2

Week 1 Second Class

Beginnings of Psychology

· Science

1. “Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t” -- Bill Nye

2. “Science is a way of thinking much more than it’s a body of knowledge” -- Carl Sagan

· Philosophical Ideals: Nativism vs. Empiricism

· Rene Descartes (1595-1650)

1. Interactive Dualism: Separation of the mind and the physical body, allowing for communication between the two

· Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828)

1. Phrenology: Traits and characteristics map onto the size of brain regions

2. Can be observed through differences in the bumps on the skull

3. Mind & brain is separate

4. Male & female’s brain structures are the same

· Pierre Flourens (1794-1867)

1. Localization of function within specific brain areas

2. Demonstrated by observing effects of brain lesions in non-human animals

3. Rat’s brain is likely human’s brain (often) -> use rat’s brain

· Paul Broca (1824-1880) -> Human things

1. Observation of naturally occurring lesions and associated dysfunction

2. Supports localization and specificity of function

3. Turns mind to mouse and speak (speak fluence problem)

· Contributions of Physiology to Psychology

1. Physiology: the study of biological processes, especially in the human body

2. “It seems to me that perhaps the time has come for psychology to begin to be a science. Helmholtz and a man called Wundt at Heidelberg are working on it” --William James

3. Decide to make psychology into science

· Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)

1. Measured speed of nerve impulses via reaction time

2. Demonstrated that mental processes are not instantaneous

3. What changes does people have when they fall in love?

· Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

1. Wilhelm Wundt is credited with the emergence of psychology as a legitimate science

2. Authored the first textbook of psychology, Principles of Physiological Psychology in 1874

3. In 1879, Wundt opened the first exclusive psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig

4. The father of psychology

9/9 Week 2 First Class

Structuralism

· Analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind

· Consciousness: a person’s subjective experience of the world and of the mind

· Introspection: subjective observation of one’s own experience

· “Raw” sensory experiences and reaction times were reported to illustrate the differences between sensation and perception

Edward Titchener (1867-1927) German psychologist

· Introduced Structuralism to the United States

· Created a list of more than 44,000 elemental qualities of conscious experience, most visual or auditory

Functionalism

· The study of the purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment

· Adapt the environment in order to live there

· How it is useful, how is it adapted

· Inspired by Charles Darwin’s book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (1859)

William James (1842-1910)

· Taught first American courses in Psychology

· Authored textbook, The Principles of Psychology

· “ It is literature, it is beautiful, but it is not psychology” -- Wilhelm Wundt on the book

· Henry James (brother) writing about mental illness

· Alice James (sister) mental illness too (not very helpful)

G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924)

· Studied under Wundt and James

· Established first North American Psychology Laboratory

· Co-founder and first president of the APA

· APA: lots of scientist get together and share their work and discuss, share idea, check each other work

Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)

· Studied under William James at Harvard

· Completed requirements but University refused to grant PhD to a woman

· Became first woman president of the APA in 1905

Gestalt Psychology

· From the German for “Unified Whole”

· Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)

· Fritz Perls (1893-1970)

· Mental experience was dependent not on a simple combination of elements but on the organization and patterning of experience and of one’s perceptions

· Developed as a unified psychological theory, but focuses primarily on perception

· Gave rise to principles of perception still in use today

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

· Hysteria: Temporary loss of cognitive of motor function, usually resulting from psychological trauma

· Cocaine

· Personality (young boy are trouble) (kill father, sex with mother)

Psychoanalysis

9/11 Week 2 Second Class

Humanism

· Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) & Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

· Humanistic psychology: an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings

· Basic need, and then more forward, like social

Behaviorism

· The scientific study of objectively observable behavior

· You can see something happen in the brain, but you don’t know what it is

· Input (stimulus) -> Black Box -> Output (response)

· Internal mental states treated as a “blackbox” -- unobservable, immeasurable, and thus not worth pursuing

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

· Classical Conditioning (Dog lab)

1. Stimulus-Response learning

2. Developed and studied by Ivan tolochinov (Pavlov’s student)

John B. Watson (1878-1958)

· Was influenced by Pavlov and believed the goal of scientific psychology should be to predict and control behavior for the benefit of society

· Beef with Margaret Floy Washburn regarding animal cognition

· Train responses, even human

· He said he can turns the baby to whatever you want (president, doctor) (shape type of person) (set an environment)

· Little Albert

1. Stimulus Generalization: conditioned response elicited by anything similar to conditioned stimulus

2. Make the baby scare of the mouse by making noise

3. Scare of the noise not the mouse

4. Now, no reason why scare of mouse

Burrhus Frederick Skinner (1904-1990) (BF Skinner)

· Built a “conditioning chamber”, now known as a “skinner box”

· Create limit sitimily to a rat

· Principle of Reinforcement: the consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be more or less likely to occur again

· Punishment rules

Kenneth and Mamie Clack (1914-2005 ; 1917-1983)

· Pioneered social psychology’s exploration of race and racism in America with experimental evidence of racial prejudice in children

· Kenneth became first black president of the APA

· How it is change by group

· White baby prefer white doll; Black baby prefer white doll too

Cognitive Psychology

· Scientific study of mental processes (memory, perception, thought, reason)

· We can learn how people’s brain is doing

· Read the story again and again, and determine which word we can read faster

· Applies computational theory of mind in attempt to explain what goes on between environment and behavior

· There is a image to show what we are thinking and how brain is doing by reading something

· Science can know what your movement before you actually did it (mind reading machine)

Cognitive Psychology

· Sir Frederic Bartlett (1886-1969)

· Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

· Kurt Lewin (1890-1947)

Neuroscience

· Behavioral Neuroscience: links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes

· Cognitive Neuroscience: attempts to explain the links between cognitive processes and brain activity

9/14 Week 3 First Class

Empiricism

· The belief that accurate knowledge of the world requires observation of it

· Dogmatism: The tendency to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others

· Empirical method:

1. A set of rules and techniques for observation

2. Allows observers to avoid the illusions, mistakes, and erroneous conclusions that simple observation can produce

Parsimony

· Ockham’s Razor: Begin to explain phenomena using the simplest theory. Only complicate this theory if evidence demands it.

· Ex. horses & zebra

· Better exist in the real world

Studying Humans

· Uniquely difficult due to our:

1. Complexity: psyphicly is complex (bio)

2. Variability: people are different, our ideas are different

3. Reactivity: people learning people, bias

The Scientific Method

· A rigorous and systematic method of scientific study

1. Theory: a hypothetical account of how and why a phenomenon occurs

· Can be very broad or narrow

· Someone have idea of something

2. Hypothesis: a testable prediction or claim of what will occur under a stated set of conditions

· Little theory

· If the theory be correct

Operational Definition

· Properties of behavior must be defined in measurable terms

· What happiness is? What is happiness?

1. When people told you that they are happy

2. People smiling is happy, or happy will smiling

3. Silme will be fake

Problems in Defining: Validity

· Property (happiness) is define

· Measure (EMG) is Detect

· Combine those two: Operational definition (muscle contractions)

· Construct Validity: tendency for an operational definition and property to have a clear conceptual relation

1. How will your smiling related to happiness

· Predictive Validity: tendency for an operational definition to be related to other operational definitions

1. Although people are not measuring what happiness is, but they still measuring something similar

2. You can measuring predictive definition

3. People can define happiness differently

RF activity fMRI

Happiness Construct validity Predictive validity

Smile EMG

· Just based on how people defined the turn “happiness”

9/16 Week 3 Second Class

Problems in Detecting

· Reliability: tendency for a measure to produce the same results whenever it is used to measure the same thing

· Power: tendency for a measure to detect the concrete measures specified in the operational definition (different results for different subjects)

Bias

· Demand Characteristics: aspects of a setting that cause people to behave as they think an observer wants to expects them to behave

· Hawthorne (observer) effect: observation affects behavior

· Observer Bias: researcher expectations influence evaluation

Avoiding Bias

· Naturalistic Observation: unobtrusively observing people or animals in their natural environment

· Can avoid influence of demand characteristics on those studied

· Anonymous Responses

· Measure behaviors that are not susceptible

· Blind observer / participant

Who is Being Measured?

· Population: the complete collection of objects or events that might be measured

· Ex. Humans

· Sample: the partial collection of objects or events that are measured

· Ex. Humans who are BU students

Law of Large Numbers

· As sample size increases, the attributes of the sample more closely reflect the attributes of the population from which the sample is drawn

9/18 Week 3 Third Class

Averages

· Frequency distribution

· Normal distribution

Descriptive Statistics

· Descriptions of Central Tendency

1. Men

2. Median

3. Mode

· Descriptions of Variability

1. Range

2. Variance

3. Standard deviation

Comparison of Five Methods of Research

· Observational Studies

1. Case Study Describes a single individual in detail

2. Naturalistic Observation Describes behavior under natural conditions (隐藏摄像头）

3. Survey Studies attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors based on answers to questions

4. Correlation Describes the relationship between two variables that the investigator measures but does not control

· Experiment

1. Determines how a variable controlled by the investigator affects some other variables that the investigator measures

Correlation

· Pattern of covariation (relatedness) that occurs between two variables, each of which have been measured multiple times

· Does ice cream have a sinister dark side?

Positive Correlation

· Two variables are related and change in the same direction

· Third variable between ice cream and shark attract

Negative Correlation

· Relationship between two variables that change in opposite directions

· Goes down

Correlation Coefficients

· Correlation coefficients measure the direction and strength of a correlation

· Correlation coefficient are signified as r

· Perfect positive correlation: r = 1

· Perfect negative correlation: r = -1

· If the variables are not related: r = 0

· Strength of relationship

1. STRONG: r = 0.8

2. MODERATE: r = 0.6

3. WEAK: r = 0.2

Correlation =/ Causation

Specious Reasoning: Logic which appears sound on the surface, but is not plausible

9/21 Week 4 First Class

The Third Variable

· All variables that are causally related are correlated, but not all variables that are correlated are causally related

· X: Watching televised violence

· Y: Aggressiveness

· Z: Lack of adult supervision

· Two variables may be correlated only because they are both caused by an unknown and unmeasured third variable

Experimental Design

· An experiment is a technique used to support the causal relationship between variables

· The researcher systematically manipulated (varies) one or more independent variables and looks for changes in one or more dependent variables, while keeping all other variables constant

· Variable: Anything that can vary, from a measure of behavior to type of environment

· Independent Variable (IV): hypothesized to cause some effect on another variable. Manipulated by the researcher

· Dependent Variable (DV): hypothesized to be affected. Measured by the researcher

Randomization

· Randomization helps control for third variable problems and bias by assigning participants to groups without cause

· Allows for the inference of causation after the manipulation has occurred in the experiment

Statistical Significance

· When two means are being compared, p is the probability that a difference as great as or greater than that observed would occur by chance if, in a larger population, there were no difference in the means

· Results are usually labeled statistically significant if the value of p is less than 0.05 (5%)

Human Research Ethics

· Tuskegee Experiment (1932-1972): Researchers allow syphilis to go untreated in rural black males

· While treatments develop during the course of the 40 year study, it is deliberately withheld from many to study the progression of the disease

· 1947: Nuremberg Code

1. Volunteer

· 1964: Declaration of Helsinki

· 1979: Belmont Report

1. American decision

2. Research should be beneficent, just and show respect for persons and their rights

· A human participant’s right to privacy must be protected

· The risk of discomfort or harm to human subjects must be minimal

· Deceiving participants about some aspect of the study is both common and controversial

· Routine measures to protect subjects include obtaining informed consent, letting subjects know they can quit at any time, ensuring anonymity in results, and debriefing subjects about deception after the study ends

IRB

· The Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research

1. Reviews all research studies involving human subjects

2. Reviews and addresses concerns involving the use of human subjects in research

3. Advises faculty, staff and students on the ethical conduct of research involving people

4. Conducts appropriate reviews of the UNiversity’s program and develops guidelines to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations

5. Participates in developing, reviewing, and providing educational opportunities for the BU community on the use and protection of human subjects in research

6. Serves in an advisory capacity to the Senior Vice Provost for Research

Non-Human Research Ethics

· Many procedures that would be unethical with humans are performed with non-human animals

· The benefits of knowledge gained from such research are the primary ethical justification for them, since common biological mechanisms often enable us to apply findings from animal studies to humans

· Animals used in research must be well cared for, must not suffer unnecessary deprivation or pain, and must have their suffering balanced against the potential value of the knowledge gained

The Three Rs (protect animals)

· Reduce: use the minimum number of animals required to get useful data

· Refine: design research to minimize discomfort and maximize knowledge gained

· Replace: substitute computer models or cell cultures whenever possible

IACUC

· The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

· Reviews all research, testing, and instructional projects involving vertebrate animals

· Conducts semiannual reviews of animal care and use program and facilities

· Reviews and addresses concerns involving animals in research, testing, and instruction

· Serves in an advisory capacity to the Senior Vice Provost for Research

9/23 Week 4 Second Class

9/25 Week 4 Third Class

9/28 Week 5 First Class

The Nervous System

· Neuron: a single cell of the nervous system

· Nerve: a bundle consisting of the axons of many neurons

· Nervous System: net work of neurons that conveys electrochemical information throughout the body

· 2 major divisions of the nervous system: central nervous system and the peripheral nervous system

Spinal Reflexes

· Simple pathways in the nervous system that rapidly generate muscle contractions

· Painful sensations travel directly to the spinal cord via sensory neurons, which issue an immediate command to the motor neurons to retract the hand

Hindbrain

· Coordinates information coming into and out of the spinal cord

1. Medulla

2. Reticular Formation

3. Cerebellum

4. Pons

· Referred to as the “reptilian brain” as it is the “oldest” part of the brain, evolutionarily

Midbrain

· Important for orientation and movement. Consists of two main structures

1. Tectum

2. Tegmentum

Forebrain

· Highest level of the brain. Controls complex cognitive, emotional, sensory and motor functions

· Divided into two main sections

1. Cerebral Cortex

2. Subcortical structures

Pituitary gland

· “Master gland” of the body’s hormone-producing system, which releases hormones that direct the functions of many other glands in the body

· Involved in response to stress, digestion and reproductive processes

Thalamus

· Relays and filters information from the senses and transmits the information to the cerebral cortex

· Receives direct inputs from all the major senses except smell

Hypothalamus (Limbic System)

· Regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst and sexual drives

· Lesions of the ventromedial hypothalamus cause overeating, while lesions to other areas cause anorexia

· The “four Fs” of behavior

1. Fighting

2. Fleeing

3. Feeding

4. Mating

Hippocampus (Limbic System)

· Critical for creating new memories and integrating them into a network of knowledge so that they can be stored indefinitely inorder parts of the cerebral cortex

Amygdala (Limbic System)

· Plays a central role in many emotional processes, particularly in the formation of emotional memories

Basal Ganglia (Limbic System)

· A group of subcortical structures that direct intentional movements

1. Striatum

2. Globus pallidus

3. Subthalamic nucleus

4. Substantia nigra

· Implicated in Parkinson’s Disease

Cerebral Cortex

Corpus Callosum

· Brain is split into two halves: the right and left hemispheres. Each hemisphere performs specialized functions

· Thick band of nerve fibers that connects large areas of the cerebral cortex on each side of the brain and allows information to cross hemispheres

Split Brain Patients

10/5 Week 6 First Class

Occipital Lobe

· A region located at the back of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information

Temporal Lobe

· Located at the lower side of each hemisphere that is responsible for hearing and language

· Home to the primary auditory cortex

Parietal Lobe

· Located in front of the occipital lobe. Functions include processing information about touch

· Damage to left parietal lobe can lead to Gerstmann’s Syndrome

· Damage to right parietal lobe can lead to contralateral (opposite side) neglect

· Somatosensory cortex

Somatosensory Cortex (Parietal)

· Motor Cortex (Frontal)

· Somatosensory Cortex

1. The homunculus is a distorted figure used to illustrate how much of the somatosensory cortex is devoted to each body part

Primary Motor area

Primary Sensory area

Association area

Frontal Lobe

· Located at the front of the brain. Has specialized areas for movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory and judgment

· Home to the motor cortex

· Distinguishes man from beast?

Brain Plasticity

· The brain is plastic: Functions that were assigned to certain areas of the brain can be reassigned to other areas of the brain to accommodate changing input from the environment

· The younger the patient is, the better the prognosis

Brain Plasticity and Sensations in Phantom Limbs

Methods for Studying the Human Brain

· Observing Effects of Localized Brain Damage

· Observing Effects of Magnetic Interference with Normal Brain Activity

· Recording Brain Activity Electrically

· Viewing Brain Activity with Imaging Methods sensitive to Blood Flow

Phineas Gage

· Massive frontal lobe trauma results in pronounced personality changes

· Effects of Localized Brain Damage 头部穿骨

10/7 Week 6 Second Class

Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

· The electrical coil placed over the subject’s skull induces a magnetic field

· Repetitive pulses of the magnetic field inhibit activity of the underlying neurons

· Single brief pulses activate neurons

· Electro

· Convulsive

· Therapy

Electroencephalography

脑部心电图

Polygraph used to measure involuntary activity of the brain and body

· Sphygmomanometer: Record of changes in blood pressure

· Respiration Belt: Record of changes in breathing rate

· Electrodermal Response (Galvanic Skin Response): Record of electrical conductance of skin changing with perspiration

· Electromyogram (EMG): Record of muscle activity

· Electrooculogram (EOG): Record of eye movements

Structural Imaging Techniques

· Image human’s brain

· CT

1. Bone

2. Blood

· MRI

1. Create the image of the body

2. Structure images

Functional-Imaging Techniques

· fMRI

1. The blood and oxygen inside the body

2. The oxygen inside the blood

3. Bold

4. Multiple images

5. Animation changes

6. They both use the same technology

· PET scan

1. The map of the brain or the body

2. To track the movement of substances to any tissues

3. Not just attacking blood, but any other chemical

Methods for Studying the Brains of Nonhuman Animals

· Observing the Effects of Deliberately Placed Brain Lesions 观察故意放置的脑部病变的影响

· Effects of Stimulating Specific Areas of the Brain 刺激大脑特定区域的作用

· Electrical Recording from Single Neurons 单神经元的电记录

Lesions or Implantations in Specific Areas of the Brain

Single-Unit Recording

10/9 Week 6 Third Class

Neuroscience! Neurons

· The human brain consists of roughly 100 billion neurons and roughly 100 trillion synapses

· Neurons are cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform information-processing tasks

Discovery

· In 1906, Camillo Golgi and Santiago Ramony Cajal were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize “in recognition of their work on the structure of the nervous system”

The Neuron Doctrine

· The nervous system is composed entirely of discrete, individual cells

· Neurons are the basic structural and functional unit of the nervous system

Parts of the Neuron

· Cell body

· Dendrites

· Axon

· Terminal branches of axon

Glial Cells

· Provide support and nutrients to neurons 为神经元提供支持和营养

· Capable of communicating with one another/neurons

The Synapse

Neuron Types

· Sensory Neurons: Receive information from the external world and convey this information to the brain via the spinal cord (skin)

· Motor Neurons: Carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement

· Interneurons: Connect sensory neurons, motor neurons and other interneurons

Resting Potential

· Work by biologists Alan Hodgkin and Andrew Huxley led to the discovery of a neuron’s resting potential

· Resting Potential: Difference in electric charge between the inside and outside of a neuron’s cell membrane (approx. -70 mV)

Action Potential

· Action potential: electrical signal that is conducted along an axon to a synapse

1. Axon hillock

2. Spike initiating zone

· Action potentials are all or nothing

· Refractory period: time following an action potential during which a new action potential cannot be initiated

10/13 Week 7 First Class

Synaptic Transmission

· Terminal Buttons (Boutons): Knoblike structures that branch out from an axon at its endpoint

· Neurotransmitters: Chemicals that transmit information across a synapse to a receiving neuron’s dendrites

· Receptors: Parts of the cell membrane that receive the neurotransmitter and initiate a new electric signal

Glutamate (Glu)

· Major excitatory neurotransmitter throughout the brain

1. Makes cells more likely to fire action potentials

· Used by interneurons

· Important in learning and memory formation

· Excess glutamate is toxic to neurons, thus is an important cause of cell death in brain diseases

GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)

· Primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain 大脑中的主要抑制性神经递质

1. Makes cells less likely to fire action potentials

· Drugs that enhance GABA have manby clinical applications

1. Anticonvulsants

2. Anxiolytics

3. Anesthesia

· Alcohol, and many depressants, act at the GABA receptor 酒精和许多抑制剂会作用于GABA受体

Acetylcholine (ACh)

· Enables muscle action; regulates attention, learning, memory, sleeping and dreaming

· Most common at the neuromuscular junction

· Nerve agents commonly inhibit enzymes which degrade Ach, causing a toxic buildup of Ach 神经药物通常会抑制降解Ach的酶，导致Ach的毒性积累

1. Acetylcholinesterase

2. Inhibitor

· Botulinum toxin

1. Weight of 1 aspirin can kill 100,000 people

2. Widely used in dilute form for cosmetic 美容 purposes (Bo Tox)

Agonists / Antagonists

· Agonist: mimics or increases the effect of a natural neurotransmitter

1. Often it does this by binding to the receptor site and triggering the same signals that the transmitter would

· Antagonist: blocks the function of a transmitter

1. Often by simply binding to a receptor site and preventing the transmitter from binding

Sensation and Perception: Vision

· Sensation: Basic processes by which sensory organs and the nervous system respond to stimuli in the environment and the elementary psychological experiences that result from those processes

1. Energy act in your body

2. Your body can have reaction before your receive the pain

· Perception: More complex organization of sensory information within the brain and the meaningful interpretations extracted from it

1. How you experience that

2. Feel pain as there is no physical there or having dream or things you image

10/14 Week 7 Second Class

Psychophysics

· Psychophysics: Methods that measure the strength of a stimulus and the observer’s sensitivity to that stimulus 测量刺激强度和观察者对该刺激的敏感性的方法

· Absolute threshold: The minimal intensity needed to just barely detect a stimulus

Transduction

· Conversion of one form of energy to another

· Sensory neurons convert physical signals from the environment into neural signals sent to the central nervous system

Phototransduction

· Multiple cones

· One rods

Tapetum Lucidum

· As the light goes through the eye, it can reflect the light through the pupil and lens.

Lights (short to long waves)

· Gamma rays

· X rays

· Ultraviolet (some people can see it)

· Rainbow (visible light)

· Infrared

· Microwaves

· Radio waves

Trichromatic Color Vision

· First step of encoding color in the visual system. Pattern of responding across the three types of cones provides a unique code for each color

· S-cone: short (blueness)

· M-cone: middle (green)

· L-cone: long (red)

· The dog’s view does not have M & L

10/16 Week 7 Third Class

Color-Opponent Representation

· Cells are excited by blue and inhibited by yellow

· Cells are excited by red and inhibited by green

· Cells are excited by white and inhibited by black

· Left eye sees the black square displaced to the right with respect to the white background square

· Right eye sees the black square displaced to the left with the respect to the white background square

· Binocular disparity: Difference in the retinal images of the two eyes that provides information about depth

· Monocular depth cues: Aspects of a scene that yield information about depth when viewed with only one eye

Monocular Depth Cues

· Linear perspective

· Texture gradient

· Interposition

· Relative height

10/21 Week 8 First Class

· Muller-Lyer

· Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Sensation and Perception: Audition

· Properties of Sound

· Sound-pressure Amplitudes of various sounds

· Components of the Ear Auditory Transduction

· Danger

· Perceiving Pitch

Perceiving Pitch

· Place Code: Cochlea encodes different (especially high) frequencies at different locations along the basilar membrane

· Temporal Code: Cochlea registers low frequencies via the firing rate of action potentials entering the auditory nerve

Pitch sensitivity

Localizing Sound

· Sound waves coming from the left (Sound B) reach the left ear sooner than the right ear

· Neurons receiving input from the two ears are sensitive to this difference, which provides a code for sound localization

Sensory Interaction: McGurk Effect

Synesthesia

· The perceptual experience of one sense that is evoked by another sense

Consciousness

· Consciousness: Subjective experience of the world and the mind

· Cartesian Theater: A mental screen or stage for which things appear to be presented for viewing by the mind’s eye

Zombies!

· How can we be certain that other people are truly conscious, and not simply exhibiting outward signs of consciousness?

· Challenges mind-brain identity; notion of pure physicalism

“Is it possible that we are not truly conscious, but merely zombies whose internal experiences are simply a product of a stimulus response?” - David vhalmers, PhD

Properties of Consciousness

· Intentionality of Consciousness: Directing consciousness towards an object

· Conscious attention is limited

· Unity of Consciousness: Consciousness’ resistance to division

· Also referred to also divided attention

· Selectivity of Consciousness: Consciousness’ capacity to include some objects and not others

· This property is shown through dichotic listening

· Cocktail party phenomenon: People tune in to one message even while they filter out others nearby

· Transience of Consciousness: the tendency for consciousness to change

· William James used a “Stream of consciousness” metaphor

Levels of Consciousness

· Minimal Consciousness: Low-level kind of sensory awareness and responsiveness that occurs when the mind inputs sensations and may output behavior

· Full Consciousness: Consciousness in which you know and are able to report your mental state

· Self Consciousness: A distinct level of consciousness in which the person’s attention is drawn to the self as an object

The Dynamic Unconscious

Thought Suppression

· Ironic processes of mental control

Consciousness: Sleep

Sleep

· Circadian Rhythm: A naturally occurring 24 hour cycle

· Brain activity during sleep is typically measured with an electroencephalograph (EEG)

Sleep Deprivation

· We need about 1hour of sleep for every 2 hours we are awake

· The world record for staying awake is held by Randy Gardner, who stayed up for 264 hours (11 days) and 12 minutes

· Rats forced to stay awake died after an average 21 days

Sleep and Memory

· Consolidation: the process which fixes memories in long term storage

· Sleep appears to be necessary for proper consolidation of the day’s memories to occur

Sleep Disorders

· Insomnia: Difficulty in falling asleep or staying asleep

· Most common sleep disorder (approx. 15% of adults)

· Can be exacerbated by worry about insomnia

· Somnambulism: “Sleepwalking” occurs when the person arises and walks around while asleep

· Occurs most commonly in children

· Several cases of homicidal sleepwalking have been documented, and sometimes this results in acquittal

· Kenneth Parks (1987) drives 14 miles in his sleep and kills mother-in-law. Acquitted by Canadian Supreme Court

· Scott Falater (1997) repeatedly stabs wife and holds her under water, conceals multiple pieces of evidence. Found guilty

· Jules Lowe (2003) beats father to death and claims no memory. Acquitted by way of insanity, spends 10 months in hospital

· Narcolepsy: A disorder in which sudden sleep attacks occur in the middle of waking activities

· This disorder appears to have a genetic basis

· Sleep Paralysis: Disorder in which one wakes up totally unable to move, sometimes with a feeling of pressure on the chest

· Thought to involve an interruption of REM sleep

· Night Terrors: abrupt awakening with panic and intense emotional arousal

· These typically affect boys ages 3 to 7 years, and happen during non-REM sleep

Dreams

· Characterized by

1. Intense emotion

2. Illogical thought

3. Meaningful sensory perception

4. Uncritical acceptance

5. Difficulty in remembering

Why Dream?

· Psychoanalytic model: Theory that dreams contain symbolic manifestations (Manifest Content) of unconscious thoughts and desires (latent content)

· Activation-synthesis model: Theory that dreams are produced when the brain attempts to make sense of activations that occur randomly during sleep

· Evolutionary model: Dreams help prepare us to cope with real threats in the environment

· Activation-Synthesis (J. Allan Hobson)

1. Cortex is bombarded with signals from the brainstem, producing the pattern of waking EEG

2. In response, cortex generates images, actions and emotions from personal memory stores

3. Dreams are personal, but have no meaning

· Evolutionary Hypothesis (Antti Revonsuo)

1. Dreams are highly organized and biased toward threatening images

2. Evolutionarily adaptive because they lead to enhanced performance in dealing with threatening life events

Your Brain on Dreams

· Areas of activation during REM sleep

1. Amygdala

2. Visual association areas

3. Motor cortex

4. Brain stem

· The prefrontal cortex shows less activation during REM sleep

11/04 Week 10 First Class

Consciousness

Psychoactive Drugs

· Chemicals that influence consciousness or behavior by altering the brain’s chemical message systems

Drug Addiction

· Drug Tolerance: Tendency for larger doses of a drug to be required over time to achieve the same effect

· Physical Dependence: Withdrawal symptoms may occur if a person suddenly stops taking the drug. These symptoms can sometimes include pain, convulsions and / or hallucinations

· Psychological Dependence: A strong desire to return to the drug even without physical withdrawal symptoms

Central Depressants

· Substances that reduce activity of the central nervous system

· Most depressants work by increasing the activity of GABA

· Alcohol, barbiturates, benzodiazepines and toxic inhalants are all examples of central depressants

Does-Related Effects

· Effects are additive

Depressants - Major Tranquilizers

· Barbiturates were used to treat anxiety and insomnia from 1912 to 1960

· Benzodiazepines were introduced in 1960s and are still used today to treat anxiety

· Examples of Benzodiazepines include: Valium, Xanax, Ativan and Rohypnol

Dissociative Anesthetics

· Drugs with depressant and anesthetic effects which produce extreme sensations of dissociation and depersonalization, and sometimes hallucinations

· Include Ketamine and Phencyclidine (PCP)

· Can have paradoxical stimulant effects

Stimulants

· Stimulants: Substances that excite the central nervous system, heightening arousal and activity levels

· These include: caffeine, amphetamines, nicotine, cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy)

· Most work by increasing levels of dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain

· Sensitization: Periodic use can result in increased response to drug effects

Narcotics

· Narcotics (or Opiates): Highly addictive drugs derived from opium that relieve pain and produce euphoria

· Examples of narcotics include: heroin, morphine, methadone and codeine

· Work by mimicking the body’s pain reduction system, endorphins, binding to Opioid receptors

Hallucinogens & Psychedelics

· Hallucinogens: Alter sensation and perception and often cause visual and auditory hallucinations

· Examples include: LSD, mescaline, psilocybin

· Main class of drugs that animals will not self-administer

Marijuana

· Marijuana: The leaves and buds of the Cannabis plant

· THC mimics the effect of anandamide and 2-AG, neurotransmitters involved in the regulation of mood, memory, appetite and pain

· Binds to Cannabinoid receptors

· Studies show support for the development of psychological dependence, but evidence for physical dependence is mixed

Hypnosis

· An Altered state of consciousness characterized by extreme suggestibility

· People with active imaginations tend to be more susceptible to hypnosis

Effects of Hypnosis

· Memory Recovery: Some psychologists hypnotize patients in order to help them uncover memories which they are not consciously aware of

· Amnesia: Posthypnotic amnesia is the inability to recall the events that look place while hypnotized

· Analgesia: a sufficiently susceptible person can by hypnotized and convinced that they feel less pain to the point that actual perceived pain is reduced

Mind Under Pressure

· Nitrogen Narcosis (“the Rapture of the Deep”)

1. Breathing compressed air several atmospheres below sea level (20 - 30 m) can distort perception and mood, producing euphoria and disorientation, even hallucinations

2. Thought to be produced by compressed nitrogen’s ability to cross barriers and affect neurons in a way not possible at sea level, altering patterns of neural activity

· High Pressure Neurological Syndrome (HPNS)

1. Condition seen after prolonged exposure to high atmospheric pressure (usually 10 atmospheres [100 m] or more)

2. Symptoms include aches and tremors, but also disruptions of cognition and perception

Learning & Memory

Learning: Change in an organism’s behavior as a result of experience

Memory: Ability to recall or recognize previous experience

Memory Trace: Mental representation of a previous experience presumed to correspond to some physical change in the brain

Everyday function result largely from combinations of Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning and Operant Conditioning (Instrumental Learning)

Habituation

· General process in which repeated or prolonged exposure to a stimulus results in a gradual reduction in responding

· Simplest form of learning

· Sensitization: Opposite effect occurs, stimulus produces increased response

Classical Conditioning

· Occurs when a once neutral stimulus evokes a response after being paired with a stimulus that naturally evokes a response

· Pioneering work done by Ivan Pavlov and his assistant Ivan Tolochinov

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

· Something that reliably produces a naturally occurring reaction in an organism

Unconditioned Response (UR)

· A reflexive reaction that is reliably elicited by an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

· A stimulus that is initially neutral and produces no reliable response in an organism

Conditioned Response (CR)

· A reaction that resembles an unconditioned response but is produced by a conditioned stimulus

Acquisition

· The phase of classical conditioning when the CS and US are presented together

Extinction

· The gradual elimination of a learned response that occurs when the US is no longer presented

Spontaneous Recovery

· The tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period

Biological Preparedness

· Associations which are most relevant to a particular species survival are most easily learned

· Some associations are acquired after just one experience

· Taste aversion is very easily acquired

Operant Conditioning

· Type of learning in which the consequences of an organism’s behavior determine whether it will be repeated in the future

Operant Behavior

· Behavior that an organism emit that has some impact on the environment

· B.F. Skinner coined the term, along with the “Skinner box”

Reinforcer

· Any stimulus or event that functions to increase the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Punisher

· Any stimulus or event that functions to decrease the likelihood of the behavior that led to it

Positive Reinforcement, Negative Reinforcement or Punishment

· A rat pressing a lever to terminate a shock or a loud noise

· Receiving a gift card for participating in a recycling program

· A child being spanked for misbehaving

Long Term Potentiation

· “Cells that fire together, wire together.”

· Memory storage depends on changes in the synapses, and Long-Term Potentiation (LTP) increases synaptic connection strength

· NMDA receptor site controls the initiation of LTP in most hippocampal pathways

Explicit Memory

· Consciously or intentionally retrieved past experiences

1. Semantic Memory

2. Episodic Memory

Semantic Memory

· Network of associated facts and concepts that make up our general knowledge of the world

Episodic Memory

· Collection of specific personal experiences that occurred at a particular time and place

Implicit Memory

· The influence of past experiences on later behavior and performance. Not deliberate or conscious. “Bottom-up processing”

1. Procedural Memory

2. Priming

Procedural Memory

· The gradual acquisition of skills as a result of parctive; knowing how to do things

Priming

· Enhanced ability to think of a stimulus, such as a work or object, as a result of a recent exposure to the stimulus

Case Study H.M.

· 1953: HIppocampus and surrounding areas of temporal lobes removed to control epileptic seizures. Seizures decreased dramatically, but experienced severe memory impairment

· Pronounced anterograde amnesia

· Moderate retrograde amnesia

· Retained normal implicit, short-term memory functions and procedural memory

Long-Term Memory

· Information can be stored here for hours, days, weeks or years

· Hippocampal region of the brain critical for transferring new information into the long-term store

1. Anterograde Amnesia: Inability to transfer new information from short-term to long-term storage

2. Retrograde Amnesia: Inability to retrieve information acquired before a particular date, usually the date of an injury or operation

Hippocampus and Spatial Memory

· Monkeys with hippocampal lesions have difficulties with visuospatial learning

· Hippocampal formation in food-storing birds and rodent is larger than the hippocampal formation in non-storing animals

Seven Sins of Memory

· Transience

· Absentmindedness

· Blocking

· Misattribution

· Suggestibility

· Bias

· Persistence

Transience

· Forgetting which occurs with the passage of time

· Retroactive interference: Situations in which later learning impairs memory for information acquired earlier (Recency Effect)

· Proactive interference: Situations in which earlier learning impairs memory for information acquired later (Primacy Effect)

Absentmindedness

· Lapse in attention that results in memory failure

· Many everyday instances probably result from a kind of “divided attention”

Blocking

· Failure to retrieve information that is available in memory even though you are trying to produce it

Tip-of-the-Tongue Experience

· Temporary inability to retrieve information that is stored in memory, accompanied by the feeling that you are on the verge of recovering the information

Misattribution

· Assigning a recollection or an idea to the wrong source

· Source memory: Recall of when, where and how information was acquired

1. “Cryptomnesia”

· False Recognition: A feeling of familiarity about something that has not been encountered before

Suggestibility

· Tendency to incorporate misleading information from external sources into personal recollections

· May be a source of false eyewitness testimonies

· See: Elizabeth Loftus

Bias

· The distorting influences of present knowledge, beliefs and feelings on recollection of previous experiences

1. Consistency Bias

2. Change Bias (chump-to-champ, champ-to chump)

3. Egocentric Bias

Persistence

· The intrusive recollection of events that we with we could forget

1. Flashbulb memories: Detailed recollections of when and where we heard shocking or emotional news

Emotions Enhance Memory

· The amygdala, part of the limbic system, responds strongly to emotional events

Retrieval

· Retrieval cue: External information that is associated with stored information and helps bring it to mind

1. Encoding specificity principle

2. State dependent retrieval

Personality Slides

Personality

· An individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking and feeling

Personality Differences

· In general, explanations of personality are concerned with

1. Prior events

2. Anticipated events

Measuring Personality

· Personality Inventories

1. Self-report: A series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives describe their own behavior or mental state

2. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI): A well-researched, clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems

· Projective Tests

1. Thematic Apperception test: Projective personality test in which respondents reveal underlying motives, concerns and the way they see the social world through the stories they make up about ambiguous pictures of people

2. Rorschach Inkblot test: Projective personality test in which individual interpretations of the meaning of a set of unstructured inkblots are analyzed to identify a respondent’s inner feelings and interpret his or her personality structure

The Barnum Effect

· Named after P.T. Barnum, who said, “there is a sucker born every minute.”

· Barnum effects occur when the “results” for a personality test are so vague or general, that they would apply to anybody

· Example of common descriptions

1. You have a great need for other people to like and admire you

2. You have a tendency to be critical of yourself

3. You have a great deal of unused capacity that you have not turned to your advantage

4. While you have some personality weaknesses, you are generally able to compensate for them

5. At times you are extroverted, affable, sociable, while at other times you are introverted, wary, reserved

The Trait Approach

· Trait: Relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way (Ex: aggressiveness or authoritarianism)

· Trait Theory: Ability to specify a manageable set of distinct personality dimensions that can be used to summarize the fundamental psychological differences among individuals

Genetic Foundations of Traits

· Genes affect personality primarily by influencing physiological characteristics of the nervous system

1. Specific personality characteristics and specific genes that alter neurotransmission

· Neuroticism & Serotonin

· Novelty seeking & Dopamine

Personality as Mental Processes

· Psychodynamic Approach: Regards personality as formed by needs, stricings and desires, largely operating outside of awareness-motives that can also produce emotional disorders

Dynamic Unconscious

· An active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the person’s deepest instincts and desires, and the person’s inner struggle to control those forces

Id

· The part of the mind containing the drives present at birth: it is the source of our bodily needs, wants, desires and impulses, particularly oursexual and aggressive drives

Ego

· The component of personality, developed through contact with the external world, that enables us to deal with life’s practical demands

· Reality Principle

Superego

· The mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly learned as parents exercise their authority

Defense Mechanisms

· Defense mechanisms: unconscious coping mechanisms that reduce anxiety generated by threats from unacceptable impulses

· Repression: Mental process that removes painful experiences or unacceptable impulses from the conscious mind (“motivated forgetting”)

· Rationalization: Supplying a reasonable sounding explanation for unacceptable feelings and behavior to conceal (mostly from oneself) one’s underlying motives of feelings

· Reaction Formation: Unconsciously replacing threatening inner wishes and fantasies with an exaggerated version of their opposite

· Projection: Attributing one’s own threatening feelings, motives or impulses to another person or group

· Displacement: Shifting unacceptable wishes or drives to a neutral or less threatening target

· Sublimation: Channeling of inappropriate desires and urges into more socially acceptable behavior

· Denial: Willing oneself to ignore obvious flaws, typically in one’s own behavior or the behavior of loved ones

Personality in Situations

· Social Cognitive Approach: An approach that views personality in terms of how the person thinks about the situations encountered in daily life and behaves in response to them

Social Psychology

· They study of the causes and consequences of interpersonal behavior

Cooperation

· Behavior by two or more individuals that leads to mutual benefit

Altruism

· Behavior that benefits another without benefiting oneself

· Reciprocal altruism: Behavior the benefits another with the expectation that those benefits will be returned in the future

Aggression

· Behavior whose purpose is to harm another

· Frustration-Aggression Principle: A principle stating that people aggress when their goals are thwarted

· Increases linked to testosterone levels

The Danger of Groups

· Group: A collection of two or more people who believe they have something in common

· Prejudice & Discrimination

· In-group vs. Out-group

· Robber’s Cave Study: (Muzafer Sherif, 1961)

· In-group formation stage

· Friction Stage

· Integration Stage

· Deindividuation: Phenomenon which occurs when immersion in a group causes people to become less aware of their own values

Stanford Prison Experiment

· Philip Zimbardo recruits participants to play “guards” or “prisoners” in mock prison study

· 14 day planned study terminated after 6 days due to rampant abuse

The Danger of Groups

· Deindividuation thought to contribute to mob violence

· Number of victims tends to rise with number in mob

· Implicated in large scale massacres like those at My Lai or the atrocities of Nazi germany

· Social Loafing: The tendency for people to expend less effort when in a group than alone

· Diffusion of Responsibility: The tendency for individuals feel diminished responsibility for their actions because they are surrounded by others who are acting the same way

Attribution

· Inference about the cause of a person’s behavior

1. Situational attributions

2. Dispositional attributions

3. Fundamental Attribution Error

Social Influence

· The control of one person’s behavior by another

· Three basic wants make them susceptible

1. Hedonic Motive

2. Approval Motive

3. Accuracy Motive

Norms

· Customary standards for behavior that is widely shared by members of a culture

· Normative Influence: Phenomenon whereby one person’s behavior is influenced by another’s because the latter provide information about what is appropriate (eg: norm of reciprocity)

Conformity

· The tendency to do what others do simply because others are doing it ( Asch Conformity study, 1951)

Obedience

· Tendency to do what authorities tell us to do simply because they tell us to do it

Influences

· Norm of obedience to legitimate authorities

· Experimenter’s self-assurance and acceptance of responsibility

· Proximity of the experimenter and the distance of the learner

· Absence of an alternative model of how to behave

· Incremental nature of requests