Psych 100 1H Focus Questions Chapter 1 Class 2 8 28 2013 1 What are the two components that make up the science of psychology and how can they be defined a Behavior observable actions of a person or an animal b Mind individual s sensations perceptions memories thoughts dreams motives emotional feelings and other subjective experiences Unconscious knowledge and operating rules that are built into or stored in the brain that provide the foundation for organizing behavior and conscious experience 2 Describe the evolution of the idea of a physical causation for behavior how did Ren Descartes Thomas Hobbes and nineteenth century physiologists contribute to this evolution a Descartes Dualism i Material body and immaterial soul Thought is existent to only humans ii Soul acts in the pineal body between the two hemispheres of the brain iii Non material entity soul have material effect movement of body b Hobbes Materialism the body i All human behavior can be understood in terms of physical processes in 1 Conscious thought purely product of the brain s machinery and therefore subject to natural law c Nineteenth Century Physiologists Localization of function i All human behavior occurs through reflexes initiated through the ii Pierre Flourens 1824 1965 damage to different parts of the brain produces different kinds of deficits in animal s ability to move iii Broca 1861 1965 injury left hemisphere lose ability to speak but nothing environment else 3 Define empiricism including major concepts associated with it and compare contrast this school of thought with nativism a Empiricism Human knowledge and thought derive from sensory experience i Association by contiguity experience two environmental events at the same time two events will become bound together b Nativism Basic operating characteristics are inborn i An entity must have initial machinery built into it 4 How was Darwin s principle of evolution by natural selection applied to the field of psychology a Adapt to environmental demand ensure survival of species b Fessler 2006 Curtis et al 2004 Evolutionary Theory and Disgust i Survival of species not get sick averts disease causing ii More selective when women are in first trimester iii Allowed ancestors to survive long enough to produce offspring passing same sensitivities along to us iv Strongest when threatened immune system 5 What are the different levels of analysis used in psychology Provide an example of how a person s behavior or mental experience could be examined at each of these levels a Neural brain as cause hormones and drugs act on the brain to alter behavior i Barlow 1995 Serotonin b Genetic genes as cause twin studies and intelligence i Bouchard et al 1990 longitudinal study MZT DZT c Evolutionary natural selection as cause survival of species i Fessler 2006 and Curtis 2004 internet studies disgust d Learning prior experiences with the environment as cause learn new skills e Cognitive knowledge or beliefs as cause racial prejudice particular beliefs f Social influence of people as cause norms and beliefs for violence i Pavlov feeding dogs at the bell i Bartlett 1932 Schema theory i Bandura 1961 bobo doll g Cultural culture develops as cause significant cultural differences i Bulimia Jaeger 2002 west more ideal Nasser 1986 Egyptian women in London and Cairo h Developmental age related changes as cause stages of age related change i Packer 2005 girls jealous of other best friends with others