General Psychology Review

Exam 1

Overview of Psychology

Contemporary Perspectives
Neuroscience
Behaviour is due to internal physiological, chemical, and

biological processes i.e. nervous system, brain activity, genetics, biochemistry

Evolutionary View
Behaviour is due to the evolution process/natural

selection Behaviour tendencies seen in all humans Needed to survive

Behaviour Genetics
Behaviour is due to nature as well as nurture i.e. Minnesota twin study

Contemporary Perspectives
Behavioural View
Behaviour is due to only environment

Study of behaviour and effects of learning Reward/punishment factors

Cognitive View
Behaviour is due to whats going on in our mind- mental

processes of information Interpretation of input yields output

Psychodynamic View (aka psychoanalytical or Freudian)
Behaviour is due to forces within our unconscious personality i.e. sex drive, anger, childhood experiences, dream

interpretation, free association

Sociocultural View
Behaviour is due to our social and cultural environment i.e. parents, economic status, ethnic customs

Biopsychosocial Approach
Behaviour is Examples
Biological Genetic history Chemical imbalance Medication Psychological Internal conflicts Low self-esteem Illogical thinking patterns Sociocultural Stress Quality of medical treatment plan Lack of family support

due to biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors This is the model usually used in analysis of case studies (i.e. in the case of Andrea Yates)

Areas of Specialization
Psychiatrists
MD Diagnosis and treatment of psych disorders Can prescribe medications

Psychologists
PhD No medical degree Can provide medication only in some states (i.e. New

Mexico)
Psychoanalysts
Either psychiatrist or psychologist Special training in Freudian theory

Areas of Specialization
Clinical Psychology
Diagnose and treat

Counseling Psychology
Similar to clinical; people with less severe problems

Developmental Psychology
Mostly researchers; study change in the way people

think
Experimental Psychology
Experiments in various areas on both people and

animals (learning, memory, perception, motivation)

Social (Personality) Psychology
How human behaviour is affected by the presence of

other people
Neuropsychology (Biopsych)
Biology based

Areas of Specialization
Health Psychology
Human behaviour patterns/stress reactions to physical

health; improve/maintain good health

School Psychology
Conduct assessments (i.e. IQ tests/ LD/ IEP) and

provide consultation/counseling
Sports Psychology
Help athletes prepare mentally for a game

Forensic Psychology
Profilers; examining criminal evidence

Industrial/Organisational Psychology
Relationships between people and their work

environments

Research Methods

Types of Research Studies

Descriptive Methods Just describe behaviour or phenomena Not cause/effect i.e. case study, survey, observation

Case Study
Study on an individual or phenomenon in great

detail Freuds theories were based on case studies

Advantages Potential to develop novel hypothesis Provides detailed descriptions of specific and rare cases Disadvantages Cant test hypothesis Cant draw cause and effect relationship Cant generalize to wider population

Survey
Report behaviours and opinions Can be conducted in person or via a

questionnaire Have many cases with less in-depth studying

Advantages Can get private info Cover a lot of material Survey hundreds of people Inexpensive Disadvantages Careful of wording of questions Social desirability In order to generalize results, need to have a representative sample of cases/individuals *random sampling!

Naturalistic Observation
Observe individual in everyday environment

Record everything the person is doing without

making changes in their environment

Advantages Disadvantages More realistic behaviours Observer effect than in a lab subject knows theyre Naturally occurring being watched behaviour Observer bias High external validity observer has particular opinion about what he/she will see or expect to see Difficulty with rare behaviours Extraneous variables

Experimental Studies
The only studies with an explanation

There must be a manipulation of a variable

Random assignment
Experimental vs. Control group Randomize who is in which group to control for

confounding variables

Independent and Dependent Variables

The independent variable is the thing the

experimenter changes in order to observe how it alters the dependent variable The dependent variable depends on the independent variable Example:
A study in conducted to see if eating turkey will

lessen the amount of time it takes a person to fall asleep. The control group ate no turkey before bed and took, on average, 32 minutes to fall asleep. The experimental group ate one serving of turkey before bed and took, on average, 14 minutes to fall asleep.

Random Selection vs. Random Assignment

General Population Random sampling Study Sample Random assignment Control group Experimental Group

Single-Blind vs. Double-Blind Experiments

Single-blind design
Subjects dont know which group theyre in. Can

help reduce the effects of placebo effect

Double-blind design
Experimenters dont know which group subjects are

in either. Can help reduce the effects of experimenter expectancy effect

Potential Limitations of Experimental Design

Placebo Effect
Expectations ban influence participants behaviour

Experimenter Expectancy Effect

The experimenters behaviour may cause

respondent to change their behaviours

Hawthorne Effect
When a participants knowledge of being studied

affects their behaviour Difficult to eliminate completely but can be minimized

Potential Limitations of Experimental Design

Observer Bias
Subjects know theyre being watched

Observer Effect
Observer has particular opinion about what he/she will see or

expect to see
Experimenter Bias
They might see things the way they hope to see them

Experimental Setting
Needs to be consistent (i.e. light, noise, people)

Experimental Procedures
Needs to be consistent (i.e. time of day, measures)

Small Sample Size

Shouldnt happen (except in case studies)

Homogeneous Sample Size

Be careful how you generalize results Dont generalize beyond bounds of experiment

Potential Limitations of Experimental Design

Fatigue Effect
Time of day, length of study, etc. can cause this

Practice Effect
If the study is offered a second time, the participant

has already had practice; you shouldnt test the same person twice
Confounding Variables
Gender, age range, IQ Sometimes you should get a baseline assessment

in one of the variables

Correlations

Neuroscience

 Axon The extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers,

through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands

Dendrites The bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages

and conduct impulses toward the cell body

Myelin Sheath A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many

neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next
Synapse The junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the

dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap

Communication Process of Neurons

Neurons
The smallest part of neuroscience; bundles of

neurons are nerves; send and receive messages

The ions that are involved in neuron signaling are

Na+, Cl-, and K+ At rest it is

Mostly negative inside and mostly positive outside There is an imbalance of ions inside and outside.

Only the potassium is allowed in and out Its resting potential is -70mV

Communication Process of Neurons

When a neuron becomes excited:
1. Threshold of Excitation It goes from inhibitory (more negative) to excitatory (more positive) Goes from -70mV -55mV when neurons start letting sodium in 2. Action Potential This is the neural impulse It holds the message in for now and the impulse will only be released at full strength or not at all 3. Refractory Period After an impulse is sent, sodium is closed out and the neuron begins to fall back to resting potential Meanwhile, the impulse goes on the next neuron, again to be either moved along or rejected

Imaging Techniques
EEG
Monitors brainwave activity

CAT
Computerized x-rays Brain structure Detects stroke damage, tumors, injuries, etc.

MRI
3D image/slice Very detailed

PET
Looks at brain activity Uses radioactive glucose See what is activated during various tasks

fMRI
Monitors energy from hemoglobin molecules Shows brain structure and brain activity

Brain Structure and Functions

Medulla
Coughing, sneezing, swallowing, vomiting, breathing Crosses over left/right brain input Damage to this can lead to paralysis

Pons
Sleep, dreams, coordinates, emotions, arousal/alertness

Reticular formation
Selective attention, arousal/alertness Damage can lead to a coma

Cerebellum
Balance, muscle coordination Alcohol affects it Damage to it can lead to ataxia- slurred speech, severe

tremors, and loss of balance

Brain Structure and Functions

Limbic System
Thalamus and Hypothalamus Relay of sensory information Damage may result in loss of all or some sensation (except smell) Regulates body temperature, thirst, hunger, sleeping, waking, sex drive, and emotions Hippocampus Learning/memory Converts short-term memories into long-term memories Spatial memory (i.e. directions)

Cortex (the wrinkly part)

Complex thought processes Planning, problem solving, decision making, multitasking Left/right hemispheres connected by corpus collosum

Lobes of the Brain / Areas

Occipital Lobe Processes information from eyes Parietal Lobe Processes information through taste, touch, temp Temporal Lobe Processes auditory information Frontal Lobe Higher mental processes Planning, personality, memory, decision making, emotions, motor

commands
Brocas Area Production of speech Damage to area affects ability to speak properly Wernicke's Area Understanding of language (meaning of words) Damage leads to use of wrong words but the person doesnt think

theyre using the wrong words

Developmental Psychology

Prenatal Development
Stages
Zygote (0-2 weeks)

Embryo (2-8 weeks) Fetus (9 weeks-birth)

Teratogens
Environmental agents that cause damage to the embryo/fetus

In the first stage, they usually lead to spontaneous miscarriage In the second stage, they usually lead to major defects In the third stage, they usually lead to minor defects
Example Alcohol can lead to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (physical and sometime development disorder)

Newborns
Reflexes (eye blink, rooting, sucking, swimming, Babinski,

Moro, Palmer grasp, Tonic neck, Stepping Habituation (respond to novelty)

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor (0-2y)
Motor activity for exploration Sense of taste

Limitations
A not B search error (until 12-18m) Object permanence (Peek-a-boo effect) at 8-12m

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

Preoperational (2-7y)

Symbolic function appears Representational schemas Internalize actions Rapid language development Very inquisitive Pretend Play Thinking is rigid Egocentrism Animism (magical thinking) Lack of Conservation Centration (only focus on one aspect of a situation) Reversibility (cant go back to starting point mentally) Difficulty with Hierarchical Classification (based on similarities/differences)

Limitations

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

Concrete Operational (7-11y)
Logical thought, flexible, organised Successful at conservation Can do reversibility Declining egocentrism

Seriation (6-7y: place objects in order by height or

weight)
Limitations
Cant work with abstract ideas Difficulty understanding hypothetical situations Inductive reasoning

Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development

Formal Operational (11- )
Mental actions and operations are performed on

ideas and propositions Hypothetical deductive reasoning (ability to think hypothetically and reason from general to specific Inductive reasoning (going from specific to general)
Limitations
Children vs. Adult thinking (many think theres

something after this stage) Learning is active Development is more continuous Also cultural/ social factors

General Psychology Review

Exam 1