Lectures 2 & 3 and Chapter 1 1. What are the goals of Psychology: description: what, explanation: why, prediction: when, control:how 2. Understand the distinction between nativism/empiricism (nature/nurture). Empiricism: nurture, knowledge gained through experience (senses) Nativism: nature, idea that our thoughts, ideas, characteristics are inborn 3. What is the scientific method? Used so that bias and error in measurement are reduced. Know the steps involved: perceive, hypothesize, test, draw conclusions, report/revise/replicate4. What are the three types of research designs? Know the advantages and disadvantages of the three types of designs. Descriptive research (describe): case studies, surveys, lab observations: easy and inexpensive to get data, may not represent population you are interested in Correlationalresearch (measure, predict): quantitatively, does not specify cause and effect Experimental research (explain): not always ethical, not always feasible Laboratory observation: more control, specialized equipment, do not always match up with real life behaviors Naturalistic observation: allows researcher to get the real behavior, however, could change behavior if know being watched 5. Know what a survey is and what things you need to be careful about when using surveys: ascertaining self-reported attitudes, opinions, behaviors of people, representative sample is key6. Problems with surveys: wording effect, knowledge, representativeness 7. What is the difference between a negative and a positive correlation? Know how to determine the strength of a correlation. What is an illusory correlation: perception of relationship where none exists, order in random events: people always looking for patterns 8. What is the relationship between correlation and causation? Correlation does NOT mean causation9. Know the 3 measures of central tendency (mean, median, range) and why one may be better than another (skewed distribution: median better measure of central tendency than mean)Key TermsBehaviorism: Watson, emphasized objective, scientific analysis of observable behavior, looked at behavior and it’s measurement rather than “consciousness”, stimuli and response, rewards and punishments Case study: individuals studied in great detail, do not know if one person’s experience will be the same as othersControl group: subjected to IV and who may receive a placebo treatmentCorrelation: measure of relationship between 2 variablesDependent variable: measurable response or behavior of the subjects in the experimentExperimental group: subjected to the IVFunctionalism: William James, functions of mind, how our minds adapt to our changing environment, heavily influenced by DarwinHypothesis: tentative explanation of a phenomenonbased on observationsIndependent variable: manipulated by the experimenterPopulation: entire group of people or animals in which the researcher is interested Psychoanalysis: Freud, look into early mind; belief that childhood experiences greatlyinfluence the development of later personality traits and psychological problems, unconscious conflict and postevents Random assignment: assigning subjects to the experiment or control groups randomly, each subject of population has an equal chance of being selected in either groupRepresentative sample: randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjectsStructuralism: elements of mind, study of most basic elements, primary sensations/perceptions that make up our conscious mental experiences, involves introspection, Wilhelm Wundt: considered founder of modern psychologyLectures 4 & 5 and Chapter 21. What are the properties of an action potential: all or none response, intensity always the same, input to dendrites crosses threshold and cell fires, generated by the movement of positively charged atoms in and out of channels in axon’s membrane2. Know how neurons communicate with each other (understand the lock and key analogy for neurotransmitters and receptors). Antagonist: blocks or reduce a cell’s response to action of other chemicals or neurotransmitters Agonist: mimics or enhance effects of neurotransmitter on receptor site of next cell, increase/decrease activity of that cell3. Know the distinction between the autonomic: division of PNS, includes sympathetic and parasympathetic, controls all involuntary muscles, organs, and glands somatic: division of PNS, controls voluntary movements of skeletal muscles, sensesCNS, CNSvoluntary muscles sympathetic: part of ANS, react to stressful events and bodily arousal, flight or fight parasympathetic: part ANS, calming, restores body to normal functioning after arousal, rest and digest, day-to-day functioning of organs and glands 4. What are the techniques used to study the brain (clinical observation/lesions, EEG, PET, MRI)? How do they work (in general)? PET: ingest radioactive glucose, scanner detects where glucose goes while brain performs a given task, color coded image MRI: can look at soft tissue, can see structure of brain, very good spatial resolution EEG: amplified recording of electrical waves sweeping across brain’s surface, measured by electrodes placed on scalp, great temporal resolution, poor spatial resolution 5. What are the 4 lobes of the cortex? Frontal lobe: located in front and top of brain, higher mental processes and decision making, production of fluent speech Temporal lobe: area of cortex just behind temples, sense of hearing and meaningful speech Occipital lobe: rear and bottom of each hemisphere, visual center Parietal lobe: top and back of each hemisphere, center for touch, taste, temperature, sensation 6. Where are the motor and sensory cortex located? What types of information do they process? How are they organized? Motor cortex: rear of frontal lobe, controls voluntary movements Sensory cortex: front of parietal lobe, processing information from skin and internal receptors for touch, temperature, body position, taste 7. What is aphasia, and what brain areas are involved? Is the brain plastic: neuroplasticity: ability within the brain to constantly change both structure and function of many cells in response to experience or trauma, sculpted by genes and experience Broca’s aphasia: unable tospeak fluently, mispronounce words, speak haltingly Wernicke’s aphasia: unable to understand or produce meaningful language Key TermsAssociation areas: areas within each lobe, responsible for coordination and interpretation of
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