Psychology The scientific study of behavior and mental processes Scientific Various ways of knowing Intuition Personal experience Authority Empiricism systematic observations Major goals for studying psychology Describe and measure behavior explain and understand behavior predict and control behavior Behavior and Mental Processes affect behavior and cognition only behavior can be directly observed and objectively measured Experiment A research procedure in which the psychologist manipulates one variable and measures the effect of that manipulation on a second variable Experiments and only experiments can establish casualty Variable Any characteristic of an object event or a person which can take two or values Independent variable The variable that is manipulated in the experiment Drug dosage room temperature Dependent variable The variable that is being measured in an experiment It is expected to change as a result of the manipulation of the independent variable Its value therefore depends on the value of the independent variable Depressed mood aggressiveness a control or comparison group Need a control or comparison group that receives a different value of the independent variable random assignment to condition A procedure in which participants are assigned to experimental group or the control group dif conditions on basis of chance and only chance Cancels out any variables other than the independent variable that could explain my results Some variables cannot be manipulated SES smoking depression number of children years of education culture age relationship status They can still be studied by measuring them as they naturally occur Correlation research looking for relationships in measured variables Correlations have magnitude and direction Magnitude is the strength of the relationship between the two measured variables Direction is the direction of relationship positive correlation As one variable increases the other tends to increase attractiveness and popularity Negative correlation as one variable increases the other tends to decrease weight and self esteem Big limitations of correlation research no random assignment Correlations therefore cannot establish a cause and effect relationship Variable x might have an effect on variable y Variable y might have an effect on variable x Variable z might have an effect on x and y Neuropsychology Neuron structure neuron electrochemical signals cell body dendrites receiving end axon sending end axonal branching terminal buttons synapse neuron function action potential neuron is polarized ion exchange across cellular membrane neuron depolarizes depolarization reaches critical level electrical signal travels quickly down axon binary all or none law release of neurotransmitters neurotransmitters excitatory makes post synaptic neuron more likely to fire inhibitory makes post synaptic neuron less likely to fire importance of synapse reuptake or enzymatic degradation Serotonin has to do with sleep eating mood Dopamine has to do with Parkinson s disease schizophrenia Acetylcholine has to do with muscle contraction Nervous System Structure Central nervous system brain and spinal cord interneurons Peripheral nervous system Somatic division sensory and motor neurons Autonomic division Involuntary responses sympathetic division tenses you parasympathetic division relaxes you The Brain Old brain central core basic life functions Medulla heart rate and respiration cerebellum muscle coordination Reticular formation middle manager Thalamus Relay station Hypothalamus homeostasis memory Limbic system Emotional and self preservation memory storage amygdala fornix hippocampus New brain cerebral cortex Higher functions Four lobes Frontal parietal temporal occipital Visual sensory motor cortices sensation The process through which the senses pick up visual auditory and other sensory stimuli and transmit them to the brain Perception The process by which sensory information is constructively organized and interpreted by the brain Process of Sensation Sensory receptors Specialized cells in the sense organs that detect and respond to sensory stimuli visible light sound waves scent molecules etc and convert them into neural impulses Transduction Process by which the receptors convert the sensory stimulation into neural impulses Vision Retina The layer of tissue at the back of the eye that contains the sensory receptors for vision light sensitive cells and onto which the incoming image is projected by the lens Rods The light sensitive receptors in the retina that enable vision in black white and shades of gray in dim light mostly in the periphery vision is not very sharp Cones The receptor cells in the retina that enable vision in color and fine detail in adequate light but that do not function well in dim light Mostly in the fovea Fovea A small area at the center of the retina point of central focus densely packed with cones but no rods Theories of Color Vision Trichromatic Theory The theory of color vision suggesting that there are three types of cones which are maximally sensitive to red green or blue and that varying levels of activity in these receptors can produce all of the colors you see Vision Opponent process theory Also suggests that there are three types of cells but that ech type has a pair of receptors working in opposition Each type of receptor pair is sensitive to a given pair of colors red green yellow blue When one member of the pair is activated the other member is inhibited No simultaneous transmission No reddish greens Perception Sensory information is fragmented Occlusions in visual field Retinal structures blind spot environmental occlusions or omissions blurriness outside fovea perception fills in the gaps creating a meaningful whole from fragmentary parts Facilitating rapid understanding with minimal effort uses expectations from context and previous experience bottom up processing Analyzing the components of the sensory information feature analysis identifying the various components that the sensory information comprises E g scanning the visual information for horizontal lines vertical lines evidence of motion gradients curves and so on by specialized areas of the visual cortex Top down processing making meaning of sensory information by fitting it to what you already know Expectations past experience motivations imposing order works in tandem with bottom up Gestalt rules of organization the whole is greater that the sum of its parts
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