Chapter 8 Anatomy and Biochemistry Anatomy parts of the brain Biochemistry effects of neurotransmitters and hormones on brain processes Research methods Brain Damage Brain Stimulations Brain Activity and Imaging Ascending Reticular Activating System Connects cerebral cortex to the rest of the brain first Amygdala Left Frontal Lobes and Neocortex Right Anterior Cingulated Cortes Biochemistry Neurotransmitters Dopamine Serotonin Prozac Biochemistry Hormones Epinephrine and Norpinphrine Testosterone Cortisol Oxytocin Chapter 9 Behavioral Genetics How to Calculate heritability Heritability Coefficient Phenotype theorized to regulate balance of arousal by allowing information into the brain believed to distinguish extraverts from introverts currently does not control all info flow Links perception and thoughts with emotional meaning assesses whether a stimulus is threatening or rewarding Higher cognitive functions brain asymmetry social understanding and self control Pleasant Emotions approach inhibition to unpleasant stimuli Unpleasant emotion withdrawal Important for experiencing emotions controls emotional responses and behavior impulses possible implications for extraversion and neuroticism Involved in reward and approaching attractive objects and people possible relations with extraversion bipolar disorder and impulsivity activates the behavior activation system related to plasticity Inhibition of behavioral impulses particular emotional impulses Prozac a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor increases serotonin levels controversial psychological effects Chemicals that affect the body in places different from where they were produced Released in response to initial stress fight or flight response females may respond differently to stress Link with aggression is complex related to many other behaviors in men and women role in control and inhibition of aggression and sexuality Relates in response to stress low levels related to PTSD Role in mother child bonding romantic attachment and sexual response decreases fearfulness gives you sense of safety security and bonding Attempts to explain how personality traits are passed from parent to child examine how genes influence broad patterns of behavior Proportion of observed variance in scores that can be attributed to genetic factors Observable traits Genotype What does heritability tell you Debate over importance of family Reserch and examples of gene environment interaction Evolutionary personality psychology Purpose Behaviors related to evolution Aggression and altruism Self Esteem Sociometer Theory Complications to research Depression Mate selection Buss 1989 Mating strategies Stress Tests Methodology Reproductive Instinct conservatism Human Flexibilty Gender Differences Eagly and Wood 1999 Chapter 10 Bio of Freud Underlying genetic traits Genes matter etiology of disorders disorders with very low heritability are likely to be due to environmental factors insight into the effects of the environment on personality development This is a debate with each side saying different things No genetic studies on the effect of shared family environment research with self report Yes developmental psychology effects of parent training based on behavioral observation Attempts to explain how patterns of behavior that characterize all humans originated in the survival value of these characteristics Identify common behavior patterns and then determine how the behavior was adaptive Increases protection Evolved to monitor how accepted we are by others These are is a reason we have self esteem it lets us monitor how accepted or unaccepted we are by society in general Pain signals that something is wrong and must be fixed Want the highest likelihood of healthy offspring who will survive and reproduce the difference is how this goal is reached Women who are too thin cannot bear children larger women used to be considered ideal Mate Selection what males and females valued in a mate across cultures finding that both made decisions based on the highest likelihood of fertile offspring Differences between men and women desired number of sexual partners faithfulness to partner selectivity of partners Backward speculation is difficult to test empirically R alternative explanations are always possible specific prediction can be tested People do not have to consciously try to do what is evolutionary adaptive This is scientifically irrelevant just because something is natural does not mean it is good We are evolved to behave flexibly and we can overcome innate urges Rally nature vs nuture Found that in societies with greater gender equality women less concerned with men s earning capacity men less concerned with women s housekeeping skills Medical doctor left Austria when Hitler came to power Key Ideas and Modern Interpretations Psychic Determinism Internal Structure Id Ego Superego Psychic Conflict Compromise Formation Mental Energy Libido Controversy over Theory Fundamental Motives Libido Thanatos Secondary Process Thinking Ego Primary Process Thinking Id Where can this process be seen Levels of consciousness Conscious Preconscious Unconscious Psychoanalysis Chapter 11 Anxiety psychic v realistic conflict Defense Mechanisms and Modern Thoughts Denial Research believed war proved that people are aggressive and destructive became a psychiatrist Everything that happens in a persons mind including everything a person thinks and does has a specific cause The mind is made of separate parts that function and can conflict with each other Irrational and emotional wants what it wants when it wants it Rational compromises make sense of whatis going on moral The mind can conflict with itself The egos main job the middle ground used in modern psychoanalytic thought Assumption that the psychological part of the mind needs energy Mental energy the amount of energy is fixed and finate Moral do not like emphasis on sex and sexual energy Scientific theory in unscientific Personal people do not want to be told why they really did something especially when you are correct Libido and Thanatos Life force or sexual drive creation projection and enjoyment of life Drive towards death introduced later to account for the destructive activity such as war and the fact that everyone dies Conscious thought rational and practical able to delay or redirect gratification develops second less important role The way the unconscious mind operates does not contain the idea of no goal is immediate