History, Approaches, Research Methods

Early theories: Introspection – Wilhelm Wundt – first lab – structuralism (combine subjective emotions/objective sensations)Function of structures – William James – America – functionalism Gestalt psychology – whole picture – especially with perception (Max Wertheimer)Psychoanalysis – Freud – unconscious, repression, defense mechanismsBehaviorism – John B. Watson (founder), then B. F. Skinner

Psychological perspectivesHumanistic – Maslow, Rogers – free will, choosing what’s best for oneselfPsychoanalytic – Freud firstBiopsychology (or neuroscience) – brain and body keys to understanding behaviorEvolutionary (or Darwinian, or sociobiological) – natural selectionBehavioral – all is learned through conditioning principlesCognitive – how the person thinks is the keySociocultural – looks at environment as key

ResearchHypothesis – expresses a possible relationship between variables

Dependent vs. independent variableOperational definitionsRandom sampleRandom assignment to experimental & control groupsPopulation Stratified sample – match sample to ethnic or other groups

Experimental method (laboratory vs. field research)Establishes cause and effect relationshipConfounding variablesExperimenter bias

Eliminate with double-blindHawthorne effectPlacebos

Correlational methodRelationship between variables (-1.00 to +1.00)Correlation does not mean causation

Can use surveys (must guard against sampling biases)Naturalistic observation – unobtrusive, realistic

Observer bias, errorCase study – full and detailed, but only one subject or small group of subjects

Ex. Ramachandran’s research in Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatDifficult to generalize

StatisticsDescriptive statistics

Measures of central tendency – mean, median modeExtreme scores – outliers – skewed distributions

Extreme high scores – positively skewedMeasures of variability

Range – distance between highest & lowestVariance = standard deviation squaredStandard deviation – you know you love this Z-scoresNormal curve – 68-95-99.7Percentiles

Correlation coefficient (scatterplot)Inferential statistics

Can the data be applied to a larger population?Are there sampling errors?Calculate the p value (probability that the results occurred by chance)

P<.05, considered statistically significant Ethical guidelines

Institutional Review Board (IRB) Animal research

Have clear scientific purposeCare for and house animals in humane way.Acquire animals legally.Minimize suffering.

Human researchInformed consentNo coercionConfidentiality/anonymityMinimum risk to subject (no way Milgram’s research would be approved)Debriefing of subjects

Neuroscience

NeuroanatomyNeurons –

flow = in dendrite, cell body (soma), out axon through terminal buttons (or synaptic knobs)

myelin sheath – speeds transmission (problem in multiple sclerosis)Neurotransmitters – during firing, are in synapse, bind to dendrite to create

action potentialAction potential

Resting potential – neg. charge inside neuron (-70 mV)All-or-none principleRefractory period

NeurotransmittersExcitatory/inhibitory

Acetylcholine (ACh)DopamineGABA

Afferent neurons (sensory)Efferent neurons (motor)Interneurons (CNS)CNS – brain & spinal cordPeripheral nervous system – autonomic & somatic

autonomic – parasympathetic & sympatheticBrain

How to study – lesions (Phineas Gage), lobotomyEEG - activityCAT or CT scan - structureMRI - structurePET – activity fMRI – structure & activity

Hindbrainmedulla – lifepons – dreamscerebellum – little brain – synthesizing movement

Midbrain

integrates sensation & movementreticular formation (or reticular activating system)

Forebrain - Thalamus – sensory switchboardHypothalamus – regulator, director of pituitary, metabolism, endocrine

systemAmygdala – emotional coreHippocampus – encoding memory

sometimes this group of structures referred to as limbic systemCerebral cortex

Contralateral control (right brain controls left motor)Hemispheric specialization or lateralization

split-brain studyAssociation areas (not involved in sensation or motor function)Frontal lobe

abstract thought, control of emotionleft – Broca’s area (broken speech)

motor cortex at backParietal lobe

sensory cortex at frontangular gyrus – metaphor comprehension

Occipital lobevisual interpretation

Temporal lobeauditory interpretationWernicke’s area

Placticity

Endocrine system – pituitary, adrenal, ovaries, testes, pancreas (insulin), thyroid Genetics – cells – 46 chromosomes, 23 pairs – made up of DNA

monozygotic twins – one fertilized eggBouchard studied over 100 monozygotic twins separated at birthAbnormalities

Turner’s syndrome – one X – webbed neck, underdeveloped sexual characteristics

Klinefelter’s syndrome – XXY – minimal sexual dev’t, introversion

Down syndrome – extra chromosome on 21st pair – mental retardation

Development Theory

Nature vs. nurture key debateHow to study: cross-sectional, longitudinalInfant development

Teratogens – radiation (neurons migrate too far) alcohol (stop short) – fetal alcohol syndrome

Reflexes – rooting, sucking, grasping, Moro (startle), Babinski (foot – spread toes)

turn toward mother’s voicevision clearest at approx 12” when born

Motor development (maturation)myelination of neurons key

Proximodistal development (center outward); cephalocaudal (brain down)

Attachment theoryHarlow – touchAinsworth – strange situation paradigm

secure attachment (66%) – explore when parent there, upset when parent leaves

avoidant attachment (21%) – resist parents, explore, don’t returnanxious/ambivalent (12%) – stress when left, not comforted on return

Parenting styleAuthoritarianAuthoritativePermissive

Stage theoryFreud (oral, anal, phallic – Oedipus/Electra complex, latency, genital)

Erikson (neo-Freudian) – psychosocial stagestrust vs. mistrust (babies)autonomy vs. shame & doubt (toddlers)initiative vs. guilt (3-5)

industry vs. inferiority (elem school – may develop inferiority complex)identity vs. role confusion (adolescence)intimacy vs. isolation (early adult)generativity vs. stagnation (middle adult)integrity vs. despair (older adult)

Piaget (cognitive devt – worked for Alfred Binet)schemas – assimilation – accommodation

sensorimotor (0-2 years)object permanence (8 mo.)

preoperational (2-7)concrete operational (8-12)

conservation signals onsetvolume, area, number

formal operationsabstract reasoning, testing hypotheses

Information-processing model – alternate view to Piagetchanges reflect different way of processing info

Moral development – KohlbergPreconventionalConventionalPostconventional

universal ethical principlesCarol Gilligan’s criticism – women think relationally, situationally

Gender differencesBiopsychological theory

ex. women have larger corpus callosum

Psychodynamic theory (Freud)

Social-cognitive theorySocial influencesGender-schema theory

Sensation & PerceptionSensation – transduction of mechanical energy into neural energy (bottom-up)

VisionTransduction in the retina

cornea – pupil (iris controls opening) – lens – retina (rods & cones) – bipolar cells – ganglion cells – optic nerve

fovea – point of central focus (highest concentration of cones)Blind spotLateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) – region in thalamus for vision

Hubel & Wiesel – feature detectorsTheories of color vision

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic theory – blue, red, green detectors Opponent-process theory – afterimages (red/green, yellow/blue,

black/white)Hearing

Amplitude (height – loudness), frequency (pitch)Pinna – auditory canal – eardrum (tympanic membrane) – ossicles – oval window – cochlea (transduction)

Cochlea – hairs connect to organ of Corti – then to auditory nervePlace theory – hairs react to certain frequencies in a certain placeFrequency theory – hairs fire at different rates to match frequencyConduction hearing loss vs. sensorineural hearing loss

TouchGate-control theory of pain Endorphins

Chemical senses: taste, smellTaste buds on papillae (sweet, salty, sour, bitter)Receptors in nose – directly to olfactory bulb – limbic system – bypasses thalamus

Vestibular (balance – semicircular canals) & kinesthetic (body position, orientation)

Perception – analysis and interpretation of sensation (top-down)Absolute threshold – minimal stimulus for detection 50% of the time

subliminal – below absoluteDifference threshold (JND)

Weber’s law – difference vary in proportion to intensity of stimulus

Theories of perceptionSignal detection theory (depends on state of perceiver)Perceptual set (approach to perceptual task – influenced by schemata)

Rules of visual perceptionFigure-groundGestalt rules

proximitysimilarity

continuityclosure

Constanciessizeshapebrightness

Depth perceptionvisual cliff – crawlers have perception of depthBinocular cues (both eyes)

binocular (or retinal) disparityconvergence

Monocular cues (can perceive as well with one eye as with two)Linear

perspectiveRelative sizeInterposition

Texture gradientShadowing

IllusionsMuller-Lyer (lines with arrows) – culture affects perceptionphi phenomenon (blinking lights appear to travel)stroboscopic movement (flip books, cartoons)

States of Consciousness

Dualism (thought & matter) vs. monism (all same substance)

Levels of consciousnessSubtle effects – mere-exposure effect, priming, blind sight

Sleep cycle – based on circadian rhythm (25 hr)Sleep onset – before begins – alpha wavesStage 1 – hypnagogic sensations, theta wavesStage 2 – sleep spindles, K-complexesStage 3 – some delta wavesStage 4 – delta sleep (night terrors)then stage 3, 2, then REM sleep (paradoxical sleep)

body paralyzed, mind active

Disordersinsomniasleep apneanarcolepsysomnambulism (sleep walking) – stage 4

Dreams Psychoanalytic theory: manifest content – story line latent content – underlying meaningactivation-synthesis theory (pons generates signals)information-processing theory (work through experience)housekeeping hypothesis (clear unneeded neural connections)

HypnosisDissociation – split in consciousness (Hilgard – hidden observer)

ice water – asked if any part felt cold, raise fingerRole theory (social influence) – suggestibility

posthypnotic suggestionposthypnotic amnesia

DrugsMust pass blood-brain barrier (protection against chemical intrusion)Agonists/antagonistsTolerance/withdrawal

Stimulantscaffeine, cocaine, amphetamines, nicotine

Depressantsalcohol, barbiturates, anxiolytics (Valium)

alcohol depresses inhibitions

Hallucinogensmarijuana, LSD, mercaline, mushrooms

- often remain in system for years (reverse tolerance – less for effect)

Opiatesmorphine, heroin (agonists for endorphins)

LanguageElements of language

PhonemesMorphemes

Acquisition of languageBabbling, telegraphic speech, overgeneralizationChomsky – language acquisition device (nativistic theory of language dev’t)Skinner – learned through reinforcement

Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesis

Thinking

Concepts (schemas) – based on categorization, prototypes

Problem-solving AlgorithmHeuristic

AvailabilityRepresentativeness

Problems in thinking (bias)Belief biasOverconfidenceBelief perseveranceConfirmation biasFramingRigidity (mental set)

Functional fixednessCreative thinking

Divergent thinking – multiple possible answersConvergent thinking - synthesis

MemoryMemory (learning has persisted over time)

Information–processing model (three-box) – encoding necessary to beginSensory – Short-Term – Long-termSensory – Split-second holding

Sperling (flashed grid of 9 letters)Iconic memoryEchoic memory

visual, acoustic, semanticBased on selective attention

Short-term – working memoryTemporary, fade in 10-30 sec. – 7 items

Increased by chunking, mnemonic devices, rehearsalLong-term – relatively permanent

EpisodicSemanticProcedural

Forgetting – relearning happens quicklyProactive interferenceRetroactive interference

Brain – hippocampus importantAnterograde amnesia – hippocampal damageRetrograde amnesia Long-term potentiation – strengthened connectionsReconstructive memory – Loftus

Misinformation effectUnreliability of eyewitness reports

Language

Elements of languagePhonemesMorphemes

Acquisition of languageBabbling, telegraphic speech, overgeneralizationChomsky – language acquisition device (nativistic theory of language dev’t)Skinner – learned through reinforcement

Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesis

Thinking

Concepts (schemas) – based on categorization, prototypes

Problem-solving AlgorithmHeuristic

AvailabilityRepresentativeness

Problems in thinking (bias)Belief biasOverconfidenceBelief perseveranceConfirmation biasFramingRigidity (mental set)

Functional fixednessCreative thinking

Divergent thinking – multiple possible answersConvergent thinking - synthesis

MemoryMemory (learning has persisted over time)

Information–processing model (three-box) – encoding necessary to begin

Sensory – Short-Term – Long-termSensory – Split-second holding

Sperling (flashed grid of 9 letters)Iconic memoryEchoic memory

visual, acoustic, semanticBased on selective attention

Short-term – working memoryTemporary, fade in 10-30 sec. – 7 items

Increased by chunking, mnemonic devices, rehearsalLong-term – relatively permanent

EpisodicSemanticProcedural

Forgetting – relearning happens quicklyProactive interferenceRetroactive interference

Brain – hippocampus importantAnterograde amnesia – hippocampal damageRetrograde amnesia Long-term potentiation – strengthened connectionsReconstructive memory – Loftus

Misinformation effectUnreliability of eyewitness reports

Learning Theory

Learning – long term change in behavior resulting from experience

Classical conditioning – Pavlov – associative learning (contiguity model)

US/UCSURCSCRacquisitiongeneralizationdiscriminationextinctionspontaneous recovery

delayed conditioning – bell rings, continues to ring, food presentedless effective

trace conditioning – bell rings, break, foodsimultaneous conditioning – bell, food togetherbackward conditioning – food then bell (ineffective)

John B. Watson – human conditioning (Little Albert)aversive conditioning (pairing of unpleasant stimulus with pleasant

stimulus)Higher-order conditioning – first train bell with food, then add light, eventually

light alone

Learned taste aversions – biological predispositionGarcia & Koelling – conditioned rats an aversion to saccharin water

rats did not learn aversions as easily to light, etc.

Operant conditioningLaw of effect – Thorndike

if consequences of behavior are pleasant, connection is strengthenedSkinner – expanded research

Skinner boxReinforcement

positive reinforcernegative reinforcer

positive punishmentnegative punishment (omission training)

escape learningavoidance learning

shapingchainingprimary vs. secondary reinforcerstoken economyPremack principle – preferred activity can reinforce non-preferred

Schedules of reinforcementContinuousPartial (intermittent) reinforcement

Fixed ratioVariable ratioFixed intervalVariable interval

Instinctive drift – animals tend to drift toward natural behaviorRescorla – contingency model (must see cause-effect relationship)

adds cognition – must see predictability of result

Observational learningBandura – modeling (observation & imitation)

Latent learningNot effortful – becomes obvious when reward is introduced (Tolman)

Abstract learningGeneralizing learning

Insight learningKohler – chimps (naturalistic observation)

PersonalityPersonality – unique attitudes, behaviors, emotions that characterize a person

Key question: stability vs. changeType A vs. Type B (A = competitive, aggressive, volatile)

Freudian theory – psychosexual stagesOral – 0-1 year, pleasure from mouthAnal – 1-3 years, pleasure from eliminationPhallic – 3-5 years, pleasure from genitals

Oedipal complex – boy wants mom, resents dadCastration anxiety

Electra complex – girl wants dad, resents mom (not Freud)Penis envy

Resolved through identification with same sex parentLatency – 6-puberty, repression of sexual feelingsGenital – puberty on, sexual pleasure through relationships

Fixations – problem in resolving a stageOral – overeat, smoke, chew gumAnal – anal retentive (compulsive, overly organized)

Anal expulsive (messy, disorganized)Id (pleasure principle)Ego (reality principle) – mediates between id and superegoSuperego – conscience, mores of society

Defense mechanismsRepressionDenialDisplacementProjectionReaction formationRegressionRationalizationSublimation

Criticisms of FreudFeminists (Karen Horney – womb envy)

Neo-FreudiansAdler – birth order, inferiority complex – drive for superiorityCarl Jung – collective unconscious

Archetypes – shadow Trait theories

Eysenck – stable-instable, introversion-extraversion scaleCattell – 16PFBig 5 – OCEAN (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness,

neuroticism)Factor analysis – finding clusters of items that differentiate between traits

Other theoristsAllport – cardinal dispositions (traits that clearly identify a person)

Central dispositions/secondary dispositionsBiological theories

Temperaments – characteristic way of dealing with the worldHippocrates – four humors (body fluids – blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm)Somatotype theory – Sheldon (endomorphs, ectomorphs, mesomorphs)

Social-cognitive theoriesBandura – reciprocal determinism (traits, environment, behavior)

Self-efficacy – making a difference, getting things doneRotter – locus of control (internal vs. external)

Humanistic theoriesPeople are innately goodSelf-conceptSelf-esteemUnconditional positive regard, empathy, genuineness

Assessment of personalityProjective test – Rorschach, Draw-a-Person, TATSelf-report inventories – MMPIBarnum effect – see self in vague, stock descriptions of personality

Astrological sign can fit anyone

Disorders & Treatments4 facets required to be labeled disordered behavior (DSM-IV-TR):

* ***

Anxiety disorders:PhobiasGeneralized anxiety disorderPanic disorder & agoraphobiaObsessive-compulsive disorderPTSD

Drug treatments: barbiturates Benzodiazepines (Xanax, Valium)

Somatoform disorders:HypochondriasisConversion disorderSomatization disorder

Dissociative disordersDissociative identity disorder (DID)Dissociative fugue

Mood (Affective) DisordersMajor depressive disorder (unipolar depression) – 2 weeks, severeDysthymic disorder – 2 years, less severeSADBipolar disorder – manic phase, depressive phase (cycle between)

Drug treatments: Tricyclic antidepressants (Elavil)MAO inhibitors (Nardil)SSRI’s (Prozac, Zoloft)Bipolar disorder – lithium

Other treatment – electroconvulsive shock treatment (ECT) Transcranial magnetic stimulation

Cognitive view of depression Learned helplessness (Seligman) – no escape route seen even when availableAttributional styles (optimistic explanatory style)

External/internal (optimistic – external)Specific/global (optimistic – specific)Unstable/stable (optimistic – unstable)

Aaron Beck called this a “cognitive triad” – beliefs about self, world, future

Schizophrenia (break with reality - psychotic)Positive symptoms – patient does weird stuffNegative symptoms – absence of behavior (flat affect, catatonia)

ParanoidDelusions

Delusions of grandeur (Lincoln), persecution (aliens after me)Hallucinations – sensory (auditory most common)

DisorganizedSpeech or emotion, often flat affect, word salad

CatatonicUndifferentiatedResidualSchizophrenia drug therapy – Thorazine, Haldol (antipsychotics)

Side effect – tardive dyskinesia (tremors)

Causes of schizophrenia? UnknownTheories: dopamine hypothesis

Genetic abnormality 5th chromosomeVirus

Personality disordersAntisocial p.d.Dependent p.d.Paranoid p.d.Narcissistic p.d.Histrionic p.d.Borderline p.d.Obsessive-compulsive p.d.Schizoid – weirdSchizotypal – similar to schizophrenia

Treatment: Rosenhan study – problem with diagnostic labeling

Old treatments: trephining (hole in brain)1800’s Dorothea Dix, Philippe Pinel (humane treatment)

Deinstitutionalization – 1950’s – because of drug therapies

Types of therapy:Psychoanalysis – free association, dream analysis, resistance,

transferenceHumanistic – goal is self-actualization (Maslow)

Rogers – client-centered therapyUnconditional positive regard, genuineness, empathy active listening

Gestalt therapy – Fritz PerlsBehavioral – all behavior is learned

Conditioning/counterconditioningSystematic desensitization (Wolpe)Implosion therapy – start with most feared and face it first

Flooding – confront the feared thing with massive onslaughtAversive conditioning – ex. buzzer for bed wetting

Cognitive therapyRational-emotive therapy (Albert Ellis) – faulty thinking correctedConfrontational

Social PsychologyAttitude formation and change – focus

Mere exposure effectAttitudes & behavior

Cognitive dissonance – tension when behavior doesn’t match attitudeFestinger & Carlsmith study – One group paid $1 to lie, other $20 for

boring task$20 group had less cognitive dissonance, told truth$1 group lied – reported & remembered experience as pleasant

ComplianceFoot-in-the-doorDoor-in-the-face

Norms of reciprocity

Attribution theoryFundamental attribution error – overestimate personality (disposition)Self-fulfilling prophecy

Rosenthal & Jacobsen – Pygmalion in the classroom studyAttributional biases

Collectivist cultures less likely to make fundamental attribution errorFalse-consensus effectSelf-serving biasJust-world belief (blame-the-victim results)

Stereotypes, Prejudice & DiscriminationStereotypes – based on prototypes (origins possibly in categorization)Prejudice – negative attitude, discrimination – actions based on prejudice

in-group/out-groupin-group bias

Combating – superordinate goalsAggression

Instrumental aggression (used to achieve goal)Hostile aggression (no reason)

Frustration-aggression hypothesisModeling (Bandura Bobo doll)

Prosocial behavior and altruismBystander effect

diffusion of responsibilitypluralistic ignorance – look to others for lead in behavior

AttractionSimilarityProximityReciprocal liking

Influence on othersSocial facilitationSocial impairment (or social inhibition)Conformity

Asch studyObedience

Milgram studyGroup influence

Norms – perceived rules about how members of group should actRoles

Zimbardo studySocial loafingGroup polarization – move toward extreme group membersDeindividuation – anonymityGroupthink (Janis) – harmony, unanimity encouraged

Ex. Challenger disaster, Bay of Pigs invasion