PSY 111 1st Edition Final Exam Study Guide Lectures 1 41 Psychology and Science Lectures 1 3 Psychology The scientific study of mind and behavior What do psychologists do o Academic Basic research university teaching o Applied Clinical therapy and counseling Industry marketing human factors Government education policy Fields and Perspectives of Psychology Fields o Biological biological sources of behavior o Cognitive thought memory learning o Social how people act and interact in different situations attitudes and belief prejudice o Developmental changes in behavior across the lifespan o Clinical causes and treatments of mental health problems as well as ordinary life problems o Personality individual differences of certain characteristics among people Perspectives o Biobehavioral the key to understanding behavior is understanding the biology supporting it o Cognitive view the mind as an information processing machine very loosely akin to a computer o Evolutionary the human brain and mind as it exists today is the result of specific evolutionary changes that helped out ancestors solve the problems they faced for survival o Positive focus on human strengths and positive attributes rather than problems o Psychodynamic people are strongly influenced by unconscious conflicts and motivations o Sociocultural emphasize the critical role culture and society play in shaping human psychology Scientific Method Theory a set of principles that predict and explain an entire facet of nature Hypotheses a specific prediction about a facet of nature Parts of an Experiment Methods of research Descriptive observational research does not provide data cannot be used to make causal claims provides inspirations for future research o naturalist observation research is conducted in a real world setting no particular hypothesis no intervention by the researcher o case studies in depth observation of a single person or group may continue for a long time most common with severe clinical cases traumatic brain injuries o self report person describes their own behavior and thoughts often unreliable Correlational examines two or more features and compares their relationship often with a specific prediction o Correlation does not imply causation Experimental systematically changing one or more features and examining the changes that occur in the others o Only way to definitely establish causes How to get data Introspection Self report Observing and reporting about one s own mind o Very vulnerable to confirmation bias often unreliable Observing Behavior Majority of data is behavioral observed with hypotheses in mind o Can be descriptive correlational or experimental Neuroimaging Record exactly what is going on in the brain o Can be difficult to interpret usually supported by behavioral data History and Systems Lecture 4 Early Schools of Psychology Naturalism all that exists is the observable measurable world o Supernatural phenomena do not exist Scientific Naturalism all that can be reliably studies is the observable material world o Weaker claim endorsed by most scientists Functionalism focus on the functions and purposes of the mind rather than the mental structures Structuralism focus on breaking down experience and the mind into separate structures Behaviorists behavior as the subject of psychology o Thought emotion motivation and other internal mental activity should be ignored in theories and experiments The Brain and Nervous System Lectures 6 9 Relationship between the Mind and the Brain Dualism there are two qualitatively different kinds of substances that make up a person o Matter can be objectively measured and observed the body and the brain o Something else cannot be measured Neurons neurons allow communication throughout the body Dendrites branches that reach out from the cell body o Receive information as chemical signals released by other neurons Axons the tail that stretches off the cell body o Transmits information from the cell body to other neurons Axon Terminal branching bulbs at the end of the axon Release chemical neurotransmitters that cause other neurons to be fired or suppress neural impulses Synapse the point where the sending and receiving neurons meet Process o A neuron receives a signal from other neurons o The neuron reaches a threshold and fires o The neuron releases a signal o Other neurons receive that signal Parts of the brain Hindbrain evolutionarily oldest basic biological functions Midbrain pathways between the hindbrain and forebrain Forebrain evolutionarily newest voluntary behavior emotions thoughts Lobes o Occipital processes visual information o Parietal process sensory information o Temporal process auditory information involved in learning memory and emotions o Frontal processes language movement reasoning and planning primary motor cortex Cerebellum coordinates motor movement and sensory input Medulla regulates many biological survival functions Pons regulates sleep Nervous System Peripheral all of the nerves that spread from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body o Somatic allows us to interact with the world voluntary behavior Afferent process sensory information Efferent send impulses to activate muscles o Autonomic automatic involuntary system o Sympathetic fight or flight response o Parasympathetic maintains homeostasis Sensation and Perception Lectures 10 12 Sensation detecting raw physical or chemical energy through the sense organs Perception organization and interpretation of sensory signals by the brain How sense organs gather information The Eye o Cornea clear outer covering of the eye o Iris colored circular muscle controls how much light enters the eye o Pupil center of the eye through which light enters o Lens located behind the pupil bends to focus in or out o Retina tissue in the back of the eye with photoreceptors Photoreceptors Rods photoreceptors specialized for seeing at night Cones photoreceptors specialized for seeing color during the day Olfaction and Gustation o Detect chemical signals o Smell the nose contains mucous membranes that contain olfactory receptors o Taste the tongue is covered in taste buds with contain taste receptors Tactition o Sense organ is skin Visual Ambiguity shape and orientation interdeterminacy light source reflectance and shadow interdeterminacy size and distance interdeterminacy Inverse projective problem the retina records visible light as a 2D image Visual cues Shape o Likelihood principle objects are