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A.P Psychology Study Guide for Exam

Chapter 01 - Thinking Critically with Psychological Science

The Scientific Attitude

• Scientific approach that is skeptical and open-minded

• To shift away from illusions to reality, one must use Smart thinking or critical thinking: thinking that does not blindly accept things, but approaches with skepticism and examines the evidence carefully; Ask how did they know, on guts and instinct? Are the evidence biased?

• However, must remember to have humility as too extreme would be stubbornness

 

The Limits of Intuition and Common Sense

• Intuition often ends up nowhere

• Tend to use a lot hindsight bias: tendency to believe that one would have known it after the results are shown;

• Seems like common sense;  The answer was right there and look how obvious it was

• Experience it usually when looking back on history; eg. Glen Clark and the fast ferries

• Humans tend to be overconfident, think we know more than we actually do (probably result of self-serving bias)

• Hindsight causes us to be overconfident as we believe we would have picked the answer when the results are in front of us

 

The Scientific Method

• Scientific theory: explanation using set of principles to organise/predict observations

• No matter how good theory sounds, must put it to test

• Must imply testable prediction = hypothesis

• Beware of bias when testing

• Good experiment can be replicated: the experiment can be repeated and would yield constant results; done with a different group of people or by a different person ending with constant results

• Theory useful if:

I. effectively organises range of observations

II. implies clear predictions

• Case study: research method where one person is studied in depth to find universal principles (things that apply to all)

• Drawback is that the individual being studied could be atypical, results not universally contained

• Survey: research method to get the self-reported attitudes/behaviours of people

• Looks at cases less depth and wording of question affects the response given (framing)Tend to hang around group similar to us so using them as study is wrong

• False consensus effect: tendency to overestimate other’s agreement with us; eg. Vegetarians believe larger amount of pop. is vegetarian than meat-eaters

• Population: all the cases in the group being studied

• To make a good sample, use random sampling: sample that gives each case a good chance of being studied to ensure results within range

• Naturalistic observation: observing and recording behaviour in natural settings with any control on situation

• Like case study & survey,  doesn’t explain behaviour

• When finding a trait that accompanies another, not resulting effect, but correlation: the way 2 factors vary together and how well one predicts the other

• Positive correlation: direct relationship where factors increase or decrease together

• Negative correlation: inverse relationship where one factor goes up while one goes down

• Does not explain cause, simply show relationship between factors

• Illusory correlation: perceiving correlation when none exist; Notice random coincidences as not random, rather as correlated

 

Experiment

• To isolate cause & effect, conduct experiments

• Experimental condition: condition that exposes subjects to treatment

• Control condition: condition that serves as a comparison to see effects of treatment on experimental condition subjects

• Use random assignment: assigning subjects to experimental/control groups randomly to ensure no bias

• Independent variable: experimental factor being manipulated and studied (by itself, alone, no need to depend on something)  * x-axis

• Dependent variable: experimental factor that depends on independent variable and changes in response to it * y- axis

• Placebo: an inert substance/condition that maybe administered instead of a presumed active agent

• Double-blind procedure: procedure in which the experimenter and the subject noth don't know which treatment is given

Chapter 02 - Neuroscience, Genetics, and Behaviors

• Franz Gall developed the false theory called Phrenology – where bumps on the head dictate personality and intelligence. But the theory did direct our attention to brain region and function.

• Psychologists that study these connections between biology and behavior are called Biological Psychologists.

 

Neural Communication

• Our Neural System is basically made up of nerve cells or neurons. Each neuron is composed of Dendrites ~ message receiving fibers and Axons ~ message sending fibers which are insulated by the Myelin Sheath ~ fatty cells that help \speed up impulses.

• Impulses or Action Potential is a brief electrical charge that travels down the axon as it becomes Depolarized due to the movement of positively charged ions entering the axon. After the transmission, the axon becomes Polarized as positive ions are pumped out during the Refractory Period.

• The intensity of a stimulus is called the Threshold. A stimulus must exceed the threshold in order for a transmission to occur. The neuron will either fire or it won’t. Much like a gun, the neuron either fires or it doesn’t, there are no half-fires. This is called the all-or-none-response; if a stimulus is really strong, only the number of neurons firing will increase, not their speed.

• The axon terminal of the sending neuron is separated from the receiving neuron by a tiny gap called the Synapse (or Synaptic Cleft). Once the action potential reaches the synapse, neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers, are released into the gap where it will bind onto specific receptor sites on the receiving neuron.

• The most well know neurotransmitter is Acetylcholine (ACh), it causes muscles to contract in movement.

• Endorphins are natural opiates produced in the body to control pain and induce pleasure. ("Morphine within")

• Agonists are molecules which mimics the shape of natural neurotransmitters (Morphine)

• Antagonists are molecules which block neurotransmitters from binding on receptor sites

• The brain has a Blood-brain barrier which filters out unwanted chemicals in blood stream.

 

Neural and Hormonal Systems

•  The Nervous System is composed of the Central Nervous System (CNS) – brain and spinal cord, and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) – links CNS to body’s muscles and glands by means of nerves which are bundles of sensory and Motor Neurons (they carry incoming and outgoing information respectively).

•  The Autonomic Nervous System (under PNS) has Sympathetic Nervous System – arouses the body for defense (increase heartbeat, dilating pupils, inhibit digestion etc.) and Parasympathetic Nervous System – calms the body after stress.

•  A simple Reflex is an automatic response to stimuli (like knee-jerk) involving messages from Sensory to  Interneuron (Spinal Cord) to Motor Neuron.

• The Endocrine System (slow hormone secreting system) communicates by releasing Hormones (chemical messengers) into the bloodstream.

• In times of stress the ANS will signal Adrenal Glands (above kidney) to release epinephrine and norepinephrine hormones (also called adrenaline and noradrenaline.)

•  Pituitary gland is the most powerful endocrine gland, and under the influence of hypothalamus in brain, pituitary releases hormones that regulate glands and growth.

 

The Brain

• Lesions – remove brain tissue

• Electroencephalogram (EEG) – measures brain electric activity

• Computed Tomograph (CT or CAT Scan) – taking x-ray photographs of brain

• Positron emission tomograph (PET Scan) – detects radioactive glucose consumption in brain

• Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) – generates brain images from magnetic activity

• The brainstem – oldest portion in brain forms into the Medulla Oblongata – regulates involuntary processes like heartbeat and breathing.

• Within the brainstem lies the reticular formation (looks like a finger-shaped net) which controls arousal, when you wake or sleep.

• The Thalamus lies above brainstem and is shaped like two eggs. Its function is to act as a sensory switchboard relaying incoming signals to appropriate brain regions. But does not relay sensory signals dealing with smell.

• The Cerebellum stores partial memory and learning capacities. But it mainly controls balance.

• Limbic System includes Amygdala – influence emotions (fear, anger), and the Hippocampus – process memory . Removal of amygdala results in emotionless organisms upon arousal.

• The Hypothalamus maintains body homeostasis (temperature, hunger, growth) and governs pituitary.

• Glial cells guide and support nerve cells in the brain.

• The brain is divided into 4 regions.

• Frontal Lobe – behind forehead – has Motor Cortex (located at the back of frontal lobe, the cortex controls voluntary movement)

• Parietal Lobe – top to back of head – has Sensory Cortex (located in the beginning of parietal lobe, the cortex processes \bodily senses)

• Occipital Lobe – back of head – regulates vision.

• Temporal Lobe – above ears – regulates hearing

• ¾ of the brain is uncommitted to motor or sensory functions. Theses brain regions are called Association Areas – areas involved in thinking, remembering, and speaking. The larger the association area, the more intelligent the species for they are able to anticipate future events.

• The case with Phineas Gage showed researchers that damages in the frontal lobe could result in personality alterations because their normal "restraints" or inhibitions are erased. This was due to a tamping rod that shot from his left cheek and out his head, separating his internal motives and external judgement.

• Stages of Language :

I. Visual Cortex – occipital lobe (back of head) – sees the visual stimulation (words)

II. Angular Gyrus – mid-side of parietal lobe – converts words into auditory code

III. Wernicke’s Area – between temporal and parietal lobe (side of head) - derives meaning from auditory code

IV. Broca’s Area – mid-bottom of frontal lobe – controls motor cortex

V. Motor Cortex – back of frontal lobe – activates speech muscles to pronounce word

•  Damage to (1) cannot see, (2) cannot read, (3) cannot understand, (4) and (5) cannot speak.

• Corpus Callosum joins the two hemispheres and is separated to cure epileptic seizures.

• People with separated corpus callosums are referred to as Spilt-brain patients. They are unable to say what they see in their left visual field because speech is in left hemisphere and the hemispheres regulate opposite sides of body.

• When split-brainers are asked to say what they saw, the left hemisphere will say what is seen in right visual field; when asked to point, get, or write what they saw, the right hemisphere will dictate what is seen in the left visual field.

• Sign language is nevertheless language and is control by left hemisphere, if deaf people get a stroke in left hemisphere, signing will be disrupted.

• Left Hemisphere : Mathematics, language, logical, reasoning. meaning

• Right Hemisphere : Perceptual tasks, musical, artistic, emotion, face recognition, copying information.

 

Genetics and Behavior

• Chromosomes contain Genes which are made up of DNA. There are 23 chromosomes in human egg and sperm; they are combined (fertilized) to make a 46 chromosome cell.

• Evolutionary Psychologists study the effects of evolution of behavior of organisms.

• Behavior Geneticists study genetic and environmental effects on behavior. – using Linkage Analysis.

• Psychologists study Identical Twins (two babies within one egg) and Fraternal Twins (two babies in 2 separate eggs) to contrast adoption studies.

• Identical twins have more similarities than fraternal twins.

• Hertitability tell us what percentage of traits are because of genetic factors. Traits (height, intelligence, eye color etc.) are either due to genetic or environment there are no half-halves. If heritability of intelligence is 70%, that means 70% of the people will have inherited intelligence.  

Chapter 03 - The Developing Child

Prenatal Development and the Newborn

• At 8 weeks after conception, babies are anatomically indistinguishable; 4/5th month different

• Sex determined by 23rd pair of chromosome

• X chromosome: comes from either mother or father; females have two, males have one

• Y chromosome: comes from father, paired with x to form male

• Y chromosome stimulates development of male sex organ by producing testosterone: most important male sex hormone, but females have it too

• Gender: biologically or socially influenced characteristics which people define as male/female

• zygotes: fertilized eggs; less than half survive pass 2 weeks

• after 10 days, zygote attach to mother’s uterine wall and forms placenta for nourishment, zygote becomes embryo:

• developing human from 2 weeks to second month

• after two months, looks human, called fetus: developing human from 2 months to birth

• fetus hears muffled version of mother’s voice and prefers it after birth

• harm can come when placenta gets teratogens: agents that can harm embryo/fetus during prenatal stage; a mother who is a heroin addict will have a heroin addicted baby

• newborns are equipped with reflexes ideal to survival

• rooting reflex: reflex, when touched on cheek, to open mouth and find nipple

• perceptual abilities continue to develop during first month, can distinguish mother’s odour

 

Infancy and Childhood

• maturation: biological growth processes that enable orderly change in behaviour, could be influenced by experiences

• maturation sets the basic course of development and experience adjust it

• lack of neuron connections reason why earliest memories rarely earlier than third birthday (experiences help develop neural connections)

• Rosenzweig and Krech reared some young rats in solitary confinement and others in playground; found those in playground develop thicker and heavier brain cortex

• For optimum development, early years critical –use it or lose it; but development exists through life as neural tissues changes –experiences nurture nature

• plasticity: brain ability to reoganize pathways to compensate damage; if laser damaged spot in cat’s eye, brain area receiving input from spot will start responding to stimulation from nearby areas in eye;  brain hardware changes with time –can rewired with new synapses

• children brains most “plastic” –surplus of neurons

• when neurons are destroyed, nearby ones may partly compensate by making new connections

• experience influences motor behaviour

• experience(nurture) before biological development(nature) has limited effect

 

Cognitive Development

• Cognition: mental activities associated with knowing, thinking, & remembering

• Piaget believed child’s mind develops through series of stages

• Piaget believed children built schemas: concept or framework that organises and interprets info; mental molds into which we pour our experience

• assimilate: interpreting new experience in terms of existing schemas; given schema for dog, child may call 4-legged animals doggies

• to fit new experiences, we accommodate: adapting one’s schemas to incorporate new info; child realises doggies schemas too broad and refines category

 

Piaget’s 4 stages of Cognitive Development

1.    Sensorimotor Stage (Birth – 2 years old)

• Infants know world in terms of sensory impressions and motor activities

• Lack objective permanence: awareness that things continue to exist when not perceived; Baby believes toy only exists when it is starring at it

2.    Preoperational Stage (preschool – 6/7 years old)

• Child learns to use language, but aren’t able to comprehend mental operations of concrete logic; lacks conservation: principle that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape; water from tall, thin glass poured into wide, flat glass would be the same

• Children are egocentric: inability to see another’s point of view

3.    Concrete Operational Stage (6/7 – 11 years old)

• Children gain mental operations that enable logical thinking about concrete events; understands conservation and mathematical transformation (reversing arithmetic operations)

4.    Formal Operational Stage (12 years -life)

• Reasoning expands from concrete (involving actual experiences) to abstract thinking (involving imagined realities and symbols)

• Children able to solve hypothetical situations and its consequences

• researchers believe development more continuous than did Piaget

 

Social Development

• infants develop intense bond with those who care for them; prefers familiar faces and voices

• after object permanence, develop stranger anxiety: fear of strangers commonly displayed after 8 months of age

• attachment: emotional tie with another person; shown by child seeking closeness to caregiver (those who are comfortable, familiar, and responsive to needs) and distress when seperated

• psychologists use to believe attachment through need for nourishment, but now consider wrong

• Harlow’s Monkey Studies: Harry Harlow bred monkeys of which he separates from mothers shortly after birth; in cages were a cheesecloth baby blanket; baby monkeys formed intense attachment to blanket –distressed when taken away; later, Harlow created 2 artificial mothers (“Harlow’s Mothers”), one bare wire cylinder with wooden head, other a cylinder wrapped with terry cloth; when reared with nourishing wire mother and nonnourishing cloth mother, monkeys preferred cloth mother; concluded body contact more important than nourishment

• Critical period: an optimal period shortly after birth when organism’s exposure to certain stimuli/experience produces proper development; first moving object a duckling sees is mother, then follows only it

• Developmental psychologists believe humans don’t have precise critical period

• Imprinting: process by which certain animals form attachment during critical period; humans don’t imprint, but becomes attached to “known”

• Temperament: person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity;  temperaments endure; ex. easy-going, quiet, placid

• Heredity predispose human differences; anxious infants have high heart rates and reactive nervous system;  identical twins more likely to have similar temperaments than nonidentical

• Sensitive, responsive mothers have infants who are securely attached while the opposite (attend only when felt like doing and ignores at other times) have infants who are insecurely attached

• Anxiety over separation from parents peak at 13 months and gradually declines after

• Erik Erikson claims securely attached children approach life with sense of basic trust: sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy

• Deprivation of attachment causes withdraw, fear, and other negative consequences; most abusive parents have been neglected/battered as children

• Many developmentalists believe quality infant day care doesn’t hinder secure attachement

• Divorces place children at increased risk for developing social, psychological, behavioral, and academic problems

• By age 12, most children develop  self concept: sense of one’s identity and personal worth

• Children’s views of themselves affect actions; positive self-concept produces confidence, independence, optimism

 

Child-Rearing Practices

• Authoritarian parents: imposes rules and expect obedience; Why? Because I said so!

• Authoritative parents: demanding, yet responsive; exert control by both setting rules and explaining reasons; encourages open discussion and allowing exceptions when making rules

• Permissive parents: submit to children’s desires, make few demands, and use little punishment

• Rejecting-neglecting parents: disengaged –expect little and invest little

• Children of authoritative parents have the highest self-esteem, self-reliance, and social competence

• Authoritative parenting seems to give children greatest sense of control which yields motivation and self-confidence

 

Gender

• Gender identity: one’s sense of being male or female

• Gender-typing: acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

• Social learning theory: theory that one learns social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded/punished;  Mother tells daughter that she is being “a good mommy” to her doll

• Gender schema theory: theory that children learn from their cultures a concept of what a male/female is and adjust their behavior accordingly

• Genes and experiences intertwine; we are the product of  interactions between our genetic predispositions and our surrounding environments

Chapter 04 - Adolescence and Adulthood

Adolescence

• Adolescence: transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

• Due to improved nutrition, sexual maturation occurs earlier nowadays

• Psychologists note that adolescence is often marked by mood swings

• Begins with puberty: period of sexual maturation, during which one first becomes capable of reproducing; 2-year period of rapid development usually beginning in girls at age 11 and in boys at age 13

• Primary sex characteristics: body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible

• Secondary sex characteristics: nonreproductive sexual characteristics –female breasts and hips, male voice quality and body hair

• Landmarks of puberty for boys are first ejaculation at about 14 and first menstrual period for girls at about 13

• Menarche: first menstrual period

• Although variation in the timing of growth spurt has little effect in height, there are psychological consequences

• Early maturation is good for boys –stronger, more athletic, and tend to be more popular, self-assured, and independent

• Early maturation for girls is stressful; but later when peers catch up, helps enjoy greater prestige and self-confidence

• Reasoning is often self-focused –may believe private experiences are unique and no one understands the feelings

Kohlberg’s Moral Ladder

1.    Preconventional morality (before age 9)

• Obey to either avoid punishment or to gain concrete rewards;  If you don’t feed the dog, he will die;  If you do the dishes, you can have desert

2.    Conventional morality (by early adolescence)

• Morality evolves to a more conventional level that upholds laws simply because they are laws and rules; since able to see others’ perspectives, follow actions that gain social approval or maintain social order;  if you steal, everyone would think you are a thief

3.    Postconventional morality

• Those who develop abstract reasoning of formal operational thought; follow what affirms people’s rights or what one personally perceives as basic ethical principles;  if you steal the drugs, you would not have lived up to your own ideal;  Robin Hood is a hero because he stole from the rich for the poor

• As our thinking matures, our behavior becomes less selfish and more caring

• To refine sense of identity, adolescents in western cultures try out different “selves”

• Different selves gradually reshape to form identity: one’s sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

• Identity searching continues past teen years; as it becomes clearer, self-esteem increases

• Erikson contended that after identity stage is developing capacity for intimacy: ability to form close, loving relationships; primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood

• As identity is formed, separation from parents occur

 

Adulthood

• Physical abilities peak in early adulthood; world-class sprinters and swimmers peak in their teens or early twenties; but decline of abilities not noticed till later in life

• Women, because of early maturation, peak earlier than men

• Foremost biological sign of aging in women is menopause: time of natural cessation of menstruation; refers to biological changes a women experiences as ability to reproduce declines

• Menopause does not usually create psychological problems for women

• Women’s expectations and attitudes regarding menopause influence its emotional impact

• Men experience decline in sperm count, testosterone level, and speed of erection and ejaculation

• With age, eye’s pupil shrinks and lens becomes less transparent –reducing light reaching retina

• Disease-fighting immune system weakens –more susceptible to life-threatening disease; but due to  lifetime collection of antibodies, less suffering of short-term ailments

• Since early adulthood, small, gradual loss of brain cells, but can be compensated by active growth of neural connections in people who remain active

• Some do suffer brain ailment such as Alzheimer’s disease: progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and physical functions; deterioration of neurons that produce neurotransmitter acetylcholine

• Hard for older people to recall meaningless info, but if it is meaningful, their rich web of existing knowledge helps them catch it

• Cross-sectional study: study in which people of different ages are compared with one another;  cross the age groups

• Show that younger people do better than older ones

• Longitudinal study: research in which same people are restudied and retested over long period;  a group of people for a long time

• Show that until late in life, intelligence remains stable

• Found that because cross-sectional use people of different eras, other variables may skew the results; but longitudinal may be at fault as those who survive the end of test may be the healthiest, smartest

• Conclude that whether intelligence increases/decreases depends on type of intellectual preformance measured

• Crystallized intelligence: one’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills;  tends to increase with age;  As time passes, “hardens” = stronger (increases with time)

• Fluid Intelligence: one’s ability to reason speedily and abstractly;  tends to decrease with age

• Types of intelligence explain why mathematicians and scientists produce creative work in early adulthood while those in literature produce best work in late adulthood

• Social clock: culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement

• 2 basic aspects of lives dominate adulthood: intimacy (forming close relationships) and generativity (being productive and supporting future generations)

• Children are the most enduring of life changes

• When children leave home, the empty nest is for most people a happy place and they report greater happiness and enjoyment of marriage

• People of all ages report similar levels of happiness and satisfaction with life; teenagers have quick changing range of moods while adults have less extreme, but more enduring moods

Death and Dying

• Elisabeth Kubler-Ross proposed that terminally ill pass through 5 stages (Dabda):

• Denial; unacceptance of ill

• Anger or resentment;  Why me?

• Bargaining;  with God

• Depression;  loss of everything and everyone

• Acceptance; peaceful, accepting one’s fate

Chapter 05 - Sensation

 

Sensation  is referred to as being bottom-up processing, detecting environmental stimuli from senses up to the brain.

 

Sensing the World: Some Basic Principles

• An Absolute Threshold is the lowest amount of stimulus needed to notice it  50% of the time. For example, you turn down the radio to a point where you only hear the faint sound half the time.  Then that loudness (decibel) is your absolute threshold for sound.

• But your detection of a stimulus also depends on your state of arousal, expectations, experiences, and motivation. This is described by the Signal Detection Theory – predicting when we will notice a weak stimulus (signal).

• A stimulus is Subliminal if it is below your absolute threshold, you detect it less than 50% of the time.  For instance, a microscopic cell is subliminal to you because you cannot see it with your naked eye.

• Subliminal advertisements (Drink Coke, eat popcorn etc.), does have an affect on you but  do not persuade you.

• The Difference Threshold (just noticeable difference or jnd) is the lowest difference you can detect between 2 stimuli 50% of the time.  For example, you are just able to notice the difference between 1kg and 1.02kg half the time.

• Weber’s Law states that two stimuli must differ in percentages or ratios, not amount, for a person to detect it (jnd).

• Sensory Adaptation –  lowered sensitivity due to constant exposure from a stimulus. For example, when you go into someone’s house you notice an odor…but this only lasts for a little while because sensory adaptation allows you to focus your attention on changing environment;  it is irritating to be constantly reminded that your foot is in contact with the floor.

Vision

• Transduction  refers to Sensory energy being convert (transformed) into Neural energy/impulses.

• Light is composed of electromagnetic waves with Wavelengths (distance from one peak to another peak on a wave) and Amplitudes (height of the wave)

• WAVELENGTH  determines   HUE  (Color, i.e. Red, Blue, Green) and PITCH/FREQUENCY  in sound.

• AMPLITUDE       determines   INTENSITY  (Brightness, i.e. Bright red, dark red) and  LOUDNESS in sound.

• External Light entering the eye first travels through the Cornea (protective layer)  ~ Pupil  (an adjustable opening) control by Iris (muscle around the pupil) ~ Lens (an oval transparency) that changes shape to focus light by a process called Accommodation; light is then focused onto the back of the eye called Retina (multi-neuron surface).

• There are 3 basic types of Acuity (how sharp/clear vision is) : normal, nearsightedness (only see near things clearly), and farsightedness (only see far things clearly)

• The Retina has 2 types of receptor cells :  Rods  (detect brightness of light, sensitive in dark), Cones (detect color and detail, sensitive in daylight).  Cells connecting these detectors form the Optic Nerve that sends the impulses to brain.

• Everyone has a Blind Spot, a small region in the visual field where nothing could be seen.  This is because there are no receptor cells where the optic nerve leaves the eye in the retina.  Normally, we don’t witness this effect because we have two eyes that compensate for each other’s blind spot, and the fact that our eyes are constantly moving.

• Fovea is the region in the retina where light is centrally focused.  The fovea has no rods, only cones.

• Nobel prize winners Hubel and Wiesel discovered Feature Detectors in the brain cortex that are sensitive to specific features in what we see (i.e. shape, color, depth, movement, form, and even postures, arm angle, gaze).

• Parallel Processing -  Our brain Processes lots of information  simultaneously.  For example, looking at an orange, the brain processes the orange color, the round shape, and the bumpy texture all at the same time.

• People who cannot consciously perceive can still remarkably locate objects but are consciously unaware of how they knew.  Such a phenomenon is called  Blind Sight.

• Color processing is described in 2 stages : 1)  Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory – Light is detected by 3 types of cones each specifically sensitive to Red, Blue, or Green. Combinations of them produce intermediate colors (yellow, cyan, purple) 2)  Opponent-Process theory – Color is then processed by their opponent colors (red-green, blue-yellow, black-white). Some cells are excited by blue and inhibited by yellow, vice versa. Thus, you cannot see a bluish-yellow.

• Color constancy  refers to the importance of surrounding background effects on perceived color.  Color constancy states that colors don’t look different even in different illumination (i.e. sunlight or dark room).Green leaves will still be green whether on a clear or cloudy day.

Hearing

• Frequency (Pitch) is the number of waves travelling through a point in one second, relates to how fast a wave travels.

• Audition, or hearing, requires sounds waves converted into neural impulses, and this is done in the ear.

• Sound travels through the 3 sections of the ear to the brain :

• OUTER EAR :  Auditory Canal

• MIDDLE EAR: Ear drum (tight membrane) ~ Hammer, Anvil, Stirrup (3 small bones connected to ear drum that vibrates when sound waves hit ear drum)

• INNER EAR :   Cochlea (coiled, fluid-filled tube) that contains the Basilar Membrane, which is lined with hair cells that vibrates to excite nerve fibers.  The fibers form the Auditory Canal connecting to the brain.

• Place theory says that we hear different pitches because specific “places” in the cochlea are stimulated.

• Frequency theory says that we hear different pitches because the speed of neural impulses travelling to the brain matches the speed of the sound waves (“frequency”).

• We can tell which direction a sound is coming from because if  it is closer to our right ear, the right ear will receive the sound slightly faster than left ear and the brain calculates this difference.  Consequently, if the sound is directly

• behind or in front, where the distance between 2 ears is the same, then it is difficult to differentiate.

• Conduction Deafness  – loss of hearing due to damage of eardrum, and/or the tiny bones in middle ear. (Could be fixed by hearing aid)

• Nerve Deafness – loss of hearing due to damage to cochlea, basilar membrane, and/or hair cells in the inner ear. (Could be fixed by a bionic ear, implanting a cochlea)

The Other Senses

• Touch is composed of 4 senses : Warmth, Pain, Cold, and Pressure  (the only sense with identifiable receptors. The other three don’t have specific receptors)

• Combinations of these create amazing feelings. I.e. Warmth and Cold = HOT

• Pressure and Cold = WET

• Pressure and Pain =  TICKLING ITCH

• Phantom Limb Sensations  occur when pain is felt in a nonexistent limb.  Even though the leg is not present, the recepting neurons previously connected to them are still there.  And they will fire, resulting in pain sensations.

• The Gate-Control Theory states that the spinal cord has “gates” that opens/closes to transmit pain impulses.  Small fibers open Gate = pain.  Large fibers close Gate = no pain.

• Pain is merely a physical and psychological interpretation.  Distraction methods, where attention is focused elsewhere, can ease the felt pain.  Acupuncture(may affect gate-control), electrical stimulation, exercise can also relieve pain.

• Taste is a Chemical Sense composed of 4 basic senses : Sweet, Sour, Salty, and Bitter.

• Taste receptors (taste buds) regenerate every 1 or 2 weeks, but age, smoking, and alcohol will lower taste bud number and sensitivity.

• Sensory Interaction is when one sense affects another sense, thus interacting. For example, tasting apples and potatoes seem the same if we cannot see it or smell it.

• Smell or  Olfaction  is also a  Chemical Sense that  directly transmits information from nose to the temporal lobe. The only sense that doesn’t first relay impulses to the Thalamus.

• Kinesthesis (using sensors in muscles, tendons, and joints) while, Vastibular sense (using fluids in semicircular canal, cochlea, and vestibular sacs in inner ear), both senses our position, movement, and balance.

Sensory Restriction

• Psychologists use REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Therapy), where you are put into a warm bath with eyes closed, or in a totally dark room, to lower stimulation and reduce stress, or unwanted behaviors (i.e. drinking).

Chapter 06 - Perception

Selective Attention

• Selective attention: focusing only on one thing at a time; focused awareness only on limited aspect of all that is capable of experiencing; you aren’t aware of nose in line of vision

• Cocktail Party Effect: (example of selective attention) ability to focus only on one voice in a huge crowd

• Unnoticed stimuli has effect: women who had listened to tunes previously played to them while unnoticed preferred it later on

Perceptual Illusions

• Visual capture: phenomenon when a conflict occurs between vision and another sense, vision dominates; vision captures other senses (overrides)

• in theaters, sound comes from behind (projector), yet perceive as from screen

• Perceiving voice coming from ventriloquist’s dummy

Perceptual Organization

• Humans organize clusters of sensation into gestalt: organized “whole”; human tendency to order pieces of info into a meaning picture

• First perceptual task: to perceive figure (object) as  distinct from  ground (background)

• Figure-ground: organization of visual field into the figure(s) that stand out from the ground

• Next, organize figure into meaningful form (color, movement, like-dark contrast)

• To process forms, use grouping: rules mind follows to organize stimuli into logical groups

• Grouped into  Proximity,  Similarity, Continuity, Closure, Connectedness (visuals on page 185, figure 6.5 and definition on page 186 of 5 edition)

• Depth perception: ability to see objects in 3D even though image sensed by retina are 2D; allows distance judgment;

• partly innate (born with)

• Gibson and Walker placed 6-14 months old infants on edge of a visual cliff (table half glass, half wood), making the appearance of a drop-off; Mothers then tries to convince infant to crawl pass the normal part of the table onto glass; most refused, indicating perception of depth

• Visual cliff: laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants/animals

• Binocular cues: depth cues that depend on both eyes

• Eyes apart, slightly different images, brain sees difference –retinal disparity: bi cue in which the greater the difference between images, the closer the object

• Convergence: bi cue in which the more the eyes turns inward, the closer the object

• Monocular cues: distance cue that are available to either eye

• Examples: relative size, interposition,  relative clarity,  texture gradient, relative height, relative motion, linear perspective, relative brightness  (definitions on pages 188-189 of 5 edition)

• Brain computes motion base partly on assumption that objects moving away is shrinking & vise versa

• Brain reads rapid series of slightly different images as movement; phenomenon called stroboscopic movement

• Another illusion of movement is phi phenomenon: perception of movement when lights blink one after the other; the lighted arrow signs on the back of parked construction trucks

• Perceptual constancy: perception that objects are not changing even under different lighting; allowing identification regardless of angle of view [a door is a door even at 45 degree (shape constancy) angle or 20 feet away(size constancy)]

• Even at same size, linear perspective causes one to see one object bigger (page 191 figure 6.13a)

Interpretation

• Formerly blind patients often can’t recognize objects familiar by touch

• Sensory restriction like allowing only diffuse, unpatterned light does no damage is occurring later in life; affect only at infancy, suggesting critical period for development

• Perceptual adaptation: ability for our vision to adjust to artificial displacement (chicks do not possess this); given goggles that shift vision 30 degrees to left, humans learn to adjust actions 30 degrees to left

• Roger Sperry surgically turned eyes of animals; found out Fish, Frogs, Salamanders (Note:  reptiles)  CAN’T ADJUST

• while  Kittens, Monkeys, Humans (Note: mammals) ADAPTED

• Expereinces, assumptions, and expectations give us Perceptual set: mental set up to perceive one thing and not another; ufo-looking objects that are really clouds; because can’t resist finding a pattern on unpatterned stimuli

• Much of our perception comes not just from world “out there”, but also from behind the eyes and between the ears

 

ESP

• 50% of americans believe in extrasensory perception (ESP): claim perception occurring without sensory input

• Parapsychology: study of paranormal phenomena (profession called Parapsychologists)

• Three varieties of ESP: Telepathy (sending or reading thoughts), Clairvoyance (perceiving an event unfolding), Precognition (seeing future)

• Vague predictions can later be interpreted to match events; Nostradamus claimed his prophecies could not be interpreted till after the event

• After many experiments, never had a reproducible ESP phenomenon or individual who can convincingly demonstrate psychic ability

Chapter 07 - States of Consciousness

• During the mid-century, the study of consciousness in psychology ceased.  But by 1960, new advances in neuroscience permitted the study of mental states again.

• Consciousness is a vague concept that is usually defined by psychologists as the awareness of our environment and ourselves.

• Subconscious processing -   processes different information simultaneously (Parallel Processing)

• Conscious processing – processes different information sequentially (Serial Processing), much like passing stages in law making; thus making Conscious processing slow.

• Everyone fantasizes.  Fantasizing (day dreaming) may help reduce stress, increase creativity, and even prepare for future events.

• But some 4% of the population fantasize so vividly that they have a Fantasy-prone personality.  As adults they spend more than half their time fantasizing, which eventually leads to difficulties sorting fantasy from reality.

Sleep and Dreams

• Facts:  Everyone dreams, the difference lies in whether they remembered it or not; Sleepwalkers are not acting out their dreams; Sleeplessness have little affect on motivating tasks.

• Circadian rhythm is our “Biological clock” that runs on a 24-hour day cycle.  But isolated individuals without clocks or daylight usually adopt a 25-hour day cycle.  And if we experience jet lag from travelling, our biological clock will reset to adapt.

• After about 1.5 hours of sleep, our eyes start to move rapidly and jerky accompanied by increased brain activity.  This is called REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement).

• The only time you dream is if you’re in REM sleep, but you can be in REM sleep and not dream.

• Stages of Sleep:

Firstly, before you sleep, you lie in a relaxed state with slow alpha waves showing on the EEG.

I. STAGE 1 – (2 minutes) You experience hallucinations (experiences without real stimuli) such as hyponogoic sensations (floating weightlessly, knee jerks, etc.)

II. STAGE 2 – (20 minutes) You are now actually asleep.  Your brain shows periodic bursts of activity called Sleep Spindles  and “sleep talking” could start now or any stage after this.

III. STAGE 3 – (~15 minutes) Your brain starts showing large and slow delta waves at which you are hard to wake.

IV. STAGE 4 – (~15 minutes) You are now in deep sleep and the brain shows even more delta waves.  Bed-wetting and sleep walking can occur.

• After stage 4, your brain goes back to stage 3 then stage 2 then you enter into an excited state – REM sleep

• (paradoxical sleep) After REM, your sleep goes back to stage 2 and the cycle starts again.  Except that REM periods get longer over the night and stage 4 and 3 don’t happen in the couple of hours before you wake.

• Sleep-deprived effects include: suppressed immune systems, decreased creativity, slight hand tremors, slow performance and misperceptions on monotonous tasks.  BUT a sleep-deprived person does as well as anyone on highly motivating tasks (running, arcade games, boxing)

• Sleep helps us regenerate ; our  tissues are restored, energy is conserved, and growth hormones are released from pituitary

 

Sleep Disorders

• Insomnia – Difficulty falling or staying asleep.  REM sleep deprived one day, makes REM sleep longer on the next

(REM Rebound).  Narcolepsy – Suddenly falling asleep (very dangerous, especially when driving).  Sleep Apnea – Suddenly stopped breathing when asleep (mostly overweight men) that would automatically wake you.  Night Terrors – This is not nightmare; when one experience night terrors, terrified appearances are observed and only happens during 2 or 3 hours of sleep in stage 4.  The next morning the person hardly remembers what happened. In contrast, nightmares happen in REM Sleep near the morning.

Dreams

• Using Freudian terms (depicted by Sigmund Freud), Manifest content – what we remembered the dream to be.  This is only the “cover up”; underlying every dream is its true meaning called Latent content – our unaccepting subconscious thoughts and drives.

• One explanation for dreaming is because dreams organize our thoughts and facilitates memory; at the same time dreaming provides constant neural stimulation that preservers our neural pathways.

• Seligman and Yellen (1987) proposed another theory that says dreams are random bursts of activity from the brainstem and the brain tries to make sense of it; thus hallucination images are produced in dreams.

• When we dream the amygdala in the limbic system of the brain is most active (producing emotions).

 

Hypnosis

• Hypnosis  is a state in which you are under the influence of the hypnotist.  He/she may suggest to you that certain behaviors will automatically happen and you, under his/her influence (depending on your degree of susceptibility), will do exactly what is said.

• Hypnosis could be so powerful that the hypnotist can induce Posthypnotic amnesia, temporary not remembering what happened during the hypnosis, as well as Posthypnotic suggestion – told during the hypnotic session, the suggestion is to be carried out when you are not hypnotized.  For example, “After the count of three, you are to awaken and from now on approach every situation with a positive attitude.”

• Hypnosis can  relieve pain and heal soars but it cannot give you super-human abilities; what you can do in hypnosis, you can also do in normal conscious states (with a little positive encouragement)

• Hypnosis relieves pain with a dissociation method (divided consciousness theory) that involves a split (dissociate) between levels of consciousness.  Such as splitting the sensation of pain from emotional pain, so your skin might register the pain but you won’t feel the suffering.

• Another method is described by the Social influence theory, where the subject of hypnosis is merely caught up in “playing his/her role” so that he/she could ignore the pain.

• Since hypnotized people report less pain when their arms are placed in ice water, Ernest Hilgard decided to test if a part of them realizes the pain.  So, when he asked them to press a key if “some part” of them felt pain, they press the key.  So there must be a hidden observer, a split consciousness that involuntarily knows what is happening.

 

Drugs and Consciousness

• Psychoactive drugs – chemicals that change how you think and feel and usually produces a tolerance – using larger and larger doses to experience the same effect.  If this happens, quitting will be very difficult because of unpleasant withdrawal effects that indicate a physical dependence and a psychological dependence on the drug.

• FACTS: Using drugs medically more often don’t cause addiction; addiction is not like a disease and can be overcome voluntarily (without therapy); being addicted to something is not an excuse to be sympathized, you are responsible for your actions.

• Depressants  (drugs that slow and calm neural activity):

I. Alcohol – Impairs judgement and inhibitions and prevents recent events to go into long-term memory.  Also, people who are made to believe they are drinking alcohol exhibited less sexual restraints.

II. Barbiturates – (tranquilizers) This drug is similar to alcohol because it lowers activity in Sympathetic nervous system.  Large doses of barbiturates can cause death.

III. Opiates – (Morphine and  Heroin) Opium derivatives that depress brain activity and brings pleasure with addiction; ultimately leading to death.  The pain of withdrawal is accompanied with these drugs because the brain stops producing its own endorphins and becomes dependent on it.

• Stimulants  (drugs that speed up and excite body activity):

Caffeine, nicotine, Cocaine, and amphetamines – Increasing heart and breathing rates that boost mood or athletic performances.  After the drug wears off, the user will experience a “crash” that involves headaches, tiredness, grouchiness, and even depression.  Of them, Cocaine is the most powerful stimulant in that it blocks re-uptake of dopamine neurotransmitters.  Thus, dopamine remains in the synapse to intensify moods.

• Hallucinogens (Drugs that create distorted perceptions and thoughts without real stimuli):

I. LSD  (PCP) –  “acid” that makes you see shapes, colors, and even out-of-body experiences accompanied by various emotions.

II. Marijuana  – Drug containing an organic compound called THC that can cause relaxation, euphoric high, and increases sensitivity to colors, tastes, and sounds.  Adverse effects, however, include impaired judgement, lung damage, disrupted memory, decreasing reaction time, and lowering sex hormones.

• Contrary to popular belief, African American high school seniors report the lowest rates of use for all drugs (Johnston & others, 1994, 1996).

• Near-death experience is a state of consciousness reported after being close to death.  These same experiences, such as seeing bright tunnels, are often experienced from LSD (drug hallucination) or oxygen deprivation.

• Dualism presumes that the mind and body are two distinct parts that usually separate after death.  Monism, however, presumes that the mind and body are just different aspects of the same thing and that we cannot exist without our bodies.

Chapter 08 - Learning

One of our most enduring abilities that have ensured our survival is adaptivity, which in turn is crafted by Learning – an enduring change in behavior and knowledge due to experience.

• Organisms learn by forming associations between cause and effect (or two events).  In other words, they are exhibiting associative learning.  People associate the sight of lightning with thunder so next time they see lightning they anticipate thunder.

• Behaviorism , developed by Behaviorist John Watson, is the view that psychology should be and objective science

Classical Conditioning

• Classical Conditioning - developed by  Ivan Pavlov, the type of learning in which stimuli is associated with an Involuntary Response.  Pavlov was famous for his dog salvation experiment in which he accustomed dogs to salivate at the tone of ringing

• Respondent Behavior – An automatic response to a certain stimuli (“responding behaviors”)

• Unconditioned Response (UCR) –  The normal response that is generated (unlearned) I.e. In Pavlov’s experiment, the normal response a dog has when presented with food is salivation.

• Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS) –  The stimulus that triggers a normal response (UCR) I.e. The food is the UCS in Pavlov’s experiment.

• Conditioned Response (CR) –  The response that is learned (“conditioned”) I.e. Pavlov’s dogs learned to salivate upon the presence of a ringing tone.

• Conditioned Stimulus (CS)   - A neutral stimulus that triggers a learned response.  I.e. The ringing is a CS because the dogs learned to salivate at the presence of a ringing tone as opposed to food.

• This kind of association is possible because Pavlov presented a ringing tone every time before food is given to the dog.  Eventually, the dog learned to anticipate food at the sound of ringing, so they salivate.

• There are 5 major processes with Classical Conditioning:

I. Acquisition – The initial formation of the association between CS and CR.  This works well when the CS is presented  half a second before UCS is presented.

II. Extinction -  If the UCS is not presented after CS for a couple of times, the organism will lose receptivity to the CS.  I.e. If after the ringing tone no food arrives, the dog stops to salivate at the presence of just a tone.

III. Spontaneous Recovery – However, if the UCS is again presented after the CS, extinction ceases and the organism again begins to respond to the CS.  I.e., the food is again presented after ringing – dog salivates.

IV. Generalization – The tendency for organisms to respond similarly to similar (generalization) stimuli as the CS.  I.e. Pavlov’s dog salivating to the sound of beeping that is similar to ringing.  This is good because if you teach children to watch out for cars, they will also watch out for similar objects like trucks and vans.

V. Discrimination – The ability to distinguish (discriminate) between different stimuli, so you don’t react the same way to everything.

• Two contradicting facts: Rats will learn to avoid food that made them ill even if the illness happens hours after eating it.  Second, Rats will dislike the taste that made them ill but not the sight of the food.

• Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning has led to a variety of practical uses like helping drug addicts, increasing the immune system efficiency, and treating emotional disorders.

Operant Conditioning

• Operant Conditioning  developed by  B.F. Skinner, is a type of learning where organisms learn to  Voluntarily respond a certain way depending on the consequences (like reward or punishment).

• Operant Behavior –  The learned behavior that acts upon the situation and this behavior produces consequences.  I.e.. If you learned that eating on the bed makes your parents mad at you, your eating behavior will change depending on what kind of responses you want the situation (parents yelling or not) to have.

• Law of Effect – Behavior that is rewarded is more likely to occur again.

• Skinner Box –  The box Skinner used to research on animal behavior.  The box has a bar/button that the animal can push to obtain rewards (food).  The rate of pushing is recorded.

• Shaping – Gradually rewarding the organism as it approaches the desired behavior.  I.e..  If you want a bird to peck on a bar, you would feed it every time it got closer and closer to the bar but ignoring every other behavior it does. Thus, you are shaping the behavior with successive approximations.

• Reinforcers –  anything that increases the chances of the behavior happening again

• Positive Reinforcement – Rewards, like appraisal, money, food.

• Negative Reinforcement – Removing of aversive events.  I.e., freeing from jail, stopping someone crying, eating medicine that rids a cold, and drinking cold water to cool you down. (Taking away bad things)

• Primary Reinforcers –  Things that satisfies  Inborn biological needs.  I.e.. Food, water, warmth etc.

• Secondary Reinforcers – Learned things that are strengthened by primary reinforcers.  I.e.. Money, which can buy food – primary reinforcer; praises, high grades, smiles, which are all associated with basic needs of happiness.

• Continuous Reinforcement – Reinforcing the behavior every time it occurs.  This method of learning is quick.  But when reinforcement stops,  extinction can happen very quickly.

• Partial Reinforcement –  Reinforcing a behavior parts of the time.  Acquisition/learning is slow but more resistant to extinction.

• Four schedules of Partial reinforcement:

1.    Fixed-Ratio – Reinforcement after “fixed” number of responses.  I.e.. Getting candy after washing the floor every 3 times.

2.    Variable-Ratio –  Reinforcement after an “unpredictable” number of responses  I.e.. Getting candy after washing the floor 2 times then getting candy after washing 5 times…then 3  times…

3.    Fixed-Interval – Reinforcement after a “fixed” amount of time.  I.e.. Getting Candy 3 hours after every time the floor is washed.

4.    Variable-Interval – Reinforcement after an “unpredictable” amount of time.  I.e.. Getting Candy 2 hours after the floor is washed then getting candy 5 hours after washing…then 3 hours…

• Punishment – Opposite of reinforcement, punishment decreases the chances of a behavior reoccurring.

• Although punishment can successfully stop the undesired behavior, it also has drawbacks.  Punished behaviors are not forgotten, just suppressed until appropriate situations; punishment increases aggressiveness and attributes them to the punisher.

• Cognitive Map – Mental images of ones surroundings.  I.e.. Mice develop cognitive maps that represent a maze they just ran through.

• Latent Learning – Demonstration of acquired knowledge only when it is needed.  I.e.. Mice who explored a maze only demonstrate that they know the maze well by directly going to the food placed the previous time.

• Overjustification Effect  – Giving a reward for something the organism already likes to do.  This is unfavorable because the organism will lose the intrinsic interest and rely on rewards for they behavior.  I.e.. Being paid to put together your favorite puzzle.

• Skinner’s Operant Conditioning has many useful applications like increasing student performance, influencing productivity in jobs, and helping shape children behaviors.

 

Learning by Observation

• Observational learning – Researched by  Albert Bandura  in the 1960’s, this is a type of learning that is accomplished by Modeling - watching specific behaviors of others and imitating them.

• Prosocial Behavior – Actions that are constructive, beneficial, and nonviolent.  These behaviors can prompt similar ones in others.  Thus, “Pro-social”.

• Experiments show that children do exactly what their models (parents) do.  Hypocritical parents say one thing and do another; their children will say what they say and do what they do.

Chapter 09 - Memory

• Memory: persistence of learning over time via the storage and retrieval of info

• Flashbulb memory: a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event; San Francisco residence recalling 1989 Earthquake

• Human memory like a computer

1. Get info into our brain –encoding: processing of info into memory system

2. Retain info –storage: retention of encoded info over time

3. Get it back later –retrieval: process of getting into out of memory storage

• Humans store vast amounts of info in long-term memory: relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

• Short-term memory: activated memory that holds few items briefly; phone number just dial

Encoding: Getting Information In

• Automatic processing: unconscious encoding of incidental info; occurs with little or no effort, without our awareness, and without interfering with our thinking of other things; space, time, frequency, well-learned info

• Effortful processing: encoding that requires attention and conscious effort; memorizing these notes for the AP Psychology exam

• After practice, effort processing becomes more automatic; reading from right to left for students of Hebrew

• Can boost memory through rehearsal: conscious repetition of info, either to maintain it in consciousness or to encode it for storage

• Next-in-line effect: when people go around circle saying names/words, poorest memories are for name/word person before them said

• Info received before sleep is hardly ever remembered are consciousness fade before processing able

• Retain info better when rehearsal distributed over time –phenomenon called spacing effect: tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through cramming

• When given a list of items and ask to recall, people often demonstrate serial position effect: tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

• Rehearsal will not encode all info equally well because processing of info is in 3 ways

I. Semantic encoding: encoding of meaning, including the meaning of words

II. Acoustic encoding: encoding of sound, especially the sound of words

III. Visual encoding: encoding of picture images

• Fergus Craik and Endel Tulving flashed a word to people, asking question that required processing either visually, acoustically, or semantically; semantic encoding was found to yield much better memory

• Imagery: mental pictures; powerful aid to effortful processing, especially when combined with semantic encoding;

• can easily picture where we were yesterday, where we sat, and what we wore

• Mnemonic: memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices

• Chunking: organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically

• Able remember info best when able to organize it into personal meaningful arrangements

Forgetting as Encoding Failure

• Failure to encode info –never entered memory system

• Much of what we sense, we never notice

• Raymond Nickerson and Marilyn Adams discover most people cannot pick the real American penny from different ones; (See pg. 280)

Storage: Retaining Information

• Sensory memory: immediate, initial recording of sensory info in memory system

• we have short temporary photographic memory called iconic memory: momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; photographic/picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a sec; visual = eye, which sounds like “I” in iconic also fleeting memory for auditory sensory images called echoic memory: momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3 or 4 sec; auditory = ear, which starts with “e” like echoic

• Short-Term Memory

• without active processing, short-term memories have limited life

• short-term memory limited in capacity –about 7 chunks of info; at any given moment, can consciously process only very limited amount of info

• Long-Term Memory

• capacity for storing long-term memories is practically limitless

• though forgetting occurs as new experiences interfere with retrieval and as physical memory trace gradually decays

• Karl Lashley removed pieces of rat’s cortex as it ran through maze; found that no matter what part removed, partial memory of solving maze stayed; concluded memories don’t reside in single specific spot

• Psychologists then focus on neurons

• Long-term potential (LTP): increase in a synapse’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; believed to be neural basis for learning and memory

• After long-term potential occurs, passing electric current through brain won’t disrupt old memories, but wipe up recent experiences; football player with blow to head won’t recall name of play before the blow

• Drugs that block neurotransmitters also disrupt info storage; drunk people hardly remembers previous evening

• Stimulating hormones affect memory as more glucose available to fuel brain activity, indicating important event –

• sears events onto brain; remembering first kiss, earthquake

• Amnesia: loss of memory

• Found that people who don’t have memories can still learn, indicating 2 memory systems operating in order

• Implicit memory: retention without conscious recollection (of skills and dispositions); how to do something

• Explicit memory: memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare”; remember it was done before

• Through scans, found that Hippocampus, neural center located in limbic system, helps process explicit memories for storage

• Damage to left side of hippocampus produce difficulty in remembering verbal info, but no trouble recalling visual designs and locations

• Damage to right side produce difficulty in remembering visual designs and locations, but no trouble recalling verbal info

• When hippocampus removed from monkeys, lose recent memories, but old memories intact, suggesting hippocampus not permanent storage

• Long-term memories scattered across various parts of frontal and temporal lobes

Retrieval: Getting Information Out

• Recall: measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier; fill-in-the-blank test

• Once learned and forgotten, relearning something becomes quicker than when originally first learned

• Recognition: measure of memory in which the person need only identify items previously learned; multiple-choice test

• Relearning: memory measure that assesses the amount of time saved when relearning previously learned info

• Through tests on recognition and relearning, found one remember more than can recall

• To retrieve specific memory, need to identify one of the strands that leads to it, process called priming: activation, often unconsciously, of particular associations in memory

• Retrieval cues (reminders of info) such as photographs, often prime one’s memories for earlier experiences

• Best retrieval cues comes from associations formed at time when one encodes memory

• By being in similar context (surrounding), can cause flood of retrieval cues and memories

• Being in similar context as before, may trigger experience déjà vu: eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before.” Cues from current situation may subconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience

• Things we learn in one state (joyful, sad, drunk, sober, etc) are more easily recalled when in same state –phenomenon called state-dependent memory

• Moods also associated with memory; easily recall memory when mood of that incident same as present

• Mood-congruent memory: tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood

Forgetting as Retrieval Failure

• Learning some items may interfere with retrieving others

• Proactive interference (forward-acting): disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new info; old combination lock numbers may interfere with recalling of new numbers; “pro”(after = new) interference = interference on new info

• Retroactive interference (backward-acting): disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old info; teachers who just learn students’ names from present class have trouble recalling previous class’ students’ names; retro (before = old) interference = interference on old info

• Repression: in psychoanalytic theory, the basic defence mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

• Increasing memory researchers think repression occurs rarely

Memory Construction

• Misinformation effect: incorporating misleading info into one’s memory of an event; miscalling a stop sign when asked about car crash

• Source amnesia: attributing to the wrong source an event that we experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined

Chapter 10 - Thinking and Language

Thinking

• Cognition: mental activity associated with processing, understanding , and communicating info

• To think about so many things, we group them into concepts: mental grouping of similar objects, events, or people

• Prototype:  The best representation of a concept.  I.e. A dog maybe a good example of the concept of four legged animals

• Algorithm: A logical procedure guaranteed to solve a problem.  This method is slow but less likely to make mistakes. I.e. unscramble the letters in SOSIA to find the word.  An Algorithmic approach would be to try all the possible combinations of letters.

• Heuristic: Using “rule-of-thumb” strategies to solve problems and make judgements efficiently.  This method is faster but more likely to make mistakes.  I.e. Unscramble SOSIA.  A Heuristic approach would not try combinations with 2 SS’s together.

• Insight: A sudden flash of inspiration and the solution to problem comes to you.  This contrasts with strategic problem solving methods.

• Confirmation Bias : You tend to look for answers that confirm your own expectations/guesses

• Fixation: Inability to look at a problem from a different perspective.

• Mental Set: A type of fixation that works on previous solutions that are successful.  It is like your mind is set on your mental set

• Functional Fixedness: You tend to think of things in their usual functions.  I.e. Inability to see that a paperclip could also be used as a hook instead of clipping papers.

• Representative Heuristics:  The tendency to judge things according to how well they match a prototype.  Thinking in terms on well something “represents” another. I.e. if I say a person is strong, muscular, and fast, you might think the person is some sort of athlete because those qualities best represent an athlete.  However, the person could very well be a fit professor.

• Availability Heuristics:  The tendency to base the likelihood of events on how vivid you remembered them.  How “available” the instance is in your memory.  I.e. If your printer broke down once and took you forever to fix it so that you remember the instance greatly, the next time you advise someone about a printer, you’ll most likely say printers break down easily.

• Overconfidence: Overestimating the accuracy of your judgements.  Same as being  Overconfident.

• Framing:  The way information is shown or set up.  Just like how something is “framed” as in framing of a picture.  If the picture is of fruits and the frame looks like an interwoven wooden thread, then the picture looks very natural.  If the picture is placed around a frame that is grey and metallic-like, the effect is very different.  Just like if I “frame” the statement: there is a 70% chance of winning as opposed to 30% chance of losing.

• Belief bias:  The tendency to perceive what is conflicting with our beliefs to be illogical.

• Belief Perseverance:  Tendency for your beliefs to remain or “preserve” even if where you formulated the belief is a wrong source.  I.e. if Jim tells you that dogs can run faster than cats and you believe it, then even If you find out that Jim is a mental patient, your belief that dogs are faster than cats still remain.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI): Computerized systems that mimic human thinking abilities.

• Neural Networks: Computer circuitry that resemble the real “neural networks” of interconnected neurons in the brain

 

Language

• Language:  The combination of gestured, spoken, and/or written words to communicate meaning.

• Phoneme:  The smallest sound unit.  I.e. In fish there are 3 phonemes: f, i, sh

• Morpheme:  The smallest meaningful unit (this includes pre/suffices).  I.e. I, a, dog, -ed, un-, me ~ are all morphemes.

• Grammar: Rules in a language that allows us to properly understand it.

• Semantics: How we get meaning from  morphemes, words, and sentences.

• Syntax: How to combine words into meaningful sentences.

• Babbling Stage:  (3-4 months after birth) A stage in speech development where the infant utters sounds unlike the family language.

• One-word stage: (1-2 years old) A stage in speech development where the infant speaks single words

• Two-word stage: (2 years old) Infants speak in two-word phrases that resemble Telegraphic speech – speech like a “telegram”  I.e. Want candy, me play, no eat…etc.

• A child can learn any language and will spontaneously invent meaningful words to convey their wishes.  However, after age 7, the ability to master a new language greatly declines.

• Animals also communicate, whether by means of sound or behavior just as bees dictate the location of nectar with an elaborate dance.

• Allen Gardner and Beatrice Gardner, researchers of University of Nevada, successfully taught a chimpanzee to perform sign language as means of communication.

Thinking and Language

• Linguistic Benjamin Lee  Whorf’s  Linguistic Relativity  states language determines how we think.  This is most evident in polylinguals (speaking 2 or more languages).  I.e. Someone who speaks English and Chinese will feel differently depending on which language they are using. English has many words describing personal emotions and Chinese has many words describing inter-personal emotions.

• However, Thinking could occur without language.  This is evident in pianists and artists where mental images nourish the mind.

• Therefore, thinking and language affect each other in an enduring cycle.

Chapter 11 - Intelligence

 

We use intelligence tests to give a numerical value to ones mental abilities by comparing them to others.

 

The Origins of Intelligence Testing

• Francis Galton  (1822-1911) had great enthusiasm in measuring human traits that lead to the “eugenics” movement. His goal was to “quantify human superiority” by means of tests on strength, reaction time, sensory precision and even head size.  Despite his efforts, no correlation whatsoever was found between general mental abilities and the traits.

• Alfred Binet – founder of modern intelligence testing, sought methods to identify students who would have difficulties in regular classes by measuring ones  Mental Age –  if you perform the way a typical 10 year old would, then your mental age is 10 years old, regardless of your real age.  This lead to labelling problems.  Ie, people saw your level of intelligence and not really who you are.

• Lewis Truman- developed the current Stanford-Binet intelligence test.  The test measures IQ Intelligence Quotient- mental age divided by chronological age(real age) times 100.  If you are 12 years old(chronological age) and your mental abilities are the same as those who are 12 years old (mental age).  Then your IQ is 12/12 X 100= 100, the average IQ.

• The stanford-Binet test became applied to many people of differing races.  The result, Truman realized, the reason why non-Anglo Saxons did worst is because the test measures not only their innate abilities but also education and cultural distinctiveness.

 

What is Intelligence

• We define Intelligence as the ability/capacity to be goal oriented and exhibit adaptive behavior.

• IQ is not a fixed “thing” one has; it is merely a score one obtains from a test.

• Know that intelligence is always expressed in a context.  Ie, in the context of warriors, musicians, engineers, artists, different intelligence levels will be expressed in different areas by one individual.

• To determine if many factors undermine ones general mental ability, psychologists make use of factor analysis – a statistical method that identifies a variety of related factors in a test.

• Charles Spearman believed that there is a general intelligence factor or g factor undermining each ability/factor.  Ie, those who excelled in reasoning also did quite well in all other areas such as spatial ability, verbal, memory, and word fluency.

• People with Savant syndrome excel exceptionally in one ability/skill but has limited mental abilities.  Ie, a 12 year old who has difficulty speaking and walking but can compute numbers as fast as a calculator. Thus, contrary to  the g factor, Howard Gardner believes we have “multiple intelligences” that are independent of each other.

• Also supporting the multiple intelligence theory is the existance of  emotional intelligence – the ability to manage, express, understand, and perceive emotions.  People with high emotional intelligence do better in social situations and thus are more successful in careers, marriages, and parenting.  This EI is independent, if not negatively correlated, with academic intelligence.

• With modern brain imaging techniques, researchers still fail (as did with Galton) to find significant correlation between head size and intelligence.

• Brains of people with high performances are less active (intake less glucose), quick, and registers information with more complexity. One explanation for this could be that people with faster cognitive processes acquire more information.

 

Assessing Intelligence

• Aptitude tests –  predict your future performance or ability to learn new skill.  Ie, college entrance exam(designed to test your ability to do college work), intelligence tests, physical examinations

• Achievement  tests –  assesses your current knowledge or what you know.  Ie, final course examinations (designed to test the knowledge you already obtained during the course), and chapter tests.

• Currently, the most widely used intelligence test is the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)  it has 11 subtests and gives a verbal score, a performance score, and an overall score.  Large differences between the verbal and nonverbal scores indicate possible learning difficulties.

• Psychological tests must meet all 3 of the following criteria in order to be widely accepted.

1.    Standardization – To standardize a test, it must first be given to a large representative sample of people in which their scores will be set as the standard for comparison.

• Normal curve- a bell shaped curve of scores formed by standardized test results. The majority (68%) of people fall within the center or average of the curve.

2.    Reliability –  To be reliable, a test must yield consistent results.  This is done by comparing scores on two halves of a test or by retesting.

3.    Validity – The degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure.

• Content validity –  corresponds to  achievements tests. The extent to which a test  measures it’s intended behavior.

• Predictive validity (or criterion-related validity) - corresponds to aptitude tests.  The success the test has in predicting intended behavior

• Criterion –  The behavior being tested.

• Flynn Effect – Intelligence tests worldwide show an increase in scores since 1960’s.  BUT aptitude test scores are decreasing; Possible explanations: Greater academic diversity, better education, and/or improved nutrition.

 

The Dynamics of Intelligence

• Before age 3, except for extremely impaired children, casual observations and intelligence tests predict future aptitudes minimally; but by age 3, performances on intelligence tests begin to predict adolescent and adult scores

• By age 7, intelligence tests become more stable and increases in stability with age of child

• Mental retardation: condition of limited mental ability as indicated by an intelligence score of below 70 and produces difficulty in adapting to demands of life;  varies from mild to profound; ONLY  one percent of population meets criteria and males outnumber females by 50 percent

• One cause of mental retardation is Down syndrome: physical disorders caused by an extra chromosome in one’s genetic makeup

• Creativity: ability to produce novel and valuable ideas

• Discovered that certain level of aptitude is necessary but not sufficient for creativity, correlates, but only to certain level (score of about 120)

• Those who are freed from concern of social approval demonstrate better creativity

Genetic and Environmental Influences on Intelligence

• IQ scores of identical twins are virtually the same as though one person taking test twice whereas IQ scores of fraternal twins are less similar

• Evidence of environmental influence –fraternal twins who are no more genetically alike than any other sibling, but are treated more alike tend to score high than other siblings

• Adopted children score more similar to their biological parents than their adopted parents

• Heritability: proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes; heritability of trait may vary, depending on range of populations and environments studied

• Environment that siblings share influences their aptitudes marginally, but significantly influences scholastic achievements

• Psychologist J. McVicker Hunt tested the benefits of responsive caregiving; trained caregivers to play vocal games with infants in which first they imitated babies’ babbling, then led babies in vocal follow-the-leader (shifting from one familiar sound to another) and finally begin to teach them sounds from Persian language; results were all 11 infants could name more than 50 objects and body parts by 22 months; Hunt’s experiment shows importance of environment on children’s intelligence

• Racial groups differ in average scores on intelligence tests

• Difference not mostly based on genetics unlike individual performance differences because heritability within groups would not eliminate the possibility of strong environmental impact on the group differences

• Example -IQ performances of today’s better-fed and better-educated population exceeds those from 1930s population by the same amount as average white today exceed average african-american

• Girls are better spellers and are equal or surpasses average boy in math grades, but boys tend to score better in math problem solving

• David Geary and Irwin Silverman speculate that skills came from evolutionary perspective where males tend to be stronger in skills that their ancestral fathers needed such as tracking prey and navigating way home whereas females were enhanced in keen memory for location of edible planes by their ancestral mothers

• Researchers discovered that some people are better emotional detectors than others while women are better at it than men

• Some speculate that through evolution where ancestral mother learned to read emotions of infant and may have further being fueled by cultural tendencies to encourage empathic skills

Chapter 12 - Motivation

Motivation

• Motivation- a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

• Instinct- complex behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species and is unlearned

• Drive-Reduction Theory- the idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy the need

• Homeostasis- 1. tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state 2. regulation of any aspect of body chemistry around a particular level

• Incentives- a positive or negative environmental stimulus that motivates behavior.

• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:

• Self-actualization needs Need to live up one’s fullest and unique potential

I. Esteem needs

Need for self-esteem, achievement, competence, and independence; need for recognition and respect from others

II. Belongingness and love needs

Need to love and be loved, to belong and be accepted; need to avoid loneliness and alienation

III. Safety needs

Need to feel that the world is organized and predictable; need to feel safe, secure, and stable

IV. Physiological needs

Need to satisfy hunger and thirst.

• begins with physiological needs that must be satisfied

• the higher-level safety needs become active

• then psychological needs become active

 

Motivation-Hnuger

• Stomach contractions accompany our feelings of hunger

• Glucose the form of sugar that circulates in the blood

• provides the major source of energy for body tissues

• when its level is low, we feel hunger

• Set Point

• the point at which an individual’s “weight thermostat” is supposedly set

• when the body falls below this weight, an increase in hunger and a lowered metabolic rate may act to restore the lost weight.

• Metabolic Rate- body’s base rate of energy expenditure

• The  hypothalamus  controls eating and other body maintenance functions

Eating Disorders

• Anorexia Nervosa

• When a normal-weight person diets and becomes significantly underweight, yet, still feeling fat, continues to starve

• Usually and adolescent female

• When a person weighs less than 85% of their normal body weight

• 95% of sufferers are female

• most are between the ages of 18-30

• 30% of persons diagnosed with anorexia nervosa die

• Bulimia Nervosa

• Disorder characterized by private “binge-purge” episodes of overeating, usually of high caloric foods, followed by vomiting or laxative use

 

Sexual Motivation

• Sex is a physiologically based motive, like hunger, but it is more affected by learning and values

• Sexual Response Cycle

• The four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson

I. Excitement

II. Plateau

III. Orgasm

IV. Resolution

• Refractory Period- resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm

• Estrogen- a sex hormone, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males

• Forces Affecting Sexual Motivation:

• Imaginative stimuli

• External stimuli

• Physiological readiness

• Sexual Disorders- problems that consistently impair sexual arousal or functioning

• In Men

I. Premature ejaculation- ejaculation before they or their partners wish

II. Impotence- inability to have or maintain erection

• In Women

I. Orgasmic disorder-  infrequent or absent orgasms

II. Sexual Orientation- an enduring sexual attraction toward members of wither one’s own gender (homosexual orientation) or the other gender (heterosexual orientation)

 

Motivation

• Achievement Motivation- a desire for significant accomplishment

• For mastery of things, people, or ideas

• For attaining a high standard

• McClelland and Atkinson believed fantasies would reflect achievement concerns

• Intrinsic Motivation- desire to perform a behavior for its own sake or to be effective

• Extrinsic Motivation-  desire to perform a behavior due to promised rewards or threats of punishment

• Rewards Affect Motivation

I. Controlling reward: Mom: “I’ll give you $5.00 for every A.” - 

II. Extrinsic Motivation: Child: “As long as she pays, I’ll study.”

III. Informative reward: Mom: “Your grades were great! Let’s celebrate by going out for dinner.” 

IV. Intrinsic Motivation: Child: “I love doing well.”

• Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology- sub-field of psychology that studies and advises on workplace behavior

• I/O Psychologists-  help organizations select and train employees, boost morale and productivity, and design products and assess responses to them

• Task Leadership- goal-oriented leadership that sets standards, organizes work, and focuses attention on goals

• Social Leadership-  group-oriented leadership that builds teamwork, mediates conflict, and offers support

• Theory X

• Assumes that workers are basically lazy, error-prone, and extrinsically motivated by money

• Should be directed from above

• Theory Y

• Assumes that, given challenge and freedom, workers are motivated to achieve self-esteem and to demonstrate their competence and creativity

Chapter 13 - Emotion

• Emotion- a response of the whole organism

• Physiological arousal

• Expressive behaviors

• Conscious experience

Emotional Arousal

• Autonomic nervous system controls physiological arousal

• Arousal and Performance- Performance peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and at higher levels for easy or well-learned tasks.

 

Emotion-Lie Detectors

• Polygraph- machine that is commonly used in attempt to detect lies; measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion (i.e. perspiration, heart rate, blood pressure, breathing changes0

• Control Question

• Up to age 18, did you ever physically harm anyone?

• Relevant Question

• Did the deceased threaten to harm you in any way?

• RELEVANT > CONTROL ! LIE

• Is 70% accuracy good?

• Assume 5% of 1000 employees actually guilty…after testing all employees 285 will be wrongly accused

• What about 95% accuracy?

• Assume that 1 in 1000 employees actually guilty…after testing all employees 50 are wrongly declared guilty and 1 of 51 testing positive are guilty (2%)

 

Experiencing Emotion

• The amygdala is a neural key to fear learning

• Catharsis- emotional release; catharsis hypothesis- "releasing" aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges

• Feel-good, do-good phenomenon- people's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood.

• Subjective Well-Being-  self perceived happiness or satisfaction with life; used along with measures of objective well-being (physical and economic indicators to evaluate people’s quality of life.

• Adaptation-Level Phenomenon-  tendency to from judgements relative to a “neutral” level (i.e. brightness of lights, volume of sound, level of income); defined by our prior experience

• Relative Deprivation-  perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

 

 

Theories of Emotion

• Does you heart pound because you are afraid…or are you afraid because you feel your heart pounding?

• James-Lange Theory of Emotion

Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli

•  Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger: physiological responses and subjective experience of emotion

•  Schachter’s Two Factor Theory of Emotion

To experience emotion one must: be physically aroused and cognitively label the arousal

• Emotion and cognition feed on each other

Chapter 14 - Stress and Health

Stress and Health

• Behavioral Medicine- interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease

• Health Psychology- subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine

What is Stress?

• Stress- the process by which we perceive and respond to events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging

• General Adaptation Syndrome- Selye's concept of the body's adaptive response to stress as composed of three stages

• Phase 1-Alarm reaction

• Phase 2-Resistance

• Phase 3-Exhaustion

Stressful Life Events

• Catastrophic Events- earthquakes, combat stress, floods

• Life Changes- death of a loved one, divorce, loss of a job, promotion

• Daily Hassles- rush hour traffic, long lines, job stress, burnout

• Perceived Control- loss of control can increase stress hormones

What is Stress? (Part 2)

• Burnout- physical, emotional and mental exhaustion brought on by persistent job-related stress

• Coronary Hear Disease- clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle; leading cause of death in the US

Stress and Coronary Heart Disease

• Type A- Friedman and Rosenman's term for people who are competitive, hard-driving, impatient, verbally aggressive, anger-prone

• Type B- Friedman and Rosenman's term for easygoing, relaxed people

Stress and Disease

• Psychomatic Disease- psychologically caused physical symptoms

• Psychophysiological Illness

• "mind-body" illness

• any stress-related physical illness

• distinct from hypochondriasis- misinterpreting normal physical sensations as symptoms of a disease

• Lymphocytes- two types of white blood cells that are part of the body's immune system

• B lymphocytes form in the bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections

• T lymphocytes from the thymus and, among other duties, attack the cancer cells, viruses and foreign substances

Promoting Health

• Aerobic Exercise- sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness; may also alleviate depression and anxiety

• Biofeedback- system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state

• Blood pressure

• Muscle tension

Prevention

• 14% of US Gross Domestic Product is spent on health care

• 2/3 of organizations with less than 50 employees have health promoting programs

• health assessments

• fitness training

• smoking cessation

• stress management

Smoking

• Some estimations show smoking kills about 20 loaded jumbo jets per day

• Smoking is a pediatric disease

• Rebellious youth

• Modeling behavior, social rewards

• Targeted ad campaigns

• Why not quit? Nicotine delivery system

How to Quit

• Education

• Eliminate the social reinforcement

• Increase social support for quitting

• Cost

• Tax it to shorten the time between behavior and punishment

• Reduces smoking by 4% for every 10% increase cost

• Nicotine Replacement -Patch and Gum

• Reduce pharmacological addiction

• Then treat psychological addiction

Chapter 15 - Personality

Personality

• An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

• Four basic perspectives

• Psychoanalytic

• Trait

• Humanistic

• Social-cognitive

• From Freud’s theory which proposes that childhood sexuality and unconscious motivations influence personality

 

The Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Psychoanalysis

• Technique of treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality sought to explain what he observed during psychoanalysis

• Free Association

• Method of exploring the unconscious

• Person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind, no matter how trivial or embarrassing

• Unconscious

• Freud-a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes. Feelings and memories

• Contemporary-information processing of which we are unaware

• Preconscious-  information that is not conscious, but is retrievable into conscious awareness

 

Personality Structure

• ID

• A reservoir of unconscious psychic energy

• Strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives

• Operates on the pleasure principle. Demanding immediate gratification

• SUPEREGO

• The part of personality that presents internalized ideals

• Provides standards for judgement and for future aspirations

• EGO

• The largely conscious, “executive” part of personality

• Mediates among the demands of the id, superego and ego

• Operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id’s desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain

 

Personality Development

• Psychosexual Stages-  the childhood stages of development during which the pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

• Oedipus Complex-  a boy’s sexual desires towards his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father

•  Freud’s Psychosexual Stages

STAGE                                     FOCUS

Oral (0-18 months)              Pleasure centers on the mouth---sucking, biting, chewing

Anal (18-36 months)            Pleasure focuses on bowel and bladder elimination; coping with demands for control

Phallic (3-6 years)                Pleasure zone in genitals; coping with incestuous sexual feeling

Latency ( 6 to puberty)        Dormant sexual feelings

Genital (puberty on)             Maturation of sexual interests

 

Personality Development

• Identification-  the process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their developing superegos

• Gender Identity-  one’s sense of being male or female

• Fixation- a lingering focus of pleasure-seeking energies at an earlier psychosexual stage, where conflicts were unresolved

Defense Mechanisms

• Defense Mechanisms-  the ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety by unconsciously distorting reality

• Repression-  the basic defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts, feelings, and memories from consciousness

• Regression-  defense mechanism in which an individual retreats, when faced with anxiety, to a more infantile psychosexual stage where some psychic energy remains fixated

• Reaction Formation- defense mechanism by which the ego unconsciously switches unacceptable impulses into their opposites.  People may express feelings that are the opposite of their anxiety-arousing unconscious feelings.

• Projection-  defense mechanism by which people disguise their own threatening impulses by attributing them to others

• Rationalization-  defense mechanism that offers self-justifying explanations in place of the real, more threatening, unconscious reasons for one’s actions

• Displacement-  defense mechanism that shifts sexual or aggressive impulses toward a more acceptable or less threatening object or person…as when redirecting anger towards a safer outlet

 

 

Neo-Freudians

• Alfred Adler-  importance of childhood social tension

• Karen Horney-  sought to balance Freud’s masculine biases

• Carl Jung-  emphasizes collective unconscious…concept of a shared, inherited reservoir of memory traces from our species’ history

Assessing The Unconscious

• Projective Test-  a personality rest, such as the Rorschach or TAT, that provided ambiguous stimuli designed to trigger projection of one’s inner dynamics

• Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)-  a projective test in which people express their inner feelings and interests through the stories they make up about ambiguous scenes

• Rorschach Inkblot Test- the most widely used projective test, uses a set of 10 inkblots designed by

• Hermann Rorschach to identify people’s inner feelings by analyzing their interpretations of the blots.

 

 

The Trait Perspective

• Trait-  a characteristic pattern of behavior; a disposition to feel and act, as assessed by self-report inventories and peer reports

• Personality Inventory-  a questionnaire (often with true-false or agree-disagree items) on which people respond to items designed to gauge a wide range of feelings and behaviors; used to assess selected personality traits

• The “Big Five” personality Factors

Trait Dimension                    Description

Emotional Stability                 Calm versus anxious

Secure versus insecure

Self-satisfied versus self-pitying

Extraversion                            Sociable versus retiring

Fun-loving versus sober

Affectionate versus reserved

Openness                                 Imaginative versus practical

Preference for variety versus preference for routine

Independent versus conforming

Extraversion                            Soft-hearted versus ruthless Trusting versus suspicious Helpful versus uncooperative

Conscientiousness                   Organized versus disorganized Careful versus careless Disciplined versus impulsive

• Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)

• The most widely researched and clinically used of all personality tests

• Originally developed to identify emotional disorders (still considered its most appropriate use)

• Now used for many other screening purposes

• Empirically Derived Test-  a test developed by testing a pool of  items and then selecting those that discriminate between groups…similar to MMPI

Evaulating The Trait Perspective

• Situational influences on behavior are important to consider

• People can fake desirable responses on self-report measures of personality

• Averaging behavior across situations seems to indicate that people do have distinct personality traits

 

Humanistic Perspective

• Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)-  studied self-actualization processes of productive and healthy people

• Self-Actualization-  the ultimate psychological need that arises after basic physical and psychological needs are met and self-esteem is achieved; the motivation to fulfill one’s potential

• Carl Rogers (1902-1987)-  focused on growth and fulfillment of individuals

• Requires three conditions

I. Genuineness

II. Acceptance- unconditional positive regard

III. Empathy

• Unconditional Positive Regard- an attitude of total acceptance toward another person

• Self-Concept- all of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in an answer to the question “Who am I”?”

• Self-Esteem- one’s feelings of high or low self-worth

• Self-Serving Bias- a readiness to perceive oneself favorably

• Individualism- giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

•  Collectivism- giving priority to the goals of one’s group (often one’s extended family or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly

 

Evaluating The Humanistic Perspective

• Concepts like self-actualization are vague

• Emphasis on self may promote self-indulgence and lack of concern for others

• Theory does not address reality of human capacity for evil

• Theory has impacted popular ideas on child rearing, education, management, etc.

 

Social-Cognitive Perspecitve

• Reciprocal Determinism- the interacting influences between personality and environmental factors

• Personal Control- our sense of controlling our environments rather than feeling helpless

• External Locus of Control- the perception that chance or outside forces beyond one’s personal control determine one’s fate

• Internal Locus of Control- the perception that one controls one’s own fate

• Learned Helplessness- the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

• Built from research on learning and cognition

• Fails to consider unconscious motives and individual disposition

• Today, cognitive-behavioral theory is perhaps predominant psychological approach to explaining human behavior

Chapter 16 - Psychological Disorders

Psychological Disorder- a condition in which behavior is judged

• Atypical-not enough in itself

• Disturbing- varied with time and culture

• Maladaptive- harmful

• Unjustifiable- sometimes there's a good reason

Historical Perspective

• Perceived Causes- movements of sun or moon; evil spirits

• Ancient Treatments- exorcism, caged like animals, beaten, burned, castrated, mutilated, blood replaced with animals blood

Psychological Disorders

• Medical Model

• Concept that diseases have physical causes

• Can be diagnosed, treated, and in most cases, cured

• Assumes that these "mental" illnesses can be diagnosed on the basis of their symptoms and cured through therapy in a psychiatric hospital

• Bio-psycho-social Perspective- assumes that biological, sociocultural, and psychological factors combine and interact to produce psychological disorders

Etiology

• DSM-IV

• American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

• A widely used system for classifying psychological disorders

• Neurotic disorder

• Usually distressing but that allows one to think rationally and function socially

• Freud saw the neurotic disorders as ways of dealing with anxiety

• Psychotic disorder

• Person loses contact with reality

• Experiences irrational ideas and distorted perceptions

Anxiety Disorders

• Anxiety Disorders- distressing, persistent anxiety or maladaptive behaviors that reduce anxiety

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder- client is tense, apprehensive, and in a state of autonomic nervous system arousal

• Phobia- persistent, irrational fear of a specific object or situation

• Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder- characterizes by unwanted repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and/or actions (compulsions)

• Panic Disorder- marked by a minutes-long episode of intense dread in which a person experiences terror and accompanying chest pain, choking, or other frightening sensation

Dissociative Disorders

• Dissociative Disorders- conscious awareness becomes separated (dissociated) from previous memories, thoughts, and feelings

• Dissociative Amnesia- selective memory loss often brought on by extreme stress

• Dissociative Fugue- flight from one's home and identity accompanies amnesia

• Dissociative Identity Disorder- rare dissociative disorder in which a person exhibits two or more distinct and alternating personalities; also known as multiple personality disorder

Mood Disorders

• Mood Disorders- characterized by emotional extremes

• Major Depressive Disorder- a mood disorder in which a person, for no apparent reason, experiences two or more weeks of depressed moods, feelings of worthlessness, and diminished interest or pleasure in most activities

• Mania- a mood disorder marked by a hyperactive, wildly optimistic state

• Bipolar Disorder- a mood disorder in which the person alternated between the hopelessness and lethargy of depression and the overexcited state of mania; formerly called manic-depressive disorder

Schizophrenia

• Schizophrenia

• Literal translation "split mind"

• A group of severe psychotic disorders characterized by:

• Disorganized and delusional thinking

• Disturbed perceptions

• Inappropriate emotions and actions

• Delusions- false beliefs, often on persecution or grandeur, that may accompany psychotic disorders

• Hallucinations- false sensory experiences such as seeing something without any external visual stimulus

Subtypes of Schizophrenia

• Paranoid - Preoccupation with delusions or hallucinations

• Disorganizes - Disorganized speech or behavior, or flat or inappropriate emotion

• Catatonic - Immobility (or excessive, purposeless movement), extreme negativism, and/or parrotlike repeating of another's speech or movements

• Undifferentiated or residual - Schizophrenia symptoms without fitting one of the above types

Personality Disorders

• Personality Disorders

• Disorders characterized by inflexible and enduring behavior patterns that impair social functioning

• Usually without anxiety, depression, or delusions

• Antisocial Personality Disorder- disorder in which the person (usually male) exhibits a lack of conscience for wrongdoing, even toward friends and family members; may be aggressive and ruthless or a clever con artist

Chapter 17 - Therapy

Therapy

• Psychotherapy- an emotionally charges, confiding interaction between a trained therapist and someone who suffers from psychological difficulties

• Eclectic Approach- an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client’s problems, uses or integrates techniques from various forms of therapy (also know as psychotherapy integration

 

Psychoanalysis

• Psychoanalysis- Freud believed the patient’s free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences- and the therapist’s interpretations of them- released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight

• Resistance- blocking from consciousness of anxiety-laden material

• Interpretation- that analyst’s noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors in order to promote insight

• Transference- the patient’s transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships

 

Humanist Therapy

• Person-Centered Therapy- humanistic therapy developed by Carl Rogers; therapist uses techniques such as active listening within a genuine, accepting. Empathic environment to facilitate clients’ growth

• Active Listening- empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies

 

Gestalt Therapy

• Developed by Fritz Perls

• Combines the psychoanalytic emphasis on bringing unconscious feelings to awareness and the humanistic emphasis on getting “in touch with oneself”

• Aims to help people become more aware and able to express their feeling, and to take responsibility for their feelings and actions

 

Behavior Therapy

• Behavior Therapy- therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

• Counterconditioning

• Procedure that conditions new responses to stimuli that trigger unwanted behaviors

• Based on classical conditioning

• Includes systematic desensitization and aversive conditioning

• Sytematic Desensitization

• Type of counterconditioning

• Associates a pleasant, relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli

• Commonly used to treat phobias

• Aversive Conditioning

• Type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state with an unwanted behavior

• Nausea!Alcohol

• Token Economy

• An operant conditioning procedure that rewards desired behavior

• Patient exchanges a token of some sort, earned for exhibiting the desired behavior, for various privileges or treats

 

Cognitive Therapy

• Cognitive Therapy

• Teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking and acting

• Based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

• Rational-Emotive Therapy

• Confrontational cognitive therapy developed by Albert Ellis

• Vigorously challenges people’s illogical, self-defeating attitudes and assumptions

• Also called rational-emotive behavior therapy by Ellis, emphasizing a behavioral “homework” component

 

Group Therapies

• Family Therapy

• Treats the family as a system

• Views an individual’s unwanted behaviors as influenced by or directed at other family members

• Encourages family members toward positive relationships and improved communication

 

Types of Therapists

TYPE                                                             DESCRIPTION

Psychiatrist                                                    Physicians who specialize in the treatment of psychological disorders.  Not all psychiatrists have had extensive training in psychotherapy, but as M.D.’s they can prescribe medications.  Thus, they tend to see those with the most serious problems.  Many have private practices

Clinical Psychologists                                   Most are psychologists with a Ph.D. and expertise in research, assessment, and therapy, supplemented by a supervised internship.  About half work in agencies and institutions, half in private practices.

Clinical or psychiatric Social workers        A two-year Master of Social Work graduate program plus postgraduate supervision prepares some social workers to offer psychotherapy, mostly to people with everyday personal and family problems.  About half have earned the National Association of Social Workers’ designation of clinical social work.

Counselors                                                     Marriage and family counselors specialize in problems arising from family relations.  Pastoral counselors provide counseling to countless people. Abuse counselors work with substance abusers and with spouse and child abusers and their victims.

 

Biomedical Therapies

• Psychopharmacology- study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior

• Lithium- chemical that provides an effective drug therapy for the mood swings of bipolar disorders

• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)- therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient

• Psychosurgery- surgery that removes of destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior

• Lobotomy- now-rare psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients

Chapter 18 - Social Psychology

The goal of social psychologists is to study how we feel about, relate, and influence each other

 

Social Thinking

 

• Fritz Heider’s Attribution Theory states that people “attribute” (link) others’ behaviors with their (internal) disposition or (external) situations.  I.e. A person that always smiles at a party might give the impression to others that he is a happy guy (dispositional attribution) or the party is making him happy (situational attribution).

• Fundamental Attribution Error – When someone attributes others’ behavior as a reflection of their “real” internal disposition not considering situational effects.  That is, one makes the mistake of underestimating situational influence and overestimating personality influence.  I.e. Observing a police officer at work will make you think that they are forceful, non-tolerating, and even aggressive (overestimating personality influence) but this is so because their job demands such actions (underestimating situation influence).  However, catch them off duty in a pet shop and you might see how caring and sincere they are.

• Attitudes – Your feelings and beliefs that direct the way you respond to your surroundings.  In turn, your actions can also dictate your attitudes; so attitudes and actions exist in an enduring cycle.

• Foot-in-the-door-phenomenon – Tendency for people who have agreed on a small request to comply later to a larger one.  I.e. you are likely to agree to a small questionnaire from a salesman at first and then also to agree to larger request say purchasing what he has to offer.

• Role – Expectations on how one should behave in a certain social position.  I.e. Adults should be responsible, professors should be intellectual, soldiers should be brave…etc.

• In Philip Zimbardo’s 1972 prison study, students were randomly assigned to act as prisoners or guards.  In less than a week, the students became so absorbed into their “role playing” that the roles they played actually became themselves.  The guards adopted abusive attitudes and the prisoners became discouraged and even rebellious.  After the study, the students quickly grew back into their normal roles.

• Cognitive Dissonance Theory – States that if what we believe and what we do are inconsistent, we will feel cognitive dissonance (discomforting tension) and we will reduce this tension by altering our attitudes.  I.e. If you were made to write about the advantages of a topic you disagree on (say more homework), you’ll feel uneasy and start believing your words to comfort yourself.

 

Social Influence

 

• Conformity – often due to group pressure, is the adjustment of your behavior or thinking to coincide with others. Examples of conformity include: laughing when others are laughing, going to a stand in the mall crowded with people, giving more to charity baskets because there’s lots of money inside.

• Norms – Expected or proper behavior in a social context.

• Normative Social Influence – Person conforms because they want to gain social approval/acceptance.

• (NORMative – following the social norm)

• Informative Social Influence – Person conforms because they accept others’ judgment on reality.

• (INFOrmative –accepting info/facts about reality)

• Stanley Milgrim’s Obedience Study – Participants act as teachers who deliver electrical shocks to examinee’s that answer incorrectly.  The magnitude of voltages increase as the number of questions answered incorrectly increase.  Even though screaming sounds of pain were heard from the examinee, 63% of the participants delivered right up to the last 450-volts.  The experiment showed that obedience was highest when: the order giver has high authority, the victim was far away or unseen, no one was seen disobeying.

• Social Facilitation – Improved performance on well learned tasks in the presence of others (audience).

• Social Loafing – Diminished effort when working in a group towards a common goal.  (slacking off others)

• Deindividuation – The loss of self- restraint when one is part of a large group.

• Group Polarization – Pre-existing attitudes become enhanced when discussed with in a group.  I.e. When abusive parents talk together, they feel their actions are more justified and become even more abusive.

• Group Think – Where people in group discussions tend to agree with whatever is being proposed in order to maintain hormony.  Alternative views are suppressed even though they are better than the presented one.

• Culture – Passed on behaviors, ideas, and attitudes shared by a many people.

• The minority can pursuade the majority if they are consistent and committed.  I.e. Mahatma Gandhi’s fight for independence.

• Personal Space – The “zone” we like to maintain around our bodies.  This is culture-dependent.  Western cultures have a relatively small personal space because of the hugs and kisses.  Eastern cultures, however, like to maintain a relatively open personal space.

• Gender Roles – Expected behaviors from males and females in a culture.

 

Social Relations

 

• Prejudice – Often negative beliefs, emotions, and actions towards a group and its individual members.  These attitudes are based on Stereotypes – overgeneralizations about a group of people.  These unjustified thoughts bring about discrimination and social inequalities.  I.e. Negro’s are perceived as violent as they push people the same way a Caucasian would.

• Ingroup Bias – Favoring of your own group.  This kind of thinking promotes separations among the human race as people are classified as “ingroup” and “outgroup.”

• Scapegoat Theory – Justification of one’s prejudice/anger is sought in blaming someone (target).  In order to boost one’s self-esteem they will resort to degrading others.

• Just-world phenomenon – Belief that the world is “just the way it is.”  I.e. people get what they deserve and deserve what they get (promotes blame and lowers the tendency to help others).

• Aggression – Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy others.  People who are aggression-prone are more likely to drink and become violent.

• Frustration-aggression principle – Frustration creates Aggression.

• Repeated exposure to violent shows diminishes ones self-inhibition just as watching pornography makes one’s partner seem less attractive.

• Conflict – Inconsistencies of actions, goals, and/or ideas.

• Social Traps – A situation in which both parties are aiming for self-interest only and therefore gets tied in a mutually destructive situation.  I.e. When fishing companies anticipate that other companies will fish just as much or more as themselves so they continue to rigoriously fish.  Eventually this situation results in a depletion of fish because none of the companies would lower their fishing amount.

• Mere-exposure effect – Increased liking of a stimulus due to repeated exposure to it.  I.e. The more you look at a picture the more you like it.

• You will become friends with those geographically close to you (proximity).  Also, you are likely to marry someone who has the same level of physical attractiveness as you.

• Passionate Love – Usually present at the beginning of a relationship, this is state of intense “HOT” intimate love.

• Companionate Love – The affectionate attachment that replaces passionate love and persists in marriage.

• Equity – The constant sharing between partners.  You freely get what you freely give.  Equity increases chances of sustained companionate love.

• Self-disclosure – Telling your most intimate aspects (fears, wishes, dreams) to another (Disclosing yourself).

• Altruism – Unselfishness, being nice, unconditional help to others.  This positive social interaction dictates the very quality of a hero.

• Bystander Effect – Diminished possibility of giving aid when other bystanders are present.  Or failure to take responsibility of the situation when others are around.  In order for a bystander to give aid to someone in need, 3 steps must be achieved :

I. The incident is noticed

II. The incident is acknowledged as an emergency

III. Responsibility of the incident is achieved

• Social exchange theory – (reciprocity norm) social interactions are regarded as an exchange process where the goal is to maximize benefits and minimize costs.

• Superordinate Goals – Common goals that overlook individual differences and acquired through total cooperation.

• GRIT – Graduated and Reciprocated Initiatives in Tension-Reduction.  Strategy for reduction of international tensions through win-win attitudes and communication.

BONUS MATERIAL - Statistics

Percentile Rank – A percentage that describes your rank among those also being evaluated.  I.e. if your percentile rank on a test is 90, then your score is higher than 90% of the class.  It is impossible to get 100% percentile rank because you cannot get higher than everyone in the class, including yourself.

• Mean – The average score. Add all the numbers up and divide by number of terms. The mean of {2,2,3,10,98} is 23.

• Median – The middle point of all the terms such that half is above the number and half is below the number (50th percentile).  Arrange the number from highest to lowest or vice versa and find the number in the middle. The median of {2,2,3,10,96} is 3.

• Mole – The number that occurs the most. Count to see which number appears the most. The mode of the {2,2,3,10,98} is 2.

• Range – The range of the scores is the difference between the highest number and the lowest number.  The range of GPA score is from 0.0 to 4.0.

• Standard Deviation – A measurement of how far scores differ/deviate from the mean. The standard deviation of {5,6,5,6,6,7,5,4} is very low because terms hardly deviate from the mean of 5.5.  Whereas, the standard deviation of {5,10,8,18,-6,5,-7,22} is high.

I. Find the Standard Deviation of {2,3,3,4}

II. Find the mean.                                                               (2+3+3+4)/4 = 3

III. Subtract the mean from each term and square it.           (2-3)²=1, (3-3)²=0, (3-3)²=0, (4-3)²=1

IV. Find the average of the deviations from the mean.       (1+0+0+1)/4 = 0.5

V. Square root the average and that’s the standard deviation   (0.5)^1/2 = 0.7071

VI. Normally this number should be rounded to the same decimal place as the data.  But 0.7071 is shown for better understanding. 0.7071 ! 1

• Normal curve or more commonly known as the bell curve is a distribution graph that dictates 68% of the scores should circa the mean.  More specifically, 68% of the scores should fall within 1 standard deviation and 95% should fall within 2 standard deviations from the mean.

• Scatterplot – A graphical representation of data by usage of dots.  The degree of cluster or formation of a slope can dictate the correlation between the two variables.

• Correlation – The relationship between 2 events. I.e. Traffic accidents increase with increasing temperatures; businesses drop as Christmas ends.

 

Correlation Coefficient – A proportional number that measures correlation – how strongly two events vary together.

• Positive Correlation – The two events increase and/or decrease together.  For example, increasing study time positively correlates with increasing grades or decreased food consumption positively correlates with decreased excitability.  Positive correlation coefficients are positive numbers ranging from 0.00 (no correlation) to 1.00 (perfect correlation).  In a scatterplot graph, a positive correlation exists if a positive slope is seen.

• Negative Correlation – One event increases and the other decreases or vice versa.  For example, decreasing number of hours of sleep negatively correlates with increases traffic accidents or increasing alcohol consumption decreases alertness.  Negative correlation coefficients are negative numbers ranging from –1.00 (perfect correlation) to 0.00 (no correlation).  In a scatterplot, negative a correlation exists if a negative slope is seen.  * Be sure to remember that CORRELATIONS DO NOT NECESSARILY MEAN CAUSATION.  If car accidents increase with increasing temperatures, it does not necessarily mean that hot temperatures cause more traffic accidents!!

• Be aware of ILLUSORY CORRELATION – seeing relationships between something when there is none.  If you believe that black-colored dogs are more aggressive than white-colored dogs, then you will be more likely to notice and recall events where black-colored dogs show aggressiveness to confirm your belief (also know as “self -serving bias”).

• Regression toward the mean – Tendency for extreme values to go back (“regress”) to the average value (mean).  I.e. If you normally get 80% on your tests and suddenly you got an extreme (unusual) score of 50%, then on your next test you are likely to get around 80% again.

• Statistical Significance – A measure of how likely an event is due to chance alone.  I.e. If average marks concerning two classes are statistically significant, then the marks are actually different, not due to random chance or sampling errors.  Statistical significance is usually determined by mathematical analysis of the samples.

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