| Term | Definition |
| Psychology | the scientific study of the mind and behaviors |
| Birth of psychology | 1. Fetchner (elements of psychophysics)
2. Wundt (principles of physiological psychology (physiologist) |
| Fetchner (1860): Elements of Psychophysics | - studied physical properties of matter
- studied chemical compositions
- Psychological perceived properties |
| physical properties of matter | light waves, frequencies, amplitude |
| chemical compositions | smell/ taste |
| Psychological perceived properties | frequency of its light wave= color/ frequency of soundwave= pitch → amplitude= brightness/ soundness |
| Wundt (principles of physiological psychology) | relating the physiology (functions of body) of the mind to the brain to behaviors
- Broad, but unified science
- By experimental method
- Psychology as a science bc came from roots of science |
| Psychology scientific? | parts of psychology are scientific, but also parts phenomenological (subjective experience), parts mystical |
| Challenges of Psych | 1. Objective physical world of behaviors
2. Explain through observation, predict, control it
3. causes behaviors
4. physical variables
5. psychological variables |
| What causes behaviors? | Internal: motivations, chemicals in mind, interactions, feelings, instincts
External: interactions, situations, imitation, social norms, conditioning |
| Physical variables (of physical world) | STABLE → generalize bc they are stable |
| Psychological variables | affected by numerous factors (some can’t keep track of) |
| Bigger Challenge | - The subjective world of personal/ psychological EXPERIENCES
- Non-scientific stuff (less observable) → ONLY be inferred from behaviors
- Behaviors + thoughts can be caused by factors outside conscious awareness |
| Psychological Approaches | 1. Structuralism (Wundt)
2. Functionalism (James- 1890)
3. Gestalt (Wertheimer- 1912)
4. Psychodynamic Theory (Freud- 1915) |
| Structuralism (Wundt) | identify the elements or structures of mind |
| Structuralism factors | → influenced by chemistry
→ Wundt (trained chemist) → established first experimental lab
→ 1879= birth of psychology |
| Study of Consciousness | Subjective experience emphasized
Composed of basic elements → assembled into higher cognition
Periodic table of the MIND |
| Introspection | looking inward/ inspect to examine something |
| Observed stimulus | record subjective experiences (described experiences only described physical but NOT observed personal experiences) |
| Immediate experience | direct awareness of something → more important; untainted
EX: what is someone doing |
| Mediated experience | reflection abt that something
EX: mental reflection of what is being looked at or observed |
| Stimulus error | confusing immediate experience vs past experiences (memories) |
| Functionalism (James) | what mind does (functions, purpose, for our survival)
- Influenced by natural selection → Darwin + gave rise to psychological branch (Evolutionary Psychology) |
| 3 major themes (functionalism) | 1. Mental operations → what is accomplished?
2. Fundamental utility → role of consciousness in survival?
3. Psychophysical relations → mind + physical body relationships |
| Functionalism factors | Mind is ongoing activity → can’t study elements
- ‘Element’: is an attempt to stop a moment
Mind as “stream of consciousness” → like a river |
| Substantive thought | focused attention; stream slows down |
| Transitive thought | less focused; fleeting thoughts/ day dreams |
| Gestalt Psychology (Wertheimer) | - Influenced by physics
Gestalt means “whole” → conscious wholes can’t be reduced to parts |
| Gestalt Contributions | - perception
- Principles of perceptual organization (Gestalt Laws + Principles)
- mental force fields
- emergence |
| Perception | see whole object, not parts
EX: face, tree, house |
| Gestalt Laws + Principles | Proximity= group things together that are next to each other
Similarity= things that look similar grouped together
Closure= close things missing parts close them together
Good Continuation= perceive a line as continuing its established direction |
| Mental force fields | perceptual inputs stimulate neural activity
Spontaneous grouping of parts into a perceptual whole |
| Emergence | whole is beyond the sum of its parts → emerges from parts
EX: hydrogen + oxygen= H2O= liquid property
- Consciousness= emergent property of brain |
| Psychodynamic Theory (Freud) | - The unconscious plays a critical role in shaping behaviors
Unconscious thoughts, feelings, memories
Constant struggle between the id, ego, superego |
| Id | pleasure principle |
| ego | reality principle |
| superego | morality principle/ feel guilty when something happens |
| agency | have control of what your doing |
| Behaviorism (1913) or SR Theory (stimulus-response) | Against the notion of the mind/ unconscious as drivers → poorly defined
Rejected introspection as a method → NOT scientific |
| Edward Thorndike & John B Watson | founders of behaviorism |
| observable behavior | higher mental processes is complex assembly of simple behaviors |
| Pavlov (physiologist) | won Noble Prize in 1904 → understanding digestive system of a dog
Discovered salivation reflex to food
Dog salivate to lab assistant or food bowl → dog had learned to associate the neutral stimulus w/ food |
| Reflex | involuntary/ unlearned response → response to some stimulus |
| Classical Conditioning | as learning to associate to stimuli that occur together in time |
| Unconditioned stimulus (US) | stimulus that produces an unlearned natural response (reflex) → EX: food in the mouth, thunder, puff of air in eye |
| Unconditioned response (UR) | “the reflex”- an unlearned response to the unconditioned stimulus
EX: food cause salivation, thunder cause startle reflex, puff of air in eye cause blinking |
| Conditioned Stimulus (CS) | previous neutral stimulus
Repeatedly paired w/ unconditioned stimulus → leads to response |
| Conditioned Response (CR) | response to conditioned stimulus/ it is learned |
| Applications | 1. Phobia= unreasonable fear of objects/ situations + fear to something that don’t need to have fear attached to it
2. Advertisements → make it clever, impressive, sexy |
| Operant Conditioning | Learning in which a behavior is effected by the consequences (rewards or punishments) |
| Instrumental learning (Thorndike) | first to study these mechanisms |
| Skinner (operant conditioning) | Skinner Box= Animals live/ operate to get its needs → operates box
Some behavior is emitted (produced) → behavior is either reinforced (continue) or punished (stop behavior) |
| Reinforcement | process that will increase the likelihood of a response |
| Positive reinforcement | increase likelihood of response w/ presentation of an appetitive stimulus (reward-a positive reward)
EX: dishes for allowance or animal learn how to press a bar for food |
| Negative reinforcement | increase likelihood of response by removing an adversive stimulus
EX: dishes (child doesn’t do dishes= spanking) → child does dishes and stops yelling/ spanking |
| Punishment | process that will decrease the likelihood of a response |
| Positive punishment | adding/ receiving an adverstive stimulus to stop or decrease a response
EX: child skipping school → stop skipping school they get a spanking |
| Negative punishment | removing/ taking away something that is desired or is wanted to stop a response
EX: taking away phone or timeout (take away freedom) |
| Shaping | rewarding successive approximations (steps) → requires time (repeat actions) + patience
- includes superstitious behavior |
| Level 1: The Contingencies of Survival involved in Natural Selection (NS) | Environment sets requirements for survival
Evolution of cells/ organism + the development of an innate
Repertoire (characteristics) of a species → as studied in Biology |
| Level 2: The Contingencies of Reinforcement involved in the selection of individual behaviors | Conditions under which a response is followed by a consequence → operant conditioning (OC)
behavior followed by consequence development of individual behaviors shaped by reinforcement/ punishments --> psych |
| Level 3: The Contingencies of an Emerging Social Environment involved in cultural practices/ behaviors | Social environment or culture sets requirements
individuals are controlled by same contingencies that benefit the group --> anthropology + sociology |
| Skinner’s (ambitious) attempt to explain human behavioral phenomena (behaviors) | OC can replace NS (natural selection): when selection consequences (outcomes) are the same, NS + OC become redundant |
| A behavior has become sensitive to feedback (reinforcement) | increase in frequency |
| OC behaviors can replace behaviors of natural selection | OC → through responsibilities (tendency to be affected) new behaviors are shaped/ maintained
EX: sex= pleasure |
| maladaptive behaviors | EX: Eating OR Over eating (bad foods for comfort) + Mating → sexual assult |
| Innate “social” behaviors (of NS) also can be replaced by OC | EX: communication, courtship/ mating rituals (seduction), protecting the young |
| Emergency of language | Vocal behaviors
... came under control of OC
fear or pain develop into more social behaviors --> (communication/ cooperation) |
| Variations (changes)/ complex behaviors | → traditions continue to benefit (maintained)
→ fear of change
nothing new → no variations or new variation started but didn’t get selected
Ergo, change occur → ONLY when new variations are selected |
| Leading complex behaviors | Through shaping (excessive)
EX: art, music, literature, science, etc |
| A special creator | life started due to Natural Selection |
| Voluntary choice/ free will | due to reinforcement contingencies |
| Contingency | relationship between a response/ a reinforcer |
| Purpose to behaviors (or intention of) | contingencies selected/ maintained
EX: species do not have eyes to see better; members undergoing variation able to see better/ selected by survival |
| Memory “storage” | no accessing stored info from the past; people act a certain way bc they’ve been changed/ due to current contingencies |
| Development stages | stages are not necessary; developmental changes are simply:
- natural selection for species evolution
- operant conditioning for behaviors to become complex
- survival for culture to be more effective |
| Good | has survival value; promotes survival of members
→ species / cultures |
| Altruistic (self-serving) | → kin selection (self-sacrifice) for species survival
→ heroes/ martyrs for culture survival |
| Morals & Ethics (depend on level of selection) | → good for individual/ society, but bad for species
→ good for species/ culture, but bad for the individual
→ depends on level of selection/ what’s good + ethical |
| No species adapt to the enviroment | instead the environment select adaptive traits (reverse) |
| Not an individual adjusts to a situation | instead the situation shapes/ maintains adjusted behaviors |
| Not a group solves a problem under specific circumstances | instead the circumstances select the cultural practices which yield a solution |
| Skinner Solutions to worlds problems | Change gene/ chromosomes → selective breeding; CRISPR
Introduce new forms of behaviors
Introduce new cultural practices or preserve/ revive traditional |
| Behaviorism (S-R Theory) Success | Appealing + Straightforward → common sense nature that ppl embrace
Relied on scientific method + be replicated |
| Failures of Behaviorism | Instinctive drift → according to OC shape any behavior
Learning without reinforcement/ conditioning
Critical Period for Learning
BIGGEST PROBLEM= Language |
| Cog Revolution (1950) | Mental processes exist/ can be scientifically studied → processor of info |
| Cog Science (1956) | Interdisciplinary study of cognition in humans, animals, machines |
| Cog Psych (1967) | Scientific study of mental processes
→ lang, attention, perception, memory, problem-solving, etc |
| Cog Neuroscience (1971) | Neuroscience → study of the nervous system (interdisciplinary)
Santiago Ramon y Cajal → Noble Prize (1906) |
| Santiago Ramon y Cajal | neuron doctrine= neurons are independent units, nothing touches them/ they dont touch/ synaptic gap in between them |
| fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) | Examines cerebral blood flow + blood oxygenation to an area
- measures small changes in blood flow that occur w/ brain activity |
| PET (positron emission tomography) | Examines cerebral blood flow/ sugar consumption in an area
- uses radioactive glucose that traces form of diseases |
| EEG (electroencephalogram) | measures electrical activity in brain using small/ metal discs (electrodes) attached to scalp
- high temporal res |
| TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation) | produce that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in brain
- magnetic shock --> disrupts normal functions
- high temporal res |
| Spatial | where is it happening |
| temporal | when its happening |
| Pyramidal cells | Most abundant excitatory neurons → produce NT glutamate
Cognitive abilities → memory, vision, object recognition |
| Basket + Chandelier cells | GABA producing interneurons → inhibitory NT
Coordinating motor movement; neuro diseases |
| Cajal-Retzius cells | Project managers
Organization of developing brain |
| Simple + Complex cells | Edge, line, dot, motion detectors
In visual cortex/ visual pathways |
| Place cells | in/ around hippocampus (memory)
- fire when in exact place |
| Grid cells | in/ around hippocampus (memory)
individual grid, diff cells respond to diff location in 2D space |
| Time cells | respond at particular point in sequence or time
Time-stamp of unfolding events
- in/ around hippocampus |
| Mirror neurons | Fire when taking action; observing same action
Empathy, mimicking, theory of mind
Motor cortex/ somatosensory cortex |
| Limitations | 1. Still don’t understand the neurons themselves
2. Glial cells (brings nutrients)
3. Neural circuitry
4. Interactions of genes/ molecules
5. Problem of interpretation
6. NO THEORY |
