Psych Notes September 12 2011 Four Definitions of Psychology The science of mind and behavior The science of knowing and experiencing The science of experimental epistemology The science of things that move around on their own Some few really significant dates in the history of psychology 1879 Wilhelm Wundt in Leipzig Germany founds the first lab dedicated to psychology separating psychology from philosophy for the first time 1913 John Broadus Watson declares that to be a science psychology must only study the observable and thus must be a science of behavior rather than of the mind this inaugurates roughly six decades of dominance of American psychology by Behaviorism 1967 an arbitrary date for the beginning of Cognitive Psychology Ulric Neisser publishes his textbook called Cognitive Psychology outlining the areas of study e g attention memory perception language that had begun yielding to investigation in the decade previous and presenting a consensus view of the new field that solidified its popularity and led to its rapid ascendance Cognition has to do with thinking and mental processes Instinct is a form of knowing without having to learn it built in Rationalism Nativism vs Empiricism Associationism What is the origin of knowledge Born with innate ideas experience provides occasion for knowing nativism Born as a clean slate tabula rasa experience is source of knowledge empiricism How is knowledge arrived at Learn by operation of mind manipulation of concepts and ideas rationalism Learn by connecting experiences in the world associationism Learning is changing your behavior based on experiences Psych notes 09 14 Rene Decartes 2 kinds of matter dualism 2 o Physical body and mental mind matter o Pineal gland location where mental and physical interact historical interest o Allowed scientific ideas to progress o Separated world into 2 parts knowing and experiencing mind and body o How mind and body connect o 1 Dualism mind and body can interact somehow o 2 Thought or idea itself is a physical event firing of neurons in your brain reflex an automatic stereotyped movement produced as the direct result of a stimulus stimulus response input output function of the body can predict it body is just a machine Psych Notes September 19 2011 The Neuron Number Parts Disinhibiting 10 billion to a trillion 10 000 connections each Dendrites Cell body or soma Axon Terminal endings or terminal buttons Psych Notes September 26 2011 Reciprocal inhibition ex extensor flexor Nervous System NS Central center Peripheral outside of center Somatic body Autonomic self rule Sympathetic excited states Parasympathetic vegetative calm states Central NS brain spinal cord Peripheral NS everything else Somatic NS muscles senses Autonomic NS vital functions heart rate breathing digestion reproduction Sympathetic NS arousal mobilizes for emergency speeds heart and lungs inhibits digestion and sexual function Parasympathetic NS calm conserves energy slows heart and lungs etc Brain bottom to top inside to outside old to new Hindbrain Medulla breathing heartbeat blood circulation Pons arousal and attention Cerebellum integration of muscles to perform fine movements but no coordination direction of these movements balance cat transected above hindbrain can move but not act Midbrain Forms movements into acts controls whole body responses to visual and auditory stimuli cat transected above midbrain can at but without regard to environment without purpose Forebrain Thalamus sensory and motor relay center to various cerebral lobes Hypothalamus controls responses to basic needs food temperature sex Basal ganglia regulates muscle contractions for smooth movements Limbic system memory hippocampus and emotion amygdala Cerebral cortex or neocortex four lobes frontal parietal occipital and temporal seat of higher intellectual functions Cat transected above limbic system acts normal with purpose but clumsy Cerebral Hemispheres or Cerebrum Corpus callosum connects hemispheres Each hemisphere controls OPPOSITE side of the body Cerebral cortex skin or bark 1 to 3 mm thick 2 or 3 foot square if flattened out Higher motor sensory and intellectual functions Franz Joseph Gall discovered that each hemisphere controls opposite side of the body discovered that cortex has an actual purpose Phrenology Each hemisphere is divided into 4 lobes Frontal parietal occipital and temporal Phineas Gage Broca s area frontal lobe Wernicke s area temporal lobe Four Lobes of the Cortex Frontal lobe planning social behavior motor control Front of brain Parietal lobe somatosensory sense of touch On top and toward back of brain Occipital lobe vision Back of brain Temporal lobe hearing memory Side of brain Rules of Cortical Function Broca s and Wernicke s are only in left hemisphere Front of brain frontal lobe for doing this executing Back other three lobes takes in information perceiving interpreting Input through the back output through the front All use 100 of our brain people using 10 of brain is myth Association cortex this portion of brain is used for making associations connecting primary areas for example connecting visual and auditory Classical Conditioning US unconditioned stimulus e g food in mouth input to a reflex UR conditioned response e g salivation to food output of reflex CS conditioned stimulus e g bell initially results in investigatory response then habituation after conditioning results in CR CR conditioned response response to CS measure amplitude probability latency John Watson said we should be studying behavior Psychic reflex conditional reflex a response to something that is perceived depends on experience conditions Novel stimulus new stimulus Habituation getting used to it Latency time it takes for response to occur Extinction and Spontaneous Recovery Extinction CR declines and disappears over trials without US due to build up of inhibition Spontaneous recovery After rest interval extinguished CR reappears at almost previous strength and extinguishes faster next time due to dissipation of inhibition Observations on Conditioning Involuntary responses involved heart rate eye blinking breathing Contiguity closeness in time is basis of acquisition of conditioned reflex Optimal time interval between CS and US differs depending on particular response being conditioned e g 5 30 seconds for dog s salivation response 5 seconds for human eyeblink response no of trials required for conditioning varies too More intense CS produces