Final Exam Flashcards
(189 cards)
What is psychology?
the science of mental processes and behavior
What are some examples of mood disorders?
Major depressive disorder (mdd) Suicide
What is major depressive disorder?
Affect (mood) Behavior (actions) Cognitive (thoughts) More common in women Most common psychological disorder in U.S. -Affects 20% people in the U.S. -2-3 time as many women as men in the U.S. Genetics - runs in families (twin studies show twin is 4x more likely to develop MDD is twin has is) Malfunctioning neurotransmitters - serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine Left frontal lobe activity (center for sympathy and empathy impulse control and sexual behavior) - less activity in people with mdd
Describe Structuralism
William Wundt was one of the fathers of structuralism. Structuralists examined sensory and perception by manipulating stimuli and asking subjects to report what they experienced. It attempted to understand what the mind was doing. Major tool of structuralism was introspection. Looked at structures of the brain and created theories about their functions Problems occurred with structuralism because researchers could agree upon what the data meant.
Describe Functionalism
Study of consciousness Functionalist wanted to now the why behind certain behaviors Focused on level of person and group Strongly influenced by Charles Darwin; used theories of Darwin and natural selection William James spokesperson for functionalism
Who was William James?
First American Psychologist Together with William Wundt they are considered the Fathers of Psychology Wrote the first general text book on psychology Early spokes person of functionalist and argued against structuralism Proposed that mental life is a unity that flows and changes In his book, Principals of Psychology he presents ideas about consciousness, attention, memory, habits and emotions
What is learning?
A relatively permanent change in behavior or behavioral repertoire that results from experience
What are the three types of learning?
Classical conditioning Operant conditioning Cognitive and social learning
What is classical conditioning?
Discovered by Ivan Pavlov (physiologist), while studying the digestive system of dogs Type of learning that occurs when a neautral stimulus becomes associated with a stimulus that causes a reflexive behavior and in time this neutral stimulus is sufficient to elicit, draw out from the animal, that behavior
what are the 4 components of classical conditioning?
Broken into 4 components: -unconditioned stimulus -unconditioned response -conditioned stimulus -conditioned response
In Pavlovs dog study what were the 4 components of classical conditioning?
Unconditioned stimuli = food Unconditioned response = salivation Conditioned stimulus = door opening/bell Conditioned response = salivation
What are effective US stimuli?
any stimulus that affectively elicits a desired response. (electric shock, food and water)
What are effective CS stimuli?
A neutral stimulus that does not eleicit a desired response prior to conditioning (light, or tone)
What is Avoidance learning?
classical conditioning with a CS and unpleasnnt US that leads the animal to try and avoid the CS
What is memory?
A general ability or faculty that allows us to interpret the perceptual workd to help us organize responses to changes that take place in the world
What are the different types of memory stores?
Sensory memory, short term memory, long term memory
What are the different types of sensory memory?
Visual, olfactory, gustatory - taste, auditory, tactile - touch, nocioceptive - pain, thermal - temp, vestigular - balanace, procioceptive - body position
What are the most common types of sensory memory studied in Psychology?
Iconis and Echoic
What are characteristics of sensory memory?
Short Duration (less than 50MS) Large Capacity (11-12 items) Modality Specific (Visual, hearing) Not under conscious control
Describe short term memory
memory that is limited in both capacity and duration can typicaly hold between 5 and 9 time can last from several seconds to less than 1 minute without rehearsal also called short term store or working memory first researched by william james and ebbinghaus very susceptible to disruptions
How is short term memory defined?
The temporary memory store accessed after recent exposure to a stimulus to be recalled.
Where does Short Term memory reside in the brain?
Hippocampus (interior to temporaral lobe)
How can we increase our short term memory?
chunking - recode the data into larger chunks, then we can remember more information
where do we retain most of our short term memory?
in the auditory domain. Process information as sounds or words and how they are pronounces. VS long terms seems t the coded by meaning rathet than sound

