ignore social
conventions, do dangerous reckless things). |
Hippocampus
-Its main function is to form long term memories.
-Converts short term memory to long term memory.
-Thinking back on memories can evoke all kinds of
emotions. |
Hypothalamus (hypo - below)
-Plays a role in regulating the autonomic nervous system (ANS) that relates to emotions.
-Controls the endocrine system, by triggering the release of hormones into your bloodstream.
epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline).
-Controls the 'flight or fight' vs. 'rest and digest' responses. |
John B Watson
-Behaviorist
-Established the psychological school of behaviorism
-Conducted research on animal behavior, child rearing, and advertising |
Neurons
-Afferent neurons are sensory neurons that carry nerve impulses from sensory stimuli towards the
central nervous system and brain.
-Efferent neurons are motor neurons that carry neural impulses away from the central nervous system and towards muscles to cause movement.
-Interneurons do not have motor or sensory functions; they just act to pass on information.
-Glia - neuronal glue that holds neurons together and provide nutrients.
-Neurotransmitters are chemical substances made by the neuron specifically to transmit a message.
-Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that transmit a signal from a neuron across the synapse
to a target cell, which can be a different neuron, myocyte, or gland cell.
-The resting membrane potential of a neuron is about -70 mV (mV=millivolt) |
Sleep
When awake the brain produces alpha waves which are relatively slow
Stage 1
breathing slows with irregular, erratic brain waves. alpha waves cease and are replaced with theta waves
Stage 2
deeper relaxation/occasional bursts of rhythmic waves "sleep spindles" and K-complexes
Stage 3
large slow delta waves. transition to Stage 4
Stage 4
stronger more consistent delta waves. These last 2 stages are referred to as slow-wave sleep
REM
Sleep dreams |
Dreams Theories
Freud
-dreams manifest content of latent desires. Disguising the wish dreamer avoids anxiety.
Activation Synthesis Theory
-dreams don’t actually mean anything
-merely electrical brain impulses that pull random thoughts and imagery from our memories
Threat-Simulation Theory
-dreams simulate potential threatening events in order to prepare us for actual life threatening situations.
Information processing
-way to consolidate information, sort thru day's events
Continual-Activation Theory
--During REM sleep, the unconscious part of the brain is busy processing procedural memory.
Physiological Functions
-dreams stimulate the brain which may help build neural connections
Manifest content is the actual content, or storyline, of a dream.
Latent content refers to the hidden meaning of a dream. |
Perception
-Gestalt (German for "a whole" or "form") Psychologists were among the first to study how the brain
makes things from fragments of sensations.
-Depth perception
-both eyes work together to gather Binocular cues, which use the space between the eyes (retinal
disparity) and how much the eyes turn inwards, towards the nose (convergence) to roughly estimate
distance.
-Monocular cues (one eye)
-Linear perspective
-parallel lines appear to converge
-Motion parallax
-refers to apparent movement of stable objects as we move.
-Perceptual sets
-predispositions to perceive one thing and not another will affect the way reality is viewed |
Sensation
Psychophisics - the relationships between physical stimuli and mental phenomena
Absolute Threshold - the intensity needed for stimulus to be detected 50% of the time it is presented
Just Noticeable Difference (JND) or the difference threshold - minimum stimulation required for detection.
Weber's Law - Difference is harder to detect in more intense stimuli.
Sensory adaptation - prolonged exposure to an unchanging stimulus causes nerves to fire less and detection diminishes. |
Theories of Intelligence
Psychological Disorders
Anxiety - dread, fear, terror
- Generalized - persistent but don't know source, sweaty palms, shake, nail bite
- Panic - sudden onset episodes
- OCD - thoughts & behavior
Mood - depression, mania or both
- Major - 2 weeks of sadness, hopeless, discouragement
- Bipolar
Dissociative - fragmented personality
- Amnesia - can't remember personal info
- Fugue - leaves work, confused, assumes new identity
- Identity Disorder (multiple personality)
Schizophrenia - hallucinations, delusions
- Paranoid - believe famous, delusions of grandeur or persecution
- Disorganized - disorganized speech, inappropriate behavior
- Catatonic - odd motor activity, echopraxia, echolalia
Somatoform - physical symptoms can't be explained medically
- Conversion - impaired motor/sensory function
- Hypochondria
Personality - behavior inconsistent to culture
- Paranoid - suspicious, distrustful (not delusional)
- Antisocial - impulsive, no conscience
- Borderline - relationship/self image problems
- Narcissistic - needs admiration |
Erikson's 8 Stages of Development
1. Nurturing = trust vs mistrust (baby-1yr)
2. Autonomy vs shame doubt (toddler-2 yr)
3. initiative vs guilt (preschool 3-5 yrs)
4. industrious vs inferior (6-12 yrs)
5. identity vs role confusion (12-18)
6. intimacy vs isolation (18-40)
7. generativity vs stagnation (40-65)
8. integrity vs despair (65 & up) |
Sensory Adaptation & Habituation
Sensory Adaptation - neural receptors reduce sensitivity to continual stimulus (ie - adapt hot/cold water after brief time, eyes adjust dark room (cones 10 min, rods 30), smell own house)
Habituation - decreased response to stimulus after repeated behavior, used to elicit stronger response (alcohol 1st drink vs alcoholic taking a drink, favorite food, living near train track)
sensitization repeated intense stimulus increases response to weaker
Psychological Disorders
Medical - caused by biological reasons (injury, genetics, drugs)
Psychoanalytic - childhood conflicts, unconscious, misdirected anger
Cognitive - patterns of thinking are abnormal, success because of others (luck, generous), fail because of self (stupid, no talent)
Learn/Behavior - problem behavior is the problem, some type of classical conditioning or reinforcement has occurred for behavior to continue
Whorfian Hypothesis
a theory in linguistics: one's language determines one's conception of the world
The strong version says that language determines thought, and that linguistic categories limit and determine cognitive categories, whereas the weak version says only that linguistic categories and usage influence thought and certain kinds of non-linguistic behavior.
Helping Behaviors
Social Exchange Theory human relationships are formed by the use of a subjective cost-benefit analysis and the comparison of alternatives
Social Responsibility norm obligation to act for the benefit of society at large
Bystander effect in a crowd, no one helps
Rorschach
Ink Blot tests. Schizophrenics were found to answer questions about ink blot cards very differently than most people.
Yerkes-Dodson Law
moderate levels of arousal lead to optimal performance
Frustration Aggression Hypothesis
Frustration produces a readiness for aggression if triggered
Sensory Memory
implicit (procedural) - being aware of how to do something without consciously know how
explicit (declarative) - being aware of what you know
iconic - brief photographic memory of an image
echoic - brief memory of an auditory stimulus
flashbulb - vivid memories of emotionally charged events
Reinforcement
Something that feels good is reinforcement (not punishment)
Positive reinforcement - stimulus
a) presented
b) desirable
= feels good
(earn $1.00 for every magazine sold = sell more magazines)
negative reinforcement - stimulus
a) REMOVED
b) desirable
= feels good
(take aspirin to remove headache)
interval schedule - odds of reinforcement go up with passage of time
ratio schedule - odds of reinforcement go up depending on how many responses are made
variable ratio - number of responses needed vary from one win to the next |
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