Chapter 5
Consciousness: the internal and external awareness of one’s stimuli
Structure of Consciousness
a)Conscious awareness of yourself and your environment, it is controlled(aware of things) you decide
what you will focus on, it is sequential, linear (a than b than c) Components of awareness: 1) external
environment 2)internal sensation 3) awareness of self 4) other thoughts
b)Preconscious : easily retrieved, e.g.// stored knowledge
c) Subconscious: automatic processing of sights, sounds, sensation e.g // you don’t feel your clothes
(your mind has access to a lot of info however you just don't pay attention to it because you don’t need it)
d)Freud’s Unconscious: repressed memories; impulses, difficult to retrieve; accessible in dreams, often
people will not be in touch with these contents.
e)Non- conscious: physiological processes are not available to awareness, Can be influenced through
conscious intent Eg// blood pressure – you can be trained to control it.
Stream of consciousness: William James; continuous flow, consciousness is always changing
Mind wondering: People’s experience of task-unrelated thoughts, thoughts that are not related to what
they are intentionally trying to do at the moment.
Controlled and Automatic process: the distinction between what just seems to happen and what we
control about our mental process
EEG: Electroencephalography: device that monitors the electrical activity in the brain over time by means
of recording electrodes attached to the surface of the scalp. EEG summarizes the rhythm of cortical
activity in the brain; brain waves (vary in amplitude; height and frequency; cycles per second)
Brain Waves: Divided into 4 principles brands 1)beta(13-24 cps) 2)alpha(8-12cps) 3)theta(4-7cps)
4)delta(under 4cps)
Biological rhythms: are periodic functioning’s in physiological functionning. We have internal biological
clocks that somehow monitor the passage of time.
Circadian Rhythms: the 24 hour biological cycles found in humans and many other species. Influences the
regulation of sleep, body temp, arousal and other physical functions: blood pressure, urine production,
hormonal secretions, short term memory, and alertness. Biological clocks are adjusted by light. Some
receptors in the retina send direct input to a small structure in the hypothalamus called the supachiasmatic
nucleus (SCN) leads to secretion of melatonin which contributes to sleep regulation
Jetlag: caused by getting out of rhythm of your circadian rhythm. Flying West is easier, lengthening your
day then travelling East which shortens your day. Getting over jetlag is usually takes 1 day for each time
zone crossed.
Melatonin and Circadian rhythms: Melatonin helps regulate the human biological clock, can reduce the
effects of jet lag but the timing of the dose is crucial.
The Sleep Cycle: Stage 1: Light sleep 1-7 min. (theta waves).Heart rate slows, breathing slows, body muscle
tension and body temp, Low frequency in EEG activity. Theta waves are prominent. Hypnic Jerks (brief
muscular contractions that occur as people fall asleep
Stage 2: 10-25 min. (sleep spindles: higher frequency brief bursts in brain waves), May involve some
dreaming, Can wake the person up easily. Body moves into a deeper sleep called slow-wave sleep (SWS
consists of sleep stages3-4 during which higher amplitude, low frequency delta waves become prominent in
EEG recordings, people stay here for about 30 minutes)
Stages 3 & 4: deep sleep. 30 min. slow-wave sleep (delta waves) Longer in the first part of the night. When
sleepwalking and night terrors occur, Usually within the first 2 hours of sleep, High amplitude, low frequency
delta waves become prominent in EEG readings, Alcohol, drugs effect this sleep cycle.
Stage 5: REM sleep 20% of sleep (beta waves), Hard to wake up the person, irregular breathing and pulse
rate. Muscle tone is extremely relaxed, virtually paralyzed. Rapid eye movements (REM) & dreaming. Gets
progressively longer in later part of the night. High frequency, low amplitude brain waves. (resembles the
EEG of a person who is awake and alert) Most REM sleep occurs at a later sleep.
The Neural Bases of Sleep: ARAS (ascending reticular activation system; system that transmits messages to
the limbic system and hypothalamus, triggers release of hormones and neurotransmitters, and facilitates
functions such as learning, memory, and wakefulness, contributes to the neural regulation of sleep and
waking)
Sleep Disorders: Insomnia: most common, chronic problems in getting adequate sleep; difficulty falling
asleep, difficulty remaining asleep, persistent early morning awakening. Causes; anxiety, emotional problems,
back pain, ulcers, other health issues and use of stimulant drugs (cocaine & amphetamines) Treatment:
sleeping pills but are poor long term solutions, become less effective with time. Narcolepsy: disease marked
by sudden and irresistible onsets of sleep during normal waking periods. Person goes from full wakefullness
to REM sleep. Sleep Apnea: frequent, reflexive gasping for air that awakens a person and disrupts sleep.
Person stops breathing for 10 seconds. Nightmares: anxiety arousing drams that lead to awakening, usually
from REM sleep. Night terrors: abrupt awakening from NREM sleep accompanied by intense automatic
arousal and feelings of panic. Somnambulism: Sleepwalking.
The World Of Dreams:
Lucid Dreams: realizing that you are dreaming while still in dream state.
Theories in Dreaming:
Sigmund Freud: the principle reason as to why we dream; wish fulfillment.
Rosalind Catwright (cognitive, problem solving view) Dreams provide an opportunity to work through
everyday problems, people can creatively think about problems because dreams are not restricted by logic or
realism.
J.Allan Hobson & Robert McCarley: (activation synthesis model) biological view, a story is created to
make sense of internal signals, dreams have nothing to do with your life, random neural-firing, just
housekeeping. Downplays the role of emotional factors.
Consequences of sleep deprivation: Medical conditions, obesity, stroke, cardiovascular disease, excessive
drinking, high blood pressure, immunity to disease is reduced, increased inflammation in the body.
Tips for Sleep Success
1) Develop a consistent bedtime routine
Train your body to know what to expect
To develop a routine:
Wake up at the same time/Go to bed at the same time
Make small incremental changes (e.g. by 15 minutes)
2) Use principles of conditioning
Bed should be associated with sleep (not with alert activities)
Don’t stay awake in bed for more than 20 minutes
3) Expose yourself to bright light early in the day
Will reset your clock
4) Avoid excessive caffeine after 2 p.m.
5) Schedule “worry time”
Ruminating at night does not solve anything and is useless
Do your worrying and find solutions earlier in the day
MOVIE WATCHED IN CLASS: Cognitive Behavioural Therapy : (purposely depriving one of sleep)
-Sleep Hygene: relaxation therapy, when you are tense you bring the tension to bed, journal, no coffee,
exercise, take a hot bath (3-4) hours before bed, to raise body and brain temperature, worry time and
make your waking up time regular.
Hypnosis: a systemic procedure that typically produces a heightened state of suggestibility, may lead to
passive relaxation, aroused attention, enhanced fantasy. High hypnotizability is made up of; absorption
(capacity to reduce or block peripheral awareness and narrow the focus), dissociation (ability to separate
aspects of perception, memory, identity from mainstream of conscious awareness) and suggestibility
(tendency to accept direction and information relatively uncritically).
Hypnotic Phenomena: Anesthesia; withstand surgery, Sensory distortions and hallucination,
Disinhibition; reduce inhibition, do things you normally would not do, Posthypnotic suggestions and
amnesia; influence person’s later behavior, you will remember nothing after this.
Theories of Hypnosis:
Hypnosis as Role Playing: normal state of consciousness where people act out the role of a hypnotized
subject. To prove this; 1) effects have duplicated by non hypnotized participants or have been shown to be
exaggerated 2) acting out a role.
Altered state of consciousness: Ernest Hilgard, splitting off of mental process into two separate
simultaneous streams of awareness. One stream; between hypnotist and external world, Other; hidden
observer. Eg// patient doesn’t respond to pain because pain isn’t registered with the portion of
consciousness that communicates with other people. Highway hypnosis
Meditation: family of practices that train attention to heighten awareness and bring mental processes
under greater voluntary control.
Altering Consciousness with Drugs
Psychoactive Drugs: chemical substances that modify mental emotional or behavioral functioning
Generally people prefer drugs that elevate their mood.
Narcotics or Opiates: drugs derived from opium that are capable of relieving pain, heroin, morphine
Overwhelming sensation of europhia or well being. Side effects: weariness, nausea, impaired mental and
motor functioning.
Sedatives: sleep inducing drugs that tend to decrease central nervous system (CNS) activation and
behavioral activity. “ downers” .Effects are similar to drinking large amounts of alcohol, loosened
inhibitions. Side Effects: drowsiness, unpredictable emotional swings, severe impairment in motor
coordination. Benzodiazepine drugs.
Stimulants: drugs that tend to increase central nervous system activation and behavioral activity
Ranges from caffeine & nicotine to cocaine. Causes increased alertness and energy, enthusiastic. Cocaine(briefer high)I can conquer the world feeling, increased alertness. Side Effects: stimulants vary in dosage
and potency includes restlessness anxiety, paranoia and insomnia.
Hallucinogens: LSD, mescaline, psilocybin. Diverse group of drugs that have powerful effects on
mental and emotional functioning marked more predominantly by distortions in sensory and perceptual
experience. LSD
Produces erophia, increased sensory awareness, profound personal insights, distorted sense of time,
“mystical: feelings, they can also create nightmarish feelings, impaired judgment.
No physical dependence, psychological dependence is rare.
Cannabis: hemp plant from which marijuana, hash and THC are derived. Mild relaxed europhia and
enhanced sensory awareness. Anxiety, sluggish mental functioning, impaired memory.
Mechanisms of drug action: Psychoactive drugs exert their effects by selectively altering the mesolimbic
dopamine pathway may be responsible for the reinforcing effects of many drugs.
Psychoactive drugs alter neurotransmitter (chemicals that transmit info between neurons at synapses)
activity in the brain.
Drug dependence exists when a person must continue to take a drug to avoid withdrawal illness.
Symptoms: from heroin, alcohol-> are fever, chills, tremors, convulsions, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea and
severe aches. Withdrawal from stimulus-> fatigue, apathy, irritability, depression, feeling of
disorientation.
a) For each of the 5 stages of sleep, what kind of brain wave pattern is predominiant? What notable
behaviour occurs?
Stage 1 – theta waves, hypnic jerks
Stage 2 – theta waves with sleep spindles, some dreaming
Stage 3 – delta waves, sleepwalking & night terrors
Stage 4 – delta waves, sleepwalking & night terrors
Stage 5 – beta waves, rapid eye movements & dreaming
b) How does the duration of REM sleep change (if at all) as one progresses through the sleep cycle?
You stay in REM sleep for longer each subsequent time
Chapter 6- Learning
PAVLOV - DROOLING DOGS, CLASSICAL CONDITIONING; SKINNER - PIGEONS DOING
COMPLEX TASKS, OPERANT CONDITIONING; WATSON - LITTLE ALBERT, CONDITIONED
PHOBIA; BANDURA - BOBO DOLL, OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING (OF VIOLENCE)
Learning: refers to a relatively durable, permanent change in behavior or knowledge that is due to
experience.
Phobias: irrational fears of specific objects or situations
Conditioning: involves learning association between events that occur in an organism’s environment.
There are 3 conditionings in learning (Classical, Operant, Observational)
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING (Ivan Pavlov) Begins with unconditioned stimulus that creates an
unconditioned response, then neutral stimulus is paired with unconditioned stimulus that creates a
conditioned response
Conditioned: Learned (salivation to tone) unconditioned: unlearned (salivation to food, natural)
Reflexive, automatic learning.
Classical conditioning is used to manipulate emotions
Unconditioned Stimulus: stimulus that evokes an unconditional response without previous conditioning
(always causes reflective response)
Unconditional response: is an unlearned reaction to an unconditional stimulus that occurs without
previous conditioning. (Innate, unlearned response) - child bitten by a dog has a phobia of dogs
Conditioned stimulus: something pairing with unconditioned stimulus. bell rings, dog salivates, no
food. Previously neutral stimulus that has through conditioning, acquired the capacity to evoke a
conditioned response.
Conditioned response: leaned response to neutral stimulus.
BASIC PORCESSES IN CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Acquisition: Initial stage of learning something, forming new responses.. Occurs when CS and UCS
are paired, gradually resulting in a CR.
Generalization: occurs when a CR is elicited by a new stimulus that resembles the original CS. (e.g.
different tones)
Extinction: weakening conditional response. Gradual weakening and disappearance of a conditioned
response. Occurs with the presentation of the CS alone (e.g. tone) until it no longer elicits a CR. Note on
the treatment of phobias, and spontaneous recoveries of conditioned responses.
Discrimination: occurs when a CR is not elicited by a new stimulus that resembles the original CS.
Higher-order conditioning: occurs when a CS functions as if it were a UCS. CS is tone at first then CS is
tone and red light.. tone is taken away and the dog still salivates at the red light.
OPERANT CONDITIONING: (Skinner) Reinforcement. Forms of learning in which responses come to
be controlled by their consequences- EG// do something in order to avoid punishment or get a good
response.
-voluntary, spontaneous responses (studying, going to work, telling jokes)
Law of effect: rewarded behavior is more likely to re-occur
Positive Reinforcement: primary (fulfillment..food, sleep) secondary (praise, approval, recognition)
-occurs when response is strengthened because it is followed by the presentation of a rewarding stimulus
-its persistent in our lives eg// people go to work to get money, children act as angels during Christmas to
hopefully get more presents
Negative Reinforcement: response is strengthened because it is followed by a removal of aversive or
unpleasant stimulus
-responses that terminate a negative or aversive situation are reinforced. Aversive situation, avoiding
something. Eg// giving candy to a crying child
-seat belt beep will not go away until you put your belt on
-studying because you don’t want to fail(negative)
- A student drinking coffee is reinforced when the students drowsiness is relieved.
Escape Learning and Avoidance Learning
Schedules of reinforcement: Determines which occurrences of a specific response results in the
presentation of a reinforcer.
Continious reinforcement: every instance of a designated response if reinforced
Intermittent reinforcement/ partial reinforcement: occurs when designated response is reinforced only
some of the time. This is more resistant to extinction.
There are 4 types of intermittent reinforcements:
1) Fixed ratio schedule: the reinforcer is given after a certain number of nonreinforced responses.
2) Variable ratio schedule: the reinforcer is given after a variable number of nonreinforced
responses.
3) Fixed interval schedule: reinforcer is given for the first response that occurs after a fixed time
interval has elapsed.
4) Variable interval schedule: reinforcer is given for the first response after a variable time interval
has elapsed.
Punishment: involves the presentation of an aversive or unpleasant stimulus
Occurs when an event following a response decreases the tendency to make that response.
Excessive drinking---- > terrible hangover --- > less likely to drink excessively again
Drawbacks of punishment: punished behavior is not forgotten, it is suppressed.
Physical punishment increases aggression through modeling (you learn it)
MOST effective punishment: removal of privileges used with an explanation, should be accompanied by
positive reinforcement.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING: (Albert Bandura) occurs when organisms responding is influenced by
the observation of others. Both CC and OC can take place during this learning.
-OL depends on the process of attention (pay attention to another persons behaviour and its
consequences), retention (store a representation of what you have witnessed in your memory)
reproduction (try to do what you have observed) and motivation (must be motivated to reproduce the
observed response)
Bandura’s Doll experiment: 3-5 yr. old children in 4 experimental conditions:1) Live, aggressive model2)
Filmed, aggressive model3) Cartoons with aggressive acts4) No exposure to aggression (control
condition)Results: Groups 1, 2 & 3 showed significantly greater no. of aggressive acts (i.e. hits against
bobo doll) than the control condition
Steps in self modification program
1) Specify your target behavior that you want to change
2) Gather baseline data
3) Design your program (select a reinforce, arrange rewards or control of past history, punishment)
4) Execute and evaluate your program
5) Bring program to an end
List 3 factors that are thought to lead to drug abuse and briefly describe how they exert this effect.
1) Genetics – fewer dopamine receptors leads to more pronounced pleasurable effects of drugs
2) Depression – use drugs to cope with difficult feelings
3) Peers – use drugs to fit in with friends
2) List 4 drawbacks to using punishment as a way of controlling behaviour.
3) Sample Answer:
4) 1 – does not eliminate behaviour, only suppresses it in the present
5) 2 – can lead to a generalized fear of things similar to punishment
6) 3 – doesn’t provide constructive feedback about desired behaviour
7) 4 – when physical, it can increase aggression response
Chapter 7- Memory
Encoding: (keyboard) getting information in, involves forming a memory code. Requires attention. How
does info get into memory
Storage: (hard drive) involves maintaining encoded memory over time. How does info stay in memory
Retrieval: (monitor) getting it out. Recovering information from memory stores. How is info oulled back
Attention: entails a selective focus on certain input, enchances encoding.
Coctail party syndrome: hearing yourname at a bar while you are having conversation of your own and
not paying attention to others.
Early Selection: input is selected before meaining is processed. Late selection: filtering after process
occurs.
Levels of processing theory: deeper levels of processing refilt in larger lasting memory codes.
Enriching Encoding: elaboration (linking a stimulus to other information at the time of encoding)
thinking of examples to elaborate the idea. Visual Imagery: creating visual images to remember. It is
easier to create images for concrete words than ones with abstract concept. Self-referent encoding:
making material personally meaningful. Involves deciding how or whether he information is personally
relevant.
Maintaining Information in the Memory
Sensory Memory: preserves information in its original sensory form, but only stays for a fraction of a
second. There is a brief preservation of the sensations which gives you additional time to recognize the
stimuli.
Short- term Memory: limited capacity store that can maintain unrehearsed information for up to 20
seconds. By engaging in rehearsal (continually verbalizing or thinking about the information) you can
maintain information. We depend on phonemic encoding (what a word sounds like, P remembered as E
because it sounds alike) It can only hold on to 7 + or – 2 pieces of info. You can chunk (group of familiar
stimuli stores into one unit)info together to increase capacity of your short term memory.
Adam Baddeley, Working memory
Long Term Memory: is an ultimited capacity store that can hold info over lenghty period of time. One
theory suggests that LTM is permament, people “forget” only because they cant retrieve info.
By stimulating brain (temporal lobe) with electrical shock, people remembered past experiences.
Flashbulb memories: unsually vivid and described recolactions of momentanous events. Eg//
remembering where you were during the twin towers crash.
Organizting long- term memory
Conceptual hierarchies : multilevel classification system based on common properties among items
Schemas: organized cluster of info about an object or event
Smenaic netweorks: consists of concepts joined together by pathways linking related concepts
Connectionist networks: PDP models assume that memories consist of patterns of activation in
connectionist networks that rememble neural networks.
Forgetting : Ebbinghaus’s work suggests that most forgetting occurs very rapidly, but subsequently
research indicated that his forgetting curve was exceptionally steep.
-
Why we forget: due to ineffective encoding.
Decay theory: memory traces fade with time, but decay does not appear to be a factor in long
term memory
Inheretency theory: people forget info because of compettion from other material.
Forgetting is often due to retrieval failure, may include repression.
Forgetting curve: Herman Ebbingams, we forget things very rapidly after we learn them
-
Motivaed forgetting: repression, keeping distressed thoughts and feelings buried in the
unconsious.
Measures of forgetting
 To measure forgetting we also have to measure retention . Retention (proportion of material
retreived)
 There are 3 principles used to measure forgetting; recall( requires subjects to reproduce info
without any cues) recognition ( subjects select previously learned info from options), relearning
(subjects memorize info a second time and determine hwo much time or practice trials are saved
by having learnt it before)
Organic amnesia: entensive memory loss due to head injury. There are two types;
Retrograde amnesia : loss of memories for events that occured before the onset of amnesia
H.M -Anterograde amnesia: loss of memory of events after the onset amesia. H.M suffered from epilepic
seizures, was having 11 a week, had surgery to rekieve debilitating epileptic seizures, but the surgery
wiped out his ability to form long term memories. No recolection of anything happening since 1953. Now
researchers believe that entire hippocampul region and its surroundings are important in long term
memory.
Systems and types of memory
Implicit: (apparent when retention is exhibited on a task that does not require intentially remembering) vs
Explicit: involves intentional recollectiong of previous experiences.
Declaritive (handles factual info, recollections of words,names, dates,facets, ideas) vs procedural memory
( memory for actions, skills, operations, conditioned response)
Semantic (general knowledge that is not toes to the time when the info was learned) vs episodic (made up
of chronological, temporarilu daes, recollections of personal experiences)
Prospective memory (remembering to perform actions in the future) vs retrospective memory
(remembering events from the past or preveiously learned info)
Memory systems in the brain:
Long-term potentiation : long lasting increase in neural excitability at snynapses along a specific neural
pathway.
Neurogenesis: the formation of new neurons, may contribute to the sculpting of neural circuits that
underline memory.
Consolidation: hypothetical process involving the gradual conversion of info into durable memory codes
stored in long term memory. Role of hippocampus amygdala (learned fear memories), prefrontal cortex
(working memory & central executive), left hemisphere (phonological loop), right hemisphere
(visuospatial sketchpad)
List 5 strategies for improving your memory.
Sample Answer:
1 – Pay close attention during the encoding phase
2 – Use deep processing rather than shallow processing
3 – Use mnemonics- rhymes, acronyms, link method(forming mental image of items to be
remmebered in a way that links them together), method of loci (taking an imaginary walk along a familiar
poath where imges of otems to be remembered are associated with cetain locations), keyword method
(associate a concrete word with an abstract word to generate an image)
4 – Use a number of different memory-enhancing strategies
5 – Minimize interference
6 - be organized
Chapter 8- Thinking - starting from page 344
How do we know what we know? Authority, reason, observation
Deductive Reasoning: Drawing a conclusion that follows logically from two or more statements or
premises. Note: **If one of the premises is false, then conclusion must be false
Inductive Reasoning: Goes from particular to general.
Cognitive psychologists: study reasoning, judgments, decision making and problem solving.
Making choices about preferences, quirks and complexities:
- Choices are not always rational, they can be swayed by incidenyal emotional fluctuations.
- Comparative evaluations; dynamics and implications of comparative and separate evaluations can
be different
- Evaluation in isolation
- Brand familiarity, price. Eg/ more expensive wine is tastier
Factors weighed in risky decision:
- calculate expected value of particapation.
- To explain decisions that violate this principle, subjective utilities which represents what an
outcome is personally worth to an individual.
- Subjective probability: if they don’t actually know the probabilities of an event then they estimate
it personally.
Types of Problems: Jim Greno has proposed that problems can be categorized into 3 basic classes
1) Problems inducing structure: discovering relationships between numbers, words, symbols or
ideas. Eg//series completion problems & analogy problems
2) Problems of arrangement: aranging the parts of the problem that satisfies some criterion. Usually
solved by burst of insight rather then series of small steps Eg// string problem and anagrams
3) Problems of transformation: carrying out a sequence of transformation in order to reach a specific
goal. Solved by planned sequenced steps. Eg// hobbits and orcs problem and water jar problem.
Barriers to Effective Problem Solving:
1) Irrevalent info
2) Functional Fixedness: perceiving an iten only in terms of its most common use
3) Mental Set: exists when people persist in using problem solving strategies that have worked in
the past. Stress: soldiers in war action (parachute, left handed soldier)
4) Unnecessay Constraints: assumpting that there are constraints when there arent. The nine dot
problem.
Approaches to Problem Solving:
1) Using algorithms & Heuristics: trial and error, trying possible solutions and discarding those
that are in error until one works. Algorithms (step by step procedure for trying all possible
alternatives in searching for a solition to a problem) Herustic (rule of thumb, discarding some
alternatives and persuing selective ones that appear more likely to lead to a solution)
2) Forming subgoals: creating intermediate steps towards a solution.
3) Working Backward: for questions with a specified end point use this.
4) Searching for Analogies: using this strategy depends on recognizing that two problems are
similar.
5) Changing the Representation of the Problem: how you envision the problem ; tables, spatially,
numerically and so on…
Culture and Problem Solving: Field dependence involves reliance on external frames of reference,
whereas field independence involves reliance on internal frames of reference.
Decision Making: evaluating alternatives and making choices among them.
Simon’s theory of bounded rationality: asserts that people tend to use simple strategies in decision making
that focus pon only a few facets of abailable options and often result in “irrational” decisions that are less
optimal.
Problems in Judgement and Decision Making. Heuristics (mental shortcuts) in Judging Probabilites:
1) Overconfidence Effect: putting too much faith in their extimates, beliefs and decisions
2) Availability: involves basing the estimated probability of a event on the ease with which relevant
instances come to mind. Eg// estimating divorce rate by recalling the number of divorces among
friends OR are there more words that start with K or have K as the third letter of the word.
3) Representatives: based on stereotype. shortcut to conclusion using judgement. Involves basing the
estimated probability of an event on how similar it is to the typical prototype of that event.
4) The Conjunction Fallacy: odds of two uncertain events happening together are greater than the
odds of either one of them happening alone. The probability of being in a subcategory cannot be
higher than the probability of the entire category. It is logically impossible. Eg// is she a social
worker or a social worker that is a feminist. Attributed to Representative Heuristic. VEN diagram.
5) The framing effect: how decisions issues are posed or how choices are structured. People sure the
“sure thing” instead of a risky gamble. When seeking to obtain gains, people tend to avoid risky
options, however when seeking to cut their losses, people are much likely to take risks.
6) Alternative Outcomes Effect: Perceived likelihood of a certain outcome is influenced by the
distribution of alternative outcomes. We tend to feel more optimistic with one situation rather
than the other. Eg// 90% rate living vs 10% that you may die
The tendency to ignore base rates: in risky decision making, people usually think they can beat the odds.
Eg// salespersons outnumber librarians
Gamblers Fallacy: the belief that the odds of a chance event increase if the event hasn’t occurred recently.
The law of small numbers: likelihood of misleading results is much greater in a small sample than a large
one. The misplaced faith in small samples.
Overestimating the improbable: people tend to overestimate dramatic, vivid but infrequent events that
receive heavy media coverage.
Belief bias effect: we tend to judge as true those conclusions which we agree and as untrue those in which
we disagree. This is how people become closed minded. eg// Yes, all women are intelligent
Confirmation Bias: seeking out and favouring information that supports your beliefs. Sticking to the
belief despite the contradictory evidence.
COMMON COGNITIVE DISTORTIONS: ways that our mind convinces us of something that isn’t really
true.
1) Arbitrary inference: drawing unfavourable conclusions about self without evidence (mind
reading, fortune telling) Eg// getting a B+ on an essay, but the absence of comment could make
the student to think the teacher didn’t like the essay, thinking you did something wrong.
2) Magnifying and Minimizing: dwelling on the negative and discounting the positive
3) Overgeneralization: viewing a negative event as a never ending pattern of defeat
4) Reasoning from how you feel: I feel stupid, therefore I must be stupid”
5) Personalization: taking blame for events that are unintended or beyond ones control
Critical Thinking: Self directed and self corrective thinking. Ability to make objective judgments on the
basis of well-supported reasons and evidence. Rather than basing your judgment on emotion or anecdotal
evidence. Eg// Margarine is one molecule away from plastic.
To Improve: To improve:
 Remember common pitfalls
 Define your terms concretely
 Examine the evidence
 Be aware of your biases
 Avoid emotional reasoning
 Avoid simplistic explanations

Tolerate uncertainty
Chapter 9- Intellegence (page 376)
Basic components of intelegence: 1) verbal intelegence 2) practical intelegence 3) social intelegence
Common Definition of Intelegence among psychologists: 1) capacity to adapt (if you are able to adapt
and move on, aka handle the circumstances at hand) eg// success in university & fishing in the south
pacific. 2) learning from experience (figure out why something did or didn’t work and made corrections)
3) to think abstractly, solve problems affectively.
-lower IQ people usually know very concrete,tangable things. Higher IQ people do mental operations, can
do less concrete problems.
General Factor Theory- G factor (Spearman)
 Spearman developed an advance statistical procedure called factor analysis
 Used factor analysis to examine the correlation amongs test of many specific mental abilitie.
 Concluded that all cognitive abilities share an important core factor, which he labeled g
 Intellegence is a unitary attribute
 Processing capacity handles all your problems
 Spearman’s G factor explains the correlation between scored of subtests of IQ measures
 Specific mental talents are highly correlated
 All cognitive abilities share a common core
Garner’s 8 Intelegences
 Thought that traditional IQ tests are oo narrow, said that tests should sample from a wider range
of tasks
 People tend to show a mixture of strong, intermediate and weak abilities which is consistent with
the idea that the various types of inteligence are independent.
Sternberg’s Intelegence:


More basic distinction, he says that there are 3 types of intelegence
Acedemic, creative, practical
Emotional Intelegence: important component of success in life. It is more important for your ability to
move ahead in life than acedemic intelegence only. Involves self awareness (know your weaknesses and
improve) self regulation (being able to put your own emotions in check) eg// cant perform because you
broke up with your bf, empathy (studied in doctors, doctors in lower EI were much more likely to get
sued, because they didnt take the time to be empathetic with their patients), people skills, motivation.
Assesment of Intelegence:
 First IQ test: Concept of IQ was devised to identify children with learning difficulties – Binet
(1905) first was used to identify and recognize children who needed special education.
 The test was migrated to America by Terman in 1916. No longer only testing children, testing
adolecsents as well.
 8 year old child, performing at a 10 year old, multiply by a 100= IQ
 IQ- mental age/ chronological age x 100 (this is not used anymore) doesnt hold for certain age
groups
Modern Tests
 Welchers Adult Intellegence Scale – Revised (WAIS-R) : most widely used, most reliable and
recognized intelegence measured.
 This measures components include Verbal IQ and Performance IQ (non-verbal, visual-spatial
skills)
 This is more culturally appropriate, a person with english as a second language can be weighed
less heavily in the verbal section.
 Distribution follows a normal curve. Few people on extreme ends, bulk of the population in the
middle.
What are the determinants of intelegence : Heredity and Environment

Heredity : Genetics – in a population 50% to 70% of the differences among people are based on
genetics
 Roll of genetics – because you have smart parents doesn’t mean you are going to be as smart
 Twin studies- identical twins are more similar in intelligence than fraternal twins, suggesting that
is at least partly inherited.
 Heredity ratio: an estimate of the proportion of trait variability in a population that is determined
by genetic variations.
 Having the same genetic makeup will have more of an influence of intelligence than
environmental factors.
 Environment
 Adoption studies: adopted children show some IQ resemblance to their foster parents and to their
adoptive siblings
Reaction range: environment makes a big difference in IQ scores. Eg// rats in enriched cage vs rats in
deprived environment. Can make you jump from one category to the next in IQ tests. It is critical to
provide as enriched environments as possible.
 Reaction range explains how two people with similar genetic potential can be quiet different in
intelligence.
 Posits that heredity sets limits on ones intelligence and that environment factors determine where
people fall within these limits
1) Similarities – Verbal IQ – explain how 2 words are similar 2) Arithmetic – Verbal IQ – solve
mathematical word problems 3) Picture Completion – Performance IQ – determine what is
missing from a picture 4) Block Design – Performance IQ – put together blocks to make a
pattern