Psych Final Exam Study Sheet PDF

Overview of Psychology as Science (LEC NOTES) 09/10/24 What is Psychology? - Using the scientific approach to understand how we process information acquired by our senses, experience emotions, and how those affect our actions - Understanding the causes of mental processes (ex. thoughts) and behaviour by using a scientific approach - Emotions and thoughts put under the same umbrella - Unique and subjective - “Nasty little subject” - William James - Difficult to study - Very few simple explanations How did Psychology EMERGE as a Science? - Aristotle - questioned the relationship between body and psyche - Assumption of causality - Thoughts and action are guided by causes - Two KEY elements to help make psychology a science (Wilhelm Wundt): 1. Carefully measured observations that relied on introspection 2. Experiments Structuralism - Titchener relied on self-report data/introspection → had people report on sensations/other elements of experience (reaction to stimuli) - Tried to use these introspective reports to build a model of the mind’s structure - Titchener called this view STRUCTURALISM Functionalism - William James opposed the structuralism focus on introspection and seach for the smallest elements - Try to understand how that serves a different purpose and how it helps people function - Developed FUNCTIONALISM - focuses on the outcome of mental processes/behaviour - Studied human thoughts, feelings, and behaviours with questions such as: - What function might they serve? - How might they have helped our ancestors survive? - Wrote his conclusion in wrote Principles of Psychology Behaviourism - Watson and Skinner - Focuses on behaviours as the only way to derive general principles of psychology - Most consistent patterns Cognitivism - Return to mental processes but using other approaches than in-depth introspection - Jean Piaget - Not as reliant on peoples introspection CONT’D. - Search for causes of mental processes/behaviour - Introspection turned out to be NOT reliable - Our perceptions of our environment, of others and even ourselves is NOT a reliable source of information (feel like they are) - Need a systematic approach to understand causes of mental processes/behaviour - Important when the topic involves our own subjective experiences Why do we need a Scientific Approach? - Our intuition is coloured by a multitude of cognitive bases 1. Hindsight 2. Single Case 3. Perceiving order in random events - Create a faulty sense of confidence in our perceptions, even overconfidence Why are we biased? - Need to be - Helps us function 1. Simplify our thinking (ex. Getting on the bus) 2. Helps make decisions (helps navigate the world) 3. Protect how we view the world (ex. Meritocracy → “a social system, society, or organization in which people get success or power because of their abilities, not because of their money or social position”) - Our brains are designed to help us live our lives - not designed to make careful observations about our own psychology To make things worse… - Complex mental processes/behaviours are multiply determined by biological, psychological, and social factors - Causal factors rarely work independently of each other, most actually interact with each other Why do we need a Scientific Approach? 1. One mean that psychology uses to guard against biases in trying to understand the causes of our mental processes/behaviour 2. Help organize how it examines the multiple causal factors of mental processes/behaviours What is the Scientific Method? - Helps us understand phenomena around us - Starts with an attitude towards understanding and creating knowledge: 1. Curiosity 2. Skepticism 3. Humility What does it mean to think critically? - Being able to asses the nature/quality of the source form which you get info - Being able to question your own assumptions/biases - Being able to avoid over simplification - Being able to tolerate ambiguity - Being able to generate/compare alternate explanations What are the common steps of the scientific method in Psychology? 1. Phenomenon to explain - Something we observe (phenomenon) - “students who are anxious about statisitcs are those who typically procrastinate on their assignments” - Theory to explain it - an explanation for a large number of findings that that can be used to predict behaviour/events 2. Hypotheses - Testable predictions about an observable phenomenon derived from the theory - Often written as a question in a true vs. false; yes or no format (Ex. DO students who report being anxious about statistics procrastinate more on their assignment?) - Need to be falsifiable - In most research they will come in pairs: 1. Null hypothesis 2. Alternate hypothesis - Operational definition: statements that describe the procedures and specific measures used to record observations (ex. How to measure anxiety) - Reflects psychology focus on the quantification of mental processes and behaviour - Central to allow replication 3. Data Collection - Need to collect data to examine hypothesis, typically quantitative in nature - Most common approaches: 1. Self Report surveys 2. Observations by researchers 3. “Big data” 4. Statisitical Analyses - If our statistical analyses lead us to conclude that the data supports our hypotheses, then our theory is confirmed - If we conclude that the data does NOT support our hypothesis our theory is repudiated (deny the truth/validity) - Revise hypothesis and conduct a new research 5. Care when drawing conclusions - Results from this study SUGGESTS that anxiety about statistcs is associated with increased procrastination on assignments 6. Knowledge Mobilizations - Obligation to tell others - Typically academic journals - Peer review - An increasing amount of open access journals - Complex to share with media Six KEY Principles of Scientific Thinking 1. Falsifiability (Can the claim be disproved?) 2. Extraordinary claims (Is the evidence as strong as the claim?) 3. Replicability (Can the results be duplicated by others) 4. Occam's razor (does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well?) 5. Ruling out rival hypotheses (have important alternative explanations for the finding been excluded?) 6. Correlation vs causation (can we know that A is causing B?) Knowledge Generation and Mobilization in Psychology Pt. 1 (LEC NOTES) 09/12/24 How do we generate knowledge in psychology? A structured process to understanding the causes of mental processes and behaviour using a scientific approach Why? - Because humans face multiple cognitive biases (make it challenging to understand our experiences and other people's experiences) - Need a way to organize that knowledge If you don’t know what’s causing the problem, you won’t know how to fix it What are the research methods commonly used? 1. Descriptive - The observation variables X (cause) and Y (outcome) - Ex. X = therapy, Y = symptoms of depression - Primary goal is to describe 2. Correlational - Most often used in psychology - Ethicality in experiments - Question: Is there an association between the variable X and variable Y - Primary goal is to predict when 3. Experimental - Preferred method - Question: Is the variable X having a causal effect on the variable Y? - Primary goal is to examine causes What are Descriptive Methods? Case Study - observing/gathering info to compile an in-depth study of one individual (ex. Overgeneralization, Phineas Gage, HM) Naturalistic Observation - recording behaviour in the environment without control or manipulation (ex. Paul Rosen → French paradox: less heart/cardiac problems even though food contains more fat) Survey - A method of gathering info about many people’s thoughts/behaviours through self-report (ex. Phone survey on the attitude of people working to make politicians) What are Correlational Methods? Easiest to use Purpose - to observe the association between two variables (the extent to which they co-occur) - Ex. Depression is associated with lower self-esteem Often will use surveys, in this case, to look for a co-relationship between two or more variables What is an example of correlational study? Did a survey Randomly selected a sample of 50 students 23 wrote back and met the criteria OR How far do you live from Starbucks (meters)? To what degree do you like Starbucks coffee? 1. Not at all 2. Somewhat 3. A lot 4. Very much Correlational research method - focuses on the mere association of two events → typically interpreted in terms of a CORRELATION COEFFICIENT Correlation coefficient - a measure of association between two variables that varies in DIRECTION (positive vs. negative) and in STRENGTH The STRENGTH of the correlation coefficient refers to how close the dots are to form a straight line Correlation coefficient varies from 0.00 to +/- 1.00 - But we do NOT write the + (we only write the sign when it is minus) CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION - The mere co-occurrence of two events does not mean they are causally related - Maybe both are related to a third variable, which is causing them - A common challenge in psychology: where we find that two psychological states are correlated but may not cause each other - Longitudinal method = better answers How do we find out about causation? One way is by using experimental research designs: 1. An experimenter manipulates one factor/variable to determine its effect - Independent Variable (IV) - factor manipulated by the experimenter to determine its effect on a dependent variable - Dependent Variable (DV) - variable measured by the experimenter to observe the effect of the IV - If we manipulate an IV in an experimental group of people, how do we know that a change in the dependent variable happened? - We need a point of comparison to our experimental group - A control group that’s the same in every way except the one factor we are manipulating (the IV), on average across multiple studies - People may differ from each other on many dimensions relevant to the IV or the DV (ex. Some people have more self-control than others) 2. While adopting different strategies that allow to control for the effects of external factors How to make sure the control group is identical in every way to the experimental group? How can we control for these differences between people? 1. Use RANDOMIZATION - Random assignment of participants to the experimental and control groups is how you control all variables except the one you’re manipulating, on average across multiple studies - Helps ensure that, on average across multiple studies, the experimental and control groups are identical except for that one factor that we want to study → we assume that with randomization we would have some people with poor self-control, some with very good, and some with average self-control in each group 2. While adopting different strategies to control for the effect of external variables - External variable - any factor that may call into question the causal link between the IV and DV → providing an alternate explanation for the results - Random errors can mess up research - How do researchers control external factors? 1. Random assignment 2. Standardizing procedures → lack rigidity Testing a New App - Experiment Example A Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) app - Tracks numbers of drinks and also includes cognitive behavioural therapy - Ex. tries to change expectation of liquid courage Compared to? - Just tracking your drinking (control) - Being place on a waitlist (control) Hypothesis - participants using the CAMH app will decrease their alcohol consumption rate more than those merely tracking their drinking or those assigned to the waiting list - Three conditions for our IV: - CAMH app (experimental) - Tracking only (control) - Waitlist control (control) - Dependent variables (DVs): - Number of drinks per day for 30 days - Frequency of “binges” (defined as 5 or more drinks in one sitting) What did we find with the app study? How do researchers in psychology (statistically) test their hypotheses? Question 1: can we use these results to generalize or to predict the future behaviour of the broader population? - Talk more about this next class; with 5 characteristics of quality scientific research Question 2: Is the effect of the IV on the DV statistically different than 0 (statistically significant)? - Statistical Inference - Start with the assumption that there is no difference between conditions (ex. All difference are equal to 0) → called the null hypothesis - Given this assumption, what is the probability that you will find the same differences (or bigger ones) as you have observed in future studies? - If the probability is smaller than 5% (criteria decided ahead of time by the researcher), we deem it worthy of a second look or “statistically significant” → meaningful result (rule of thumb) - Then, we reject the assumption that there is no difference (ex. Reject the null hypothesis) and conclude that the results suggest the researchers’ hypothesized effect of the independent variable is supported by the data - If it’s not smaller than 5%, then we cannot reject the assumption that there is no difference (ex. Cannot reject the null hypothesis) - Thus, we can conclude that the results do NOT suggest the hypothesized effect the IV is supported by the data Question 3: What is the size of the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable (effect size)? Effect size allows us to look at how much an IV (ex. Type of therapy) influences the DV (ex. Mean number of drinks) Here the difference between the mean for the “waitlist” and the “CAMH app” is 0.81 drinks, while the difference between the “waitlist” and the “Tracking only” means is 1.91 drinks An IV can have a statistically significant effect on a DV, but that does not necessarily mean that it influences it a lot (it makes the DV change a lot) - Ex. Dr. Scabbia’s new therapy What is the best research method? None, all have their advantages and disadvantages Best approach is to do several studies using different methods Convergence across methods Can you combine studies? Meta-analyses are studies of studies Often allows to address publication bias such as the “file drawer problem” Challenged by: - Open access to data - Variation in study design and quality Knowledge Generation and Mobilization in Psychology Pt. 2 (LEC NOTES) What are five characteristics of good research? 1. Based on measurements that are objective, valid, and reliable 2. Generalizable to target population (ex. Uni students, ethnic group, sex) 3. Takes appropriate steps to reduce bias 4. Can be replicated/has been 5. Shared with others (ideally open access) What are measurements that are objective, valid, and reliable? What do we mean by objective? - The measure of a variable that, within a margin of error, is consistent across instruments and observers - Variables refer to objects, concept, event, or behaviour being measured (ex. Number of drinks consumed) - Psychology’s preference for measures of behaviour: 1. Self-report 2. Third-party observation 3. Physiological measure What do we mean by reliable? - When a measure provides consistent and stable answers across multiple observations and points in time - What does that mean in psychology? 1. Test re-test reliability - Ex. score today vs. tomorrow 2. Internal consistency - High internal consistency = the answers should converge on the variable you’re trying to measure - “I often feel nervous even in casual get-togethers” - “I often feel nervous when calling someone I don’t know very well on the phone” What do we mean by valid? - The degree to which an instrument or procedure actually measures what it claims to measure - Challenging to demonstrate in psychology - Construct validity - the extent to which the variables in a study truly represent the abstract concept of interest to the researcher - Often assessed in terms of convergent/discriminant validity 1.2 How do we know if the results are generalizable? Generalizability - the degree to which one set of results can be applied to other situations, individuals, or events What is the difference between a POPULATION and a SAMPLE? Random sample Representative sample Random sampling - how you (will likely) get a pool of participants that represents the population you’re trying to learn about 1.3 What are common research biases and how to handle them? Experiment bias - the experimenter’s expectations may influence the results (ex. Rosenthal & Lawson (1964) - less gifted and talented rats in a maze) - Solution: double-blind procedure Placebo effect - observation of behaviour change because the participant believes in the effectiveness of the manipulation (ex. They just gave me a pill, or I just drank some alcohol I must be impaired) - Solution: control group with double-blind study (ex. Sugar pill, drink with a mask so it tastes like it contains alcohol) Hawthorne effect - a behaviour change that occurs as a result of merely being observed (ex. The attention placed on you in a clinical trial) - Solutions: 1. Unobtrusive measures (ex. Naturalistic observations) 2. Anonymity - means that each individual’s responses are recorded without any identifying info that could link a response to a particular individual 3. Confidentiality - the results will be seen only by the researcher 1.4 What is replication? The process of repeating a study, sometimes using the exact same protocol, other times using a similar protocol, but not identical Replication is one of the key hallmark of research - Difference between types of replications Used to be very rare, particularly in psychology Changing times Failure to replicate is increasingly threatening careers What does the lack of replication mean? - The case of: Social priming, John Bargh 1. Research practices (ex. HARKing) 2. Low statistical power 3. False positive 4. Nothing meaningful? - Students are the solution ! 1.5 What does it mean to make research public? An ethical obligation to share results? - How society can benefit from research The ethical obligation was rarely fulfilled because, traditionally, there were: 1. Few outlets for replication studies and for studies that fail to support hypotheses 2. No registry of studies 3. No legal requirements Changes and new opportunities? What is knowledge mobilization? Knowledge mobilization - act of putting knowledge generated through research to active use Traditionally researchers have “mobilized” their knowledge by publishing in scholarly journals whose target audience are other researchers (ex. Science, nature, etc) Increasingly research generated knowledge is mobilized in other ways, in addition to scholarly journals What is a peer-reviewed article? Scholarly peer review is the process of subjecting researchers’ work to the scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field Generally considered a key step of academic research and required by most scientific publications Reviewing work published in peer-reviewed articles is a great way to figure out answers, which are supported by data, to questions you may have What are some of the knowledge mobilization changes? New peer-reviewed outlets that publish replication studies and null findings, also typically open access - Ex. Frontiers Voluntary registries to register studies - Ex. Open Science Framework Some changes to legislation - Ex. Research publicly funded by the federal government must be made open access within 12 months of publication - Still room to improve (ex. A need legislation forcing all research, including work done by private organizations, to be made publicly available) Distinguishing sources of information A primary source - In psychology typically peer-reviewed scholarly articles - Ex. Peer-reviewed article reporting on the effect of a new therapy on depression A secondary source - Ex. Hearing about this new therapy for depression in Cosmo Converting a primary to a secondary source and the media It’s important to inform the public No proper regulations, and often affected by a lack of competence and skills - Ex. Few media outlets hire people with formal psychology training (one exception is the New York Times) Researchers and media (and other organizations) often have different goals - Ex. Reporting accurately about research vs. selling more issues by relying on sensationalism What does it mean to do ethical research? Two main principles of ethical research: 1. There have to be clear benefits of the research to society and those have to outweigh the risks imposed on participants 2. Participants need to have the opportunity to provide informed consent In Canada, research ethics are guided by the Tri-Council Policy All research done should be subject to that policy, but some avoid it, particularly outside of academic settings - Ex. Some marketing research; TV shows What are the steps? When researchers want to do a study with a human or animal participants they submit the research protocol to a committee called a Research Ethics Board (REB) - REB is a committee of researchers and officials at an institution charged with the protection of research participants The goal of the board is to review the protocol and assess the possible benefit to society against the risk of participants What are the risks? Most research falls under the category of “minimal risk” defined as: “If potential subjects can reasonably be expected to regard the probability and magnitude of possible harms implied by participation in the research to be no greater than those encountered by the subject in those aspects of his or her everyday life that relate to the research, then the research can be regarded as within the range of minimal risk.” TCPS, p.1.5 Projects that do not fall in the minimal risk c category can still be conducted But they are done with close monitoring on the part of the researcher 1. Design protocol to minimize risk(s) 2. Procedure to monitor risk(s) 3. Action plan in case of adverse events 4. Participant consent Why is it important to do ethical research? Well-being of participants Maintain the public’s trust Ensure the proper advancement of science What are the 6 characteristics of good research? 1. Done ethically, balancing risks and benefits 2. Based on measurements that are objective, valid, and reliable 3. Generalizable to target population 4. Clear attempts to address common biases affecting scientific research 5. It has been replicated by some other researchers (ideally through registered replication) 6. The findings are public (as well as the data) Biological Bases of Behaviour Part. 1 Rene Descartes (1596-1650) Premise of psychology - the human mind and the human brain are one Unique among other animals on the planet Allows the integration of sensory info, manages the regulation of the body, and of behaviour and mental processes The biology of the mind begins with the “atoms” of the mind = neurons What is the basic unit of the brain (and the nervous system)? How is information relayed within a neuron? How is this “wave” initiated? Resting potential Receive signals from other neutron When enough say “go” the threshold is reached - Depolarization (ex. fire!) Refractory period What are the implications of the “threshold”? Law of “all or nothing” Signal strength = frequency How neurons communicate with each other? Synapse - Aka synaptic junction, synaptic gap Action potential causes the release of neurotransmitters in the synaptic gap Neurotransmitters - are chemical used to send a signal across the synaptic gap - “Float” across the synaptic gap until they bind with specific receptor sites on the dendrites of another neuron Different neurotransmitters have different receptor sites, akin to keys and locks What happens to neurotransmitters after the communication? They get released from the receptor sites Reuptake - the process by which the vesicles reabsorbs the neurotransmitters - Medication can inhibit this process such as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibition (SSRI → Prozac) What are some of the most commonly studied neurotransmitters? Acetylcholine - enables muscle action, attention, and memory/learning (ex. Huntington’s disease) Dopamine - influences movement, learning, attention, and emotion (ex. ADHD, Parkinson’s disease → bad shipment of MPPP, aka demerol, that was actually MPTP) Serotonin - affects hunger and sleep, linked to mood (ex. Undersupply linked to symptoms of depression) Norepinephrine - helps control alertness/attention, and arousal (undersupply linked to ADD) Glutamate - a major excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in learning and memory - With GABA, is the most common neurotransmitter in the central nervous system - Ex. Overuspply can cause migraines or seizures Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) - inhibitory neurotransmitter; lower arousal, facilitates sleep, also involved in learning and memory (ex. Alcohol increases GABA activity, which explains the cognitive and motor impairments and depressed mood after drinking too much) Can external substances alter the action of neurotransmitters? Neuropharmacology Agonist - molecule (medicines/drugs) that fills the receptor site and activates it, acting like the neurotransmitter (ex. L-dopa for Parkinson’s disease) Antagonist - molecule (medicine/drugs) that fills the lock so that the neurotransmitter cannot get in and activate the receptor site (ex. Curare) Nervous System Neurons also make up the nervous system structures How does it come together? The human brain purportedly contains 100 billion neurons Enormous number in the human body Different types of neurons: 1. Multipolar 2. Motor 3. Sensory Neurons live in interconnected networks These can be divided into structures we can delineate - Ex. vagus nerve, amygdala - “Nerves” consist of neural “cables” containing many axons Do synaptic connections change? Synaptic pruning - elimination and creation of new connections What is neurogenesis? Neurogenesis - production of new neurons from immature stem cells Stem cells - “virgin” cells that can differentiate in other types of cells, mature stem cells behave differently based on their local environment Research and advances - Ex. Michael J. Fox, Muhammad Ali What are the functional divisions of the human nervous system? What are the functional divisions of the peripheral nervous system? What are the divisions of the autonomic nervous system? Sympathetic - Arousing - “Fight or flight” Parasympathetic - Calming - “Rest and digest” How does the brain communicate with the body? 1. Neural Communication: - Peripheral nervous system 2. Hormonal System: - Endocrine system What is the endocrine system? Refers to a set of glands that produce chemical messengers called hormones Hormones - substances synthesized by the endocrine glands and travel through the bloodstream - Ex. epinephrine Slower but longer How do the nervous and endocrine systems compare? Biological Bases of Behaviour Pt.2 What are the “older” brain structures and their associated functions? The brain stem - Medulla, pons, midbrain (reticular formation) The cerebellum The thalamus The limbic system Medulla oblongata and the pons Medulla - The base of the brainstem - “Life-sustaining” functions - Ex. Christopher Reeves Pons - Helps coordinate unconscious movements - Sleep (REM) Midbrain and the reticular formation Midbrain - Associated with movement, tracking of visual stimuli and reflexes triggered by sound (startle reflex) Reticular formation - A collection of numerous small neural networks spread throughout the brain stem - Most known for role in regulating the cardiovascular system, breathing, sleep and consciousness (arousal control) - Helps filter incoming sensory information (discriminate relevant vs. irrelevant stimuli) The cerebellum “The little brain” Located at the back of the brain stem → has 2 lobes Fundamental to the coordination of voluntary movement and balance Other functions The thalamus Relay centre for sensory and motor information to different parts of the cerebral cortex Except small Also sends information from the cortex to the medulla and cerebellum WHAT MAKES YOU FEEL AFRAID? Limbic system Located on both sides of the thalamus Collection of structures: - Hippocampus - Amygdala - Hypothalamus Functions: - Processes info about our internal states (ex. Heart rate, blood pressure) - Plays a key role in emotional experiences and memory function Hypothalamus Associated with emotions and motivations - Helps in the regulation of hunger and thirst - Involved in the experiences of rewards (pleasure), including sexual motivation Adjusts body temperature as a function of changing environment Directs the endocrine system via messages to the pituitary gland Amygdala Consists of two lima bean-sized neural clusters Associated with the experience of different emotions, particularly negative ones (ex. Fear, aggression) Key role for fear conditioning Hippocampus Processing conscious, episodic memories - Key to creating mental maps Works with the amygdala to form emotionally charged memories The case of H.M 1953 epilepsy in the medial temporal lobes Almost complete removal of the hippocampus and amygdala Anterograde amnesia - Short-term memory was intact - No new long-term memories Also suffered moderate retrograde amnesia - Could not remember most events happened the week before his surgery What is the cerebral cortex, and how is it divided? Layer covering the brain (approximately 3mm thick) - Circonvolutions - Grey matter (cell bodies) - White matter (axons) - 180+ billion glial cells, which feed and protect neurons and assist neural transmissions Processes information about external stimuli (as opposed to the limbic system) What are the functional divisions of the cortex? 1. Occipital lobes - Visual information 2. Temporal lobes - Auditory information - Language comprehension 3. Parietal lobes - Sensory information - Touch and body position 4. Frontal lobes - Muscle movement, including language production - Higher cognitive functions (ex. Self-regulation, planning) Two hemispheres 4 lobes found in both Contralateral connections to the body’s systems - Ex. visual, somatosensory, and body part movement Corpus callosum Hemispheres “talk” to each other through the “corpus callosum” - Allows the exchange of information - Million axons Sometimes has to be severed surgically (“split-brain patients”) - Ex. major cases of epilepsy Hemispheric specialization Each hemisphere handles a lot of similar functions as the other - Ex. controlling hand movements But some functions are specialized to only one side - Ex. verbal abilities What happens if hemispheres cannot communicate with each other? Split brain patients - corpus callosum surgically severed (often as a last resort treatment for seizures) but the optic chiasm remain intact - The optic chiasm is where the visual fields “switch sides in the brain” The halves of the brain and the halves of the visual field are no longer coordinated Split visual field example An example of illustrating the implications of hemispheric specialization - Could people with the corpus callosum severed say what they saw in the left field? - Could they point to what they saw in the left field with their right hand? - Could they point to what they saw in the left field with their left hand? How do hemispheres differ? Generally right hemisphere seems to play a more important role in visual and spacial tasks - Ex. creativity, imagination, and motor skills for artistic work Generally left hemisphere seems to play a more important role in language and analytical thinking - Ex. speaking, understanding spoken words, and mathematics Why such a large prefrontal cortex? Executive function - Ex. good vs. bad; delay of gratification, impulse control - Top-down direct behaviour Prefrontal cortex and social behaviour and relationships - Dunbar’s number → able to maintain 150 relationships What are common strategies to investigate the brain? 4 strategies: stimulation, lesion-based, animal models, and imaging 1. Stimulation - Most recent - Ex. chemically numbing magnetically deactivating, or electrically stimulating parts of the brain 2. Lesion-based approaches - Surgeries (ex. Dissected corpus callosum) - Accidents (ex. Phineas Gage) 3. Animal models - Rats raised in an environment enriched vs. unenriched - Enriched environment yielded - 7% larger brain - 20& more synapses develop - Application: neonatal unit 4. Noninvasive - Electroencephalogram (EEG) - Imaging - CAT, MRI - PET, fMRI How can imaging research help us understand the brain? Compared to bus drivers, taxi drivers had greater gray matter volume in mid-posterior hippocampi Length of experiences correlated with the size of the mid-posterior hippocampi More months = larger mid-posterior hippocampi Using critical thinking in interpreting research Is there really a specific center for each function? - No, the areas of the brain are in constant interaction Cause and effect? - Most research with humans is done with imagery equipment - The vast majority of the time involving correlational research designs An example of problematic interpretation “Canada’s top general says military sex harassment due to ‘biological’ wiring ” - General Tom Lawson (Canada’s military chief at that time) in a CBC interview in 2015 said sex assaults are still a problem in the Canadian Forces because men’s brains are “wired in a certain way.” Stephen Harper (prime minister at the time) and other high-ranking officials said Lawson’s comment was “unacceptable,” but no one said the most crucial point: it is incorrect based on the data we have. Developmental Psychology Pt. 1 What happened to Paul from the Wonder Years? Was it innate (genes) or did his environment play a role? How did this neurological, cognitive, and social development happen? Did any change happen gradually, or did he go through stages as he “matured”? What does maturation mean from a psychological perspective? Biologically-driven growth and development enabling a sequence of predictable cognitive (aka mental processes) and behavioural changes Experience (nurture) can adjust the timing - But maturation (nature) sets the sequence Maturation in infancy Mainly observable in: - Brain development - Motor development What are typical cognitive development changes during infancy? Cognition refers to the mental activities that help us function, including: - Figuring out how the world works - developing models and concepts - problem-solving - Storing and retrieving knowledge - Understanding and using language What is Piaget’s approach to studying development? We don’t start out being able to think like adults Kids make fascinating mistakes - Ex. calling everything that swims in water a fish How do we start to organize our experiences of the world? How do we start to organize our experiences of the world? - Schema - a “mental container” that holds our experiences and organizes them according to similarities and differences Can schemas evolve or change? Assimilation - new experiences are absorbed into an existying schema Accomodation - new experiences lead to the modification of a schema Accommodation bring children to enter a new way of looking at the world. What is Piaget’s approach to explaining development? Development is a combination of nature and nurture - Children grow by maturation and by learning through interacting/playing with the environment Development is not one continuous progression of changes but steps - Children make leaps in cognitive abilities from one stage of development to the next Moving beyond Egocentrism by developing a “Theory of Mind” Theory of mind refers to the ability to understand that others have their own thoughts and perspective Reassessment of Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory Development is a continuous process Children show some mental ab ilities and operations at an earlier age than Piaget suggested Formal logic is a more minor part of cognition that Piaget suggested What are typical social development changes during infancy? Socialization - the process by which children learn norms and values that regulate their social environment Fundamental to our ability to efficiently interact with others Crucial to socialization and to our ability to interact with others is the relationship a child has with his/her parents/caregivers What is attachment? Attachment - refers to an emotional tie to another person In children, attachment can appear as a desire for a physical closeness to a caregiver How do infants deal with separation? The “strange situations” test In this test, a child is observed as: 1. A mother and infant child are alone in an unfamiliar (“strange”) room 2. A stranger enters the room 3. Separation: the mother leaves the room 4. Reunion: after a moment, the mother returns How do infants react to separation? 1. Secure attachment - Most children (60%) - Distress at separation - Seek contact at reunion 2. Insecure attachment - Anxious style - Clinging to mother, less exploration - Distress at separation - Remain upset at reunion 3. Insecure attachment - Avoidant style - Seems indifferent to mother 4. Disorganized - Caregivers are a source of both fear and comfort - Children exhibit inconsistency (Ex. seek closeness then push away) What causes different attachment styles? Is the “strange situation” behaviour mainly a function of the child’s inborn temperament? Is the behaviour a reaction to the way the parents have interacted with the child previously? - Sensitive, responsive, calm parenting is correlated with the secure attachment style OR, is it a function of the child’s personality (temperament)? - Temperament - refers to a person’s characteristic style and intensity of emotional reactivity - - Easy vs. Difficult What are the different styles of parenting? What are the outcomes of parenting styles? Authoritative parenting, more than the other two styles, seems to be associated with: - Self-reliance - Social competence - Increased self-esteem - Decreased aggression Human development is typically bidirectional between “nature” and “nurture” “Pop psychology”, including a lot of parenting books are full of unidirectional explanations - Ex. anxious parents = anxious children Physiological, psychological (cognitive), and social changes interact with each other - Biopsychosocial approach is typically best suited to understand psychology, particularly from a development perspective What happens when a child is deprived of attachment? Children are often surprisingly resilient However, severe, prolonged deprivation/abuse may lead to: 1. Difficulty forming secure forms of attachment 2. Increased risk for anxiety/depression 3. Lowered intelligence 4. Increased aggression Developmental Psychology Pt.2 What about maturation during adolescence? Puberty is the time of sexual maturation (becoming physically able to reproduce) During puberty, increased sex hormones lead to: - Primary and secondary sex characteristics - Some changes in mood and behaviour Height changes are an early sign of puberty What about neurological development during adolescence? The brain stops automatically adding new synapses Focus on efficiency by “rewiring” - “Pruning” away from connections not being used - Coating the often-used connections in myelin Crucial time for efficiently/easily acquiring knowledge When do the neurological systems finish maturation? Frontal lobes are the last to mature - After the limbic system has matured Creates ambiguous situations - Understand the risk conceptually - But when faced with potential rewards, they discount risk Development of the ability to delay gratification and risk appreciation Completion in the mid-20s What are typical cognitive development changes during adolescence? Focus is on social representation - Ex. think about the minds of others, including “what do they think of me?” Plan how to pursue goals (formulate intentions and an implementation plan to reach the goals) - Ex. education and career Change in perspective - Start to appreciate how reality compares to ideals - Start to genuinely understand different life choices and their consequences What are important changes in terms of intellectual development? Perry’s Theory of Intellectual and Ethical Development Focus on absolute answers (ex. Good vs. bad; right vs. wrong), and the experience of frustration by complex relative answers - Particularly in educational contexts (Piaget’s assimilation) Imitate an appreciation for complex and incomplete answers to complex problems, but not internalized A genuine appreciation for complex and often incomplete answers to complex problems Maturation, experience, and education lead to: 1. The ability to appreciate that often multiple answers exist to any given problem 2. The ability to tolerate intellectual uncertainty ( without frustration or a need to find intellectual closure) - Ex. when there are only incomplete answers or no single “right” answer 3. The ability to assess the validity of relative answers using critical thinking - Ex. examine the evidence objectively, avoid emotional reasoning, avoid oversimplification, consider alternate interpretations 4. The ability to accept multiple relativistic answers, evaluated as valid, even if some may contradict each other What do enhanced cognitive abilities allow for? Facilitates moral reasoning Adolescents think about meaning, and purpose in deeper terms than in childhood - Ex. justice and fairness in treatment What are Kohlberg’s levels of moral reasoning? 1. Preconventional morality - Up to age 9 - “Follow the rules because if you don’t, you’ll get in trouble, if you do, you might get a treat.” - Ex. punishment for looting after disasters 2. Conventional morality - Early adolescence - Focus on societal values - “Follow the rules because we get along better if everyone does the right thing” - Ex. the societal consequence of looting after disasters 3. Postconventional morality - Late adolescence and adulthood - Focus on internal morality principles - “Sometimes rules need to be set aside to pursue higher principles.” - Ex. Being selfish by looting to survive after disasters What are some critics of Kohlberg’s model? Cultural bias Low correlation with moral behaviour Causal direction - Moral evaluation than an emotional response - Emotional response then moral evaluation - What are typical social development changes during adolescence? Model of Lifelong Psychosocial Development 8 stages, characterized by different dilemmas concerning our relations to other people Sees adolescence as a struggle to form an identity out of social roles adolescents are asked to play Ex. which of those selves, or what combination, is really me? What are the stages of Erikson’s model? What about the later years? Physical changes and decline in abilities are part of the normally occurring aging process (it’s not a disorder that grows old) Different ages - Biological age - Functional age - Psychological age - Social age Some cognitive abilities remain stable or increase - Ex. crystallized intelligence;numeric abilities Others decline (typically slowly) - Ex. fluid intelligence; perceptual speed Stereotypes and performance pressure can confound actual changes in ability Some changes can be challenging to accept - All changes require acceptance; societal pressure Are there any positive changes? Evidence suggests lowered rates for some psychological disorders Be careful about the stereotypes - Ex. sad, lonely, not active What are cognitive changes that are NOT normal? Some changes are linked to disorders - Ex. Alzheimer’s Some are linked to the (miss?) prescription of medication - Ex. sleeping aid medication When there are mental health-relate indications, cognitive and behavioural interventions do wonders! Medication can be helpful, when used: 1. For a specific conditions for which it is indicated 2. In conjunction with cognitive and/or behavioural interventions What are some of the social changes? Isolation and loneliness can be genuine concerns, but not for the reasons people often think - Ex. losing the ability to drive; loss of friends Lack of stimulation accelerates the decline in abilities - Ex. motor coordination, lack of intellectual stimulation Our current system struggles to accommodate an aging population - “Vacation retirement”; belief that older people are a problem that needs “to be taken care of” One solution: VOLUNTEERING! Sensation, Perception, and Consciousness What's the difference between sensation and perception? Sensation - the detection of physical energy by our sensory organs, which is then relayed to the brain Perception - the process of attending to, organizing, and interpreting the raw sensory input from the sensory organs How do we make sense of the world? What are you seeing? - Bottom-up processing - talking sensory information and then assembling and integrating it Is that something you have seen before? - Top-down processing - using models, ideas, and expectations to interpret sensory information How to go from sensory organs to the brain? What can we detect? Absolute threshold - the minimum level of stimulus intensity needed to detect a stimulus half the time Subliminal - below our threshold for being to consciously detect a stimulus, but still registered by the sensory organ Can you tell if something changed? Difference threshold - refers to the minimum difference (in colour, temperature, etc) for a person to be able to detect the difference half the time What’s Weber’s Law? For two stimuli to be perceived as different, they must differ by a constant minimum percentage and not a constant amount - Ex. 1/100th of the weight, not 2 ounces or grams \ Is detection only a question of receptors? Signal detection theory - aims to explain whether or not we detect a stimulus, particularly with background noise It suggests that detection depends on psychological factors, including alertness, expectations, motivation, and sensory experience - Detection is impacted by both sensation (bottom-up) and perception (top-down) How do we organize stimuli? Gestalt psychology tries to understand the laws of our ability to acquire and maintain meaningful perceptions in an apparently chaotic world Law of Pragnanz - we perceive stimuli in our environment in their simplest form 1. Proximity - objects physically close to each other tend to be perceived as unified wholes 2. Similarity - objects similar to each other tend to be perceived as unified wholes 3. Continuity - where there is an intersection between objects, we tend to perceive the two objects as two single uninterrupted entities 4. Closure - parts are combined to create wholes 5. Symmetry - we perceive objects that are symmetrically arranged as wholes 6. Common faith - we perceive elements of objects to have trends of motion 7. Figure-ground - figure is the centre of our attention, we ignore the background We constantly make instantaneous decisions to focus our attention on what we believe is the figure How do we sense electromagnetic radiation? Our eyes How do we go from energy waves to perception? Multiple types of waves of electromagnetic radiation - Of which our eyes respond to some What properties do we perceive? Wavelength becomes colour, or hue Amplitude becomes intensity or brightness What are the key structures of the human eye and their function? What are photoreceptors? What are the paths from the eyes to the occipital lobe? What are the key steps in turning neural signals into meaningful objects? Some ganglion cells are dedicated to facilitating object recognition - Ex. visual patterns, certain edges, lines, or movements Supercells integrate these features signals to recognize more complex forms - Ex. faces, Jennifer Aniston cells How do we see colour? Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory - assumes three types of colour receptors (aka cones) → red, green, and blue What happens if some types of cones are missing? Genetic disorder that prevents people to perceive certain colours like red and green → observations that support the trichromatic theory How do bees see the world? How do dogs see the world? Is it only a question of cones? Opponent-process theory - Neural process based on sets of complementary colours - White - Black; Yellow - Blue; Red - Green - Pairs inhibit each other Which colour theory is correct? Both theories are supported: 1. Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic Theory at the receptor level (cone) 2. Opponent-process Theory works in ganglion cells in the eye as well as the visual cortex Another example of how sensation (ex. Types of cones) and perception (ex. Visual cortex) have to interact to create our experience of a whole How do we perceive depth? Monocular cues - cues that only require one eye, which we use to perceive depth 1. Linear perspective - lines converge to a common point at a distance 2. Relative size - more distant objects look smaller 3. Texture gradient - the texture of objects becomes less apparent the further they are 4. Interposition - closer objects block our view of objects further away (behind them) 5. Height in plane - in a scene, distant objects are higher, and closer objects are lower What about binocular cues? Binocular disparity - Each eye transmits different info for near objects, but they become similar the further away objects are Binocular convergence - When we look at nearby objects, our eyes converge together - The brain can track eye muscle movements and use that info to estimate the distance Sensation, Perception, and Consciousness Pt.2 Look, a flying bird! Unconsciously, we see: 1. Color 2. Motion 3. Form 4. Depth - Conscious experience → “I saw a flying bird!” - Parallel processing - refers to building perceptions out of sensory details processed in different areas of the brain at the same time - Bottom-up processes: construct the whole from its parts → starts with activity in the primary visual cortex followed by the association cortex - Top-down processes: starts with our beliefs and expectations, which we impose on the raw stimuli captured by our senses → starts with activity in the association cortex followed by the primary visual cortex What is consciousness? In psychology, it often refers to a person’s subjective awareness of internal and external stimuli, including: - Perceptions - Subjective experience - Intentionality - Self-awareness According to William James (1892), the “stream of consciousness” is governed by four characteristics: 1. Every thought tends to be part of a personal consciousness 2. Consciousness is in constant change 3. Within each personal consciousness, thought is sensibly continuous 4. It attends to some parts to the exclusion of others What is attention? “Everyone knows what attention is. It is taking possession by the mind, in clear and vivid form, of one out of what seem several simultaneously possible objects or train of thought[...]” “It implies withdrawal from some things in order to deal effectively with others, and is a condition which has a real opposite in the confused, dazed, scatterbrained state which [...] is called distraction.” What really is attention? “No one knows what attention is, and… there may even not be an ‘it’ there to be known about (although of course there might be)” What does attention do? Among its multiple roles, a fundamental one is to guide perception Perception involves the processing of sensory information in such a way that it produces conscious experiences that we attend to How does attention shape (limit) consciousness? We don’t attend to all of the world, only some pieces Broadbrent’s filter theory of attention - Attention is a bottleneck through which information passes Filter that allows us to pay attention to important stimuli while we ignore others Can we selectively direct attention? Selective attention - what we focus on is what we consciously perceive Attentions shapes how we construct the world around us - It feels like a unified experience, but it is not - It is a limited ability Often results in selective inattention - refers to our failure to notice part of our environment when our attention is directed elsewhere Can we perceive stimuli below consciousness? Subliminal - below our threshold for being reliably (ex. >50% of the time) able to consciously detect a stimulus, but still registered by the sensory organ Does subliminal influence work? YES! In certain conditions\ - Ex. in lab without distractions For a short time Acting in ways that otherwise you would not have? Vs. Acting in ways that otherwise you might have? Is the world really like we think it is? False belief that our sense are infallible and that our perceptions offer perfect representations of the world - Called naive realism In reality, the sensory organs are not as good as we feel they are, and the brain “fills in” a lot of information to create our experience of reality How do consciousness and attention shape perceptions? Unconscious “low” track - Bottom-up - Below the absolute threshold, yet still registered by sensory organ - Does not require attention - Often leads to automatic actions based on the cues that our sensory organs capture Conscious “high” track - Top-down - Above the absolute threshold - Requires attention - Often leads to deliberate actions based on what we recognize in our environment How our brains “fill in” the missing pieces How does our brain combine diverse pieces of information into a unified whole? Often referred to as the “binding problem” - How do we combine pieces of the “low” track together, pieces of the “high” track together, and of the “low” and “high” track together? An assumption early on was that some areas would “feed” others that focus on associations Recent models approach the issue from an iteration perspective (e.g. Cunningham et al., 2007) Areas process information very rapidly and in coordination with each other - They will repeat the process as needed Initial iterations provide relatively “quick and dry” perceptions - Inform whether or not additional iterations are needed - Help specify what type of additional processing is needed Additional iterations accompanied by reflective processes (“conscious high track”) yield more nuanced perceptions First Iteration Second Iteration… and subsequent These models predict that “low” and “high” track processes influence each other in creating a combined perceptual experience “High track” guides “low track” using expectations; “low track” guides “high track” in reflective search for interpreting stimuli How do expectations shape (visual) perception? Using previously learned information to help with the processing of stimuli - Often in the form of expectations of what we should normally see in a given situation Context effects - context provides us a basis for expectations - Ex. dentist at a heavy metal concert Do our expectations shape what we see? Perceptual set - what we expect to see influences what we do see (top-down processing) Using expectations to keep perceptions constant Perceptual constancy - ability to perceive objects as having constant shape, size, and colour despite changes in perspective 1. Shape constancy 2. Size constancy 3. Colour constancy How do socially learned expectations shape perception? Learned socio-cultural expectations Sensation, Perception, and Consciousness Pt.3 What are typical variations of consciousness? Automatic variations - daydreaming, drowsiness, sleep and dreams Physiological variations - hallucinations, lack of oxygen, orgasms Psychological variations - sensory deprivation, hypnosis, mindfulness meditation Is sleep one constant state of altered consciousness? Sleep is NOT a single state but comprises different states that follow each other in stages These stages are associated with different brain waves - Vary in frequency, amplitude, and regularity - Are measured with an electroencephalogram (EEG) Awake and Active - Beta waves - high frequency, low amplitude - These waves are often irregular Awake and Calm - Ex. daydreaming - Alpha waves - lower frequency, high amplitude than beta waves - More regular than beta waves Stages 1 and 2 - Theta waves - lower frequency and larger amplitude than alpha waves - Breathing, BP, and HR decrease - Sleep spindles Stages 3 and 4 - Slow wave sleep - Delta waves - very low frequency, high amplitude and regular - Function → memory consolidation, growth hormones Stage 5: Rapid Eye Movement (REM) - After reaching stage 4 cycle returns to the starting point 1. Brain activity increases; beta and alpha waves re-appear 2. Heart rate and respiration increase 3. Eye movement under eyelids (thus REM) 4. Associated with dreaming 5. REM sleep deprivation leads to REM rebound How do these cycles last? With each 90 minutes cycle, the time spent in slow-wave sleep decreases, and the time spent in REM increases Why do we sleep? Protection - sleep (staying hidden without movements) may have been adaptive from an evolutionary perspective Recovery - sleep helps restore and repair brain tissue Consolidation - while sleeping, we consolidate, build, and rebuild our memories Growth - during sleep, the pituitary gland releases growth hormones - Seniors release less of this hormone and sleep less What are the effects of sleep deprivation? 59.1% and 70.6% of students are sleep deprived 1. Decreased concentration 2. Impaired (semantic) memory 3. Impaired emotional regulation (ex. Increased anxiety) 4. Impaired immune system - Increased susceptibility to infectious and chronic diseases How to improve sleep? The best way is to have good sleep hygiene! 1. Having a regular schedule 2. Decrease stimulation at least one hour before going to bed 3. Avoid caffeine after 2pm 4. Exercise (not evenings) 5. Avoid naps 6. Reassure yourself 7. Avoid quick fixes (ex. Alcohol, medication reduce REM) 8. Glass of milk or ice cream (vanilla NOT chocolate) promotes the release of serotonin) What are psychoactive substances? Naturally or artificially created substances that alter the state of consciousness, perception, mood, and/or the regulation of behaviour By altering brain functions Stimulants - euphoria, increased energy, lower inhibition - Increased dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine activity - Ex. cocaine, amphetamine Hallucinogens - major distortion of sensory and perceptual experiences, may lead to fear, panic, and paranoia - Increased serotonin activity, blocks glutamate receptors - Ex. LSD, ketamine Depressants - drowsiness, relaxation sleep - Increased GABA activity, some linked to release of endorphins - Ex, benzodiazepines, opiates (like heroin) What does it mean to depend on these substances? Physical dependence - physical needs of a drug associated with the painful withdrawal symptoms caused by changes in the physiological processes that regulate the body (especially the nervous system) stemming from repeated administration of a drug Psychological dependence - psychological needs caused by the repeated experiences of positive emotions and reduction of negative emotions during the administration of a drug - NEVER underestimate the importance of psychological dependence in addiction What is addiction? An involuntary servitude to obtain a substance, caused by physical and psychological dependence Is alcohol a stimulant, a hallucinogenic, or a depressant? It causes euphoria, relaxation, and lowered inhibition Facilitates GABA activity, stimulates endorphin release, and stimulates dopamine receptors Tolerance builds gradually, and the likelihood of dependence is moderate to high What makes alcohol a bit different? Approx. 20% stomach and 80% small intestine As your ethanol level goes up, you get a fun euphoric effect The liver processes about 1oz of alcohol per hour The rest accumulates in the blood and body tissues until the liver can get to processing it Effects of alcohol on study retention Percentage of information recalled from the past 36 hours of studying before an evening at a party by number of drinks How much do you think others drink? Surveyed 952 students - 542 females, 410 males How many drinks do you think female U of G students drink when they drink? How many drinks do you think male U of G students drink when they drink? How much do U of G students really drink? How much is too much? What we used to tell people: - Male 5/15 = no more than 5 standard drinks in a day, no more than 15 per week - Female 4/10 = no more than 4 standard drinks in a day, no more than 10 per week If someone drinks more than any of these numbers, then they need to be actively taking steps to change their drinking habits What do we say now? The World Health Organization (2023) “When it comes to alcohol there is no safe amount that does not affect health” The uptake of this message in some populations is surprising What does it mean to have a drinking problem? Have you ever felt needed to cut down on your drinking? Have people annoyed you by criticizing your drinking? Have you ever felt guilty or ashamed about drinking? Have you ever felt you needed a drink first thing in the morning (eye-opener) to steady your nerves or to get rid of a hangover? Learning Pt. 1 What are the main types of learning? 1) Classical conditioning: learning to link two stimuli in a way that helps us anticipate an event to which we have a reaction (associative learning) 2) Operant conditioning: changing behavioural responses in response to consequences (contingencies) 3) Cognitive (latent) learning): learning that can occur without reinforcement and without being directly observable What if learning happened without thinking? Behaviourism - started with proponents that mental life was much less important than behaviour as a foundation for psychological science B.F. Skinner (1904-1990), & J.B. Watson (1878-1958) How do we learn by acquiring associations? Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) Nobel Prize 1904 studying digestion Noticed dogs salivated at the sound of a bell Before conditioning During conditioning After conditioning What is the language of classical conditioning? Neutral stimulus (NS) - A stimulus that does not trigger a response Unconditional stimulus (US) and response (UR) - A stimulus that triggers a response naturally, before/without any conditioning Conditioned stimulus (CS) - A stimulus that will trigger the learned CR Conditioned Response (CR) - The learned response triggered by the CS What are some properties of classical conditioning? Acquisition - What gets “acquired”? 1. The association between an NS and a US - How can we tell that an acquisition has occurred? 1. The CS now triggers a CR (ex. UR has now become a CR) - Timing 1. For the association to be acquired, the NS needs to repeatedly appear before the US Extinction & spontaneous recovery - The diminishing of a CR that occurs when CS is presented without the US - Spontaneous Recovery (Return of the CR) 1. After extinction and following a rest period, presenting the CS alone often leads to a spontaneous recovery Generalization and discrimination - Generalization - refers to the tendency to have conditioned responses triggered by related stimuli - Discrimination - refers to the learned ability to only respond to a specific stimuli, preventing generalization How do we learn through the consequences of our actions? Operant conditioning - involves adjusting of the consequences of our behaviours (functionalism) How does operant conditioning work? A behavioural response is followed by a reward or punitive feedback from the environment Thorndike’s law of effect: - Reinforced behaviour is more likely to be tried again - Punished behaviour is less likely to be attempted in the future Different than classical because the organism initiates this one What are types of reinforcement? Any feedback that makes a behaviour more likely to reoccur 1. Positive (additive) reinforcement - Adding something desirable 2. Negative (subtractive) reinforcement - Removing something unpleasant Do we need to give a reward every single time? Continuous reinforcement - Organisms acquire the desired behaviour quickly Partial/Intermittent reinforcement - The target behaviour takes longer to be acquired/established but persists longer without a reward How can reinforcements vary? Different schedules of partial/intermittent reinforcement - Schedule the reinforcements based on an interval of time that has gone by - Plan for a certain ratio of rewards per number of instances of the target behaviour What is the impact of fixed vs. variable time intervals? Fixed interval - slow, unsustained responding - Rapid responding near time for reinforcemnent Variable interval - slow, consistent responding What is the impact of fixed vs. variable ratio? Fixed ratio - High rate of consistent responding Variable ratio - High rate of consistent responding - Very robust → will resist extinction even if reinforcement stops What are types of punishments? Punishments make the target behaviour less likely to occur in the future 1. Positive (additive) punishment - Adding something unpleasant/aversive 2. Negative (subtractive) punishment - Removing something pleasant/desired What about physical/corporal punishment? Must occur immediately after the behaviour Need to be consistent; extremely important “Intensity” of punishment has little impact on the outcome Need an explanation for the punishment and what alternate action should have been done Best when combined with reinforcement to direct behaviour - By itself, typically only inhibits the behaviour, and fails to provide direction Typically, no better than just reinforcement What are the options for teaching/learning with operant conditioning? Which form of operant conditioning is used? 1. “You’re playing video games instead of practicing the flute, so I am justified in yelling at you” = positive (additive) punishment 2. “You’ve yelled at your flute instructor, so I’m taking your favourite video game away” = negative (subtractive) punishment 3. “I will stop staring at you and bugging you as soon as I see that you are practicing” = negative (subtractive) reinforcement 4. “After you practice, we’ll play a game” = positive (additive) reinforcement Can you distinguish classical and operant learning? Problem: Willy is barking at a scary garbage truck What is the most optimal response to change Willy’s behaviour toward the garbage truck a) Pull on his leash and tell him to be quiet b) Ignore him c) Give him treats d) Take him inside Is there any place for thinking in learning? Classical and operant learning derived from behaviourism - The absence of thinking is assumed Radical behaviourists, such as Skinner, did not deny that thinking occurs, but they viewed thinking and feeling as covert (unobservable) behaviours How did we go from S-R to S-O-R? Behaviourists: - Stimulus → Response (S → R) - Would typically explain the difference by learning histories (Ex. How each person has learned to react to critics through past experiences) Cognitive: - Stimulus → Organism → Response (S → O → R) - The organism interprets the stimulus before responding - Would contend that the differing reactions stem from how they interpreted the critic in that given situation (ex. Constructive feedback vs. personal attack) - Important difference because it allows for people to have “will”/self-control, an ability to act differently than what they usually do OR how they impulsively would Can you learn only by observing? Observational learning - changes in behaviour occur by watching others, typically role models Learning that occurs without reinforcement A form of latent learning, learning that is not direct;y and immediately observable Albert Bandura (1925-2021) Can aggression by learned by observing? Children do not receive direct reinforcement for each behaviour - So, how do they learn? Albert came up with the idea to use a “Bobo doll” How was the study designed? Independent variable - Children exposed to 1 of 3 conditions: 1. Aggressive models 2. Non-aggressive models 3. No model - Only observed the model, never reinforced Dependent variable 1. Imitation of physical acts - Ex. striking the Bobo doll with the mallet, sitting on the doll and punching it in the nose, kicking the doll, and tossing it in the air 2. Imitation of verbal acts - Ex. “Sock him”, “Hit him down”, “Kick him”, “Throw him in the air”, or “Pow” 3. Non-imitative acts - Ex. physically aggressive acts desired toward objects other than the Bobo doll What do we learn, then? S-O-R emphasizes the role of expectations in learning When the stimulus occurs, the outcome that’s likely to occur becomes cognitively salient before responding Ex. Alcohol outcome expectancies: If I have a beer, then… 1. I feel more relaxed 2. I feel more powerful 3. I like to socialize more than usual Human Memory What is memory? Definition: the persistence of learning over time Through the storage and retrieval (functions) Of information and skills (content) What are the key steps to forming memories? Encode - the information from the senses is transmitted to the brain in a way that allows it to be stored Store - the information is held in a way that allows it to later be retrieved Retrieve - reactivating and recalling the information, producing it in a form similar to what was encoded How do we know something is remembered? Recall - retrieve information previously learned and unconsciously stored Recognition - identify stimuli that match your stored information Relearning - is a measure of how much less work it takes you to learn the information you had previously learned How is memory assumed to work? What are the memories formed from the senses? Analogous to an “echo” of all the sensations we take in Waiting for attention → if attention is placed on the information, it will move to short-term memory; otherwise, it disappears - Sight = 0.5 seconds - Hearing = 3-4 seconds - Touch = < 1 second How is encoding assumed to occur? What is an approach based on working memory? What are the main different types of memory? 1. Non-declarative “implicit” memories - The ones we are not fully aware of and thus don’t “declare” or talk about - Do not require attention/effort to encode and recall 2. Declarative “explicit” memories - Facts and experiences that we consciously know and recall - Require attention/effort to encode and recall What are some types of non-declarative memories? 1. Procedural memory 2. Conditioned associations 3. Information about space, time, and frequency What are some types of declarative memories? 1. Semantic memory 2. Episodic memories associations 3. Flashbulb memories How are explicit memories understood? Encoding and storage of explicit memories - Facilitated by the hippocampus - Sleep (consolidation) Retrieval and use of explicit memories - Working memory (or executive function), directed by the frontal lobes How are implicit memories understood? Basal ganglia - Involved with the encoding and storage of procedural memory and motor skills Cerebellum - Involved in the encoding and storage of our conditioned responses What are the flashbulb memories? Emotional responses can accentuate/facilitate the encoding of information Strong emotions, especially stress, can strengthen memory formation Flashbulb memories refer to emotionally intense events that become “burned in” as a vivid-seeming memory How to facilitate the encoding and retrieval of memories? The brain’s long-term memory does not get full (it’s not like a hard drive) - It gets more elaborately rewired and interconnected Estimates of the equivalent of 1000 billion to 1000000 billion bits of information (Landauer, 1986) - Ex. Chao Lu (China) memorized 67890 decimals of the number Pi What facilitates encoding long-term memories? 1. Distributed practice and depth of processing 2. Strategies that rely on groupings - Chunking and hierarchies 3. Strategies that rely on visualization How can practice facilitate long-term memory encoding? Spacing effect - best to spread out study/learning time (distribute it) over multiple short sessions The best strategy combines spacing with testing effect - Testing (having to answer questions about the information) to retrieve information studied/learned greatly increases memory - Much more effective than merely rereading How can depth of processing facilitate long-term memory encoding? How can chunking facilitate long-term memory encoding? Create groups with the pieces of information, best when these groupings are familiar to us - 5111983 - 5-11-1983 - 511-1983 How can hierarchies facilitate long-term memory encoding? Divide complex information into concepts, and then sub-concepts How can visualization facilitate long-term memory encoding? Mental images are powerful aids to memory, especially when combined with semantic encoding Creating links vs. Method of Loci What are common memory problems (non-disorder)? Decay theory proposes that forgetting occurs because traces fade with time - Data support this theory for Sensory and STM, but not LTM If not decay, then what? - Ineffective encoding - Proactive interference - old learning interferes with new - Retroactive interference - new learning interferes with old How can recall be biased? When we recall our memories, we filter or fill in parts to make our memories more consistent - Each time we recall information our memories can change Misinformation effect - Incorporating misleading information in the memory of an event Source amnesia - Assign details of a memory to the wrong source Can rich false memories of crimes be constructed? Participants were interviewed 3 times The interviews were designed to include leading questions often used by law enforcement The objective was to see if they could get participants to have a false memory of a crime that never happened Will jurors continue to believe an eyewitness even if they know about recall problems? Participants were grouped in mock juries, and randomly assigned to one of three conditions: - Condition 1: circumstantial evidence - Condition 2: circumstantial evidence + eyewitness - Condition 3: circumstantial evidence + eyewitness + expert challenges to eyewitness evidence What are false memories? Often due to the confusion between an event that happened to you and that happened to someone else OR the belief that you remember something that actually never happened Likely to happen when: - You thought of the event often - You imagined more details of this event - This event is easy to imagine - Brings our attention to the emotional reaction and not to facts False memory syndrome A condition in which the identity and relationships of a person rest on memories that are false, but perceived as real traumatic experiences Some cases induced by poorly trained and/or ill-intended therapists have been documented What are some of the perils of memory in this information age? The availability of information is unlike anything humanity has seen We encode automatically at least part of everything we are exposed to - …for the better and the worst Once encoded, information affects all of our perceptions - Top-down processing How to avoid some of the perils of memory? Because of multiple cognitive biases, we have the illusion that we control how the information we encode affects us - But in reality, the research shows that overall, we don’t control it The best solution may now be to consciously filter (select) the information that you expose yourself to before exposing yourself to it Human Thought Human thinking A natural tendency to understand events and people, to explain and solve problems, and to think Overall, our thinking is different from that of a computer → balances the need for speed with quality and accuracy Suitable for most situations - Ex. what to eat at lunchtime, how to get to campus and back home But, it can sometimes lead us to be incorrect, such as with procrastination - “I still have lots of time…” - “I’ll be more focused tomorrow.” - “I work better under pressure.” What is cognition? “Mental processes in acquiring knowledge” “Mental representation of a problem or situation” “The way in which information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing” “Any mental processing of information, including learning, remembering, perceiving, communicating, and deciding” “[It] allows us to manipulate information internally to construct models of the world, plan our interactions with the world and regulate ourselves to meet goals” Can you just give me one definition to learn? I am human, after all! Mental activities that allow us to: 1. Represent the world internally 2. Think about the world - Which requires learning, remembering, and manipulating information 3. Guide our interaction with that world - Which requires problem-solving, decision-making, and self-regulation What do we think about? Concepts - are mental groupings of similar objects, events, states, ideas, and/or people How do we develop concepts? Do NOT derive concepts from a definition that we have learned/memorized Typically derived from prototypes - Mental images of an abstract most typical member of a category How do we organize concepts? Categorization - create categories of objects according to a certain set of rules by a specific definition Fit to a category is determined by comparing a target to the prototypes of the category When do prototypes fail us? 1. When examples stretch the qualities associated with the prototype 2. When the boundary between the categories of concepts is fuzzy 3. When examples contradict our prototypes What are some problem-solving strategies? Problem-solving - thinking in order to answer a complex question or to figure out how to accomplish a goal when the solution or path to the solution is NOT clear Well-defined vs. ill-defined problems - Ex. I’m cold vs. I need to find a topic for my paper How could we solve this problem? A father and son are currently 40 and 10; when will the son be half the father’s age? - When the son is 30 and the father is 60 What is an algorithm? A step-by-step strategy for solving a problem, methodically leading to a specific solution Aims to guarantee a solution Quality > speed What is a heuristic? Heuristics - mental shortcuts that give some guidance on how to solve a problem - Help generate solutions quickly Does NOT guarantee solutions consistently Speed > quality What are common heuristics? 1. Representativeness heuristic - Judgement of likelihood based on the similarity or relationship with a particular category 2. Affect heuristic - Making decisions based on emotional reactions rather than careful analysis 3. Availability heuristic - Judgemtn of the frequency of an event based on how easily we can think of examples 4. Effort heuristic - Assuming things that took more effort to make are more valuable What is the confirmation bias? Tendency to search for information that confirms our current explanations (hypotheses, theories), disregarding contradictory evidence Solution? - Is to try and falsify instead of confirm What is cognitive fixation? The tendency to get stuck in one way of thinking, often because of how we understand concepts Limits our ability to think of a problem/solution from a new perspective Why do we have these obstacles then? Allows us to function and to be confident, sometimes even more confident than correct - Overestimate the accuracy of our estimates, predictions, and knowledge Why? - Speed - Manage uncertainty - Gain power How is our thinking shaped by language? What is language? - Use of symbols to represent, transmit, and store meaning/information Useful? - Ex. storing information, sharing information, understanding others How does language shape the way we think? Linguistic determinism - the idea that our specific language determines how we think - Ex. Hopi and thinking about the past (Benjamin Whorf, 1897-1941) Can you think about something that you do not have a word for? Can language impact how we think about ourselves? Bilingual participants (“Chinese” and English) Completed a questionnaire in either “Chinese” or English Marked cultural differences in self-esteem → much higher in Canada compared to China Are there disadvantages to bilingualism? Critics of bilingualism are typically set up as false dichotomies Does learning two languages in childhood impair language development? Does knowing two languages make thinking more difficult? Are there advantages to bilingualism? Earlier development of executive control (ex. Bobb, Wodneicka & Kroll, 2013) Greater executive control (ex. Bialystok, 2007) Delayed loss of executive control (ex. Luk et al, 2013) Greater attention control (ex. Bialystok, 2001) Greater creativity (ex. Ricciardelli, 1992) Beyond individual value Human Motivation What is human motivation? Motivation refers to a need or desire that energizes (effortful) behaviour and directs it toward a goal Combination of physiological and psychological processes What is an instinct? A fixed (rigid and predictable) pattern of behaviour observed across all members of the species - NOT acquired by learning, typically rooted in genes - Does not involve rational decision-making (cognition) - Typically is rationalized posthoc Do humans have instincts? What drives us? A drive is an aroused/tense state related to a biological need that is not being met Some strong human needs include - Hunger - Thirst - Belonging - Pain - Sex Shared among members of the species Are we motivated by the maintenance of homeostasis? Drive-reduction theory - Suggests we are motivated to restore homeostasis when a drive emerges - Need → Drive → Drive reducing behaviour Are we motivated by incentives? Incentives are a reward that increases the likelihood of a behaviour (positive reinforcement) - Incentives allow for learned response-reward pairings Incentives motivate by attracting the person to the reward - As opposed to pushing the person, like a drive (negative reinforcement) How do “push” and “pull” forces interact? When both drives/needs (push) and incentives (pull) work in tandem, we are highly motivated While in some situations, incentives conflict with needs - One way through which society can impact how we regulate our behaviour Are we always motivated to maximize and minimize? A common assumption is that humans are always motivated to have more desirable outcomes and avoid undesirable ones Are we motivated to optimize? Maximize, and minimize, but we are also motivated to optimize Optimal Arousal Theory: suggests we are motivated to increase or decrease our physiological arousal level to maintain an optimal level of arousal - Particularly when it comes to performing difficult or intellectually demanding tasks Are we motivated to self-actualize? Maslow’s hierarchy of needs Self-actualization - it represents the drive for personal growth, including creativity, moral development, problem-solving, and acceptance of facts Are we motivated to experience flow? Flow - a state of experience where a person, totally absorbed, feels a tremendous amount of exhilaration, control, and enjoyment Occurs when people push their abilities to their boundaries and in so doing experience a merging of action and awareness Flow can occur throughout the spectrum of daily experience - Ex. playing a musical instrument, painting, sports, etc Are we motivated to balance needs? Intrinsic motivation - concerts active engagement with tasks that people find interesting and that, in turn, promote growth Compromised of three needs: 1. Autonomy - refers to feeling like we are causal agents of our own behaviour and the goals we pursue 2. Competence - people need to gain mastery of tasks and learn different skills 3. Relatedness - people need to experience a sense of belonging and attachment to other people Achieved through balance between the needs, as opposed to maximizing any one of them What can hunger tell us about human motivation? Physiological signals 1. Stomach contractions 2. Hypothalamus 3. Setpoint Which food do we seek? Some taste preferences are universal Other tastes are acquired and become favourites through exposure, culture, and conditioning Some are individually learned - Aversions after only 1 incident Do sociocultural influences shape how much we eat? Portion sizes and the “French Paradox” - Cookbooks - Supermarket - Restaurants (ex. McDonalds) Paris and Philadelphia Restaurants were in similar neighbourhoods, had similar prices, and the same types of foods Comparable meals were compared, item by item, by weighing the portions on a portable digital scale, accurate to 1g Mean size ratio (US/France) - Also examined non-identical chains, but similar type - Local “Chiniese”; Italian type (ex. Olive Garden vs. Bistro Romain) - On average, American portions were 25% larger Mean time spent at McDonald's - Complex and multiple elements shaping even motivation tied to basic needs - In this case, contributing to cultural differences - Ex. 22.3% of Americans are obese compared to 7.4% of French What can the need to belong tell us about human motivation? Strong (fundamental) need to bind with others - Survival required cooperation - Married people are better off - Loneliness is associated with a greater risk of psychological and physiological disorders The pain of social exclusion is associated with the activation of the same areas in the brain linked to physical pain Can physical pain trigger social pain? Experiment 2: Randomly assigned participants to: - Pain (yes, no) - Type of pain (social vs. physical) Dependent variables - NRS (used to assess physical pain) - Feelings of belongingness Demonstrated that physical pain can trigger social pain (by decreasing feelings of belongingness), even in the absence of social interaction What motivates us in work contexts? Challenge with notable implications in a work context - How to get people to increase their performance at work without affecting their well-being? - Industrial and organizational psychology I/O Psychology - An often ignored psychology career path Among the most rewarding and highly-paid careers in psychology A few graduate programs (MA & PhD) in Canada, including one in Guelph! Want to know if this is something you would be interested? - Undergraduate courses and opportunities to volunteer/work with some of the faculty Human Emotion What are emotions? There is no unified definition of emotions States that come with physiological and psychological changes “I know it when I feel it” What do emotions do? A function perspective suggests emotions are signals for motivation - Ex. Survival and fear; need to belong and guilt Well-suited to help us manage the “push” of biological processes and the “pull” of socio-cultural forces Emotions seem to help us evaluate Read out of the person’s ever-changing motivational states - Positive emotions signal the satisfaction of our motivational states - Negative emotions signal the frustration of our motivational states Emotions seem to motivate General agreement that emotions function as one type of motivator, but views about their importance vary Early psychology focused on psychological drives as motivators (ex. Hunger, thirst) Followed by a view that emotions were the causal and immediate source of the motivated actions by humans - Ex. air deprivation Take away the emotion, and you take away the motivation What happens when we feel? Bodily arousal Conscious experience - Thoughts, especially the labelling of the emotion Expres

Psych Final Exam Study Sheet PDF

Document Details

Tags

Related

Summary

Full Transcript

Upgrade to continue