PSYC 104 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Introduction to Research methods Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes Exercise and you will maintain your academic ability Yes and no Case Studies Case studies are simply stories that illustrate a point Strengths Great for generating hypotheses Weaknesses We cannot generalize the findings to other people We cannot determine cause and effect Observers sometimes lie Correlation Studies What are correlation studies Two variables measured in many people the statistic r Strengths We can generalize the findings We know how strong the relationship is Weaknesses We cannot determine cause and effect Problem with direction of relationship Problem with third variables True Experiments Characteristics of an Experiment Participants are randomly assigned to experimental and control conditions The independent variable is manipulated in the experimental condition but not in the control condition Strengths We can determine cause and effect Weaknesses Confounds may creep into experiments Ethical problems may arise Fun fact 60 of us are potential killers Other Research Strategies Longitudinal and Cross Sectional Studies Studies of Families and Genes Survey Research Physiology and Behavior Organization of the Nervous System Central Nervous System Peripheral Nervous System Somatic Division body Autonomic Division Sympathetic Branch get anxious cop example Rats with no whiskers in water Parasympathetic Branch brings levels down Rats die because parasympathetic kicks in so much Brain Structures and Behavior Layer of the brain and Localization of Functions Brain size is correlated with physical size obviously Brain Stem Medulla Very important Power plant for the brain Provides all the energy to keep the brain functioning Controls bowels coughing etc all activities that go on in the brain Example Dr Holmes mom Reticular formation Pons nighttime brain Cerebellum controls muscle movements Figures out where your hand is at any point in time Ex when you re drunk and knock a bottle over When older people start slurring their words they are having problems with their cerebellum Lobes of the Brain Frontal Lobe very important Integrate all the information Do your serious thinking Temporal Lobe Process sounds language Occipital Lobe Responsible for vision Parietal Lobe Controls motor senses nerves impulses Lots of feelings and sensitivity in your face because there are a lot of nerves there Same with hand Impulses In the back of the Parietal lobe is where you send information from ex sticking tongue out Ventricles Get rid of unwanted fluids If it is deteriorating from the inside out it s bad Vents get larger and larger as inside expands from deteriorating fluids metal illness Hemispheres Can work independently Lef hemisphere controls right side Language and logical thinking We think through problems with language Solve problems on the left side Recognize faces and places Right hemisphere controls left side Motion and Spacial intelligence Ability to view things See the side of the building but be able to think about what it looks like from a different perspective Emotion creativity special intelligence men have more space relationships than women Corpus Callosum It enables you to use both sides of hemisphere Women have corpus callosa that are 25 larger than men More efficient brains than men Hippocampus Short term memory Alzheimer s When people have low levels of a particular hormone creates senior moments I LIKE TURTLES lawl at pledges Hypothalamus It is below the thalamus named by location Controls mood Suffering from depression Problem in your hypothalamus Serotonin low You get depressed Controls appetite Controls sleep When one structure isn t working all of the functions suffer Amygdala Responsible for control of rage and aggression that doesn t have a purpose Literally angry for no reason Always angry if amygdala is overactive Ex Whitman tower shooting The neuron The cells we use for thinking and use for everything else are called neurons Neuron has a number of structures Cell body which has a long arm called the axon which reaches out to make connections on the next neuron Very important Functioning of the neurons are responsible for everything that is going on in your brain In most neurons have a very thick sheathing on it called the myelin sheath which enables information to travel away from the cell body down the axon If we are looking at one of those arms the reason these things work the reason they conduct electricity is that there is sodium ions inside the axon and there is potassium ions outside the axon It is a chemical electrical process The example given in class was about Dr Holmes experience with an abnormal heart rate He was told to chug a bottle of something that contained a lot of potassium and his HR was fine What happens when the axon fires Sodium and potassium change very fast Which then causes the electrical impulse When you are overly aroused it is because your inhibitory neurons are under active Death of neurons What could kill a neuron in your brain Stroke Not sex Small area of the brain dies You lose abilities depending on where the stroke occurs One neuron next to another neuron may be able to pick up the functions that died It will take time The important thing about whether or not another neuron is able to pick up the responsibility of the other neuron depends on the age of the person Middle aged person has it better off unless it s a major stroke than an elderly person Spinal Cord Transmit information to the brain The reflex arc can detect pain Touch something hot Instead of simply going up to your brain the impulse makes you come back and withdraw your finger from the hot surface The spinal cord is really dumb and can only recognize one impulse pain It is however extremely important Controls areas of the body that are on a horizontal going from the cord Top part controls top part of body Middle part controls torso Etc Chapter One Book Notes Psychology may be the single most important course you will ever take This course is about you and your life This book is about science In this book you are the focus of the scientific research Help you understand human behavior The ability to evaluate information is especially important today because we are in the midst of an information explosion and you need to separate facts from fiction The facts were often wrong because they were based on flawed research Topic I
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