REVIEW ONE - Introduction, Methodology, and Perspectives (Media Center) Definition of Psychology The SCIENTIFIC study of BEHAVIOR and

d MENTAL PROCESSES. William Wundt First Psychology lab. Perspectives What are they? A way to explain or study behavior. Biological Biological factors are the greatest influence on behavior. Behavioral Learned through classical, operant, or observational learning. Little emphasis on thinking. Psychoanalytic (Psychodynamic) Caused by unconscious thoughts and memories Cognitive Behavior is caused by thinking and memory. Humanistic Behavior is shaped as we try to self-actualize or improve. Difference in Psychologist and Psychiatrist Psychologist has advanced degrees in Psychology, a Psychiatrist is a medical doctor specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness. Subfields: Only 40% of all Psychologists are Clinical Clinical Help with emotional problems Developmental Study how people grow and develop Industrial/Organizational Study work behavior. Educational Study the behavior of learning. Social The effect of the group on an individual and vice-versa. Methodology Applied research is when the psychologist has a definite, practical use for doing the researchlike studying how kids learn to read, so that teachers can use that information. Basic research is when a Psychologist does the research just to get more knowledge. Descriptive Methods of Research Naturalistic Observation Observe subject in natural habitat. Survey- Ask Questions Case Study Study one person in detail. Correlation Compare two behaviors to see if there is a relationship. Even if there is a relationship, a correlation DOES NOT show the cause of a behavior (only experiment can do that). Positive Correlation behaviors increase or decrease together. Negative Correlation as one behavior increases, another decreases. The Experimental Method The only method that can show the cause and effect of behavior. Independent Variable The factor that you think will change behavior. Dependent Variable What you compare at the end of an experiment to see if behavior was changed. Control Group (Control Condition) The group that serves as a comparison. Experimental Group ( Condition) The group whose behavior you are trying to change. They are exposed to the independent variable. Random Sampling Individuals are selected by chance from the population. Each member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen. Experimenter Bias When the experimenter consciously or unconsciously arranges the experiment to get the results he/she wants. Can be avoided by using the double blind method. Ethical Guidelines Permission, Debriefing, No Harm, Confidentiality Methods of Collecting Data: Longitudinal ONE group over a long period of time. Cross-Sectional Several Age groups all at the same time.

BIOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR

Structure of a Neuron Dendrite: Receives messages on its receptor sites. Axon Releases neurotransmitters from its axon terminals Soma Cell body Neurotransmitters: Dopamine Too much Schizophrenia Too little Parkinsons ACH too little- Alzheimers Serotonin too little depression, OCD, eating disorders, panic disorder Endorphins- Body's natural painkillers Norephinephrine too little depression Methods of Studying the Brain CAT- x ray PET shows brain working using radioactive glucose solution. MRI radio waves Lesioning destroy part of the brain, see what you can't do. EEG Brain waves Autonomic Nervous System We studied this with the unit on Stress and also Emotion. Sympathetic fight or flight, or alarm reaction Parasympathetic Reverses (pretty much) what the sympathetic did. Sensory (Afferent) Neurons sends info from the sense receptors to Central Nervous System Motor (Efferent) Neurons sends info from CNS to the muscles. Hypothalamus Hunger, Thirst, Sexual Behavior, Aggression. Thalamus Sensory Switchboard. All sensations but smell pass through thalamus to cerebral cortex. Reticular Formation (Reticular Activating System) Arousal (Paying attention) Amygdala Emotion Hippocampus Part of the limbic system that helps store new LTM. Medulla Controls heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure. Cerebellum Coordinates skilled movement and body balance. Effects muscles tone. Cerebral Cortex Processing sensory information, thinking, decision making. Wernick's Area In left temporal lobe (why left?). Helps us understand language. Broca's Area- In left (?) frontal lobe. Helps us produce speech. Motor Cortex Controls motor movement. Sensory Cortex Where touch, pressure, pain, are registered.

Specialization of the Lobes in the Cerebral Cortex Occipital Lobe Vision Parietal Touch/Gross Motor Movement Temporal Lobe Hearing Frontal Fine motor movement, controlling emotion planning, speech. Specializations of the Hemispheres: Left Language, Logic, Math Right Spatial Abilities, Emotion (especially perceiving emotion in others), music, art.

Split Brain operations were done in the late 60s to help people with severe epilepsy. The corpus callosum was severed, which pretty much meant the person had two independent brains. Most of the time the person acted normally, because information got to both hemispheres by way of the eyes. However, these people gave us our first glimpse into the specializations of the hemispheres. The person associated with this research is Roger Sperry.

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION Sensation is the information coming into your brain from the senses. Perception is making sense of it. Absolute Threshold Minimum amount of sensation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time. Just Noticeable Difference The amount of change needed in a sensation to notice a difference (have your parents ever asked you to turned down the CD playeryou do, but then they yell at

you to do it again. Apparently you didn't reach the point of JND). Weber's Law has to do with the amount of change necessary to notice a change.it's always a percentage. Have 10 light bulbs, need 3 more to notice more light in the room.if you have 20 light bulbs, you'll need___??? Transduction Changing a sensory stimulus into something the brain understandsneurons firing. Eye: Transduction takes place in the retina. The retina is made up of three layers of cells: rods and cones, bi-polar cells, and ganglion cells. The axons of the ganglion cells "gang up" to form the optic nerve. Your blind spot is where the optic nerve leaves the eye. Feature Detectors are cells that help you "see"..they are not in the eye, but in the brain. Two main theories of color vision : Trichromatic (Young Helmholtz) Color vision comes from three different types of cones in the eye. Opponent Process Pairs of cells detect color. Red/green, black/white, yellow/blue. Phi Phenomenon the illusion of movement caused by presenting visual stimuli (like light bulbs turning on) in rapid succession. Ear: Transduction takes place in the cochleato be specific, in the basilar membrane in the cochlea, to be even more specific, by the hair cells in the basilar membrane vibrating. Nerve Deafness damage to cochlea Conduction Deafness damage to outer or middle ear. Vestibular Sense Knowing the position of your bodycontrolled by semi-circular canals in the ear. Touch: Gate Control Theory different touch sensations can block, or "close the gate" on others. Pressure blocks pain. Kinesthesis knowing position of body parts info comes from ligaments and tendons. Taste: (Gustatory Sense) 4 taste sensations are: sweet, sour, bitter, salty. PERCEPTION The Gestalt psychologists believe that our brain constantly organizes sensory information into a "whole" or something that makes sense. Gestalt principles are: continuity, closure, and proximity. Depth Perception The ability to judge distance. We use one binocular, and many monocular cues for distance. Binocular Cue Retinal Disparitywe are not a Cyclops, our eyes take in slightly different views of the world. When those two views are put together in our brain into one image, then that gives us depth. Monocular Cues Linear Perspective like a road looking narrower the further it gets from you. Relative Motion As you are moving, things close to you appear to be going away from you, things further away seem to be following you. Relative Size Things further away seem smaller Texture Gradient Things further away have less detail. Perceptual Constancies Our brain understands that though our eyes say things are changing, they are not. Examples are size constancy, shape constancy, and color constancy.

The review quiz on this material WILL NOT be multiple choice.

The day following the first Review Quiz, you will have a Free Response essay test on the following topic: Setting up An Experiment. You should review your notes on the experiment and also on how to write a Free Response essay.

Writing a Free Response Essay on the AP Psychology Exam When attacking a PSYCHOLOGY free response question, you should use the following guidelines: 1. Forget everything you have learned in English class about writing a good essay. Psychology free responses do not use the same techniques, and you will lose valuable time if you try to . 2. Have an opening and concluding statement paragraph NOT! Do not put these elements in your essay. You will receive no points for style, and again, you will lose time developing thesis statements, etc. Just answer the question. Rememberno opening or closing paragraph!! 3. Make an outline before you start writing. Try to determine the grading rubric the readers will use to grade your paper (in other words, where are the points in this question?). If it says compare, compare. If it asks for a definition and example of a term, give both!! When you start writing, answer those pointsonly. ..which leads to.. 4. Don't embellish. There's another term for this that I will not use, but don't give a bunch of extra information thinking it will help your score..it won't. Just because you can tell what color underwear Freud was wearing when he was writing his dream theory will not compensate for points you did not answer in another area of the question. Make sure you answer the question, but don't add the extras. 5. Write legibly. Human beings who have to read hundreds of these during the weeklong grading period score these essays. Your essay may not get a fair reading if it is messy or difficult to read. A few other technical tips.Don't list, always use a paragraph format, even if the question asks you to list. Another idea is to look at your outline of the points in the essay and then in your writing UNDERLINE words or phrases that were in the question. This will draw the graders' eye to that information, so it is not overlooked. DO NOT underline every other word, it will defeat the purpose of doing this. P. S. Grammar and spelling are not graded in these essays, psychological knowledge is. One other helpful hint. I do not agree with the graders doing this, but they do, so let me tell you about this trick. If you are confused on information on a question (Is the independent variable the one you manipulate, or the one you use to compare the control and experimental groups?).answer both ways in your essay, and you might receive credit for knowing the information. But earning points will occur only if two things happen: you answer in CONTEXT of the question, and you don't contradict yourself (ie. saying "the independent var iable is the one the experimenter manipulates, and the dependent variable is the one the experimenter alters.")