PSYCH; Lecture 1, 2, 3 and 4 - Introduction, Health, beliefs and behaviour, Attention and Perception, Brain and Behaviour Flashcards

1
Q

What is learning?

A

A process by which experience produces a relatively enduring change in an organisms behaviour or capabilities - behavioural (overt) or cognitive (covert)

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2
Q

What are the three elements of a behaviour?

A

Antecedent (env conditions or stimulus changes that exist before the behaviour of interest, may either be internal/external to subject) ===> Behaviour (behaviour of interest emitted by the subject and future instances of this behaviour will be influenced by both antecedents and consequences) ===> Consequence (stimulus change that follows the behaviour of interest)

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3
Q

What are the basic learning processes?

A

Classical conditioning (learning what events signal), operant conditioning (learning one thing leads to another) and observational learning (learning from others)

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4
Q

What is an unconditioned stimulus?

A

A stimulus that elicits a reflexive or innate response (the UCR) without prior learning

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5
Q

What is an unconditioned response?

A

A reflexive or innate response that is elicited by a stimulus (the UCS) without prior learning

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6
Q

What is a conditioned stimulus?

A

A stimulus that, through association with a UCS, comes to elicit a conditioned response similar to the original UCR

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7
Q

What is a conditioned response?

A

A response elicited by a conditioned stimulus.

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8
Q

What is classical conditioning and when is it strongest?

A

Repeated CS-UCS pairings; UCS is more intense and sequence involves forward pairing (CS -> UCS); time interval between CS and UCS is short

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9
Q

What is extinction?

A

The weakening and eventual disappearance of a response because it is no longer reinforced - when CS is presented without the pairing of UCS, it leads to extinction

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10
Q

What is stimulus generalisation?

A

A tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar, but not identical , to a conditioned stimulus. E.g. responding to a buzzer, or a hammer banging, when the conditioning stimulus was a bell; CR is elicited but in a weaker form

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11
Q

What is stimulus discrimination?

A

The ability to respond differently to various stimuli. E.g. A child will respond differently to various bells (alarms, school, timer); A fear of dogs might only include certain breeds

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12
Q

What is overshadowing?

A

When two or more more stimuli are present, and one stimulus produces a stronger response than the other because it is more relevant or salient.- e.g. cancer patients which were given novelty drinks when going to clinic reduced their nausea

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13
Q

What was Little Albert’s experiment?

A

Five days after conditioning he was tested with other objects like rats, wooden blocks, rabbit, dogs, Santa Claus mask -> led to strong fear to rat, rabbit, dog and coat but nothing to the mask

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14
Q

What is fear learning - needle injection e.g.?

A

Traumatic injection -> pain and fear; so trauma (UCS) and needle (CS) -> fear response (UCR); then leads to clinic setting (CS) leading to fear response (CR)

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15
Q

What is the two factor theory of maintenance of classically conditioned associations?

A

The UCS+CS-> UCR (fear response) which leads to avoidance of CS (injections), which reduces fear and tendency to avoid is reinforced

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16
Q

What is thorndike’s law of effect?

A

A response followed by a satisfying consequence will be more likely to occur. A response followed by an aversive consequence will become less likely to occur

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17
Q

What is operant conditioning?

A

Behaviour learned and maintained by its consequences

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18
Q

What is positive reinforcement?

A

Occurs when response is strengthened by subsequent presentation of reinforcer

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19
Q

What are primary/secondary reinforcers?

A

1ry: those needed for survival -> food, water, sleep, sex; 2ry: stimuli that acquire reinforcing properties through their association with 1ry reinforcers -> money, praise

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20
Q

What is negative reinforcement?

A

Occurs when a response is strengthened by removal/avoidance of aversive stimulus e.g. painkiller use is reinforced by removing pain

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21
Q

What is positive punishment?

A

Response is weakened by presentation of stimulus (squirting cat with water when it jumps on table)

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22
Q

What is negative punishment?

A

Occurs when response is weakened by removal of stimulus (phone confiscated)

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23
Q

What is the difference between reinforcement and punishment?

A

Reinforcement is a more potent influence on behaviour than punishment as punishment can only make response less frequent, not teaching a new behaviour

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24
Q

What is resistance to extinction?

A

Degree to which non-reinforced responses persist

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25
Q

What are the different kind of schedules for reinforcement and how do they affect the response to the stimulus?

A
  • Fixed interval schedule: reinforcement occurs after fixed time interval.
  • Variable interval schedule: the time interval varies at random around an average.
  • Fixed Ratio Schedule: reinforcement is given after a fixed number of responses.
  • Variable Ratio Schedule: reinforcement is given after a variable number of responses, all centered around an average.
  • Continuous produces more rapid learning than partial reinforcement (association between behaviour and consequences is easier to understand) BUT continuously reinforced responses extinguish more rapidly than partially reinforced responses (shift to no reinforcement is sudden and easier to understand)
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26
Q

How is chronic pain operantly conditioned?

A

Chronic pain behaviour is often reinforced by family/staff by being overly sympathetic which is also reinforced by gratitude signals from patient - cycle where patient receives =ve consequences for being in pain so pain = more likely

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27
Q

What is the cognitive approach?

A

Humans are active info processors and think about relationship between behaviour and consequence -> social imitation may hasten/short-cut the acquisition of new behaviours without the necessity of reinforcing

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28
Q

What is Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory - observational learning and reinforcement?

A

Obs learning: observe behaviours of other and consequence of those behaviours; vicarious reinforcement: if their behaviours are reinforced we tend to imitate the behaviours

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29
Q

When does observational learning occur and what are the steps to successful modelling?

A

Occurs by watching and imitating actions of other person/noting consequences of person’s actions - NB: before direct practice is allowed. Steps to successful modelling = pay attention to model; remember what was done; able to reproduce modeled behaviour and if successful/behaviour is rewarded then more likely to occur

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30
Q

What is the Bobo doll experiment?

A
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31
Q

When is social learning more likely to occur?

A

If model is seen to be rewarded; high status; similar to us; friendly

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32
Q

What is sensation?

A

The stimulus detection system by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain

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33
Q

What is perception?

A

The active process of organising the stimulus output and giving it meaning

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34
Q

What are the 5 senses?

A
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35
Q

How is perception an active process?

A

Top-down: Processing in light of existing knowledge: motives, expectations, experiences, culture. E.g. ‘backmasking

Bottom up: Individual elements are combined to make a unified perception

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36
Q

Which factors affect perception (top down)?

A

Attention; Past experiences (Poor children and adults overestimate the size of coins compared to affluent people (Ashley et al., 1951)); Current drive state (e.g. arousal state) (Hunger: when hungry, more likely to notice food-related stimuli ( Seibt et al., 2007)); Emotions (Anxiety increases threat perception); Individual values; Environment; Cultural background

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37
Q

What are figure-ground relations?

A

Our tendency to organise stimuli into central or foreground and a background - focus if figure, all else is background

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38
Q

What is the continuity Gestalt Law?

A

When eye is compelled to move through one object and continue to another object

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39
Q

What is the similarity Gestalt Law?

A

Similar things are perceived as being grouped together

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40
Q

What is the proximity Gestalt Law?

A

Object near each other are grouped together

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41
Q

What is the closure Gestalt Law?

A

Things are grouped together if they seem to complete some entity

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42
Q

What is visual agnosia?

A

Basic vision spared; Primary visual cortex can be mostly intact; Patient not blind; Knowledgeable about information from other senses (e.g. if they touch an object then naming is typically simple) - associated with bilateral lesions to the occipital, occipitotemporal, occipitoparietal

43
Q

What are the 2 types of visual agnosia?

A
44
Q

What is the difference in the types of visual agnosia?

A
45
Q

What is attention?

A

Process of focusing conscious awareness, providing heightened sensitivity to a limited range of experience requiring more intensive processing -> focus on certain aspect and filter out other info

46
Q

What are the 2 components of attention?

A

Focused attention (spotlight); divided attention (paying attention to more than one thing at once)

47
Q

Which stimulus factors affect attention?

A
48
Q

Which personal factors affect attention?

A

Motives, interests, threats, mood, arousal

49
Q

What is the link between attention and response?

A

Intertwined with other cognitive processes (e.g. memory and perception). Sensory buffers register information for a few seconds which can be used to select which information to focus on. Limited capacity for short term memory. But, there is evidence that we can unconsciously perceive information not attended to.

50
Q

What is the cocktail party effect?

A

We can focus our attention on one person’s voice in spite of all the other conversations - but when we hear our name we can process that information and react to it

51
Q

What occurs when automatic tasks are taken up whilst multitasking?

A

Multi-tasking is easiest when skills are automatic and tasks are not too similar (e.g. writing an essay whilst listening to music). But, multitasking leads to competing processes and influences how each task is carried out

52
Q

When do incorrect actions occur?

A

Correct response is not most habitual or strongest; Full attention not given to task; High levels of stress or anxiety present

53
Q

When do medical mistakes occur?

A
54
Q

What is medical student syndrome?

A

A psychological condition amongst medical trainees that experience symptoms of the disease or diseases that they are studying; High workload, stress of exams, high anxiety related to new clinical experiences, and exposure to medical knowledge. This knowledge affects symptom perception via expectations are beliefs that arise from it. This leads to selective attention to physical symptoms and misinterpretation (e.g. I have X disease) leading to preoccupation

55
Q

How do we perceive bodily symptoms?

A

Focus of attention contributes to the perception of our bodily symptoms

56
Q

What is pain?

A

Important sign that body has been damaged/ something s wrong -> acute pain protects us from damage/ infection

57
Q

How is chronic pain different to acute pain?

A

If its there for 3 months/longer, it is possible that original damage has healed but pain pathways are more oversensitised/disregulated -> after 3 months of stimulation to pain pathway,, molecular changes to RNA in neurones of spinal cord -> cortical reorganisation demonstrated s result of maladaptive comping strategies

58
Q

How is pain perceived in chronic pain?

A
59
Q

What is the gate theory of pain?

A

Pain signals compete to get through gate whch can be opened/closed by psych factors -> explains pain relief by rubbing it better

60
Q

How does the mind process pain? (not exam important)

A

Very complex -> various areas to deal with pain; chronic pain lights up different areas of the brain c.f. to acute pain

61
Q

What is the fear-avoidance model of chronic pain?

A

There is strong relationships between areas; pain breeds avoidance which perpetuates stress, low moods, anxiety

62
Q

What is language?

A

A system of symbols and rules that enables us to communicate -> no humans yet discovered without language -> innate vs exposure with bone env and organic factors important

63
Q

What is the structure of language?

A

Phoneme: smallest unit of speech sound in a language that can signal a difference in meaning (44 in english); morphemes: smallest units of meaning in a language (typically consist of one syllable, and combined into words)

64
Q

What is syntax?

A

Rules and principles which govern the way in which morphemes and words can be combined to communicate meaning in a particular language -> universal grammar is widely accepted (under normal conditions develop language with particular properties

65
Q

How does language develop (1-12 months)?

A
66
Q

How does lamguage develop (12months - 5years)?

A
67
Q

What is the critical period in language acquisition?

A
68
Q

When is it easiest to acquire a second language?

A
69
Q

How does genetics affect language development?

A

Huge individual differences in language ability, some of which depends on genetic factors

70
Q

Where is language located in the brain?

A

Hemispheric specialization for language. 95% of right-handed people have left-hemisphere dominance for language, 18.8% of left-handed people have right-hemisphere dominance for language function. Additionally, 19.8% of the left-handed have bilateral language functions.

71
Q

What is Broca’s Aphasia?

A

Non-fluent speech impaired repetition, poor ability to produce syntactically correct sentences, intact comprehension

72
Q

What is Wernicke’s aphasia?

A

Problems in comprehending speech (input/reception of language); fluent meaningless speech; paraphasias, semantic/phonemic paraphasias, neologisms; poor repetition, impairment in writing

73
Q

What is paraphasias - semantic and phonemic?

A

Errors in producing specific words -> semantic (subs in words with similar meaning); phonemic (subs in words with similar sounds)

74
Q

What are neologisms?

A

Non-words - e.g.: galump

75
Q

What is the arcuate fasciculus?

A

Bundle of axons that forms part of the superior longitudinal fasciculus. The arcuate bidirectionally connects caudal temporal cortex and inferior parietal cortex to locations in the frontal lobe.

76
Q

Summarise the different types of aphasias explaining comprehension and expression capabilities

A
77
Q

Which conditions are associated with aphasia?

A
78
Q

What is dysexecutive syndrome?

A

Disruption of executive function and is closely related to frontal lobe damage -> Cognitve, emotional and behavioural synptoms

79
Q

What are executing functioning skills?

A

The mental processes that enable us to plan, focus attention, remember instructions, and juggle multiple tasks successfully.

80
Q

What are the causes of dysexecutive syndromes?

A

Head trauma, tumours, degenerative diseases, and cerebrovascular disease, as well as in several psychiatric conditions

81
Q

What are other parts of the brain involved in executive syndromes?

A

Pre-frontal cortex and subcortical structures -> explains how parkinson’s shows some prefrontal cortex issues

82
Q

What are the behavioural and emotional aspects of the dysexecutive syndrome?

A
83
Q

What are the cognitive aspects of the dysexecutive syndrome?

A

Attentional and working memory difficulties; Poor planning and organisation; Difficulty coping with novel situations and unstructured tasks; Difficulty switching from task to task; Difficulty keeping track of multiple tasks; Difficulty with complex/abstract thinking

84
Q

Why are we getting fatter?

A

Obesity is complex but there is increased calorie intake, auto-dependency (obesity falls with increased walking/cycling)

85
Q

What are the 5 modern day killers?

A

Dietary excess, alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, smoking, unsafe sexual behaviour

86
Q

How do we tackle disease?

A

We can change behaviour

87
Q

What is health behaviour?

A

Any activity undertaken by an individual believing himself to be healthy, for the purpose of preventing disease or detecting it at an asymptomatic stage

88
Q

What did the alameda study discover?

A

List of 7 health behaviours which if you practice all 7, have mortality reduced by 1/4 than those who practiced 3 or less -> Not smoking/snacking, eating breakfast, regular exercise, getting 7-8h sleep, moderate alcohol, moderate weight

89
Q

At what level can we intervene to change health behaviours?

A

Popn, community or individual

90
Q

What is an example of a popn-wide intervention?

A

Change 4 life

91
Q

What is the role of education in health behaviour change?

A

Information has important role -> effective for discrete behaviours; messages tailored to particular audience (more effective) -> BUT often need more than knowledge to change habitual lifestyle behaviours, particularly addictive behviours

92
Q

What are the cues for unhealthy eating?

A

Visual (eg. fast food signs, sweets at checkout) Auditory (eg. ice cream bell) Olfactory (eg. smell of baking bread) Location (eg. the couch or car) Time (eg. evening)/ Events (eg. end of TV programme ) Emotional (eg. bored, stressed, sad, happy).

93
Q

What are the reinforcement contingencies?

A

Positive reinforcement (DA, fills empty void/boredom), negative RI (avoid painful emotions by comfort eating); Punishment (preparing a low fat meal is criticised) -> limited/delayed positive reinforcement for healthy eating as efforts at dietary change/ weight loss go unnoticed by others

94
Q

What are the behaviour modification techniques you can use?

A

Stimulus control techniques (keep danger foods out of the house, avoid keeping biscuits with tea/coffee, eat only at dining table, use small plates); counter conditioning (ID high risk situation/cues and healthier responses); contingency management (involve significant others to praise healthy eating choices; plan specific rewards for successful weight loss); naturally occurring reinforcers (improved self esteem (+ve RI), reduction in symptoms of breathlessness (-ve RI)

95
Q

What are the limitations of reinforcement programmes?

A

Lack of generalisation (only affects behaviour regarding specific trait that is being rewarded), poor maintenance (rapid extinction of desired behaviour once reinforcer disappears); impractical and expensive

96
Q

Does fear arousal work for health campaigns?

A

According to study of 50 high school students on dental health, <10% change in behaviour was seen in those with high fear levels

97
Q

Why is social learning important at a young age?

A

Adolescents are particularly susceptible to social influences given their developmental stage and importance of school and peer groups

98
Q

What is the expectancy-value principle?

A

The potential for a behaviour to occur in any specific situation is a function of the expectancy that the behaviour will lead to a particular outcome and the value of that outcome

99
Q

What is the health-belief model?

A

x

100
Q

What influences the decision to get the flu vaccine?

A

Susceptibility, seriousness, benefits, costs/barriers, cues

101
Q

What are the types of efficacy beliefs?

A

Outcome efficacy (individuals expectation that behaviour will lead to particular outcome); self efficacy (belief that one can execute the behaviour required to produce the outcome)

102
Q

What factors influence self efficacy?

A

Mastery experience, social learning, verbal persuasion/encouragement, physiological arousal

103
Q

What is the theory of planned behaviour?

A
104
Q

What is the transtheoretical model?

A