Psych 1000
October
Exam
S t u d y G u i d e
WUCK
EXAMS
Intro to Psych
Methodology
Biological Foundations
Genes & Behavior
Statistics
3
8
11
21
27
This guide contains notes on “Psychology: Frontiers and Applications” Fourth
Canadian Ed. by Passer, Smith, Atkinson, Mitchell and Muir.
This guide is intended for supplementary purposes only. Reading this is no
substitute for going to class and reading the book. We hope we can help
you as much as possible, but your grades are your responsibility.
INTRO TO PSYCH CHAPTER 1
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and the mind.
directly observable
actions and responses
FIELDS OF PSYCHOLOGY
internal states and
processes that cannot
be seen
And the % of psychologists in that field
5%
Clinical psychology: the study
43%
11%
Counseling
and treatment of mental disorders
7%
School Psychologists
Educational Psych
how do students learn, how
can we help people learn
8%
Cognitive psychology: mental
Experimental Psych:
The study of human learning,
senses, perception & motivational
through experiments. Opposite of
clinical psychology.
Social Psych:
•
•
•
•
People’s influence on each other
Behavior in groups
Impressions
Love, prejudice, help & aggression
7%
processes, mind as info processor
Industrial-organizational Psych:
Biopsychology: the effect of
Workplace psych - leadership,
teamwork, satisfaction, motivation
and performance
genes & hormones on behavior
4%
2%
4%
Developmental Psych:
Personality Psych:
The study of human physical,
physiological and social
development across a lifespan
Identify core personality
traits and how they relate
and influence behavior
PSYCHOLOGY’S GOALS
To describe how people behave
To explain and understand causes of behavior
To predict how people will behave
To influence behavior to enhance human welfare
Basic research: knowledge for its own sake
Applied research: designed to solve specific practical problems
LEVELS OF ANALYSIS
Biological
Individual / Psychological
Environmental / Cultural
Brain processes, genetics
Thoughts, feelings, motives
Past and current physical
and social environment
Mind-body dualism
The mind is a spiritual entity separate from
body. If you believe this, it is impossible to
learn about the mind by studying the brain.
vs
Monism
Mental events corresponds to physical events in
brain. This philosophy allows us to learn things
about the mind by studying the brain.
British empiricism:
all ideas and knowledge are gained through the senses
Structuralism
Analysis of the brain’s structure
in terms of basic elements.
vs
Functionalism
Study the functions of consciousness rather
than structure - why are we conscious?
How do mental processes help us adapt.
MODERN PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
BEHAVIORISM
PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE
• Forget the “mind” - focus on actual observable behavior
• Discuss how behavior changes under various conditions
• Focus on external environment in governing actions
• Pioneered by Freud
• Studies the behavior within the inner workings of the mind,
emphasizing unconscious processes.
• Follows the struggle between the conscious and the
unconscious.
• Looks for unresolved conflict
• Uses psychoanalysis: analysis of unconscious
• Law of effect: Learning is key to how experience shapes
behavior
• Cognitive behaviorism: experience & environment
affect behavior by giving us the info we need to behave
effectively
HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIVE
•
•
•
•
Pioneered by Carl Rogers
Focus on values and choice - reaction to the Freudians
Helps people “fulfill their full potential”
Came up the idea of “self concept”
psychological forces
SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
• Examines how social environment (other people) affects
behavior, thoughts, feelings
• Cultural psychology: examines how culture (values,
beliefs, behavior, traditions) are passed on and the
similarities/differences across cultures
BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
• Examines how brain processes and other bodily functions
regulate behavior
• Examines mental processes, humans as info processors
• Behavioral neuroscience: examines brain processes
that underlie behavior, senses, emotions, thoughts.
• Evolutionary psychology: examines how evolution
shapes behavior
• Sociobiology: social behaviors are the products of
evolution, as they better allow the passing of genes
(aggression, competition, nurturing)
• Gestalt psychology - based on the idea that the mind perceives
things as a whole rather than in parts (gestalt means ‘whole’)
• These were the early cognitive Psychologists
• Focus on perception and experience
• Look at how people think and remember
• Study biological, environmental and psychological - total
experience
• Cognitive neuroscience: examine brain activity of cognitive
tasks
PIONEERS OF PSYCHOLOGY
Wilhelm Wundt -
Father of
psychology. Started giving out degrees
in psychology. First psychological lab.
Was a structuralist.
William James - Founded second
psychology lab. Wrote the first
textbook. Wrote a lot about behavior.
Was a functionalist.
Sigemund Freud
Pioneered psychoanalysis. Trained as
medical doctor. Was trying to understand
hysteria (anatomically impossible
physiological problems). Determined that
they must be psychological.
John B. Watson - Founded
behaviorism. Believed that humans
are products of learning.
Ivan Pavlov - Medical researcher.
Thorndike - organisms learn
through the consequences of their
actions (law of effect). Behaviorist.
Realized that dogs salivate before food is
shown to them because they learn to
associate him with food. Discovered
Classical Conditioning.
Piaget - Studying how kids develop
Skinner - Says learning is about
punishment and reward.
intelligence - kids don’t think like
adults. Piagetian theory is named
after him.
Maslow - Humanistic. Believed we
Carl Rogers - Humanistic.
Created Rogerian therapy.
all have an inborn force towards “selfactualization”. Came up “pyramid of
needs”.
METHODOLOGY CHAPTER 2
SCIENTIFIC PROCESS
1.Identify question of interest
2.Gather info and form hypothesis
3.Test hypothesis by conducting research
4.Analyze data, draw tentative conclusions, report findings
5.Build a bold of knowledge, ask further questions, conduct
more research, develop and test theories
DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH
Naturalistic observation - observe
Survey methods - surveys and questionnaires.
behavior in a natural setting, attempting
to avoid influencing behavior.
• population - all individuals we are interested in
• sample - subset drawn from the larger population
• representative sample - reflects important
characteristics of population
Case study - in-depth study of one
individual, group or event.
• stratified random sampling - if 45% of the population is
male, then 45% of random sample spaces would be for
males
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
Correlational method - determine degree of relationship between two or more variables. Not
manipulating the variables, just observing existing data. ex Relation between grades and TV watching.
Bidirectionality problem - does X cause Y or does Y cause X? Or do both influence each other?
Third variable problem - third variable causes both but makes them seem correlated
• As ice cream sales increase, so do shark attacks. Does ice cream cause shark attacks? Or is a third
variable - summer time - causing both.
Correlation coefficient - number between 1 and -1 that indicates direction and strength of
correlation. (-0.78 is strong negative, +0.12 is weak positive, 0 is none).
• positive correlation - higher scores on one variable cause higher scores on the other
• negative correction - higher scores on one variable cause lower scores on the other
EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH
Experimental method - only way to determine causality.
1. Manipulate the independent
variable (ex. TV watching hours)
2. Measure the dependent variable (ex. Grades)
3. Control extraneous factors
• Control between subjects - control and experimental groups are separate people
• Control through repeated measures - same group does experiment twice, once without
independent variable and once with it.
• Counterbalancing - vary the order of conditions in “repeated measure” experiments to
remove advantages or “order effect”
INTERNAL VALIDITY
Degree to which experiment supports causal conclusions - is the experiment designed and
conducted well?
• Confounding of variables - two variable are intertwined so we cannot determine
which caused the change in dependent variable. The confounding variable is the external
variable that interferes with the dependent variable.
• Placebo effect - if the % of patients that improve from the drug doesn’t differ from the
% that increases from the placebo, the improvement is just the placebo effect.
• Experimenter expectancy effects - subtle/unintentional ways researchers
influence participants in favor of hypothesis
• Demand Characteristic - cues in the actual experiment that convey the hypothesis to
the participants. The participants try to “help” the experimenter.
• Double-blind - when neither subject nor tester know the which experimental condition
the subject is under - this is the gold standard.
• Incomplete disclosure - not telling a subject what you are actually testing them about
EXTERNAL VALIDITY
Degree to which study can be generalized to other populations, settings and conditions
• Replication - repeating a study to see if the original findings can be duplicated
• Meta-analysis - statistically combining the results of different studies to examine
their overall significance
• Cross cultural replication - do findings generalize across cultures
Experimenter tests if people are more
aggressive the presence of weapons. Puts
a weapon in the corner and then another
person frustrates them. They may realize
their aggression is being tested. Study
unintentionally convey’s hypothesis to
subjects.
BIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS CHAPTER 3
Neurons - basic building blocks of nervous system
Shapes of Neurons
unipolar
Collect messages from
other neurons and send
them to the cell body
Biochemical structures
that keep the neuron alive,
carry genetic info - AKA
soma.
Sends electrical impulses to other
neurons, muscles, glands. They
generate action potentials.
glial cells
Fatty insulation layer derived
from glial cells that cover some
axons. Make action potentials
travel down the axon faster.
Broken up into nodes of ranvier.
bipolar
multipolar
Hold neurons in place,
make food for neurons,
absorb toxins
Blood-brain barrier
Prevents substances (like
toxins) from entering the
brain. Made up of glial cells.
ACTION POTENTIALS
Neurons communicate through electrical signals called actions
potentials.
Resting potential - at rest, the difference in charge between the inside and
outside of a neuron is -70 millivolts. The proteins on the inside are mostly
negatively charged, and positively charged sodium surrounds it.
Action potentials - a sudden reversal in neuron membrane voltage called
depolarization. The charge inside the neuron goes from -70mv to +40mv.
This is caused by the neuron being electrically stimulated.
All or none law - action
1. The neuron is electrically stimulated.
2. If the cell reaches the threshold of -55mv, it opens its sodium channels.
3. The positively charged sodium flows in and depolarizes the neuron.
4. For a period of time, the cell cannot be excited again as resting potential is
restored. This is called the absolute refractory period.
a. The cell closes its sodium channels and opens its potassium channels.
Potassium is also positively charged, and the cell is trying to dump
positive charge to restore equilibrium. This is called repolarization.
b. The cell will briefly go below its resting potential state as it purges itself.
This state is called hyperpolarization.
5. After the absolute refractory period, the cell enters the relative
refractory
period, when it can fire but only if the stimulus is strong enough.
The way that neurons code the intensity of sensation is through the frequency
of firing. Although, there is a limit to how fast they can fire due to the absolute
refractory period.
potentials either happen an full
intensity, or not at all. If they
don’t reach the threshold, the
action potential does not happen.
Graded potentials - changes in
neuron charge that do not reach
action potential threshold
NEUROTRANSMITTERS
Neurotransmitters are chemicals that travel across the synapse to
excite (EPSP) or inhibit (IPSP) other neurons. Whether the excite or
inhibit depends on the neurotransmitter & the receptor receiving it.
LIFE CYCLE OF A NEUROTRANSMITTER
The synapse is the space between the axon of one neuron
and dendrite of the connecting neuron. The neurons aren’t
physically touching, but they communicate through this space.
This space was discovered when scientists were puzzled by
the length of the reflex arc. It was taking longer than expected
for messages to travel, so they suspected there was gaps on
the way.
• Formed in the neuron
• Stored in synaptic vesicles in axon terminals
• When the action potential comes down axon, they are released into fluid between neurons
• The bind to the receptor sites of the receiving neuron’s membrane (specific transmitters fit specific receptors)
• The receiving neuron either
a. is exited by excitatory transmitters (inflow of positive ions)
b. is hyperpolarized by inhibitory transmitters (outflow of positive ions, or inflow of negative ions)
• Later deactivated by either other chemicals in the synaptic space (neutralization) or by reuptake by
presynaptic axon (the one that released it)
Glutamic acid
Dopamine
Acetylcholine (ACh)
• Excitatory
• Involved in all behavior,
learning & memory
• Motivation, reward, pleasure
• Voluntary motor control
• Thought process
• Not enough is related to Parkinson's and depression
• Too much causes schizophrenia.
• Memory & muscle activity.
• Lack of it causes Alzheimer’s.
• Botulism and Curare (a poison)
blocks its release from axon, causes
paralysis.
• Black widow venom causes a
torrent of it, causing convulsions.
GABA
• Inhibitory
• Anxiety & motor control.
• Alcohol makes the brain more
sensitive to it.
Neuromodulators
• Circulate brain and decrease/
increase sensitivity of neurons.
• Involved in eating/sleep/stress.
Endorphins
• Reduce pain, increase well being
• Bind to same receptors as opiates
• Act as pain-relievers in severe injury.
Norepinephrine (NE)
• Involved in arousal and eating
• Inhibitory & also excitatory depending on receptor
Serotonin
• Mood, eating, sleep, sex.
• Depression & sleep/eating disorders
are treated by blocking reuptake/
deactivation of serotonin so that it’s
effects keep going
DRUGS
Antagonist - drug that inhibits
activity of a neurotransmitter
(prevents synthesis/storage/release,
blocks receptors)
vs
Agonist - drug that increases activity of a
neurotransmitter (enhances synthesis/
storage/release, mimics it, or prevents
reuptake/deactivation)
Alcohol
Rohypnol & GHB
Nicotine
Stimulates GABA, inhibits glutamic
acid. Causes slowing of neural
activity.
Date rape drugs, powerful
sedatives that enhance GABA
Mimics ACh and stimulates
dopamine (responsible for
motivation and reward - causes
addiction)
Amphetamine
Caffeine
Antagonist for adenosine, a chemical
that inhibits excitatory transmitters
(and causes tiredness).
Q.
Increase dopamine and
norepinephrine activity by
increasing production and
preventing reuptake.
Q.
Synaptic Transmission…
a.
b.
c.
d.
occurs only in the central nervous system
occurs instantaneously
does not involve chemical communication
explains the delay in the reflex arc
d. (←Tilt screen to see answer)
Cocaine
Stimulates release of dopamine,
prevents its re-uptake.
A new viral disease has been found that
actually destroys the myelin sheath
around a neuron. What is the likely result?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Slower neural conduction
faster neural conductions
a lowering of threshold
decrease in Hebbian synapses
lower graded potentials
a. (←Tilt screen to see answer)
NERVOUS SYSTEM
Sensory neurons - send messages from sense organs to brain
Motor neurons - send messages from the brain to muscles/organs
Interneurons - the most abundant neurons, have a connective function
Peripheral Nervous System
Neurons that connect muscles, glands and sensory receptors.
Somatic Nervous System
Autonomic Nervous System
Consists of sensory and motor neurons.
They form sensory and motor nerves.
Make up glands and the involuntary muscles
of organs. Also involved in motivation,
emotional behavior and stress response.
Sympathetic Nervous system
Parasympathetic Nervous System
Responsible for fight-or-flight: in a
stressful situation it speeds up your
heart, dilates pupils, increases
oxygen etc.
Slows down body, returns you to rest.
Both work together to maintain
homeostasis.
Central Nervous System
Spinal Cord - nerves enter and leave the Central Nervous System through
Neurons in the brain and spinal cord.
the spinal cord. The vertebrae of your spine protect the nerves.
Some response can be triggered from the spinal cord without the brain,
called spinal reflexes. For example, the response you get when you touch
a hot stove by accident. You react to this before it even reaches the brain which is good because its faster.
THE BRAIN
HINDBRAIN
Medulla
Pons
Cerebellum
Right off of the spinal cord.
Regulates heart rate,
respiration. Without it
working, you die.
Bridge between the nerve impulses
of the higher and lower levels of
the nervous system. Vital for life.
Involved in sleep/dreaming.
Muscular movement coordination, learning & memories.
Regulates movements that require timing. Alcohol affects
this and makes you uncoordinated. Physical damage to the
cerebellum results in jerky movements, trouble walking.
MIDBRAIN
Reticular formation
• Clusters of sensory & motor neurons, and fibre tracts.
• Relay centre for visual/auditory system.
• Control eye movements.
Gatekeeper of the brain. Alerts higher brain of messages, and
decides where to block/allow them.
• Some anesthetics disables the part that sends messages to the
higher brain.
• The blocking/allowing function helps you block out distractions.
• Stimulation can produce instant sleep or wakefulness.
FOREBRAIN (CEREBRUM)
Thalamus
Basal ganglia
Hypothalamus
Sensory relay station/switchboard.
From here, sensations go to higher
brain regions and form perceptions.
Dysfunction plays a role in
schizophrenia.
Controls voluntary motor
control (in contrast to
cerebellum). In Parkinson's,
the neurons that supply it
with dopamine die.
Incredibly important to keeping you alive.
Controls biological drives: sex drive,
temperature regulation, hunger, eating,
drinking, aggression. Damage can cause no sex
drive, or obesity. Controls hormone secretions.
Limbic system - Help to satisfy motivation and
emotional urges caused by the hypothalamus.
Responsive for goal directed sequences. If this is
damaged, small distractions prevent you from
carrying out organized tasks.
Hippocampus
Forms and retrieves
memories. Damage prevents
long term memory formation.
Stimulation makes people extremely
happy - critical for motivation and
reward. This activates neurons in the
nucleus accumbens. Coke, meth,
nicotine release dopamine to this part
of the brain. So do food and sex cues.
Amygdala
Organizes emotional response
patterns (aggression, fear). Can
produce unconscious emotional
responses.
CEREBRAL CORTEX
Frontal lobe
Speech/skeletal motor
functions
Parietal lobe
Controls touch
Occipital lobe
Controls vision
Temporal lobe
Controls hearing
Frontal Lobe
Motor cortex
Prefrontal cortex
Broca’s area
Each part of it controls a part of
your body’s voluntary movements
(more complex movements have
more parts in the cortex). The right
hemisphere controls the left side of
your body, and vice versa.
“Executive function” - goal-setting, judgement,
strategic planning, impulse control.
• Insane murderers lack this function.
• Prefrontal lobotomies tried to “calm” people
by destroying this
• Damage results in loss of ability to plan a
sequence of events, and judge order of
future/past events. Also, stop feeling apathy.
Controls speech, motor
movements of speech and
grammar/word choice. Damage to
it still lets you understand speech,
but not speak yourself.
Occipital Lobe
Parietal Lobe
Somatic sensory cortex
Same thing as motor cortex but
regarding touch. The cortex is maplike - specific areas are responsible for
specific body parts. More sensitive
areas of the body have more cortex
devoted to them (fingers, lips tongue).
The sensory cortex learns from
experience - if you learn braille, the
fingertip portion gets bigger.
Each eye sends info to both hemispheres.
Dorsal side - sends information
Ventral side - sends
about orientation and movement
of objects to the parietal lobe.
information about recognition
to the temporal lobe.
There have been cases where people know how to pick up objects, but do not
recognize them, due to ventral side damage.
Temporal Lobe
Each ear sends info to
both hemispheres.
Wernicke’s area
Responsible for language comprehension. In
contrast to Broca's area on the frontal lobe,
which is responsible for language production.
Association cortex - involved in thought, memory and
perception - highest level mental functions
• Called “silent areas” because electrical stimulation does
not cause experiences/responses. This is the source of the
myth that
“we only use 10% of our brains”.
• The association cortex makes up 75% of cerebral cortex
BRAIN HEMISPHERES
Corpus Callosum - connects the
two hemispheres of the brain
Lateralization - greater localization
of a function on one side of the brain
Brain Imaging
• CAT scans - x-rays, pictures
• PET scans - inject radioactive glucose into the
blood to see brain activity
• MRIs - expose to very strong magnetic field
More detailed than CAT scans - best structural
information. Cab watch the brain live.
Left hemisphere
• Verbal/speech, language
• Math, logic
• Positive emotions
• Damage may cause aphasia - partial
or total loss of ability to communicate
(to understand or to express)
Right hemisphere
•
•
•
•
•
Mental imagery
Music and artistic functions,
Spacial relationships
Negative emotions
Damage results in spacial problems inability to recognize faces/routes
• Both hemispheres can do all functions, they just work faster in the functions they are
specialized for.
• In split-brain patients (those with a severed Corpus Callosum), different sides of the brain even
have different opinions. But in normal people, the brain works as a whole, not as a collection of
localized units.
• The brain develops according to its environment. If you play an instrument involving left hand
movements for a long time, your right hemisphere sensory areas get larger. Chinese people
process language more in the right hemisphere because their language is more picture like.
• Especially earlier in life, brain damage can be fixed by the neurons reassigning function
(plasticity).
• In left handed people, language may be localized in either side of the brain, or both
PSYCH WITH MIKE
NEURAL DISORDERS
Apraxia - inability to perform
Agnosia - inability to interpret
smooth motor movements
• Can preform all the actions
required, but cannot do them
in order.
sensory information
• Eyes/ears/etc are working
properly, but the association
area can’t make sense of them
Aphasia - speech disorder
• Broca’s - expressive aphasia: difficulty in
stringing words together (apraxia)
• Wernicke’s - receptive aphasia: difficulty
in understanding (agnosia)
HEMISPATIAL NEGLECT
SPLIT BRAIN OPERATION
• Caused by a stroke to the right hemisphere - almost
unheard of with damage to the left
• Parietal and temporal lobes are affected
• Ignore contralateral (opposite side) spacial field
• If you said draw something, they ignore the left
side of your drawing
• Only found in humans
• Person suffering from severe epilepsy
• Corpus callosum is severed deliberately to prevent seizures
from spreading across hemispheres
• If you flash something quickly on the right visual field, and
you ask them what they saw, they can answer you verbally.
• If you flash it on the left visual field, they can’t answer you
verbally. They can only write it down.
• In real life though, these people function fine cause they can
just turn their heads.
Q.
We would expect a 1 year old to recover
more traumatic brain damage more
quickly than an adult. Why?
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Young children have stronger immune systems
Young children have more synapses
Young children have smaller brains
Adults engage in riskier behavior
Adults are less lateralized
b. (←Tilt screen to see answer)
GENES & BEHAVIOR CHAPTER 4
Genotype - specific genetic makeup of an
Chromosome - tightly coiled molecule of DNA, carries genes
individual
• Every cell has 46 chromosomes, except sex cells which have 23
Phenotype - resulting characteristics/
Genes/Karyotype - hereditary blueprints, which act by influencing protein
behavior caused by their genotype
synthesis in the body
• The environment can influence protein synthesis as well. Genes determine range of
possibilities, but not degree of expression. Genes can make you tall, but difference
between 5’11 and 6’2 is environment.
You cannot infer genotype from phenotype.
Outward characteristics may not indicate
underlying genetic contribution.
Alleles - alternate forms of a gene that produce different characteristics
• Homozygous alleles have predictable phenotypic outcome
• Heterozygous alleles have different possible outcomes
• Dominant alleles produce their effect in either homozygous or heterozygous mode
• Recessive alleles produce their effect only in homozygous mode
Polygenic transmission - several genes influence one phenotype
Recombinant DNA procedures - combine DNA from two organisms and
put them back into one
Gene knockout - alter a specific gene so it stops doing anything
Heritability coefficient (h2) - number between 0 and 1 indicating how much
you can attribute a trait in a population to genetics, rather than environment
• 1 means variation is due to genetics, 0 means it is due to environment
• Heritability refers to variance within groups, not individuals. If IQ was
heritable for a group, it doesn’t mean your IQ was inherited.
Concordance - inheritance of the same trait by two related individuals
Adoption study - compare adopted people to their biological parents vs
adopted parents
Twin studies - study identical or fraternal twins to determine heritability of
certain traits
Q
You have dark hair (a dominant trait). If we
we examined your karyotype, we would
find that you alleles for hair color were...
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
homozygous
heterozygous
mixed
on different chromosomes
a or b above
e. (←Tilt screen to see answer)
MINNESOTA TWIN STUDY
Landmark study following twins that were separated at
birth. Genetic factors accounted for 39-58% of personality
variation. Unique personal experiences accounted for
36-56%. Family environment did not matter.
Genetics also influence attitudes, especially to
sports, roller coasters, books, abortion and the
death penalty. That doesn’t mean there’s a
“roller coaster” gene; genetic make-up can make
you more likely to be nauseous or dizzy, for
example.
PSYCH WITH MIKE
Galton
Genetic Similarity
Identical twins - 100%
Fraternal twins - 50%
Parent, sibling - 50%
Grandparent, aunt - 25%
1st cousin - 12.5%
1869 - studies the relatives of intelligent people
• Believed natural sons of smart people did better than adopted ones
• Measured simple motor and sensory abilities
• Believed that intelligence was unitary (mental quickness)
• Results were disappointing, but he did invent the correlation
coefficient in the process
Sir Cyril Burt
• Conducted large scale study of twins reared apart
• He reported that the heritability coefficient of intelligence
was 1 - i.e. All variation in intelligence is due to genetics
• Turns out he made the data up
Bouchard
• Estimated that the heritability coefficient of intelligence was 0.72 by
studying twins.
• Scarr & Carter later responded that simply believing you are an
identical twin is a big environmental factor. Twins who weren’t
identical, but thought they were, had more similar intelligence.
PSYCH WITH MIKE
GENETIC DISORDERS
PKU
Tay Sachs Disease
• 1 in 10,000
• Lack of enzyme that converts Phenylalanine to
Tyrosine
• Results in brain damage and mental retardation
• Effectively treated by diet, but not after 1 month
•
•
•
•
•
•
Sex-Linked Disorders
Chromosome disorders
• Disorders found on the X or Y chromosomes
• Men are more susceptible than women because
there’s less info on the Y chromosome. Examples
include...
• Baldness
• Red-green color blindness
• Hemophilia
• We can get XXX, X, XXY, XYY
• XYY tended to be incarcerated more,
but not for violent crime. More likely
to get caught.
Huntington’s Disease
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1 in 16,000
Onset: 35 - 45 years old
At first, clumsy and forgetful
Progressive deterioration in muscle control, IQ.
Brain atrophy - terminal in 10-20 years.
Enlarged ventricles, cortical degeneration
Dominant gene -> offspring have 50% change of
acquiring it. Detection possible through gene
mapping.
1 in 3600 (common in eastern Europeans)
1 in 30 French Canadians are carriers
Lack of enzyme that breaks down fatty acids
Normal development at first, but then blind, deaf, unable to swallow
Muscle atrophy, mental impairment
Fatal by age 4
Down Syndrome
1 extra chromosome on the 21st pair
Nervous system abnormality
Mild to moderate retardation
Shorter life expectancy
Physical appearance (Mongolism)
Caused by the accumulation of Amyloid protein that strangles
neurons (also occurs in Alzheimer’s)
• Symptoms can be alleviated with intense cognitive stimulation
• Not hereditary - due to faulty meiotic division
• Incidence related to mother’s (and dad’s) age
• 1 in 1000 normally
• If mother is past 40, 6 in 1000
•
•
•
•
•
•
Q.
Professor Buss reports that h2 for the personality
trait of envy is -1.86. This suggests that...
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
envy is mostly due to genes
envy is mostly due to environment
envy is not likely inherited
envy is the production of both genes and environment
Buss made an error
e. (←Tilt screen to see answer)
EVOLUTION
Biologically based mechanisms - receive input from environment, process info and respond to it
Evolution - change over time in the frequency of certain genes in a population
Natural selection - characteristics that increase likelihood of survival and ability to reproduce will
become more common over time
Adaptations - allow organisms to meet environmental challenges to survival
Domain specific adaptations - allow organisms to solve a specific problem (finding a mate,
choosing safe food, detecting lying). The human mind is not all purpose - it is a collection of modules.
Evolutionary personality theory - basic human personality traits are sculpted by natural selection
i.e. how well they help you survive. There are very few basic personality traits and they are found in
every culture.
Parental investment - the time, effort, energy & risk associated with caring for offspring
Polygyny
Monogamy - equal investment
Means “many women”. In polygynous
mating systems, men mate as much as
possible and women are discriminating of
their mates. This occurs when women
have high parental investment. The more
polygynous a species is, the larger the men
are than the women.
for the man and the woman
(birds)
Polyandry - opposite of
polygyny, quite rare (fish/insects)
Polygynandry (promiscuity)
Everyone has sex with everyone.
(bonobos)
MATE PREFERENCES
Both genders value love, dependability and
emotional stability. These preferences are
consistent across cultures/races.
Men Prefer...
Women Prefer...
• Youth (reproductive potential)
• Physical attractiveness
• good health
• Older mates - earning
potential, status and ambition
• mate with sign of high
parental investment
ALTRUISM
Cooperation - helping someone for mutual benefit
Altruism - helping someone at personal cost
Kin selection theory
Theory of reciprocal altruism
Argues altruism developed to
increase survival of relatives.
Higher relatedness between people
result in higher rates of altruism.
Argues that altruism is long term
cooperation, and that it is practiced
with the hope to be repaid in the
future
These two theories are not incompatible, they explain different things.
AGGRESSION
•
•
•
•
•
•
Competition for mates
As brains evolved, animals created dominance hierarchies
Based on social alliances, saves energy
Higher-ups try to stop fighting in subordinates
Aggression is built-in, and triggered by certain cues
Murder rates are correlated with income inequality (not
unemployment or total wealth)
EVOLUTIONARY FALLACIES
• Genetic determinism - genes have
unavoidable effects that cannot be altered
• Social Darwinism - those at the top of the
social latter are genetically the “best”
• Evolution has no “plan”; evolution doesn’t
define “laws of nature”
• Don’t forget about the influence of culture and
learning
PSYCH WITH MIKE
DARWIN
• Theories are based on economics, not biology
• Behavior is changing to meet environmental needs (functionalism)
• Proximal causes of behavior are immediate mechanisms to meet those needs
• Distal causes of behavior and evolutionary processes to meet those needs
“What made an animal fight this time” is proximal question.
“How has the species we observe today acquired the particular behavior systems during
evolution” is a distal question.
Change Without Natural Selection
• Genetic drift - there is more schizophrenia north of arctic circle. This is not because of
adaption, but just because the gene moved there and was isolated. The same with
happened Tay Sachs and eastern Europe.
• Correlate of Structure - Because one train is selected, other related traits are selected.
Opposable thumb selection results in larger brain parts, shorter other fingers, etc.
AGGRESSION
Lorenz:
Freud:
Eros vs Thanatos (good vs bad) inside your
brain. You try to get rid of thanatos; hurt
others so you don’t hurt yourself. Viewed as
crazy talk nowadays.
Hydraulic model - Aggressive instinct builds up
over time until it is “triggered” by an external
stimulus. Very similar to Freud’s theory - aggression
is to prevent “buildup”. Behavior is caused by
“releasers” aka “sign stimuli”.
Berkowitz
Weapons effect - when you see a weapon (or anything
associated with aggression), you are more likely to be aggressive.
STATISTICS APPENDIX
Measures of central tendency
• Mean - average
• Median - the middle value of a sorted set of numbers
• Mode - most frequently occurring value
Normal distribution occurs when mean = median = mode for a data set.
Produces a perfect “bell shape”.
Variance - Degree of fluctuation of scores around the mean
Standard deviation - square root of variance
Z-score = (score in question - mean) / standard deviation
• Measures how many standard deviations from the mean you are
• In normally distributed data, 68% of scores are between are within 1 standard
deviation of mean (Z-score between 1 and -1)
• 95% are within 2 standard deviations of mean
• 99.7% are within 4 standard deviations of the mean
Statistical significance - scientific standard that it was unlikely a finding was
due to chance alone. Must be 95% sure (within two standard deviations) that
your results weren’t due to chance.
Null hypothesis - assume differences are due to chance
YOU MADE IT!
How was it? Great? Greatest?
Talk to us at hello@wuckexams.com
Psych 1000
Winter 2012
S t u d y
G u i d e
WUCK
EXAMS
This guide is from
WUCK
EXAMS.com
Questions?
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Talk to us at hello@wuckexams.com
This guide is intended for supplementary purposes only. Reading this is no
substitute for going to class and reading the book. We hope we can help
you as much as possible, but your grades are your responsibility.
SENSATION & PERCEPTION CHAPTER 5
4
The Basics
4
Psychophysics
4
Visual System
6
Hearing
9
Taste and Smell
10
Skin and Body
11
Perception
11
SLEEP CHAPTER 6
13
The Basics
13
Circadian Rhythms
14
Sleep and Dreaming
15
Why do we sleep?
16
Sleep Disorders
17
The Nature of Dreams
18
Drugs
19
Hypnosis
21
LEARNING CHAPTER 7
22
Classical or Pavlovian Conditioning
23
Fear
25
Operant Conditioning
26
Biology and Learning
31
Cognition and Learning
32
MEMORY CHAPTER 8
35
The Basics
35
Three Component Model
35
Encoding
37
Retrieval
39
Forgetting
40
Memory As Constructive Process
42
Biology of Memory
43
SENSATION & PERCEPTION CHAPTER 5
THE BASICS
Sensation - stimulus detection
• Our sense organs translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses
• Those impulses are then sent to the brain
Perception - Making “sense” of what our senses tell us
• Organizing the stimulus input and giving it meaning
• Perception is heavily influenced by context
Transduction - Characteristics of the stimulus are converted into nerve impulses
• There are more than just 5 senses: balance, temp/pain/pressure & immune system are
all sensory systems
• Sensory systems extract info that we need to survive from the environment
Synesthesia - condition in which the brain mixes up senses (ex. Sounds have colors)
• Theory 1: The pruning of neural connections that occurs in infancy hasn’t happened
• Theory 2: Insufficient neural inhibition in the brain so input overflows to other areas
PSYCHOPHYSICS
Psychophysics
• The study of the relation between physical stimulus and physiological response
• Fechner: “The father of psychophysics”
Fechner
Absolute threshold
• Lowest intensity at which a stimulus can be detected 50% of the time.
• Varies depending on fatigue, expectations, etc.
Lower threshold
means better sense!
Signal detection theory
• Situational factors can influence sensory judgements
• When the perception is more important, people have lower absolute thresholds
• Perception is essentially a decision
Vision is the most sensitive sense, hearing is second. The rest aren’t very good at all.
Difference threshold
• Smallest difference between two stimuli than can be detected 50% of the time
• The difference threshold is amount of chance necessary for a Just Noticeable
Difference (JND)
Example: If your hand was on a stove and someone was gradually raising the heat, you
would probably not notice the difference between 50º and 50.1º. But you would most
likely feel the difference between 50º and 60º.
• Whatever the minimum change in temperature you need to feel a change is the JND.
Note: JND’s apply to any kind of sensation, not just temperature.
Weber’s law
• States that the difference threshold is proportional to magnitude of stimulus.
• Varies for every stimulus
• Breaks down at extremely high and low intensities
• Most sensitive - pitch, brightness
• Least sensitive - smell, taste.
The smaller it is, the
∆I ÷ I = c
I
is the original stimulus intensity
∆I is the change in stimulus intensity
c
is the stimulus constant for this stimulus
better the sensory
system)
Weber’s Law Example: A sound was playing at 50db. The JND happened at 55db.
When will the JND occur if the sound was playing at 100db?
I = 50db
∆I = 55 - 50 = 5db
c = 5 ÷ 50 = 0.1
c is constant for this stimulus. So even if we raise I, ∆I will always be c × I.
New I = 100db.
New ∆I = c × I = 0.1 * 100 = 10
Important: Don’t forget that the change (∆I) can happen in either direction.
That means, if the stimulus started at 100db, a JND would happen at 90 OR 110.
Lets say that you can barely distinguish 100 grams from 105 grams of cheese. Where
would the JND happen for 300 grams? 315 OR 285. (←Tilt screen to see answer)
Fechner’s Law: S = k log(I)
• Sensation increases with the logarithm of intensity
• Unlike Weber’s law, this says that there is not a 1:1 relationship between physical
intensity and psychological intensity
• Generalizes better than Weber’s law
Steven’s Power Law: S = k log(I)n
• More predictive across a variety of sensations
Sensory adaptation
• Reducing sensitivity to a constant stimulus
• This is the reason a concert seems painfully loud when you walk in but seems normal
volume by the end of it
• Because of this, your eyes are constantly moving; otherwise images slowly disappear
Subliminal Perception
• This is perception below the absolute threshold
• Can we perceive subliminal stimuli? Is our behavior affected by subliminal stimuli?
James Vicary: claimed 50% increase in popcorn sales due to subliminal “cuts” in a
movie. This isn’t true. He made it up.
• No evidence whatsoever what subliminal cuts influence consumer behavior
But, consider Bruce & Valentine (1986); priming
• If you are subliminally shown a relevant image, you are 100 milliseconds faster at
identifying someone as famous
Fitzsimons (2008); 30 millisecond flash of an Apple or IBM logo before simple
identifying task
• Afterwards you are more creative
VISUAL SYSTEM
Cornea - outer layer that focuses the light
Pupil - contracted by the Iris
Lens - fine tuning
• Lens too long = Myopia (nearsightedness)
• Lens too short = Hyperopia (farsightedness)
Vitreous humor - keeps the shape of the eye
LAYERS of THE RETINA
Ganglion Cells
Retina - Lines the back of the
Amacrine Cells
eye. Many layers.
Bipolar Cells
Fovea - small area in the back
center of your eye with no rods
• It is the most sensitive part
• Visual acuity (clearness) is best
on the fovea because each cone
has its own bipolar cell
• You can’t look directly at stars at
night cause theres no rods in the
fovea (and you need rods to see in
the dark)
INHIBITORY
Horizontal Cells
Rods
Cones
• Best in the dark.
• Most common in peripherals
• Sensitive to blue ↑
• Can’t see red ↓
• Best in the light.
• Color receptors
• Sensitive to
greenish-yellow
How do rods and cones work?
• Turn light into action potentials though the breakdown of photopigments (chemicals)
• Rods: Rhodopsin. If you extract Rhodopsin and expose it to light, it gets “bleached”.
When you see a flash of light your retina is bleached.
• Cones: Erythrolabe (R), Chlorolabe (G), Cyanolabe (B).
Optic nerve - bunch of axons of ganglion cells that take info from retina to the brain
Blind spot - portion of eye with no photoreceptors
Dark adaptation - progressive improvement to light sensitivity under low
illumination
• Photopigments are depleted by light and it takes time from them to regenerate
• Cones reach max adaptation in 10 mins
• Rods regenerate slower but get much more sensitive
• Pilots sit in red light because rods are not stimulated by red so dark vision is ready for
use when the pilots need
Rods and Red
When pilots are waiting to fly at
night, they sit in a room with red
light. This is because rods, which are
needed to see in the dark, are
insensitive to red. As a result, unlike
other colors, red light won’t bleach
their rods, and they’ll be ready to see
in the dark when they need to fly.
INHIBITORY
Color-deficient Vision
• Dichromat - color blind to one of RG or BY
• Monochromat - sensitive only to BW
Trichromatic theory
What’s an
afterimage?
• Every color can be made of Red, Green and Blue (RGB), so there are three color
receptors in the retina
•Problems with theory: why can red-green colorblind people can still see yellow?
•Also, why is the afterimage a different colour
Look at this
image for 20
seconds without
blinking and
then look away
Opponent-process theory
•There are three different cones and each one has two colors (R-G, B-Y, B-W)
•So there would be one chemical for green, and an “opponent process” for red
•This explains the afterimage as the opponent process rebounding
Dual process theory
• Says that both trichromatic and opponent-process theories were right
• Trichromatic was right about the cones
• Opponent process was right about the ganglion cells
Lateral Inhibition
Lateral Inhibition
A
A
A
These circles are retinal ganglion cells.
In this scenario, there is ambient light
shining on all the cells, so they are equally
stimulated. They are all firing at the same
rate.
Now, we focus a beam of light right
on Cell A. Cell A is firing at a very fast
rate, and the cells around it are firing
at a lower rate.
If we move the beam to a cell next to Cell A’s
receptive field. Cell A is now firing at an even
lower rate than it does under ambient light.
This is called lateral inhibition. It is caused by
horizontal cells.
The cell above has an on-centre and an off-surround. Some cells
are the opposite. Other cells have different shaped receptive fields.
This explains contrast effects & optical illusions like this one. That
strip in the middle is not a gradient. Lateral inhibition increases the
perceived contrast and makes it look like there is a gradient.
Phantom Spots
In the middle of the crosshairs, there is more intensity
in the off surround than the on centre. As a result, the
cell in the middle shuts down and you see a black
smudge.
Single Cell Recordings
Retinal ganglion cells - respond to spots
Cortex cells - respond to slits/bars of light, not spots
Simple cell - respond to a slit at a particular orientation on a specific retinal location
Complex cell - responds to moving slits/bars of light
Hypercomplex cell - respond to combination of stimulus features (objects, angles)
A cell shows maximum firing to a spot of light at particular area on the screen. A slit of
light decreases the firing rate. Where is the researcher recording from?
Retinal ganglion cell. (←Tilt screen to see answer)
HEARING
Frequency - number of sound waves per second (Hz)
• Frequency determines pitch. 20 - 20,000Hz is hearable.
Amplitude - vertical size of the waves (db)
• Amplitude determines loudness.
Eardrum - moveable membrane that vibrates in response to sound waves
Parts ofMiddle
the ear
ear - three tiny bones (the smallest in body). Amplifies sound 30x.
Inner Ear
There are 3 major
sections.
anvil & stirrup
• Hammer,
Inner ear
snail-shaped tube filled with fluid
snail shaped tube filled with fluid,Cochlea
contains- the...
Eardrum • Cochlea - coiled
Middle ear- three
bones
sheettiny
of tissue,
on it is the...
• Basilar membrane
moveable
Basilar membrane - sheet of tissue
(the smallest in the body)
membrane that
Organ
of
Corti
16000
tiny
hair
cells; they are the sound receptors.
•
that amplify sound 30×
vibrates in
response to
sound waves
Organ of Corti - 16000 tiny
Hammer
Anvil
Stirrup
hair cells; they are the sound
receptors of the ear.
Coding for Pitch and Loudness
Loudness
• Rate of firing of hair cells
• Specific hairs have higher threshold so they only fire with louder sounds
Pitch
• Frequency theory - nerve pluses match the frequency of the sound
Problem: neurons can’t fire fast enough to produce sounds
over 1000Hz
• Place theory - the specific point in the cochlea where the fluid wave
peaks indicates the frequency (discovered by von Bekesy)
• The cochlea is essentially “mapped” to the auditory cortex,
just like the retina is mapped to the visual cortex
Both are true. For low
sounds, frequency theory
holds true. For high
sounds, place theory
does.
Sound localization - ears are on either side of head so we can tell where a sound is
coming from depending on which ear hears it first
Hearing Loss
Conductive deafness - problems with the mechanical system that transmits waves to
the cochlea (hearing aid can help)
Nerve deafness - damaged hair cell receptors within the inner ear (hearing aid can’t)
TASTE AND SMELL
These are chemical senses, instead of energy senses like sound and sight.
Taste buds - chemical receptors concentrated along the edges and back of the tongue
• Each is more responsive to one or two basic taste qualities, weakly to others
• Umami increases the sensitivity to other taste qualities
• Poisons are bitter; hard-wired into us
Olfactory bulb - forebrain structure above the nasal cavity, specific odors excite specific
portions of it
Pheromones - chemical signals in natural body scent, no evidence to support they effect
behavior
Menstrual synchrony - The effect can be caused when a woman smells another woman’s
sweat - their menstrual cycles will sync up. Doesn’t happen with prolonged exposure
though.
SKIN AND BODY
Tactile senses - pressure, pain, warmth cold
Gate control theory - pain results from the opening and closing of gating mechanisms in
the nervous system. These gates can be closed by physical or brain activity.
Glial cells are responsible for the ache all over feeling when you’re sick.
Endorphins - natural painkillers, inhibit pain neurotransmitters
Kinesthesis - info about position of muscles, joints and movements
Vestibular sense - body orientation or equilibrium (inner ear fluid)
PERCEPTION
bottom-up processing - individual elements of the stimulus are then combined into
unified perception
top-down processing - sensory info is interpreted in the light of existing knowledge,
concepts, ideas (pioneered by Gestalt)
Processing depends on attention
• Attention involves 1) focusing on a certain stimuli and 2) filtering out other incoming
info
• Shadowing - playing a different message in either ear. It’s easy to repeat the words of
one (shadow them), but only at the expense of paying attention to the other.
• Inattention blindness - You can look right at something without “seeing” it if your
attention is on something else (like this video)
• Our motives and experiences affect what we pay attention to. We are also quicker to
respond to threatening stimuli, and are very precise at discerning between threatening
and non-threatening stimuli.
Figure-Ground Relations - we organize stimuli into foreground and background
• Central figure (foreground) has a more distinct shape and is more striking in
perception and memory
• Same with music (melody, chords)
Gestalt Laws of Perceptual Organization (Max Wertheimer)
Similarity
We group similar objects.
Proximity
We group close objects.
Closure
Continuity
We close gaps.
We follow paths.
Patterns in how we perceive things. Illustrates the importance of context in perception.
Perceptual schema
• A mental image to compare a perception with so we can recognize it
• Every perception is a “hypothesis” and the perceptual system searches a giant library
of schemas to find the best interpretation.
Perceptual set
• Readiness to perceive stimuli in a particular way
• If I tell you someone is a jerk, when you meet them you are more likely to interpret
what they do as jerk stuff
Perceptual constancies - allow us to recognize familiar stimuli in different conditions
• Shape constancy - recognize things at different angles
• Brightness constancy - relative brightness remains the same
• Size constancy - size of objects remains relatively constant at different distances
These must be learned - small kids don’t do this.
Depth, Distance and Movement
Monocular Depth Cues - allow you to detect depth with one eye
• Light and shadow
• Linear perspective
• Interposition/overlap
• Height in horizontal plane
• Texture gradient
• Clarity
• Relative size
• Motion parallax - nearby objects move faster than far ones
Binocular Depth Cues - require two eyes
• Binocular/retinal disparity - each eye sees a very slightly different image because they
are on different sides of your head. The brain processes them together.
• Convergence - feedback from muscles that turn your eyes inward
Stroboscopic movement - illusion of movement when lights are
flashed nearby each other milliseconds apart.
• This is the effect you see on theater marquees.
Critical period - certain experiences must happen in this time
for the brain to develop normally
Theater mar
quee
Deprivation experiment - test critical periods
• Cats raised in an environment with no vertical lines could not see
vertical patterns
• Culture and experience plays a huge part on perception: People that don’t live in
societies with square buildings and rooms don’t see certain illusions
• Blind people who get their sight back later in life have lots of trouble identifying
objects, and judging distances
Perceptual Problem Solving
• How do we recognize and make sense of patterns?
• Constructionists: believe that we create meaning from basic elements or features
(bottom up)
• Register small components and build into larger, meaningful units
• Geons - Biederman believes these are the elementary shapes of perception (cylinders,
rectangles, etc)
SLEEP CHAPTER 6
THE BASICS
Consciousness - moment-to-moment awareness of ourselves and our environment
• Subjective and private
• Dynamic
• Self-reflective and central to our sense of self
• Intimately connected with the process of selective attention - consciousness reflects
what is spotlighted at the moment
Psychodynamic Perspective
• Conscious - thoughts, perceptions
• Preconscious - not currently available but could be (memories)
• Subconscious - unaccessible, unacceptable urges and desires; may “leak” out
Daydreaming
• Happens every 90 mins
• Topics: Failure/success, aggression, sex, guilt, problem solving (in order of frequency)
• Alters mood in positive direction
• Low risk way to deal with problems
• Increases arousal
Cognitive
• Unconscious works in harmony with conscious
• Controlled (effortful) processing - voluntary use of attention. Aware.
• Automatic processing - little or no conscious effort (type, drive, eat). Unaware.
• Divided attention - perform more than one activity at the same time
Stroop effect - Saying the colors
instead of the words is hard because
reading is an automatic process.
CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS
• These are your daily temperature, hormone and body function rhythms
• Late afternoon is best for physical tasks. Everything in your body is optimized - even
taste!
• Suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) - The Brain’s clock. In the hypothalamus. It regular
circadian rhythms.
• Melatonin - secreted by pineal gland, relaxing effect on body.
• When SCN neurons are stimulated by daylight, they inhibit melatonin. This raises
body temperature and alertness. This is why daylight makes you feel awake.
• Free-running circadian rhythm - without day/night cues to guide you, your body would
drift into a longer 24.2 - 24.8 hour cycle. This happens to blind people.
Disruptions of Circadian Rhythms
Seasonal affective disorder - tendency to become depressed during certain months
• Winter has less sunlight so your melatonin isn’t inhibited and you are sleepy all the
time.
Jet lag - easier to lengthen day (fly west), more compatible with free running cycle
• Can you take melatonin pills to solve it? Questionable.
• Hydrate, avoid alcohol, stretch, light meals, expose to sunlight
Night Shiftwork
• Accidents much more likely
• Rotating shiftwork - takes advantage of it being
easier to increase the day than to compress it
• Even Daylight Savings Time causes increased
accidental deaths
SLEEP AND DREAMING
Your body goes from awake to Stage 4 and back
again in 60-90 mins. Except, instead of waking up
every hour, your body goes into REM sleep before
starting the cycle all over.
Sleep Stage
Brain Waves
EEG Tracings
Awake/Alert
Beta waves
High Hz, low amp
Relaxed/Drowsy
Alpha waves
Slower Hz
Stage 1 Sleep
Theta waves
Slower Hz
Easily awoken
Stage 2 Sleep
Sleep Spindles &
K-Complexes
Fast bursts
Most common
stage of sleep.
Stage 3 Sleep
Delta waves
Slow Again
Stage 4 Sleep
Delta waves
These two stages
are slow wave
sleep. Very hard to
awake.
REM
Theta & Beta
waves
High Hz, low amp
(discussed below)
K Complex - most dramatic brain activity change that ever happens to humans
• Occurs in Stage 2 sleep
• Huge drop in the EEG tracing.
• Can be triggered externally. Related to RLS and epilepsy.
REM Sleep - Rapid Eye Movements beneath your eyelids as you sleep
• Brain waves like an awake person
• Over the course of the night, REM gets longer and Stage 4 gets shorter.
• If you are woken up here, you always report a dream.
• Physiological arousal closer to daytime level
Faster heart rate, breathing
Erection, vaginal lubrication (even without sex dreams)
• Voluntary muscles cannot contract. Called REM sleep
paralysis.
Paradoxical sleep - highly aroused, cannot move
When we get older we need
• Non-REM dreams are shorter and less story-like. They
less sleep & we have less
resemble daytime thoughts - sleep-thoughts.
slow-wave sleep.
• REM sleep decreases dramatically during infancy and early
childhood
Sleep Deprivation
WHY DO WE SLEEP?
Restoration Model - sleep recharges our running bodies,
recovers us from fatigue
• Some believe cellular waste called ‘adenosine’ accumulates
and slows body down
• Sleep deprivation causes
attention lapse, irritability
• Sleep deprived people do worse
on critical-thinking tasks but
think they did great
• All kinds of sleep deprivation
are bad: short term, long term,
partial
Evolutionary/circadian sleep models (Webb) - sleep increases a
species chance of survival in relation to environmental demands
• Conserve energy and stay inside during dangerous nighttime
Learning & Memory - sleep is a time when we store memories
• REM deprived subjects show reduced ability to retain information
Mood adjustment - speed of cycling into REM is correlated with positive mood on
following morning
• Depressed people cycle into REM very quickly, perhaps to get a mood increase
REM Rebound effect - brain increases REM sleep after it is deprived of it
• REM may be related to learning and memory
• When learning new tasks, there are more REM’s during sleep
• Other sleep states may be involved in specific learning tasks
SLEEP DISORDERS
Insomnia
• Chronic difficulty in falling asleep, staying asleep or having restful sleep
• You can fall asleep easily and still have insomnia
• Stimulus control - conditioning your body to associate environment with sleep. Do
only sleeping in your bedroom, not studying.
• Situational insomnia - specific stressor causing it
• Chronic insomnia - possibly circadian rhythm problem
Thermoregulation problem - failure to lower body temp. Activation remains
high and normal sleep cycle fails to develop.
Narcolepsy
• Extreme daytime sleepiness and sudden,
uncontrollable sleep attacks
• Sleep goes directly to REM
• Instant muscle weakness
• May experience cataplexy - abnormal version
of sleep paralysis with laughter, excitement and
other strong emotions
• Genetic and environmental causes
REM-Sleep Behavior Disorder
REM sleep paralysis doesn’t
happen so you are acting
out your REM dreams
Sleep Apnea
• Interruption in breathing during sleep
• This is normal… but people with the disorder do not start breathing again unless
they wake up
• In severe cases may stop for 1 minute, hundreds of times a night Causes insomnia.
• Cause?
Sometimes obstruction of air passage (snoring) - easy to deal with.
Sometimes abnormal brain function.
Some think Sudden Infant Death (SID) is caused by this.
Parasomnia
Sleepwalking
• Occurs in stage 3 or 4 - so
you’re not acting out a dream
• More common in children
• Waking them up is not
dangerous
• Genetic
Nightmares and Night Terrors
• Nightmares are just frightening dreams
• Night terrors are more intense. More common
during Stage 3 and 4. Person jumps up, may try to
escape room but doesn’t remember this state of
panic.
• They’re still asleep and hard to wake up (because
they’re in deep sleep)
Sleep talking
• Stage 1 or 2
• Sometimes in REM
• Sensitive to external world
THE NATURE OF DREAMS
When do we dream?
• 45 seconds into sleep, 25% of people report visual images
• 15-40% in 6 minutes
• More dreams in REM and later in sleep
• We remember the dreams from the last REM period of the night
• The stronger the emotions, the more likely we are to remember them
There are many REM
periods a night. Thats
why its the “sleep cycle”
Nightmares
• Vivid, high anxiety dream
• Significant stress is correlated with frequency
• In adults, correlated with psychopathology (anxiety)
• More common with children
• Some drugs cause them: antidepressants, beta blockers, antihistamines
• Normal people: self reported mean = 9 per year
• With a dream log = 25/year
What do we dream about?
• Most are very normal. Flying is very uncommon.
• 80% involve negative emotions
• Recent experiences shape dream content
• Dreams are fleeting and happen in real time
• Women dream equally about
women and women.
• Men dream mostly about men.
Why do we dream?
Psychoanalytic theory (Freud)
• Wish fulfillment - gratification of our unconscious desires and needs
• Manifest content (surface story of our dream) vs latent content (hidden meaning)
• The unconscious Id: repressed wishes strive for expression
• Ego is conscious control manager
• Ego disguises Id’s wishes in dreams (for example sex urges disguised as a train)
• Symbols for sex: ladder, staircase, elevator, bridge, tunnel, plane
Activation-synthesis theory
• Dreams are just the brain making sense of random neural activity.
• Dreams serve no function.
• Periodic firing of Pons fires other parts of the brain
Cognitive approaches
• Problem-solving dream models - dreams help us find creative solutions to problems
• Cognitive-process dream theories - focus on the process of how we dream: dreaming
and waking thought are produced by the same mental systems.
• 3 year olds don’t report dreams in REM sleep cause they haven’t developed
imagery skills yet.
• Rapid content shifts that happen in dreams also happen in everyday thought.
DRUGS
Agonistic - increase neuron activity (opiates, amphetamines)
Antagonistic - inhibits or decreases activity (antipsychotics)
Tolerance - decreasing responsivity
Compensatory responses - You body tries to get back to a normal state by doing the
opposite of the drug.
• Physical setting where you take drugs triggers the compensatory responses
• So, overdose is more likely caused by unfamiliar setting than dosage
Withdrawal - continuing compensatory responses after drug stops
Misconceptions
• - Drugs don’t always lead to significant withdrawal
• Physiological dependence is not the major cause of addiction, psychological
dependance is
DEPRESSANTS
• Decrease nervous system activity
• Reduce anxiety, relaxed euphoria
Alcohol
• Increases GABA, an inhibitory transmitter
• Decreases glutamate, an excitatory one
• Upper phase followed by downer phase
• Alcohol Myopia - “shortsightedness” in thinking, inability to pay attention to as much
info
Drunk people find drunk driving more favorable than when they are sober
because they latch on to one factor i.e. “its a short drive”
Barbiturates and Tranquilizers
• Sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs (valium)
• Also increase GABA
• Overdoes, esp. with alcohol can cause coma, death
• Immediate withdrawal may cause cause
STIMULANTS
• Increase neural firing and arouse nervous systems
• Boost heart rate, alertness, mood, irritability
Amphetamines
• Reduce fatigue and appetite
• Increase dopamine and NE
• Repeated use can cause heart failure or stroke
• Schizophrenic hallucinations are caused by too much dopamine - these can cause the
same thing (amphetamine psychosis)
• Meth - insomnia, hyperactivity, anxiety, paranoia, meth mouth, heart attack
• MDMA/ecstasy - boosts serotonin
Produces longterm cognitive impairment
Sleep disturbance, sexual dysfunction, impaired immune responses
Depletes serotonin, linked with suicidal depression and death
Cocaine
• Blocks reuptake of NE and dopamine
• Excitation, sense of muscular strength, euphoria
•Once used as anesthetic (Novocaine still is)
•High doses cause fever, vomiting, hallucinations, delusions
OPIATES
• Morphine/codeine/heroin/oxycontin
• Pain relief and mood changes
• Increase endorphins and dopamine
• Heroin originally a cough suppressant; causes peaceful euphoria at great risk of death
HALLUCINOGENS
• Mushrooms, LSD (not well understood how it works)
• Hearing colors, seeing sounds
• Violent outbursts, panic, flashbacks
MARIJUANA
• Hard to classify (hallucinogen, sedative)
• THC - bind to receptors; brain produces its own THC-like things called cannabinoids
• Increases GABA and dopamine
• Doesn’t cause amotivational syndrome or gateway-drug but still dangerous
Determinants of Drug Effects
• Genetics plays a role in the strength of drug effects on you
• Also learning from parents - although alcohol abuse correlates more with biological
parents than adoptive ones
• Setting and other people around you affect drug arousal
• Cultural learning: in the Camba culture people are not aggressive or promiscuous
when drunk
• Expectancies influence experiences
• Personality: people with little contact with reality are more likely to have bad trip
HYPNOSIS
• Named after Anton Mesmer (animal magnetism to cure things)
• You can’t be hypnotized against your own will
• Your ability to be hypnotized can be measured by the hypnotic susceptibility scales
Explanations for Hypnosis
• Does not cause action against own will - more to do with authority
• Many of the special things hypnotized people do can also easily be done by nonhypnotized people
• Hypnosis can reduce pain tolerance beyond placebo, but so can mental imagery.
• Hypnosis does not increase memory. People make more recall errors and are confident
in them.
Theories for Hypnosis
• Dissociation theory - division of consciousness; one part listening to hypnotist and one
part “hidden observer”
• Social cognitive theories - “hypnosis” is just caused by the expectations of participants
• The bogus suggestion that “hypnosis may cause hand-stiffening” to participants
increases its chances of happening by a lot.
• People can be made to believe they are drunk by giving smell and taste cues in
drinks. We can alter our own mental states.
Meditation
• Mindfulness - free flowing of thoughts, feelings
• Concentrative - focus on a specific sound, sensation (breathing)
• Most commonly affects cingulate cortex and and frontal cortex
LEARNING CHAPTER 7
Learning - process by experience produces a relatively enduring change in an organisms
behavior or capabilities
Habituation - decrease in response strength to a repeated stimulus
• Learning to not respond to familiar stimuli saves energy and attention
• For example, you are not constantly feeling your clothes on your body
• You are unaware of habituated stimuli at the moment but if there is some
reason to become aware of it, you can
Habituation differs
from sensory
adaptation. It is a
form of learning and
occurs in central
nervous system, not
sensory neurons
Sensitization - increase in strength response to a repeated stimulus
• For example if you get shocked by a door twice, you react more the second time
Behaviorism
• Focus on stimulus & response
• Purely care about observable events
• Strict behaviorism is called “black-box psychology”.
Stimulus → black box → response. Don’t try to figure out whats in the box.
CLASSICAL OR PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING
• Association of a neutral stimulus with one that consistently elicits a response
• Acquisition - period during with response is being learned
• Each time the conditioned stimulus (CS) and the unconditioned stimulus (UCS) are
paired, it is a learning trial
• The more intense the UCS, the quicker the learning
1. Unconditioned stimulus → unconditioned response
2. Pair conditioned stimulus with unconditioned stimulus
3. Conditioned stimulus → conditioned response
The UCR and the CR are not the same. The are
similar actions but they are caused by different
things.
Pavlov’s Dog
1. Dog’s see meat powder (UCS) → Dogs salivate (UCR)
2. Pair meat powder with ringing of bell (CS)
3. Ringing the bell (CS) → Dogs salivate (CR)
Central nervous system causes the CR.
Sympathetic nervous system causes the UCR.
Classical conditioning is not response contingent - it doesn’t matter what the dog does
when you give him food and ring the bell.
Examples of Classical Conditioning
Dentist’s Office
1. Drill (USC) → Fear (UCR)
2. Pair dentist with drill
3. Dentist (CS) → Fear (CR)
Why do students who do well on exams
tend to like their profs?
1. Get an A (UCS) → Feel good (UCR)
2. Pair prof with getting an A
3. Prof (CS) → Feel good (CS)
Love
• People rate attractiveness of people in
photos with different music playing (bad
music, good music)
• Same photos get rated higher when
theres good music in the background
1. Good music (USC) → Positive feelings
(UCR)
2. Pair music with stranger
3. Stranger (CS) → Positive feelings (CR)
Acquisition Curves - Measures of responsiveness
This chart measures the response
strength (ex. amount of dog saliva in
response to bell). In the early trials there
is almost none, but as the dog becomes
conditioned it quickly grows and flattens
at the maximum.
This chart measures the latency
between the CS (bell) and CR
(salivating). As the trials go on, the dog
salivates quicker and quicker in response
to the bell, eventually reaching a
minimum response time.
Types of Pairing
• Forward trace pairing - bell first, still ringing when food arrives.
Good learning.
• Forward short-delay pairing - bell rings and stops, then food.
Best learning.
Maximum interval: 0.5s. It is the best method because it acts as a cue.
• Simultaneous pairing - bell and food at the same time.
Very slow learning.
• Backward pairing - Food, the bell.
No learning at all.
Extinction - the CS (bell) is presented repeatedly without the UCS (food) so the classical
conditioning breaks
• However, if you extinguish a response, its not “unlearned”
• If you recondition the response, it is learned faster the second time (called “savings”)
• You can test conditioning strength by testing resistance to extinction
Spontaneous recovery - reappearance of CR after a rest-period without new learning
• The new CR is weaker than the initial one
• This is why phobia treatment requires multiple sessions. The fear response will often
reappear suddenly after a long time of being gone.
Stimulus generalization - a similar CS causes the CR
• For example, bells of similar loudness and pitch will also cause salivating in the dogs
• This has an survival function - you wouldn’t be very good at avoiding bad stimuluses if
your responses didn’t generalize.
• You can determine how good an animal is at hearing/seeing/feeling by testing their
stimulus generalization.
• For example, you condition them to respond to a specific pitch.
• If you lower the pitch by a tiny bit, and the animal stop’s responding - it means
they have really good hearing.
Discrimination - when the CR occurs to one CS but not others (opposite of generalization)
Higher-order conditioning - using the CS as the UCS in
another conditioning
• If you don’t keep giving the food after the bell, the
second CS will eventually stop working because the
first CR extinguishes
1. Bell (USC) → Dogs salivate (UCR)
2. Pair bell with a light
3. Light (CS) → Dog’s salivate (CR)
FEAR
Phobia - relatively common, intense and irrational, anxiety disorder
• Realize that the fear is irrational but can’t help it.
• Little Albert was classically conditioned to be afraid of mice, and then he feared
anything white and furry - fears generalize.
Behavior therapy
• Uses classical or operant conditioning to cure fear
• Phobia viewed as an error in learning, so the cure is to relearn
Systematic desensitization (Wolpe)
• Patient learns muscle relaxation techniques and is exposed to the fear stimulus
• The fear stimulus gets gradually more intense
• Probably the best method
Exposure therapy - expose phobic patient to fear stimulus without any UCS (the real
thing they fear), allowing extinction to occur
• Highly effective
Flooding - immediately expose the person to the fear stimulus
• Problem: the person may not be willing to expose themselves & it’s not always possible
Implosion - patient must imagine fearful situation (ex. think about being in a room full of snakes)
Counter-conditioning - replace conditioned response with something else
• Pair feared object with positive stimulus-response
• Careful though, if you don’t build up the intensity of the fear stimulus slowly, you will
end up fearing the positive stimulus too - the conditioning will go the other way
Aversion Therapy - believes behavior maintained because of reinforcement
• I.e. Alcohol relaxes body; staying home avoids fear; gambling causes thrill
• Change behavior by changing reinforcement to punishment
• Ex. Using antabuse to cure alcoholism. If you take antabuse, drinking makes you ill.
• Mixed results; often very short term effects
• Virtual-Reality exposure can be just as effective as in vivo (real life) exposure
• Fear is easier to condition than any other stimuli
• Easier to condition aversion to taste by pairing it with illness because your body is
primed to associate bad taste will illness. It is much harder to associate vision with
illness.
Attraction
• Marketers pair their products with already favorable stimuli to create favorable
attitudes
• This can be used to create negative attitudes too, like to smoking/drugs
Allergies
• Allergic reactions can be caused by neutral stimuli that are paired with an allergen
• For example if you pair a fishbowl with the triggers of asthma, eventually Asthma
attacks can be caused by a fishbowl
OPERANT CONDITIONING
• Unlike classically conditioned responses, these are voluntary - classical responses
happen automatically
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
• A response followed by a satisfying consequence will become more likely to occur, and
opposite of unsatisfying consequences
• Instrumental Learning - because behavior is instrumental to bringing certain outcomes
Model
1. Dominant response for a cat in a box is initially to scratch the walls.
• You are trying to change this response to: press the lever.
2. Choose and reinforce target response
3. Stimulus situation → target response
This model is response contingent.
Skinner’s Operant Behavior
• Operants are broader than responses
• Response-reinforcement bond is critical - responses that get reinforced are more likely
to occur
• Reinforcement-response is strengthened by an outcome that follows it
Operant Model
A) Antecedent stimuli - IF I say “sit”
B) Behavior - AND my dog sits
C) Consequence - THEN she gets a treat
These are known as contingencies - getting food is contingent to response of sitting.
Differences Between Classical and Operant Conditioning
Classical: association between two stimuli
stimulus occurs before behavior
Operant: association between behavior and consequences
behavior changes because of events that occur after it
Classical: reflex caused by preceding stimulus
Operant: organism generates response itself
The operant conditioning
model and the
Instrumental Learning
model are very similar.
Operant/Instrumental
learning is very different,
however, from operant
conditioning.
Many learning situations involve both
• Teacher becomes classically associated with squeaking chalk
• Teacher raising chalk to board then triggers plugging ears (plugging ears is operantly
reinforced because it has a pleasant consequence - we don’t hear the screeching)
• Chalk has classical and operant effects
Antecedent Conditions
• If you pushing a button dispenses food only when a light is on, that light is a
discriminative stimulus; sets the occasion for operant responses
• The sight of teacher raising chalk to board was discriminative stimulus
• Class bells, words people say, sight of friend’s face: all discriminative stimuli
Operant Consequences
• Positive reinforcement - food for pressing lever, praise for job well done
• Negative reinforcement - umbrella to avoid rain, Advil to stop headache
• Operant extinction - weakening/disappearance of response because it is no
longer enforced
GIVING SOMETHING GOOD
REMOVING SOMETHING BAD
REMOVING REINFORCER
• ex. Treating attention-seeking misbehavior in a child with a time-out
• The child is misbehaving because he wants attention, and he learned that doing
so gives him attention. Giving him a time out teaches him that misbehaving no
longer gives you attention.
• Positive punishment - spanking, pain - response weakened by presentation of GIVING SOMETHING BAD
stimulus
• May fail to generalize - ex. child only doesn’t swear when parents aren’t present
• Children may learn aggressive behavior form their parents
• Punishment only works if its swift, consistent & aversive - otherwise not good
• Discrimination training actually works the best - punish bad AND reward good
REMOVE SOMETHING GOOD
• Negative punishment - fines, loss of privileges (AKA response cost)
• Differs from operant extinction because thing being removed is not cause of
behavior. The child’s bad behavior was being rewarded with attention, so taking
it away is operant extinction. But if you take away his video game system
instead, its negative punishment.
• Less likely to create hatred of punishing agent than positive punishment
Primary reinforcers - naturally reinforcing, satisfy biological needs (food and water)
Secondary/conditioned reinforcers - associated with primary reinforcers ($$, grades)
• Money is secondary reinforcement: you want the stuff money can get you.
• “Good dog” becomes a secondary reinforcer due to it
becoming associated with food
• There is also secondary punishment. Cat is told NO and
Delay of gratification - the timing
sprayed with water if it touches plants. Soon, only saying
of consequences affects humans
NO is enough.
less than animals. Some people
(drug addicts) can’t overcome
Shaping - reinforcing successive approximations toward a
immediate gratification.
final response
• Ex. Rewarding a shy child for speaking at louder
and louder volumes
Chaining - reward each response with opportunity to perform next response
• Ex. The bell turns on the light → If the light is on, the lever gives food.
• Works better than higher-order classical conditioning because the food is still
given
• The light becomes a secondary reinforcer, food is primary.
Operant generalization - child learns not to touch his own stove; doesn’t touch all stoves
Operant discrimination - child learns to only raid cookie jar when parents aren’t home
• Operant response will occur to one antecedent but not another
• When discriminative stimuli influence behavior it is called stimulus control; ex. police
cars exert stimulus control over people’s driving
• We can use this to tell if animals can see color. If they can discriminate between
different colors of light stimuli, they can see color.
Reinforcement Schedules
CONTINUOUS VS PARTIAL
Continuous reinforcement schedule - all responses are reinforced (FR-1)
• Every time you push the lever, you get food
• Produces very rapid learning, but extinguishes faster.
• Once the lever stops giving you food, you just stop pushing it.
Partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule - only some are reinforced
• Slot machines are like this. Sometimes you get money, sometimes you don’t.
• Slower learning, more resistant to extinction.
• You don’t give up when it stops giving you money because that’s normal.
• Partial reinforcement effect - experience with extinction maintains responding
because reinforcement is unpredictable
RATIO VS INTERVAL
Ratio schedules - certain % of responses are reinforced
Interval schedules - certain amount of time must pass before the next response is
reinforced
FIXED VS VARIABLE
Fixed schedule - reinforcement occurs after fixed number of responses
(ex. after 3 lever presses you get food)
Variable schedule - number of responses necessary for the next reinforcement varies
(ex. after an average of 3 lever presses you get food)
Fixed-ratio schedule - FR-3 means reinforcement occurs after every third response
• Produces high response rates. Used in workplace a lot.
• After reinforcement is delivered, there is a pause, since you know the next response is
not going to be reinforced.
Variable-ratio schedule - VR-3 means three responses on average are required for a
reinforcement
• Very resistant to extinction, less pausing after reinforcement
• Slot machine uses this
Fixed-interval schedule - first response after a fixed time interval is reinforce
• FI-3min schedule, rat presses lever over and over and gets one treat every 3 mins
• Exam schedules are like this: they cause very uneven performance. No studying after
an exam, and a lot of studying right before exam.
• Slow responses to start, then gradually sloping up to a very fast response
Variable-interval schedule - first response after a variable time interval is reinforced
• VI - 1min means the interval is 1 min on average
• Produces steadier and lasting response rate, but a lot slower learning
• Ex. Pop quiz, random drug test, speed traps
VI/VR (especially VI) are better than FR/FI at resisting extinction.
You should be
able to identify
these.
To produce fast learning with high resistance
1. Start continuous
2. Then shift to partial, preferably variable
Applications of Operant Conditioning
Skinner: believed positive reinforcement can solve social problems
• Social influence is part of human nature
• We use too much punishment
Training Animals
• Train pigeon to peck at orange dots, use them to find victims in life jackets
• Dogs for law enforcement
• Sea lions to retrieve sunken test weapons
Human Applications
• Software learning is based on immediate feedback and self-paced learning (Skinner’s
ideas)
• Skinner: bad performance is not due to laziness, its lack of motivation
• Token economies - give a star for good behavior, lose a star for bad behavior. Then,
exchange stars for tangible rewards.
• Applied behavior analysis (AKA behavior modification) - use positive reinforcement to
change behavior and solve individual and societal problems
Used for seat belts, to reduce workplace injuries, and for energy conservation
BIOLOGY AND LEARNING
• Behaviorism ignores evolutions influence on learning
• Preparedness - though evolution, animals are biologically prewired to easily learn
behaviors related to survival of species
• Behaviors contrary to evolution are learned slowly, if at all
Learned Taste Aversion
• Conditioned taste aversion - pairing smell or taste with toxin so that the the taste/
smell now repulses you
• Animals show taste aversion even when the food and the illness are hours or even a
days apart
• Rats are biologically primed to form taste-illness associations
• If you give them 3 UCS’s at the same time (buzzer, light, drink) and make them
sick with x-rays, only the drink will become the CS
• But if you pair the buzzer, light and drink with electric shock, the drink doesn’t
cause a fear response. Biologically, sights and sounds, not tastes, signal fear.
• Chemotherapy causes nausea so patients have to be careful not to cause associations
with the food they eat before chemo and the nausea
One way to do this is with a “scapegoat” candy given before the chemo that has a
very distinct taste
Biologically Prepared Fears
• Much easier to classically condition fear of neutral stimulus if it is snake, spider, angry
face than if it is flower, house, happy face
• Phobias to cars, guns, cigarettes, knives are rare but fears of snakes, spiders are not
• Is this due to culture (cognitive) or evolution (biological)
Immune System
• The immune system can be conditioned
• Rats given sweet water and made sick with immunosuppressant
• Later given sweet water without drug and they got sick again, some even died
• Classical conditioning can also be used to boost immune system; sherbet with
epinephrine causes sherbet to increases immune system
• A girl’s overactive immune system disease was treated by conditioning cod liver oil
(distinct taste) to an immunosuppressant
Constraints on Operant Conditioning
• Brelands tries to teach a chicken to play baseball. The conditioning worked well until
the ball was introduced: the chicken chased it and pecked at it thinking it was the food.
This behavior couldn’t be extinguished.
• Racoons were taught to drop token into a box for food, but they kept washing the
tokens like they would wash food
• This is called Instinctive drift - drifting back to instinctive behavior
• You can train a pigeon to peck for food, but not to peck to stop shock; flying is for
fleeing, not pecking
• You can train rats to press a lever for food but they will often drift to scratching and
biting it
Learning and the Brain
• Cerebellum - classically conditioned movements (blinking)
• Amygdala - classical conditioned fears
• Nucleus accumbens, dopamine - rewards
• Rich learning environment causes better brain development and therefore better
learning ability
COGNITION AND LEARNING
• Behaviorists focus on Stimulus-Response (SR) psychology but they ignored thoughts
and feelings
• Some acknowledge that the organism is between the S and R; called S-O-R psychology
• Learning involves the formation of cognitions - internal processing of information
(thoughts, beliefs), making predictions
Insight and Cognitive Maps
• Thorndike: Chimps learn by insight, not trial-and-error
• Monkey stacks boxes to reach bananas (Kohler)
• Behaviorists argue that insight is a combination of previously reinforced
responses
• Tolman: Cognitive map - mental representation of a maze
• If a rat is placed in a maze, and then the maze is changed, the rat knows the new
path to the food
Escape and Avoidance Conditioning
Escape conditioning - organisms learn a response to terminate an aversive stimulus
• Acquired and maintained through negative reinforcement
• Ex. Putting on a sweater to escape cold, taking aspirin to escape headaches
Avoidance conditioning - organism learns to completely avoid aversive stimulus
• Learn to respond before stimulus even begins
• Putting on sweater before you go outside
• Harder to extinguish
Example:
• Mouse learns to run to other platform when the platform it is on gets shocked (escape)
• Mouse learns that if the light is on, its platform is about to get shocked so it runs to
other platform (avoidance)
• Animal doesn’t hang around long enough to know if the shocks stopped, so its hard to
extinguish
Two-Factor Theory of Avoidance Learning - classical and operant are involved
• The light causes fear through classical conditioning
• And the fleeing is negatively reinforced by fear leaving
• Doesn’t explain everything about avoidance
• Why move towards something you fear (the light)?
• Why do some people develop phobias easier than others; biology and thinking
patterns play a role
• We have to admit that the animal is thinking: the animal expects a shock if the
light is on
Seligman
• Animals who had no control over their environment (i.e. both platforms have shocks in
them) develop “learned helplessness”
• Learn that there is no contingency between response and reinforcement
• Even if you give them a safe chamber, and show them that it is safe, they sit in the
corner and look clinically depressed
• Pet/plant therapy - give a person a pet/plant so they have control over something
Perception of Control (Glass and Singer)
• People put in a room with loud noises and tell them to do a task and they do poorly
• But if they give you a button that can “turn off the noise”, they perform better - but
they don’t use the button
Amygdala is responsible for fear conditioning (predicting danger)
• Sometimes fear conditions leads to misdirected fear response (PTSD, phobia)
• In PTSD, amygdala is unchecked by higher-mental process and becomes overactive
Cognition in Classical Conditioning
• Behaviorists believe classical conditioning creates a reflex-like connection
• Pavlov though a neural bond was formed
• Cognitive theories believe an expectancy link is formed
• Expectancy model - what matters is not how well the CS and UCS are paired buy how
well the CS predicts the UCS
• If you are pairing a tone and a shock, and you add random shock between the
tone + shocks, it ruins the pairing as the expectancy model predicts
• This is why other things present when you are conditioning (the light in the
room) do not become CS: these things do not consistently predict the response
• This is highly adaptive: we would have crazy reflexes without it
• The fact that forward pairing > simultaneous pairing > backward pairing is
proof the of the expectancy model
Cognition in Operant Conditioning
Awareness
• You have to be aware of the pairing
• The perceived connection is what matters, not the actual one (superstition, or
misinterpretation)
Latent Learning
• Rats put in a maze without food for 10 days
• Then suddenly give them food for solving the maze
• These rats can find the food as well as rats that have been trained to solve the maze
• They were latently learning - learning the occurs but is not demonstrated until there is
an incentive
Self Evaluation
• Why do we resist temptation for some things even if we have no chance of
punishment?
• Cognitive self-evaluations are internal reinforcers/punishers
• Through socialization, we internalize social standards that influence our actions
There is a third kind of learning called Observational Learning
• This is when you watch models and learn from them
• You aren’t actually being conditioned in any way
MEMORY CHAPTER 8
THE BASICS
Encoding (acquisition) - getting info into the system by translating into neural code
Storage (retention) - retaining info over time
Decoding (retrieval) - pulling info out of storage and using it
THREE COMPONENT MODEL
1
Sensory memory - holds incoming sensory info (visual or auditory mostly) just long
enough for it to be recognized
• Sensory registers - initial info processors
• Iconic store - visual sensory register; impossible to retain purely visual info
longer than a fraction of a second - called an icon
• Echoic store - auditory sensory register; longer than iconic - about 2 seconds called an echo
• Sensory register for other systems is very poor
2
Short-term/working memory - small portion of sensory memory enters this part,
which holds info we are conscious of. Called “working memory” because it is consciously
processing.
• Working Memory is also involved in recall:
Recall info goes from Long Term Memory → Short Term Memory → Output.
• Memory codes - forming mental image (visual), coding by sound (phonological),
focusing on meaning (semantic), patterns of movement (motor)
• ex Visually represent a phone number in your mind
• The form of the memory code does not always correspond to original stimulus words are visual stimulus but semantic/phonological coding
• You are more likely to have trouble remembering 10 words that sound the same,
not 10 words that mean the same thing. Hence words are coded phonologically.
• In STM, everything ends up as auditory code eventually so things that sound the
same are the most interfering
• Capacity/Duration - 7∓2 - “the magic number” of meaningful items that can be in STM
• A word is one unit, but if its letter are presented separately they are different
units. Combining units to aid memory is called chunking.
• Without rehearsal, short term info has 20 second lasting time.
• Maintenance rehearsal - ex. repeating a phone number to yourself - shallow
processing, useful for short-term
• Elaborative rehearsal - focusing on meaning of into, relating it to things we
know - more effective in transferring to long term, deeper processing
• Short term memory is not just a loading bay to the long term, it is “working memory”
that categorizes and cross-references info
• Auditory working memory (phonological loop) - repeating words to yourself
• Visual-spatial working memory (visuospatial sketchpad) - mental maps/images
• Episodic buffer - space to integrate long term memory with visual and auditory
working memory
• Central executive - directs the action, decides how much attention to give to
what (prefrontal cortex is involved)
• Forgetting (this also also applies in LTM)
• Decay - material gets old, fades away over time
• Interference - new material pushes old stuff out
• If you go to sleep right after learning, you retain info much worse because
of interference.
3
Long Term Memory
• We can form long-term memories until we die; there is unlimited storage
• In LTM, things are coded semantically (according to meaning) - so things that mean
the same are most interfering
Serial position effect - It is easier to remember first and last items in a list
Combination of two effects:
• Primacy effect - early words transfer to long term memory
• Recency effect - last words are still in short term memory
• Primacy effect can be removed by saying the list items faster
• Recency effect can be removed by asking you to count to 30 after the last item
Evidence that STM and LTM exist?
• People with brain damage, e.g. Clive Wearing
• One guy with STM loss gets better at a task, but doesn’t remember doing it
Effortful and Automatic Processing
Effortful - rehearsing, making lists, and taking class notes (ex. studying for test)
Automatic - info about frequency, spatial location, sequence, and timing (ex. the order
you did stuff in a day)
ENCODING
Structural encoding - how the word looks
Phonological/phonemic encoding - how the word sounds
Semantic encoding - what the word means
(are the letters capital)
(does it rhyme with ____)
(does it make sense here)
Levels of processing - the more deeply we process, the better we remember
• Sometimes it’s hard to know which activity is deep processing
• Even thousands of shallow processes won’t bring something to long term
memory
Want proof? Which one is the real penny. →
Using Organization and Imagery to enhance memory
Hierarchy - meaningful hierarchy causes better memory than random hierarchy
• Enhances understanding and uses imagery to supplement memory code
• Organizing stuff you’re trying to remember into hierarchy will help you
remember it
Chunking - organize info into smaller meaningful chunks
• Phone numbers are organized into three parts (999 - 8888 - 7777)
• CTVFBIKGB is easier to remember when you split it into CTV, FBI, KGB
Mnemonic devices - any sort of memory aid (hierarchy, chunking, acronym)
• Some argue acronyms don’t aid memory, only help you recall it if you are already
familiar with it
Visual imagery
• Dual coding theory - coding using both verbal and non-verbal cues enhances memory,
because it increases odds that one of the cues will be available
Dual coding is hard for some things - firetruck is easier to code visually, jealousy
is easier to code semantically
• Method of loci - imagine a distinct environment and form an image linking the place
to the item you want to remember
Prior Knowledge Shapes Encoding
Schema
• Schemas are “concepts”
• They are mental frameworks. An organized pattern of thought about something.
• Creates a readiness to perceive info a certain way
Acquiring “expert knowledge” is developing a schema
• Expert chess players are better than novices at remembering the pieces on a board, but
only when the pieces are in a logical position
• If they are placed randomly, they both remember just as well
• This is because the expert’s schema is only useful when the pieces are in a logical order
• You own schemas influence what you encode and remember
Memory as a Network
Associative network
• Memory is a massive network of associated ideas and concepts
• Memories are connected nodes in a web
• Nodes that are related are closer together (Semantic network)
• Priming - activation of one concept by another (spreading activation)
Neural networks
• In this model, neurons in your brain do not actually store any info
• Each neuron is small info processing unit
• “Concepts” or “memories” are activated when a specific pattern of neurons are fired
Types of Long Term Memory
• We have several LTM systems that interact
• Declarative memory - factual knowledge
• Episodic memory - factual knowledge concerning personal experiences (when,
where and what happened)
• Semantic memory - general factual knowledge about the world, language
• Procedural memory - skills and actions
• ex. Typing, bike, instrument
• These are classically conditioned responses
Explicit Vs Implicit Memory
Explicit memory - conscious and intentional memory retrieval
• Recognition - decide if a stimulus is familiar (multiple choice quiz, police lineup)
• Recall - spontaneous memory retrieval (essay, short-answer, fill in the blank)
• Cued recall - hints given to simulate memory
Implicit memory - memory unconsciously influences behavior
• Riding a bike, driving
• Priming - quickly read a list of words and later asked to finish fragments like KIT__,
MO___. You will finish them with the words you were read, even if you couldn’t recall
them originally.
RETRIEVAL
Retrieval cue - internal/external factor that stimulates info in LTM (ex. priming)
• Having multiple self-generated cues is the best way to remember
Involves deeper processing to self-generate multiple cues
They have personal meaning to you
And if one fails you have the others
Distinctiveness - if something is distinct from surrounding stimuli it is easier to
remember
• Weddings, romance, births/deaths, vacations are easier to remember because they are
distinct from everyday life
• To prevent study material from “all looking alike”, associate it with distinct personally
meaning info
Flashbulb memories - vidid clear snapshots of memories
• Can be positive or negative events
• Despite confidence people may have in them, they are not necessarily accurate
• Students asked 3 years apart about these memories give different responses, even
though they are confident each time
• People confidently say they saw the plane crash video on 9/11, or Diana’s crash on
TV even though thats impossible - neither was available at that time
Encoding specificity principle - memory is enhanced when conditions present during
retrieval match those during encoding
• Context-dependent memory - sights of school may trigger memories of friends,
teachers
• If you learn words underwater or in noisy rooms, they are remembered better in the
same environments
State-dependent memory - better retrieval when internal states are the same during
encoding and recall
• For example: Material learned while running is better recalled while running
• This may be part of the reason drugs seem to affect memory
• It works with arousal, but mood-dependent memory is not a reliable phenomenon. We
don’t need to be happy when we’re recalling if we were happy when we were learning.
• However, mood congruent recall is reliable: we tend to recall happy events if we are
happy - causes moods to perpetuate
FORGETTING
Ebbinghaus - studied relearning and savings percentage
• Studied memory by seeing how well he can recall “nonsense syllables” (DAX, BOK,
YAT)
• The problem was that he was his only subject, so his studies aren’t very generalizable
to the population
Improving Memory
• External aids - shopping lists
• General memory strategies - organizing, rehearsing
• Formal mnemonic techniques - acronyms
• Overlearning - continued rehearsal past point of initial learning
Sounds like it would bad, but its actually good. The more the better.
• Distributed learning is better than massed. Don’t cram.
• Arousal moderately high - not too high, not too low is the best for learning.
• Use imagery
Keyword method - think of highly visualize image and link it with new concept, have
words interact
Method of loci - place each item at a different “location”, also best with interaction
Peg method - take an easy list (ex. 1,2,3 or ABC) and use the items as “pegs” to hang
new info
Why do we forget?
• Encoding failure - not necessarily forgetting what we knew, but never encoding it to
begin with
• Decay theory - with time and disuse, the physical memory trace fades away
• Theory in debate
• Sometimes, when you are tested twice you do better the second time, which is
inconsistent with decay theory
• Proactive interference - material learned in the past interferes with recall of newer
material (your old phone number messes with remembering new one)
• Retroactive interference - new info interferes with your ability to recall old info (you
can’t remember your old phone number)
• The more similar the material, the more likely interference is
• Tip-of-tongue - when you feel like you’re just about to remember something. A
study shows that it’s possible that you never the knew the info at all, and the tipof-tongue was just an illusion.
• Repression - motivated forgetting of anxious events. Controversial idea.
Amnesia
• Retrograde amnesia - forget events prior to the amnesia
• Anterograde amnesia - can’t form new memories (Korsakoff’s syndome)
Dementia and Alzheimer’s
Dementia - impaired memory & other cognitive deficits that come with brain
degeneration
Alzheimer’s - most common among in those over 65. Half a million people have it.
• Forgetfulness, poor judgement, confusion, disorientation
• Death within 10 years
• Degeneration of temporal lobe, hippocampus - areas that turn STM into LTM
• Disrupts acetylcholine system (important for memory)
• Drugs that maintain acetylcholine temporarily improve it
• Anterograde and retrograde amnesia
• Affects procedural, semantic, episodic and prospective memory
Cause?
• Chromosome 21 defect (same as Down’s syndrome)
• Abnormal amount of “plaques and tangles”
• Viral damage to blood-brain barrier
• Not true that aluminum/zinc causes it
Treatment
• Nourishment and exercise
• “Smart drugs” (called nootropics) - piracetam, aspirin, or advil slows progression
• Brain grafts & vaccine being developed
Infantile (Childhood) Amnesia
• We can’t remember anything that happened when we were infants
• Why? Maybe we don’t encode them deeply? Maybe infants don’t have a self-concept?
Prospective Memory
• Remembering to do things in the future (ex. Remember to get eggs when I’m at the
grocery store)
• Good retrospective memory doesn’t mean good prospective memory
• Older adults tend to have worse prospective memory, but they are fine with pill-taking
tasks
MEMORY AS CONSTRUCTIVE PROCESS
• We can “reconstruct” memories by piecing together bits of info
• Student remember their grades as higher than they were, and
are more likely to remember A’s than D’s
Memory Distortion and Schemas
• “The War of the Ghosts” was an aboriginal tale retold by
englishmen
• The more time passed, the more “english” the story becomes
because of the teller’s schemas
Boundary extension - remembering something you saw as
being “wider-angle” than it really was
Misinformation effect - distortion of memory due to
misleading post-event info
• If the police officer is interviewing you about an accident you
say and he says “How fast were the cars going when they
smashed” or “...when they collided” or “ … when they
bumped”
• The word he chooses will affect how fast you will say they were going.
Source confusion - we recognize a thing as familiar but don’t know where we saw it
Ex.
• Show a witness 5 mugshots and ask them to identify the criminal - they say none of
them did it
• Then, two weeks later, show them 4 random mugshots and 1 mugshot from before
• Witness is very likely to say the one face they’ve already seen two weeks ago was the
criminal
They confuse the source of the familiarity.
People often forget that something they were told (ex. the thief wore gloves) was told
to them by someone else. They genuinely believe they saw the thief with gloves
because they forgot the source of the info.
People are very susceptible to suggestions! Eye-witnesses are notoriously inaccurate.
• Alcohol negatively affects witness accuracy
• Visual cues are easier to remember than audio cues
• Men and women are equally inaccurate witnesses, but men are more confident are
their inaccuracies
Children
• They are even more susceptible to
suggestions
• They believe what they are saying is
true, they aren’t lying
BIOLOGY OF MEMORY
Recovered Memories
• When a therapist gets someone to “remember” sexual
abuse that they had supposedly repressed
• Are recovered memories of sexual abuse accurate?
• Why were they forgotten for so long?
• Memory loss can follow psychological trauma, even
retrograde amnesia for info presented before the event
• However, inability to forget traumatic events
(flashbacks) is more likely than forgetting
• “Recovered memory therapy” may be implanting
memories by suggestion - approach with caution
• Lashley couldn’t find the “engram”
- the area of the brain where
memories are stored
• Penfield was able to trigger
memories by poking parts of the
brain, but these are most likely constructions rather than memories
• Flatworms can inherit the memories of other flatworms by EATING THEM. Results in a
theory that RNA is involved in memory. However, this experiment was not replaceable
in other organisms.
Sensory and Working Memory
• Using the visuospatial sketchpad (imaging something in your head) activates the same
parts of visual cortex as looking at actual object
• Frontal lobe: deeper encoding produces more frontal lobe activity
Long Term Memory
• Hippocampus helps convert STM into LTM, but it is not where LTM are stored
• Memory consolidation - the various components of a memory are processed in
different regions of the cortex and gradually bound together in the hippocampus
• Several brain regions are involved
• Thalamus damage also results can impair the encoding of new memories and the
retrieval of old ones
• Amygdala is responsible for emotional arousing aspects of LTM
Usually emotional stimuli are easier to remember. But if you have damage to
amygdala, this “memory advantage” disappears.
• Cerebellum is responsible for procedural memory
YOU MADE IT!
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