Psychology Chapter 1

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brain

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tells us what we feel, know and do.

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metabolic activity

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Can determine workings of the brain by techniques of monitoring the level of this different parts of the brain.
Helps determine which parts of the brain are especially active when someone is in a particular mental state ( ex. When someone is trying to make a decision, feeling embarrassment, or inspecting a picture). Allowing them to determine which brain regions are crucial for each mental activity.Led us to the conclusion that many regions are involved in mental achievement, working together as an integrated learning.

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Coordinated actions

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of brain sites help us make decisions, read, or understand music; there aren’t specific music sites, etc.

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Memory

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usually can’t be studied from a biological perspective but is better studied functionally. We don’t know how these complex memories are represented in the brain.

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fMRI

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if different “slices” through living brain sites

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More active regions:

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yellow, red, and orange.

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making judgments

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Person ...about simple pictures appears to have more active regions than a person ...about mental pictures.

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Memories

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carries the records of all our experiences, which play an enormous role in shaping who we are and how we act, but we aren’t completely dependent on experience.

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Innate capacities:

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the basic capacities that all of us bring into the world when we are born.

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An infant’s understanding of arithmetic

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1) Toy mouse on small stage
2) Screen comes up and hides mouse
3) Infant sees experimenter’s hand from the side holding another mouse and placing it behind the screen.
4) Screen lowered to reveal either one or two mice:
A. if two the infant stares for a few seconds then looks away
B. if one the infant stares as if confused as to where the other mouse went.

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inherently social

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used to describe psychology, holds for animals as well as humans, because all animals interact with other members of their species (mates, parents of spring, competitions), these interactions depend on communication

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patterns of courtship

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Many species of birds have these that involve elaborate body structures (picture on p. 5) or rituals by which one sex (usually male) woos the other

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social communications

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usually specific to a species and have arisen as a result of natural selection the process at the heart of biological evolution.

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built-in displays

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evidence shows that as humans we rely on these, ex. smile

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Smile

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a response found in all babies even in those born blind (who could not have learned by imitation). It is often considered a biologically rooted signal by which humans tell each other (“Be good to me. I wish you well.”)

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social behaviors in humans:

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usually more varied than those of other animals
-because much of a human’s social life reflects one person’s appraisal of how another will respond to her actions:

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calculations

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llow humans to weigh options in selecting social maneuvers. If one plan fails they can choose another

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Riot

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individuals are part of an inflamed group; the individuals are capable of horrible destructions and in some cases brutal violence when on their won they could be peace-loving, law-abiding, and responsible.

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psychology’s perspectives:

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are diverse because of the broad range of topics that psychologists study, but also because of the diverse methods in which a single subject is studied.

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psychology’s perspectives:

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are diverse because of the broad range of topics that psychologists study, but also because of the diverse methods in which a single subject is studied.

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calories

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determine the “right amount” of food for an animal (not volume) because this determines the metabolic activity that the food can provide.

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self-regulation

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is managed through a complex network. One influence is the liver which controls the major nutrient used for short-term energy ( the blood sugar glucose).

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hypothalamus

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its lateral region is responsible for the initiation of feeding (if this region is damaged animals don’t know when to eat when to eat and will starve to death unless force=fed).

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ventromedial region

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brain region that tells when to stop eating.

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cultural environment

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our feeding is shaped by this

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social influences

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more likely to eat when surrounded by others who are eating

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anorexia nervosa

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a relentless pursuit of thinness through self-starvation even unto death. If afflicts up to 1% of young people in western societies, almost all female, although it is a growing concern for young males and women in their 40s and 50s

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clinical amnesia

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a disorder of memory, produced by brain damage that is so severe that the patient is unable to function in a normal setting and must be cared for in a hospital

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list of questions

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what psychologists pursue; that focus on why humans (and other animals do what they do, feel what they feel and think what they think. (No matter what psychologists are pursuing they wonder about these questions).

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list of broad claims

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that emerge from psychologists; work, claims that apply to many different aspects of psychology and that seem to characterize in a general way how the mind works and why behavior is as it is.

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science

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is a set of procedures designed to let us separate true claims about the world from mere opinion.

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testable hypothesis

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a hypothesis that allows us to make specific predictions about what we will find given a particular set of circumstances.

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The scientific method

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Formulate a testable hypothesis – a hypothesis that allows us to make specific predictions about what we will find given a particular set of circumstances.
Test predictions

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successful repetition

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one that yields the same results- assures us that there was nothing peculiar about the initial study and that the study’s results are reliable.

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Experiment

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used to test a hypothesis

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How to design an experiment

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Develop a testable hypothesis (a claim specific enough that we can with certainly what facts would confirm the hypothesis and what facts would disconfirm it. (They can’t be so open-ended that any set of circumstances could count as a confirmation because this means a scientific test isn’t possible

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anecdotal evidence

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evidence that has been informally collected and reported; can take three forms

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report bias

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observations can suffer from this, a tendency for some observations to be reported (ex. Only the positive ones) while others aren’t (ex. You heard from several friends who were able to quit smoking after using the subliminal message recordings. A friend that listened to the recording an quit will be proud and want to share; while a friend who tried and couldn’t quit might not be as open. You could only hear about the successes).

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File-drawer problem

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a reference to the fact that studies with encouraging results are often published/announced, while studies with disappointing evidence are stuffed into a file drawer and forgotten

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confirmation bias

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a pattern which would lead you to recall more of the success stories if you expect the subliminal recordings to be effective or more failures if you expect the opposite

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dependent variable

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can often be assessed directly (a percentage of correct answers on some test, the number of seconds to complete a task). Attractiveness is harder to measure

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independent variable

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is the variable whose effects she wishes to examine (in this example using or not using the subliminal self-help recording

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independent variable

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is the variable whose effects she wishes to examine (in this example using or not using the subliminal self-help recording

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experimental group

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the 1st group in this case. Theses participants are the ones introduced to the experimental manipulation (in this ex. Listening to the recording with the subliminal message)

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control group

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the 2nd group in this ex. Provide a basis for comparison, allowing the investigator to assess the effects of experimental manipulation.

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placebo effects

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are effects caused by someone’s beliefs or expectations about a drug or therapy.

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demand characteristics

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of an experiment are cues that signal one response to be more desire able than another. Participants tend to want to present themselves in the best way, so try to perform as well as they can on experimental tasks and generally try to help the experimenter

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double-blind study

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a means of ensuring identical treatment; neither the investigator nor the participant know who is the experimental group and who is the control group. ( in our ex. The investigator’s assistant might be the one who decides which participants hear the recording with the subliminal message and which ear the recording without

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confounds

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uncontrolled factors that could influence the comparison between the experimental and control conditions

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internal validity

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if confounds are present in the experiment it lacks this

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random assignment

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ex. Flip a coin), makes it extremely unlikely that all the busy participants would end up in one group and the less-harried in another. It virtually guarantees the groups are matched at the outset.

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within-subject comparisons

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experimenters use the same groups for the control and experimental, ensuring the two groups are identical in attitudes, backgrounds, motivation, etc.

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between-subject comparisons.

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the opposite of within subject comparisons

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Test sequence

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can be found if the participants are first tested in the proper circumstances for the control condition then experimental.

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Experiments’ design

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1) A clear statement of hypothesis so there is no question about what evidence would confirm or disconfirm it.
2) Dependent variables well defined so the results of the experiment can be measured accurately and reliably
3) The data is unambiguous and faithfully recorded so there’s no issue of misinterpretation or dismembering
4) Eliminate all influences on data other than experimental manipulation (independent variable)

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experimental studies

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studies in which an investigator randomly assigns participants to one group or another then deliberately manipulates one variable and observes the results.

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observational studies

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investigators rely on theserather than experimental. The investigator observes key factors rather than manipulating them directly.

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correlational studies

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types of observational studies, there are many such as these in which the investigator seeks to observe the relationship (correlation) between the independent variable (ex. Height) and some dependent variable.

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Third-variable problem:

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when a third factor different from the dependent and independent variables is causing both.

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case studies

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investigators observe and then describe-an individual- one case in great detail. Have played an enormous role in the development of psychological theory (ex. Sigmund Freud based most of his theories off case studies).

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population

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all members of a given group (ex. All U.S. voters)

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sample

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a subset of the population the investigators are interested in, what investigators usually uses.
-generalizations from a sample are only justified if the sample is representative of the broader population.

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random sampling

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helps researchers to deal with these differences ; a procedure in which every member of the population has a chance to be picked for inclusion in the study.

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informed consent

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Investigator must get the participants’

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debriefing

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the experiment must begin with informed consent and end with a this the experiments “secrete” are revealed if any deception or manipulation was involved. If manipulation of beliefs, mood or emotion the investigator must attempt to undo them.