Psychology Test 2

The oldest and innermost region

Base of brainstem

important role in arousal (sleeping/awake)

Direct sensory messages to cortex (smells go straight to where they need to go)

Transmits replies to cerebellum

coordinates voluntary movement (ex. balance)

emotions, memory, and drives

includes limbic (love, lust) and amygdala (linked to emotion ex. anger)

this distinguishes us from less complex animals

2 hemispheres and 4 lobes total- Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal

executive functions, higher order, judgement and planning

Broca’s area- essential for language production

Motor Cortex- motor functions

sensational/ perception

Somatosensory cortex- processes information from skin sense and body part movements

optic (visual cortex) vision is processed

speech and audio is processed (auditory cortex)

he had frontal lobe damage (iron rode penetrated his skull)

he experienced changes in personality and more impulsivity

3 peaks in incidence across lifespan

0-4 years: being dropped

15-24 years: car accident

65+ years: falling

brain adapts and can change around to accommodate injuries and such

earlier age than Plasticity and can lead to poor outcomes

both are part of one continuous process

detection of physical energy

brain’s interpretation of sensory data

hearing, touch, sight, taste, smell

all use sense organs and relayed by thalamus EXCEPT smell

external stimulus is converted by sense receptors into neutral activity

you get adapted to surroundings ex. flashing light outside window

minimum stimulus needed to detect 50% of the time

below 50% of conscious awareness threshold

those that are too weak to detect 50% of the time

smallest amount of stimulus change we can detect

perception that involves interactions between two or more different sensory modalities

expectations influence our perceptions

Females are born with all their eggs (cells)

Men produce sperm cells nonstop, starting at puberty

monozygotic are genetically identical twins

an agent that can disturb development of embryo or fetus (and cause harm)

capable of learning and remembering

arrive with automatic reflex responses for survival

prefer to look at face/ face-like images

possess a biological rooted temperament

the inability of adults to remember events before 3-4 years of age

brain cells are sculpted by heredity and experience

essentially biology versus environment

essentially a little better each day (a cumulative process) and distinct stages of growth (unique stages at specific ages or times)

believes in discontinuous development although it is actually more continuous

Stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Birth to 2 years

object permanence (awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived)

2-7 years

they don’t get conversation

egocentrism (can’t take another’s perspective)

kids may have theory of mind

7-11 years

think logically about concrete events

Conservation (ability to determine that a certain quantity will remain the same despite adjustment of the container, shape, etc.)

11+ years

able to think abstractly

authoritarian, authorities, permissive, disengaged/uninvolved

more control and less warm

more control AND warm

less control and more warm

less control AND less warm

feelings of comfort and security are critical components to maternal-infant bonding

attachment (long-standing connection with others)

secure, avoidant, resistant, disorganized

child uses the parent as a secure base from which to explore

unresponsive to parent, does not use the parent as a secure base, and does not care if parent leaves

show clingy behavior, but then reject mothers attempts to interact with them

show odd behavior around caregiver

relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience

Classical Conditioning (C.C.) means we learn to associate stimuli and, consequently, to anticipate events

stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

an unlearned, naturally occurring response

stimulus that unconditionally triggers an unconditioned response

when an organism learns to connect a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus

the decrease in the conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus is no longer presented with the conditioned stimulus

reappearance of an extinguished conditional response

stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar resopnse

when an organism learns to respond differently to various stimuli that are similar

innate behaviors that organisms are born with

Operant Conditioning which is learning through consequences (punishments or rewards)

continuous reinforcement that must be presented immediately even though it is not great for long term behavior

intermittent reinforcement

reward successive approximations of a target behavior (ex. stepping toward the chair you are told to sit in)

learning along the way for the first time (ex. navigating a video game for the first time and trying different paths along the way)

learning that occurs, but it may not be evident until there is a reason to demonstrate it (ex. you don’t show your skills in the video game until you are being timed)

we learn by watching others and then imitating, or modeling, what they do or say