Psychology Notes PDF

Psychological Sciences 8/30/24 Slides for Notes What kind of assertion/claim are they making? - They're all making definite/ sure claims that what they're saying is 100% true - Cause and effect claims - Only one person testimony/ one personal experience Why shouldn't they ma...

Psychological Sciences 8/30/24 Slides for Notes What kind of assertion/claim are they making? - They're all making definite/ sure claims that what they're saying is 100% true - Cause and effect claims - Only one person testimony/ one personal experience Why shouldn't they make this kind of claim? - They're not leaving room for exceptions - They’re ruling out other possible reasons for the cause - They're also not telling us how they are so sure and guarantee these results. How did the multivitamin make her husband happier? How did the course make these students score higher? How did the vaccine cause autism? Etc. Experimental designs are the only designs that allow you to make claims about causation. The Scientific Method in Psychology 9/4/24 Key: Examine how humans work (our behavior, decision-making, brain function, attitudes, sensations/ perceptions, etc.) in a systematic way in order to understand: - WHAT is happening - WHY it happens Scientific Method Relies On… A process of understanding how the world works: Why people do what they do. Theory ○ Model about how 2 or more things are causally related to one another. Ex from text: Bats navigate by using sound. Hypothesis  ○ Specific, falsifiable prediction about what should happen. Ex from text: Deaf bats should not be able to navigate. Collecting Data ○ Systematic and careful collection of objective information in order to test the above Variables are those things in the world that can be observed or manipulated–the concepts that you are interested in. ○ Example: source of comfort, a food source; pride, perseverance Operational Definition is the PRECISE definition of a variable. That is, it specifies HOW one is measuring/ creating the variable so that another researcher could replicate the study if he/she wanted to. ○ Example: Mother as food source defined as wire mother and mother as comfort source defined as terry-cloth mother. Importance of each to the baby is defined as time spent with each mother. Validity generally refers to how well the data you collected actually reflects the question you were asking. ○ Example: Math aptitude measured as geometry test or free throw shots. Reliability refers to how consistent your measure is over time. The data should not fluctuate because of wiggle room in the measuring device. ○ Example: reaction time measured by an observer watching and using a stopwatch or reactions administered on a computer. Different Ways to Design Studies 9/6/24 EXPERIMENTS: What are they? Maximal CONTROL over the situation. Variables are MANIPULATED–you as the experimenter create them. One variable is manipulated in order to see how it affects another variable. ○ Synchrony example: Coordinated action and its impact on liking, compassion and willingness to help Tapping in unison or out of sync–the researcher created this, manipulated it then watched what happened…. The independent variable is that which is manipulated. The dependent variable is what is observed/ or measured. You want to see how it is affected by varying levels of the independent variable. It is the outcome.  Conditions refer to the different groups that participate are assigned to, it refers to the varying levels of the independent variable. At least 2 so you can compare results. Importance of random assignment. Participants are randomly assigned to one of the conditions. Why is this useful? ○ Groups are the same on average on any individual/ personality dimension there is. Because of these (manipulation of independent variables, control groups and random assignment) experiments provide you with CONTROL such that the only average difference across conditions will be due to your independent variable! Thus, you can say something about CAUSE. Your IV caused the outcomes you find in the DV. Experiments: Pros and Cons Pros: They allow a researcher to study the CAUSAL relationship between variables. Why? (Manipulation of variables, control groups and random assignment to conditions!) ○ Does feeling proud make you work harder on difficult tasks? ○ Does sugar make you hyperactive? Cons: External validity may suffer. External Validity refers to how well a study's findings relate to the real world. That is, is the relationship found in the lab likely to reflect what happens outside of it? Correlation Studies: What are they? Often cannot manipulate the variables of interest (e.g., loneliness levels) so must observe them as they naturally occur. You look at how variables are related to one another. ○ For example: Measure people's differences in how lonely they may say they are and their ailments/ trips to the doctor's office. Measure happiness in marriage and quality of their listening skills. Correlation Studies: Pros and Cons Pros: Sometimes a psychological question cannot be studied in an experiment because it is unfeasible (socioeconomic status, personality types) or unethical (drug use, depression). Correlational Studies allow data to be collected on these important topics. Cons: Correlations DO NOT tell us about causation because of: directionality problem and third variable issue. ○ Is it x → y OR y → x? Do people who feel more jealousy cause bad relationship outcomes OR does a bad relationship increase jealous feelings?  ○ Could also be that a third variable is causing BOTH a and y, thus they appear to move together but it's really z. Ice cream sales go up and city violence goes up. Those two things are correlated in time. But did one cause the other? Clearly not. High temperatures (a third variable) are argued to drive each one. Correlations ONLY point to a possible relationship between two variables, or simply allow you to predict one from the other, but not which caused the other as experiments can do. Descriptive Studies: What are they? Descriptive –single variable, no IV or DV, descriptive/ categorical/ classification rather than explanation. ○ Examples: 56% of Gonzaga undergraduates study abroad 32% of American employees feel engaged at work 26% of American employees want to leave their job Data Collection In self-report measures participants provide the researcher with information about themselves (e.g., questionnaires). ○ Examples: Likert scales, open ended format How joyful do you feel right now? 1 (not at all joyful) 2 3 4 5 (very joyful) What stands out to you about your high school experience? ___ Socially desirable responding refers to the problem of participants adapting their self-report answers because they know what looks good/bad. Example: How prejudiced are you? Behavioral Measures: refers to measuring how a person responds to an actual task of some sort. The participant actually has to engage in some behavior that is measured. ○ Examples: Measuring reaction time, examining how close a participant sits to a confederate, willingness to help someone. Physiological/Biological Measures: Changes in the body and the brain can be measured with numerous instruments today: fMRI, psychophysiological assessments, etc. ○ Examples: Emotions are known to change blood pressure, heart rate, muscle tension, hormonal secretions, etc. As a critical consumer of information…  Operational Definitions—are they legitimate? How many people were sampled? Who are they? Are they making claims about cause—that one thing causes another? Personality 9/9/24 WHAT THE HECK IS A PERSONALITY? ○ Pattern of characteristics, emotional responses, thoughts, behaviors that are consistent and distinct. Habitual ways of responding. ○ We carry it with us. Not social situations, norms, pressures from outside. ○ Do you think your friends and family know who you are? See you in the same way? ○ Do you think someone could have an accurate send of you within 5 seconds of watching you?! ○ Where do our personalities come from? Different Approaches: Modern and Historical We are going to look at different approaches to understanding human personalities. It helps to contrast several of these theories with each other. Look for the following: ○ Negative or positive in its view of humans? ○ Trying to find categories, meaningful differences across people that predict behavior or something else? ○ Data or simply theory? ○ Deterministic or individuals help to construct their personalities? Trait Approach to Personality: Modern Trait approach looks for core descriptive labels/ categories by which to understand people and predict their likely behavior in a situation. This is a data driven approach. It provides a sketch of people that we probably ascertain about each other very quickly. This approach recognizes that people behave consistently over time and differently from one another. Traits are general dimensions and fairly stable–a basic set of adjectives that describe human differences.  How have scientists found what are considered “core” traits that we use to describe each other? That is, a basic set that defines human individuality. ○ Began, in the 50s & 60s, by collecting all the adjectives in our language that describe people and then factor analyzing them to see how they create separate, distinct categories. ○ It sorts adjectives into a smaller set of underlying dimensions. So, “cries easily”, “sensitive to feedback” and “quick to anger” all indicate “moody” which is a component of the trait “neuroticism”. The Big Five has become well respected in the last 2 decades as providing a meaningful sketch of people. Big Five Model Extraversion: Trait related to how people orient themselves toward others (high: social, fun-loving, outgoing; low: retiring, quiet, reserved) Neuroticism: Tendency to be upset, distressed, worried (high: worried, insecure, self-pitying; low: calm, secure, self-satisfied) Conscientiousness: Centers on hard-working, self disciplined, responsible (high: organized, careful, self-disciplines; low: disorganized, careless, weak-willed) Agreeableness: Interpersonally warm, understanding, cooperative (high: softhearted, trusting, helpful; low: ruthless, suspicious, uncooperative) Openness: Imaginative, likes variety (high: imaginative, variety, independent; low: down-to-earth, routine, conforming) Seems that the Big Five are found across cultures, in children, and whether self or other make the ratings. Social-Cognitive Approach: Filling in the Sketch. Also Modern. Cognitive approaches to personality expect that one's understanding of self and expectations about how others will treat and react to oneself are important. People differ in what they expect from the world. This is also data-driven and regularly used by current scientists. ○ Example: ○ Pessimistic Explanatory Style: explain failures as pervasive and permanent. They are going to happen all the time and in many domains of my life. ○ Grit: perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Sigmund Freud: Historical Perspective Freud believed that early childhood was very important for forming one’s personality. His is a deterministic view of how our personality forms. We work through different stages of pursuing satisfaction/pleasure:  ○ Psychosexual stages (e.g., oral stage) Becoming fixated at one stage leads to differences in personality (e.g., needy; more likely to smoke) Different Theoretical Approaches Freud’s theory also put great emphasis on our unconscious-- it houses desires, anxieties, and concerns. These are not easily accessible to a person in order to prevent him/her from pain. But our unconscious wishes and motives can influence behavior and we spend a lot of time in unconscious conflict. He thought we couldn’t handle true understanding of ourselves, thus we had many: Defense mechanisms: These refer to the unconscious mental strategies that one’s ego uses to deal with the stress of mediating the Id (animalistic) and Superego (learned moral and social rules). ○ Example: Denial, Projection Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory What do we think of Freud now? ○ CON: He had no valid data to support these assertions. Humanistic Approach to Personality 1950s, opposed to deterministic theories (such as Freud’s) Humanists see self-actualization (the motive we have to pursue knowledge, give back, find peace, etc.) as a major piece of our personalities. People seek to fulfill their potential, individual experience helps to shape each person. Views people as inherently good. Humanistic Approach Carl Rogers is a big name in this field. Person-centered approach to personality (and therapy). ○ Not a lot of data gathered to flesh out this approach to personality. ○ Important point for us is that the Humanistic Approach disagreed with the deterministic and negative view of personality.  9/11/24 How do we study/ measure personality? Objective Personality Measures use assessments such as self-report questionnaires or observer ratings. ○ Examples: Using the NEO Personality Inventory to measure The Big Five; California Q-sort Projective Personality Measures try to access unconscious aspects of one’s personality. People will project their personal mental content (even if they don’t know they are doing so) onto ambiguous stimuli. ○ Example: Thematic Apperception Test ○ These are much contested in terms of both validity and reliability, as the scoring is open to great interpretation. Do you think your friends and family know you pretty well? How well would they do if asked to assess your personality? ○ Close others seem to know us pretty well. ○ Research suggests that close acquaintances have a high degree of accuracy (that is, agree with each other and with you) for trait judgements. ○ There are discrepancies. When? Self-enhancement Nalani Ambady’s thin slices Using 2-30 second video clips with the sound off. Raters agreed with students that had known teachers for a semester or more! ○ Caveats? Biological Bases of Personality Much research points to a genetic component to personality, at least in terms of basic traits. Genetic makeup predisposes one towards certain behavioral, emotional, cognitive characteristics. Evidence in Twin and Adoption studies: ○ pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic twins both raised together or raised apart. Monozygotic have much more similar personalities than dizygotic, even when raised apart. Roughly 40% of the variability in personality traits across people is explained by genetics.  Can Personality change? Rank ordering remains very stable in a sample of 50,000 followed for at least one year. Strong correlation across the lifespan for traits. Our goals and focus and choice to work on aspects of our personalities (like our pessimistic explanatory style) can change. The Brain 9/13/24 Historically (up until about the 1860s) believed the brain worked as a single mass to carry out tasks. Now we know that the brain is highly specialized. Specific areas are necessary for certain abilities and connected to other areas to carry out complex psychological functions. What are some of the methods by which we know which brain structures do what? ○ Neuroscientists study people who have had a disease or damage in their brain who consent to being studied ○ Brain scans (MRIs, CAT scans) ○ Animal labs Overview of brain structures you should be familiar with Hindbrain (simpler basic life functions) Forebrain (more complex functions) Corpus callosum ○ Limbic system (subcortical region) ○ Cerebral cortex Corpus callosum Basic Brain Structures: What do they do? Hindbrain—coordinating info coming from spinal cord, “old” brain. Medulla - located at the base of the skull, an extension of the spinal cord into the brain. Produces basic functions of survival (i.e., breathing, heart rate).  Reticular formation - network of neurons in the brainstem that affects wakefulness, general arousal. Many general anesthetics reduce activity in this area temporarily. Cerebellum - Connected to the back of the brainstem, behind the medulla. Essential for coordinated motor function, such as balance and walking/running. Limbic System (subcortical region) Limbic system – lies above the hindbrain, underneath the cortex. In general, it is important for motivation, emotion, and learning. ○ Thalamus – gateway to the cortex. Most incoming sensory information must go through thalamus before reaching the cortex. A “hub” for incoming signals. ○ Hypothalamus – master regulatory structure for things like body temperature, blood pressure, glucose levels, and related, our motivations for eating, sleeping, aggression. Hippocampus - important for storing new explicit memories/information. Explicit memory - declarative, semantic knowledge. ○ Clive Wearing ○ Jimmie G. (from Oliver Sacks “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat) Mirror Dr. Sacks introducing himself Implicit memory - sort of in the back of the head subconscious knowledge Amygdala - learning to associate items in our world with emotional information (i.e., love for a parents, fear for a nasty dog) The Cerebral Cortex The cerebral cortex is the site of the COMPLEX stuff that makes us distinctly human: thoughts, detailed perceptions, consciousness, planning. The “new,” “higher” brain. ○ It is much larger than our skull would suggest, folded in against itself with bumps (gyri) and grooves (sulci). ○ 4 distinct lobes: Occipital, parietal, temporal and frontal.  The Occipital Lobe Almost exclusively devoted to vision. Each hemisphere receives half of the visual information. Left hemisphere gets info from the right visual field and the right hemisphere gets info from the left visual field. Parietal Lobe Involved in 1) our sense of touch and 2) the spatial relationship between ourselves and objects in the world. As with the occipital lobe, the left hemisphere receives info from the right side of the body and vice versa. Information represented on the parietal lobe in a body map. ○ 1. Sensations from toes near those from feet, and so on. ○ 2. More sensitive body areas or areas that require more precision have larger space on the lobe devoted to them. Hemineglect – results from damage to the right parietal lobe (such as from a stroke). It is the failure to pay attention to anything on the left side of one’s world. ○ Seems to be ignoring sensory input from the left side of one’s world. Not an issue of vision. Temporal Lobe Does many things but is greatly involved in hearing, language, and memory for objects—including for faces. ○ Prosopagnosia: inability to recognize faces. ○ Dr. Oliver Sacks (neurologist) suffered from this.  9/16/24 Frontal Lobe This is the IMPORTANT location with specializations in planning, directing and maintaining attention, social decision-making, emotions, impulse control and movement. Very integral to making us who we are as individuals. An executive. ○ Phineas Gage and the prefrontal cortex A yard long and an inch thick rod. Healed physically, knowledge, ability on tasks and movement were not impacted. But his personality, his emotions were very different–angry, swearing, impatient, rude, unable to control impulses. Others found him to be an entirely different person. Imaging and neuroscience advancements led us to realize that this area of the brain is essential for social navigation, empathy and emotions. The plasticity of our brains Our brains are continually changing. As we grow up, after injury, and throughout the acquisition of knowledge, our brain makes adjustments - known as plasticity. How does this work? Plasticity 1) USE - PRACTICE Learning leads to strengthening of neural connections. When neurons fire together, (i.e., communicate) they will be more likely to do so in the future. If a particular ability or activity is repeatedly activated, it will lead to an increase in brain area (more neural connections) devoted to that behavior/ sensation/ mental process. ○ Examples: Musicians with more somatosensory cortical space (parietal lobe) devoted to their fingers, experiences London taxi-cab drivers with more brain space related to memorizing street names and places (hippocampus) 2) UNDER USE After injury (ex. amputation), neurons may reorganize themselves, form new connections that were not there before. ○ Touching the cheek of a person who lost an arm. (more sensory there now). ○ No signals coming to the brain from that arm now, brain areas do not simply lay dormant or quiet. Will begin to respond to areas adjacent to the body.  Divided Brain Our brain is divided into two hemispheres with the corpus callosum providing a bridge of between the two hemispheres. So many organisms are asymmetrical (L and R hemispheres), not only humans. Split brain patients (those who have had their corpus callosum cut) have taught us about how the 2 halves work together. What sort of findings has this led us to? The divided brain Hemispheres are specialized. ○ L hemisphere more competent at language production ○ L is very good at details, function-utility, doesn't get metaphor, literal/ granular, “it's a bit hot in here”(thinks about temperature, very literal), ○ R more competent at spatial relations, big picture, the whole, master view, connotations, imagery, understands humor, “it's a bit hot in here” (actually means could we open a window-turn the heat down), full body awareness. Biological Foundations 9/18/24 Nervous System Our nervous system is made up of billions of specialized cells (neurons) that take in our world, analyze it, and produce reactions to it. ○ This includes our central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) and our ○ Peripheral nervous system (relaying info between limbs, skin, organs, glands and CNS) What is a neuron? Neurons are the specialized cells in our nervous system. They receive, integrate and transmit information. What they look like: How do neurons communicate? Works both electrically and chemically. Resting Membrane Potential—when not actively communicating, inside and outside of a neuron differ in their electrical charge. Inside is more negative. ○ Because of the balance of ions (charged atoms like Potassium and Sodium). Dendrites receive chemical signals from other neurons—all the time, by the thousands. These signals work by influencing the neuron’s electrical state—by depolarizing or hyperpolarizing the neuron What does that mean? Depolarizing causes a change in the permeability of the cell membrane, causing the inside to become slightly more positively charged. Sodium channels are opened and allow positively charged Sodium in. This can lead to an action potential (neuron firing). Hyperpolarization means that the neuron becomes even more resistant, therefore, making it harder to create an action potential. Sodium channels resistant to opening. An action potential refers to a neuron actually firing, sending an electrical signal down its axon, to its terminal buttons, thus communicating with other neurons. ○ Due to the change in charge in one place, if it passes the required depolarization threshold, it impacts the electrical charge in the cell membrane near it and the ion channels open down the axon, like dominoes. Action Potentials These depolarizing and hyperpolarizing signals are received by a neuron; if the total amount of depolarization exceeds the neurons’ required threshold, an action potential is generated.  This is an all or none process. Myelin sheath is a fatty insulating material that encompasses the axon and allows for rapid movement of the electrical impulse. MS disease. What about the chemical part of communication? Neurons do not touch one another. Separated by a synaptic cleft or the space between the terminal button of one neuron and dendrite of another. Neurotransmitters (a generic term) are the chemical substances that carry signals across the synaptic cleft. Receptors are specialized protein molecules waiting to receive the neurotransmitters. When a neurotransmitter binds to a receptor, it leads to either depolarization or hyperpolarization of the cell.