Psych Exam 1 Ch 1 Psychology scientific study of behavior of all living organisms William James founder of functionalism study purpose of consciousness not just its structure Titchener structuralism identified brain elements arrangement used introspection technique to examine components of consciousness based off of Wundt s theories Watson behavioralism only study observable behavior actions association Wilhelm Wundt founder of all psychology made it its own discipline Clinical Psychology largest field in psychology Forensic Psychology study criminal behavior why criminals commit crimes Ch 2 Hypothesis tentative statement about the relationship between 2 variables Theory interrelated ideas to explain a set of observations Belief is a theory prediction is a hypothesis based on that belief Operational definition how you define a variable what you use to measure it Not to be confused w dependent variable measuring heart rate it s the operational def Independent variable manipulated Dependent variable what you re measuring manipulated variable changes Correlations no relationship 0 perfect positive correlation 1 perfect neg correlation 1 Types of experiments etc Survey Method naturalistic observation case study archival research Subjectivity danger of focusing attention selectively greatest in compiling a case study Final step in investigation is to report the findings Ch 3 Phantom limb phenomenon experiencing pain in an amputated part of body Neurons cells that receive integrate transmit info GLIA support neurons Sensory sends stimuli info to CNS motor info sent to move muscles inter Action potential neuron firing brief upward spike in neurons electrical charge neurons become more positively charged resting potential more negatively charged neg to pos generator pot Absolute refractory period amount of time that goes by before a neuron can fire again Parasympathetic relaxes you after an emergency situation Sympathetic fight or flight opposite Central Nervous System brain spinal cord Peripheral Nervous System all other neurons throughout body that aren t part of the CNS Synapse site at which 2 neurons communicate chemical energy Dendrites fingers receive info electrical signals Soma cell body palm 3 components of neuron Axon arm info travels through to terminal button myelin sheath insulates speeds info up terminal button secretes NT at synapse Neurotransmitter substance chemicals contained w in synaptic vessles Limbic System brain region that regulates emotions memory motivation emotional behavior Reticular formation sleep wakefulness if damaged comatose Corpus callosum connects 2 cerebral hemispheres of brain Hypothalamus part of old brain that controls motivation of biological urges Wernicke s area part of temporal lobe that understands speech language creates meaningful speech Broca s area speech production creates speech not necessarily meaningful Otto Loewi showed the chemical nature of neural transmission Neurotransmitters Galvani electricity action potential animal electricity frog legs Neurons rely on electrical chemical signals to communicate An EEG electroencephalograph monitors the electrical activity of brain Occipital lobe brain lobe responsible for processing visuals In a monkey s visual cortex there are single cells that fire maximally to the image of a monkey hand P 86 Neurotransmitters Acetylcholine activates motor neurons regulates attention arousal memory muscle contractions Dopamine reward pathway voluntary movement pleasurable emotion Norepinephrine modulates mood arousal Serotonin regulates sleep wakefulness eating and aggression depression GABA inhibitory transmitter regulates anxiety sleep arousal Glutamate excitatory transmitter learning memory Endorphins pain relief some pleasurable emotions runner s high Descartes mind and brain are 2 separate entities Hydro mechanics our bodies are made of water powering our movements De la Mettrie mind brain are the same enlightened machine Ch 4 Phi phenomenon illusion of movement the wave Proximity Gestalt principle of perceptual organization grouping together close objects letters Whole is greater than sum of parts perceive things as a whole Interposition depth cue objects that overlap others are perceived as closer Bipolar Ganglion cells neural cells that process light send it to the brain form the optic nerve Optic nerve has axons of ganglion cells Receptor cells rods cones in retina receive light as it comes in turn light into neural energy Cornea where light enters the eye Lense function is to bend entering light rays and focus them onto the retina Retina absorbs light converts light into neural energy light transducing cells Pupil regulates the amount of light that enters the eye Iris is similar Blind spot space where optic nerve leaves the back of the eye to send signals to the brain optic disk has no receptor cells in it hence the blind spot Light hits retina signal travels down optic nerve passes through thalamus specifically the LGN sends signal to cerebral cortex occipital lobe Blakemore Cooper cats in cages only see vertical lines Balloon video only size changes distance seems to Apparent motion effect was most pronounced when size and brightness changed Ch 5 Circadian Rhythms biological cycle that lasts 24 hours and is easily disrupted by air travel Appear to be regulated by several internal clocks Signals sent from SCN to pineal gland reset circadian rhythms Melatonin pineal gland releases it plays key role in regulating sleep wake cycles Role of pineal gland in sleep is to produce melatonin reduces affects of jetlag Delta waves deep sleep slow waves slower frequency higher amplitude Beta waves normal active waves waking thought Alpha waves drowsy Theta waves light sleep REM sleep dreaming often includes beta waves active brain Last dream period of night is usually the longest Promotes memory consolidation controls appetite increase neural maturation Psychoactive drugs chemicals that alter one s emotional state behavioral functioning mental condition Stimulants generate an increase in CNS activity ex Amphetamine Benzedrine energetic Sedatives generate a decrease in CNS activity sleep inducing ex Barbiturate Nembutal Narcotics opiates pain relief ex Morphine narcotic analgesic codeine heroin Cocaine most often results in dependence effects occur because of increase activity of dopamine pleasure dopamine over stimulates reward pathway Dopamine schizophrenia Parkinson s pleasure nothing to do w sleep