Psychology Notes Prologue
I.
What is psychology
a. Psychological science is born
i. First laboratory
1. Aristotle used observation and questioning to
understand the body-psyche relationship
2. Questions were answered through observation
and guesses
3. Willhelm Wundt
a. Defined psychology as “science of
mental life”
b. Added two key elements to enhance
scientific nature of psychology
c. Elements include carefully measure
observations and experiments
4. William James
a. Studied human thoughts, feelings, and
behaviors
i. Asked
1. What function might they
serve
2. How might they have helped
our ancestors survive
b. Authored principles of psychology
b. Psychological science develops
i. Behaviorism
1. Defined psychology as “scientific study of
observable behavior” without reference to
mental processes
2. Became major force in psychology in 1960’s
ii. Proponents
1. John B. Watson
a. Classical conditioning
2. BF Skinner
a. Operant conditioning
3. Dismissed introspection
iii. Freudian psychology
1. Emphasized ways unconscious thought
processes and emotional responses to
childhood experiences affect later behavior
2. Major force until 1960s
iv. Humanistic Psychology
1. Revived interest in study of mental processes
2. Focused on ways current environments nurture
or limit growth potential and importance of
having need for love and acceptance satisfied
3. Led by carl rogers and Abraham maslow
v. Cognitive Revolution
1. Occurred around 1960 and focus returned to
interest in mental processes
2. Cognitive psychology (thinking, knowing,
remembering) scientifically explored ways in
which information is perceived, processed, and
recalled
3. The interdisciplinary field of cognitive
neuroscience ties the science of mind
(cognitive psychology) and the science of the
brain (neuroscience) and focuses on the brain
activity underlying mental activity
c. Contemporary psychology
i. Martin Seligman: positive psychology
1. Uses scientific methods to investigate building
of good life that engages skill-building and a
meaningful life that extends beyond self
ii. the big nature vs. nurture questions
1. to what extent are our traits already set in
place at birth (“nature”)?
2. To what extent do our traits develop in
response to our environment/experience
(“nurture”)
3. Nature
a. Plato: character and intelligence
inherited, some ideas inborn
b. Descartes: Some ideas are intuitive
c. Darwin: Some traits, behaviors, and
instincts are part of species; natural
selection
4. Nurture
a. Aristotle: content of mind comes through
senses
b. Locke: mind is blank slate
d. Psychology’s three main levels of analysis
i. Biological influences
1. Genetic predispositions (genetically influenced
traits)
2. Genetic mutations
3. Natural selection of adaptive traits and
behaviors passed down through generations
4. Genes responding to the enviroment
ii. Psychological influences
1. Learned fears and other learned expectations
2. Emotional responses
3. Cognitive processing and perceptual
interpretations
iii. Social-cultural influences
1. Presence of others
2. Cultural, societal, and family expectations
3. Peer and other group influences
4. Compelling models (such as in the media)
e. Psychology’s subfields
i. Neuroscience
1. How the body and brain enable emotions,
memories, and sensory experiences
ii. Evolutionary
1. How the natural selection of traits has
promoted the survival of genes
a. Ex. Biological; cognitive; clinical
iii. Behavior genetics
1. How our genes and our environment influence
our individual differences
a. Ex. Biological; developmental; social
iv. Psychodynamic
1. How behavior springs from unconscious drives
and conflicts
a. Ex. Personality; developmental;
legal/forensic
v. Behavioral
1. How we learn observable responses
a. Ex. Clinical; counseling; industrialorganizational
vi. Cognitive
1. How we encode, process, store, and retrieve
information
a. Ex. Cognitive neuroscience; clinical,
counseling; industrial-organizational
vii. Socio-cultural
1. How behavior and thinking vary across
situations and cultures
a. Ex. Developmental; social psychology,
clinical, counseling
f. Best learning practices
i. Testing boosts retention of matierl
ii. Actively processing material and retrieving material
helps master it
iii. Spaced rehearsal, interspaced with other subjects, is
more efficient than cramming
iv. Concept familiarity is not effective enough
Psychology Chapter 1
I.
The need for psychological science
a. Humans cannot rely solely on intuition and common sense
b. Three phenomena illustrate this:
i. Hindsight bias
1. Tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that
we could have predicted it
2. Also known as the I-Knew it-all-along phenomenon
ii. Judgmental overconfidence
1. People tend to think they know more than they do
2. This occurs in academic and social behavior
iii. Tendency to perceive patterns in random events
1. People perceive patterns to make sense of their
world
2. Even in random, unrelated data people often find
order, because random sequences often do not look
random
3. People trust their intuition more than they should
because intuitive thinking is flawed
c. Why is intuition overused and errors made?
i. Hindsight bias, overconfidence, and our tendency to
perceive patterns in random events often lead us to
II.
overestimate our intuition
ii. But scientific inquiry can help us sift reality from illusion
STOP POTENTIAL TEST QUESTION (answers
a. Functionalism was a school of psychology that focused attention
on the:
i. A.adaptive value of thoughts and behaviors
ii. B.component elements of sensory experience
iii. C.disruptive effects of unconscious motives
iv. D.treatment of psychological disorders
b. The view that psychology should be an objective science that
studies observable behavior without reference to mental
processes is known as
i. A.cognitive neuroscience
ii. B.behaviorism
iii. C.humanistic psychology
iv. D.treatment of psychological disorders
c. Cognitive neuroscience studies relationships between
i. A.natural selection and genetic predispositions
ii. B.childhood memories and psychological disorders
iii. C.thought processes and brain functions
iv. D.philosophy and physiology
d. The nature-nurture issue refers to the debate over the relative
contributions that ________________________ makes to the
development of psychological traits.
i. A.massed practice and spaced practice
ii. B.unconscious and conscious motives
iii. C.behavior and mental processes
iv. D.genes and experience
e. The survival of organisms best suited to a particular environment
III.
is known as
i. A.functionalism
ii. B.natural selection
iii. C.behavior genetics
iv. D.structuralism
The scientific attitude
a. Curiosity
i. Includes a passion to explore and understand the world
without misleading influences or being misled
ii. Questions to consider
1. What do you mean
2. How do you know
b. Skepticism
i. Supports questions about behavior and mental processes
ii. Draws a line between science and pseudoscience by
demanding testable proofs for claims/theories
iii. Employs critical thinking skills and scientific methods
c. Critical thinking
i. Refers to a more careful style of forming and evaluating
knowledge than simply using intuition
ii. In addition to the scientific method, critical thinking helps
develop more effective and accurate ways to figure out
what makes people do think and feel the things they do
d. Humility
i. Involved awareness that mistakes are possible and
IV.
willingness to be surprised
The scientific method
a. Scientific method is the process of testing ideas about the world
by
i. Setting up situations that test our ideas
1. If the data do not fit our ideas, then ideas are
modified and tested again
ii. Making careful, organized observations
iii. Analyzing whether data fit with our ideas
iv. Theory
1. Explanation using an integrated set of principles that
organizes observations and predicts behaviors of
events
v. Hypothesis
1. Testable prediction, often implied by a theory
vi. Operational definition
1. Carefully worded statement of the exact procedures
(operations) used in a research study
vii. Replication
1. Repeating the essence of a research study, usually
with different participants in different situations, to
see whether the basic finding extends to other
participants and circumstances
viii. Testing Hypothesis and Refining theories
ix. Research Strategies
1. Descriptive research
a. A systematic objective observation of people
b. The goal is to provide a clear, accurate picture
of people’s behaviors, thoughts, and attributes
c. Correlational studies
i. Descriptive technique in which one
person is studied in depth in the hope of
revealing universal principles
ii. Examines one individual in depth
iii. Provides fruitful ideas
iv. Cannot be used to generalize
d. Naturalistic observations
i. Descriptive technique of observing and
recording behavior in naturally occurring
situations without trying to change or
control the situation
ii. Records behavior in natural environment
iii. Describes but does not explain behavior
iv. Can be revealing
e. Surveys & interviews
i. Descriptive technique for obtaining the
self- reported attitudes or behaviors of a
group, usually by questioning a
representative, random sample of that
group
Examines many cases in less depth
1. Wording effect
2. Random sampling
iii. Utilizes random sampling of population
ii.
for best results
2. Correlation
a. General definition
i. An observation that two traits or
attributes are related to each other
b. Scientific definition
i. A measure of how closely two factors
vary together, or how well you can
predict a change in one from observing a
change in the other
c. Positive correlation (between 0 and +1.00)
i. Indicates a direct relationship, meaning
that two things increase together or
decrease together
d. Negative correlation (between 0 and -1.00)
i. Indicates an inverse relationship: as one
thing increases the other decreases
e. Correlation coefficient
i. Provides a statistical measure of how
closely two things vary together and how
well one predicts the other
f. Correlations can range from +1.00 (scores on
one measure increase in direct proportion to
scores on another), to 0.00 (no relationship), to
-1.00 (scores on one measure decrease
precisely as scores rise on the other)
3. Regression toward the Mean
a. Illusory correlation
i. Refers to the perception of a relationship
between two variables when only a minor
or no relationship actually exists
ii. May be fed by regression toward the
mean
b. Regression toward the Mean
i. Refers to the tendency for extreme or
unusual scores or events to fall back
(regress) toward the average
4. Correlation and Causation
a. No matter how strong the relationship,
correlation does not prove causation
b. Correlation indicates the possibility of a causeeffect relationship, but does not prove it
5. Three possible Cause-Effect Relationships
6. Experimentation
a. With experiments, researchers can focus on the
possible effect of one or more factors in several
ways
i. Manipulating the factors of interest to
determine their effects
ii. Holding constant (“controlling”) other
factors
1. Experimental group and control
group
b. Variables
i. Independent variable in an experiment
1. Factor that is manipulated; the
variable whore effect is being
studied
ii. Confounding variable in an experiment
1. Factor other than the independent
variable that might produce an
effect
iii. Dependent variable in an experiment
1. Factor that is measured; the
variable that may change when the
independent variable is
manipulated
c. Double-Blind Procedure: Eliminating Bias
i. Neither those in the study nor those
collecting the data know which group is
receiving the treatment
ii. Treatment’s actual effects can be
separated from potential placebo effect
iii. Placebo Effect
1. Effect involves results caused by
V.
expectations alone
Statistical Reasoning In Everyday Life:
a. Describing Data
i. Accurate statistical understanding is important
1. Casual estimates often misread reality and misinform
2. Big, round, undocumented numbers warrant caution
3. Teaching statistical reasoning is needed
4. Presentation of statistical information needs more
transparency
ii. Measures of central tendency include a single score that
represents a set of scores
1. Mode
a. Most frequently occurring score(s) in a
distribution
2. Mean
a. Arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained
by adding the scores and then dividing by the
number of scores; can be distorted by few
atypical scores
3. Median
a. Middle score in a distribution; half the scores
are above it and half are below it
iii. Measures of variation reveal similarity or diversity in scores
1. Range
a. Difference between the highest and lowest
scores in a distribution
2. Standard deviation
a. Computed measure of how much scores vary
around the mean score
3. Normal Curve (normal distribution)
a. Symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes
the distribution of many types of data; most
scores fall near the mean (about 68 percent fall
within one standard deviation of it) and fewer
and fewer near the extremes
b. Significant Differences
i. When is an observed difference reliable
1. Representative samples are better than biased
samples
2. Less-variable observations are more reliable than
those that are more variable
3. More cases are better than fewer
ii. Generalizations based on a few unrepresentative cases are
unreliable
iii. When is an observed difference significant?
1. When sample averages are reliable and difference
between them is relatively large, the difference has
statistical significance.
2. Observed difference is probably not due to chance
variation between the samples.
3. In psychological research, proof beyond a reasonable
doubt means that the odds of its occurrence by
VI.
chance are less than 5 percent.
Protecting research participants
a. Studying and protecting animals
i. Is it right to place the well-being of humans above that of
other animals
1. Response varies by culture
a. Canada and US about 60% deemed medical
testing on animals as “morally acceptable”
b. Britain only 37%
ii. Professional associations and funding agency guidelines
1. Universities: IRB ethics committees; laboratory
regulation and inspection
2. British Psychological Association (APA): guidelines for
humane treatment and minimization of infection,
illness, and pain
3. European parliament: standards for animal care and
housing
b. Studying and protecting humans
i. Ethics code of APA, Britain’s BPS, university ethics
committee
1. Obtain potential participants informed consent before
the experiment
2. Protect them from harm and discomfit
3. Keep information about individual participants
confidential
4. Fully debrief people (explain the research afterward)
c.
I.
Nervous
system
Psychology: The biology of MIND
Chapter 2
Neural Communication
A. Biological psychology
1. Branch of psychology concerned with the links
between biology and behavior
2. Some biological psychologists call themselves
a) Behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists,
behavior geneticists, psychological
psychologists, or bio psychologists
B. Nervous system
1. The body’s speedy, electrochemical communication
system consists of all the nerve cells of the
peripheral and central nervous systems
C. Central nervous system (CNS)
1. The brain and spinal cord
a) Interconnected neurons form network in the
brain
b) These networks are complex and modify with
growth and experience
D. Peripheral nervous system (PNS)
1. The sensory and motor neurons that connect the
central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the
body
a) Somatic nervous system
i. The division of the peripheral nervous
system that controls the body’s skeletal
muscles
i. Division of the autonomic nervous
system that arouses the body,
mobilizing its energy in stressful
situations
b) Autonomic nervous system (ANS)
i. Part of the PNS that controls the glands
and other muscles
i. The part of the peripheral nervous
system that controls the glands
and the muscles of the internal
organs (such as the heart)
c) Parasympathic nervous system
i. Division of the autonomic nervous
system that calms the body, conserving
its energy
d) Sympathetic NS “arouses” (fight or flight)
e) Parasympathetic NS “calms” (rest and digest)
E. Afferent and efferent pathways
Central
(brain and
spinal cord)
Peripheral
Autonomic (controls
self-regulated action of
internal organs and glands)
Skeletal (controls
voluntary movements of
skeletal muscles)
Sympathetic
(arousing)
Parasympathetic
(calming)
II.
F. Endocrine system
1. Is the body’s “slow” chemical communication
system
2. Communication is carried out by hormones
synthesized by a set of glands
G. Hormones
1. Chemicals synthesized by the endocrine glands that
are secreted in the bloodstream. Hormones affect
the brain and many other tissues of the body
a) Ex. Epinephrine (adrenaline) increases heart
rate, blood pressure, blood sugar, and feelings
of excitement during emergency situations
H. Pituitary gland
1. The master gland
a) The anterior pituitary lobe releases hormones
that regulate other glands
b) The posterior lobe regulates water and salt
balance
I. Thyroid and parathyroid
1. Regulate metabolic and calcium rate
2. Thyroid
a) Affects metabolism
3. Parathyroids
a) Help regulate the level of calcium in the blood
J. Adrenal glands
1. Adrenal glands conist of the adrenal medulla and
the cortex. The medulla secretes hormones
(epinephrine and norepinephrine) during stressful
and emotional situations, while the adrenal cortex
regulates salt and carbohydrate metabolism
K. Gonads
1. Sex glands are located in different places in men
and women. They regulate bodily development and
maintain reproductive organs in adults
a) Testis
i. Secretes male hormones
b) Ovary
i. Secretes female sex hormones
The Brain
A. Older brain structures
1. Brainstem
a) Oldest part of the brain, beginning where the
spinal cord swells and enters the brain
i. Responsible for automatic survival
functions
2. Medulla
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
a) The base of the brainstem and controls heart
and breathing
3. Thalamus
a) The brain’s sensory switchboard, located on
top of the brainstem
i. Directs messages to the sensory areas in
the cortex and transmits replies to the
cerebellum and medulla
4. Reticular formation
a) Nerve network in the brainstem that plays an
important role in controlling arousal
5. Cerebellum
a) “little brain” attached to the rear of the
brainstem
i. helps coordinate and voluntary
movements and balance
The brain lesion experimentally destroys brain tissue to
study animal behaviors after such destruction
Limbic system
1. A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at
the border of the brainstem and cerebrum
associated with emotions such as fear
a) Aggression and drives fro food and sex
b) it includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and
hypothalamus
Amygdala
1. Consists of two lima bean sized neural clusters
linked to the emotions of fear and anger
Hypothalamus
1. Lies below the thalamus
2. Directs several maintenance activities like eating,
drinking, body temperature, and control of
emotions
3. Helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary
gland
The cerebral cortex
1. Intricate fabric of interconnected neural cells that
covers the cerebral hemispheres
2. It is the body’s ultimate control and information
processing center
a) Each brain hemisphere is divided into four
lobes that are separated by prominent fissures
i. Frontal lobe (forehead)
ii.
Parietal lobe(top to rear head)
iii.
Occipital lobe (back head)
iv.
Temporal lobe (side of head)
3. Motor complex
a) The area at the rear of the frontal lobes that
control voluntary movements
4. Sensory cortex
a) (parietal cortex) receives information from skin
surface and sense organs
5. Reward Center Experiment
a) Rats crossed an electrified grid fro selfstimulation when electrodes were placed in the
reward (hypothalamus) center
b) When the limbic system is manipulated, a rat
will navigate fields or climb up a tree
6. Association areas
a) More intelligent animals have increased
“uncommitted” or association areas of the
cortex
7. Neural communication
a) Neurobiologists and other investigators
understand that humans and animals operate
similarly when processing information
i. Note the similarities in the above brain
regions with are all engaged in
information processing
8.
Language
a) Aphasia is an impairment of language, usually
caused by left hemisphere damage either to
Broca’s area (impaired speaking) or to
wernicke’s area (impaired understanding)
9. Specialization and Integration
a) Brain activity when hearing, seeing, and
speaking words
10.
Brains plasticity
a) Brain is sculpted by our genes but also by our
experiences
b) Plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to modify
itself after some types of injury or illness
G. Cell types in the Nervous system
1. Neurons
a) Basic unity of the nervous system
b) Three main parts: dendrite, soma (body), axon
2. Glia
a) “caretaker” cells (nutrients, waste, repair)
i. nutritive function
ii.
clear debirs
iii.
cellular repair
b) myelin sheath
H. The nervous system
1. Nerves
a) PNS neural “cables” containing many axons
b) Connect the central nervous system with
muscles, glands, and sense organs
2. Neurons
a) A nerve cell, consists of several parts
i. Cell body
i. Life support of the neuron
ii.
Dendrites
i. Branching extensions at the cell
body. Receive messages from other
neurons
iii.
Axon
i. Long single extension of a neuron,
covered with MYELIN SHEATH
1. Insulate and speed up
messages through neurons
iv.
Terminal branches of axon
i. Branched endings of an axon that
transmit messages to other
neurons
3. Sensory neurons
a) Carry incoming info from the body to the CNS
4. Interneurons
a) CNS neurons that internally communicate and
intervene between sensory inputs and motor
outputs
b) Connect the sensory neurons and motor
neurons
5. Motor neurons
a) Carry outgoing info from the CNS to muscles
and glands
6. Action potential
a) A neural impulse
i.
A brief electrical charge that travels
down an axon and is generated by the
movement of positively charged atoms in
and out of channels in the axon’s
membrane
b) Properties
i. All-or-none response
i. A strong stimulus can trigger more
neurons to fire and to fire more
often but it does not affect the
potential strength or speed
ii.
Intensity
i. An action potential remains the
same through out the length of the
axon
7. Synapse
a) A junction between the axon tip of the sending
neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the
receiving neuron
i. This tiny gap is called the synaptic gap or
cleft
8. Threshold
a) Each neuron receives excitatory and inhibitory
signals from many neurons
b) When the excitatory signals minus the
inhibitory signals exceed a minimum intensity
(threshold) the neuron fired an action potential
9. Neurotransmitters
a) Released from the sending neuron travel across
the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the
receiving neuron, thereby influencing it to
generate an action potential
10.
Reuptake
a) Neurotransmitters are reabsorbed into the
sending neurons though the process of
reuptake. This process applies the brakes on
neurotransmitter action
11.
Serotonin pathways are involved with mood
regulation
12.
Dopamine pathways are involved with diseases
such as schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease
I. Lock and key mechanism
1. Neurotransmitters bind to the key receptors of the
receiving neuron in a key –lock mechanisms
2. Agonist
a) Mimics neurotransmitters
i.
III.
Ex. Morphine mimics the action of
endorphins by stimulating in brain areas
in mood and pain sensation
3. Antagonists
a) Blocks neurotransmitters
i. Curare poisoning paralyzes its victims by
blocking Ach receptors in muscle
movement
J. Electroencephalogram (EEG)
1. An amplified recording of the electrical waves
sweeping across the brain’s surface, measured by
electrodes placed on the scalp
K. PET scan
1. Position emission tomography scan
a) A visual display of brain activity that detects a
radioactive form of glucose while the brain
performs a given task
L. MRI scan
1. Magnetic resonance imaging scan
a) Uses magnetic fields and radio eaves to
produce computer-generated images that
distinguish among different types of brain
tissue
b) Shoes the visual cortex is active as subject
looks at faces
c) Shows auditory cortex is active in patients who
hallucinate
The brain
A. Divided into two hemispheres
1. Left is used to process reading, writing, speaking,
mathematics, and comprehension skills
a) Dominant brain
B. Splitting the brain
1. A procedure in which two hemispheres of the brain
are isolated by cutting the connecting fibers
(mainly those of the corpus callosum) between
them
2. Patients
a) With the corpus callosum severed
i. Objects (apple) presented in the right
visual field can be named but objects on
the left (pencil)
ii.
iii.
iv.