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 vs. Top-Down Processing

• Bottom-Up: begins with recess receptors and works up to the brains integration of sensory information
• Top-Down: information processing guided by higher level mental proccesses

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 other stimuli
• Assumes that we do not have an absolute threshold

Sensory Adaptation

• Decreases responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation

Selective Attention

• The focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Cocktail-Party Phenomenon

• The cocktail party effect describes the effect describes the ability to focuses one's listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and back ground noises, ignoring other conversations
• Form selective attention

Vision

• Our most domination sense
• Visual capture
• Short wavelength= high frequency (bluish colors, high-pitched sounds)
• Long wavelength= low frequency (reddish colors, low-pitched sounds)
• The height if a wave gives us its hue (color)
• The longer the wave the more red
• The shorter the wavelength

Transduction

• Transferring signals into neural impulses 
• Information goes from the senses to the thalamus, then to the various areas in the brain
• Transduction: conversion of one for, of energy to another
• Stimulus energies to neural impulses

Color Vision 

Young-Helmholtz Trichromatic (three color) Theory

• Red, blue, green
• Three types of cones can make millions of combinations of colors

Opponent-Process Theory

• The sensory receptors come in pairs
• Red/green
• Yellow/blue
• Black
• If one color is stimulated, the other is inhibited

Hearing

• We hear sound waves 
• The height of the wave gives is the  amplitude of the sound
• The frequency of the wave gives is the pitch of the sound

Transduction in the Ear

• Sound waves hit the eardrum the anvil then hammer then stirrup then oval window
• Everything is just vibrating
• Then the cochlea vibrates
• The cochlea is lines with mucus called basilar membrane
• In basilar membrane there are hair cells
• When hair cells vibrate they turn vibrations into neural impulses which are called organ of corti
• Sent then to thalamus up auditory nerve

Place Theory

• Different hairs vibrate in the cochlea when there are different pitches
• So some hair vibrate when they hear high pitches and others vibrate when they hear low pitches

Frequency Theory

• All the hairs vibrate but at different speeds

Deafness
Conduction Deafness

• Something goes wrong with the sound and the vibration on the way to the cochlea
• You can replace the bones or get a hearing aid to help

Nerve Deafness 

• The hair cells in the cochlea get damaged
• Loud noises can cause this type of deafness 
• No way to replace the hairs
• Cochlea implants is possible

Sensory Interaction 

• The principle that one sense may influence another

Taste 

• We have bumps on our tongue and papillae
• Taste buds are located on the papillae (all over mouth)
• Sweet, salty, sour, bitter, hot/spicy

Unami 

• Favorable meaty, savory taste 

Touch

• Receptors located in our skin
• Gate Control Theory of Pain: spinal cord contains the neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass onto the brain

Vestibuler Sense

• Tells us where our body is oriented in space
• Our sense of balance

Kinesthetic Sense

• Tells us where our body parts are
• Receptors located in our muscles and joints chapter

Perception

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

Gestalt Philosophy

• The whole greater than the sum of its parts

Figure-Ground Relationships

• The organization of the visual field into objects (figures) that should stand our from their surroundings (ground)

Grouping

• The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into groups that we understand 

Depth Perception

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

Binocular Cues

• Retina Disparity: a binocular cue for seeing depth
• The closer an object comes to you the greater the disparity is between the two images

Monocular Cues 

• Interposition is when something is blocking our view of seeing something then we think it is actually closer to us
• Relative size when we think two objects are the same but the smaller one is farther away
• Blurry things seem father away, also known as relative clarity
• We refer to texture gradient when things are coarser and they seem closer to us
• We refer to relative height when things are higher up then we can see, and seem farther away
• We refer to relative motion when things that are closer move faster
• We refer to liner perspective when parallel lines seem to converge with distance
• When referring to light and shadow, objects that get less light and look dimmer seem far away

Motion Perception

• We determine by size of things

Phi Phenomenon

• When two or might lights blink in succession

Perceptual Consistency

• When we perceive objects as unchanging even though they have changed

Language and Thought
Language

• The way we speak or write words, and how we communicate with them
• Phenomenons are sound units
• Morphemes are small units that have meaning
• Grammar is used so hat we can communicate and understand each other
• Semantics derive meaning in language (ed)
• Syntax combine words in grammatical sentences
• We learn more through mental pictures and also in words

Language Development

• The babbling stage occurs when an infant is 3-4 months old and they make sounds
• The one-word stage is when a child is 1-2 years old and use single words to tell things or communicate
• The two-word stage is when the child is two and uses two words to communicate

Skinner 

• Believed that we could explain the development of language trough the social learning theory

Chomsky Inborn Universal Grammar

• We do not learn language, acquire it
• We are able to learn any human language with the "learning box"

Whorf's Linguistic Relatively

• Language determines how we think

Kohler's Chimpanzees

• Chimps solve problems
• Animals have signals and communicate

Intelligence 

• The ability to use knowledge, learn, and adapt
• The factor analysis is used by scientist to identify clusters on tests
• Spearman used the factor analysis for his intelligence
• Multiple intelligence was by Gardner by studying savants, including:

1. Visual/Spatial
2. Verbal/Linguistic
3. Logical/Mathematical
4. Bodily/Kinesthetic 
5. Musical/Rythmic
6. Interpersonal
7. Intrapersonal
8. Natural

• Sternberg's 3 Aspects of Intelligence

1. Analytical 
2. Creative
3. Practical

Emotional Intelligence

• Perceive , express, understand, and control emotions

Mental Age

• Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon made the concept, meaning the things someone should know by a particular age
• The IQ Test is also known as the Stanford-Binet Test

Mental Abilities

• Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale has 11 subtest using factor analysis

Aptitude v. Achievement Test

• Aptitude test is used to see the ability of a person to learn
• Achievement test is used to see what someone has learned

Intelligence Test 

1. Standarization

• For a sample of people
• Makes a bell curve
• The flynn effect is when the performance rises

2. Reliability

• Test yields consistent roles over time

3. Validity

• Test measures what it's suppose to
• Content validity occurs when the test samples behavior, while predictive validity samples future behavior

Intelligence

• Can change depending on type 
• Bell curve is different for whites and blacks
• Math scores different across gender
• Test are bias and need to be

Thinking

• Cognition is thinking, knowing, remembering
• Concepts are grouping of similar things like objects and ideas
• Prototypes is a mental image, category

Solving Problems

• Trial and error
• Algorithms guarantee solving a particular problem
• Heuristics allow is to make judgement and solve
• An insight is a realization about a problem

Obstacles to Solving Problems

• Conformation bias is referred to when someone looks for information that goes to their preconception

Match Problem

• When seeing a problem from a new perspective is called fixation

Mental Set

• Approach a problem the same way as done before

Functional Fixedness

• Thinking of things only by their usual function

Types of Heuristics

• When judging something by how well they match prototype is called representativeness heuristics
• Estimating things by memory is called availability heuristics

Overconfidence

• More confident than correct

Framing

• Has drastic effects because the way it is posed

Belief Bias

• Preexisting beliefs to distort reasoning

Belief Perseverance

• Clinging to initial conception

     

Unit IV

Biological School 
The Nervous System

• Starts with the neuron; a cell

Neuroanatomy 

• Neutransmitters: chemicals held in terminal buttons that travel through synaptic gap
• Cell Body: the cells life-support center
• Dendrites: receives messages from other cells
• Axon: passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, or glands
• Neural Impulse: electrical signal traveling the axon
• Terminal Branches of Axon: form junctions with other cells
• Myelin Sheath: covers the axon of some neurons and helps speed neural impulses
• Synapse: structure that permits a neuron to pass a chemical or electrical signal to another cell

Neuron Fire

• Resting Potential: slightly negative charge
• Reach the threshold when enough neurotransmitters reach dendrites
• It is an electrochemical process

- It is an electrical inside the neuron
-Chemical outside the neuron (in the synapse in the form of a neurotransmitter)
-The firing is called action potential

The All or None Response

• The idea that either the neuron fires or it does not (partway firing)

1. Acetylcholine (ACH)

• Deals with motor movement and memory 
• Lack of ACH has been linked to Alzheimer's disease

2. Dopamine

• Deals with motor movement and alertness
• Lack of dopamine has been linked to Parkinson's disease
• Too much has been linked to schizophrenia

3. Serotonin

• Involved in mood control
• Lack of serotonin has been linked to clinical depression

4. Endorphins

• Involved in pain control 
• Many of our most addictive drugs deal with endorphins

Drugs Can Be 

• Agonist: make neuron fire
• Antagonists: stop neural firing

Neurons

1. Sensory Neurons (Afferent Neurons): tale information from the senses to the brain
2. Inter Neurons: take messages from sensory neurons to other parts of the brain or to motor neurons
3. Motor Neurons (Efferent Neurons): take information from the brain to the rest of the body 

Central Nervous System

• The brain and the spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

• All nerves that are not encased in bones
• Everything but the brain and spinal cord
• Is divided in two categories, somatic and autonomic

Somatic Nervous System

• Controls voluntary muscle movement
• Uses motor (efferent) neurons

Autonomic Nervous System

• Controls the automatic functions of the body
• Divided into two categories, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic 

Sympathetic Nervous System

• Fight or flight response
• Automatically accelerates heart rate, breathing, dilated pupils, slows down digestion

Parasympathetic Nervous System

• Automatically slows the body down after a stressful event
• Heart rate and breathing slows down, pupils constrict and digestion speeds up 

Reflexes

• Normally, sensory (afferent) neurons take into up through spine to the brain 
• Some reactions occur when sensory neurons reach just the spinal cord

Lesions

• Cutting into the brain and looking for changes
• Less invasive ways to study the brain

Brain Structures

• Some scientist divide the brain up into three parts
• Hindbrain, Forbrain, Midbrain

Hindbrain 
1. Medulla Oblangata

• Heart rate, breathing, blood pressure

2. Pons

• Connects kindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain together
• Involved in facial expressions

3. Cerebellum

• Located in the back of our head (little brain)
• Coordinates muscle movement 
• Like tracking a target 

Midbrain 

• Coordinates simple movements with sensory information
• Contains the reticular formation: arousal and ability to focus attention

Thalamus 

• In forebrain 
• Receives sensory information and sends them to appropriate areas of forebrain 
• Like a switchboard
• Everything but smell

Limbic System 

• Emotional control center of the brain 
• Made up of hypothalamus, amygdala and hippocampus 

Hypthalamus 

• Pea sized in brain, but plays a not so pea sized role
• Body temperature
• Hunger
• Thirst
• Sexual arousal

Hippocampus and Amygdala

• Hippocampus is involved in memory processing 
• Amygdala is vital for our basic emotion

Cerebal Cortex 

• Top layer of our brain 
• Control wrinkles called fissures
• The fissures increase surface area of our brain
• Laif out it would be about the size of a large pizza

Hemisphere

• Divided into a left and right hemisphere 
• Controalateral controlled: left controls right side of body and vice versa
• Brain lateralization 
• Lefties are better at spatial and creative tasks 
• Righties are better at logic

Split-Brain Patients 

• Corpus Collosum attaches the two hemispheres of cerebral cortex
• When removed you have a split-brain patient

Cerebal Cortex

• Made up of four lobes

1. Frontal Lobe

• Abstract and emotional control
• Contains motor cortex: sends signals to our body controlling muscle movements
• Contains Broca's Area: responsible for controlling muscles that produce speech
• Damage to Broca's Area is called Broca's Aphasia: unable to make movements to talk\

2. Parietal Lobe

• Contain sensory cortex: receives incoming touch sensations from rest of the body
• Most of the parietal lobes are made of association areas
• Association Areas: any area not associated with receiving sensory information or coordinating muscle movements

3. Occipital Lobes

• Deals with vision
• Contains visual cortex: interprets messages from out eyes into images we can understand

4. Temporal Lobes

• Process sound sensed by our ears
• Interpreted in auditory cortex
• Not lateralized
• Contains Wernicke's are: interprets written and spoken speech
• Wernicke's Aphasia: unable to understand language, the syntax grammar jumbled

The Endocrine System

• A system of glands that secrete hormones
• Similar to nervous system, except hormones work a lot slower than neurotransmitters 
• Thyroid gland: affects metabolism, among other things
• Pituitary gland: secretes many different hormones, some of which affect other glands 
• Parathyroid: helps regulate the level of calcium in the blood
• Adrenal glands: inner part called the medulla, helps trigger the "fight or flight" response
• Pancreas: regulates the level of sugar in the blood

Developmental Psychology

• The study of you from womb to the tomb 
• How we change physically, socially, cognitively and morally

Nature vs. Nurture

• Nurture: the way you were raised
• Nature: the way you were born

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

Zygote

• The first stage of prenatal development, last about two weeks and consists of rapid cell division
• Sperm penetrates egg, it is now fertilized
• Less than half of all zygotes survive first two weeks
• About 10 days after conception, the zygote will attach itself to the uterine wall 
• The outer part of the zygote becomes the placenta (nutrients)

Embryo

• Two weeks later 
• Last about 6 weeks
• Heart begins to beat and the organs begin to develop

Fetus

• By nine weeks we have a fetus
• The fetus by about the 6th month, the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside of mother
• At this time the baby can hear (and recognize) sounds and respond to light

Teratogens

• Chemical agents that can harm the prenatal environment
• Alcohol
• Other STD's can have the baby
• HIV
• Herpes

Healthy Newborns

• Turn head towards voices
• See 8 to 12 inches from their faces 
• Gaze longer at human like objects right from birth

Reflexes

• Inborn automatic responses
• Rooting reflexes: babies tendency when touched on the cheek to open mouth and search for nipple
• Sucking 
• Grasping 
• Moro
• Babinski

Maturation

• Physical growth, regardless of the environment
• Although the timing

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

Landmarks for Puberty

• Menarche for girls
• First ejaculation for boys (spermarche)

Physical Milestones

• Menopause: when a woman stops menstruation

Death

• Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
• Stages of Death/Grief

1. Denial
2. Anger 
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance

Social Development 

• Stranger anxiety: when an infant encounters a stranger and exhibit anxiety
• Separation anxiety: when a child is separated from their parents

Attachment

• Harry Harlow and his monkeys
• Harry showed that monkeys needed touch to form attachment 
• Critical periods: the optimal period shortly after birth when organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produce proper development
• Those who are deprived of touch have trouble forming attachment when they are older

Mary Ainsworth's strange situation
Types of Attachment

1. Secure
2. Avoidant
3. Ancious/Ambivalent

Parenting Styles

1. Authoritarian (parent in control)
2. Permissive Parents (child in control)
3. Authoritative Parents (both child and parent)

Erik Erikson-Social Development

• A neon-Freudin
• Worked with Anna Freud
• Thought our personality was influenced by our experiences with others

Trust vs. Mistrust

• Can a baby trust you 
• The trust or mistrust they develop can carry on with the child

Autonomy vs. Shame&Doubt

• Babies control bodies (toilet)
• Control temper tantrums
• Big word is "No"

Initiative vs. Guilt 

• Word "No" turns to "Why?"
• Are they good or bad
• Ages 3-6
• Want to understand the world and ask questions

Industry vs. Inferiority

• Ages 6-12
• School begins
• Can lead  to us feeling bad about ourselves for the rest of our lives (Inferiority Complex)
• Feel good or bad about accomplishments

Identity vs. Role Confusion

• Ages 13-15
• Who am I
• Try different things

Intimacy vs. Isolation

• Have to balance work and relationships
• Prioritize

Generality vs. Stagnation

• Middle adult 
• Will I succeed in life 
• Mid-life crisis

Integrity vs. Despair 

• Look back on life 
• Senior
• Was my life meaningful or do I regret it?

Jean Piaget

Cognitive Development

• It was thought that kids were just stupid versions of adults
• Kids learn differently from adults 

Schema

• Children view the world through schemes (as do adults for the most part)
• Schemes are ways we interpret the world around us
• It is basically what you picture in your head when you think of anything

Assimilation 

• Incorporating new experiences into existing schemas

Accommodation

• Changing an existing schema to adopt to new information

Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor Stage

• Experience the world through our senses
• Do not have object permanence
• Ages 0-2

2. Preoperational Stage

• Ages 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

3. Concrete Operational Stage

• Can demonstrate concept of conservation 
• Learn to think logically 

4. Formal Operational Stage

• Abstract reasoning 
• Manipulate objects in our minds without seeing them
• Hypothesis testing
• Trial and error 
• Meta cognition
• Not every adult gets to this stage

Types of Intelligence

Crystallized

• Accumilated knowledge
• Increases with age

Fluid

• Ability to solve problems and quickly think abstractly 
• Peaks in 20's and then decreases over time

Moral Development

1. Pre-conventional Morality

• Morality based on rewards and punishment
• If you are rewarded them it's okay
• If your are punishes, the act must be wrong

2. Conventional Morality 

• Looked at morality based on how others see you
• If your peers, or society, thinks it is wrong, then so do you

3. Post-conventional Morality

• Based on self-defines ethical principles
• Your own personal set of ethics