Unit VI

Memory

• the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information. 

The Memory Process

• Encoding
• the processing of information into the memory system
• Storage
• the retention of encoded material over time
• Retrieval 
• the process of  getting the information out of memory

Recall v. Recognition

• with recall- you must retrieve information from your memory (fill-in-the-blank)
• with recognition- you must identify the target from possible thought (multiple-choice)

Flashbulb Memory 

• a clear moment of an emotionally significant moment or event

Types of Memory

• Sensory Memory
• immediate, initial recording of sensory information in the memory system
• stored just for an instant, and most gets unprocessed 
• Short-Term Memory
• memory that hold a few items briefly
• seven digits (plus or minus two)
• information will be stored long-term or be forgotten
• working memory
• another way of describing the use of short-term memory
• 3 parts
• audio
• visual
• integration of audio and visual (controls where your attention lies)
• Long-Term Memory
• the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system

Automatic Processing

• unconscious encoding of incidental information
• you can encode space, time, and word meaning w/o effort
• things can become automatic with practice

Effortful Processing 

• encoding the requires attention and conscious effort
• rehearsal is the most common effortful processing technique
• through enough rehearsal, what was effortful becomes automatic

Encoding

• the next-in-line effect
• we seldom remember what the person has just said or done if we are next

Spacing Effect

• we encode better when we study or practice over time
• DO NOT CRAM

Serial Positioning Effect

• tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list

Types of Encoding

• semantic encoding- the encoding of meaning, like the meaning of words
• acoustic encoding- the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words
• visual encoding- the encoding of picture images

Tricks to encode

• use imagery: mental pictures
• mnemonic devices use imagery

Chunking

• organizing items into familiar, manageable units 
• often will occur automatically

Types of LTM

• Explicit (Declarative)- recalls facts with conscious thought
• Implicit (Nondeclarative)- routine; recall without declarative memory

Relative Failure

• Practice interference
• the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information
• retroactive interference
• the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Misinformation Effect

• incorporation misleading information into one's memory of an event

Video: 

Learning

Associative Learning

• learning that certain events occur together (diet and workout)

Types of Learning

Classical Conditioning

• Ivan Pavlov- studied dog behavior
• learned response to an UCS

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

• a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

• the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the UCS

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

• originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with the UCS, comes to trigger a response

Conditioned Response (CR)

• the learned response to a previously neutral stimulus

Pavlov's 5 Stages of Learning

1. Acquisition 
• the initial stage of learning 
• the phase where the neutral stimulus is associated with the UCS so that the neutral stimulus comes to elicit the CR (thus becoming the CS)
2. Extinction 
• the diminishing of a conditioned response
3. Spontaneous Recovery
• the reappearance after a rest period of an extinguished conditioned response
4. Generalization
• the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the CS to elicit similar responses
5. Discrimination 
• the learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other stimuli that does not signal UCS.

Operant Conditioning

• a type of learning in which behavior is stregnthed if followed by reinforcement or diminished if followed by punishment

Classical v. Operant

• they both use acquisition, discrimination, SR, generalization, and extinction
• classical conditioning is automatic
• operant conditioning involves behavior where one can influence their environment with behaviors which have consequences 

The Law of Effect

• Edward Thorndike 
• rewarded behavior is likely to occur

B.F Skinner

• Shaping
• procedure in operant conditioning in which reinforcers guide behavior closer and closer towards a goal
• Reinforcer
• any event that STRENGTHENS the behavior it follows 
• two types: positive and negative
• Positive Reinforcer 
• stregnthens a response by presenting a stimulus after a response 
• Negative Reinforcer
• strengthens a response by reducing or removing an adverse stimulus

Punishment

• any event that WEAKENS the behavior that it follows
• Positive punishment 
• something bad is added in order to decrease an unwanted stimulus 
• spanking, speeding ticket
• Negative Punishment
• something good is removed to cause an unwanted behavior to decrease 
• taking phone up, grounded

Primary Reinforcer

• an innately reinforcing stimulus

Conditioned (Secondary) Reinforcer

• a stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer

Reinforcement Schedules 

• Continuous Reinforcement 
• reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs
• Partial Reinforcement
• reinforcing a response only part of the time 
• the acquisition process is slower
• greater resistance to extinction 
• Fixed-Ratio Schedule
• a schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of resoponses
• Variable-Ratio Schedule
• a schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses
• Fixed-Interval Schedule
• schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed 
• Variable-Interval Schedule 
• schedule of reinforcement that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

Token Economy

• every time a desired behavior is performed, a token is given
• they can trade tokens in for a variety of prizes (reinforcements)
• used in homes, prisons, mental institutions, and schools

Observational Learning

• Albert Bandura and his BoBo Doll
• we learn through modeling behavior from others
• observational learning + operant learning = Social Learning Theory

Latent Learning

• sometimes learning is not immediately evident 

Insight Learning

• some animals learn through the "ah ha" moment

States of Consiousness

• sleep, hypnosis, drugs

Sleep

• sleep is a stage of consciousness
• less aware of our surroundings

Why do we Daydream?

• can help us prepare for future events
• can nourish our social development
• can substitute for impulsive behavior

Fantasy Prone Personalities

• someone who imagines and recalls experiences with lifelike vividness and who spends considerable time fantasizing 

Biological Rhythms

• annual cycles: seasonal variations (bears hibernation)
• 28 day cycles: menstrual cycle
• 24 hour cycle: our circadian rhythms 
• 90 Minute cycle: sleep cycle 

Circadian Rhythms

• our 24 hour biological clock
• our body temperature and awareness changes throughout the day
• it is best to take a test or study during your circadian peaks

Sleep Stages

• there are 5 identified stages of sleep 
• it takes about 90-100 minutes to pass through the 5 stages 
• the brains's waves will change according to the sleep stage you are in
• the first 4 stages are known as NREM sleep
• 5th is call REM sleep

Stage 1

• kind of awake, kind of asleep
• only lasts for a few minutes, and you usually experience it once a night
• eyes begin to roll slightly
• your brain produces theta waves (high amplitude, low frequency)

Stage 2 

• follows stage 1 and is the "baseline" of sleep 
• part of the 90 minute cycle and occupies approximately 15-60% of sleep
• more theta waves that get progressivley slower
• begin to shop sleep spindles (short bursts of rapid brain waves

Stages 3 and 4

• slow wave sleep
• you produce delta waves
• if awoken you will be very groggy
• vital for restoring the body's growth hormones and good overall health
• may last 15-30 minutes 
• it is call "slow wave" sleep because brain activity slows down dramatically from the "theta" rhythm of stage 2 to a much slower rhythm called "delta" and the height or amplitude of the waves increase dramatically

REM Sleep

• Rapid eye movement
• brain is very active
• dreams usually occur in REM
• body is essentially paralyzed
• composes 20-25% of normal nights sleep 
• breathing, heart rate and brain wave activity quicken 
• vivid dreams can occur
• from REM, you go back to stage 2

Sleeping Disorders

Insomnia

• persistent problems falling asleep
• affects 10% of the population

Narcolepsy

• suffer from sleeplessness and may fall asleep at unpredictable or inappropriate times
• directly into REM sleep
• less than .001% of the population

Sleep Apnea 

• a person stops breathing in their sleep 
• wake up immediately, gasps for air, then falls back asleep
• very common, especially in heavy males

Night Terrors

• a sleep disorder charcterized by high arousal and an appereance of being terrified
• occur in stage 4, not REM, and are not often remembered

Sleep-Walking (Somnambulism)

• sleepwalking is a sleep disorder affecting and estimated 10% of all humans at least once in their lives
• sleep walking most often occurs during non-REM sleep early in the night.

Dreams

• a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind
• Manifest content
• the remembered story line of a dream
• Latent Content
• the underlying meaning of a dream

Freud's Wish-Fulfillment Theory

• dreams are the key to understanding our inner conflicts
• ideas that are hidden in our unconsciousness
• manifest and latent content

Information-Processing Theory

• dreams act to sort out and understand the memories that you experience that day
• REM sleep does increase after stressful events

Activation-Synthesis Theory

• during the night our brain stem releases random neural activity, dreams may be a way to make sense of this activity

Video

Unit V

Sensation and Perception

• ·         Sensation- your window to the world
• ·         Perception- interpreting what comes in your window.

Sensation

• ·         The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive stimulus from the environment

Bottom-Up Processing

• ·         Begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information
• ·         Thalamus

Top-Down Processing

• ·         Information processing guided by higher level mental processes

Absolute Threshold

• ·         The minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time

Difference Threshold                   

• ·         The minimum difference that a person can detect between two stimuli
• ·         Also known as Just Noticeable Difference

Weber’s Law

• ·         The idea that, to perceive a difference between two stimuli, they must differ by a constant percentage; not a constant amount

Signal Detection Theory

• ·         Predicts how we detect a stimulus amid another stimuli

Sensory Adaptation

• ·         Decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation

Selective Attention

• ·         The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
• 
  

·         Cocktail-party Phenomenon

o   The ability to focus one’s listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises, ignoring other conversations

Vision

• ·         Our most dominating sense
• ·         The height of a wave gives us its intensity (brightness)
• ·         The length of the wave gives us its hue (color)
• ·         The longer the way the more red
• ·         The shorter the wavelength the violet
• ·         Parts of the Eye:
• 
  

Transduction

• ·         Transforming signals into neural impulses
• ·         Information goes from the senses to the thalamus, then to the various areas in the brain
• ·         Ex:

o   Light energy to vision

o   Chemical energy to smell and taste

o   Sound waves to sound

Color Vision

·         Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (three color theory)

o   Three types of cones

§  Red

§  Blue

§  Green

o   These three types of cones can make millions of combinations of colors

o   Most colorblind people simply lack cone receptor cells for one or more of these primary colors.

·         Opponent Process Theory

o   The sensory receptors come in pairs

§  Red/Green

§  Yellow/Blue

§  Black/White

o   If one color is stimulated, the other is inhibited

Hearing

• the height of the wave gives us the amplitude of the sound
• the frequency of the wave gives us the pitch of the sound
• Parts of the Ear:

Transduction in the Ear

1. 1.       Sound waves hit the eardrum then anvil then hammer then stirrup then oval window
2. 2.       Everything is just vibrating
3. 3.       Then the cochlea vibrates
4. 4.       The cochlea is lined with mucus called basilar membrane
5. 5.       In basilar membrane there are hair cells
6. 6.       When hair cells vibrate they turn vibrations into neural impulses which are called organ of Corti
7. 7.       sent then to the thalamus up the auditory nerve

Pitch Theories of Hearing

·         Place Theory

o   Different hairs vibrate in the cochlea when there are different pitches

o   So some hairs vibrate when they hear high pitches and other vibrate when they hear low pitches

·         Frequency Theory

o   All the hairs vibrate at different speeds

Deafness

·         Conduction Deafness

o   Something goes wrong with the sound and the vibration on the way to the cochlea

o   You can replace the bones or get a hearing aid to help

·         Nerve (Sensorineural) Deafness

o   The Hair Cells in the cochlea get damaged

o   Loud noises can cause this type of deafness

o   NO WAY to replace the hairs

o   Cochlea implant is possible

Smell and Taste

• ·         SENSORY INTERACTION: the principle that one sense may influence another.

Taste

• ·         We have bumps on our tongue called papillae
• ·         Taste buds are located on the papillae (they are actually all over the mouth)
• ·         Sweet (tip of tongue), salty (front side of the tongue), sour (back of the tongue), bitter (base of the tongue), umami (where you have favorable taste that stays on your tongue)

Touch

• receptors located in our skin
• gate control theory of pain
• spinal cord contains a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass onto the brain

Vestibular Sense

• tells us where our body parts are
• receptors located in our muscles and joints

Perception

• the process of organizing and interpreting information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Gestalt Philosophy 

• the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Figure Ground Relationship

• the organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that stand out from the surroundings (ground)

Grouping 

• the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into groups that we undersand
• Types
• Proximity
• Continuity
• Similarity
• Connectedness

Depth Perception

• the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two dimensional
• allows us to judge distance

Binocular Cues

• Retinal disparity
• a binocular cue for seeing depth
• the closer an object comes to you, the greater the disparity

The Eye

The Ear

Sensation & Perception

Unit IV

  The Neuron system

o   It starts with an individual nerve cell called a neuron

·         How does a neuron fire?

o   Resting potential: Slightly negative charge

o   Reach the threshold when enough neurotransmitters reach dendrites

o   It is an electrochemical process

§  Electric inside the neuron

§  Chemical outside the neuron (in the synapse in the form of a neurotransmitter)

§  The firing is called Action Potential

o   The all or nothing response

§  The idea that either the neuron fires or it does not-no part way firing

§  Like a gun

·         Neurotransmitter:

o   Chemical messengers released by terminal buttons through the synapse

o   There are 4 type of neurotransmitter:

o   Acetylcholine:

§  Deals with motor movement and memory

§  Lack of ACH has been linked to Alzheimer’s disease

o   Dopamine:

§  Deals with motor movement and alertness

§  Lack of Dopamine has been linked to Parkinson’s disease

§  Too much has been linked to schizophrenia

o   Serotonin:

§  Involved in mood control

§  Lack of Serotonin has been linked to clinical depression

o   Endorphins:

§  Involved in pain control

§  Many of our most addictive drug deals with endorphins

§  Drug can be…

ü  Agonist: make neuron fire

ü  Antagonist: stop neuron fire

·         Sensory Neuron (Afferent Neuron):

o   Take information from the senses to the brain

·         Inter-Neuron:

o   Take messages from sensory neuron to the other parts of the neuron or to the motor neuron.

·         Motor Neuron:

o   Take information from brain to rest of the body.

·         Central Nervous System:

o   Consist of the brain and spinal cord

·         Peripheral Nervous System:

o   All nerves that are not incased in bones

o   Everything but the brain and spinal cord.

o   Is divided into two categories ... somatic and autonomic

o   Somatic Nervous System:

§  Control voluntary muscle movement

§  Use motor (efferent) neuron

Sympathetic Nervous System

·         Fight or flight response

·         Automatically accelerates heart rate, breathing, dilates pupils, slows down digestion

Parasympathetic Nervous System

·         Automatically slows the body down after a stressful event

·         Heart rate and breathing slow down, pupils constrict and digestion speeds up

Reflexes

·         Normally, sensory (afferent) neurons take info up through spine to the brain

·         Some reactions occur when sensory neurons reach just the spinal cord

The Brain

·         Made up of neurons and glial cells

·         Glial cells support neural cells

Lesions

·         Cutting into the brain and looking for change
Brain tumors also lesion brain tissue

Brain Structures:

·         Medulla Oblongata

o   Heart rate

o   Breathing

o   Blood pressure

·         Pons

o   Connects hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain together

o   Involved in facial expressions

·         Cerebellum

o   Located in the back of our head- means little brain

o   Coordinates muscle movements

·         Midbrain

o   Coordinates simple movements with sensory information

o   Contains the reticular formation: arousal and ability to focus attention

·         Thalamus

o   In forebrain

o   Receives sensory information and sends them to appropriate areas of forebrain

o   Like a switchboard

o   Everything but smell

Limbic System

·         Emotional control center of the brain

·         Made up of Hypothalamus, Amygdala and Hippocampus

Hypothalamus

·         Pea sized in the brain, but plays a not so pea sized role

·         Body temperature

·         Hunger

·         Thirst

·         Sexual Arousal (libido)

Hippocampus and Amygdala

·         Hippocampus is involved in memory processing

·         Amygdala is vital for our basic emotions

Cerebral Cortex

·         Top layer of our brain

·         Contains wrinkles called fissures

·         The fissures increase surface area of our brain

·         Laid out it would be about the size of a large pizza

Hemispheres

·         Divided into a left and right hemisphere

·         Contralateral controlled- left controls right side of a body and vise versa

·         Lefties are better at spatial and creative tasks

·         Righties are better at logic

Split-Brain Patients

·         Corpus Callosum attaches the two hemispheres of cerebral cortex

·         When removed you have a split-brain patient

Four Lobes:

1.       Frontal Lobes

a.       Abstract thought and emotional control

b.      Contains Motor Cortex: sends signals to our body controlling muscle movements

c.       Contains the Broca’s Area: responsible for controlling muscles that produce speech

d.      Damage to Broca’s Area is called Broca’s Aphasia: unable to make movements to talk

2.       Parietal Lobes

a.       Contains Sensory Cortex: receives incoming touch sensations from rest of body

b.      Most of the Parietal Lobes are made up of Association Areas

c.       Association Areas: any area not associated with receiving sensory information or coordinating muscle movements

3.       Occipital Lobes

a.       Deals with vision

b.      Contains Visual Cortex: interprets messages from our eyes into images we can understand

4.       Temporal Lobes

a.       Process sound sensed by our ears

b.      Contains Wernike’s Area: interprets written and spoken speech

c.       Wernike’s Aphasia: unable to understand language: the syntax and grammar jumbled

Developmental Psychology

·         The study of you from the womb to the tomb

Nature vs Nurture

·         While going through this units always has been in the back of your head

·         Are you who you are because of

o   The way you were born - Nature

o   The way you were raised – Nurture

Physical Development

·         Focus on our physical changes over time

Prenatal Development

·         Conception begins with the drop of an egg and the release of about 200 million sperm

·         The sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to penetrate the eggs surface

·         Once the sperm penetrates the egg we have a fertilized egg called The Zygote:

o   The first stage of prenatal development. Lasts about two weeks and consists of rapid cell division.

·         After two weeks, the zygote develops into an Embryo

o   Lasts about 6 weeks

o   Heart begins to beat and the organs begin to develop.

·         Fetus

o   By nine weeks

Teratogens

·         Chemical agents that can harm the prenatal environment

o   Alcohol

o   STDS

§  HIV

§  Herpes

§  Genital Warts

Puberty

·         The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing            

Primary Sexual Characteristics

·         Body structures that make reproduction possible.           

Secondary Sexual Characteristics

·         Non-reproductive sexual characteristics

Landmark for Puberty                        

·         Menarche for girls

·         First ejaculation for boys (spermarche)

5 Stages of Death (Elizabeth Kubler-Ross)

1.       Denial

2.       Anger

3.       Bargaining

4.       Depression

5.       Acceptance

Attachment

·         The most important social construction an infant must develop is attachment (a bond with a caregiver)

·         Lorenz discovered that some animals form attachment through imprinting

·         Harry Harlow and his monkeys

·         Harry showed that monkeys needed touch to form attachment

·         Critical Period

o   the optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produce proper development

o   Those who are deprived of touch have trouble forming attachment when they are older

·         Types of Attachment

o   Secure

§  You welcome the parent back after the return

o   Avoidant

§  A baby ignores a parent when they leave or return

o   Anxious/ambivalent

§  Where a baby has disorganized thoughts toward a parents return

Parenting Styles

·         Authoritarian style

o   Parents are in charge

·         Permissive parents

o   Children are in charge

·         Authoritative parents

o   Children have input into decisions

Erik Erikson                    

·         Thought that our personality was influenced by our experience with others

·         Trust v Mistrust

o   Is my world predictable and supportive?

o   Can a baby trust the world to fulfill its needs?

o   The trust or mistrust they develop can carry on with the child for the rest of their lives

·         Autonomy v Shame and Doubt

o   Toddlers begin to control their bodies (toilet training)

o   Control temper tantrums

o   Big word is “NO”

o   Can they learn control or will they doubt themselves?

·         Initiative v Guilt

o   Word turns from “NO” to “WHY”

o   Want to understand the world and ask questions

o   Is the curiosity encouraged or scolded?

·         Industry v Inferiority

o   School begins

o   We are for the first time educated by a formal system and our peers

o   Do we feel good or bad about our accomplishments?

·         Identity v Role Confusion

o   In our teenage years, we try out different roles

o   Who am I?

o   What group do I fit in with?

o   If I do not find myself I may develop an identity crisis

·         Intimacy v Isolation

o   Have to balance work and relationships

o   What are my priorities?

·         Generatively v Stagnation

o   Is everything going as planned?

o   Am I happy with what I created?

o   Mid-life crisis

·         Integrity v Despair

o   Look back on life

o   Was my life meaningful or do I have regret?

Jean Piaget

·         Kids learn differently from adults

·         Schemas

o   Ways we interpret the world around us

·         Assimilation

o   Incorporating new experiences into existing schemas

·         Accommodation

o   Changing an existing schema to adopt to new information

·         Stages of Cognitive Development

o   Sensorimotor Stage

§ Experience the world through our senses

§ Do NOT have object permanence

§ 0-2

o   Preoperational Stage

§ 2-7

§ Have object permanence

§ Begin to use language to represent objects and ideas

§ Egocentric: cannot look at the world through anyone’s eyes but their own

§ Conservation

·         Refers to the idea that a quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance and is part of logical thinking

o   Concrete Operational Stage

§ Can demonstrate concept of conservation

§ Learn to think logically

§ Inductive reasoning

§ 7-11

o   Formal Operational Stage

§ Abstract reasoning

§ Manipulate objects in our minds without seeing them

§ Hypothesis testing

§ Trial and error

§ Metacognition

§ Not every adult gets to this stage

Types of Intelligence

§  Crystalized Intelligence

o   Accumulated knowledge

o   Increases with age

§  Fluid Intelligence

o   Ability to solve problem quickly and think abstractly

o   Peaks around 20 then decreases after

Lawrence Kohlberg

Pre-Conventional Morality

§  Morality base on rewards and punishments

Conventional Morality

§  Look at morality based on how others see you

§  If your peers, or society, thinks it is wrong, then so do you

Post Conventional Morality

§  Based on self-defined ethical principles

§  Your own personal set of ethics