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Psychology 101 Notes
Introduction To Psychology (PSYC 101)
Towson University
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Psychology 101 Chapter one: • Psychology- Scientific study of the mental processes and behaviors of humans and animals. • Animals: • Scientific- psychological science collets and evaluates information using systematic observations and measurements • Behavior- anything that can be directly observed (sleeping, talking, etc) • Mental Processes- Things that cannot be directly observed (thoughts, feelings, etc) • Critical Thinking- process of objectively evaluating, comparing, analyzing, and synthesizing information • Dog Goober- Always has a catch for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes dog gets a treat. Now on, after catch, dog lies down and starts to drool. • Dog wakes up 5 minutes before alarm, continues to bark until she gets out of bed and feeds dog. Then after 20 minutes goes and starts to drool. • When dog behaves well after 15-20 minutes, he begins to drool. • Conditioned- when something is repetitive and it becomes natural • Four goals of Psychology: 1. Describe: 1. What is the dog doing? 2. Explain: 2. Why is the dog doing it? Because he is in a routine and it is a repetitive event 3. Predict: 3. If dog starts behaving, you can predict he will drool 4. Influence: 4. ex. Add a treat to a new situation, Take away treat. She originally influenced the behavior. - Can use these 4 goals to change any behavior • History of Psychology: • Records all the way to Dead Sea Scrolls • Discusses mental disabilities and the brain • 8th Century in Islam, records of Psych hospital • Doctor discovered two types of depression Page 1 Psychology 101 • No organic depression (unknown reasons) • Traumatic Depression • Doctor treated with Art and medication • Seriously pursued in West around 1879 in Leipzig, Germany • Wilhelm Wundt • “Father of Psychology”- First experimental lab • Interested in studying mental life and conscious experience- how we form sensations, images and feelings • Introspection- monitoring and reporting on the contents of consciousness • Skinner • behaviorist (skinner boxes with pigeons)- used boxes for treats • Believed • Ebbinghaus- studies on memory • James and Pavlov – classical conditioning • John B. Watson and Ivan Pavlov • Behavioral Perspective- emphasizes objective, observable environmental influences on overt behavior • Created an experiment where a tube was placed in a dogs mouth to measure the amount of saliva. Made dog smell meat powder and dog began to drool. • Then made dog smell meat powder and rang a bell. • Then just rang the bell and the dogs still drooled. • Stimuli (in environment)- bell • Responses (behavioral actions)- drooling • Freud • Psychoanalysis- talk therapy • believed psychological problems are caused by conflicts between acceptable behavior and unacceptable unconscious sexual or aggressive motives • Ericson (student of Floyd)- covered developmental mentalists • Developed mentalists: • Gestalt Theorists- tend to look at the whole instead of looking at the parts • Gestalt Theory- believes to look at the whole thing (especially when treating patient, instead of just looking at specific instances) Page 2 Psychology 101 • Side notes: • What people don’t say is the most important part of analyzing someone • When people cross their arms they are guarded/uncomfortable • What the I think is more important than anyone else • Don’t give advice to the person because they will become independent on you ____________________________________________________________________________ September 2, 2015 Chapter Two: • Neurons- cell transmitting nerve impulses. Responsible of every impulse of the body (millions of neurons throughout the body) • All information travels through Neurons • Synaptic Gap- Gaps between Neurons transfers impulses through each neuron • People with disorders have a synaptic gap issue. The problem is either the impulses flood the gap or does not have enough. (Example- depression) • Neurotransmitter- Dopamine, testosterone, estrogen • Nervous System: • Central Nervous System • So important it is encased in bone • Damage is usually permanent • Brain • Can still suffer brain injuries (concussions- I, II, III) • Forebrain- Fine Motor Control, perception, language, decision making • Cerebral Cortex- most complex behaviors and higher mental processes • Alcohol blocks part of the brain in a few to mid drinks • Midbrain- “buffer” between the two. Controls Gross muscle movement • Mid drinks affects extremities- start to lose balance • Hindbrain- All involuntary reflexes (breathing, digestion, heart rate), fine muscle movement and balance Page 4 Psychology 101 • The closer you get to Hindbrain the body goes into self-defense. Stop drinking, throw up, passing out- All telling you that you need to stop drinking • Non-normal drinking- drinking as fast as possible to get drunk • Body can only get rid of 1 ounce of alcohol an hour • Frontal Lobe- front portion of brain that receives and coordinates messages from all other lobes of the cortex • Higher functions (thinking, personality emotions), speech, motor control • Parietal Lobe- bodily sensations- pain, touch, temperature • Temporal Lobe- language comprehension, memory, emotional control • Occipital Lobe- back portion on brain responsible for vision • Spinal Cord • connects brain to every part of the body • Brain to Spinal Cord, Spinal Cord to Peripheral Nervous System • Ends in Nerve Fibers- do sensory relay • Peripheral Nervous System- Functions outside CNS • Main Function: carry information to and from CNS • Links every other part of body (muscles, nerves, etc) to Brain and Spinal Cord • Somatic Nervous System • All of nerves that connect to sensory receptors and control skeletal muscles • Autonomic Nervous System • “self-governing” NS. Responsible for all involuntary processes (heart rate, digestion, etc.) • Sympathetic NS- ‘Fight or Flight” arouses body for action (heart rate and breathing increases, digestion ceases) • Parasympathetic NS- Works in opposition to Sympathetic Nervous System• Returns body to Homeostasis once the “Fight or Flight” in complete • Cerebral Cortex- higher mental processes • 1) Frontal Lobes- Charged with Motor control, speech production, higher-functioning function (thinking, personality, memory) • 2) Parietal Lobes- Sensory Processing (pressure, pain, touch, temperature) Page 5 Psychology 101 • Messes with sleep pattern- Sleep more or sleep less • Indigestion- either they don't eat or over eat (comfort food) • How to deal/reduce with Stress: • Need to recenter- where you want to be • Need to learn of ways to cope/manageable with stress- physical activity • Close eyes, gently massage scalp • Grabbing skin between index finger and thumb • Imagining a place you want to be • Yell Stop very loud then close eyes and focus on the smallest sound you can here • Catastrophising- When people worry about the “what if’s” • Take whatever the stressor is, saying what is the worst possible outcome and find solution • Side notes: • With time and therapy, the brain can heal itself. Although some times the brain may not heal itself, people adapt to it. ____________________________________________________________________________ September 9, 2015 looking to apply things we learned- SIX STEPS OF SCIENTIFIC METHOD Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception • Sensation- passive process of bringing information from the outside world into the body and to the brain • Getting smacked in the back of the head- feeling the sensation on the back of the head • Perception- Active process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting the information brought to the brain by the senses • Understanding why she hit me. • Other people are affected- shocked, confused • How sensation and perception work together: Sensation comes into the body and perception interpret Page 7 Psychology 101 • Sensory organs absorbs information and then perception follows by the brain taking the information, organizing it, then translates it into something meaningful (having purpose, feeling: • Selective Intent- process of being able to discriminate of what is important and what is irrelevant. • Perceptual expectancy- how we perceive the world is a function of our past experiences, culture, and biological make-up) • How we are brought up, what we see, burning hand on stove, racism, different views on gender • Psychophysics- all the above is under this • study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological experience • In order to measure experiences we use: • Thresholds- dividing line between what has detectable energy and what does not • If we sit in this room and don't move, the light would go off because there is no detectable energy, but if we move the light will go on • Difference Threshold- minimum amount of stimulus intensity change needed to produce a noticeable change • If handed 5 and 10 pound weight we can tell difference • If handed 100 and 105 pound weight we cannot tell difference • Signal Detection Theory- detection of a stimulus that involves a decision-making process as well as a sensory process • This process also influenced by other factors • Noise focusing on something harder • Criterion- level of assurance that you decide must be met before you take action • set criterion on previous expectations/experiences • we are at a party, order pizza, waiting for bell, Signal detection theory is waiting closer to the door and listening harder to ear doorbell. • Pain perception- some people have higher pain tolerance • How quickly you feel pain not how long • Fast pathway- sharp pain and information is related immediately to brain • When you're not expecting something- Stubbing toe on door, getting hit in genitals • Slow pathway- Takes two seconds; when pain happens, goes through limbic system then to brain Page 8 Psychology 101 Chapter 12: Motivation and Emotion • Motivation- 3 theories behind motivation • Biological Theory• Instinct- emphasizes inborn genetic components in motivation • Spiders leave mother as soon as they are born- instinct • Reflexes- instinct to survive (able to eat) • Arousal- organisms seek optimal levels of arousal that maximizes their performance (competitive nature) • Beat fastest speed at a race. Focus on other people that are faster than you • Drive-reduction- Internal tensions push an organism to satisfy basic needs (thirst, hunger, shelter, sex) • motivated to get out of bed to eat so you don't starve • Psychosocial Theory• Incentive- emphasizes the pull of environmental stimuli • motivation to go to work- money; need money in order to survive • Cognitive- emphasizes the life and death • Life is short so do everything • Biopsychosocial Theory- (Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs) basic needs need to be done/ must be met before you can do anything else because you're constantly trying to reach the top of the pyramid “self actualization”- being comfortable in your skin • People who made this up were high in social class QUESTION ON EXAM: What is motivating you to sit in this classroom and not leave? • Emotion • Physiological- arousal, increased heart rate, respiration (automatic nervous system) • Cognitive- thinking process (thoughts, values, expectations) • Behavioral- expressions (smiles, frowns, running • James Lang Theory- feelings are interpreted but the interpretation comes after arousal • Events occurs, there is arousal (heart rate) interpreted based on physiological and then have an emotion • Spider crawls in, emotional response is fear Page 10 Psychology 101 • Cannon-Bard Theory- Event occurs and simultaneously after seeing event you have an arousal and emotion at the same time • Schachter’s Two-Factor- very similar to James Lang, except he points out emotion depends on two factors: • Physical arousal • Labeling • Event occurs, arousal, then reasoning for arousal, then emotion • Spiders crawl in, think they are going to bite you, then run out • Facial-Feedback- need to pay attention to facial muscles moving that actually cause specific emotions • doesn't evolve around event- evolve around facial expressions ____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 6: **What is learned can be unlearned** NS = CS: Neutral stimulus is always the Conditioned Stimulus UCR = CR: Unconditioned Response is always the Condition Response UCS = ALWAYS ALONE: Unconditioned Stimulus is ALWAYS by itself Ex: Pavlov’s Experiment: - NS = CS: the bell - UCR = CR: the dog’s saliva - UCS: the meat powder *NS and CS are the causes of the responses both conditioned and unconditioned* Ex: A researcher flashes a light then blows a puff of air into a participant’s eye. The participant automatically blinks. After a few trials, just a flash of light would make the participant blink. - NS = CS: flash of light - UCR = CR: blinking - UCS: puff of air Voluntary: subject is active. Operant conditioning: Skinner and Thorndyke Page 11 Psychology 101 • If very significant then you will pass it to “long-term memory”- memory that is not forgotten (permanent memory) • Why do we forget? • Decay- memory deteriorates overtime • Interference- memories are forgotten due to: • pro-active interference -old info interferes with new info • Retroactive- new info interferes with old info; overrides old info that we have • Motivated Forgetting- Willfully forget painful, threatening, or embarrassing memories • Encoding Failure- when going from short-term memory to long-term memory fails and does not encode correctly • Retrieval Failure- memories are there but temporarily not there • Taking a test and know the memories but blank out (brain-fart) Read about retrograde interior-grade amnesia: occurs because of brain injury -People have tendency to have memories that are unreliable If someone ran in and ran out, 10 people would give 10 different answers about what color shirt he was wearing Problems with forgetting Serial Position Effect Source Amnesia Sleeper Effect Spacing of Practice Formation and location of memory Biology and memory loss How can we use psychology to improve our memory? Page 13 Psychology 101 Side Notes: Besides from repetition, we use chunking so that the information is placed/coded/stored in longterm memory Chapter 16: Social Psychology • Looking at our thoughts about other people • Attribution- tendency to attribute behavior characteristics to certain people • Dispositional factors- internally based; based someones behavior based on what we think their motives and personalities are. • Guy comes home on a bus with two kids. Two kids are running up and down bothering other people and a woman who’s annoyed turns to father and says he’s a bad parent. • Guy who zips in and out of traffic • Situational factors- externally based; attributing to external force that may be out of their control • Father turns around and says “sorry we just returned from hospital where they kid’s mother died • Guy could be driving to an emergency • Fundamental Attribution Error- overestimate dispositional (internal) and underestimate situational (external) • If someone walks in yelling we think they are crazy but don’t consider something is wrong • Self-Serving Bias- attribute to successes to internal factors and failures to external factors • If pass a test; say you are very smart. If fail test blame teacher Prejudice and Discrimination: • Social Learning Theory- learn behaviors based n punishment and rewards of people around us like parents, teachers, coaches, peers • Stereotypes- our feeling towards other people have to do with prejudice • Cognitive Process• In-groups- tend to show favoritism • when girls stick together and say how guys don't understand what girls go through • Out-groups- groups that are not favored • Prejudice and discrimination are not only about race; could be gender, weight, look • Economic and Political competition- Page 14 Psychology 101 ____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 11: Gender and Human Sexuality • Gender- the social expectations for appropriate male and female behavior • Gender Identity- biologically based • Social Learning Process: • Social Learning Theory- rewards and punishment; learn identity role based on reward/ punishment from people around us • Boys do boy things and girls do girl things • Cognitive Developmental Process- active thinking process based on what you obverse in society around you • No major difference between men and women regarding cognitive • Men have much better spacial relationship- multi-demential calculus and physics • Women have higher verbal ability- better grasp of language • Transsexualism- the person has an issue with his/her current gender identity • Person doesn’t identify gender • Transvestitism- not homosexually based; occurs in order to give emotional and sexual gratification to there person; cross-dressing • Master’s and Johnson- pioneered sexual development research • Opened up sex clinics • Goal to determine why people do what they do sexually • Some studies on heterosexual and homosexual people • Goals: • Women and men generally enjoy sexual activity • Found out how often men and women masterbate • Depending on age, men and women masterbate around the same times a day • Women are just as sexually wanting/active but due to society they do not show it • Sexual response cycle- excitement, plato, orgasm (sympathetic NS), resolution (parasympathetic NS) Page 16 Psychology 101 • Sexual dysfunctions• Biologically based- medical; premature-ejaculation, inability to obtain erection (can be treated with medication) • Psychologically based- more difficult to treat; • women- cultural and social demands that they would not enjoy sex; getting raped, • men- once they marry a woman and she bares children, men struggle to find sexual desire with woman- view them as a mom and not a sex partner • Sexually transmitted disease- 80% of USA population is infected with herpes 1 or 2 • No cure but there are treatments • HIV- viral and sexually transmitted through white blood cells (AIDS is not sexually transmitted) • Lowers T4 cells • AIDS- decrease of T4 cells to a certain point; inability to fight off infection (end result of HIV) • Genital warts (HPV)- can be treated but not cured (freeze them) • Bacterial STD’s- can treat/cure with anti-bacterial (gaunorrea, clyamitia) • Lessons to learn: • Use protection • Cannot tell if someone is “clean” just by looking at them ____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 5: States of Consciousness • When we are conscious we are alert, awake and aware • Wide Awake/normal waking consciousness: • Directed- focus directed consciousness that you are focused on one thing • Focusing in class/the teacher • Flowing- ability to kind of drift and think of other things; awareness/attention is going to move from one stimulus to another • Daydreaming- focused and directed thinking but that is focused and directed on a fantasy • thinking about a vacation • Sleep- consciousness while asleep because we dream (state of consciousness) • When we dream, brain is at most active point • NREM- Non-rapid eye movement- Page 17 Psychology 101 • Chase dreams- anxiety based dreams (cannot scream, move, and whatever it is, is gaining momentum; if you turn around and look you can determine the anxiety) • Flying dreams• 1) kick off from ground and flying all over • unconsciously you feel good about where you are right now and making good decisions • 2) Try to come off the ground but hit the ground • Anxiety and something is holding you back from what you want • Test dreams- anxiety based; feeling anxious • Teeth dreams- vanity and physical appearances; feeling uncomfortable about appearances • Naked dreams• 1) show up and completely nude. People laugh at you and you run and hide; feeling of insecurity • 2) show up and you feel a breeze and realize you're naked but keep going; feeling secure and confident • Altered state of consciousness- altered state of awareness • Hypnosis- voluntarily/involuntarily put into a different state of consciousness • Meditation- voluntary way to change consciousness. Focus inward and completely and utterly not aware of his/her consciousness • Hallucinogens (PCP, Heroin)- drugs that will put you in a different consciousness. Hits CNS; makes you hear color, smell sounds. Distorts time and place ____________________________________________________________________________ Chapter 9: Developmental Psychology • Developmental Psychology- study of life from conception (sperm and egg meet) to death • Being pregnant is hardest thing on body • A lot of sperm die in vaginal area because it cannot handle pH level. Strongest sperm goes into egg to make strongest embryo • Embryo-up to 12 weeks • By 6 weeks- fully-formed human (arms, legs, eye sockets, brain, beating heart, genitals are visible but cannot determine gender identity) Page 19
Psychology 101 Notes
Course: Introduction To Psychology (PSYC 101)
University: Towson University
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