Intro to Psych Ch.

1 The Foundations for the Study of Psychology -Psychology: the science of behavior and the mind -Behavior: refers to the observable actions of a human or an animal -Mind: refers to an individuals sensations, perceptions, memories, thoughts, dreams, motives, emotional feelings, and other subjective experiences. -Science: refers to all attempts to answer questions through the systematic collection and logical analysis of objectively observable data. Three Foundation Ideas for Psychology: A Historical Overview 1. Behavior and mental experiences have physical causes, which can be studied scientically 2. The way a person behaves, thinks, and feels is modied, over time, by the persons experiences in is or her environment. 3. The bodys machinery, which produces behavior and mental experiences, is a product of evolution by natural selection. The Idea of Physical Causation of Behavior -Dualism: the philosophical theory that two distinct systems - the material body and the immaterial soul - are involved in the control of behavior. -Descartes believed that even quite complex behaviors can occur through purely mechanical means, without involvement of the soul. -Any activity performed by humans that is qualitatively no different from the behavior of a non-human animal can, in theory, occur without the soul. -Descartes dualism with its heavy emphasis on the body, certainly helped open the door for a science of psychology. -Its limitations, as a philosophy, stumbles on the question of how a nonmaterial entity can have a material effect, or how the body can follow natural law and yet be moved by a soul that does not. -As a psychology, the theory sets strict limits on what can and cannot be understood scientically. Thomas Hobbes and the Theory of Materialism -Materialism: States that the soul is a meaningless concept and that nothing exists but matter and energy. -Hobbes concluded that conscious thought is purely a product of the brains machinery and therefore subject to natural law. -This philosophy has no theoretical limit on what psychologists might study scientically.

Nineteenth-Century Philosophy: Learning About the Machine -The idea that the body, including the brain, is a machine, amenable to scientic study, helped to promote the science of physiology - the study of the bodys machinery. -The basic arrangement of the nervous system - consisting of a central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and peripheral nerves that connect the central nervous system to sense organs and muscles - was well understood by the beginning of the 19th century. -Reexology: so-called voluntary actions are actually complex reexes involving higher parts of the brain. -Localization: the fact that different parts of the brain have different functions and production of different experiences and behavior. The Idea That the Mind and Behavior Are Shaped by Experience -Empiricism: refers to the idea that human knowledge and thought derive from sensory experience (vision, hearing, touch, and so forth) -Our senses provide the input that allows us to acquire knowledge of the world around us, and this knowledge allows us to think about that world and behave adaptively within it. The Empiricist Concept of Association by Contiguity -Law of Association by Contiguity: Aristotles principle that if two environmental events (stimuli) occur at the same time or one right after the other (contiguously), those events will be linked together in the mind. - Also referred to as mental chemistry, complex ideas and thoughts are formed from combinations of chemical elements. The Nativist Response to Empiricism -Nativism: the view that the most basic forms of human knowledge and the basic operating characteristics of the mind, which provide the foundation for human nature, are native to the human mind - that is, are inborn and do not have to be acquired from experience. - A priori: knowledge that is already built into the brain and does not have to be learned. - A posteriori: knowledge which one gains from experience in the environment. The Evolutionary Basis of Mind and Behavior -Darwin proposed that natural selection underlies the evolution of behavioral tendencies (along with anatomical characteristics) that promote survival and reproduction. -Darwins thinking led to a focus on the functions of behavior. -Natural selection also offered a scientic foundation for nativist views of the mind.

Intro to Psych Ch. 2 Methods of Psychology - Fact: an objective statement, usually based on direct observation, that reasonable observers agree is true. - Theory: an idea, or conceptual model, that is designed to explain existing facts and make predictions about new facts that might be discovered. - Hypothesis: any prediction about new facts that is made from a theory. - Facts lead to theories, which lead to hypotheses. - The Value of Skepticism - Skepticism leads one to look more carefully, to notice what others miss, to think of an alternative, more mundane explanation; and to pit the mundane explanation against th astonishing one in controlled tests. - The Value of Careful Observation Under Controlled Conditions - The Problem of Observer-Expectancy Effects Types of Research Studies - Three Research designs, experiments, correlational studies, and descriptive studies - Two types of setting, eld or laboratory - Two types of data collection method, self-report and observation. - Experiments - An experiment is the most direct and conclusive approach to testing a hypothesis about a cause-and-effect relationship between two variables. - Independent Variable: a variable that is hypothesized to cause some effect on another variable. - Dependent Variable: the variable that is hypothesized to be effected. - The aim of any experiment is to learn whether and how the dependent variable is affected by (depends on) the independent variable. - Experiment: a procedure in which a researcher systematically manipulates one or more independent variables and looks for changes in one or more dependent variables, while keeping all other variables constant. - Within-subject experiments: each subject is tested in each of the different conditions of the independent variable. - Between-groups experiments: there is a separate group of subjects for each different condition of the independent variable.

Correlational Studies -Correlational Study: a study in which the researcher does not manipulate any variable, but observes or measures two or more already existing variables to nd relationships between them. Descriptive Studies - Descriptive Study: any study in which the researcher describes the behavior of an individual or set of individuals without systematically investigating relationships between specic variables. Research Settings -Laboratory Study: any research study in which the subjects are brought to a specially designated area that has been set up to facilitate the researchers collection of data or control over environmental conditions. -Laboratory setting allows the researcher to collect data under more uniform, controlled conditions than are possible in the eld/ -Field Study: any research study conducted in a setting other than a laboratory. Data-Collection Methods -Self-report Method: procedures in which people are asked to rate or describe their own behavior or mental state in some way. -Done through a questionnaire or interview. -Observational methods: all procedures by which researchers observe and record behavior of interest, rather than rely on subjects self reports. - Naturalistic Observations: researchers avoid interfering with the subjects behavior. - Tests: researchers deliberately presents problems, tasks, or situations to which the subject responds. Statistical Methods in Psychology - Descriptive Statistics: used to summarize sets of data, - Inferential Statistics: help researchers decide how condent they can be in judging that the results observed are not due to chance. - Mean: the arithmetic average, determined by adding scores and dividing them by the sum of number of scores. - Median: the center score, determined by ranking the scores from highest to lowest and nding the score at the center. - Variability: refers to the degree to which the numbers in the set differ from one another and from their mean.

- Standard Deviation: a common measure of variability

Chapter 5 Notes Neurons: Cells That Create the Mind - Neurons: single cells in the nervous that are specialized for carrying information rapidly from one place to another and or integrating information from various sources - Central Nervous System: brain and spinal cord - Peripheral Nervous System: extensions from the central nervous system, or nerves, make up this nervous system. - Nerve: a bundle of neurons. - Nerves connect the central nervous system to the body sensory organs, muscles, and glands. - 3 types of neurons - Sensory Neurons: bundles together to form nerves, carry information from sensory organs into the central nervous system. - Motor Neurons: carry messages, out from the central nervous system to operate muscles and glands. - Interneurons: exist entirely within the central nervous system and carry messages from one set of neurons to another. They collect, organize, and integrate messages from various sources. Structure of a Neuron - Cell body: Widest part of the neuron, it contains the nucleus and other basic machinery common to all bodily cells. - Dendrites: thin, tube-like extensions that branch extensively and function to receive input to the neuron. - Axon: another thin, tube-like extension from the cell body. Its function is to carry messages to other neurons or, in the case of motor neurons, to muscle cells. - Myelin Sheath: formed from special non neural cells that are wrapped tightly around the axon, the sheath helps to speed up the movement of neural impulses along the axon. - Action Potentials: neurons either re their impulses completely, or not at all. - Cell Membrane: this encloses each neuron - Resting Potential: the constant electrical charge that exist across the membrane of an inactive neuron.

How Neurons Are Inuenced by Other Neurons - Synapse: the junction between each axon terminal and the cell body or dendrite of the receiving neuron. - Neurotransmitter: a chemical substance released from the axon terminal of a neuron, at a synapse, that inuenced the activity of another neuron, muscle cell, or a glandular cell. - Excitatory Synapse: a synapse at which the neurotransmitter increases the likelihood that an action potential will occur, or increases the rate at which they are already occurring, in the neuron for which it acts. - Inhibitory Synapse: the neurotransmitter decreases the likelihood that an action potential will occur, or decreases the rate at which they are already occurring, in the neuron in which it acts. - Neuromodulators: Transmitters that alter the cell in long-lasting ways. - Fast synapses have brief, immediate effects - either excitatory or inhibitory - on the postsynaptic neuron. - Slow synapses, of which there are many varieties, produce sustained effects, including effects that underlie drives and moods. Methods of Mapping the Brains Behavioral Functions - Nucleus: a cluster of cell bodies in the central nervous system - Tract: a bundle of axons that course together from one nucleus to another. - Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): a procedure for temporarily altering the responsiveness of a localized area of the cerebral cortex by creating a magnetic eld over that brain area. - An EEG records gross electrical activity in areas of the brain just beneath the skull from electrodes placed on the scalp. - A PET and fMRI produce images that depict changes in neural activity in each area of the brain by measuring changes in blood ow. Functional Organization of the Nervous System - Cranial Nerves: nerves that project directly from the brain. - Spinal Nerves: nerves that project from the spinal cord. - Somatosensation: the set of senses that derive from the whole body - such as the skin, muscles, and tendons - as opposed to those senses that come from the special sensory organs of the head. - Central Nervous System: Brain and spinal cord. - Peripheral Nervous System: Nerves, autonomic and skeletal

- Autonomic nervous system brings in inputs from all internal organs (heart, lungs, digestive system.) - Autonomic broken into two branches: sympathetic and parasympathetic - Sympathetic: activated when body is ready for action, ght or ight response. Increased heart rate, faster breathing, dialated pupils. - Parasympathetic: down time, opposite of sympathetic. - Skeletal: inputs coming from muscles, body structure. Subcortical Structures of the Brain - Brainstem: the primitive, stalk-like portion of the brain that can be thought of as an extension of the spinal cord into the head; it consists of the medulla, pons, and midbrain. - Medulla: the lowest portion of the brainstem, bounded at one end by the spinal cord and at the other by the pons, it is responsible or organizing reexes more complex then spinal reexes. - Pons: the portion of the brainstem that is bounded at its lower end by the medulla and its upper end bounded by the midbrain and its responsible, with the medulla, for organizing reexes more complex than spinal reexes. - Midbrain: the upper portion of the brainstem, bounded at its lower end by the pons and at its upper end by the thalamus, that contains neural centers that organize basic movement patterns. - Thalamus: the brain structure that sits directly atop the brainstem; it functions as a sensory relay station, connecting incoming sensory tracts to special sensory areas of the cerebral cortex. - Cerebellum: the relatively large, conspicuous, convoluted portion of the brain attached to the rear side of the brainstem The Limbic System and Hypothalamus Play Essential Roles in Motivation and Emotion - Limbic System: an interconnected set of brain structures (including the amygdala and hippocampus) that form a circuit wrapped around the thalamus and basal ganglia, underneath the cerebral cortex. These structures are especially important for the regulation of emotion and motivation and are involved in the formation of long term memories. - Amygdala: involved in the regulation of basic drives and emotions. - Hippocampus: crucial for keeping track of spatial location and for encoding certain kinds of memories. - Hypothalamus: a small brain structure lying just below the thalamus, connected

directly to the pituitary gland and to the limbic system, that is especially important for the regulation of motivation, emotion, and the internal physiological conditions of the body. - the hypothalamus regulates the body by - inuencing the activity of the autonomic nervous system - controlling the release of certain hormones - affecting certain drive states, such as hunger and thirst.\ - Also regulates emotions like fear and anger The Cerebral Cortex: - Cerebral Cortex:the outermost, evolutionary newest, and the largest part of the brain; it is divisible into hemispheres (right, left), and each hemisphere is divisible into four lobes: the occipital, frontal, parietal, and temporal. - Occipital Lobe: the rear most lobe of the cerebral cortex, bounded in front by the temporal lobe and parietal lobe; it contains the visual area of the brain. - Frontal Lobe: the front most lobe of the cerebral cortex, bounded in the rear by the temporal and parietal lobes; it contains the motor area and parts of the association areas involved in planning and making judgements. - Temporal Lobe: Contains the auditory part of the brain. - Parietal Lobe: contains the somatosensory part of the brain. - Primary Sensory Areas: receive signals from sensory nerves and tracts by way of relay nuclei in the thalamus, these include the visual area in the occipital lobe, the auditory area in the temporal lobe, and the somatosensory area in the parietal lobe. - Primary Motor Areas: An area in the rear part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex that is directly involved in the control of movements, especially nely coordinated movements of small muscles, as in ngers and vocal apparatus. - Association Areas: areas of the cerebral cortex that receive input from the primary or secondary sensory areas for more than one sensory modality (such as vision and hearing) and are involved in associating this input with stored memories, in the processes or perception, thought, and decision making. - Principle of Topographic Organization: example, neurons that are near one another in the visual cortex receive signals from receptor cells that are near one another in the retina of the eye. - Premotor Areas: these areas set up neural programs for producing organized movements or patterns of movements - Prefrontal Cortex: consists of the entire frontal lobe thats in front of the premotor areas, involved in all sorts of planning, both short term and long term.

- Portions of the prefrontal cortex concerned with short term planning use perceptual information sent in from posterior association areas to decide on a course of action and send information to premotor areas to execute the action. Asymmetry of Higher Function of the Cerebral Cortex - Corpus Callosum: a massive bundle of axons that connect the left and right hemispheres of the brain - Most of the neural paths between the primary sensory and motor areas of the cortex and parts of the body to which they are connected are crossed, or contralateral. - This means that sensory neurons that arise from the skin on the right side of the body send their signals to the somatosensory area of the left hemisphere, and vice versa. - Damage to left hemisphere results in decits in using and comprehending language - Damage to right hemisphere results in decits in such tasks as recognizing faces, reading maps and drawing geometric shapes Effects of Surgical Separation of the Hemispheres: Split Brain, Split Mind - In the normal brain all information that goes to either hemisphere subsequently travels to the other through the corpus callosum. - With split brain patients it is possible to - send visual information to just one hemisphere by presenting the stimulus in only the opposite half of the visual eld - send tactile information to just one hemisphere by having the subject feel an object with the opposite hand - test the knowledge of just one hemisphere by having the subject respond with the hand opposite to that hemisphere. Language Areas of the Left Hemisphere - Aphasia: the loss of language ability due to brain damage - Brocas Aphasia: a specic syndrome of loss in language ability that occurs due to damage in a particular area of the brain called Brocas Area; it is characterized by telegraphic speech in which the meaning is usually clear but the small words and word endings that serve grammatical purposes are missing. - Wernickes Aphasia: a specic syndrome of loss in language ability that occurs due to damage to the Wernickes area of the brain. Speech in a person with this disorder typically retains its grammatical structure but loses its meaning due to the speakers failure to provide meaningful content words, also called uent aphasia.

Growth and Reorganization - Rats in enriched environments develop thicker cortexes with larger neurons and more and stronger synaptic interconnections. They also generate new neurons at a faster rate. - Skill learning causes larger portions of the brain to become involved in performing that particular skill. - The hippocampus, an area critical to spatial memory, grows as a result of spatial learning. Long-Term Potentiation - LTP strengthens synaptic connection in ways that mediate learning. - In line with Hebbs theory, the coordinated ring of a presynaptic and postsynaptic neuron strengthens the synaptic connection of the rst onto the second. - LTP involves enlargement of axon terminals and generation of new receptor sites on post synaptic membranes. Hormones - hormones are chemical messengers secreted into the bloodstream. They are chemically similar (sometimes identical )to neurotransmitters but travel farther and exert their effects on many different target tissues. - Hormones can inuence behavior by affecting bodily growth, metabolism, and brain activity, including brain activity responsible for drives and moods. - Hormonal effects can be long term or even permanent, as in the case of prenatal testosterones effects on brain development. They can also be short term, as in the case of stress hormones effects in preparing for an emergency. - the pituitary gland controls hormone production by other glands, but is itself controlled by the brain. Drugs - Drugs can be introduced in to the bloodstream in several ways. To act directly on the brain, they must pass through the blood-brain barrier. - Drugs inuence behavior largely by inuencing synaptic transmission. They may stimulate neurotransmitter release, mimic neurotransmitter effects, or block receptors. - Drugs can affect different levels of the behavior-control hierarchy. Curare works at the bottom level, L-dopa works at the medium level, and psychoactive drugs such as alcohol work at the top.

Intro to Psych Ch. 6 Mechanisms of Motivation and Emotion - Motivation: entire constellation of factors, some inside the organism and some out, that cause an individual to behave in a particular way at a particular time. - Motivational State: an internal, reversible condition in an individual that orients the individual toward one or another type of goal (such as food or water). This condition is not observed directly but is inferred from the individuals behavior, also called a Drive - motivated behavior is directed by incentives, the sought-after objects or ends that exist in the external environment. - Incentives are also called reinforcers, rewards, or goals. - A strong drive can enhance the attractiveness of a particular object (incentive) Varieties of Drives - Homeostasis: the constancy of internal conditions that the body must actively maintain. - Regulatory Drives: a drive like hunger, that help preserve homeostasis - Nonregulatory Drives: a drive like sex, that serves another purpose - 5 types of mammalian drives - Regulatory drives: drives that promote survival and regulate homeostasis - Safety drives: drives that motivate one to escape, avoid, or fend of dangers, such as fear and anger - Reproductive drives: sexual drives and the drive to care for young once they are born - Social drives: drives for friendship and or acceptance and approval - Education drives:drives to play and explore (curiosity) - Central-State Theory of Drives: the theory that the most direct physiological bases for motivational states, or drives, lie in neural activity in the brain. According to most versions of this theory, different drives correspond to activity in different, localizable sets of neurons. - Central Drive System: according to the central state theory of drives, a set of neurons in the brain that, when active, most directly promotes a specic motivational state, or drive. - The hypothalamus id ideally located to be a hub of central drive systems. Reward Mechanisms of the Brain - Three types of reward: Liking, wanting, and reinforcement - Medial Forebrain Bundle: a bundle of neurons that runs from the midbrain to the basal

ganglia and other forebrain areas. - Nucleus Accumbens: a nucleus (center of neural cell bodies) in the basal ganglia that is a crucial part of the brains reward mechanism. - Without a functioning medial forebrain bundle or nucleus accumbens, animals will not work to nd or obtain rewards, and will therefore die unless food and water is not handed to them. - Dopamine: one of the many neurotransmitter substances in the brain. It is, among other things, crucial for the wanting component of reward. - Endorphin: chemicals produced in the body that act like morphine in inhibiting pain, important in the liking component of reward. - The release of dopamine into the nucleus accumbens is also crucial to reinforcement; it promotes learning how to predict and obtain a given reward. Drug Addiction and Compulsive Gambling - Addictive drugs cause dopamine release into the nucleus accumbens each time they are taken, which may cause super-reinforcement of cues and actions associated with obtaining the dug; hence addiction. - Because of the unpredictability of rewards in gambling, each reward may stimulate release of dopamine into the nucleus accumbens, resulting in super-reinforcement of cues and actions associated with gambling. Hunger: An Example of a Regulatory Drive - The Arcuate Nucleus of the hypothalamus id a feedback-based appetite control center, with both appetite-stimulation and appetite-suppressing neurons. - Eating a large meal causes physiological changes, including the release of PYY, that inuence the arcuate nucleus and nearby areas to reduce hunger. - Leptin, a hormone produced by fat cells, helps to regulate body weight by acting on the hypothalamus to reduce appetite. - Sensory stimuli also affect appetite, as illustrated by sensory-specic satiety and by the appetite-boosting power of learned cues that signal the availability of food. Obesity - Within a culture, genetic differences are the primary determinants of who becomes obese, but across cultures, environmental differences play a substantial role. - Decreasing food intake activates hunger mechanisms in the brain and can reduce basal metabolism, making weight loss harder. - Certain techniques help at least some people lose substantial amounts of weight n keep it off.