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Psychology 104 Notes
Chapter 1 – Psychology and Scien9:c Thinking
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Psychology
o American Psychology founded by William James (1842-1910)
o ScienABc study of the mind, brain and behavior
MulAple Levels of Analysis
o Lower level – Biological
 Molecular or Neurochemical Level
 Involves molecules and brain structure
o Medium level – Psychological
 Mental or Neurological level
 Involves thoughts, feelings and emoAons
o High level – Social Culture InPuences
 Social or Behavioral level
 Involves relaAng to others and personal relaAonships
MulAply determined
o Caused by many factors
Individual diQerences
o Help to explain why each person responds in a diQerent way to the same objecAve
situaAon (ex. InsulAng comment from a boss)
IntrospecAon
o method by which trained observers carefully rePect on their mental experiences
Structuralism
o aimed to idenAfy the basic elements or “structures” of psychological experience
FuncAonalism
o School of psychology that aimed to understand the adapAve purposes of psychological
characterisAcs
CogniAve Neuroscience
o RelaAvely new Beld of psychology that examines the relaAonship between brain
funcAoning and thinking
Psychoanalysis
o School of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud, that focuses on internal psychological
processes of which we’re unaware
EvoluAonary Psychology
o Discipline that applies Darwin’s theory of natural selecAon to human and animal
behavior
Naïve realism: is seeing believing?
o The belief that we see the world precisely as it is
ScienABc Theory
o ExplanaAon for a large number of Bndings in the natural world, including the
psychological wold
o OQers an account that Aes mulAple Bndings together into one preby package
Hypothesis
o Testable predicAon derived from a scienABc theory
Bias
o ConBrmaAon Bias
 Tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypothesis and deny, dismiss or
distort evidence that contradicts them
o Belief Perseverance
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 Tendency to sAck to our iniAal beliefs even when evidence contradicts them
Metaphysical claims
o Clams about our current word that is not testable
o Include claims about the existence of god, the soul and acerlife
Pseudoscience
o Set of claims that seem scienABc but isn’t
o Lack the safeguard against conBrmaAon bias and belief perseverance that characterize
science
6 Principles of ScienABc Thinking
1. Ruling out rival hypothesis
a. Have important alternaAve explanaAons for the Bndings been excluded
i. The results of the study could be due to the fact that people who
received the medicaAon expected to improve.
2. CorrelaAon is not causaAon
a. Can we be sure that A causes B?
i. EaAng ice cream (A) might not cause crime (B). both could be due
to a third factor (C), such as higher temperatures
3. FalsiBability
a. Can the claim be disproved?
i. We can’t design a study to disprove this claim
4. Replicability
a. Can the results be duplicated in other studies?
i. We should be skepAcal if no other scienABc studies have reported
the same Bndings.
5. Extraordinary claims
a. Is the evidence as strong as the claim?
i. The extraordinary claim required more rigorous evidence than a less
remarkable claim, such as the asserAon that people remember more
words from the beginning than from the end of the list
6. Occam’s razor
a. Does a simpler explanaAon Bt the data just as well?
i. It is more likely that your friends report is due to a simpler
explanaAon (ex. Frisbee instead of UFO)
Fallacies
o EmoAonal Reasoning Fallacy
 Error of using our emoAons as guides for evaluaAon the validity of a claim
o Bandwagon Fallacy
 Error of assuming that a claim is correct just because many people believe it
o Either-or Fallacy
 Error of framing a quesAon as though we can answer it only in one of two
extreme ways
o Not me Fallacy
 Error of believing we’re immune from errors in thinking that ajict other people
o Appeal to authority fallacy
 Error of accepAng a claim merely because an authority Bgure endorses it
o GeneAc fallacy
 Error of confusing the correctness of a belief with its origins or genesis
o Argument from anAquity fallacy
 Error of assuming that a belief must be valid because it’s been around for a long
Ame
o Argument from adverse consequences fallacy
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 Error of confusing the validity of an idea with its real-world consequences
Appeal to ignorance fallacy
 Error of assuming that a claim must be true because no one has shown it to be
false
NaturalisAc Fallacy
 Error of inferring a moral judgement from a scienABc fact
Hasty generalizaAon fallacy
 Error of drawing a conclusion on the basis of insulcient evidence
Circular reasoning fallacy
 Error of basing a claim on the same claim reworded in slightly diQerent terms
Chapter 2 – Research Methods
HeurisAc
o Mental shortcut or rule of thumb that helps us to streamline our thinking and make
sense of our world
Method
Advantages
Disadvantages
NaturalisAc ObservaAon
-High in external validity
-Low in internal validity
-Doesn’t allow us to infer
causaAon
Case Studies
-Can provide existence proofs
-Are typically anecdotal
-Allow us to study rare or
-Doesn’t allow us to infer
unusual phenomena
causaAon
-Can oQer insights for later
systemaAc tesAng
CorrelaAon Designs
-Can help us to predict behavior -Don’t allow us to infer
causaAon
Experimental Designs
-Allow us to infer causaAon
-Can someAmes be low in
-High in internal validity
external validity
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Internal Validity
o Extent to which we can draw cause-and-eQect inferences from a study
External Validity
o Extent to which we can generalize Bndings to real-world senngs
Case study
o Research design that examines one person or a small number of people in depth, ocen
over an extended period of Ame
NaturalisAc ObservaAon
o Watching behavior in real-world senngs without trying to manipulate the situaAon
Existence proof
o DemonstraAon that a given psychological phenomenon can occur
Random SelecAon
o Procedure that ensures every person in a populaAon has an equal chance of being
chosen to parAcipate
Reliability
o Consistency of measurement
Validity
o Extent to which a measure assess what it purports to measure
Response Set
o Tendency of research parAcipants to distort their answers to quesAonnaire items
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CorrelaAon Designs
o Research design that examines the extent to which two variables are associated
Illusionary CorrelaAon
o PercepAon of a staAsAcal associaAon between two variables where none exists
Experimental Expectancy eQect
o Phenomenon in which researchers’ hypotheses lead them to unintenAonally bias the
outcome of a study
Demand CharacterisAcs
o Cues that parAcipants pick up from a study that allow them to generate guesses
regarding the researches’ hypothesis
Random assignment
o Randomly sorAng parAcipants into groups
Exerimental group
o The group of parAcipants that deals with the manipulaAon
Control group
o The group of parAcipants that DO NOT receive the manipulaAon
Between-Subjects design
o In an experiment, researchers assign diQerent groups to the control or experimental
condiAon
Within-Subject design
o In an experiment, each parAcipant acts as his/her own control
Independent Variable
o Variable that an experimenter manipulates
Dependent Variable
o Variable that an experimenter measures o see whether the manipulaAon has an eQect
Placebo EQect
o Improvement resulAng from the mere expectaAon of improvement
Blind
o Not privy to certain informaAon
Informed consent
o Informing research parAcipants f what is involved in a study before asking them to
parAcipate
Chapter 3 – Biological Psychology
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Neuron
o Nerve cell specialized for communicaAon
Dendrite
o PorAon of neuron that receives signals
Axon
o PorAon of neuron that sends signals
SynapAc vesicle
o Spherical sac containing neurotransmibers
Neurotransmiber
o Chemical messenger specialized for communicaAon from neuron to neuron
Synapse
o Space between two connecAng neurons through which messages are transmibed
SynapAc clec
o A gap into which neurotransmibers are released from the axon terminal
Glial cell (glue)
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Cell in the nervous system that plays roll in the formaAon of myelin and the blood-brain
barrier, responds to injury, removes debris and enhances learning and memory
ResAng potenAal
o When the neuron isn’t acAve
o Commonly around -60 to -70 millivolts
Threshold
o Membrane potenAal necessary to trigger an acAon potenAal
o -55 millivolts
AcAon potenAal
o Electrical impulse that travels down the axon, triggering the release of neurotransmibers
o Must all Bre or no Bre (ex. Gun)
Absolute refractory period
o Time in which another acAon potenAal is impossible; limits maximal Bring rate
Graded potenAals
o PostsynapAc potenAals that can be excitatory or inhibitory depending on whether
posiAvely or negaAvely charged parAcles Pow across the neuronal membrane and in
which direcAon they Pow
Excitatory postsynapAc potenAal (EPSP)
o Graded potenAal in a dendrite that is caused by excitatory synapAc transmission
o PosiAve Ions
Inhibitory postsynapAc potenAal (IPSP)
o Graded potenAal in a dendrite that is caused by inhibitory synapAc transmission
o NegaAve Ions
Receptor Site
o LocaAon that uniquely recognizes a neurotransmiber
Reuptake
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Means of recycling neurotransmibers
Neurotransmiber
Glutamate
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)
Acetylcholine (ACh)
Norepinephrine
Dopamine
Seratonin
Endorphins
Anandamide
Selected Roles
Main excitatory neurotransmiber in the central
nervous system; parAcipates in relay of sensory
informaAon and learning
Main inhibitory neurotransmiber in the central
nervous sysyem
Muscle contracAon and CorAcal Arousal
Brain arousal ad other funcAons like sleep mood
and hunger
Motor funcAon and Reward
Mood and temperature regulaAon, aggression
and sleep cycles
Pain ReducAon
Pain reducAon, increase in apeAte
PlasAcity
o Ability of the nervous system to change
 Neurogenesis
o CreaAon of new neurons in the adult brain
 Stem Cell
o A cell, ocen originaAng in embryos, having the capacity to diQerenAate into a more
specialized cell
Central Nervous System
Cortex
 Frontal Lobe – Performs execuAve fucAons that coordinate other brain
areas, motor planning, language and memory
 Parietal Lobe – Processes touch informaAon, integrates vision and touch
 Temporal Lobe – Processes auditory informaAon, language and
autobiographical memory
 Occipital Lobe – Processes visual informaAon
Basal Ganglia
Controls movement and motor planning
Limbic System
 Thalamus – Conveys sensory informaAon to the cortex
 Hypothalamus – Oversees endocrine and autonomic nervous system
 Amygdala – Regulates arousal and fear
 Hippocampus – Processes memory for spaAal locaAons
Cerebellum
Controls balance and coordinated movements
Brain Stem
 Midbrain – tracks visual sAmuli and rePexes triggered by sound
 Pons – conveys informaAon between the cortex and cerebellum
 Medula – regulates breathing and heartbeats
Spinal Cord
Conveys informaAon between the brain and the rest of the body
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Corpus Callosum
o A large band of Bbres connecAng the two cerebral hemispheres
Limbic System
o EmoAonal centre of the brain that also plays role in smell, moAvaAon, and memory
Cerelbellum
o Brain structure responsible for our sense of balance
ReAcular AcAvaAng system (RAS)
o Brain area that plays a key role in arousal
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Peripheral Nervous System
o SomaAc nervous system
 Carries messages fom the CNS to muscles throughout the body, controlling
movement
 Whenever we stabilize or move our many joints, the CNS co-operates with the
somaAc nervous system to regulate our posture and bodily movement
o Autonomic Peripheral System
 Interacts with our SNS to bring about sensaAon and behaviour
 Part of the nervous system controlling the involuntary acAons of our internal
organs and glands; along with the limbic system, it parAcipates in emoAon
regulaAon
The Endocrine System
o System of glands and hormones that controls secreAon of blood-borne chemical
messengers
o Pituitary gland
 Master gland that under the control of the hypothalamus, directs the other
glands of the body
o Adrenal Gland
 Tissue located on top of the kidneys that releases adrenalin and corAsol during
the states of emoAonal arousal
Chromosome
o Slender thread inside a cell’s nucleus that carries genes
Gene
o GeneAc material, composed of DNA
Genotype
o Our geneAc makeup
Phenotype
o Our observable traits
Dominant gene
o Gene that masks other genes’ eQects
Recessive gene
o Gene that is expressed only in the absence of a dominant gene
Heritability
o Percentage of the variability in a trait across individuals that is due to genes
Chapter 4 –Sensa9on and Percep9on
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Illusion
o PercepAon in which the way we perceive a sAmulus doesn’t match its physical reality
SensaAon
o DetecAon of physical energy by sense organs, which send informaAon to the brain
PercepAon
o The brains interpretaAon of raw sensory inputs
TransducAon
o The process of converAng an external energy or substance into electrical acAvity within
neurons
Absolute Threshold
o Lowest level of a sAmulus needed for the nervous system to detect a change 50 percent
of the Ame
Just NoAceable DiQerence
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o The smallest change in intensity of a sAmulus we can detect
Signal DetecAon Theory
o David Green and John Swets (1966)
o Describe home we detect sAmuli under uncertain condiAons
Synesthesia
o A condiAon in which people experience cross-modal sensaAons
 Hear sounds when they see colors
Pupil
o
Circular hole through
 Lets light in
Cornea
o Part of the eye containing transparent cells that focus light on the reAna
 Bends light
Lens
o Part of the eye that changes curvature to keep images in focus
 Focuses light for near or far vision
ReAna
o Membrane at the back of the lens to focus on objects near or far
 Converts incoming light into nerve impulses
Fovea
o Central PorAon of the reAna
 Where light rays are most strongly focused
Rods
o Long and Narrow, more numerous
 Used to see in low levels of light
Cones
o Small cones, less numerous
 Give us color vision, requires more light
Blind Spot
o Region of the reAna that contains no rods and completely devoid of sense receptors
Loudness
o Amplitude or height of the sound wave
Timbre
o Complexity of the sound
Cochlea
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Bony, spiral shaped sense organ used for hearing
 Converts vibraAon into neural acAvity
OlfacAon
o Sense of smell
GustaAon
o Sense of taste
Taste bud
o Sense receptor in the tongue that responds to sweet, salty, sour, biber, umami and
perhaps fat.
Orbitofrontal Cortex
o The part of the brain that the taste and smell
Somatosensory
o Sense of touch, temperature and pain
PropriocepAon
o Sense of body posiAon
Semicircular canals
o Three Puid-Blled canals in the inner ear responsible for our sense of balance
Two Types of Processing
o Bobom up processing
 Processing in which a whole is constructed from parts
o Top down processing
 Conceptually driven processing inPuenced by beliefs and expectancies
Gestalt Principles
o Proximity
 Objects physically close to each other tend to be perceived as uniBed wholes
 3 rows of dots close to each other
o Similarity
 All things being equal, we see similar objects as composing a whole, much more
so than dissimilar objects.
 Ex. Red, Yellow, Red, Yellow, Red, Yellow
o ConAnuity
 We sAll perceive objects as wholes, even if other objects block part of them
 + = l + -o Closure
 When parAal visual informaAon is present, our brains Bll in whats missing
 Dashed squares and circles
o Symmetry
 We perceive objects that are symmetrically arranged as wholes more ocen than
those that aren’t
 l><><l = (l><l)(l><l)
o Figure Ground
 Perceptually we make an instantaneous decision to focus abenAon on what we
believe to be the central Bgure
 Cup or people kissing
Perceptual Set
o Set formed when expectaAons inPuence percepAons
Perceptual constancy
o The process by which we perceive sAmuli consistently across varied condiAons
 Shape of a door ex. rectangle closed trapezoid closed
Depth percepAon
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Ability to judge distance and three-dimensional relaAons
 Monocular depth cues
 SAmuli that enable us to judge depth using one eye
o RelaAve Size
 Further away objects look smaller
o Texture Gradient
 Texture is less obvious further away
o InterposiAon
 Closer object blocks view of further one
o Linear PerspecAve
 Outlines of buildings increase as distance grows
o Height in plane
 Distant objects appear higher, nearer appear lower
o Light and shadow
 Objects cast shadows to show their 3D form
 Binocular depth cues
 SAmuli that enable us to judge depth using both eyes
Chapter 5 – Consciousness
 Circadian rythym
o Cyclical changes that occur on a roughly 24-hour basis in many biological
processes
 Biological clock
o Term for the superchiasmaAc nucleus (SCN) in the hypothalamus that’s
responsible for controlling our levels of alertness
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Sleep Disorders
o Insomnia
 Dilculty falling or staying asleep
o Narcolepsy
 Disorder characterized by the rapid and ocen unexpected onset of sleep
o Sleep Apnea
 Caused by blockage of the airway during sleep, resulAng in dayAme faAgue
o Night Terrors
 Sudden waking episodes characterized by screaming, perspiring and confusion
followed by a return to a deep sleep
o Sleepwalking
 Walking while fully asleep
Dreams
o Freuds dream protecAon theory
 Believes dreams revealed hidden wishes and desires
 Wish fulBlment- how we wish thing would be
o AcAvaAon-Synthesis Theory
 Dreams represent brain acAvaAon in sleep, rather than an unconscious wish.
 Makes sense of randomly and internally generated neural signals during REM
sleep
o Dreaming and the forebrain
 Damage to:
 deep frontal white maber which connects parts of the cortex to the
lower parts of the brain
 parietal lobes
 Can lead to complete loss of dreaming
o NeurocogniAve perspecAves on dreaming
 Explaining dreams in the terms of neurotransmibers and random neutral
impulses don’t tell the full story
PsychoacAve Drug
o Substance that contains chemicals similar to those found natural in our brains that alter
consciousness by changing chemical processes in neurons
 Marijuana
Tolerance
o ReducAon in the eQect of a drug as a result of repeated use, requiring users to consume
greater quanAAes to achieve the same eQect
Withdrawl
o Unpleasant eQects of reducing or stopping consumpAon of a drug that users ad
consumed habitually
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Physical Dependence
o Dependence on a drug that occurs when people conAnue to take it to avoid withdrawal
symptoms
Psychological dependence
o Dependence on the drug that occurs when conAnued use of the drug is moAvated by
intense cravings
SedaAve
o Drug that exerts a calming eQect
HypnoAc
o Drug that exerts a sleeping eQect
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What is the DiQerence? What is the same?
 Dendrite vs. Axon
 Experiment and correlaAon study
 Science and pseudoscience
 Rods and cones
 Somatosensory and motor cortex
 Classical and operant condiAoning
 DissociaAon and intoxicaAon
 Opiates and psychadelics
 Implicit and explicit memory
 Primary and secondary emoAons
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