Introduction to Experimental Psychology Notes PDF

PSYC 0001 January 22nd, 2025 Lecture 1 - Introduction ​ Each inherently connected by genetics and genetic variation. Root word Psych (Greek) - Mind, soul -​ Focus of science of psychology is what evidence shows us how people see and behave. Goals of psychology: 1.​ Describe patterns in p...

PSYC 0001 January 22nd, 2025 Lecture 1 - Introduction ​ Each inherently connected by genetics and genetic variation. Root word Psych (Greek) - Mind, soul -​ Focus of science of psychology is what evidence shows us how people see and behave. Goals of psychology: 1.​ Describe patterns in people’s thinking, feeling and behavior 2.​ Explanation of WHY people behave a certain way 3.​ Prediction HOW are people going to think, feel, and behave How people behave in the past is the best predictor of the future. -​ Human behavior is to explore the psychological methodology behind one’s rationale and thought process Steps of applying the scientific method to psychology: 1.​ Formulate research question from observation 2.​ Literature review - look for publicized literature to gain more insight on research inquiry. 3.​ Form a hypothesis (What you think is actually happening) - ​ Needs to be testable ​ Needs to be falsifiable ​ We need to be able to define it in a way that’s called an operational definition ​ We need to define our dependent and independent variables - (IV influences DV) 4.​ Design the study - ​ We need to reduce the number of alternative explanations (occam’s razor) ​ Define sample (who to include in the study) (Sample should be geared towards addressing a more general population, rather than just a small-scale population. This varies from differing approaches) ○​ Ideal sample using random - selection (meaning every person in the population has an equal opportunity to participate) ○​ Sample size (How many people are being studied) - depends on the type of research  ○​ Design (cont.) - internal validity (Eliminating all of the sources of biases that could influence final results) ​ design experiments with controlled internal validity and then move up bit by bit into external validity. ​ Correlational research (does not show causation) - good place to start ​ Experimental (using random assignment) - measured at baseline and after the study ○​ Experimental group ○​ Control Group 5.​ Conduct the study and do research - (keep sample blinded to study’s treatment) 6.​ Analyze results ​ Descriptive Statistics - describing the data you got from the sample - states general facts and proven outcomes, describes the main features of a case study. ​ Inferential Statistics - inferring something about the population based on the data (based on the data how much confidence do we have that it is true) - analyzing samples to find/make predictions about the general/larger population. 7.​ Report results ​ Peer review (either get sent back or published) - method, results, and conclusions are rechecked by experts in the field 8.​ Replication - repetition of experiment to attempt to recreate original results Research Ethics {References to the Nuremberg code (unchanged)}: ​ Code of research ethics has been constantly changing with current times. Principles - ​ Respect for person’s beneficence ​ Keeping a just way of doing the research ​ Informed Consent (document given before the study and includes everything to be done throughout it in clear language INCLUDING risks) ​ No sort of coercion (exchanged benefits or conduction in impoverished areas) -​ Participants should have the right to pull out of research at any time and their data be used accordingly if submitted. Ethics predominantly factor in risks vs benefits within research. January 29nd, 2025 Lecture 2 - Memory Times where using deception (lie to them) is ethical + useful- ​ MUST get approval first ○​ Be able to show there is no risk ○​ The research question is too important and exposing everything about the research will ruin it. (Subjects must be non-aware) ​ Inform and debrief after Memory 3 different processes memory is broken down into- 1.​ Encoding - Constantly taking in information and taking in input using your senses a.​ Referred to as Stage Theory i.​ Sensory memory (held onto for 2-3 seconds). Example: Touch (Clothes on skin are felt but discarded). This can be triggered using salient stimuli like someone saying your name at a party. ​ Working memory a.​ Memory Retrieval Experiment (Curved Graph; upward parabola) (worst remembered is the middle) b.​ Recency effect - New info comes in and interferes with old info. c.​ Serial Position Effect - Primacy/recency effect (7 ± 2). d.​ You couldn’t get all of them due to limited capacity. i.​ You can overcome this by using mnemonics (anything used to advance the storing of information in memory) -​ Chunking means taking big info and turning it into smaller chunks of info. ​ Long Term memory a.​ Stored in the Hippocampus (most integral part of the brain) i.​ Patient of Neuroscience HM (guy with severe epilepsy and during surgery they damaged his hippocampus causing him to not be able to convert working memory to long-term memory) - lost all of his memory after the surgery. 1.​ They made HM play a game called Tower of London and every day he lost memory of playing the game but he got faster and faster everyday at solving it.  b.​ Explicit/declarative memory (Hippocampus memory) - Memory for info or facts i.​ Semantic Memory - Facts/Information ii.​ Episodic Memory - Personal experiences -​ Memories associated with emotions (feeds into the hippocampus) change the way we store the memory (The more the emotion, the easier it is to remember) -​ Sleep plays an important role in memory. When you learn info when you’re awake it's stored in your hippocampus, however, when you sleep it is stored in the cortex (outer layer) of your brain. -​ REM (integrated in your memory network) vs NREM (integrated in your hippocampus and cortex) -​ Context - environmental contexts that pertain to a certain topic actually help storing info. c.​ Implicit/Procedural Memory (other parts of the brain) - Memory for skills and tasks i.​ Automatic processes/ Biases ii.​ As you become an expert in something you process that info in a procedural method. Network Theory - Storage of info is an organized manner. (If they are related/connected, they will be linked to each other) -​ To recall this you need to activate the node in your memory -​ Spreading activation - Once one node is named the other nodes are activated together and are easier to recall. -​ Priming theory is an idea or concept stored as a node in the network and is related to other ideas or concepts by semantic paths. 2.​ Storage (consolidation) [Part 2 and 1 go hand in hand] 3.​ Retrieval - Taking info from long term memory -> working memory ​ Forgetting is failure of retrieval - either it is no longer in long term memory or can’t be found to be put in working memory ○​ Retrieval cues different pieces of info related to the memory that you can use to find them. ○​ Time ​ Forgetting curve - in an hour we drop about 40% of our memory and then slows down til you slowly forget it throughout time. ○​ Interference ​ Retroactive interference is when that new information stored in long term memory interferes with old information. ​ Proactive interference is when old information interferes with the storage of new information. ​ Misinformation - false memories ○​ When you retrieve aspects of working memory, it’s newly stored in long-term memory storage. ​ Big picture Overview: ○​ Long term memory determines what is worth paying attention to during the sensory memory process. ○​ Some of our long term memories are incidental. ○​ Some information in working memory is subject to alteration. February 5th, 2025 Lecture 3 - Learning (Behaviorism) 1.​ Stimulus - Response Relationships a.​ External Stimulus b.​ Thought that you have (Remembered) ​ Habituation: When the same stimulus occurs over and over again, the response starts to faint (something). Example: Putting on a perfume (you put it on more as time progresses because you get used to the smell). To prevent this, you change up the stimulus (different perfume or different quantity of said perfume) or gaining tolerance to taking drugs. ○​ Dishabituation: the fast recovery of a response that has undergone habituation, typically as a result of the presentation of a novel, strong or sometimes noxious stimulus. ​ Oddball Paradox: The oddball paradigm is an experimental approach used in neuroscience to study automatic novelty processing. ○​ Sensitization: The more you hear something the more exaggerated your response is to it. ​ Most typically a scary stimulus ​ Such as like a fire alarm when it turns on: Fear stimulus. Another example is having withdrawals from taking drugs. 2.​ Classical conditioning a.​ Discovered by Russian Psychologist Pavlov i.​ Experiment with his dogs in which he would ring a bell that would cause them to salivate. ​ Unconditioned stimulus (UCR): He gave the dogs meat powder. ​ Unconditioned response (UCS): They would salivate. ii.​ Neutral stimulus: He would ring the bell and give them meat and they would salivate. And when he rang the bell but didn’t give them meat, they still salivated. Therefore, making the bell a conditioned stimulus and producing conditioned responses. ​ Rabbit and Albert story - Rabbit was a neutral stimulus and loud noise was a (UCS) stimulus and fear was a (UCR) and then he had a classical conditioned stimulus response to the rabbit (CS) which brought him fear when he saw it (CR). b.​ Generalization: One principle of Classical conditioning  i.​ When a white dog was brought out instead of the white rabbit in front of Albert, he showed the same fear response as the rabbit. ii.​ Similarly, when a dog bites a person then the person becomes scared of all dogs that is another example of generalization. c.​ Discrimination: When a stimulus is different from the conditioned stimulus, it will not create the stimulus response. d.​ Extinction: When you repeatedly present stimulus over and over again, there is a tolerance built against it. i.​ Back to Pavlov’s dogs, when he rang the bell over and over again and there was no meat given to them, they stopped salivating. ii.​ Albert kept being given the white rabbit but there was no loud noise from the gong and slowly he stopped being scared of the rabbit. e.​ Spontaneous recovery: The reappearance of a Conditioned Response (CR) that has been extinguished. i.​ Backward pairing: a behavior conditioning method in which the unconditioned stimulus (US) is presented before a neutral stimulus (NS). ii.​ Simultaneous pairing: when the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time. iii.​ Forward Pairing: the pairing of two stimuli such that the conditioned stimulus is presented before the unconditioned stimulus. f.​ Single Trial Learning: a method where an individual grasps something from a single exposure to the stimulus or information, eliminating the need for multiple repetitions. (Phobias can be an example of single trial learning) i.​ Learned taste aversion: Evolutionary response to not eating something that made you sick. -​ Psychoneuroimmunology: the study of the effect of the mind on health and resistance to disease.  3.​ Operant Conditioning (Instrumental): Change in the frequency of behavior a.​ Work of B.F. Skinner: An animal or a human receives a consequence after performing a specific behavior b.​ Reinforced Behaviors increase in frequency and Punished Behaviors decrease in frequency. + - Reinforcement Food Taking away the shock (to reinforce by taking away something bad) Punishment Electric Shock Taking away the food (to reinforce by taking away something good) ​ Dopamine is considered the reinforced chemical of the brain. (Cocaine boosts dopamine making people addicted to it). c.​ Behaviorism: The science of Human Behavior i.​ Walden II ​ Primary Reinforcer: Food, Water ​ Secondary Reinforcement: Money d.​ Shaping: Gradual Learning Process i.​ Successive Approximations: systematically applying reinforcement and extinction to some behavior (example - giving a treat to your dog when your dog picks up the stick or goes over to it) in order to modify it such  that it gradually approaches a target behavior (example - Your dog finally fetches an object you throw to the command word “fetch”). ii.​ Backyard Squirrel Maze 1.0- Ninja Warrior Course e.​ Schedules of reinforcement: i.​ Continuous reinforcement - A type of learning which reinforces a desired behavior every time it occurs. ii.​ Best means of achieving learning but the moment you stop reinforcing extinction can happen. b.​ Partial Reinforcement - A type of learning which occasionally reinforces a desired behavior after it happens. i.​ Can increase the time it takes to reach extinction Fixed (More spread Variable (Change things up) out reinforcement unlike continuous) Ratio Paid by the job Slot machine Interval Paid by the hour Taxis (Long waiting periods) ​ Albert Bandura - Bobo doll ○​ 4.​ Observational learning: The process of learning by watching the behaviors of others a.​ Modeling: We learn by watching others and then imitating, or modeling, what they do or say. i.​ (Example - If a student sees a friend of theirs being rewarded with candy for their good grades in school, the student may work harder to model similar behavior so that they can receive candy in the future) b.​ Vicarious learning: The frequency of our behavior can change from the reinforcement or punishment from other people.  i.​ (Example: a student who hears the teacher praise a classmate for neat penmanship on an assignment and who then carefully handwrites their own assignment is considered to have received vicarious reinforcement) c.​ Empathy: Individuals learn from the differences between empathic responses they observe in others and the empathic response they expected to see in others. (Putting yourself in another’s shoes) i.​ It is the foundation for human emotions and being able to understand others. (Not sympathy - there is a difference) ii.​ Mirror Neurons February 12th, 2025 Lecture 4 - Thinking and Intelligence Sensory info -> Sensory Memory -> Working memory (most info will get discarded) -> long-term memory (some working memory will get saved as long-term memory) -> Working memory ​ Mental representation a.​ Visual images b.​ Symbolically ​ Schemas a.​ Cognitive structures that we use to organize and process information based on experiences. i.​ Examples: If the teacher says he is taking everyone to the restaurant and imagining the menu items and they turn out to be something you didn’t expect. When the teacher said italian you made a schema for italian foods but you do not expect sushi to be in your schema. ​ Judgements ​ Ways of thinking: a.​ System 1 (Emotional intuitive decision) i.​ Heuristics ​ Mental shortcuts we take (educated guesses) ii.​ You thinking about things faster iii.​ Intuition iv.​ More error prone b.​ System 2 (Engaged to justify the emotional intuitive decision) i.​ How you think you think ii.​ Rational and logical thinking (Metacognitive thinking)  iii.​ Tends to be more accurate iv.​ Tends to be slow and takes a lot of effort ​ Types of heuristics a.​ Availability heuristic - Heavily influenced by more memorable events i.​ Type of cognitive bias that helps us make fast, but sometimes incorrect, assessments. b.​ Representative heuristic i.​ A mental shortcut that leads individuals to evaluate current events or situations based on past experiences (Schemas: whatever is in your schema, you are going to assume is true) c.​ Confirmation bias i.​ Leads you to seek out information that confirms your existing beliefs, mental models and hypotheses while discounting information that refutes them. ​ Simplified version: We selectively look for information that we think is right and pay less attention and filter our information that does not relate to us -​ Cognitive misers - Our brain consumes 20-25% of the energy our body uses. If we used system 2 thinking all the time, we would be tired all the time and have to eat a lot. We use system 1 to conserve energy. Cognitive misers often resort to heuristics as a way to save mental energy when making social judgments. d.​ Framing i.​ Scenario A - 80% chance of winning $100 and 20% chance of losing $50; Scenario B - 90% change of winning $20 dollars and 10% chance of losing $500 - People tend to pick A because you are losing less money even though System 2 would suggest Scenario A is better. ii.​ The way that a transaction is framed can significantly influence an individual's perception of Loss Aversion. iii.​ Affective (emotional) forecasting - predictions of how we will feel about future emotional events. ​ The more the number of choices, the more happy we are. But, there is a limit (Too much choice can lead us to be unhappy). ​ Intelligence a.​ Alfred Binet (Developed intelligence/memory tests) i.​ Stanford Binet Test ii.​ WAIS/WISC Test ​ Composed of many sub-tests. Some tests are about memory and the tests work in a way that questions get harder and harder and stop when you get them wrong.  iii.​ Letter Number Sequence Test b.​ Tests i.​ Measure of test’s accuracy ​ Reliable a.​ Trait - stable enduring characteristic (height doesn’t change) b.​ State - transient or temporary experiences ​ Valid a.​ Construct validity (Should be constructed accurately and fairly) b.​ Predictive validity (Results should mean something) ii.​ IQ - Intelligence Quotient ​ (Test Age)/(Chronological Age) x 100 ​ Ended up not working because they only had these in school and had an age limit of 18 years olds, which made the results skewed. ​ The formula now is based on the score of the age group (average) - Normative Scoring ​ ​ Theory - There are multiple intelligences i.​ Linguistic abilities ii.​ Logical/Mathematical ability iii.​ Spatial Ability iv.​ Musical intelligence v.​ Bodily kinesthetic intelligence vi.​ Personal intelligence vii.​ Emotional intelligence ​ Social skills, and ability to form relationships viii.​ Fluid vs Crystalized intelligence  ​ Fluid intelligence is more of problem solving knowledge whereas Crystalized intelligence is more about facts and information. ix.​ Nature vs nurture intelligence ​ Natural intelligence is more about biological/genetic related knowledge vs nurture intelligence, which is life experiences, educational level, nutrition. - About 50/50 of both is what our knowledge consists of. -​ Longitudinal studies and cross-sectional studies are two different types of research design. In a cross-sectional study you collect data from a population at a specific point in time; in a longitudinal study you repeatedly collect data from the same sample over an extended period of time. -​ The Flynn effect is the substantial and long-sustained increase in both fluid and crystallized intelligence. February 19nd, 2025 Lecture 5 - Behavioral Genetics February 26nd, 2025 Lecture 6 - Neuroscience and Behavior -​ Central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord and have no healing ability whereas the peripheral nervous system has room for growth and healing if there’s damage. -​ Types of cells found in the nervous system: Neurons (10%) Glia (90%) -​ Information flows from dendrites to the soma and then to the single branch-like structure called axons and then to the terminal endings. -​ Inside neurons, the signals are electrical (arrow shows flow of electricity) -​ Myelins are critical to keeping the electricity inside the neuron -​ Synapse is the gap between the neurons. Terminal ending of the first neuron is called presynapse and the terminal ending of the second neuron is called postsynapse. 1.​ Serotonin - excitatory neurotransmitter 2.​ Dopamine - excitatory neurotransmitter 3.​ Norepinephrine - excitatory neurotransmitter 4.​ Acetylcholine - excitatory neurotransmitter 5.​ GABA - inhibitory neurotransmitter -​ All of these are packed as neurotransmitters in vesicles. -​ The vesicles then dump the neurotransmitters in the synapse. -​ The neurotransmitters are attached to binds on the receptors. -​ The receptors use a lock and key mechanism to receive neurotransmitters. ​ Medications like the SSR1 target the serotonin. (Medications work by altering the different neurotransmitters.) Receptors change the chemical information back into electrical information. Chemical to electrical signals (post-synaptic action) - ​ Resting potential is when the battery is at rest which is -70mV ○​ Once the neurotransmitter crosses you have a flow of ions charging the battery creating an electrical current making a depolarization. ​ When the battery discharges it is repolarization resetting giving a period rest. Recharging in hyperpolarization being lower than the resting potential to reset.  - watch video All or none law: The all or none principle refers to the principle that a neuron will either fire a complete electrical signal (action potential) in response to a stimulus reaching a certain threshold, or it will not fire at all; there is no partial response, meaning the strength of the stimulus does not affect the intensity of the response, only whether it occurs or not. 1.​ Nervous system is broken down into - a.​ Somatic nervous system i.​ Things you can consciously sense and do b.​ Autonomic nervous system i.​ Works without you thinking about it ​ Sympathetic (flight or fight response) ​ Parasympathetic (calms your body down) 2.​ Major divisions of the brain - a.​ Midbrain i.​ Basal ganglia ​ Caudate nucleus ​ Putamen ​ Globus pallidus ​ Subthalamic nucleus ​ Substantia nigra ii.​ Limbic System ​ Thalamus (Relay station for consciousness and sensory stimuli) ​ Hippocampus ​ Hypothalamus (Master regulator) ​ Amygdala ​ Pituitary gland b.​ Forebrain i.​ Cerebrum  ii.​ Thalamus iii.​ Hypothalamus c.​ Hindbrain i.​ Pons ​ Connects the rest of the brainstem to the cerebral cortex ​ Regulating states of consciousness ii.​ Medulla Oblongata ​ Spinal cord is becoming the brain ​ Responsible for basic living functions (breathing, heart beating, etc) iii.​ Cerebellum ​ Motion and movement a.​ Motor function/control 3.​ Advanced brain areas a.​ Four lobes of the cerebral cortex i.​ Frontal lobe (Responsible for executive functions like thinking, decision making, planning, controlling impulses, etc) ii.​ Parietal lobe (spatial coordination) iii.​ Occipital lobe (connected to vision) iv.​ Temporal lobe (processing of auditory and language information) Brain plasticity, also known as neuroplasticity, is the brain's ability to change its structure and function throughout life. The left and right sides of the brain are specialised to attend to different information, to process sensory inputs in different ways and to control different types of motor behaviour. This is referred to as hemispheric specialization or simply as brain lateralization. Aphasia Anomia Agnosia March 5th, 2025 Lecture 7 - Sensation and Perception Sense organ (Every sense except smell) - Contains certain types of sensory receptors - Transduction happens - Information sent to Thalamus - Passed on to the cortex -​ Smell sensory receptors send it straight to cortex, skipping thalamus -​ (most evolutionary primitive sense and relatively undeveloped) Absolute threshold - the minimum amount of stimulus we can detect in the first place (usually intensity of a stimulus that a person can detect 50% of the time) Difference Threshold - the minimum that we have to change so that we can notice a difference -​ Cones (color vision) are in the center and Rods (monochromatic vision) are surrounding the cones 3 types of cones and each cone is only reactive to a certain portion of the vision spectrum some are for the red to yellowish area, blue to green area, and purple. Photopigment - a chemical in the cones and rods that reacts to a certain range of colors. It causes depolarization causes an electrical current goes to the terminal ending releasing BACKWARDS TO FORWARDS To Optic Nerve ← ganglion cell ←bipolar cell ← cones and rods | receptive field Optic nerve is the collective gathering of the ganglion cells' axons -​ Cones (color vision) are in the center and Rods (monochromatic vision) are surrounding the cones  -​ 3 types of cones and each cone is only reactive to a certain portion of the vision spectrum; some are for the red to yellowish area, blue to green area, and purple. -​ One part of the eye captures a different thing from the other part of the eye and the brain takes the gap -​ The further that you go with your peripheral vision it may go to a certain point only one eye will see it -​ The blind spot is the area on the retina where the optic nerve is located. Because there are no photoreceptors (rods or cones) in this area, the eye cannot perceive visual images that land on it. -​ Light waves from an object pass through the eye, but where they hit the retina is right where the optic nerve is. As a result, you're not actually able to perceive the visual image at that point. -​ You can find your blind spot by focusing on an object with one eye closed while holding your finger out to the side. You can move your finger inward until the point when it disappears. At that point, the light reflected from your finger is hitting the blind spot. 🔄 From Raw Image to Electrical Activity The retina's rods and cones convert the raw visual image into electrical activity, which the brain can then interpret. Different rods and cones respond to different parts of the image. Each rod or cone acts essentially as a pixel, capturing a portion of the visual field. The more "pixels" (rods/cones), the finer the detail in the perceived image. 🧠 Visual Processing & Edge Detection Even before the image leaves the eye, the brain begins to filter and process the image to clean it up and make it easier to interpret. Bipolar cells detect edges of objects, making these edges appear sharper and crisper than they actually are. This edge detection is analogous to a phone's ability to identify the edges of a person in a photo and then change the background. 🤔 Perception vs. Reality The brain's perception is not true reality but a filtered, altered version of reality. All senses filter reality from birth. This raises philosophical questions, as illustrated by Plato's Allegory of the Cave. In Plato's Allegory of the Cave, people are in a cave seeing images that represent reality but are not reality. 🔬 Animal Studies Much of the detailed knowledge about these processes comes from animal studies because experiments, like injecting drugs into the eyes, can't be performed on humans. 🧠 Occipital Lobe and Visual Fields The occipital lobe is lateralized, meaning that the left occipital lobe processes information from the right visual field, and the right occipital lobe processes information from the left visual field. Even though each eye sees both visual fields, the information is divided and processed by the contralateral occipital lobe. If an object is in your right visual field, both eyes perceive it, although the left eye might see more of it. As the object moves further into your peripheral vision, it might only be perceived by the right eye. The difference in the image between the two eyes provides a cue for depth perception. Trichromatic theory - says that human eyes only perceive three colors of light: red, blue, and green. (Functioning at the level of rods and cones) Opponent - Process theory - a psychological and neurological model that explains how we perceive color, experience emotions, and respond to pain. (Functioning at the level of ganglion cells) Opposing colors: blue-yellow red-green black-white Afterimage - visual illusions that occur when we continue to see an image even after it has been removed from our field of vision. Bottom-up processing: You don't know what a person is making until they are complete so you know what you are looking at. It is slow and labor intensive. Top-Down: Speeds up the process but makes it more likely for you to make errors. Trying to use shortcuts to speed up the processing and that sometimes it isn't very clear what we are looking at. Perception: Clear vs. Ambiguous Stimuli Clear vs. Ambiguous Stimuli Legs of the elephant on the right are ambiguous -​ Similarly, being in shade can make the color look different: Making people interpret the color differently. Gestalt principles all represent top-down processes. Here are some examples: 1.​ Gestalt Rule: Emergence a.​ We perceive the world without thinking too much about understanding every small thing around us. This ability to quickly make sense of our environment is essential for survival. b.​ 2.​ Gestalt Rule: Closure a.​ When an individual looks at a complex arrangement of visual elements, they tend to look for a single and recognizable pattern. b.​  3.​ Gestalt Rule: Proximity a.​ Things that are close together appear to be more related than things that are spaced farther apart. b.​ 4.​ Gestalt Rule: Similarity a.​ The human eye tends to perceive similar elements in a design as a complete picture, shape, or group, even if those elements are separated. b.​ Fusiform Gyrus: a structure spanning the basal surface of the temporal and occipital lobes, that is responsible for seeing faces (as long as the gyrus is not damaged) What? Where? - Depth of perception Movement 1.​ Monocular Cues (Only require one eye) a.​ Relative size i.​ Familiar Size ii.​ Linear perspective iii.​ Position relative to horizon iv.​ Texture gradient v.​ Occlusion 2.​ Binocular Cues (Both eyes are required)  a.​ Convergence - As something gets closer to you, the muscles in your eyes have to work harder to focus. b.​ Binocular/Retinal disparity - Refers to the fact that each of our eyes sees the world from a slightly different angle Movement according to perception:​ 1.​ Stroboscopic motion: a visual phenomenon where continuous motion is represented by a series of short or instantaneous samples. 2.​ Motion aftereffects: a visual illusion experienced after viewing a moving visual stimulus for a time with stationary eyes, and then fixating a stationary stimulus. 3.​ Change blindness: our visual system is constantly taking in loads and loads of info from the environment and it's too much so the brain is always trying to figure out what to pay attention to and what isn’t worth paying attention to. If attention is focused on something else the obvious might not be so obvious (MRA scans and doctors focusing to see tumors but the mra scan is of a gorilla's face, but somehow the doctors somehow miss it) March 19th, 2025 Lecture 8 - Consciousness and Sleep March 26th, 2025 Lecture 9 - Development Embryonic development: Neural tube starts developing in 1 month. (Into 3 parts of the brain) ○​ The brain is almost seen as a divine form of nature, its intricacies are unable to be explained in real world contexts. -​ Alexander Tsiaras: Conception to birth -- visualized | TED Talk ​ During embryonic development during the first month, cells are multiplied and produced at a rapid pace. ○​ If this pace were to continue throughout the entire embryonic period, the fetus would grow to about 1.5 tons after 9 months. ​ Teratogens: substances that a mother could consume/interact with in pregnancy, leading to possible alterations of the neural developments of the fetus. ​ At birth, our nervous system is not entirely developed. ​ Newborns are not born with a high functioning motor. ○​ Motor: refers to the muscular movements and actions that are involved in performing tasks or skills ​ A general consensus is that newborns have an innate ability to grasp, also known as the grasping reflex. The sucking reflex is also another innate ability newborns have at birth, hence their ability to breastfeed. ​ On average for newborns: ○​ 3 months - rolling over on their own  ○​ 6 months - sit up ○​ 10 months - crawl ○​ 1 year - stand and walk ​ Development ○​ Cognitive Development ​ Theory of Piaget - Posits that children progress through distinct stages of cognitive development, each characterized by unique ways of thinking and understanding the world, moving from sensorimotor to preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages. ​ Sensorimotor Stage (Year 0 - 2) - Where infants learn about the world through their senses and actions, eventually developing object permanence. ○​ Object Permanence - A cognitive milestone where a child understands that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight. ○​ Schemas ​ Assimilation - When you interpret experiences through your previous schemas. ​ Accommodation - When you develop new schemas. ​ Preoperational Stage (Year 2 - 7) - They can think about things beyond the physical world, such as things that happened in the past. They also imagine and think symbolically, and they begin to display this ability through their language and behavior. ○​ Conservation - The quantity of something remains the same despite changes in its appearance. ​ Concrete Operational Stage (Year 7 - 12) - The understanding that objects can change in size, volume, or appearance, but essentially remain the same. ​ Formal Operational Stage (Year 12 - Adulthood) - The ability to formulate hypotheses and systematically test them to arrive at an answer to a problem. The individual in the formal stage is also able  to think abstractly and to understand the form or structure of a mathematical problem. ​ Theory of Mind - A cognitive ability to predict and plan people's actions by understanding their perceptions, beliefs, and desires ​ Egocentrism - the difficulty young children have in understanding that others have different perspectives, beliefs, or feelings than their own ○​ Emotional Development - Learning what feelings and emotions are, understanding how and why they occur, recognising your own feelings and those of others, and developing effective ways for managing those feelings. ​ ​ Temperament and Attachment ​ Temperament - Refers to an individual's innate, biologically-based characteristics, including mood, activity level, and emotional reactivity, that are noticeable soon after birth. ​ Attachment - close bond with a caregiver from which the infant derives a sense of security.  ○​ Stranger Situation - Baby's distress around meeting or being left in the care of unfamiliar people ○​ Separation Anxiety - Baby's distress around being left alone or separated from their parents or primary caregivers ○​ Insecure Attachment ​ Secure - healthy attachment - sad when gone happy when back ​ Avoidant - dont care at all ​ Ambivalent- sad when gone angry when they come back ○​ Imprinting - psychological phenomenon where a young animal or human forms a strong and immediate attachment to the first moving object they encounter during a critical period in their early development. ​ Harlow’s Monkeys - designed to study the effects of maternal deprivation and isolation. ​ Development Trajectory - ○​ ○​ Erikson’s Stages ​ (Year 0-1.5) - Trust vs Mistrust ​ If caregivers consistently meet needs, the child develops trust; if not, mistrust and insecurity form. ​ (Year 1.5-3.0) - Autonomy vs Shame vs Doubt ​ Encouragement fosters independence; overcontrol or criticism leads to shame and self-doubt.  ​ (Year 3-6) - Initiative vs Guilt ​ Support for curiosity and actions builds initiative; discouragement causes guilt and hesitation. ​ (Year 6 - Puberty) - Incompetent vs Inferiority ​ Success in school and tasks leads to competence; failure or comparison to peers creates inferiority. ​ Adolescence - Identity vs Role confusion ​ Exploring values and goals forms identity; lack of direction causes role confusion and uncertainty. ​ Early Adulthood - Intimacy vs Isolation ​ Deep relationships and emotional bonds create intimacy; fear of commitment leads to isolation. ​ Middle Age - Productivity vs Stagnation ​ Contributing to society and helping others fosters productivity; self-absorption leads to stagnation. ​ Old Age - Integrity vs Despair ​ Reflection on a meaningful life brings integrity; regret over missed opportunities causes despair. ○​ Moral Development ​ Lawrence Kohlberg’s Cognitive Development Model ​ Proposes that moral reasoning progresses through six distinct stages, organized into three levels (preconventional, conventional, and postconventional), each reflecting a different approach to understanding right and wrong. ○​ Preconventional - Morality is based on rewards, punishment, and self-interest (e.g., avoiding punishment or gaining rewards). ○​ Conventional - Morality is guided by social approval and laws (e.g., following rules and maintaining social order). ○​ Post-Conventional - Morality is based on abstract principles and personal ethics (e.g., justice, human rights, and individual conscience). ​ Johnathan Haidt’s Moral Intuitionist Model ​ Argues that moral decisions making is largely driven by our unconscious feelings and then we use our system 2 thinking to process/justify these moral decisions that we just made. April 2nd, 2025 Lecture 10 - Motivation and Emotion -​ All behavior has a reason or purpose behind it (Psychologists believe that nothing we do is random) 1.​ Motivation: We do certain things because we have certain needs. a.​ Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs i.​ 1.​ When one of our needs is missing, the bigger the drive we feel to fill that need. 2.​ Behavior is motivated by the need to reduce physiological drives, like hunger or thirst, and achieve a state of balance or homeostasis. 3.​ Pleasure Principle: a psychoanalytic concept that describes the human tendency to maximize pleasure and minimize pain. b.​ Homeostasis: Body's ability to maintain a stable and balanced internal environment c.​ Incentives: External stimuli, either positive or negative, that motivate behavior, suggesting individuals are driven by the anticipated outcomes of their actions. d.​ Function of Hypothalamus - It acts as a thermostat, monitoring and regulating the body temperature and initiating mechanisms to maintain it within a narrow range. It also controls the autonomic nervous system. e.​ Hunger  i.​ Set point theory - suggests that your body has a natural weight range it strives to maintain, and if you deviate from it, your body will respond by increasing hunger and decreasing metabolism to return to that range. (If glucose levels are high, you will feel full, a reaction triggered by the hypothalamus. Once the glucose is consumed, you reach homeostasis) 1.​ Storage: If you have too much glucose, the body turns it into glycogen and fat. (If the body goes a long time without getting glucose, the glycogen is used) 2.​ The "eat and not eat scale set point" refers to the concept that our bodies have a natural weight range, or "set point," that they tend to gravitate towards, and that when we deviate from this range through dieting or other means, our bodies will naturally work to return to it. f.​ Threat/Stress (Covers safety) - Driven by a hypothalamus and caused by a stressor. i.​ Fight or flight response - 1.​ The perception of threat, mostly in men, activates the sympathetic nervous system and triggers an acute stress response that prepares the body to fight or flee. Connected to the presence of testosterone. ii.​ HPA axis response (Release of Cortisol) - 1.​ Responds to perceived threats by triggering a cascade of hormonal signals that prepare the body for a "fight-or-flight" response, ultimately leading to the release of cortisol. iii.​ Tend or befriend 1.​ a stress response, particularly in females, where individuals focus on nurturing (tending) and seeking social support (befriending) rather than the "fight or flight" response. Connected to the presence of oxytocin. g.​ Belongingness/Affiliation - i.​ Social Support - the need to have relationships with others once the physiological and safety needs have been fulfilled. "Real" social support is the actual assistance and connection received, while "perceived" social support is the subjective evaluation of that support. 1.​ Tangible - This involves providing practical help, resources, or assistance, such as financial aid, material goods, or help with tasks. 2.​ Emotional - This type of support focuses on providing empathy, encouragement, and a listening ear, addressing the emotional needs of individuals. h.​ Achievement (Covers Esteem and cognitive) i.​ Success - Positive Reinforcement (approach)  ii.​ Fear of failure - Negative Reinforcement (avoidance) iii.​ Extrinsic motivation - a motivation to participate in an activity based on meeting an external goal. iv.​ Intrinsic motivation - when someone does something because they enjoy it. 2.​ Emotion - (Emotion vs mood are not the same thing. Emotions being specific, intense reactions to stimuli, while moods are more general, long-lasting states of feeling) a.​ Describing Emotion i.​ Valence - the pleasantness or unpleasantness associated with an emotion or stimulus, ranging from positive (good) to negative (bad). ii.​ Arousal - a state of physiological and psychological activation, often characterized by heightened alertness, readiness for action, and increased intensity of emotions. iii.​ The Yerkes-Dodson law is a model of the relationship between stress and task performance. It proposes that you reach your peak level of performance with an intermediate level of stress, or arousal. Too little or too much arousal results in poorer performance. This is also known as the inverted-U model of arousal. 1.​ b.​ Physiological elements i.​ Anxiety, Fear, increased heart rate, etc. c.​ Behavioral elements i.​ Facial expressions (Four universal emotions) 1.​ Smile = Happiness 2.​ Frown = Sadness 3.​ Wide eyed/Shocker = Fear 4.​ Pinched nose, Striations on forehead = Disgust d.​ Subjective elements  i.​ Unique personal experiences (like feeling joy, sadness, or anger) e.​ Events i.​ 1.​ Subjective -> Physiologic (Common sense) 2.​ Physiologic -> Subjective (James-Lange Theory) 3.​ Brain response -> Both Physiological and Subjective response (Cannon-Bard Theory) 4.​ Physiologic -> appraisal -> subjective (Schachter-Singer) f.​ Regulation i.​ Thought suppression 1.​ People often try to suppress thoughts, especially those linked to negative emotions, as a way to regulate their emotional state and reduce distress. ii.​ Distraction 1.​ Shifting attention away from an emotional stimulus, potentially reducing negative affect and physiological arousal. iii.​ Re-appraisal 1.​ involves changing how one interprets a situation to alter its emotional impact iv.​ Problem solving 1.​ involves identifying a problem, defining a goal, identifying obstacles, and implementing and evaluating potential solutions. April 9nd, 2025 Lecture 11 - Personality Personality is our stereotypical pattern of thinking, behaving, and feeling. -​ Factor analysis: Used to understand the structure of personality traits and develop models like the Big Five. -​ Trait theory: People vary from each other according to the strength of their primary trait dimensions -​ Openness -​ Consciousness -​ Extroversion -​ Agreeableness -​ Neuroticism -​ -​ The NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) is a 60-item self-report questionnaire used to measure the five main dimensions of personality: Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness to Experience, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness. -​ Barnum principle - A cognitive bias where individuals tend to accept vague and general personality descriptions as uniquely accurate and specific to themselves, even though the descriptions could apply to almost anyone. -​ Personality and traits have a heritability of about 50%. In the population as a whole, the variability of personality traits is about 50% due to genetics. So, you may become more and more like your parents as you grow older. -​ Dopamine is responsible for pleasure and reinforcement.  -​ People who are thrill-seekers have less dopamine receptors in their brains. -​ Psychodynamic Theory by Freud -​ Human behavior is driven by unconscious thoughts, memories, emotions, and desires, and that early childhood experiences significantly shape personality. -​ -​ ID: A reservoir of instinctual energy driven by the pleasure principle that works toward fulfilling our most basic needs. For example: Hungry, Horny, Power-seeking, etc. -​ EGO: The rational, conscious part of the personality that mediates between the instinctual id and the moralistic superego, aiming to satisfy desires in a realistic and socially acceptable way. For example: If you're hungry, the ego might help you choose to eat a healthy snack instead of grabbing a cookie, or wait until lunchtime. -​ SUPEREGO: The moral component of personality, representing internalized societal values and standards, acting as an inner judge and critic that strives for perfection and can induce guilt when standards are not met. For example: A woman feels an urge to steal office supplies from work. However, her superego counteracts this urge by focusing on the fact that such behaviors are wrong. -​ Defence Mechanisms -​ Projection: Attributing one's own unacceptable thoughts, feelings, or motives to someone else. -​ Repression: Involves unconsciously pushing distressing thoughts, feelings, or memories out of conscious awareness.  -​ Rationalization: Creating logical-sounding but often untrue explanations to justify unacceptable behaviors, decisions, or feelings. -​ Displacement: Redirecting negative emotions or impulses from a threatening source (ID) to a less threatening target, often unconsciously. -​ Psychosexual Development by Freud (THIS GUY IS A FREAK) -​ Oral: Infant's primary source of pleasure and gratification is centered around the mouth, focusing on activities like sucking, biting, and chewing. (For example: Breastfeeding) -​ People who were fixated on oral stimulation (over breast-fed) might grow up to be over-talkative, smokers, over-eaters, etc. -​ Anal: Around this age, the child begins to toilet train, which brings about the child's fascination in the erogenous zone of the anus. -​ People who were fixated on anal stimulation (harsh in toilet training) might grow up to be neat, perfectionist, stubborn, etc. -​ Phallic: child's focus on their genitals and the development of the Oedipus complex (boys) or Electra complex (girls), involving attraction to the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the same-sex parent. -​ Oedipus complex: A boy sexually desires his mother and wishes to rid his life of his father. -​ Electra complex: daughters spend more time with their fathers, flirting and practicing sexual behaviors without sexual contact. -​ If a child does not successfully complete the phallic stage of development (mommy or daddy issues), it could lead to aggressive and overly sexual behavior as an adult. -​ Latency: dormant or repressed sexual drive as children focus on developing social and intellectual skills through school, friendships, and hobbies -​ An undeveloped latency stage (ages 6-puberty) can lead to difficulties in forming healthy relationships and developing a sense of self, potentially resulting in fixations that manifest later in life -​ Genital: Begins at puberty and lasts throughout adulthood, focusing on mature sexuality and the ability to form intimate relationships. -​ Failure to develop during the genital stage can lead to difficulties forming mature, emotionally intimate relationships in adulthood. -​ Projective Tests: Projective tests present ambiguous or unstructured stimuli (like ink blots or pictures) to individuals, under the assumption that the individual's responses reveal their unconscious thoughts, feelings, and personality traits.  -​ Rorschach Test: Uses inkblots to assess personality and emotional functioning by analyzing a person's perceptions and interpretations, offering insights into unconscious thoughts and feelings. -​ Humanistic Theory: Emphasizes human potential, free will, and the individual's drive towards self-actualization, contrasting with Freud's deterministic view. -​ Phenomenology: focuses on the study of consciousness and how individuals experience the world. -​ Self-Schema: A person's organized set of beliefs, experiences, and generalizations about themselves, encompassing their self-worth (self-image, self-esteem, and ideal self), which influences their motivations, attitudes, and behaviors. -​ Personal Narrative: Crucial for understanding an individual's experiences, values, and identity, helping them gain meaning and purpose in their lives. -​ The real self, or actual self, is who you are; the ideal self is who you want to be; and the ought self is who you believe others want you to be. -​ Self Actualization: The drive to fulfill one's unique potential, a state of self-fulfillment where individuals achieve their highest potential in their own way, often involving creative expression, a quest for spiritual enlightenment, or contributing to society. -​ -​ Unconditional positive regard: Accepting and valuing someone without judgment or conditions, fostering a supportive environment for growth and self-exploration. -​ Positive Psychology - A branch of psychology that focuses on the study of human strengths, well-being, and happiness. It aims to understand and promote the factors that contribute to a fulfilling and meaningful life. -​ Social Cognitive theory by Albert Bandura: explains how people learn behaviors within a social context through dynamic interactions between environmental,  behavioral, and cognitive influences, emphasizing observational learning and self-efficacy. -​ Reciprocal determinism: Argues that behavior, cognition, and environment all interact with and influence one another. -​ Behavior: Refers to anything you do that might be rewarded or punished. -​ Environment: Influences the intensity and frequency of the behavior, just as the behavior itself can have an impact on the environment -​ Personal: play an essential part in how a person behaves, including all of the individual's expectations, beliefs, and unique personality characteristics. -​ Beliefs/Self Efficacy: People with high self-efficacy are more likely to be confident when approaching problems (the behavior), which means they may be more likely to succeed in different situations -​ Tabula Rasa: when people are born, their minds are effectively a blank slate, so their experiences make them who they are. -​ Behaviorism: Primarily emphasizes observable behaviors and external stimuli, viewing learning as a change in behavior in response to environmental factors. -​ -​ Personality Paradox: highlights the seeming contradiction between the idea that individuals have consistent personalities and the observation that people's behaviors vary across different situations. (Personality vs Situation). April 16th, 2025 Lecture 12 - Social Psychology 1.​ Social facilitation: Presence of other people can enhance our behavior responses. Example: An actor in a play will likely give a much better performance when people are in the audience compared to when rehearsing the play without an audience. a.​ Dominant behavior - enhanced i.​ A skilled musician might perform better in front of a live audience due to the arousal and excitement induced by the presence of others. b.​ Weak behavior - worse i.​ A novice public speaker might perform worse in front of a large audience due to increased anxiety and fear of making mistakes. 2.​ Group Dynamics: The processes that occur between group members a.​ Group polarization: The tendency for group discussions to lead individuals to adopt more extreme versions of their initial opinions or beliefs. b.​ Group think: A psychological phenomenon in which people strive for consensus within a group. c.​ Social loafing: The tendency for individuals to exert less effort when working in a group compared to when working individually. 3.​ Ingroup/Outgroup: "Ingroup" refers to a group an individual identifies with or feels a sense of belonging to, while "Outgroup" is a group they do not identify with or see as different. a.​ Social identity theory: A social psychology theory that explores how individuals derive a part of their self-concept from their group memberships.  i.​ b.​ Outgroup homogeneity effect: A social psychological phenomenon where people tend to perceive members of an outgroup (a group they don't belong to) as more similar to each other than members of their own ingroup (the group they belong to). c.​ Ingroup favoritism: The tendency to favor members of one's own group (ingroup) over members of other groups (outgroups) 4.​ Reciprocity: Tendency to respond to another person's actions, especially kindness, with a similar action (gain a mutual benefit) 5.​ Transitivity: The concept that if A is connected to B, and B is connected to C, then A is also likely to be connected to C. In simpler terms, "a friend of a friend is likely to be a friend." 6.​ Asch Experiment: Conducted by Solomon Asch in the 1950s, using deception, demonstrated how individuals conform to group pressure (the confederates), even when the group is demonstrably wrong. a.​ In the experiment, participants were asked to judge the length of lines, and the majority of the group (who were actually confederates) intentionally gave incorrect answers.The study found that a significant portion of participants conformed to the group's incorrect judgment, even though they knew the correct answer. b.​ Conformity: The experiment revealed that people are willing to conform to group pressure, even when the group's judgment is clearly wrong. i.​ Normative influence: The tendency to conform to group norms in order to be liked, accepted, or avoid social rejection. ii.​ Informational influence: A type of conformity where individuals change their behavior or beliefs because they believe that others have more accurate information. 7.​ Attribution Theory: explains how individuals interpret the causes of their own and others' behaviors. a.​ b.​ 8.​ Fundamental attribution error (FAE): a cognitive bias where individuals tend to overemphasize internal factors (personality, character) when explaining the behavior of others, while underemphasizing external factors (situation, environment).  a.​ 9.​ Person perception: The mental processes we use to form impressions of other people. a.​ First Impressions: Shape how we see others, often based on quick judgments and limited info. b.​ Schemas: i.​ Stereotype: Belief or level of thought without bias. (Example: Basketball players are tall) ii.​ Prejudice: A negative attitude toward a group, can be influenced by schemas. 1.​ Attitudes -> Explicit or implicit: Explicit attitudes are the attitudes we are aware of, can readily describe, and that we can consciously control. They are often measured through self-report questionnaires. Whereas, Implicit attitudes are unconscious associations or feelings towards an object, often formed through past experiences. a.​ Implicit Association Test: A method used to measure implicit attitudes and biases. It measures the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., race, gender) and evaluations (e.g., positive, negative). b.​ iii.​ Discrimination: Negative behaviors or actions directed toward an individual or group based on their membership in a particular social category or characteristic. 10.​Self-fulfilling prophecy: the idea that one person's or one group's expectations for the behavior of others can quite unintentionally help to bring about the behavior expected of those others. 11.​Stereotype threat: A social psychological phenomenon where individuals fear confirming negative stereotypes about their social group, leading to reduced performance and anxiety. 12.​State of cognitive dissonance: A state of psychological discomfort experienced when an individual's beliefs, values, or actions contradict each other. Example: Me buying a tesla. (Why would I ever do such a thing) a.​ Beliefs -> Behavior (Interchangeable) 13.​Stanford Prison Study by Philip Zimbardo: A controversial psychological experiment performed in August 1971. It was designed to be a two-week simulation of a prison environment that examined the effects of situational variables on participants' reactions and behaviors. 14.​Individual -> Group Identity: Involves the process of social categorization, identification, and comparison, where individuals increasingly see themselves and others in terms of group membership, leading to a preference for their own group (ingroup) and potentially prejudice against others (outgroups). 15.​Diffusion of responsibility: Individuals feel less personal responsibility to act when others are present in an emergency situation. 16.​Bystander Effect: The phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to someone in need when there are other bystanders present. 17.​Milgram Study: The Milgram experiment, a landmark study in social psychology, investigated obedience to authority by examining how far participants would go in administering electric shocks to a learner when instructed by an experimenter, revealing a disturbing tendency for people to obey even when causing harm. (Gave more insight on WW2 Germany Nazis who tortured the jews ‘under orders’) 18.​Prosocial behavior: a social behavior that "benefits other people or society as a whole", "such as helping, sharing, donating, co-operating, and volunteering". a.​ Altruism: the type of prosocial behavior that is motivated by a genuine desire to benefit another person, without any expectation of benefits to oneself. April 23, 2025 Lecture 13 - Psychological disorders -​ Psychological disorders are often referred to as abnormal psychology, or psychopathology, or the study of mental illness. 1.​ Different Definitions of Abnormality: a.​ Statistical Abnormality - refers to defining abnormal behavior as statistically rare or infrequent compared to the general population. This means that if a particular behavior or trait is seen in only a small percentage of individuals, it may be considered abnormal. (This is considered a flaw of this framework). b.​ Deviance from Social Norm Abnormality: where a behaviour is seen as abnormal if it violates unwritten rules (social norms) about what is acceptable in a particular society. c.​ Distress or Impairment Abnormality: impediments in their daily lives, it essentially affects their everyday functioning abilities. 2.​ DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders): The DSM-5-TR is a comprehensive manual published by the American Psychiatric Association that is used by mental health professionals to provide a common language and standard criteria for diagnosing mental disorders, which helps ensure consistency and reliability in diagnosis and research. a.​ Diagnostic Criteria: This refers to the specific set of symptoms and features that must be present for a mental disorder to be diagnosed. b.​ Categorical Criteria: This means that mental disorders are treated as distinct categories—you either have the disorder or you don't.  c.​ Dimensional Criteria: This approach recognizes that symptoms exist on a continuum, rather than as simple present/absent categories. 3.​ Disorder Prevalence: a.​ Point: What percentage of people meet the criteria for the diagnosis at that moment. b.​ Lifetime: What percentage of people will meet the criteria of the diagnosis at a certain time in their life. 4.​ Comorbidity: Refers to the situation where an individual is diagnosed with two or more mental or medical conditions at the same time. a.​ 50% of people, at some point in their life, will develop a diagnosis. (This is considered normal through a modern perspective). 5.​ Etiology: The science of figuring out what factors cause mental disorders and how those factors interact to shape a person’s experience with them. a.​ Biological, Neurotransmitter, and Brain function Factors: These refer to physical and chemical processes in the body and brain that influence mental health. b.​ Cognitive Factors: Involve how a person thinks, interprets, and processes information. c.​ Behavioral Factors: These are based on the idea that behavior is learned through experience, especially through conditioning and reinforcement. d.​ Sociocultural Factors: These refer to the influences of society, culture, and environment on mental health. 6.​ Diathesis-Stress Model: psychological theory that attempts to explain a disorder, or its trajectory, as the result of an interaction between a predispositional vulnerability, the diathesis, and stress caused by life experiences. Etiology directly plays into what triggers one’s diathesis stress.  a.​ 7.​ Different types of disorders - a.​ Anxiety Disorder: disorders characterized by high levels of anxiety. (anxiety is future oriented, one worries about what could happen in the future). i.​ Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) - lifetime prevalence of about 6%: A mental health condition characterized by persistent and excessive worry about a variety of events or activities, often accompanied by physical symptoms like restlessness, fatigue, and muscle tension. ii.​ Specific Phobia - Intense and irrational fear of something - lifetime prevalence of about 10%: For example: claustrophobia, fear of heights - must have a significant impact on your life. b.​ Panic Disorder - lifetime prevalence of about 3%: Sudden episodes of intense fear with physical symptoms like racing heart, shortness of breath, chest pain, and dizziness. (People often fear having more attacks, which can lead to avoidance behavior and increased anxiety) i.​ Agoraphobia: An anxiety disorder characterized by fear and anxiety in situations where escape might be difficult or help might not be available if a panic attack or panic-like symptoms were to occur. c.​ Social Anxiety - lifetime prevalence of about 12.5%: A disorder characterized by intense fear of social situations where one might be judged, embarrassed, or  rejected. It often leads to avoidance of interactions like speaking, eating, or performing in front of others. 8.​ Behaviorism: the study of how behavior is learned through interactions with the environment, mainly through classical and operant conditioning. a.​ A person gets bitten by a dog (pain causes fear). Later, just seeing a dog triggers fear because the brain associates dogs with danger (classical conditioning). Avoiding dogs reduces fear, which reinforces the behavior (operant conditioning). 9.​ Obsessive - Compulsive Disorder (OCD) - lifetime prevalence of about 2%: OCDs’ are repetitive unwanted thoughts that cause anxiety. a.​ Excessive hand washing is a common compulsive behavior, often triggered by a fear of contamination. This fear can lead to repetitive and excessive washing, sometimes to the point of skin irritation, just to feel clean. b.​ Hoarding Disorder: A mental health condition characterized by excessive acquisition and difficulty discarding possessions, regardless of their value. c.​ Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) - lifetime prevalence of about 7% (Out of 90% of those who experience PTSD, only a fraction of them go on to develop a diagnosis): A mental health condition that can develop after a person has experienced or witnessed a traumatic event. i.​ Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are both reactions to traumatic events, but they differ primarily in their duration and onset. ASD occurs within 30 days of the trauma, while PTSD develops one month or more after the event. While they share similar symptoms, PTSD requires a broader range of symptoms and can persist for months or years. ii.​ Reexperiencing: people relive their trauma through memories, nightmares, flashbacks. iii.​ Avoidance: people go out of their way to avoid any situations or cues that could remind them of the trauma. iv.​ Negative Thoughts/Feelings: Feelings of depression or even an emotional numbness (less emotion period).  v.​ Arousal/Reactivity: Hypervigilant - constantly on guard for threats and easily startled. 10.​Mood Disorders: Distinct periods of time during which an individual experiences an abnormal state of mood, such as extreme happiness or sadness. a.​ Euthymia: a period of normal mood, neither manic nor depressed. It's a state of balance and stability, where individuals experience a range of emotions within a healthy and functional spectrum. (An episode is a deviance from euthymia to a state of Depression or Mania) i.​ Depression: Characterized by a persistently low mood, often accompanied by feelings of sadness, hopelessness, and worthlessness. This includes anhedonia, the inability to experience pleasure or to find enjoyment in activities that were once pleasurable. ii.​ Mania: Involves an abnormally elevated or irritable mood, accompanied by increased energy, racing thoughts, and pressured speech. b.​ Types of mood disorders include Major Depression Disorder (MDD), Bipolar Disorder Type 1 and 2 (BPD) i.​ Major Depression Disorder (MDD) - lifetime prevalence of about 7-10% for males and 15-28% for females: A mental health condition characterized by a persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest or pleasure in activities. ii.​ Bipolar Disorder Type 1 and 2 - lifetime prevalence of about 0.5-1.5%: The primary difference between Bipolar I and II disorder lies in the severity of manic episodes. Bipolar I involves full-blown mania, while Bipolar II involves hypomania, a less intense form of mania. Both disorders include periods of depression. iii.​ Suicide ideation: The thoughts, fantasies, or contemplations about ending one's own life. ​ Intent: Passive form of suicidal ideation, in which suicidal thoughts occur without any desire to make a plan of action to harm yourself. ​ Plan: Active suicidal ideation, in which suicidal thoughts motivate you to create an action plan of self-harm.  c.​ 11.​Psychotic Disorder: severe mental illnesses characterized by a loss of contact with reality, often involving symptoms like delusions and hallucinations a.​ Schizophrenia (Split Mind) - lifetime prevalence of about 0.5% (Ages differ between genders): a serious mental illness characterized by psychosis, a state where a person loses touch with reality, often experiencing hallucinations and delusions. (Inheritability of up to 70-80%) (Related to abnormalities with dopamine function) i.​ Positive Symptoms of Schizophrenia: ​ Hallucinations: Involve sensory experiences that aren't real, like hearing voices or seeing things that others can't. ​ Delusions (Grandeur): Involve fixed, false beliefs that persist despite evidence to the contrary. ​ Disorganized Speech: Characterized by difficulty forming coherent thoughts and expressing them verbally. ​ Disorganized or catatonic behavior: Disorganized behavior can range from childlike silliness to unpredictable agitation, while catatonia involves reduced movement and responsiveness. ii.​ Negative symptoms of Schizophrenia: ​ … b.​ Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID): He would like us to read about personality disorders, autism, adhd, and addiction. April 30, 2025 Lecture 14 - Mental Health Treatment 1.​ Biological Treatments - a.​ Gene Therapy (In the future) b.​ Neurotransmission i.​ ii.​ Psychotropic Medications: Drugs that affect a person's mind, emotions, and behavior. These drugs can either decrease or increase the activity of neurotransmitters within one’s brain composition. ​ Agonist: enhances neurotransmitter activity ​ Antagonist: decreases neurotransmitter activity c.​ Psychosurgery - Brain surgery used to treat severe mental disorders i.​ Lobotomy - A psychosurgical treatment for mental illness that became popular during the 1940s and 1950s. It involved the severing of connections in the prefrontal cortex of the brain. d.​ Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) - Small electric currents pass through the brain, intentionally causing a brief seizure. It is used to treat severe mental illnesses like major depression, mania, and some forms of schizophrenia. (Can lead to memory loss and is not the first line treatment) e.​ Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) - A non-invasive treatment for mental health conditions like depression, using magnetic pulses to stimulate specific brain regions. The effects of the TMS are more localized and milder than ECT. f.​ Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) - A surgical procedure where electrodes are implanted in the brain to deliver electrical impulses to specific areas. Can be used to treat diseases like Parkinson's disease. 2.​ Psychotherapeutic Treatment - a.​ Psychodynamic Therapy - A form of psychotherapy, originating from Sigmund Freud, that psychoanalyzes the unconscious mind to understand how past experiences and emotional conflicts may be influencing current behaviors and feelings and bring the unconscious train of thought to life. i.​ Transference - Refers to a patient projecting feelings and behaviors from past relationships onto their therapist. ii.​ Countertransference - Refers to a therapist's unconscious emotional reactions to a client, potentially influenced by the client's transference or the therapist's own unresolved issues. b.​ Humanistic Therapy (Also known as client-centered therapy or Rogerian therapy) i.​ Self-actualization - Refers to the process of realizing one's full potential and becoming the best version of oneself. ii.​ Therapeutic relationship - Therapists provide genuine empathy, understanding, and support, creating a strong bond with clients. ​ Unconditional positive regard - The therapist experiences a warm acceptance and prizing of every aspect of the client's experience, regardless of whether those experiences are perceived as “good” or “bad,” positive or negative, consistent or inconsistent. ​ Genuineness - Refers to the therapist's ability to be authentic and real in their interactions with the client. It means being open, honest, and transparent in their communication and behavior. ​ Empathy - Understanding and sharing the client's feelings, perspectives, and experiences from their point of view. iii.​ Reflective listening - Involves listening to what the client is saying, forming an understanding of what they are talking about and then giving voice (reflecting) to that understanding. ​ Parroting - Refers to repeating back the exact words that the client has said, without any interpretation of evaluation. c.​ Behavior Therapy i.​ Exposure Therapy - Focuses on changing specific behaviors and thought patterns to improve well-being. ​ Flooding - Involves direct and intense exposure to the feared object or situation, without any attempt to avoid or reduce anxiety, until the anxiety subsides naturally. ​ Systematic desensitization - Involves gradually exposing individuals to feared stimuli while practicing relaxation techniques simultaneously to reduce anxiety symptoms. ​ Prolonged Exposure: Therapy where psychologists create a safe environment in which to “expose” individuals to the things they  fear and avoid. Prolonged Exposure Therapy is specifically designed to treat PTSD. ​ Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) Therapy - Therapy that gradually exposes people to situations designed to provoke a person's obsessions in a safe environment. ERP is specifically designed to address Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). ii.​ Behavior Modification Therapy (BMT) - An approach designed to change (modify) a certain unwanted negative behavior. Using a system of positive or negative consequences, the individual learns the correct set of responses for any given event. d.​ Cognitive Therapy - Aaron Beck UPENN i.​ Cognitive Triad - Individuals with mental health disorders, particularly depression, tend to have negative and often automatic thoughts about themselves, their experiences, and the future. ​ Thought monitoring - Self-monitoring or diary work is used to track thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in response to specific situations. This helps individuals become aware of their automatic thoughts, which are often the first thoughts that pop into their mind in a particular situation. ​ Evaluate Evidence - Once a thought is identified, cognitive therapy encourages individuals to examine the evidence for and against it. This involves questioning whether the thought is based on facts or simply feelings, and whether there are alternative explanations for the situation. ii.​ Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) - a type of talking therapy that helps individuals manage a range of mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, and other conditions. ​ …