Psychology Condense 5 PDF

         **Learning theory** (**Skinner**) -- language is a form of [behavior] and is learned through *operant conditioning* \-      Children aren't born with anything, only acquire language through reinforcement.  ·       Child learns to say "mama" because every time they say that, mom reinforces...

         **Learning theory** (**Skinner**) -- language is a form of [behavior] and is learned through *operant conditioning* \-      Children aren't born with anything, only acquire language through reinforcement.  ·       Child learns to say "mama" because every time they say that, mom reinforces child. But doesn't explain how they can produce words they've never heard before.          **Interactionist approach** (**Vygotsky**) -- believe biological and social factors have to interact in order for children to learn language. Childrens' desire to communicate with adults makes them learn language.  ·       Social role that language plays and human brain develops to be receptive to new language, and children are motivated to practice and expand vocabulary          **Behaviorist** -- (also skinner?) BF Skinner's behaviourist model says infants are trained in language by operant conditioning.  \-      The **linguistic relativity hypothesis** asserts that cognition and perception are determined by language one speaks.  **         Language and the Brain: Aphasia and Split-Brain Patients** \-      90% of people, language is in **left hemisphere**.           Whatever is dominant, 2 main areas are: \-      **Broca's area** (speech production) located in the [frontal lobe] ·       When broca's is damaged, people have trouble producing speech but understanding is unaffected. (***Broca's/expressive aphasia*)** \-      **Wernicke's area** (understand language) located in the [temporal lobe] ·       **Wernicke's aphasia** - words they make don't make any sense and cannot understand what others say, but they can hear words and repeat them back \-      When both damaged**, global aphasia. ** \-      2 areas are connected by bundle of nerves **arcuate fasciculus**, also found in deaf people who know sign language. Not specific to spoken language, but brain adapts to whatever modality is needed for communication. ·       When this is damaged, **conduction aphasia** -- ability to conduct between listening and speaking is disrupted.  \-      **Agraphia (**inability to write), ***anomia*** (inability to name things).  Language is example of big tasks broken into small tasks, spread into other parts of brain. Good thing because if you have localized brain damage, won't completely lose everything.  \-      When functions are divided, easier for brain to adapt  ·       Ex. When stroke affects left hemisphere, and can't speak, over time with therapy some can retrain other speech-related parts of brain by creating new connections -- **neural plasticity.** Can speak again with some fluency.  \-      If you sever the **corpus callosum**, also disrupts communication. Creates a **split-brain patient**. This surgery creates side effects with language -- right side of brain can't communicate with language side.  ·       ***Left side*** needed for [language], ***right side*** needed for [action/perception/attention].  ·       If you see object on left, won't be able to name it. Can pick it up with left hand (since right side controls left), but has to be in right visual field before brain can name it.   ¨     Ex. showing colors on left side of visual field, information is sent to right hemisphere, which is responsible for perception/attention, but can\'t speak it, because left brain is needed for language.           **Emotion**          Emotions: **Limbic System** \-      Responsible for storage/retrieval of memories, especially ones tied to emotions (serves as control for basic emotion and drives) ·       Mnemonic: ***Hippo wearing a HAT***. Hypothalamus, amygdala, thalamus, and hippocampus.           **Thalamus** -- [sensory relay station], everything you hear/taste/etc. end up in thalamus, which directs them to appropriate areas in cortex.  \-      Emotions contingent on senses.  \-      Smell is only one that bypasses the thalamus -- goes to areas closer to amygdala.          **Amygdala** -- aka aggression center.  \-      If you stimulate amygdala, produces anger/violence and fear/anxiety.  \-      If you destroy it, get mellowing effect.  ·       **Kluver-Bucy syndrome** -- bilateral destruction of amygdala, can result in hyperorality (put things in mouth a lot), hypersexuality, and disinhibited behavior.           **Hippocampus** -- key role in forming new memories. Convert short to long-term memory.  \-      If destroyed, still have old memories intact, just can't make new ones.          **Hypothalamus** (below the thalamus, tiny) -- for limbic system, it regulates the ANS (fight or flight vs. rest and digest).  \-      Controls endocrine system.           Emotions: **Cerebral Hemispheres** and **Prefrontal Cortex**          Role of **cerebral cortex** in emotions. One way is in terms of  the *L and R hemispheres*.  \-      [Positive emotions] evoke more activity on ***left side***, and [negative emotions] evoke more activity on ***right side***.  ·       Little kids playing in group -- more social kids had more activity in left hemisphere, and isolated kids more activity in right.  ·       More positive, cheerful people had more activity in left, more depressed and timid had more in right          Dividing into functional divisions -- focus on **prefrontal cortex** \-      Responsible for many [higher-order functions], everything that distinguishes humans.  ·       ***Executive control*** - solve problems, make decisions, how you [act in social situations].  ·       Ex. Phineas Gage had iron rod penetrate his prefrontal cortex. After incident, rude and rough, behaved inappropriately.           **Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)** and Physiological Markers of **Emotion**          Physiological changes that occur which aren't under your control due to the ANS.  \-      Has 2 branches -- **sympathetic** (fight or flight) and **parasympathetic** (rest and digest). ·       Sympathetic: pupils dilate, decrease in salivation, increase respiration/heart rate/glucose release/adrenaline, decrease in digestion ·       Parasympathetic: pupils constrict, decrease respiratory rate/heart rate, increase glucose storage, decrease in adrenaline, increase digestion.  **         Three Components of Emotion and the Universal Emotions**          Emotions are subjective experiences accompanied by physiological, behavioural, and cognitive changes. All interrelated \-      **Physiological** components -- when surprised HR increase, muscles tense, temperature increase. \-      **Cognitive** -- vary person to person, they're mental assessments that can include thoughts and assessments of situation. Cognitive experiences result from emotions, and can cause emotions.  \-      **Behavioural** -- emotions may bring about behaviours. \-      Emotions are temporary, and can be negative or positive. Also vary in intensity. They're involuntary.  \-      **Paul Ekman** found **6 universal emotions** identified by everyone around the world  ·       happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger and surprise. Consistent expressions across culture.  \-      **Darwin** hypothesized ability to understand emotion is an [innate ability] that allowed them [better survival].          Theories of Emotion          Emotion is made of 3 components: cognitive, physiological, and behavioural responses. Which come first? \-      **James-Lange theory** -- (Physiologically based) experience of emotion is due to [perception of physiological responses]. ·       Ex. Holding pet cat, increased HR/neurotransmitters/smile, then happiness. When sad, don't cry because you're sad, you're sad because you cry.  ·       Ex. physiological arousal followed by aggressive emotions (not simultaneous)  ¨     **Physiological  Emotion** \-      **Cannon-Bard theory** -- disagreed with James-Lange, noticed many different emotions had same physiological responses. Believed physiological response and emotion occurred [simultaneously].  ·       Simultaneously experience arousal and aggression ¨     **Physiological = emotion** \-      **Schachter-Singer** -- [physiological and ***cognitive***] responses simultaneously form emotion. We don't feel emotion until we're able to identify reason for situation.  ·       Arousal and interpretation of arousal leads to aggressive emotion.  ¨     **Physiological + Cognitive  Emotion** \-      **Lazarus Theory** -- experience of emotion depends on how the situation is appraised (labelled).  ·       Stimulus  labelling situation (cognitive)  emotion + physiological response.  ·       How we label event is based on cultural/individual differences.  ·       Interpretation of event leads to arousal and aggression  ¨     **Cognitive  Emotion + Physiological **          People perform best when they are [moderately aroused] -- the **Yerkes-Dodson Law** \-      Defined as people tend to perform at their optimum ability when they are moderately emotionally stimulated ·       Extremely emotional or non-emotional people are less likely to perform their best          **Stress**          What is **Stress**? Strain that experienced when an organism's equilibrium is disrupted ·       Ex. There is a **stressor** (source of stress) such as a dog, and the **stress reaction** (bunny's physical and emotional response). Stress is the process encompassing both.          Stress arises less from actual events & more from our [cognitive interpretation] of events -- **appraisal theory of stress**.  \-      **Primary appraisal** -- evaluating for presence of a potential threat.  ·       3 categories of response to this primary appraisal -- ***irrelevant***, ***benign (positive)***, ***stressful (negative)***.  ·       If primary appraisal is negative, move forward with secondary appraisal. \-      **Secondary appraisal** -- assessing capability to cope with the threat or to deal with stressor.  ·       Appraisal of harm, threat, and challenge (how to overcome it).           [4 major categories of stressors. ]          1. **Significant life changes** -- ex. Death of loved one, loss of job, having children, leaving home, etc.          2. **Catastrophic events** -- cyclone appears.           3. **Daily hassles** -- long store lines, forgetting car keys, etc.           4. **Ambient stressors** -- Perceivable, but hard to control. Noise, crowding. Can impact us without us being aware of them.          [Responding to Stress ] \-      The ANS works with the limbic system and ***reticular activating system*** to allow us to experience and understand our emotions ·       Reticular activating system -- nuclear structures in the midbrain composed of nerve fibers going to and from higher brain centers, which controls our arousal and alertness levels ·       Midbrain -- cerebral peduncle, corpora qudrigemina, and cerebral aqueduct          Stressors like threats and dangers trigger our **fight or flight** system -- the **sympathetic nervous system**.  \-      Inc. heart rate and respiration (more energy + oxygen), increased peripheral [vasoconstriction] (push more blood to our core area -- harder to live without blood), and [turn off digestion]/immune/etc.  \-      **Endocrine response** - adrenal glands release ***epinephrine*** and ***norepinephrine,*** and ***cortisol*** \-      **Tend and befriend** response - sometimes better response to stress is to have [support systems].  ·       ***Oxytocin*** is important for this -- peer bonding. Oxytocin is strongly linked to estrogen, so why this response is stronger in women.           Distinct stages of stress -- **general adaptation syndrome**, 3 phases. \-      [1. Alarm phase] -- stress kicks in, heart races. \-      [2. Resistance] -- fleeing, huddling, etc. Bathed in cortisol.  \-      [3. Exhaustion] -- if resistance isn't followed by recovery, our tissues become damaged and we become susceptible to illness.           **[Physical Effects of Stress]**          Damaging effects of stress on our **heart** \-      Increased blood pressure, blood vessels distend, so they build up more muscle and become more rigid. Can lead to **hypertension** and **vascular disease** (disease of blood vessels -- get damaged with higher force of blood movement). Spots attract fat and narrow blood vessels. Worst place to experience this is coronary arteries -- **coronary artery disease**.           Metabolism \-      During stress, body secretes [cortisol and glucagon], which converts glycogen to glucose. \-      If stress is psychosocial, we don't need all this extra glucose, which can exacerbate metabolic conditions like ***diabetes***.           Reproductive \-      Reproduction huge energy expense in women, so this [gets shut down] during stress response. ***Impotence*** is also often caused by stress.          Immune Function \-      Causes [inflammation] -- acute stress can lead to overuse of immune system. Can attack our own body.           **[Behavioral Effects of Stress]**          2 areas of brain with [most glucocorticoid receptors] are the **hippocampus** and **frontal cortex ** \-      Hippocampus is associated with learning and memory.  \-      Frontal cortex is responsible for impulse control, reasoning, etc. *Atrophy* during chronic stress.          One of major emotional responses of stress is **depression** (problem is anhedonia -- inability to experience pleasure, so perceive more stressors).  \-      **Learned helplessness** -- you learn from having control ripped out of hands that you don't have control, so lose ability to identify coping mechanisms because taking less control of outcome of your life.  \-      **Anger** - Stress is associated with increased vulnerability to heart disease. **[Type A]** is easily angered individuals, and Type B others. Those who had heart attacks later were mostly type A.  \-      **Anxiety** -- centers on *amygdala*. Amygdala has to do with our fears and phobias, fits in perfectly with response to stress. Perceive more things [as fearful]. \-      **Addiction** -- lots of terrible options for relieving stress, ex. Alcohol, tobacco, etc. Impairment to frontal cortex (reasoning), so impaired judgement can increase likelihood of inappropriate coping mechanisms.           **[Stress Management (Coping with Stress)]** \-      **Perceived control** - many studies show lack of control associated with higher stress. Look for areas of life where you can take back some control.  \-      **Optimism ** \-      **Social support** -- one of best coping mechanisms of stress. Helps us understand we're not alone in stress, which helps our perceived control and optimism.           Managing stress \-      **Exercise** -- regular exercise requires control \-      **Meditation** -- helps us lower our heart rate, BP, and cholesterol.  \-      **Religious beliefs/faith** -- generally healthier lifestyle, social support. \-      **Cognitive Flexibility** -- perspective change is huge in our perception of what is stressing us out. Good way is working with counselor.          **Behavior**          **Biological Basis of Behavior: Nervous System**          **Structure of the Nervous System**          CNS and PNS          CNS = brain and spinal cord.  \-      Brain includes cerebrum, cerebral hemispheres, brainstem (midbrain, pons, and medulla), and cerebellum.  \-      Forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain. Forebrain becomes cerebrum, midbrain becomes midbrain, and hindbrain becomes pons/medulla/cerebellum          PNS = everything else. Cranial (12 pairs) + spinal nerves (31 pairs) \-      Nerves, ganglia. Afferent and efferent neurons. **         Functions of the Nervous System** \-      Basic = motor (control of skeletal muscle), sensory (the senses), automatic (reflexes) \-      Higher = cognition (thinking), emotions (feelings), and consciousness **         Motor Unit** \-      **Lower motor neurons** -- efferent neurons of the PNS, control skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscle cells it contacts is the other end of the motor unit. Form a **neuromuscular junction**.  \-      Abnormalities can occur in the motor unit -- weakness.  \-      Abnormalities of lower motor neurons can cause the **lower motor neuron signs** (LMN signs), which can happen in addition to weakness. ·       Signs: **atrophy** of skeletal muscle, **fasciculations** (involuntary twitches of skeletal muscle), **hypotonia** (decrease in tone of skeletal muscle -- how much muscle is contracted when person is relaxed), **hyporeflexia** (decreased muscle stretch reflex