Psychology Notes - Chapter 5 & Death/Dying

Chapter 5 Con't Developmental challenges through adulthood -committed relationships seem to be a factor in managing adulthood -important for some people to establish a long term, loving, sexual relationship with another person -- can be difficult to maintain -half marriages in north America end...

Chapter 5 Con't Developmental challenges through adulthood -committed relationships seem to be a factor in managing adulthood -important for some people to establish a long term, loving, sexual relationship with another person -- can be difficult to maintain -half marriages in north America end in divorce -must have realistic expectations entering relationship (may expect partner to behave as other modeled relationships -- can cause issues in relationships) -people all have disagreements -- how we handle -- acknowledge we respect the other and its ok to not agree and work to move forward -sometimes there is violence in the family -- more likely when marital issues, economic stress, poor communication, impulsivity, socially isolated, mental disorders (includes depression or some kind of temporary disordered thinking, substance abuse -feeling socially isolated can be a concern especially for he aged who haven't maintained friendships or children moved away -work and retirement -- positive careers -- affects health and relationships -- retirement routine changes and needs to find a new groove to stay healthy mentally and emotionally -career choices are often driven by high income -- the majority of students advised being very well off is important -- 71% in same survey said raising a family was just as important -successful aging seems to be related to good health, social support, activities -disengagement theory has mostly been abandoned -- most retired individuals are engaged in some way -socioemotional selectivity theory -- can really miss contact with colleagues and those in contact with due to work -- total number of contacts declines in favour to more emotional contacts (friends, selective contacts) -- can choose time and select who to spend time with -- some experience empty nest syndrome -- it's a big change to not be responsible -- gradually find things that fill needs -- there are positives -- don't have to do certain things because children are not relying on them to get something done Attitudes toward Death and Dying Thanatology -as adults we understand three things -- 1 permanence -- once a living thing dies it can't be brought back to life 2 Universality -- all living things eventually die. 3 Nonfunctionality -- all functionality end at death -nonfunctionality is understood first then universality -avoiding talking about death and contributing to age contributes to ageism MAID -- choosing the point where life will be over (because ill and won't recover) Kubler-Ross Stage Theory of Dying Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance Sensation -to detect the world, we need to detect physical energy (a stimulus) and convert it into neural signals -sensation is the physical stimulus and the perception is interpreting the stimulus \*\*\*diagram of areas of the brain\*\*\*quiz?? Slide 3 -somatosensory cortex -- pain, pressure, warmth (feeling things like that) Transduction -conversion of a physical stimuli into changes in the receptor cells of the organs (conversion of one form of energy to another) -- receptors shape receive the same shape molecule (review slide 5) -anatompical ocding -- interprets the location any type of sensory stimuli according to nere fiber are active -- rubbing eye stimulates the nerve fibres in the eye and doesn't know if it is light or pressure triggering activation -psychophysics -- systematic study of relation between the physical characteristics of stimuli and sensation they produce -TEST\*\*\*\* JND -- Just noticeable difference -- the smallest difference between two similar stimuli that can be distinguished (thing of sound on tv -- difference between hearing volume and hearing nothing when adjusting remote volume) -- min deifference between two stimuli required for detection 50% of time -\*\*\*interesting to Prof -- Absolute threshold -- slide 11 -weber's law -- two stimuli must differ by a constant percentage rather than a constant amount to be perceived as different -- ex 40lbs and 41 lbs weight could barely distinguish between 80 and 81lbs same -- ex light needs to be 8% different, weight 2 % diff, tone 3% - the difference threshold is the JND -- \*\*\*test\*\*\* absolute threshold -- the min stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time (minimum value of stimulus) -subliminal threshold -- stimuli are below one's absolute threshold for conscious awareness - as we age our acuity for sounds, light, pressure, taste etc may diminish -- sound is still being produced but don't hear it -- can we detect subliminal messages? Experiment how long it took to decode face expression and studied if the brief flash of image was detectable and it was even tho it wasn't presented long enough to decode completely it was still processed -signal detection theory -- how and when we detect a stimulus among background stimulus (noise) reactions can vary -- experience, expectation motivation and level of fatigue -bottom up processing -- analysis of the stimulus starting with sense receptor -- vision to brain -- interpret what senses detect -- allows to quickly identify sensory input -top down processing -- info processing guided by higher-level mental processes -- like when something is missing and we fill in the blanks bc of what we expect to see -- use the info we have based on our experience and consider the context and interpret the info we have -making sense of complexity -- -sensing the world -- natures gift that suits the need of the organism -- our ears are more sensitive to human voices for example -sensory adaptation -- diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant stimulation (ex bandaid, travelling on a plane sound and seat uncomfortableness -sense the world not how it is but how useful it is to us -- when there is an image the sensory info fatigues, visually the stimulus is light -- other organisms are sensitive to other parts of the visible spectrum Wavelength -- the hue or colour -- peak of wave to the next peak -- short wavelength or high bitch sounds and blue colour -- low freq is low frequency sound and red colours -different wavelengths of light result in different colours -nm is nanometer Intensity -- brightness is determined by the amplitude of wave -- large (high) wave bright colours and loud sounds -- low wave dull colours and quiet sound The Eye and its Functions \*\*\*\*diagram\*\*\*test (brain, nervous system and eye know for test or final) slide 26 Cornea -- protects the eye and bends light Pupil -- light passes through (small slit) Iris is colored part of eye -- contracts or expands (dialates or restricts)depending on the light that it takes (intensity of light) as well as with emotions Lens -- behind pupil -- focuses light on retina Sclera is white of the eye outer surface -- Aqueous humour -- pouch filled with fluid -- regulates pressure in eye Curvature of the lens -- causes images to be focused on the inner surface at the back of the eye -- images are upside down and reversed but brain adjusted -- lens changes shape to focus Eye and functions -- visual acuity or how well can see -- little divot at back of eye to fovea -Normal sight Nearsighted -- too long so image is in front of fovea Farsightedness -- too shorts so image is behind fovea -rods are black and white -cones are colour -slide 29 -- needs to understand how it works -- photoreceptor to bipolar cell to ganglion cell -photoreceptor -- rods and cones -- sends messages to each other rods are sensitive to light but not colour focused on detail -- cones perceive colour and function when level of light is bright enough to see clearly -- 130 million receptor rods and cones in eye -slide 31 -- neural impulse comes in, fovea only contains cones \*\*\*good test question\*\*\* fovea \*\*\* -blind spot is at optic nerve -- no receptor cells where optic nerve (draw a dot on a page and 4" away draw a star, close left eye and focus on the spot, when both eyes open can see both spot and star) -not going to ask us about macula lutea but need to know main parts and functions (slide 32)