paper 2 Flashcards
(51 cards)
behaviourist
behaviour we observe/measure, ignores introspection, controlled lab studies
say that learning processes same in all species
classical conditioning, learning through association, pavlov, salivating dogs, ucs (food) = ucr (salivating) , ucs + ns (bell) = ucr, cs (bell) = cr
operant conditioning, voluntary learning through active process and consequences, also maintained, skinner, rats and pigeons in box, learned to press lever for food pellet or removal of electronic shock
positive reinforcement, reward
negative reinforcement, removal of unpleasant state
punishment, negative outcome
- environmental determinism, ignores free will
+ scientific credibility, lab
- support from little albert study, afraid of rats through association with loud noise
- animal studies
psychodynamic
explains behaviour from childhood experiences, unconscious mind, thoughts, feelings, impulses
conscious mind, current thoughts and feelings, unconscious, things we are unaware of
unconscious can influence conscious behaviour
id, selfish desires, pleasure principle
superego, internalised parents morals, right and wrong, morality principle
ego, sense of self, reality principle
defence mechanisms, used by ego to protect from anxiety caused by id and superego, repression, putting into unconscious due to anxiety, denial, displacement, redirecting
freud, psychosexual stages, have to overcome different conflicts or become fixated, retaining characteristics into adulthood, oral, anal, phallic, lateral, genital
- untestable concepts
+ real world applications, physioanalysis
- determinist, no room for free will
humanistic
person centred, sees each individual as unique
free will to take on active role in life
maslows hierarchy of needs, self actualisation, full potential
rogers, congruence, agreement between ideal and perceived self, if different then low self esteem
+ not reductionist, holism
- untestable concepts
+ practical applications, therapy, work on achieving congruence, real world benefit
cognitive
internal mental processes, behaviour influenced by conscious and unconscious
make inferences about what underlies human behaviour, based on observable behaviour
information processing model (input, processes, output), parallel, one at time, msm, and serial processing, at same time, wmm
compared to computer models
schemas
integrated into cognitive neuroscience as a way to understand behaviour
- subjective interpretations, inferences
- machine reductionist, humans have emotions and previous experiences
+ soft determinism, acknowledges emotional processing
social learning
behaviour learnt through direct experience and observing role models
vicarious reinforcement, watching and imitating role models, if person is rewarded for behaviour more likely to repeat (vicarious reinforcement), less likely if role model is punishment (vicarious punishment)
direct reinforcement, if they themselves are rewarded (reinforcement), or punished (punishment)
meditational processes, internal representation of behaviour, attention, retention, motor reproduction, motivation
more likely to reproduce behaviour if identify with role model
(+) bandura bobo doll, watched adult play aggressively, more aggressive than control, when praised, more aggressive, punished, less, control, middle ground
- reductionist, ignores hormones eg testosterone, overlooks biological factors
- ecological validity, based on lab studies, demand characteristics
+ cultural differences, different role models
biological
physical basis, linked to genes, evolution, biological structures and their processes
certain mental illnesses have genetic basis, inherited from family members, schizophrenia in twin, 50% chance in other twin
genotype, born with, phenotype, how genes are expressed by environmental influence, eg pku, genetic but can be prevented if on right diet
darwin’s evolution, natural selection, more likely to pass on characteristics that increase likelihood of survival eg fight or flight
neurochemistry, changing levels of neurotransmitters or hormones effect mood, eg serotonin and testosterone
+ scientific methods, brain scanning techniques, highly controlled conditions, reliability
+ real life applications to drug therapy, sertraline and depression
- reductionist, reduces behaviours down to physical factors, ignores unconscious and conscious thought processes
wundt
father of psychology
first psychology lab in leipzig, germany, controlled evs, standardised procedures, replicable, eg, ticking metronome reporting different structures
introspection, systematic experimental attempt to analysis of conscious mind
structuralism, breaking down of parts, consciousness divided into thoughts, images and sensations
+paved the way for future psychology apart from philosophy
+scientific even now
-subjective data, introspections interpreted and recorded differently
development as a science
science involves systematic and objective measurement to discussing general laws
1879, wundt opens first lab, psychology is distinct discipline
1900s behaviourists, researchers such as pavlov, skinner and watson conducted experiments on observable behaviours, freud emphasises influence of unconscious
1950s cognitive, study of mind becomes more scientific, mental processes studied, humanistic and social learning
1980s biological, dominant scientific perspective in psychology
21st century, cognitive neuroscience
comparisons
nature nurture: b- nurture, sl - nurture, c - both, schemas innate but develop through experience, bio - nature, h - nurture, p - both, innate drives and experiences
determinist (no free will): b - environmental, hard, sl - reciprocal, soft, c - soft, bio - genetic, hard, h - no, p - physic, hard
reductionist (oversimplify human behaviour causes): b - yes, sl - yes, c - yes, bio - yes, h - no, p - yes
idiographic or nomothetic (unique individuals or general laws): b - nomo, sl - nomo, c - nomo, bio - nomo, h - idio, p - idio
causes of behaviour
treatment of abnormal behaviour
fight or flight
threat perceived
hypothalamus activates pituitary
triggers sympathetic ans
releases adrenaline
physiological arousal
physical symptoms, immediate and automatic
prepares body for action
threat passes
parasympathetic
circadian rhythms
bodily cycle about 24 hours, eg body temperature, sleep wake cycle
sleep wake, in response to internal factors, endogenous, and external, exogenous
superchiasmatic nucleus, light information from eyes
siffre cave study, spent 2 months in dark cave, no natural light or sound, free running rhythm settled to about 25 hours, made recordings of presumed time, came out in september thinking it was august
aschoff and weaver, participants spent 4 weeks in ww2 bunker, deprived of natural light, most settled to 24/25 hours, one to 29 hours, body clock linked to external cues
folkard, 12 ppts in dark cave, went to bed and woke up at set times, clock was sped up to make a day last 22 hours, most had trouble adapting showing free running rhythm
- small sample case studies, hard to generalise especially in area with so many individual differences and influencing factors
- lack of control, some used artificial light which can still effect cycle, less valid
- individual differences, variation in body clock length, reduces reliability/validity
+ application to night shift workers, lower level of concentration at night, safety
infradian rhythms
more than 24 hours, menstrual cycle, mood
oestrogen regulates ovulation, progesterone regulates body for pregnancy, endogenous factors
stern and mclintock, cycles synchronise due to hormones, exogenous factor, gathered pheromones from 9 women in different stages of monthly cycle, rubbed on upper lip of 20 other ppts
68% women experienced some adjustment, closer to donor cycle
another example is seasonal affective disorder, changing of mood in relation to seasons, due to pineal gland, releases melatonin when evening, disrupted in shorter winter days, further influences serotonin
+ evolutionary benefits, synced cycles helps survival of offspring, multiple potential caregivers
- methodological limitations, cofounding variables effecting cycle, stress, diet, sleep, when controlled results aren’t significant
+ applications, might be prescribed light box to reset melatonin levels
ultradian
less than 24 hours, stages of sleep
little - light sleep stage 1
bears - breathing slows stage 2
do - deep sleep stage 3 and 4
roar - rem stage 5
+/- lab studies, control evs but may not be representative
+ evidence, dement et al, monitored sleep patterns using EEG, clear correlation between rem and dreaming, showing ultradian pattern and stages
endogenous pacemakers
superchiasmastic nucleus helps maintain circadian rhythms
scn receives light signals from optic chiasm, tells us when to be awake and asleep
pineal gland, scn passes info about light to pineal gland which produces melatonin
decoursey et al, sleep/wake cycle disappeared when scn of chipmunks destroyed, some killed when back in natural habitat because they were out at night
ralph et al, bred mutant hamsters with 20 hour sleep wake cycle, when put into other hamsters, cycle adjusted
+ real world applications, screen filters for phones that minimise melatonin disruption
- ethical issues, animals needlessly died, major disruption
exogenous zeitgebers
external cues reset sleep wake cycle so clock doesn’t continue to tick, resetting biological clocks is known as entrainment, starts from about 6 weeks
light is a key zeitgeber, resets scn, not only received by eyes, campbell and murphy, influenced cycle by 3 hours from putting light on back of knee in middle of night
social cues also have important influence, schedule imposed by parents to do with bedtime and mealtimes, research on jet lag shows eating at sleeping at local time entrains circadian rhythms
- cannot be studied in isolation, both work together, separating them can be pointless
- case study, man blind from birth could not adjust sleep wake cycle despite social cues
plasticity
neural connections form and existing ones change over course of life
less used pathways are deleted, more used ones strengthen, this is pruning
maguire et al, taxi driver study, have to learn the knowledge test, posterior hippocampus has more grey matter than control, this part of hippocampus is responsible for development of spatial and navigational skills, longer in job = more grey
draganski et al, imaged brains of med students before and after final exams, changes in hippocampus, structurally different
- negative plasticity consequences, drug use may cause neural changes in brain
+ support from phantom limb pain, reconstruction in somatosensory cortex
+ support from plasticity reducing with age
functional recovery
following brain trauma, healthy brain areas take over functions of those that are damaged, destroyed or missing, can be spontaneous but slows then may need rehabilitative therapy to progress further
1. rewire and reorganise itself, forming new synaptic connections close to area of damage, secondary pathways unmasked to enable functioning to continue
2. axonal sprouting, new nerve axons and terminals grow to form new neuronal pathways and connections
3. recruitment of homologous (similar) areas, opposite side of brain takes over
4. blood vessels reform, improving oxygen supply to damaged areas
+ positive application to rehabilitate therapy, therapeutic uses
- based off small samples
hemispheric lateralisation
two halves of the brain functioning differently, certain mental processes and behaviours are mainly controlled by one hemisphere rather than the other
eg, languages 2 main centres are in left hemisphere, language is lateralised, brocas area and wernickes area
rh can only produce rudimentary words and phrases but provides emotional context
lh is analyser and rh is synthesiser
contralateral, in motor area right hemisphere controls left side of body and vice versa, cross wired
lvf connected to rh, rvf connected to lh, can compare slightly different perspectives, aids depth perception
+ highly standardised, images only flashed for 10th of a second, only one eye could perceive, high level of control
- sample issues, very rare patients, no control group, varying degree of separation
- gender differences, evidence to show women less lateralised than men, kimura
split brain research
sperry, 11 patients whose corpus callosum had been severed to control epilepsy, brains had been split
communication between hemispheres tested using two screens
an image or word projected to right visual field, processed by left hemisphere, and the same or different projected to left visual field, processed by right hemisphere
healthy brains, hemispheres share information creating a complete visual field
split brains, objects shown to rvf could be named and described (language is processed in left hemisphere) but not when shown to lvf “nothing there”, objects shown to lvf, couldn’t be named however could be drawn and picked out (motor control and recognition is not lateralised to left hemisphere)
“key ring”, split across screens, say word shown to rvf “ring”, write, draw or pick out word shown to lvf “key”
right hemisphere also dominant in terms of facial recognition, right was described better when shown face
localisation of function
neurons
transmit signals electrically and chemically, different features depending on task
sensory, receive input from pns transmit to cns, long dendrites short axons
relay, connect sensory neurons to motor or other relay, short dendrites short axons
motor, connect cns to effectors such as muscles and glands, short denrites long axons
cell body, main parts of cell, nucleus, genetic material, dendrites, protrude from cell and receive impulses, axons, carries impulses down neuron, myelin sheath, insulates and speeds up transmission, nodes of ranvier, gaps in myelin sheath that speed up transmission, terminal button, communication with neighbouring neurons
when neuron activated by stimulus, cell becomes positively charged, causing action potential, creates electrical impulse that travels down neuron
synaptic transmission
neurons separated by small gap, the synapse
occurs chemically between chemical button of one neuron to dentrites of another
action potential reaches terminal button
neurotransmitters released from synaptic vesicles across synaptic gap
bind with specialised receptor sites
remaining neurotransmitters are absorbed
excitatory neurotransmitters, increase positive change making firing more likely eg adrenaline
inhibitory neurotransmitters, increase negative change making firing less likely eg serotonin
action potential of post synaptic neuron is triggered if sum of excitatory and inhibitory signals reaches threshold
some drugs block reuptake, ssris
central nervous system
brain, high processing and awareness
spinal cord, connects brain to pns, communication and reflexes
peripheral nervous system
neurons transmitting from the cns to the body
autonomic: bodily functions, eg heart rate, breathing and physiological arousal = sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system
somatic: controls muscle movements and sensory input
