-​ trained to diagnose and treat

CHAPTER 1: PSYCHOLOGISTS AT WORK (p67-129) problems

-​ research and investigate issues
4.​ Clinical Neuropsychology - unites the
THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY
areas of biopsychology/neuroscience and
➔​ Psychology - scientific study of behavior clinical psychology, focusing on the
and mental processes relationship between biological factors and
➔​ Behavior and Mental Processes - psychological disorders
encompasses not just what people do but -​ origin of psychological disorders in
also their thoughts, emotions, perceptions, biological factors
reasoning processes, memories, and even 5.​ Cognitive Psychology - study of higher
the biological activities that maintain bodily mental processes (thinking, memory,
functioning reasoning, problem solving, judging,
decision making, and language)
Psychologists try to describe, predict, and explain 6.​ Counseling Psychology - educational,
human behavior and mental processes, as well as social, and career adjustment problems
help to change and improve the lives of people and 7.​ Cross-cultural Psychology - investigates
the world in which they live. They use scientific the similarities and differences in
methods to find answers that are far more valid and psychological functioning in and across
legitimate than those resulting from intuition and various cultures and ethnic groups
speculation, which are often inaccurate. 8.​ Developmental Psychology - how people
grow and change from the moment of
The Subfields of Psychology: Psychology’s conception through death
Family Tree 9.​ Educational Psychology - teaching and
Although they may not interact on a day-to-day learning processes, such as the relationship
basis, they are related to one another because they between motivation and school performance
share a common goal: understanding behavior. 10.​Environmental Psychology - relationship
1.​ Behavioral Genetics - inheritance of traits between people and their physical
related to behavior environment
-​ Biological mechanisms (genes and 11.​Evolutionary Psychology - how behavior
chromosomes) enable inherited is influenced by our genetic inheritance from
behavior to unfold our ancestors
-​ how we might inherit certain -​ Charles Darwin: 1859 “On the Origin
behavioral traits and how the of Species”
environment influences whether we -​ a process of natural selection
actually display such traits leads to the survival of the fittest
2.​ Behavioral Neuroscience - biological basis and the development of traits
of behavior that enable a species to adapt to
-​ how the brain and the nervous its environment
system, as well as other biological 12.​Experimental Psychology - processes of
aspects of the body, determine sensing, perceiving, learning, and thinking
behavior about the world
-​ consider how our body influences 13.​Forensic Psychology - legal issues, such
our behavior as determining the accuracy of witness
3.​ Clinical Psychology - study, diagnosis, memories
and treatment of psychological disorders

GONZALES, S.M.
 14.​Health Psychology - relationship between ➔​ Doctorate (4-5 years of work)
psychological factors and physical ailment -​ PhD (Doctor of Philosophy):
or disease dissertation based on an original
15.​Industrial/Organizational Psychology - investigation
psychology in the workplace -​ PsyD (Doctor of Psychology): focus
16.​Personality Psychology - consistency in on the treatment of psychological
people’s behavior over time and the traits disorders
that differentiate one person from another ➔​ Psychiatrist
17.​Program Evaluation - assessing -​ medical degree and specialize in the
large-scale programs, such as Head Start diagnosis and treatment of
preschool program, to determine whether psychological disorders, often using
they are effective in meeting their goals treatments that involve the
18.​Psychology of Women - issues such as prescription of drugs
discrimination against women and the of ➔​ Master’s Degree
violence against women -​ teach, provide therapy, conduct
19.​School Psychology - counseling children research, or work in specialized
in elementary and secondary schools who programs dealing with drug abuse or
have academic or emotional problems crisis intervention
20.​Social Psychology - how people’s
thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected CAREERS FOR PSYCHOLOGY MAJORS
by others
21.​Sport Psychology - athletic activity and
exercise

Working at Psychology

A SCIENCE EVOLVES: THE PAST, THE PRESENT,

AND THE FUTURE
Major roles of psychologists in society ➔​ Trephining - ancient healers chipped a hole
➢​ Teacher in a patient’s skull with crude instruments to
➢​ Scientist allow spirits to escape from a person’s body
➢​ Clinical practitioner ➔​ 17th-century philosopher René
Descartes - nerves were hollow tubes
THE EDUCATION OF A PSYCHOLOGIST
GONZALES, S.M.
 through which “animal spirits” conducted ➢​ 1928 - Leta Stetter Hollingworth:
impulses in the same way that water is Adolescence
transmitted through a pipe ➢​ 1951 - Carl Rogers: Client-centered
➔​ Franz Josef Gall (18th-century physician) therapy; Humanistic Perspective
- trained observer could discern intelligence, ➢​ 1953 - B.F. Skinner: Science and Human
moral character, and other basic personality Behavior; Behavioral Perspective
characteristics from the shape and number ➢​ 1954 - Abraham Maslow: Motivation and
of bumps on a person’s skull (gave rise to Personality; self-actualization
the Field of Phrenology) ➢​ 1957 - Leon Festinger: A Theory of
Cognitive Dissonance; Social Psychology
FORERUNNERS OF PSYCHOLOGY
➢​ 5,000 BCE - Trephining
➢​ 430 BCE - Hippocrates: Four
Temperaments of Personality
➢​ 1637 - Descartes: Animal spirits
➢​ 1690 - John Locke: Tabula Rasa
➢​ 1807 - Franz Joseph Gall: Phrenology

FIRST PSYCHOLOGISTS
➢​ 1879 - Wilhelm Wundt: Leipzig, Germany
(First Laboratory)
➢​ 1890 - William James: Principles of
Psychology
➢​ 1895 - Functionalist Model
➢​ 1900 - Sigmund Freud: Psychodynamic
Perspective
➢​ 1904 - Ivan Pavlov: Nobel Prize on
Digestion (Fundamental principles of
learning)
➢​ 1905 - Mary Calkins: Memory
➢​ 1915 - Intelligence Testing
➢​ 1920 - Gestalt Psychology
➢​ 1924 - John B. Watson (Early Behaviorist) :
Behaviorism

GONZALES, S.M.
MODERN PSYCHOLOGY ➔​ 17th-century British philosopher John
➢​ 1969 - Genetic basis of IQ Locke - children were born into the world
➢​ 1980 - Jean Piaget: Influential with minds like “blank slates” (tabula rasa in
Developmental Psychologist (Dies) Latin) and that their experiences determined
➢​ 1981 - David Hubel and Torsten Wiesel: what kind of adults they would become
Nobel Prize on Vision cells in the brain ➔​ Plato and Descartes - some knowledge
➢​ 1985 - Cognitive Perspective was inborn in humans
➢​ 2000 - Elizabeth Loftus: False memory and
eyewitness testimony LATE 19TH CENTURY
➢​ 2010 - New subfields develop: Clinical -​ formal beginning of psychology as a
neuropsychology and evolutionary scientific discipline
psychology ➔​ Wilhelm Wundt - Leipzig, Germany 1879
➢​ 2015 - Role of neuroscience on social -​ first experimental laboratory devoted
behavior, and effects of technology on to psychological phenomena
behavior -​ study the building blocks of the mind
-​ study of conscious experience
➢​ Structuralism
-​ uncovering the fundamental mental
components of perception,
consciousness, thinking, emotions,
and other kinds of mental states and
activities
➢​ Introspection
-​ people are presented with a
stimulus—such as an image or
sentence—and asked to describe, in
their own words and in as much
detail as they could, what they were
experiencing
-​ not a truly scientific technique
because there were few ways an
outside observer could confirm the
accuracy of others’ introspections
➔​ William James - American Psychologist
-​ (About the same time as Wundt)
Cambridge, Massachusetts
-​ Set up his laboratory
➢​ Functionalism
-​ what the mind does and how
behavior functions
-​ what role behavior plays in allowing
people to adapt to their
environments
The Roots of Psychology -​ how people satisfy their needs
➔​ Ancient Greeks - considered the mind to through their behavior
be a suitable topic for scholarly ➔​ John Dewey - American Educator
contemplation

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​develop the field of school ➔​ Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983) -
psychology, proposing ways to best pioneering work on how children of color
meet students’ educational needs grew to recognize racial differences
➔​ Hermann Ebbinghaus and Max Wertheimer
➢​ Gestalt psychology Major Perspectives of Psychology
-​ Early 1900s ➔​ Common goal - To explain and understand
-​ How perception is organized behavior using scientific methods
-​ studying how people consider ➔​ Perspectives of Psychology - offer distinct
individual elements together as units outlooks and emphasize different factors
or wholes
-​ “The whole is different from the sum 1.​ Neuroscience Perspective - biological
of its parts” functioning
-​ our perception, or understanding, of -​ how people and nonhumans function
objects is greater and more biologically
meaningful than the individual -​ study of heredity and evolution:
elements that make up our considers how heredity may
perceptions influence behavior
WOMEN IN PSYCHOLOGY -​ Behavioral neuroscience:
➔​ Margaret Floy Washburn (1871–1939) - first examines how the brain and the
woman to receive a doctorate in nervous system affect behavior
psychology, and she did important work on 2.​ Cognitive Perspective - how people
animal behavior understand and think about the world
➔​ Leta Stetter Hollingworth (1886–1939) - one -​ learning how people comprehend
of the first psychologists to focus on child and represent the outside world
development and on women’s issues within themselves and how our ways
-​ She collected data to refute the view, of thinking about the world influence
popular in the early 1900s, that our behavior
women’s abilities periodically -​ Thinking is information processing
declined during parts of the 3.​ Behavioral Perspective - observable
menstrual cycle behavior
➔​ Mary Calkins (1863-1930) - memory (early -​ the focus should be on external
20th century) behavior that can be observed and
-​ female president of the American measured objectively
Psychological Association -​ John B. Watson - First Major
➔​ Karen Horney (1885-1952) - social and American Psychologist to use
cultural factors behind personality behavioral approach; environment in
-​ founded the American Journal of which the person operated
Psychoanalysis -​ B.F. Skinner - pioneer in the field
➔​ June Etta Downey (1875-1932) - study of 4.​ Humanistic Perspective - people can
personality traits and became the first control their behavior and that they naturally
woman to head a psychology department at try to reach their full potential
a state university -​ rejects the view that behavior is
➔​ Anna Freud (1895-1982) - daughter of determined largely by automatically
Sigmund Freud unfolding biological forces,
-​ made notable contributions to the unconscious processes, or the
treatment of abnormal behavior environment

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ all individuals naturally strive to -​ stemming from behavior and
grow, develop, and be in control of phenomenon requiring explanation;
their lives and behavior prior research findings; curiosity,
-​ Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow creativity, insight
- people strive to reach their full 2.​ Formulating an explanation
potential ●​ Specify a theory
-​ Free will - ability to make decisions -​ Theories: broad explanations and
about one’s own behavior and life predictions concerning observations
-​ Contrast to determinism of interest; they provide a framework
5.​ Psychodynamic Perspective - motivated for understanding the relationships
by inner, unconscious forces over which a among a set of otherwise
person has little control unorganized facts or principles;
-​ Psychology begins and ends with broad explanations
this perspective -​ Psychologists Bibb Latane and
-​ Inner forces and conflicts that we John Darley - Diffusion of
have little awareness or control responsibility: the greater the
-​ Sigmund Freud - Austrian physician number of bystanders or witnesses
(early 1900s) to an event that calls for helping
behavior, the more the responsibility
Key Issues for helping is perceived to be shared
by all the bystanders
●​ Develop a hypothesis
-​ Hypothesis - prediction stated in a
way that allows it to be tested; stems
from theories; help test the
underlying soundness of theories;
narrow prediction
-​ Operational definition - translation
of a hypothesis into specific, testable
➔​ Nature (heredity) vs. Nurture (Environment) procedures that can be measured
➔​ Conscious vs. Unconscious determinants of and observed in an experiment
behavior 3.​ Carrying out research designed to
➔​ Observable vs. Internal mental processes support or refute the explanation
➔​ Free will vs. Determinism -​ Devise an operational definition of
➔​ Individual Differences vs. Universal the hypothesis
Principles -​ Select a research method
-​ Collect the data
RESEARCH IN PSYCHOLOGY -​ Analyze the data
4.​ Communicating the findings
Scientific method
-​ approach used by psychologists to
Psychological Research
systematically acquire knowledge and
understanding about behavior and other Research
phenomena of interest -​ systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery of
new knowledge
Four Main Steps -​ central ingredient of the scientific method in
psychology
1.​ Identifying questions of interest

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ it provides the key to understanding the -​ researchers using surveys strive to obtain a
degree to which hypotheses (and the random sample of the population in
theories behind them) are accurate question in which every voter in the town
has an equal chance of being included in
Descriptive research the sample receiving the survey
-​ designed to systematically investigate a
person, group, or patterns of behavior THE CASE STUDY
-​ relationship between two variables -​ an in-depth, intensive investigation of a
single individual or a small group
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH -​ include psychological testing, a procedure
-​ Historical accounts; newspaper articles in which a carefully designed set of
-​ existing data, such as census documents, questions is used to gain some insight into
college records, online databases, and the personality of the individual or group
newspaper articles, are examined to test a -​ use the insights gained from the study of a
hypothesis few individuals to improve our
-​ relatively inexpensive means of testing a understanding of people in general
hypothesis because someone else has -​ Sigmund Freud - developed his theories
already collected the basic data through case studies of individual patients
-​ Drawbacks: the data may not be in a form -​ Drawbacks: If the individuals examined are
that allows the researcher to test a unique in certain ways, it is impossible to
hypothesis fully; the information could be make valid generalizations to a larger
incomplete, or it could have been collected population
haphazardly
CORRELATIONAL RESEARCH
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION -​ Variables - behaviors, events, or other
-​ investigator observes some naturally characteristics that can change, or vary, in
occurring behavior and does not make a some way
change in the situation -​ two sets of variables are examined to
-​ researcher simply records what occurs, determine whether they are associated, or
making no modification in the situation that “correlated”
is being observed -​ strength and direction of the relationship
-​ Advantage: we get a sample of what people between the two variables are represented
do in their “natural habitat” by a mathematical statistic known as a
-​ Drawbacks: inability to control any of the correlation (or, more formally, a
factors of interest; must wait until the correlation coefficient), which can range
appropriate conditions occur from +1.0 to −1.0
-​ Positive Correlation - as the value of one
SURVEY RESEARCH variable increases, we can predict that the
-​ a sample of people chosen to represent a value of the other variable will also increase
larger group of interest (a population) is -​ Negative Correlation - as the value of one
asked a series of questions about their variable increases, the value of the other
behavior, thoughts, or attitudes decreases
-​ Drawbacks: if the sample of people who are -​ The mere fact that two variables occur
surveyed is not representative of the together does not mean that one causes the
broader population of interest, the results of other
the survey will have little meaning -​ correlation does not imply causation

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Drawbacks: inability to demonstrate independent of the actions of those taking
cause-and-effect relationships part in an experiment; it is controlled by the
experimenter
Experimental Research -​ Dependent variable - variable that is
-​ only way psychologists can establish measured in a study; expected to change as
cause-and-effect relationships a result of the experimenter’s manipulation
-​ Experimenters must manipulate at least one of the independent variable; dependent on
variable in order to observe the effects of the actions of the participants or
the manipulation on another variable while subjects—the people taking part in the
keeping other factors in the situation experiment
constant
Formal Experiment - the researcher investigates RANDOM ASSIGNMENT OF PARTICIPANTS
the relationship between two (or more) variables by -​ properly assigning participants to a
deliberately changing one variable in a controlled particular experimental group
situation and observing the effects of that change -​ Random assignment to condition -
on other aspects of the situation assigned to different experimental groups,
-​ conditions are created and controlled by the or “conditions,” on the basis of chance and
researcher, who deliberately makes a chance alone; there is an equal chance that
change in those conditions in order to participant characteristics will be distributed
observe the effects of that change across the various groups
Experimental Manipulation - change that a
researcher deliberately makes in an experiment ELEMENTS OF CAUSE-AND-EFFECT
-​ detect relationships between different RELATIONSHIP
variables -​ An independent variable, the variable that is
manipulated by the experimenter
STEPS -​ A dependent variable, the variable that is
-​ begins with the development of one or more measured by the experimenter and that is
hypotheses for the experiment to test expected to change as a result of the
-​ formulate an operational definition of the manipulation of the independent variable
hypothesis by conceptualizing it in a way -​ A procedure that randomly assigns
that could be tested participants to different experimental
groups, or “conditions,” of the independent
EXPERIMENTAL GROUPS AND CONTROL variable
GROUPS -​ A hypothesis that predicts the effect the
-​ responses of at least two groups be independent variable will have on the
compared dependent variable
-​ One group will receive some special
treatment—the manipulation implemented
by the experimenter—and another group
will receive either no treatment or a different
treatment
-​ Experimental group - receives a treatment
-​ Control group - receives no treatment

INDEPENDENT AND DEPENDENT VARIABLES

-​ Independent variable - condition that is
manipulated by an experimenter; being
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➢​ All experiments must be reviewed by an
independent panel before being conducted

KEY ETHICAL PRINCIPLES

➔​ Informed Consent
-​ participants must sign a document
affirming that they have been told
the basic outlines of the study and
are aware of what their participation
will involve, what risks the
experiment may hold, and the fact
that their participation is purely
voluntary and they may terminate it
at any time
-​ debriefing in which they receive an
explanation of the study and the
procedures that were involved

National Institute of Mental Health and the National

Science Foundation

Confederate - actor employed by a researcher Threats to Experimental Validity: Avoiding

who participates in a psychological experiment, Experimental Bias
pretending to be a participant Experimental bias
Significant outcome - the findings are statistically -​ factors that distort the way the independent
meaningful, making it possible for researchers to variable affects the dependent variable in an
feel confident that they have confirmed their experiment
hypotheses ➔​ Experimenter expectations
Meta-analysis - permits psychologists to combine -​ an experimenter unintentionally
the results of many separate studies into one transmits cues to participants about
overall conclusion the way the experimenter expects
them to behave
CRITICAL RESEARCH ISSUES ➔​ Participant expectations
-​ guesses about what was expected
The Ethics of Research of you
➔​ Placebo
GUIDELINES
-​ a false treatment, such as a pill,
➢​ Protection of participants from physical and
“drug,” or other substance that has
mental harm
no significant chemical properties or
➢​ The right of participants to privacy regarding
active ingredient
their behavior
➔​ Double-blind procedure
➢​ The assurance that participation in research
-​ keeping both the participant and the
is completely voluntary
experimenter who interacts with the
➢​ The necessity of informing participants
participant “blind” to the nature of the
about the nature of procedures before their
drug that is being administered
participation in the experiment

QUESTIONS TO ASK
GONZALES, S.M.
➢​ What was the purpose of the research?
➢​ How well was the study conducted?
➢​ Are the results presented fairly?

TERMS

●​ Psychology - the scientific study of

behavior and mental processes,
encompassing not just what people do but
also their biological activities, feelings,
perceptions, memory, reasoning, and
thoughts
●​ Behavioral neuroscientists - focus on the
biological basis of behavior
●​ Experimental psychologists - study the
processes of sensing, perceiving, learning,
and thinking about the world
●​ Cognitive psychology - an outgrowth of
experimental psychology, studies higher
mental processes, including memory,
knowing, thinking, reasoning, problem
solving, judging, decision making, and
language
●​ Developmental psychologists - study how
people grow and change throughout the life
span
●​ Personality psychologists - consider the
consistency and change in an individual’s
behavior, as well as the individual
differences that distinguish one person’s
behavior from another’s
●​ Health psychologists - study psychological
factors that affect physical disease, whereas
clinical psychologists consider the study,
diagnosis, and treatment of abnormal
behavior
GONZALES, S.M.
●​ Counseling psychologists - focus on ●​ Theories - broad explanations and
educational, social, and career adjustment predictions regarding phenomena of interest
problems ●​ Hypothesis - theory-based predictions
●​ Social psychology - study of how people’s stated in a way that allows them to be
thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected tested
by others ●​ Archival research - existing records, such
●​ Cross-cultural psychology - examines the as old newspapers, online databases, or
similarities and differences in psychological other documents, to test a hypothesis
functioning among various cultures ●​ Naturalistic observation - investigator
●​ Wilhelm Wundt - laid the foundation of acts mainly as an observer, making no
psychology in 1879, when he opened his change in a naturally occurring situation
laboratory in Germany ●​ Survey research - asked a series of
●​ Early perspectives - structuralism, questions about their behavior, thoughts, or
functionalism, and Gestalt theory attitudes
●​ Neuroscience approach - biological ●​ Case study - in-depth interview and
components of the behavior of people and examination of one person or group
animals ●​ Formal experiment - relationship between
●​ Psychodynamic approach - powerful, variables is investigated by deliberately
unconscious inner forces and conflicts producing a change—experimental
about which people have little or no manipulation—in one variable and
awareness are the primary determinants of observing changes in the other variable
behavior ●​ Experiment - at least two groups must be
●​ Behavioral approach - internal processes compared to assess cause-and-effect
and concentrates instead on observable, relationships
measurable behavior, suggesting that ●​ Experimental group - receiving the
understanding and control of a person’s treatment
environment are sufficient to fully explain ●​ Control group - receives no treatment
and modify behavior ●​ Independent variable - experimenters
●​ Cognitive approach - how people know, manipulate
understand, and think about the world ●​ Dependent variable - measure and expect
●​ Humanistic approach - people are to change as a result of manipulation of the
uniquely inclined toward psychological independent variable
growth and higher levels of functioning and
that they will strive to reach their full
potential
●​ Key issues - nature or nurture, conscious
or unconscious thoughts, observable
actions or internal mental processes, free
will or determinism, and individual
differences or universal principles
●​ Scientific method - approach
psychologists use to understand behavior
●​ Four steps - identifying questions of
interest, formulating an explanation,
carrying out research that is designed to
support or refute the explanation, and
communicating the findings
GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 2: NEUROSCIENCE AND BEHAVIOR -​ Store energy for emergencies
(p73-112) 2. Sympathetic Division - Prepares the
body to react and expend energy in times of
NERVOUS SYSTEM stress
If we can understand how the brain, the nerves, -​ “Fight or flight” response
and the glands interact to control feelings, thoughts, ●​ Somatic Nervous System - Carries
and behavior, we can begin to truly understand the sensory information and controls movement
complex organism called a human being. of the skeletal muscles
-​ Voluntary movement
Nervous System - a network of cells that carries
information to and from all parts of the body Neurons and Nerves: Building the Network
Neuroscience - a branch of the life sciences that
deals with the structure and functioning of the brain
and the neurons, nerves, and nervous tissue that
form the nervous system
Santiago Ramón y Cajal - a doctor studying slides
of brain tissue, who in 1887 first theorized that the
nervous system was made up of individual cells
Biological Psychology/Behavioral Neuroscience
- a branch of neuroscience that focuses on the
biological bases of psychological processes,
behavior, and learning

Structure of the Neuron— The Nervous

System's Building Block
1. Central nervous system - The brain and spinal Each type of cell has a special purpose and
cord function and, therefore, a special structure.
●​ Brain - Interprets and stores information Skin cells are flat, but muscle cells are long and
and sends orders to muscles, glands, and stretchy.
organs Most cells do have three things in common: a
-​ An organ roughly half the size of a nucleus, a cell body, and a cell membrane holding it
loaf bread all together.
-​ Controls our physical, emotional, & Neuron - the specialized cell in the nervous system
intellectual behavior that receives and sends messages within that
●​ Spinal Cord - Pathway connecting the brain system. Neurons are one of the messengers of the
and the peripheral nervous system body, and that means that they have a very special
2. Peripheral nervous system - Transmits structure
information to and from the central nervous system -​ Make up only 10% of the cells in the brain
●​ Autonomic Nervous System -
Automatically regulates glands, internal Parts of the Neuron
organs and blood vessels, pupil dilation,
1. Dendrites - The parts of the neuron that receive
digestion, and blood pressure
messages from other cells
1. Parasympathetic Division - Maintains
-​ Dendrite: “branch”
body functions under ordinary conditions;
-​ Look like branches of a tree
saves energy
2. Cell body - soma
-​ Calm the body after an
-​ Dendrites are attached here
emergency/stressful situation
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ the part of the cell that contains the nucleus -​ the places where the myelin seems to bump
and keeps the entire cell alive and are actually small spaces on the axon (not
functioning covered in myelin) called Nodes
3. Axon - Greek axis
-​ a fiber attached to the soma, and its job is to It’s really the axons that do the bulk of the traveling
carry messages out to other cells through the body, with the somas clumped together
Glial Cells - Make up 90% of the brain cells near the spinal cord. So, the axons of those various
-​ serve as a sort of structure on which the neurons can travel together throughout the body
neurons develop and work and that hold the and never really touch each other directly.
neurons in place When the electrical impulse that is the neural
-​ Radial Glial Cells - extending from inner to message travels down an axon coated with myelin,
outer areas like the spokes of a wheel; in it jumps between the myelin sheath sections to the
early brain development, help guide places where the axon is accessible at the nodes.
migrating neurons to form the outer layers That makes the message go much faster down the
of the brain coated axon than it would down an uncoated axon
of a neuron in the brain.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) - the myelin sheath is

destroyed (possibly by the individual's own immune
system), which leads to diminished or complete
loss of neural functioning in those damaged cells.
Early symptoms of MS may include fatigue,
changes in vision, balance problems, and
numbness, tingling, or muscle weakness in the
arms or legs.

5. Nerves - “cables” that myelin-coated axons

travel together

Generating the Message Within the Neuron—

Types of Glial Cells The Neural Impulse

●​ Oligodendrocytes - produce myelin in the A neuron that's at rest—not currently firing a neural
brain and spinal cord (the central nervous impulse or message—is actually electrically
system) charged.
●​ Schwann cells - produce myelin in the The inside of the cell is really a semiliquid (jelly-like)
neurons of the body solution in which there are charged particles or
4. Myelin - Generated by glial cells ions.
(oligodendrocytes & Schwann cells) A semiliquid solution also surrounds the outside of
-​ wraps around the shaft of the axons, the cell and contains ions, too. Although both
forming a protective sheath positive and negative ions are located inside and
-​ A very important part of the neuron outside of the cell, the relative charge of ions inside
-​ It not only insulates the neuron, but it also the cell is mostly negative, and the relative charge
offers a little protection from damage and of ions outside the cell is mostly positive (due to
speeds up the neural message traveling both diffusion and electrostatic pressure).
down the axon
Cell membrane

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Semi-permeable: means some substances Action potential - electrical charge reversal
that are outside the cell can enter through -​ electrical potential is now in action rather
tiny openings, or channels, in the than at rest
membrane, while other substances in the -​ Each action potential sequence takes about
cell can go outside one-thousandth of a second, so the neural
Many of these channels are gated—they open or message travels very fast, from 2 miles per
close based on the electrical potential of the hour in the slowest, shortest neurons to 270
membrane. Inside the cell is a concentration of both miles per hour in other neurons
smaller positively charged potassium ions and -​ The cell is now positive inside and negative
larger negatively charged protein ions. The outside at the point where the channel
negatively charged protein ions, however, are so opened
big that they can’t get out, which leaves the inside Returning the cell to its resting state
of the cell primarily negative when at rest. Outside 1.​ the sodium ion channels close immediately
the cell are lots of positively charged sodium ions after the action potential has passed
and negatively charged chloride ions, but they are 2.​ The cell membrane also literally pumps the
unable to enter the cell membrane when the cell is positive sodium ions back outside the cell
at rest because the ion channels that would allow until the next action potential opens the ion
them in are closed. But because the outside channels again
sodium ions are positive and the inside ions are This pumping process is a little slow, so another
negative, and because opposite electrical charges type of ion gets into the act. Small, positively
attract each other, the sodium ions will cluster charged potassium ions inside the neuron move
around the membrane. This difference in charges rapidly out of the cell after the action potential
creates an electrical potential. passes, helping to more quickly restore the inside
of the cell to a negative charge. Now the cell
When the cell is resting (the electrical potential is in becomes negative inside and positive outside, and
a state called the resting potential because the the neuron is capable of firing off another message.
cell is at rest), the fans are stuck outside. The Once the sodium pumps finish pumping out the
sodium ions cannot enter when the cell is at rest sodium ions, the neuron can be said to have
because even though the cell membrane has all returned to its full resting potential, poised and
these channels, the particular channels for the big ready to do it all again.
sodium ions aren't open yet.
To sum all that up, when the cell is stimulated, the
But when the cell receives a strong enough first ion channel opens, and the electrical charge at
stimulation from another cell (meaning that the that ion channel is reversed. Then, the next ion
dendrites are activated), the cell membrane opens channel opens, and that charge is reversed, but in
up those particular channels, one after the other, all the meantime, the first ion channel has been
down its surface, allowing the sodium ions to rush closed, and the charge is returning to what it was
into the cell. That causes the inside of the cell to when it was at rest. The action potential is the
become mostly positive and the outside of the cell sequence of ion channels opening all down the
to become mostly negative because many of the length of the cell.
positive sodium ions are now inside the cell at the
point where the first ion channel opened. This Each neuron is receiving many signals from other
electrical charge reversal will start at the part of the neurons. Some of these signals are meant to cause
axon closest to the soma (the first ion channel) and the neuron to fire (excitatory messages), whereas
then proceed down the axon in a kind of chain others are meant to prevent the neuron from firing
reaction. (inhibitory messages). The neuron constantly
adds together the effects of the fire messages and
GONZALES, S.M.
subtracts the don't fire messages, and if the fire Synaptic vesicles - a number of little saclike
messages are great enough, the threshold is structures
crossed, and the neuron fires. -​ Vesicle (Latin): “little blister” or “fluid-filled
sac”
All-or-none - Neurons are either firing at full Neurotransmitters - inside the synaptic vesicles,
strength or not firing at all—there’s no such thing as chemicals suspended in fluid, which are molecules
partial firing of a neuron. of substances
-​ inside a neuron, and they are going to
The Neuron at Rest - During the resting potential, transmit a message
the neuron is negatively charged inside and Synapse/Synaptic gap - a fluid-filled space
positively charged outside
The Neural Impulse - The action potential occurs Instead of an electrical charge, the vesicles at the
when positive sodium ions enter into the cell, end of the axon (also called the presynaptic
causing a reversal of the electrical charge from membrane) contain the molecules of
negative to positive neurotransmitters, and the surface of the dendrite
The Neural Impulse Continues - As the action next to the axon (the postsynaptic membrane)
potential moves down the axon toward the axon contains ion channels that have receptor sites,
terminals, the cell areas behind the action potential proteins that allow only particular molecules of a
return to their resting state of a negative charge as certain shape to fit into it, just as only a particular
the positive sodium ions are pumped to the outside key will fit into a keyhole.
of the cell and the positive potassium ions rapidly When that action potential, or electrical charge,
leave. reaches the synaptic vesicles, the synaptic vesicles
release their neurotransmitters into the synaptic
gap. The molecules then float across the synapse,
and many of them fit themselves into the receptor
sites, opening the ion channels and allowing
sodium to rush in, activating the next cell. It is this
very activation that stimulates or releases the
action potential in that cell. It is important to
understand that the next cell may be a neuron, but
it may also be a cell on a muscle or a gland.
Muscles and glands have special cells with
receptor sites on them, just like on the dendrite of a
A strong message will cause the neuron to fire neuron.
repeatedly (as if someone flicked the light switch on
and off as quickly as possible), and it will also
cause more neurons to fire.

Sending the Message to Other Cells: The

Synapse
Synaptic knobs/Axon terminals/terminal
buttons - end of the axon fans out into several
shorter fibers that have swellings or little knobs on
the ends
-​ Next to the synaptic knob is the dendrite of
another neuron

GONZALES, S.M.
 curare an antagonist (a chemical
substance that blocks or reduces the effects
of a neurotransmitter) for acetylcholine
-​ Too much Acetylcholine
-​ The bite of a black widow spider
does just that. Its venom stimulates
the release of excessive amounts of
acetylcholine and causes
convulsions and possible death.
Black widow spider venom is an
agonist (a chemical substance that
mimics or enhances the effects of a
neurotransmitter) for acetylcholine
-​ Location: Brain, Spinal cord, Peripheral
Nervous System (Parasympathetic)
-​ Effect: Excitatory (Brain and Autonomic) &
Excitatory effect/synapses - turn cells on Inhibitory (elsewhere)
Inhibitory effect/synapses - turn cells off -​ Function: Memory, Arousal, & Attention;
It’s not the neurotransmitter itself that is excitatory Muscle movement & Cognitive Functioning
or inhibitory, but rather, it is the effect of that -​ Also found in the Hippocampus (an area of
neurotransmitter that is either excitatory or the brain that is responsible for forming new
inhibitory at the receptor sites of a particular memories)
synapse. -​ Low levels can be associated with
Alzheimer's Disease (the most common
Neurotransmitters: Messengers of the Network type of dementia)
2. Serotonin - regulation of sleep, eating, mood, &
1. Acetylcholine - first to be identified pain
-​ Found at the synapses between neurons -​ Location: Brain & Spinal Cord
and muscle cells -​ Effect: Excitatory or Inhibitory
-​ serves to stimulate the skeletal muscles to -​ Function: Mood, sleep, and appetite; pain
contract but actually slows contractions in & depression
the heart muscle 3. Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) - the
-​ If acetylcholine receptor sites on the muscle nervous system's primary inhibitory
cells are blocked in some way, then the neurotransmitter
acetylcholine can't get to the site, and the -​ Moderates behavior (eg. eating &
muscle will be incapable of contracting— aggression)
paralyzed, in other words -​ Eg. tranquilizer valium & alcohol
-​ One of the most common -​ Location: Brain & Spinal cord
-​ Found throughout the nervous system -​ Effect: Main inhibitory neurotransmitter
-​ Involved in every physical move -​ Function: sleep & inhibits movement;
-​ Transmits messages relating to our skeletal eating & aggression
muscles 4. Glutamate - excitatory neurotransmitter
-​ Aids in memory capabilities -​ Location: Brain & Spinal cord
-​ Eg. Curare (South American Indians) used -​ Effect: Excitatory
in blow darts; Curare's molecules are just -​ Function: learning, memory formation, &
similar enough to fit into the receptor site nervous system development
without actually stimulating the cell, making 5. Norepinephrine
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Effect: mainly excitatory
-​ Function: arousal & mood
6. Dopamine - movement, attention, & learning
-​ Parkinson's disease: deficiency of dopamine
in the brain
-​ Unusually high levels may cause
schizophrenia
-​ Addiction & repetitive behavior
-​ Location: Brain
-​ Effect: Excitatory or inhibitory
-​ Function: control of movement &
sensations of pleasure; reward & attention
7. Endorphins - similar in structure to painkilling
drugs (eg. morphine)
-​ Endogenous morphine: “native to the area”
-​ Production: reflects the brain's effort to deal
with pain and elevate mood There is one neurotransmitter that is not taken back
-​ Pain-controlling chemicals in the body into the vesicles, however. Because acetylcholine is
-​ Eg. euphoric feelings of runners responsible for muscle activity, and muscle activity
-​ Location: Brain and spinal cord needs to happen rapidly and continue happening,
-​ Effect: Inhibitory neural regulators; primarily it’s not possible to wait around for the sucking-up
inhibitory, except in the hippocampus process to occur. Instead, an enzyme specifically
-​ Function: pain relief/suppression; designed to break apart acetylcholine clears the
pleasurable feelings, appetites, placebos synaptic gap very quickly, in a process of
-​ when people take morphine or heroin, their Enzymatic degradation.
bodies neglect to produce endorphins.
When the drug wears off, they are left with Agonists - can mimic or enhance the effects of
no protection against pain at all, and neurotransmitters on the receptor sites of the next
everything hurts. This pain is why most cell
people want more heroin, creating an -​ This can result in an increase or decrease in
addictive cycle of abuse the activity of the receiving cell, depending
8. Adrenaline on what the effect of the original
9. Noradrenaline neurotransmitter (excitatory or inhibitory)
was going to be
Some neurotransmitters directly control the release -​ So, if the original neurotransmitter was
of other neurotransmitters. excitatory, the effect of the agonist would be
to increase that excitation. If it was
Neural regulators/neural peptides - special inhibitory, the effect of the agonist would be
neurotransmitters to increase that inhibition. Another deciding
factor is the nervous system location of the
Cleaning up the Synapse: Reuptake and neurons that use a specific neurotransmitter
Enzymes -​ Diazepam (Valium) - classified as
Some just drift away through the process of benzodiazepine (agonist for GABA: primary
diffusion, but most will end up back in the synaptic inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain)
vesicles in a process called reuptake.
Some drugs, like cocaine, affect the nervous
system by blocking the reuptake process.
GONZALES, S.M.
Areas of the brain that play a role in controlling to the muscles and the rest of the
anxiety, agitation, and fear include the amygdala, body
orbitofrontal cortex, and the insula. ●​ Spinal Cord
-​ a long bundle of neurons that serves
Antagonist - blocking or reducing a cell's response two vital functions for the nervous
to the action of other chemicals or system
neurotransmitters -​ Notice that it seems to be divided
-​ Although an antagonist might sound like it into two areas, one around the
has only an inhibitory effect, it is important outside and one inside the cord
to remember that if the neurotransmitter that -​ If it were a real spinal cord, the outer
the antagonist affects is inhibitory itself, the section would appear to be white,
result will actually be an increase in the and the inner section would seem
activity of the cell that would normally have gray. That's because the outer
been inhibited; the antagonist blocks the section is composed mainly of
inhibitory effect myelinated axons and nerves, which
appear white, whereas the inner
Some drugs yield their agonistic or antagonistic section is mainly composed of cell
effects by impacting the amount of neurotransmitter bodies of neurons, which appear
in the synapse. They do so by interfering with the gray
regular reuptake or enzymatic degradation process. -​ The purpose of the outer section is
to carry messages from the body up
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) - to the brain and from the brain down
used to treat depression to the body
-​ block the reuptake of serotonin, leaving -​ It is simply a message pipeline
more serotonin available in the synapse to -​ Without the spinal cord, however,
bind with the receptor sites the brain would be useless
-​ Eventually, this elevates mood and lifts the
depression. The Reflex Arc: Three Types of Neurons
-​ allows for very fast response times
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM— THE CENTRAL The inside section, which is made up of cell bodies
PROCESSING UNIT separated by glial cells, is actually a primitive sort
of brain. This part of the spinal cord is responsible
Central nervous system (CNS) - composed of the
for certain reflexes, very fast, lifesaving reflexes.
brain and the spinal cord
1. Afferent (sensory) Neurons - carry messages
-​ Both the brain and the spinal cord are
from the senses to the spinal cord
composed of neurons and glial cells that
-​ afferent neurons access the spinal cord
control the life-sustaining functions of the
2. Efferent (motor) Neurons - that carry messages
body as well as all thought, emotion, and
from the spinal cord to the muscles and glands
behavior
-​ efferent neurons exit
3. Interneurons - connect the afferent neurons to
Parts of the Central Nervous System
the motor neurons (and make up the inside of the
●​ Brain spinal cord and the brain itself)
-​ core of the nervous system, the part
that makes sense of the information Neuroplasticity - the ability to constantly change
received from the senses, makes both the structure and function of many cells in the
decisions, and sends commands out brain in response to experience and even trauma

GONZALES, S.M.
Stem cells - can become other cells, such as blood -​ although these muscles are called the
cells, nerve cells, and brain cells, and may offer voluntary muscles, they can move
promise for addressing diseases such as involuntarily when a reflex response occurs.
Parkinson's and Alzheimer's or the repair of They are called voluntary because they can
damaged spinal cords or brain tissue be moved at will but are not limited to only
that kind of movement
●​ Sensory pathway - all the nerves
carrying messages from the senses
to the central nervous system (those
nerves containing afferent neurons)
●​ Motor pathway - all of the nerves
carrying messages from the central
nervous system to the voluntary, or
skeletal, muscles of the body
muscles that allow people to move
their bodies (those nerves
composed of efferent neurons)
2. Autonomic nervous system - Involuntary
muscles, such as the heart, stomach, and
intestines, together with glands such as the adrenal
glands and the pancreas, are all controlled by
clumps of neurons located on or near the spinal
column
-​ The neurons inside the spinal column are
part of the central nervous system, not the
peripheral nervous system
-​ large groups of neurons near the spinal
column
PERIPHERAL NERVOUS SYSTEM—NERVES ON -​ Autonomic: suggests that the functions of
THE EDGE this system are more or less automatic,
Peripheral - not in the center or that are on the which is basically correct
edges of the center -​ controls everything else in the body organs,
Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) - made up of glands, and involuntary muscles
all the nerves and neurons that are not contained in ●​ Sympathetic division - fight or flight
the brain and spinal cord system
-​ It is this system that allows the brain and -​ Allows people and animals to
spinal cord to communicate with the deal with all kinds of stressful
sensory systems of the eyes, ears, skin, events
and mouth and enables the brain and spinal -​ get the body ready to deal
cord to control the muscles and glands of with the stress
the body -​ Dilates pupils and inhibits
tear glands; decreases
salivation; increases heart
Major Systems
rate; dilates bronchi;
1. Somatic nervous system decreases digestive
-​ One of the parts of a neuron is the functions of stomach,
soma/cell body (soma means “body”)

GONZALES, S.M.
 pancreas, and intestines;
inhibits bladder contraction
-​ The pupils seem to get
bigger, perhaps to let in more
light and, therefore, more
information
-​ The heart starts pumping
faster and harder, drawing
blood away from
nonessential organs such as
the skin (so at first the
person may turn pale) and
sometimes even the brain
itself (so the person might
actually faint)
-​ Blood needs lots of oxygen
before it goes to the muscles,
so the lungs work overtime,
too (so the person may begin
to breathe faster)
-​ The adrenal glands will be
stimulated to release certain
stress-related chemicals
(members of a class of
chemicals released by
glands called hormones)
into the bloodstream. These
stress hormones will travel to ●​ Parasympathetic division -
all parts of the body, but they overresponds in its inhibition of the
will only affect certain target sympathetic activity
organs -​ The heart slows, blood
-​ demand that the body burn a vessels open up, blood
tremendous amount of fuel, pressure in the brain drops,
or blood sugar and fainting can result
-​ Eat-drink-rest system
-​ neurons of this division are
located at the top and bottom
of the spinal column on either
side of the sympathetic
division neurons
-​ Para: “beyond” or “next to”
-​ restore the body to normal
functioning after a stressful
situation ends
-​ allows the body to put back
all the energy it burned which
is why people are often very

GONZALES, S.M.
 hungry after the stress is all of gland affects the functioning of the body but
over doesn’t really affect behavior.
-​ responsible for most of the
ordinary, day-to-day bodily Endocrine glands - have no ducts and secrete
functioning, such as regular their chemicals directly into the bloodstream
heartbeat and normal Hormones - chemicals secreted by endocrine
breathing and digestion glands
-​ Constricts pupils and -​ Flow into the bloodstream, which carries
stimulates tear glands; them to their target organs
increases salivation; slows -​ The molecules of these hormones then fit
heart rate; constricts bronchi; into receptor sites on those organs to fulfill
increases digestive functions their function, affecting behavior as they do
of stomach, pancreas, and so
intestines; allows bladder -​ As compared to synaptic communication,
contraction endocrine communication is generally
slower due to the time it takes hormones to
travel to target organs; the behaviors and
responses they affect may not occur until
hours, weeks, or years later
-​ The hormones affect behavior and emotions
by stimulating muscles, organs, or other
glands of the body
-​ Some theories of emotion state that the
surge in certain hormones actually triggers
the emotional reaction

Distant Connections: The Endocrine Glands

Glands - organs in the body that secrete chemicals
The Pituitary, Master of the Hormonal Universe
Some glands, such as salivary glands and sweat Pituitary Gland - located in the brain itself, just
glands, secrete their chemicals directly onto the below the hypothalamus
body's tissues through tiny tubes or ducts. This kind -​ Master gland, controls or influences all of
the other endocrine glands
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ One part of the pituitary controls things -​ ovaries (female) and testes (male)
associated with pregnancy, such as -​ Regulate sexual behavior and reproduction
production of milk for nursing infants and -​ Brain: master of the sexual system
the onset of labor, as well as the levels of
salt and water in the body The Adrenal Glands
-​ secretes several hormones that influence Adrenal glands - one on top of each kidney
the activity of the other glands -​ Renal (Latin): “kidney” & Ad (Latin): “to”
-​ Growth hormone: controls and regulates the -​ Adrenal: “to or on the kidney”
increase in size as children grow from ●​ Adrenal medulla - releases epinephrine
infancy to adulthood and norepinephrine (people are under
-​ forms a very important part of a feedback stress and that aids in sympathetic arousal)
system, one that includes the hypothalamus ●​ Adrenal cortex - produces over 30 different
and the organs targeted by the various hormones called corticoids/steroids
hormones (regulate salt intake and help initiate and
-​ the balance of hormones in the entire control stress reactions); source of sex
endocrine system is maintained by hormones
feedback from each of these players to the -​ Cortisol - body experiences stress,
others both physical and psychological
-​ Hypothalamus: controls the glandular - release of glucose into the
system by influencing the pituitary bloodstream during stress, providing
energy for brain itself, and release of
The Pineal Gland fatty acids from fat cells that provide
Pineal gland - located in the brain, near the back, muscles with energy
directly above the brain stem
-​ an important role in several biological LOOKING INSIDE THE LIVING BRAIN
rhythms
-​ Secretes melatonin (regulating the Lesioning Studies
sleep-wake cycle), track day length
Deep lesioning - once the test animal is
-​ Animals: seasonal behaviors
anesthetized and given medication for pain, a thin
wire, which is insulated everywhere but at its tip, is
The Thyroid Gland
surgically inserted into the brain
Thyroid gland - inside the neck and secretes -​ An electrical current strong enough to kill off
hormones that regulate growth and metabolism the target neurons is sent through the tip of
-​ Thyroxin: regulates metabolism the wire
-​ Body and brain development Shallow lesioning - When cells are destroyed on
the surface of the brain or just below it
Pancreas
Pancreas - controls level of blood sugar by Brain Stimulation
secreting insulin and glucagons Electrical Stimulation of the Brain (ESB) - a less
-​ Too little insulin: diabetes harmful way to study the brain is to temporarily
-​ Too much insulin: hypoglycemia (low blood disrupt or enhance the normal functioning of
sugar) feel hungry all the time and be specific brain areas through electrical stimulation,
overweight and then study the resulting changes in behavior or
cognition
Gonads -​ The procedure of stimulating a specific area
Gonads - sex glands of the brain is much the same as in
GONZALES, S.M.
 lesioning, but the much milder current in this -​ placed inside a machine that generates a
research does no damage to the neurons powerful magnetic field to align hydrogen
-​ It does cause the neurons to react as if they atoms in the brain tissues (these normally
had received a message spin in a random fashion); then radio pulses
are used to make the atoms spin at a
Invasive Techniques: Stimulating from the particular frequency and direction
Inside -​ 3D view of the brain
Deeb Brain Stimulation (DBS) - neurosurgeons -​ MRI spectroscopy - allows researchers to
place electrodes in specific deep-brain areas and estimate the concentration of specific
then route the electrode wires to a pacemaker-like chemicals and neurotransmitters in the
device called an impulse generator that is brain
surgically implanted under the collarbone. The -​ Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) - The brain
impulse generator then sends impulses to the has two distinct color regions, gray matter,
implanted electrodes, stimulating the specific brain the outer areas consisting largely of
areas of interest. neurons with unmyelinated axons, and
-​ Treatment for parkinson's disease white matter, the fiber tracts consisting of
-​ may play an important role in the treatment myelinated axons (the myelin is responsible
of seizure disorder, chronic pain, and for the lighter color); measure connectivity in
possibly some psychiatric disorder the brain by imaging these white matter
-​ typically used only after all other less tracts
intrusive treatments have been shown to be
ineffective or whose side effects have been MAPPING FUNCTION
deemed undesirable Electroencephalogram (EEG) - using small
metal-disk or sponge-like electrodes placed directly
Noninvasive Technique: Stimulating from the on the scalp, and a special solution to help conduct
Outside the electrical signals from the cortex just below
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation -​ These electrodes are connected to an
(rTMS) - magnetic pulses are applied to the cortex amplifier and then to a computer to view the
using special copper wire coils that are positioned information. The resulting electrical output
over the head forms waves that indicate many things, such
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) - as stages of sleep, seizures, and even the
uses scalp electrodes to pass very low amplitude presence of tumors
direct currents to the brain to change the excitability -​ which areas of the brain are active during
of cortical neurons directly below the electrodes various mental tasks that involve memory
and attention
MAPPING STRUCTURE
-​ classified according to appearance and
frequency
Computed Tomography (CT) - x-rays of the brain, -​ Very fast, irregular waves called beta
aided by a computer waves indicate waking activity; Slightly
-​ Can show stroke damage, tumors, injuries, more regular and slower waves called
and abnormal brain structure alpha waves are a sign of relaxation; theta
-​ imaging possible skull fractures and are the waves are associated with drowsiness and
imaging method of choice when there is sleep, and much slower, larger waves called
metal in the body delta waves indicate deep sleep
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) - effects of -​ Event-related Potentials - multiple
very small strokes presentations of a stimulus are measured
during an EEG and then averaged to
GONZALES, S.M.
 remove variations in the ongoing brain -​ Controls life-sustaining functions eg.
activity that is normally recorded during the heartbeat
EEG; result is a measurement of the -​ Cross over of nerves
response of the brain related to the stimulus -​ Sensory nerves coming from the left and
event itself, or an event-related potential; right sides of the body cross over, so that
cognitive processing sensory information from the left side of the
Electroencephalograph - record the electrical body goes to the right side of the brain and
activity of the cortex just below the skull vice versa
Positron Emission Tomography (PET) - injected 2. Pons - larger swelling just above the medulla
with radioactive glucose (a kind of sugar) -​ This term means “bridge”, and the pons is
-​ The computer detects the activity of the indeed the bridge between the lower parts
brain cells by looking at which cells are of the brain and the upper sections
using up the radioactive glucose and -​ motor nerves carrying messages from the
projecting the image of that activity onto a brain to the body
monitor -​ Influences sleep, dreaming, and arousal
-​ The computer uses colors to indicate 3. Reticular formation - area of neurons running
different levels of brain activity, with lighter through the middle of the medulla and the pons and
colors often indicating greater activity slightly beyond
-​ single photon emission computed -​ responsible for people’s ability to selectively
tomography (SPECT) - measures brain attend to certain kinds of information in their
blood flow and uses more easily obtainable surroundings
radioactive tracers than those used for PET -​ allows people to ignore constant,
Functional MRI (fMRI) - computer tracks changes unchanging information and become alert to
in the oxygen levels of the blood changes in information
-​ Alert and aroused
FORM THE BOTTOM UP: THE STRUCTURES OF THE -​ Reticular Activating System (RAS) -
BRAIN stimulates the upper part of the brain,
keeping people awake and alert
4. Cerebellum - At the base of the skull, behind the
pons and below the main part of the brain, is a
structure that looks like a small brain
-​ “Little brain”
-​ controls all involuntary, rapid, fine motor
movement
-​ coordinates voluntary movements that have
to happen in rapid succession
-​ Spinocerebellar Degeneration - first
symptoms are tremors, an unsteady walk,
slurred speech, dizziness, and muscle
weakness

Structures Under the Cortex

The Hindbrain
Cortex - outer wrinkled covering of the brain
1. Medulla - top of the spinal column -​ A number of important structures are
-​ First swelling at the top of the spinal cord, located just under the cortex and above the
very bottom of the brain brain stem

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Each of these subcortical structures (the -​instrumental in forming
prefix sub- means “under” or “below” ) plays longterm (permanent)
a part in our behavior declarative memories that
Limbic System - limbic: “marginal” are then stored elsewhere in
-​ found in the inner margin of the upper brain the brain
-​ emotions, motivation, and learning -​ medial temporal lobes on
●​ Thalamus - “inner chamber” each side of the brain
-​ Triage - process for sorting (medial means toward the
injured people into groups “middle”), and electrical
based on their need for or stimulation of this area may
likely benefit from immediate produce memory-like or
medical treatment dreamlike experiences
-​ relay station for incoming ●​ Amygdala
sensory information -​ “Almond”
-​ perform some processing of -​ Near hippocampus
that sensory information -​ responsible for fear
before sending it on to the responses and memory of
part of the cortex that deals fear
with that kind of sensation -​ Information from the senses
hearing, sight, touch, or taste goes to the amygdala before
-​ Damage to the thalamus the upper part of the brain is
might result in the loss or even involved, so that people
partial loss of any or all of can respond to danger very
those sensations quickly, sometimes before
-​ Olfactory bulbs - just under they are consciously aware
the front part of the brain of what is happening
-​ Smell is the only sense that -​ Kluver-Bucy Syndrome
cannot be affected by ●​ Cingulate Cortex
damage to the thalamus -​ Found in cortex
-​ Above corpus callosum in
●​ Hypothalamus frontal and parietal lobes
-​ Very small but extremely -​ emotional and cognitive
powerful processing
-​ Below and front of thalamus -​ active during a variety of
-​ “Below the inner chamber” cognitive tasks such as
-​ regulates body temperature, selective attention, written
thirst, hunger, sleeping and word recognition, and
waking, sexual activity, and working memory
emotions
-​ Above the pituitary gland
-​ Controls the pituitary
-​ Ultimate regulation of
hormones
●​ Hippocampus
-​ Greek for “seahorse”
-​ Looked like a seahorse

GONZALES, S.M.
 The Lobes and Their Specialties

The cortex
Cortex - “rind” or outer covering
-​ Outermost part of the brain
-​ Tightly packed neurons and one-tenth of an The brain is divided into two sections called
inch thick on average Cerebral Hemispheres - connected by a thick,
-​ Full of wrinkles tough band of neural fibers (axons) called Corpus
Callosum (“hard bodies”)
Why is Cortex so Wrinkled?
Corpus Callosum - allows the left and right
-​ wrinkling of the cortex allows a much larger
hemispheres to communicate with each other
area of cortical cells to exist in the small
space inside the skull
1. Occipital Lobe - base of the cortex, toward the
-​ If the cortex were to be taken out, ironed
back of the brain
flat, and measured, it would be about 2 to 3
-​ Occipital: rear of the head
square feet
-​ Visual information from the eyes in the
-​ Corticalization - increase in wrinkling
primary visual cortex
-​ Visual association cortex - part of the
brain that helps identify and make sense of
the visual information from the eyes
-​ Famed Neurologist Oliver Sacks
2. Parietal Lobe - parietal: “wall”
-​ Top and back of the brain, just under the
parietal bone in the skull
-​ Contains the somatosensory cortex - an
area of neurons running down the front of
the parietal lobes on either side of the brain
-​ processes information from the skin and
internal body receptors for touch,
temperature, and body position
-​ The somatosensory cortex is laid out in a
rather interesting way—the cells at the top
of the brain receive information from the
bottom of the body, and as one moves down
GONZALES, S.M.
 the area, the signals come from higher and they also fire when an animal
higher in the body observes that same action being
-​ It’s almost as if a little upside-down person performed by another
were laid out along this area of cells
3. Temporal Lobes - temporal: “of or near the
temples”)
-​ Beginning found just behind the temples of
the head
-​ Contain primary auditory cortex and
auditory association area
-​ Left temporal lobe: area that in most people
is particularly involved with language
-​ The sense of taste also seems to be
processed in the temporal lobe, deep inside
a fold of the cortex
4. Frontal Lobes - front of the brain
-​ Higher mental functions: planning,
personality, memory storage, complex
decision making, and (again in the left
hemisphere in most people) areas devoted
to language
-​ Controlling emotions by means of its The Association Areas of the Cortex
connection to the limbic system Association Areas - made up of neurons in the
-​ Prefrontal Cortex - most forward part cortex that are devoted to making connections
-​ Medial Prefrontal Cortex - middle area between the sensory information coming into the
toward the center brain and stored memories, images, and
-​ Orbitofrontal Prefrontal Cortex - bottom knowledge
surface above the eyes -​ help people make sense of the incoming
-​ Damage can experience problems sensory input
performing mental tasks, getting stuck on -​ Although the association areas in the
one step or one wrong answer and occipital and temporal lobes have already
repeating it over and over again been mentioned, much of the brain’s
●​ Motor Cortex - a band of neurons located association cortex is in the frontal lobes
at the back of each lobe Broca’s Area - In the left frontal lobe of most
-​ Control the movements of the body’s people is an area of the brain devoted to the
voluntary muscles by sending production of speech
commands out to the somatic -​ allows a person to speak smoothly and
division of the peripheral nervous fluently
system -​ Damage to Broca s area causes a person to
-​ laid out just like the somatosensory be unable to get words out in a smooth,
cortex, which is right next door in the connected fashion
parietal lobes -​ People with this condition may know exactly
-​ the focus of a great deal of recent what they want to say and understand what
research, specifically as related to they hear others say, but they cannot
the role of a special type of neuron control the actual production of their own
called mirror neurons - fire when words
an animal performs an action but
GONZALES, S.M.
Broca’s Aphasia - Speech is halting and words are Split-Brain Research - The special testing
often mispronounced, such as saying “cot” instead involves sending messages to only one side of the
of “clock” or “non” instead of “nine” brain, which is now possible because the
-​ Some words may be left out entirely, such connecting tissue, the corpus callosum, has been
as “the” or “for” cut
Aphasia - inability to use or understand either
written or spoken language

Stuttering is a somewhat different problem in

getting words started, rather than mispronouncing
them or leaving them out, but may also be related
to Broca's area

Wernicke’s Area - left temporal lobe

-​ physiologist and Broca's contemporary, Carl
Wernicke, who first studied problems arising
from damage in this location
-​ involved in understanding the meaning of
words
-​ able to speak fluently and pronounce words
correctly, but the words would be the wrong
ones entirely
Unilateral Spatial Neglect - A condition that can
sometimes occur following a stroke, in which a
person with damage to the right parietal and
occipital lobes of the cortex will ignore everything in
the left visual field
-​ one side of the body, and this type of brain
damage most often only affects attention to
objects in the left visual field
-​ Damage to areas of the frontal and temporal
lobes may also play a part along with the
parietal damage ●​ Left hemisphere - language, speech,
-​ Spatial neglect can affect the left handwriting, calculation (math), sense of
hemisphere, but this condition occurs less time and rhythm (which is mathematical in
frequently and in a much milder form than nature), and basically any kind of thought
right-hemisphere neglect requiring analysis
-​ processes information in a sequence
The Cerebral Hemispheres: Are you in your and is good at breaking things down
Right Mind? into smaller parts or performing
Language seems to be confined to the left analysis
hemisphere in about 90 percent of the population. -​ Structuralist who wants to break
everything down into its smaller
Cerebrum - the upper part of the brain consisting parts
of the two hemispheres and the structures ●​ Right hemisphere - specialize in more
connecting them global (widespread) processing involving
perception, visualization, spatial perception,
GONZALES, S.M.
 recognition of patterns, faces, emotions, function of neurons, nerves, and nervous
melodies, and expression of emotions tissue
-​ it also comprehends simple ●​ Neuroscientists - experts who study the
language but does not produce biological underpinnings of behavior
speech ●​ Behavioral Neuroscientists -
-​ processes information all at once “biopsychologists”
and simultaneously; in this sense it -​ Specialize in considering the ways in
is a more global or holistic style of which the biological structures and
processing functions of the body affect behavior
-​ Gestaltist who want to study only the ●​ Biological Psychology/Behavioral
whole Neuroscience - a branch of neuroscience
Epilepsy - severe muscle spasms or seizures that focuses on the biological bases of
resulting from brain damage psychological processes, behavior, and
Corpus Callosum - the thick band of neural fibers learning
that joins the two hemispheres ●​ Neuron - the basic cell that makes up the
-​ Connecting tissue of the left and right side nervous system and that receives and
of the brain sends messages within that system
●​ Dendrites - branchlike structures that
The separate functions of the left and right sides of receive messages from other neurons
the brain are often confused with handedness, or ●​ Soma - the cell body of the neuron
the tendency to use one hand for most fine motor responsible for maintaining the life of the
skills. While most right-handed people also have cell
their left hemisphere in control of their other fine ●​ Axon - a tubelike structure that carries the
motor skills, such as speech, a few right-handers neural message to other cells
actually have their language functions in the right ●​ Glial Cells - cells that provide support for
hemisphere, in spite of the dominance of the left the neurons to grow on and around, deliver
hemisphere for controlling the right hand. Among nutrients to neurons, produce myelin to coat
left-handed people, there are also many who, axons, clean up waste products and dead
although right-brain dominant, still have their neurons, influence information processing,
language functions on the left side of the brain. and, during prenatal development, influence
the generation of new neurons
●​ Myelin - fatty substances produced by
certain glial cells that coat the axons of
neurons to insulate, protect, and speed up
the neural impulse
●​ Nerves - bundles of axons coated in myelin
that travel together through the body
●​ Diffusion - process of molecules moving
from areas of high concentration to areas of
TERMS low concentration
●​ Resting potential - the state of the neuron
●​ Nervous system - an extensive network of when not firing a neural impulse
specialized cells that carries information to ●​ Action potential - the release of the neural
and from all parts of the body impulse consisting of a reversal of the
●​ Neuroscience - a branch of the life electrical charge within the axon
sciences that deals with the structure and

GONZALES, S.M.
●​ All-or-none - referring to the fact that a ●​ Central Nervous System (CNS) - part of
neuron either fires completely or does not the nervous system consisting of the brain
fire at all. and spinal cord
●​ Electronmicrograph ●​ Spinal cord - a long bundle of neurons that
●​ Synaptic knob - rounded areas on the end carries messages between the body and the
of the axon terminals brain and is responsible for very fast,
●​ Axon terminals - branches at the end of lifesaving reflexes
the axon ●​ Afferent (sensory) Neuron - a neuron that
●​ Synaptic vesicles - saclike structures carries information from the senses to the
found inside the synaptic knob containing central nervous system
chemicals ●​ Efferent (motor ) Neuron - a neuron that
●​ Neurotransmitter - a chemical found in the carries messages from the central nervous
synaptic vesicles that, when released, has system to the muscles of the body
an effect on the next cell ●​ Interneuron - a neuron found in the center
●​ Synapse (synaptic gap) - microscopic of the spinal cord that receives information
fluid-filled space between the synaptic knob from the afferent neurons and sends
of one cell and the dendrites or surface of commands to the muscles through the
the next cell efferent neurons
●​ Receptor sites - three-dimensional proteins -​ Interneurons also make up the bulk
on the surface of the dendrites or certain of the neurons in the brain
cells of the muscles and glands, which are ●​ Reflex arc - the connection of the afferent
shaped to fit only certain neurotransmitters neurons to the interneurons to the efferent
●​ Excitatory synapse - synapse at which a neurons, resulting in a reflex action
neurotransmitter causes the receiving cell to ●​ Neuroplasticity - the ability within the brain
fire to constantly change both the structure and
●​ Inhibitory synapse - synapse at which a function of many cells in response to
neurotransmitter causes the receiving cell to experience or trauma
stop firing ●​ Stem cells - special cells found in all the
●​ Antagonists - chemical substances that tissues of the body that are capable of
block or reduce a cell’s response to the manufacturing other cell types when those
action of other chemicals or cells need to be replaced due to damage or
neurotransmitters wear and tear
●​ Agonists - chemical substances that mimic ●​ Peripheral nervous system (PNS) - all
or enhance the effects of a neurotransmitter nerves and neurons that are not contained
on the receptor sites of the next cell, in the brain and spinal cord but that run
increasing or decreasing the activity of that through the body itself
cell ●​ Somatic nervous system - a division of the
●​ Reuptake - a process by which PNS consisting of nerves that carry
neurotransmitters are taken back into the information from the senses to the CNS and
synaptic vesicles from the CNS to the voluntary muscles of
●​ Enzyme - a complex protein that is the body
manufactured by cells ●​ Autonomic nervous system (ANS) -
●​ Enzymatic degradation - a process by division of the PNS consisting of nerves that
which the structure of a neurotransmitter is control all of the involuntary muscles,
altered so it can no longer act on a receptor organs, and glands

GONZALES, S.M.
●​ Sensory pathway - nerves coming from the the sexual changes that occur during
sensory organs to the CNS consisting of adolescence
afferent neurons ●​ Deep lesioning - insertion of a thin,
●​ Motor pathway - nerves coming from the insulated wire into the brain through which
CNS to the voluntary muscles, consisting of an electrical current is sent that destroys the
efferent neurons brain cells at the tip of the wire
●​ Skeletal - having to do with the bones of the ●​ Computed tomography (CT) -
body or skeleton brain-imaging method using
●​ Sympathetic division - (fight-or-flight computer-controlled X-rays of the brain
system) part of the ANS that is responsible ●​ Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) -
for reacting to stressful events and bodily brain-imaging method using radio waves
arousal and magnetic fields of the body to produce
●​ Parasympathetic division - part of the detailed images of the brain
ANS that restores the body to normal ●​ Electroencephalograph - machine
functioning after arousal and is responsible designed to record the
for the day-to-day functioning of the organs electroencephalogram
and glands ●​ Electroencephalogram (EEG) - a
●​ Involuntary - not under deliberate control recording of the electrical activity of large
●​ Excretion - in this sense, the act of groups of cortical neurons just below the
eliminating waste products from the body skull, most often using scalp electrodes
●​ Endocrine glands - glands that secrete ●​ Positron Emission Tomography (PET) -
chemicals called hormones directly into the brain-imaging method in which radioactive
bloodstream sugar is injected into a person, and a
●​ Hormones - chemicals released into the computer compiles a color-coded image of
bloodstream by endocrine glands the activity of the brain
●​ Pituitary gland - gland located in the brain ●​ Single photon emission computed
that secretes human growth hormone and tomography (SPECT) - neuroimaging
influences all other hormonesecreting method that is similar to PET but uses a
glands (also known as the master gland) different radioactive tracer and can be used
●​ Pineal gland - endocrine gland located to examine brain blood flow
near the base of the cerebrum; secretes ●​ Functional magnetic resonance imaging
melatonin (fMRI) - MRI-based brain-imaging method
●​ Thyroid gland - endocrine gland found in that allows for functional examination of
the neck; regulates metabolism brain areas through changes in brain
●​ Pancreas - endocrine gland; controls the oxygenation
levels of sugar in the blood ●​ Medulla - the first large swelling at the top
●​ Gonads - sex glands; secretes hormones of the spinal cord, forming the lowest part of
that regulate sexual development and the brain, which is responsible for
behavior as well as reproduction life-sustaining functions such as breathing,
●​ Ovaries - the female gonads swallowing, and heart rate
●​ Testes - the male gonads ●​ Pons - the larger swelling above the
●​ Adrenal glands - endocrine glands located medulla that connects the top of the brain to
on top of each kidney that secrete over 30 the bottom and that plays a part in sleep,
different hormones to deal with stress, dreaming, left-right body coordination, and
regulate salt intake, and provide a arousal
secondary source of sex hormones affecting ●​ Reticular formation (RF) - an area of
neurons running through the middle of the
GONZALES, S.M.
 medulla and the pons and slightly beyond receptors for touch, temperature, body
that is responsible for general attention, position, and possibly taste
alertness, and arousal ●​ Temporal lobes - areas of the brain located
●​ Cerebellum - part of the lower brain located along the side, starting just behind the
behind the pons that controls and temples, containing the neurons responsible
coordinates involuntary, rapid, fine motor for the sense of hearing and meaningful
movement speech
●​ Limbic System - a group of several brain ●​ Frontal lobes - areas of the brain located in
structures located primarily under the cortex the front and top, responsible for higher
and involved in learning, emotion, memory, mental processes and decision making as
and motivation well as the production of fluent speech
●​ Thalamus - part of the limbic system ●​ Motor Cortex - rear section of the frontal
located in the center of the brain, this lobe, responsible for sending motor
structure relays sensory information from commands to the muscles of the somatic
the lower part of the brain to the proper nervous system
areas of the cortex and processes some ●​ Mirror neurons - neurons that fire when an
sensory information before sending it to its animal or person performs an action and
proper area also when an animal or person observes
●​ Olfactory bulbs - two projections just under that same action being performed by
the front of the brain that receive information another
from the receptors in the nose located just ●​ Association areas - areas within each lobe
below of the cortex responsible for the
●​ Hypothalamus - small structure in the brain coordination and interpretation of
located below the thalamus and directly information, as well as higher mental
above the pituitary gland, responsible for processing
motivational behavior such as sleep, ●​ Broca’s Aphasia - condition resulting from
hunger, thirst, and sex damage to Broca s area, causing the
●​ Hippocampus - curved structure located affected person to be unable to speak
within each temporal lobe, responsible for fluently, to mispronounce words, and to
the formation of long-term memories and speak haltingly
the storage of memory for location of ●​ Wernicke’s Aphasia - condition resulting
objects from damage to Wernicke s area, causing
●​ Amygdala - brain structure located near the the affected person to be unable to
hippocampus, responsible for fear understand or produce meaningful language
responses and memory of fear ●​ Unilateral Spatial Neglect - condition
●​ Cortex - outermost covering of the brain produced most often by damage to the
consisting of densely packed neurons, parietal lobe association areas of the right
responsible for higher thought processes hemisphere resulting in an inability to
and interpretation of sensory input recognize objects or body parts in the left
●​ Parietal Lobes - sections of the brain visual field
located at the top and back of each cerebral ●​ Cerebrum - the upper part of the brain
hemisphere containing the centers for consisting of the two hemispheres and the
touch, taste, and temperature sensations structures that connect them
●​ Somatosensory Cortex - the area of ●​ Holistic - relating to or concerned with
neurons running down the front of the complete systems or wholes
parietal lobes responsible for processing
information from the skin and internal body
GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 3: SENSATION AND PERCEPTION -​ the lowest level of stimulation that a person
(p113-152) can consciously detect 50 percent of the
Without sensations to tell us what is outside our time the stimulation is present
own mental world, we would live entirely in our own
minds, separate from one another, and unable to
find food or any other basics that sustain life.
Sensations are the mind's window to the world that
exists around us. Without perception, we would be
unable to understand what all those sensations
Subliminal stimuli - Stimuli that are below the
mean—perception is the process of interpreting
level of conscious awareness
the sensations we experience so that we can act
-​ Limin: “threshold”
upon them.
-​ Sublimin: “below the threshold”
-​ just strong enough to activate the sensory
The way into the brain is through the sensory
receptors but not strong enough for people
organs and the process of sensation.
to be consciously aware of them
-​ Many people believe that these stimuli act
Sensation - special receptors in the sense
upon the unconscious mind, influencing
organs—the eyes, ears, nose, skin, and taste buds,
behavior in a process called subliminal
are activated, allowing various forms of outside
perception
stimuli to become neural signals in the brain
Transduction - the process of converting outside
This is not to say that subliminal perception does
stimuli, such as light, into neural activity
not exist there is a growing body of evidence that
Sensory Receptors - specialized forms of
we process some stimuli without conscious
neurons: cells that make up the nervous system
awareness, especially stimuli that are fearful or
-​ Instead of receiving neurotransmitters from
threatening.
other cells, these receptor cells are
stimulated by different kinds of energy
In this effort, researchers have used event-related
-​ Eg. the receptors in the eyes are stimulated
potentials (ERPs) and functional magnetic
by light, whereas the receptors in the ears
resonance imaging (fMRI) to verify the existence
are activated by vibrations. Touch receptors
of subliminal perception and associated learning in
are stimulated by pressure or temperature,
the laboratory.
and the receptors for taste and smell are
triggered by chemical substances
Supraliminal: “above the threshold”
-​ Detectable by sensory systems
SENSORY THRESHOLDS
-​ Below the level of conscious perception
Weber’s Law of Just Noticeable -​ participants are not aware or conscious that
Differences/JND/Difference Threshold - Ernst they have been exposed to the stimuli due
Weber (1795 1878) to masking or manipulation of attention
-​ the smallest difference between two stimuli -​ Influence automatic reactions rather than
that is detectable 50 percent of the time direct voluntary behaviors
-​ simply means that whatever the difference
between stimuli might be, it is always a
constant HABITUATION AND SENSORY ADAPTATION
Absolute Threshold - Gustav Fechner (1801
The lower centers of the brain filter sensory
1887)
stimulation and ignore or prevent conscious

GONZALES, S.M.
attention to stimuli that do not change. The brain is Aspects to our Perception of Light:
only interested in changes in information. Psychological Properties
1.​ Brightness - amplitude of the wave—how
Habituation - the way the brain deals with high or how low the wave actually is
unchanging information from the environment -​ The higher the wave, the brighter the
-​ All of our senses are subject to habituation light appears to be
-​ Although they actually are hearing it, they -​ Low waves are dimmer
aren t paying attention to it 2.​ Color/Hue - largely determined by the
-​ the sensory receptors are still responding to length of the wave
stimulation but the lower centers of the brain -​ Long wavelengths (measured in
are not sending the signals from those nanometers) are found at the red
receptors to the cortex end of the visible spectrum (the
-​ all of our senses are subject to sensory portion of the whole spectrum of light
adaptation that is visible to the human eye),
Sensory Adaptation - another process by which whereas shorter wavelengths are
constant, unchanging information from the sensory found at the blue end
receptors is effectively ignored 3.​ Saturation - refers to the purity of the color
-​ receptor cells themselves become less people perceive
responsive to an unchanging stimulus and -​ Eg. A highly saturated red would
the receptors no longer send signals to the contain only red wavelengths,
brain whereas a less saturated red might
contain a mixture of wavelengths
Even though the sensory receptors in the back of
the eyes adapt to and become less responsive to a
constant visual stimulus, under ordinary
circumstances, the eyes are never entirely still.

Microsaccades/Saccadic movements - constant

movement of the eyes, tiny little vibrations
-​ keep the eyes from adapting to what they
see

THE SCIENCE OF SEEING

Light - a complicated phenomenon

-​ has the properties of both waves and
particles

Perceptual Properties of Light: Catching the

Waves
Albert Einstein - first proposed that light is actually
tiny “packets” of waves
Photons - “wave packets”
-​ Have specific wavelengths associated with
them

GONZALES, S.M.
THE STRUCTURE OF THE EYE -​ people try to do the same thing by
squinting
4.​ Pupil - Iris opening that changes size
depending on the amount of light in the
environment
-​ Hole to the interior of the eye
5.​ Lens - Changes shape to bring objects into
focus
-​ Clear structure suspended by
muscles
-​ The flexible lens finishes the
focusing process begun by the
cornea
Visual Accommodation - the lens changes its
shape from thick to thin, enabling it to focus on
objects that are close or far away
-​ The variation in thickness allows the lens to
1.​ Cornea - Bends light waves so the image
project a sharp image on the retina
can be focused on the retina
-​ People lose this ability as the lens hardens
-​ Clear membrane covering the
through aging (a disorder called
surface of the eye
presbyopia)
-​ not only protects the eye but also is
6.​ Retina - Contains photoreceptor cells
the structure that focuses most of
7.​ Fovea - Central area of retina
the light coming into the eye
-​ greatest density of photoreceptors
-​ Fixed curvature, like a camera that
8.​ Optic nerve - Sends visual information to
has no option to adjust the focus
the brain
-​ this curvature can be changed
9.​ Blind spot (optic disc) - Where the optic
somewhat through vision-improving
nerve leaves the eye
techniques that change the shape of
-​ there are no photoreceptor cells
the cornea
here
-​ Photoreactive keratectomy (PRK)
10.​Vitreous humor - Jelly-like liquid that
and Laser-assisted in Situ
nourishes and gives shape to the eye
Keratomileusis (LASIK) -
-​ a clear, jelly-like fluid
procedures to remove small portions
-​ nourishes the eye and gives it shape
of the cornea, changing its
11.​Blood vessels
curvature, and thus the focus in the
eye)
2.​ Aqueous humor - Clear liquid that From Front to Back: The Parts of the Eye
nourishes the eye Refraction - Light bends as it passes through
-​ Clear watery fluid substances of different densities, through a process
-​ continually replenished and supplies Refraction of Light - optical illusion
nourishment to the eye
3.​ Iris - Its muscles control the size of the pupil Retina, Rods, and Cones
-​ Round muscle Retina - final stop for light within the eye
-​ The colored part of the eye -​ a light-sensitive area at the back of the eye
-​ can change the size of the pupil, containing three layers: ganglion cells,
letting more or less light into the eye bipolar cells, and the rods and cones,
-​ That also helps focus the image
GONZALES, S.M.
 special cells (photoreceptors) that respond HOW THE EYE WORKS
to the various light waves
Rods and Cones - business end of the retina
-​ the part that actually receives the photons of
light and turns them into neural signals to
the brain, sending them first to the bipolar
cells (a type of interneuron; called bipolar or
two-ended because they have a single
dendrite at one end and a single axon on
the other) and then to the retinal ganglion
cells whose axons form the optic nerve

The Blind Spot

The Blind Spot - “Hole” in the retina
-​ the place where all the axons of
those ganglion cells leave the retina
to become the optic nerve
-​ no rods or cones here

Through The Eyes to The Brain

Light entering the eyes can be separated into the
left and right visual fields. Light from the right visual
field falls on the left side of each eye's retina; light
from the left visual field falls on the right side of
each retina. Light travels in a straight line through
the cornea and lens, resulting in the image
projected on the retina actually being upside down
and reversed from left to right as compared to the
visual fields.

The areas of the retina can be divided into halves.

1.​ Temporal retinas - halves toward the
temples of the head
2.​ Nasal retinas - halves toward the center, or
nose
Left Visual Field - falling on the right side of each
retina
-​ Goes directly to the right visual cortex
Right Visual Field - falling on the left side of each
retina
-​ Goes directly to the left visual cortex

This is because the axons from the temporal halves

of each retina project to the visual cortex on the
same side of the brain while the axons from the

GONZALES, S.M.
nasal halves cross over to the visual cortex on the -​ receptors for visual acuity
opposite side of the brain. -​ located all over the retina but are more
concentrated at its very center (fovea)
Optic Chiasm - point of crossover where there are no rods
Rods and Cones - Photoreceptors in the retina -​ need a lot more light to function than the
-​ Responsible for different aspects of vision rods do, so cones work best in bright light,
Rods - about 120 million of them in each eye which is also when people see things most
-​ found all over the retina except in the very clearly
center, which contains only cones -​ sensitive to different wavelengths of light, so
-​ sensitive to changes in brightness but not to they are responsible for color vision
changes in wavelength, so they see only in
black and white and shades of gray PERCEPTION OF COLOR
-​ can be very sensitive because many rods
are connected to a single bipolar cell, so Theories of Color Vision
that if even only one rod is stimulated by a
Two theories about how people see colors are
photon of light, the brain perceives the
proposed in the 1800s.
whole area of those rods as stimulated
1.​ Trichromatic Theory - “three colors”
(because the brain is receiving the message
-​ Thomas Young: 1802
from the single bipolar cell)
-​ First proposed
-​ because the brain doesn't know exactly
-​ Hermann von Helmholtz: 1852
what part of the area (which rod) is actually
-​ Later modified
sending the message, the visual acuity
-​ Proposed three types of cones: red
(sharpness) is quite low
cones, blue cones, and green
That's why things seen in low levels of light, such
cones (one for each of the primary
as twilight or a dimly lit room, are fuzzy and grayish.
colors of light)
-​ located on the periphery of the retina, they
-​ Primary colors in painting - red,
are also responsible for peripheral vision
yellow, and blue
-​ allow the eyes to adapt to low light
Paints reflect light, and the way reflected light
Dark Adaptation - occurs as the eye recovers its
mixes is different from the way direct light mixes.
ability to see when going from a brightly lit state to
-​ Primary colors in light - red, blue,
a dark state
and green
-​ different shades of colors
The light-sensitive pigments that allow us to see
correspond to different amounts of
are able to regenerate or “recharge” in the dark.
light received by each of these three
The brighter the light was, the longer it takes the
types of cones
rods to adapt to the new lower levels of light. When
-​ These cones then fire their message
going from a darkened room to one that is brightly
to the brain's vision centers
lit, the opposite process occurs.
-​ It is the combination of cones and
the rate at which they are firing that
Light Adaptation - cones have to adapt to the
determines the color that will be
increased level of light
seen
-​ accomplish this light adaptation much more
-​ Brown and Wald (1964)
quickly than the rods adapt to darkness—it
-​ identified three types of cones in
takes a few seconds at most
the retina
Cones - 6 million cones in each eye
-​ each sensitive to a range of
-​ 50,000 have a private line (one bipolar cell
wavelengths, measured in
for each cone) to the optic nerve
nanometers (nm), and a peak
GONZALES, S.M.
 sensitivity that roughly -​ occur when a visual sensation persists for a
corresponds to three different brief time, even after the original stimulus is
colors (although hues/colors can removed
vary depending on brightness -​ the colors of the flag in the afterimage are
and saturation) all wrong
-​ The peak wavelength of light the
cones seem to be most sensitive to 2.​ Opponent-process Theory
turns out to be just a little different -​ Edwald Hering: 1874
from Young and von Helmholtz's -​ First suggested
original three corresponding colors -​ Four primary colors: red, green,
-​ Short-wavelength cones detect what blue, and yellow
we see as blue-violet (about 420 -​ colors are arranged in pairs, red with
nm), medium-wavelength cones green and blue with yellow
detect what we see as green (about -​ If one member of a pair is strongly
530 nm), and long-wavelength stimulated, the other member is
cones detect what we see as inhibited and cannot be working—so
green-yellow (about 560 nm) there are no reddish-greens or
-​ none of the cones identified by bluish-yellow
Brown and Wald has a peak
sensitivity to light where most of us So how can this kind of pairing cause a color
see red (around 630 nm) afterimage?
-​ each cone responds to light across a -​ From the level of the bipolar and ganglion
range of wavelengths, not just its cells in the retina, all the way through the
wavelength of peak sensitivity thalamus, and on to the visual cortical areas
-​ Depending on the intensity of the in the brain, some neurons (or groups of
light, both the medium- and neurons) are stimulated by light from one
long-wavelength cones respond to part of the visual spectrum and inhibited by
light that appears red light from a different part of the spectrum

Reflected light - subtractive Both theories play a part in color vision.

-​ removing more light as you mix in more 1.​ Trichromatic Theory - can explain what is
colors happening with the raw stimuli, the actual
-​ As all of the colors are mixed, the more light detection of various wavelengths of light
waves are absorbed and we see black 2.​ Opponent-process Theory - can explain
-​ if the artist were to blend a red, green, and afterimages and other aspects of visual
blue light together by focusing lights of perception that occur after the initial
those three colors on one common spot, the detection of light from our environment
result would be white, not black Lateral Geniculate Nucleus - opponent-process
Direct light - additive cells are contained inside the thalamus in this area
-​ resulting in lighter colors, more light, and -​ part of the pathway that visual information
when mixing red, blue, and green, we see takes to the occipital lobe
white, the reflection of the entire visual -​ It is when the cones in the retina send
spectrum signals through the retinal bipolar and
ganglion cells that we see the red versus
The Afterimage - a phenomenon that the green pairings and blue versus yellow
trichromatic theory cannot explain pairings

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ appear to be the ones responsible for -​ But the gene for color-deficient vision is
opponent-processing of color vision and the attached to a particular chromosome (a
afterimage effect, together with retinal cells package of genes) that helps to determine
the sex of a person
Colorblindness -​ Men have one X chromosome and one
Colorblindness - is caused by defective cones in smaller Y chromosome (named for their
the retina of the eye shapes), whereas women have two X
-​ as a more general term, color-deficient chromosomes
vision is more accurate, as most people -​ The smaller Y has fewer genes than the
with color blindness have two types of larger X, and one of the genes missing is
cones working and can see many colors the one that would suppress the gene for
color-deficient vision
Three Kinds of Color-deficient Vision -​ For a woman to have color-deficient vision,
she must inherit two recessive genes, one
1.​ Monochrome Color Blindness - a very
from each parent, but a man only needs to
rare type
inherit one recessive gene, the one passed
-​ people either have no cones or have
on to him on his mother’s X chromosome
cones that are not working at all
-​ His odds are greater; therefore, more males
-​ if they have cones, they only have
than females have color-deficient vision
one type and, therefore, everything
looks the same to the brain—shades
THE HEARING SENSE: CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
of gray
2.​ Dichromatic Vision - having one cone that The properties of sound are indeed similar to those
does not work properly of light, as both senses rely on waves. But the
●​ Protanopia - red-green color similarity ends there, as the physical properties of
deficiency sound are different from those of light.
-​ lack of functioning red cones
●​ Deuteranopia - another type of Perception of Sound: Good Vibrations
red-green color deficiency Sound waves - do not come in little packets the
-​ results from the lack of way light comes in photons
functioning green cones -​ Simply the vibrations of the molecules of the
-​ In both of these types, the individual air that surround us
confuses reds and greens, seeing -​ Sound waves do have the same properties
the world primarily in blues, yellows, as light waves though
and shades of gray ●​ Wavelength - interpreted by the brain as
3.​ Tritanopia - blue-yellow color deficiency the frequency or pitch (high, medium, or
-​ Much less common low)
-​ see the world primarily in reds, ●​ Amplitude - interpreted as volume (how
greens, and shades of gray soft or loud a sound is)
●​ Purity - what would correspond to
Sex-linked inheritance - Color-deficient vision saturation or purity in light is called
involving one set of cones is inherited in this pattern timbre in sound
-​ Recessive - the gene for color-deficient -​ A richness in the tone of the sound
vision -​ just as people rarely see pure colors
-​ To inherit a recessive trait, you normally in the world around us, they also
need two of the genes, one from each seldom hear pure sounds
parent

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ The everyday noises that surround The Outer Ear
people do not allow them to hear 1.​ Pinna - the visible, external part of the ear
many pure tones that serves as a kind of concentrator,
High wave - the louder the sound funneling the sound waves from the outside
Low wave - the softer the sound into the structure of the ear
High frequency - closer together -​ entrance to the auditory canal
-​ High pitch 2.​ Auditory Canal - ear canal
Low frequency - farther together -​ the short tunnel that runs down to
-​ Low pitch the tympanic membrane, or
Decibel - a unit of measure for loudness eardrum
3.​ Eardrum - tympanic membrane
Just as a person's vision is limited by the visible -​ When sound waves hit the eardrum,
spectrum of light, a person is also limited in the they cause three tiny bones in the
range of frequencies he or she can hear. middle ear to vibrate

Frequency - measured in cycles (waves) per The Middle Ear: Hammer, Anvil, and Stirrup
second, or hertz (Hz)
-​ Human limits are between 20 and 20,000
Hz, with the most sensitivity from about
2000 to 4000 Hz, which is very important for
conversational speech
-​ dogs can hear between 50 and 60,000 Hz,
and dolphins can hear up to 200,000 Hz

THE STRUCTURE OF THE EAR: FOLLOW THE

VIBES

The middle ear. Sound waves entering through the

ear canal cause the eardrum to vibrate, which
causes each of the three bones of the middle ear to
vibrate, amplifying the sound. The stirrup rests on
the oval window, which transmits its vibration to the
fluid in the inner ear.

Shows the entire ear, beginning with the outer ear Three Tiny Bones in the Middle Ear
(pinna, ear canal, and eardrum). The vestibular 1.​ Hammer - malleus
organ includes the semicircular canals and the 2.​ Anvil - incus
otolith organs (inside the round structures just 3.​ Stirrup - stapes
above the cochlea). -​ last bone in the chain
-​ causes a membrane covering the
opening of the inner ear to vibrate
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ each name stemming from the shape of the 3.​ Organi of Corti - found here are special
respective bone cells called hair cells
-​ The vibration of these three bones amplifies 4.​ Hair cells - which are the receptors for
the vibrations from the eardrum sound
-​ When these auditory receptors or
The Inner Ear hair cells are bent up against the
other membrane, it causes them to
send a neural message through the
auditory nerve (which contains the
axons of all the receptor neurons)
and into the brain, where the
auditory cortex will interpret the
sounds (the transformation of the
vibrations of sound into neural
messages is transduction)
-​ The louder the sound in the outside
world, the stronger the vibrations
that stimulate more of those hair
cells which the brain interprets as
loudness

The inner ear. Large spaces are filled with fluid

(shown in purple) that vibrates as the oval window
vibrates. A thin membrane suspended in this fluid is
called the basilar membrane, which contains the
organ of Corti, the structure composed of the
hairlike cells that send signals to the auditory cortex
of the brain by way of the auditory nerve.

Oval window - inner ear membrane

-​ its vibrations set off another chain reaction
within the inner ear

1.​ Cochlea - snail-shaped structure filled with

A close-up view of the basilar membrane (in dark
fluid
pink) with the hair cells of the organ of Corti (in
-​ When the oval window vibrates, it causes
lighter pink). Notice the axons (small green lines)
the fluid in the cochlea to vibrate
leaving the hair cells to form the auditory nerve.
-​ This fluid surrounds a membrane running
through the middle of the cochlea called the
PERCEIVING PTCH
basilar membrane
2.​ Basilar Membrane - resting place of the Pitch - refers to how high or low a sound is
organ of Corti, which contains the receptor
cells for the sense of hearing Three Primary Theories About How the Brain
-​ When the basilar membrane vibrates, it Receives Information About Pitch
vibrates the organ of Corti, causing it to
1.​ Place Theory - oldest of the three theories
brush against a membrane above it
-​ based on an idea proposed in 1863
by Hermann von Helmholtz
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​elaborated on and modified by -​ Groups of auditory neurons take
Georg von Békésy, beginning with turns firing in a process called
experiments first published in 1928 volleying
-​ the pitch a person hears depends on -​ If a person hears a tone of about
where the hair cells that are 3000 Hz, it means that three groups
stimulated are located on the organ of neurons have taken turns sending
of Corti the message to the brain—the first
-​ if the person is hearing a group for the first 1000 Hz, the
high-pitched sound, all of the hair second group for the next 1000 Hz,
cells near the oval window will be and so on
stimulated, but if the sound is
low-pitched, all of the hair cells that TYPES OF HEARING IMPAIRMENTS
are stimulated will be located farther
Hearing Impairment - term used to refer to
away on the organ of Corti
difficulties in hearing
2.​ Frequency Theory - Ernest Rutherford in
-​ A person can be partially hearing impaired
1886
or totally hearing impaired, and the
-​ states that pitch is related to how
treatment for hearing loss will vary
fast the basilar membrane vibrates
according to the reason for the impairment
-​ The faster this membrane vibrates,
1.​ Conduction Hearing Impairment - sound
the higher the pitch; the slower it
vibrations cannot be passed from the
vibrates, the lower the pitch
eardrum to the cochlea
-​ In this theory, all of the auditory
-​ cause might be a damaged eardrum
neurons would be firing at the same
or damage to the bones of the
time
middle ear (usually from an
infection)
It turns out that both are correct up to a point. For
-​ In this kind of impairment, hearing
place theory research to be accurate, the basilar
aids may be of some use in restoring
membrane has to vibrate unevenly which it does
hearing
when the frequency of the sound is above 1000 Hz.
2.​ Nerve Hearing Impairment - the problem
For the frequency theory to be correct, the
lies either in the inner ear or in the auditory
neurons associated with the hair cells would have
pathways and cortical areas of the brain
to fire as fast as the basilar membrane vibrates.
-​ Normal aging causes loss of hair
This only works up to 1000 Hz, because neurons
cells in the cochlea, and exposure to
don t appear to fire at exactly the same time and
loud noises can damage hair cells
rate when frequencies are faster than 1,000 times
-​ Tinnitus is a fancy word for an
per second.
extremely annoying ringing in one's
ears, and it can also be caused by
The frequency theory works for low pitches, and
infections or loud noises, including
the place theory works for moderate to high
loud music in headphones
pitches.
-​ Because the damage is to the
nerves or the brain, nerve hearing
3.​ Volley Principle - Ernest Wever and
impairment cannot be helped with
Charles Bray
ordinary hearing aids, which are
-​ Appears to account for pitches from
basically sound amplifiers
about 400 Hz up to about 4000
-​ A technique for restoring some
hearing to those with nerve hearing
impairment makes use of an
GONZALES, S.M.
 electronic device called a cochlear -​ How sensitive people are to various tastes
implant - a device that sends depends on how many taste buds they
signals from a microphone worn have; some people have only around 500,
behind the ear to a sound processor whereas others have 20 times that number
worn on the belt or in a pocket, -​ The latter are called supertasters and need
which then translates those signals far less seasoning in their food than those
into electrical stimuli that are sent to with fewer taste buds
a series of electrodes implanted -​ Line the walls of papillae
directly into the cochlea, allowing -​ Papillae - “bumps” in the mouth
transduction to take place and -​ Each taste bud has about 20 receptors that
stimulating the auditory nerve are very similar to the receptor sites on
-​ The brain then processes the receiving neurons at the synapse
electrode information as sound -​ the receptors on taste buds work exactly
like receptor sites on neurons—they receive
molecules of various substances that fit into
the receptor like a key into a lock

Taste is often called a chemical sense because it

works with the molecules of foods people eat in the
same way the neural receptors work with
neurotransmitters. When the molecules (dissolved
in saliva) fit into the receptors, a signal is fired to
the brain, which then interprets the taste sensation.

In general, the taste receptors get such a workout

that they have to be replaced every 10 to 14 days.
When the tongue is burned, the damaged cells no
longer work. As time goes on, those cells get
replaced, and the taste sense comes back.

CHEMICAL SENSES: IT TASTES GOOD AND

SMELLS EVEN BETTER

The sense of taste and smell are very closely

related. That’s because the sense of taste is really
a combination of taste and smell. Without the input
from the nose, there are actually only four, and
possibly five, kinds of taste sensors in the mouth.

Gustation: How We Taste The World

Taste Buds - common name for the taste receptor
cells (special kinds of neurons found in the mouth
that are responsible for the sense of taste, or (a) The right side of this drawing shows the nerves
gustation) in the tongue's deep tissue. (b) The taste bud is
-​ Most taste buds are located on the tongue, located inside the papillae and is composed of
but there are a few on the roof of the mouth, small cells that send signals to the brain when
the cheeks, and under the tongue as well stimulated by molecules of food. (c)
GONZALES, S.M.
Microphotograph of the surface of the tongue, -​ Both are merely ways to collect the sensory
showing two different sizes of papillae. The taste information and get it to the part of the body
buds are located under the surface of the larger that will translate it into neural signals
red papillae, whereas the smaller and more
numerous papillae form a touch-sensitive rough
surface that helps in chewing and moving food
around the mouth.

The Five Basic Tastes

1916: German Psychologist Hans Henning
-​ proposed that there are four primary tastes:
sweet, sour, salty, and bitter
Lindemann: 1996
-​ supported the idea that there is a fifth kind
of taste receptor that detects a pleasant
brothy taste associated with foods like
chicken soup, tuna, kelp, cheese, and soy
products, among others
-​ Umami - fifth taste
-​ Japanese word first coined in 1908 by
Dr. Kikunae Ikeda of Tokyo Imperial
Olfactory Receptor Cells - outer part of the
University
olfactory system that transduces odors (turns
-​ Glutamate - substance in kelp that
odors into signals the brain can understand)
generated the sensation of umami
located at the top of the nasal passages
-​ exists not only in the foods listed
-​ only about an inch square in each cavity, yet
earlier, but is also present in human
contains about 10 million olfactory receptors
breast milk
-​ have about a half dozen to a dozen little
-​ it is the reason that the seasoning
“hairs”, called cilia, that project into the
MSG—monosodium glutamate
cavity
adds a pleasant flavor to foods
-​ there are receptor sites on these hair cells
that send signals to the brain when
The five taste sensations work together, along with
stimulated by the molecules of substances
the sense of smell and the texture, temperature,
that are in the air moving past them
and heat of foods, to produce thousands of taste
-​ Like taste buds in another way
sensations. Although researchers used to believe
-​ have to be replaced as they naturally die off,
that certain tastes were located in certain places on
about every 5 to 8 weeks
the tongue, it is now known that all of the taste
-​ there are far more than five types of
sensations are processed all over the tongue.
olfactory receptors in fact, there are
-​ at least 1,000 of them
THE SENSE OF SCENTS: OLFACTION
-​ signals from the olfactory receptors in the
Sense of smell - chemical sense nasal cavity do not follow the same path as
Olfaction/Olfactory sense - the ability to smell the signals from all the other senses
odors -​ Vision, hearing, taste, and touch all pass
Outer parts of the nose - same purpose for odors through the thalamus and then on to the
that the pinna and ear canal serve for sounds area of the cortex that processes that
particular sensory information

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ But the sense of smell has its own special Three Somesthetic Sense Systems
place in the brain—the olfactory bulbs, 1.​ Skin senses - having to do with touch,
which are actually part of the brain pressure, temperature, and pain
2.​ Kinesthetic senses - having to do with the
Olfactory Bulbs - located right on top of the sinus location of body parts in relation to each
cavity on each side of the brain directly beneath the other
frontal lobes 3.​ Vestibular senses - having to do with
-​ The olfactory receptors send their neural movement and body position
signals directly up to these bulbs, bypassing
the thalamus (the relay center for all other
PERCEPTION OF TOUCH, PRESSURE, AND
sensory information) TEMPERATURE
-​ The olfactory information is then sent from
the olfactory bulbs to higher cortical areas, Skin - organ of the body about 20 square feet in
including the primary olfactory cortex (the size
piriform cortex), the orbitofrontal cortex, -​ An organ
and the amygdala (the orbitofrontal cortex -​ purposes include more than simply keeping
and amygdala play important roles in bodily fluids in and germs out
emotion) -​ also receives and transmits information from
the outside world to the central nervous
system (specifically, to the somatosensory
cortex)
-​ Information about light touch, deeper
pressure, hot, cold, and even pain is
collected by special receptors in the skin’s
layers

Types of Sensory Receptors in the Skin

There are about half a dozen different receptors in
the layers of the skin. Some of them will respond to
only one kind of sensation.

Pacinian Corpuscles - just beneath the skin and

respond to changes in pressure

There are nerve endings that wrap around the ends

of the hair follicles, a fact people may be well aware
of when they tweeze their eyebrows, or when
someone pulls their hair. These nerve endings are
sensitive to both pain and touch.
SOMESTHETIC SENSES: WHAT THE BODY KNOWS

What is thought of as the sense of touch is really Free Nerve Endings - just beneath the uppermost
several sensations, originating in several different layer of the skin that respond to changes in
places in and on the body. temperature and to pressure and to pain

Somesthetic senses - the body senses There are pain nerve fibers in the internal organs
-​ Soma: “body” as well as receptors for pressure.
-​ Esthetic: “feeling”
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ They fear nothing which can be a horrifying
trial for the parents and teachers of such a
child
-​ These disorders affect the neural pathways
that carry pain, heat, and cold sensations

Those with CIPA have an additional disruption in

the body’s heat—cold sensing perspiration system
(anhidrosis), so that the person is unable to cool
off the body by sweating.

Phantom Limb Pain - occurs when a person who

has had an arm or leg removed sometimes feels
pain in the missing limb
-​ As many as 50 to 80 percent of people who
have had amputations experience various
sensations: burning, shooting pains, or
Types of Pain
pins-and-needles sensations where the
1.​ Visceral pain - pain (and pressure) amputated limb used to be
detected by receptors in the organs -​ Once believed to be a psychological
2.​ Somatic Pain - pain sensations in the skin, problem, some now believe that it is caused
muscles, tendons, and joint carried on large by the traumatic injury to the nerves during
nerve fibers amputation
-​ body s warning system that
something is being, or is about to be,
PAIN: GATE-CONTROL THEORY
damaged and tends to be sharp and
fast Gate-control Theory - best current explanation for
-​ Another type of somatic pain is how the sensation of pain works
carried on small nerve fibers and is -​ First proposed by Melzack and Wall: 1965
slower and more of a general ache and leter refined and expanded
-​ This somatic pain acts as a kind -​ the pain signals must pass through a gate
of reminder system, keeping located in the spinal cord
people from further injury by -​ the activity of the gate can be closed by
reminding them that the body nonpain signals coming into the spinal cord
has already been damaged from the body and by signals coming from
the brain
People may not like pain, but its function as a -​ the gate is not a physical structure but
warning system is vitally important. instead represents the relative balance in
neural activity of cells in the spinal cord that
Congenital Analgesia and Congenital receive information from the body and then
Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis (CIPA) - send information to the brain
rare conditions where people are born without the -​ Stimulation of the pain receptor cells
ability to feel pain releases a chemical called substance P
-​ Children with these disorders cannot feel (“pain”)
pain when they cut or scrape themselves, -​ Substance P - released into the spinal cord
leading to an increased risk of infection activates other neurons that send their
when the cut goes untreated messages through spinal gates (opened by
the pain signal)
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ From the spinal cord, the message goes to -​ Proprioceptors - special receptors that tell
the brain, activating cells in the thalamus, you about joint movement or the muscles
somatosensory cortex, areas of the frontal stretching or contracting
lobes, and the limbic system -​ Vestibular sense - culprits for motion
-​ the brain then interprets the pain information sickness are special structures in the ear
and sends signals that either open the that tell us about the position of the body in
spinal gates further, causing a greater relation to the ground and movement of the
experience of pain, or close them, head
dampening the pain -​ Sense of balance
-​ this decision by the brain is influenced by
the psychological aspects of the VESTIBULAR SENSE
pain-causing stimulus
-​ Latin: “entrance” or “chamber”
-​ anxiety, fear, and helplessness intensify
-​ structures for this sense are located in the
pain, whereas laughter, distraction, and a
innermost chamber of the ear
sense of control can diminish it
-​ this is why people might bruise themselves
and not know it if they were concentrating Two kinds of Vestibular Organs
on something else 1.​ Otolith Organs - tiny sacs found just above
-​ pain can also be affected by competing the cochlea
signals from other skin senses, which is why -​ These sacs contain a gelatin-like
rubbing a sore spot can reduce the feeling fluid within which tiny crystals are
of pain suspended
-​ those same psychological aspects can also -​ The head moves and the crystals
influence the release of the endorphins, cause the fluid to vibrate, setting off
the body’s natural version of morphine; can some tiny hairlike receptors on the
inhibit the transmission of pain signals in the inner surface of the sac, telling the
brain, and in the spinal cord they can inhibit person that he or she is moving
the release of substance P forward, backward, sideways, or up
and down
Research has shown that women apparently feel -​ it’s pretty much the way the cochlea
pain more intensely than men do, and they also works but with movement being the
report pain more often than men do. Men have stimulus instead of sound vibrations
been shown to cope better with many kinds of pain, 2.​ Semicircular Canals - three somewhat
possibly because men are often found to have a circular tubes that are also filled with fluid
stronger belief than women that they can (or that will stimulate hairlike receptors when
should) control their pain by their own efforts. rotated
-​ having three tubes allows one to be
THE KINESTHETIC SENSE located in each of the three planes
of motion
Kinesthesia - special receptors located in the -​ The x-, y-, and z- axes are the three
muscles, tendons, and joints are part of the body’s planes through which the body can
sense of movement and position in space—the rotate, and when it does, it sets off
movement and location of the arms, legs, and so the receptors in these canals
forth in relation to one another -​ When you spin around and then
-​ Greek kinein: “to move” and aesthesis: stop, the fluid in the horizontal canal
“sensation” is still rotating and will make you feel
dizzy because your body is telling

GONZALES, S.M.
 you that you are still moving, but The Constancies: Size, Shape, and Brightness
your eyes are telling you that you
have stopped Forms of Perceptual Constancies
1.​ Size constancy - the tendency to interpret
Motion Sickness - caused by the disagreement an object as always being the same size,
between what the eyes say and what the body says regardless of its distance from the viewer
-​ the tendency to get nauseated when in a (or the size of the image it casts on the
moving vehicle, especially one with an retina)
irregular movement -​ so if an object that is normally
perceived to be about 6 feet tall
Normally, the vestibular sense coordinates with the appears very small on the retina, it
other senses. But for some people, the information will be interpreted as being very far
from the eyes may conflict a little too much with the away
vestibular organs, and dizziness, nausea, and 2.​ Shape constancy - the tendency to
disorientation are the result. interpret the shape of an object as constant,
even when it changes on the retina
Sensory Conflict Theory - explanation of motion -​ why a person still perceives a coin
sickness as a circle even if it is held at an
-​ the dizziness is the most likely cause of the angle that makes it appear to be an
nausea oval on the retina
3.​ Brightness constancy - the tendency to
Many poisons make a person dizzy, and the most perceive the apparent brightness of an
evolutionarily adaptive thing to do is to expel the object as the same even when the light
poison. Even without any poison in a case of conditions change
motion sickness, the nausea occurs anyway. If a person is wearing black pants and a white shirt,
for example, in broad daylight the shirt will appear
One way some people overcome motion sickness to be much brighter than the pants. But if the sun is
is to focus on a distant point or object. This covered by thick clouds, even though the pants and
provides visual information to the person about how shirt have less light to reflect than previously, the
he or she is moving, bringing the sensory input into shirt will still appear to be just as much brighter
agreement with the visual input. This is also how than the pants as before because the different
ballerinas and ice skaters manage not to get sick amount of light reflected from each piece of clothing
when turning rapidly and repeatedly they focus their is still the same difference as before.
eyes at least once on some fixed object every so
many turns.
The Gestalt Principles
PERCEPTION
Necker Cube - around officially since 1832
Perception - method by which the brain takes all -​ Louis Albert Necker - Swiss scientist
the sensations people experience at any given -​ was studying the structure of crystals,
moment and allows them to be interpreted in some first drew it in his published papers
meaningful fashion -​ The problem with this cube is that there
-​ has some individuality to it are conflicting sets of depth cues, so the
-​ As individual as perception might be, some viewer is never really sure which plane
similarities exist in how people perceive the or edge is in the back and which is in the
world around them front the visual presentation of the cube
seems to keep reversing its planes and
edges
GONZALES, S.M.
Figure-Ground Relationships - the tendency to -​ People who have had sight restored have
perceive objects or figures as existing on a almost no ability to perceive depth if they
background were blind from birth
-​ People seem to have a preference for -​ Depth perception, like the constancies,
picking out figures from backgrounds even seems to be present in infants at a very
as early as birth young age
-​ Reversible Figures - the figure and the
ground seem to switch back and forth Cues
Monocular cues - pictorial depth cues
Principles -​ artists can use these cues to give the
●​ Proximity - very simple rule of perception illusion of depth to paintings and drawings
-​ the tendency to perceive objects that 1.​ Linear perspective - tendency for
are close to one another as part of lines that are actually parallel to
the same grouping seem to converge
-​ “nearness” -​ works in pictures because
●​ Similarity - the tendency to perceive things people assume that in the
that look similar as being part of the same picture, as in real life, the
group converging lines indicate that
●​ Closure - the tendency to complete figures the ends of the lines are a
that are incomplete great distance away from
●​ Continuity - easier to see than it is to where the people are as they
explain in words view them
-​ the tendency to perceive things as
simply as possible with a continuous
pattern rather than with a complex,
broken-up pattern
●​ Contiguity - it involves not just nearness in
space but nearness in time also
-​ the tendency to perceive two things
that happen close together in time
as being related
●​ Common Region - not one of the original
principles
-​ Added to the list by Stephen Palmer 2.​ Relative size - principle of size
-​ the tendency is to perceive objects constancy is at work
that are in a common area or region -​ objects that people expect to
as being in a group be of a certain size appear to
be small and are, therefore,
Depth Perception assumed to be much farther
Depth Perception - capability to see the world in away
three dimensions -​ Movie makers use this
-​ a handy ability because without it you would principle to make their small
have a hard time judging how far away models seem gigantic but off
objects are in the distance
-​ develop very early in infancy, if it is not
actually present at birth

GONZALES, S.M.
3.​ Overlap - one object seems to be
blocking another object, people
assume that the blocked object is 6.​ Motion parallax - discrepancy in
behind the first one and, therefore, motion of near and far objects
farther away 7.​ Accommodation - monocular cue
4.​ Aerial (atmospheric) perspective - that is not one of the pictorial cues
The farther away an object is, the -​ makes use of something that
hazier the object will appear to be happens inside the eye
due to tiny particles of dust, dirt, and -​ lens of the human eye is
other pollutants in the air flexible and held in place by
-​ why distant mountains often a series of muscles
look fuzzy, and buildings far -​ the tendency of the lens to
in the distance are blurrier change its shape, or
than those that are close thickness, in response to
objects near or far away
-​ The brain can use this
information about
accommodation as a cue for
distance
-​ “Muscular cue”
Binocular cues - these cues require the use of two
eyes
1.​ Convergence - muscular cue
-​ refers to the rotation of the
two eyes in their sockets to
5.​ Texture gradient - another trick
focus on a single object
artists use to give the illusion of
-​ the object is close, the
depth in a painting
convergence is pretty great
(almost as great as crossing
the eyes)
-​ the object is far, the
convergence is much less

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ the feeling you get in the Perceptual Illusions
muscles of your eyes is Illusions - a perception that does not correspond to
convergence reality
-​ People think they see something when the
reality is quite different
-​ Another way of thinking of illusions is as
visual stimuli that fool the eye
-​ Illusions are not hallucinations: an illusion
is a distorted perception of something that is
really there, but a hallucination originates
in the brain, not in reality

Sometimes illusions are based on early sensory

processes, subsequent processing, or higher-level
assumptions made by the brain’s visual system.

2.​ Binocular disparity - a scientific Color Afterimages - which are due to

way of saying that because the eyes opponent-processes in the retina or lateral
are a few inches apart, they don t geniculate nucleus (LGN) of the thalamus after
see exactly the same image light information has been detected by the rods and
-​ The brain interprets the cones
images on the retina to The Hermann Grid - One explanation for this
determine distance from the illusion is attributed to the responses of neurons in
eyes the primary visual cortex that respond best to bars
-​ If the two images are very of light of a specific orientation
different, the object must be -​ such neurons are called “simple cells” and
pretty close were first discovered by David Hubel and
-​ If they are almost identical, Torsten Wiesel
the object is far enough away -​ later awarded the Nobel Prize for
to make the retinal disparity extensive work in the visual system
very small -​ straight edges are necessary for this illusion
to occur, as the illusion disappears when the
edges of the grid lines are slightly curved,
like a sine wave, and further suggests that
the illusion may be due to a unique function
of how our visual system processes
information

GONZALES, S.M.
 Greek-Egyptian astronomer Ptolemy and
later further developed by an
eleventh-century Arab astronomer,
Al-Hazan

Muller-Lyer Illusion - one of the most famous

visual illusions
-​ The distortion happens when the viewer Illusion of Motion - Sometimes people perceive an
tries to determine if the two lines are exactly object as moving when it is actually still
the same length. They are identical, but one -​ Autokinetic Effect - part of a famous
line looks longer than the other experiment in conformity
-​ Carpented world - lots of straight lines in -​ a small, stationary light in a darkened
buildings room will appear to move or drift
-​ Uncarpented world - less straight lines because there are no surrounding cues
to indicate that the light is not moving
-​ Stroboscopic Motion - seen in motion
pictures, in which a rapid series of still
pictures will seem to be in motion
-​ Phi Phenomenon - lights turned on in
sequence appear to move
-​ if a light is turned on in a darkened room
and then turned off, and then another
The Moon Illusion - the moon on the horizon light a short distance away is flashed on
appears to be much larger than the moon in the sky and off, it will appear to be one light
moving across that distance
Apparent Distance Hypothesis - The moon high -​ The Rotating Snakes - one of many
in the sky is all alone, with no cues for depth motion-illusion images designed by Dr.
surrounding it. But on the horizon, the moon Akiyoshi Kitaoka
appears behind trees and houses, cues for depth
that make the horizon seem very far away. The A variety of explanations have been offered for this
moon is seen as being behind these objects and, type of motion illusion, ranging from factors that
therefore, farther away from the viewer. Because depend on the image's luminance and/or the color
people know that objects that are farther away from arrangement, or possibly slight differences in the
them and yet still appear large are very large time it takes the brain to process this information.
indeed, they “magnify” the moon in their minds—a When fMRI and equipment used to track eye
misapplication of the principle of size constancy. movements was used to investigate participants
-​ This explanation goes back to the second perception of the illusion, researchers found that
century a.d., first written about by the there was an increase in brain activity in a visual
area sensitive to motion. However, this activity was
GONZALES, S.M.
greatest when accompanied by guided eye Fortunately, the two types of processing are often
movements, suggesting eye movements play a used together in perceiving the surrounding world.
significant role in the perception of the illusion.
TERMS
-​ Enigma - Eye movements have also been
●​ Sensation - the process that occurs when
found to be a primary cause for the illusory
special receptors in the sense organs are
motion seen in images based on a 1981
activated, allowing various forms of outside
painting by Isia Levant
stimuli to become neural signals in the brain
-​ by using special eye-tracking equipment
●​ Transduction - the process of converting
that allowed them to record even the
outside stimuli, such as light, into neural
smallest of eye movements, researchers
activity
found that tiny eye movements called
●​ Just Noticeable
microsaccades, are directly linked to
Difference/JND/Difference Threshold -
the perception of motion in Enigma and
the smallest difference between two stimuli
are at least one possible cause of the
that is detectable 50 percent of the time
illusion
●​ Absolute Threshold - the lowest level of
stimulation that a person can consciously
Other Factors that Influence Perception
detect 50 percent of the time the stimulation
●​ Perceptual sets and expectancies - is present
People often misunderstand what is said to ●​ Habituation - tendency of the brain to stop
them because they were expecting to hear attending to constant, unchanging
something else. People s tendency to information
perceive things a certain way because their ●​ Sensory Adaptation - tendency of sensory
previous experiences or expectations receptor cells to become less responsive to
influence them a stimulus that is unchanging
-​ What you see depends on what you ●​ Visual Accommodation - the change in the
expect to see thickness of the lens as the eye focuses on
objects that are far away or close
The way in which people interpret what they ●​ Rods - visual sensory receptors found at
perceive can also influence their perception. People the back of the retina, responsible for
can try to understand what they perceive by fusing noncolor sensitivity to low levels of light
information they already have (as is the case of ●​ Cones - visual sensory receptors found at
perceptual expectancy). But if there is no existing the back of the retina, responsible for color
information that relates to the new information, they vision and sharpness of vision
can look at each feature of what they perceive and ●​ Compensate - to correct for an error or
try to put it all together into one whole. defect
●​ Blind spot - area in the retina where the
Top-down processing - the use of preexisting axons of the three layers of retinal cells exit
knowledge to organize individual features into a the eye to form the optic nerve, insensitive
unified whole to light
-​ this is also a form of perceptual expectancy ●​ Dark adaptation - the recovery of the eye s
Bottom-up processing - analysis of smaller sensitivity to visual stimuli in darkness after
features and building up to a complete perception exposure to bright lights
-​ there is no expectancy to help organize the ●​ Light Adaptation - the recovery of the
perception, making bottom-up processing eye's sensitivity to visual stimuli in light after
more difficult in some respects exposure to darkness

GONZALES, S.M.
●​ Trichromatic Theory - theory of color ●​ Kinesthetic sense - a sense of the location
vision that proposes three types of cones: of body parts in relation to the ground and
red, blue, and green each other
●​ Afterimages - images that occur when a ●​ Vestibular senses - the sensations of
visual sensation persists for a brief time movement, balance, and body position
even after the original stimulus is removed ●​ Intestinal - having to do with the tubes in
●​ Opponent-process Theory - theory of the body that digest food and process waste
color vision that proposes visual neurons (or material
groups of neurons) are stimulated by light of ●​ Sensory Conflict Theory - an explanation
one color and inhibited by light of another of motion sickness in which the information
color from the eyes conflicts with the information
●​ Hertz (Hz) - cycles or waves per second, a from the vestibular senses, resulting in
measurement of frequency dizziness, nausea, and other physical
●​ Pinna - the visible part of the ear discomfort
●​ Auditory Canal - short tunnel that runs ●​ Perception - the method by which the
from the pinna to the eardrum sensations experienced at any given
●​ Cochlea - snail-shaped structure of the moment are interpreted and organized in
inner ear that is filled with fluid some meaningful fashion
●​ Auditory Nerve - bundle of axons from the ●​ Size Constancy - the tendency to interpret
hair cells in the inner ear an object as always being the same actual
●​ Pitch - psychological experience of sound size, regardless of its distance
that corresponds to the frequency of the ●​ Shape Constancy - the tendency to
sound waves; higher frequencies are interpret the shape of an object as being
perceived as higher pitches constant, even when its shape changes on
●​ Place theory - theory of pitch that states the retina
that different pitches are experienced by the ●​ Brightness Constancy - the tendency to
stimulation of hair cells in different locations perceive the apparent brightness of an
on the organ of Corti object as the same even when the light
●​ Frequency theory - theory of pitch that conditions change
states that pitch is related to the speed of ●​ Figure-Ground - the tendency to perceive
vibrations in the basilar membrane objects, or figures, as existing on a
●​ Volley Principle - theory of pitch that states background
that frequencies from about 400 Hz to 4000 ●​ Reversible Figures - visual illusions in
Hz cause the hair cells (auditory neurons) to which the figure and ground can be
fire in a volley pattern, or take turns in firing reversed
●​ Gustation - the sensation of taste ●​ Constancy - something that remains the
●​ Olfaction (Olfactory sense) - the sensation same, the property of remaining stable and
of smell unchanging
●​ Olfactory bulbs - areas of the brain located ●​ Proximity - the tendency to perceive
just above the sinus cavity and just below objects that are close to each other as part
the frontal lobes that receive information of the same grouping
from the olfactory receptor cells ●​ Similarity - the tendency to perceive things
●​ Somesthetic senses - the body senses that look similar to each other as being part
consisting of the skin senses, the of the same group
kinesthetic sense, and the vestibular senses ●​ Closure - the tendency to complete figures
●​ Skin sense - the sensations of touch, that are incomplete
pressure, temperature, and pain
GONZALES, S.M.
●​ Continuity - the tendency to perceive changing thickness of the lens of the eye in
things as simply as possible with a response to looking at objects that are close
continuous pattern rather than with a or far away
complex, broken-up pattern ●​ Convergence - the rotation of the two eyes
●​ Contiguity - the tendency to perceive two in their sockets to focus on a single object,
things that happen close together in time as resulting in greater convergence for closer
being related objects and lesser convergence if objects
●​ Depth perception - the ability to perceive are distant
the world in three dimensions ●​ Binocular disparity - the difference in
●​ Monocular cues (Pictorial depth cues) - images between the two eyes, which is
cues for perceiving depth based on one eye greater for objects that are close and
only smaller for distant objects
●​ Binocular cues - cues for perceiving depth ●​ Muller-Lyer Illusion - illusion of line length
based on both eyes that is distorted by inward-turning or
●​ Linear perspective - the tendency for outward-turning corners on the ends of the
parallel lines to appear to converge on each lines, causing lines of equal length to
other appear to be different
●​ Relative size - perception that occurs when ●​ Horizon - the place where the earth
objects that a person expects to be of a apparently meets the sky
certain size appear to be small and are, ●​ Perceptual set (Perceptual expectancy) -
therefore, assumed to be much farther away the tendency to perceive things a certain
●​ Overlap (Interposition) - the assumption way because previous experiences or
that an object that appears to be blocking expectations influence those perceptions
part of another object is in front of the ●​ Top-down processing - the use of
second object and closer to the viewer preexisting knowledge to organize individual
●​ Ventriloquist - an entertainer who, through features into a unified whole
the use of misdirection and skill, makes ●​ Bottom-up processing - the analysis of the
other objects, such as a dummy, appear to smaller features to build up to a complete
talk perception
●​ Visual field - the entire area of space
visible at a given instant without moving the
eyes
●​ Converge - come together
●​ Aerial (atmospheric) perspective - the
haziness that surrounds objects that are
farther away from the viewer, causing the
distance to be perceived as greater
●​ Texture gradient - the tendency for
textured surfaces to appear to become
smaller and finer as distance from the
viewer increases
●​ Motion parallax - the perception of motion
of objects in which close objects appear to
move more quickly than objects that are
farther away
●​ Accommodation - as a monocular cue, the
brain s use of information about the
GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 4: LEARNING (p311-359; p153-194) -​ One of the simplest form of learning
➔​ Learning - process that allows us to adapt
to the changing conditions of the world Learning a reflex depends on what comes before
around us the response—the unconditioned stimulus and
-​ any relatively permanent change in what will become the conditioned stimulus.
behavior brought about by
experience or practice Antecedent - something that comes before another
➔​ Relatively Permanent - when people learn thing
anything, some part of their brain is
physically changed to record what they’ve Elements of Classical Conditioning
learned ➔​ Unconditioned Stimulus
-​ Process of memory; without the -​ Original, naturally occurring stimulus
ability to remember what happens, -​ Unconditioned: unlearned or
people cannot learn anything naturally occurring; involuntary reflex
-​ When people learn something, it is response
always present somewhere in -​ Always followed by UCR
memory ➔​ Unconditioned Response
➔​ Law of Effect - when people experience -​ Reflex response to the
something unpleasant, they are likely to not unconditioned stimulus
repeat it; when they experience something -​ Unlearned and because of genetic
pleasurable, they will do it again wiring in the nervous system
➔​ Maturation - due to biology, not experience; ➔​ Conditioned Stimulus
ex. height -​ Neutral Stimulus: no effect; ex.
Dish
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING -​ Conditioned: learned
-​ Always followed by CR
➔​ Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) - Russian
➔​ Conditioned Response
physiologist (a person who studies the
-​ Response to conditioned stimulus
workings of the body
not quite strong as the original UCR,
-​ Empirical study of the basic
but the same response
principles of a particular kind of
learning
Putting it all together
-​ First to study and write about the
basic principles of classical ➔​ Acquisition - repeated pairing of NS and
conditioning UCS
-​ Digestive system -​ Acquiring learning
-​ Ex. food: stimulus & salivation: ➔​ Interstimulus interval - time between CS
response and UCS
➔​ Stimulus - any object, event, or experience
that causes a response (reaction of an Principles
organism) ➢​ The CS must come before the UCS
➢​ The CS and UCS must come very close
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING together in time—ideally, no more than 5
-​ learning to make a reflex response to a seconds apart
stimulus other than the original, natural ➢​ The neutral stimulus must be paired with the
stimulus that normally produces it UCS several times, often many times,
-​ Reflexive, involuntary behavior before conditioning can take place
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➢​ The CS is usually some stimulus that is ➔​ Vicarious conditioning - a process of
distinctive or stands out from other watching someone else respond to a
competing stimuli stimulus

STIMULUS GENERALIZATION OTHER CONDITIONED RESPONSES

-​ Tendency to respond to a stimulus that is
➔​ Conditioned taste aversion - aversion to
only similar to the original conditioned
any food they took that they had a bad
stimulus
experience with
STIMULUS DISCRIMINATION
BIOLOGICAL PREPAREDNESS
-​ Tell a difference, or discriminate, between
-​ Ex. Conditioned taste aversions & phobic
fake and CS
reactions
-​ an organism learns to respond to different
-​ Mammals find their food by smell and taste
stimuli in different ways
and will learn to avoid any food that smells
or tastes like something they ate just before
EXTINCTION
becoming ill
-​ Conditioned response died out when the
➔​ Dr. John Garcia - used taste aversion
unconditioned stimulus is repeatedly absent
conditioning as a tool to stop coyotes from
in the presence of the conditioned stimulus
killing ranchers’ sheep and also to stop the
ranchers from wiping out the coyote
Once conditioning is acquired, the conditioned
population entirely
stimulus (CS) and conditioned response (CR) will
always come before the original unconditioned
Mammals are biologically prepared to associate
stimulus (UCS). The UCS, which comes after the
taste with illness, birds are biologically prepared to
CS and CR link, now serves as a strengthener, or
associate visual characteristics with illness.
reinforcer, of the CS CR association. Remove that
reinforcer, and the CR it strengthens will weaken
Fear - a reflex emotional response that has ties to
and disappear at least for a while.
survival
Nausea and Fear - both examples of reflexes that
SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
help organisms survive to reproduce and pass on
-​ conditioned response can briefly reappear
their genetic material, so the innate tendency to
when the original CS returns, although the
make quick and strong associations between
response is usually weak and short-lived
stimuli and these reflexes has evolutionary
importance
HIGHER-ORDER CONDITIONING
-​ strong conditioned stimulus is paired with a
neutral stimulus Why does Classical Conditioning work?
TWO WAYS TO EXPLAIN HOW ONE STIMULUS
CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL RESPONSES COMES TO “STAND IN” FOR ANOTHER
➢​ Stimulus substitution
WATSON AND “LITTLE ALBERT” -​ Original explanation by Pavlov
➔​ John B. Watson -​ the conditioned stimulus, through its
➔​ Phobia: irrational fear response association close in time with the
➔​ Conditioned emotional response (CER) - unconditioned stimulus, came to
easiest forms of classical conditioning to activate the same place in the
accomplish and our lives are full of them animal's brain that was originally
-​ Ex. learning of phobias

GONZALES, S.M.
 activated by the unconditioned -​ the behaviorist who assumed
stimulus leadership of the field after John
➢​ Cognitive perspective Watson
-​ Robert Rescorla (1988) -​ more determined than Watson that
-​ an explanation for classical psychologists should study only
conditioning measurable, observable behavior
-​ the CS has to provide some kind of -​ Operant conditioning: learning of
information about the coming of the voluntary behavior
UCS in order to achieve conditioning -​ Voluntary behavior: what people
-​ the CS must predict that the UCS is and animals do to operate in the
coming world; operant behavior
-​ Ex. the particular expectancy -​ Heart of operant conditioning: effect
created by pairing the tone or its of consequences on behavior
absence with the shock that
determined the particular response THE CONCEPT OF REINFORCEMENT
of the rats
➔​ Reinforcement - “what’s in it for me?”
-​ One of Skinner’s major contributions
Because this explanation involves the mental
to behaviorism
activity of consciously expecting something to
-​ “To strengthen”
occur, it is an example of an explanation for
-​ anything that, when following a
classical conditioning called the cognitive
response, causes that response to
perspective.
be more likely to happen again
-​ Pleasurable consequence
OPERANT CONDITIONING
-​ Key to learning in operant
All organisms are capable of two kinds of behavior: conditioning
involuntary (reflexes) and voluntary -​ Increase the likelihood of targeted
behavior
Operant conditioning - applies to voluntary -​ strengthens responses.
behavior
-​ What happens after the response—the Primary and Secondary Reinforcers
consequence Reinforcers - items or events that when following
a response will strengthen it
➔​ Edward L. Thorndike (1874-1949) ➢​ Primary reinforcer - satisfies basic need
-​ one of the first researchers to -​ Ex. candy, any kind of food (hunger
explore and attempt to outline the drive), liquid (thirst drive), or touch
laws of learning voluntary (pleasure drive)
responses; not yet called operant ➢​ Secondary reinforcer - being associated
conditioning with primary reinforcers in the past
-​ If an action is followed by a -​ Get their reinforcing power from the
pleasurable consequence, it will tend process of classical conditioning
to be repeated; If an action is -​ any automatic response can be
followed by an unpleasant classically conditioned to occur to a
consequence, it will tend not to be new stimulus
repeated: basic principle behind
learning voluntary behavior Ex. In the case of money, the candy is a UCS for
-​ Law of Effect pleasure (the UCR), and the money is present just
➔​ B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
GONZALES, S.M.
before the candy is obtained. The money becomes Fixed - the same in each case
a CS for pleasure, and people certainly do feel -​ predictable, which allows rest breaks
pleasure when they have a lot of that green stuff, Variable: a different number or interval is required
don't they? in each case

Positive and Negative Reinforcement Things to make reinforcement effective are timing
➔​ Positive reinforcement - the reinforcement and care.
of a response by the addition or experience
of a pleasurable consequence, such as a ROLE OF PUNISHMENT
reward

Punishment - opposite of reinforcement

-​ any event or stimulus that, when following a
➔​ Negative reinforcement - removal or response, causes that response to be less
escape from something unpleasant likely to happen again
-​ weakens responses
Schedules of Reinforcement ➔​ Punishment by Application (Positive
PARTIAL REINFORCEMENT EFFECT Punishment) - something unpleasant is
-​ response that is reinforced after some, but added to the situation or applied
not all, correct responses ➔​ Punishment by Removal (Negative
Continuous reinforcement: reinforcer for each Punishment) - removal of something
and every correct response pleasurable or desired after the behavior
➢​ Interval schedule - Time is more important occurs
➔​ Fixed Interval Schedule - a reinforcer is
received after a certain, fixed interval of time
has passed
➔​ Variable Interval Schedule - interval of
time after which the organism must respond
in order to receive a reinforcer changes
from one time to the next Problems with Punishment
-​ Ex. pop quiz
PUNISHMENT BY APPLICATION DRAWBACKS
-​ speed is not important, so the rate of
➢​ Severe punishment may cause the child (or
responding is slow but steady
animal) to avoid the punisher instead of the
➢​ Ratio schedule - Number of responses is
behavior being punished, so the child (or
more important
animal) learns the wrong response
➔​ Fixed Ratio Schedule - the number of
➢​ Severe punishment may encourage lying to
responses required to receive each
avoid the punishment (a kind of negative
reinforcer will always be the same number
reinforcement) again, not the response that
➔​ Variable Ratio Schedule - the number of
is desired
responses changes from one trial to the
next
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➢​ Severe punishment creates fear and OTHER CONCEPTS OF OPERANT CONDITIONING
anxiety, emotional responses that do not ➔​ Shaping - small steps toward some ultimate
promote learning. If the point is to teach goal are reinforced until the goal itself is
something, this kind of consequence isn't reached
going to help. -​ Successive approximation - small
➢​ Hitting provides a successful model for steps one after the other that get
aggression closer and closer to the goal

PUNISHMENT BY REMOVAL DRAWBACKS

EXTINCTION, GENERALIZATION, AND
➢​ it teaches the child what not to do but not
SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY IN OPERANT
what the child should do CONDITIONING

➔​ Extinction - involves the removal of the

How to Make Punishment More Effective?
reinforcement
➢​ Punishment should immediately follow the ➔​ Generalization - generalized to stimuli that
behavior it is meant to punish are only similar to the original stimulus
➔​ If the punishment comes long after ➔​ Spontaneous recovery - recurrence of a
the behavior, it will not be associated conditioned response after extinction
with that behavior
➢​ Punishment should be consistent Instinctive drift - tendency to revert to genetically
➔​ if the parent says that a certain controlled patterns
punishment will follow a certain
behavior, then the parent must make
BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
sure to follow through and do what
he or she promised to do ➔​ Behavior modification - application of
➔​ punishment for a particular behavior operant conditioning (and sometimes
should stay at the same intensity or classical conditioning) to change
increase slightly but never decrease undesirable behavior and create desirable
➢​ Punishment of the wrong behavior should responses in animals and humans
be paired, whenever possible, with ➔​ Token economy - use of tokens to modify
reinforcement of the right behavior behavior
➔​ Pairing punishment with ➔​ Time-out - a form of mild punishment by
reinforcement allows parents (and removal in which a misbehaving animal,
others) to use a much milder child, or adult is placed in a special area
punishment and still be effective away from the attention of others
➔​ It also teaches the desired behavior ➔​ Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) -
rather than just suppressing the modern term for a form of behavior
undesired one modification that uses both analysis of
current behavior and behavioral techniques
STIMULUS CONTROL to mold a desired behavior or response
-​ skills are broken down to their
➔​ Discriminative stimuli - any stimulus that simplest steps and then taught to the
provides an organism with a cue for making child through a system of
a certain response in order to obtain reinforcement
reinforcement
Autism - a disorder in which the person has great
difficulty in communicating with others, often
refusing to look at another person
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Biofeedback - traditional term used to ➔​ Ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC) -
describe the use of feedback of a person s a higher-level area, a part of the frontal lobe
biological information (such as heart rate) to -​ help determine what is controllable
create a state of relaxation -​ inhibits the brain stem area and
➔​ Neurofeedback - involves trying to change calms the amygdala s response,
brain-wave activity allowing an animal to effectively
-​ Electroencephalograph, functional respond to a stressor and exhibit
magnetic resonance imaging control

COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING

Cognition - mental events that take place inside a Observational Learning - learning of new
person's mind while behaving behavior through watching the actions of a model

Theorists Bandura and the Bobo Doll

➢​ Gestalt psychologists Edward Tolman and -​ having a preschool child in a room in which
Wolfgang Köhler the experimenter and a model interacted
➢​ Modern psychologist Martin Seligman with toys in the room in front of the child
Learning/performance distinction - referring to
Gestalt Psychologist Edward Tolman the observation that learning can take place without
➔​ Latent Learning - learning that remains actual performance of the learned behavior
hidden until its application becomes useful
Elements of Observational Learning
Gestalt Psychologist Wolfgang Köhler ➢​ Attention
➔​ Insight Learning - the sudden perception -​ To learn anything through
of relationships among various parts of a observation, the learner must first
problem, allowing the solution to the pay attention to the model
problem to come quickly ➢​ Memory
-​ retain the memory of what was done
➢​ Imitation
Modern Psychologist Martin Seligman
-​ capable of reproducing, or imitating,
-​ Founded positive psychology (new way of the actions of the model
looking at the entire concept of mental ➢​ Motivation
health and therapy) -​ must have the desire or motivation
➔​ Learned Helplessness - the tendency to to perform the action
fail to act to escape from a situation
because of a history of repeated failures in
TERMS
the past
➔​ Dorsal Raphe Nucleus - area of the brain ●​ Consequence - an end result of some
stem that releases serotonin and can play a action
role in activating the amygdala but also ●​ Reflex - involuntary response
participates in decreasing activity in brain ●​ Classical Conditioning - learning to make
areas responsible for the fightor-flight an involuntary (reflex) response to a
response stimulus other than the original, natural
-​ much older part of the brain and not stimulus that normally produces the reflex
able to determine what type of
stressors are controllable
GONZALES, S.M.
●​ Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) - a emotional reaction that occurs when seeing
naturally occurring stimulus that leads to an an attractive person
involuntary (reflex) response ●​ Vicarious conditioning - classical
●​ Unconditioned response (UCR) - an conditioning of a reflex response or emotion
involuntary (reflex) response to a naturally by watching the reaction of another person
occurring or unconditioned stimulus ●​ Conditioned taste aversion - development
●​ Neutral stimulus (NS) - stimulus that has of a nausea or aversive response to a
no effect on the desired response particular taste because that taste was
●​ Conditioned stimulus (CS) - stimulus that followed by a nausea reaction, occurring
becomes able to produce a learned reflex after only one association
response by being paired with the original ●​ Biological preparedness - referring to the
unconditioned stimulus tendency of animals to learn certain
●​ Conditioned response (CR) - learned associations, such as taste and nausea,
reflex response to a conditioned stimulus with only one or a few pairings due to the
●​ Involuntary - not under personal control or survival value of the learning
choice ●​ Radiation - beams of energy
●​ Stimulus Generalization - the tendency to ●​ Mammalian - having to do with mammals
respond to a stimulus that is only similar to (animals with fur or hair that feed their
the original conditioned stimulus with the young with milk from milk glands)
conditioned response ●​ Stimulus substitution - original theory in
●​ Stimulus Discrimination - the tendency to which Pavlov stated that classical
stop making a generalized response to a conditioning occurred because the
stimulus that is similar to the original conditioned stimulus became a substitute
conditioned stimulus because the similar for the unconditioned stimulus by being
stimulus is never paired with the paired closely together
unconditioned stimulus ●​ Cognitive perspective - modern theory in
●​ Extinction - the disappearance or which classical conditioning is seen to occur
weakening of a learned response following because the conditioned stimulus provides
the removal or absence of the information or an expectancy about the
unconditioned stimulus (in classical coming of the unconditioned stimulus
conditioning) or the removal of a reinforcer ●​ Agitated - excited, upset
(in operant conditioning) ●​ Operant conditioning - the learning of
●​ Distinctive - separate, having a different voluntary behavior through the effects of
quality from something else pleasant and unpleasant consequences to
●​ Spontaneous recovery - the reappearance responses
of a learned response after extinction has ●​ Law of effect - law stating that if an action
occurred is followed by a pleasurable consequence, it
●​ Higher-order conditioning - occurs when will tend to be repeated, and if followed by
a strong conditioned stimulus is paired with an unpleasant consequence, it will tend not
a neutral stimulus, causing the neutral to be repeated
stimulus to become a second conditioned ●​ Operant - any behavior that is voluntary
stimulus ●​ Reinforcement - any event or stimulus that,
●​ Conditioned emotional response (CER) - when following a response, increases the
emotional response that has become probability that the response will occur
classically conditioned to occur to learned again
stimuli, such as a fear of dogs or the

GONZALES, S.M.
●​ Reinforcers - any events or objects that, ●​ Punishment - any event or object that,
when following a response, increase the when following a response, makes that
likelihood of that response occurring again response less likely to happen again
●​ Primary reinforcer - any reinforcer that is ●​ Punishment by application - the
naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic punishment of a response by the addition or
biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or experience of an unpleasant stimulus
touch ●​ Punishment by removal - the punishment
●​ Secondary reinforcer - any reinforcer that of a response by the removal of a
becomes reinforcing after being paired with pleasurable stimulus
a primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, ●​ Discriminative stimulus - any stimulus,
or gold stars such as a stop sign or a doorknob, that
●​ Positive reinforcement - the reinforcement provides the organism with a cue for making
of a response by the addition or experience a certain response in order to obtain
of a pleasurable stimulus reinforcement
●​ Negative reinforcement - the ●​ Shaping - the reinforcement of simple steps
reinforcement of a response by the removal, in behavior that lead to a desired, more
escape from, or avoidance of an unpleasant complex behavior
stimulus ●​ Successive approximations - small steps
●​ Partial reinforcement effect - the tendency in behavior, one after the other, that lead to
for a response that is reinforced after some, a particular goal behavior
but not all, correct responses to be very ●​ Exasperated - irritated or annoyed
resistant to extinction ●​ Obnoxious - highly offensive or undesirable
●​ Continuous reinforcement - the ●​ Reverting - to go back in action, thought,
reinforcement of each and every correct speech, and so on
response ●​ Instinctive drift - tendency for an animal s
●​ Fixed interval schedule of reinforcement behavior to revert to genetically controlled
- schedule of reinforcement in which the patterns
interval of time that must pass before ●​ Behavior modification - the use of operant
reinforcement becomes possible is always conditioning techniques to bring about
the same desired changes in behavior
●​ Rigorously - strictly, consistently ●​ Token economy - type of behavior
●​ Variable interval schedule of modification in which desired behavior is
reinforcement - schedule of reinforcement rewarded with tokens
in which the interval of time that must pass ●​ Incentive - something that encourages a
before reinforcement becomes possible is particular action
different for each trial or event ●​ Applied behavior analysis (ABA) -
●​ Fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement - modern term for a form of functional
schedule of reinforcement in which the analysis and behavior modification that uses
number of responses required for a variety of behavioral techniques to mold a
reinforcement is always the same desired behavior or response
●​ Variable ratio schedule of reinforcement ●​ Biofeedback - use of feedback about
- schedule of reinforcement in which the biological conditions to bring involuntary
number of responses required for responses, such as blood pressure and
reinforcement is different for each trial or relaxation, under voluntary control
event ●​ Neurofeedback - form of biofeedback using
brain-scanning devices to provide feedback

GONZALES, S.M.
 about brain activity in an effort to modify
behavior
●​ Marooned - in this sense, being placed on
an island from which escape is impossible

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 5: MEMORY (p195-228) ➢​ Getting it out: Retrieval
-​ Biggest problem many people have
THREE PROCESSES OF MEMORY -​ getting the information they know
they have out of storage
Memory
-​ an active system that receives information
from the senses, puts that information into a MODELS OF MEMORY
usable form, organizes it as it stores it away, ➢​ Information-Processing Model
and then retrieves the information from -​ most comprehensive and has
storage perhaps been the most influential
-​ a process but that it also has a place in the over the last several decades
brain -​ focuses on the way information is
handled, or processed, through
Three Processes: getting the information into the three different systems of memory
memory system, storing it there, and getting it back -​ encoding, storage, and retrieval are
out seen as part of this model
-​ assumes that the length of time that
What are the three processes of memory and a memory will be remembered
the different model of how memory works? depends on the stage of memory in
➢​ Putting it in: Encoding which it is stored
-​ get sensory information (sight,
sound, etc.) into a form that the brain ➢​ Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP)
can use in a process called Model
encoding -​ simultaneous processing allows
-​ set of mental operations that people people to retrieve many different
perform on sensory information to aspects of a memory all at once,
convert that information into a form facilitating much faster reactions and
that is usable in the brain’s storage decisions
systems -​ derived from work in the
-​ Ex. when people hear a sound, their development of artificial intelligence
ears turn the vibrations in the air into (AI)
neural messages from the auditory -​ related to connectionism, the use of
nerve (transduction), which makes it artificial neural networks to explain
possible for the brain to interpret that the mental abilities of humans
sound
-​ accomplished differently in each of Other Researchers have proposed that a memory’s
the three memory storage systems duration depends on the depth (i.e., the effort made
-​ rehearsing information over and over to understand the meaning) to which the
to keep it in memory, whereas in information is processed or encoded.
another system encoding involves
elaborating on the meaning of the ➢​ Levels-of-Processing Model
information -​ process its meaning, which requires
➢​ Keeping it in: Storage more mental effort than processing
-​ hold on to the information for some just its “looks”
period of time in a process called -​ thinking about the meaning of
storage something is a deeper level of
-​ time will vary depending on the processing and results in longer
storage system being used retention of the word
GONZALES, S.M.
The Information-Processing Model: Three
Stages of Memory DURATION OF ICONIC MEMORY
-​ looks at how thought processes such as -​ Masking: information that has just entered
memory work and uses as its model for iconic memory will be pushed out very
human thought the way that a computer quickly by new information; after only a
functions quarter of a second, old information is
-​ information-processing theorists who first replaced by new information
proposed that there are three stages or -​ Eidetic Imagery: the ability to access a
types of memory systems visual memory over a long period of time;
look quickly at a page in a book, and then
How does sensory memory work? by focusing on a blank wall or piece of
paper, read the words from the image that
➔​ Sensory memory: Why do people do still lingers in their memory
double takes?
-​ first stage of memory, the point at FUNCTION OF ICONIC MEMORY
which information enters the nervous -​ Saccades: keep vision from adapting to a
system through the sensory systems constant visual stimulus, so that what is
eyes, ears, and so on stared at steadily doesn’t slowly disappear
-​ Information is encoded into sensory -​ helps the visual system to view
memory as neural messages in the surroundings as continuous and stable in
nervous system spite of these saccadic movements
-​ As long as those neural messages -​ allows enough time for the brain stem to
are traveling through the system, it decide if the information is important
can be said that people have a enough to be brought into consciousness
memory for that information that can
be accessed if needed ●​ Echoic Sensory Memory
-​ Reticular formation: notices new -​ brief memory of something a
and important information person has heard
-​ Double take: explained by the -​ Ex. “What” phenomenon
presence, however brief, of a -​ You didn't really process the
memory for what a person saw statement from the other person
●​ Iconic Sensory Memory (Visual as he or she said it. You heard it,
Sensory Memory) but your brain didn’t interpret it
-​ Icon or Eikon: Greek “Image” immediately. Instead, it took
-​ George Sperling (1960) several seconds for you to
realize that (1) something was
CAPACITY OF ICONIC MEMORY said, (2) it may have been
-​ everything that can be seen at one time important, and (3) you'd better
-​ if he presented a row of letters using a try to remember what it was
machine that allowed very fast presentation, -​ If you realize all this within about
his subjects could only remember about four 4 seconds, you will more than
or five of the letters, no matter how many likely be able to hear an echo of
had been presented (inaccurate) the statement in your head, a
-​ Partial Report Method: he showed a grid kind of “instant replay”
of letters, but immediately sounded a high, -​ limited to what can be heard at
medium, or low tone just after the grid was any one moment and is smaller
briefly displayed than the capacity of iconic
GONZALES, S.M.
 memory, although it lasts longer assigned different signal
about 2 to 4 seconds strengths
-​ very useful when a person wants -​ Unattended sensory stimuli are
to have meaningful lessened, or attenuated, when
conversations with others compared to attended stimuli,
-​ allows the person to remember but are still available to the
what someone said just long second-stage filter, which
enough to recognize the processes only the stimuli that
meaning of a phrase meet a certain threshold of
-​ allows people to hold on to importance
incoming auditory information -​ tends to be encoded in auditory
long enough for the lower brain (sound) form; people tend to talk
centers to decide if the inside their own heads
information is important enough -​ auditory storage accounts for much
to become conscious of short-term encoding
-​ traditionally been thought of as a
What is short-term memory, and how does it thing or a place into which
differ from working memory? information is put
-​ part of the working memory system
➔​ Short-term memory
-​ Selective attention: a process; the ➢​ Working memory
ability to focus on only one stimulus -​ an active system that processes the
from among all sensory input; information present in short-term
“cocktail party effect” memory
-​ Conscious - thinking actively -​ consist of three interrelated systems
-​ the memory system in which -​ central executive
information is held for brief periods -​ controls and coordinates the
of time while being used other two systems, a visual
-​ The areas of the brain that are sketchpad of sorts, and a kind of
involved in selective attention were auditory recorder
working even though you were not -​ acts as interpreter for both the
consciously aware of it, and when visual and auditory information,
that important bit of information and the visual and auditory
appeared, those areas brought the information is itself contained in
information to your conscious short-term memory
awareness -​ helps interpret the information
-​ Dr. Anne M. Treisman - selective from both systems and pulls it all
attention operates in a two-stage together
filtering process
-​ incoming stimuli in sensory CAPACITY: THE MAGICAL NUMBER SEVEN
memory are filtered on the basis -​ George Miller (1956)
of simple physical -​ Digit-span test: a series of numbers is read
characteristics; similar to to subjects in the study who are then asked
Broadbents original idea, but to recall the numbers in order
instead of being sent to STM or ●​ Chunking
not sent (lost), the stimuli are -​ a way to fool STM into holding more
information than is usual
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ bits of information are combined into -​ Available but not accessible
meaningful units, or chunks, more
information can be held in STM Information that is rehearsed long enough may
-​ process of recoding, or reorganizing, actually find its way into long-term memory.
the information
➢​ Maintenance Rehearsal
WHY IS IT CALLED SHORT TERM? -​ Rehearsed
-​ Research has shown that short-term -​ Not the most efficient way of putting
memory lasts from about 12 to 30 seconds information into long-term storage,
without rehearsal because to get the information back
-​ After that, the memory seems to rapidly out, one has to remember it almost
decay or disappear exactly as it went in
-​ in order to form new memories, old ➢​ Rote Learning
memories must be erased by the formation -​ “Rote” - rotating the information in
of newly formed neurons one’s head, saying it over and over
-​ Some memories formed in the hippocampus again
will, without rehearsal, decay as new ➢​ Elabortive Rehearsal
neurons (and newer memories) are added -​ transferring information from STM to
to the already existing neural circuits LTM by making the information
-​ Maintenance rehearsal meaningful in some way
-​ saying something they want to remember -​ Connect new information with
over and over again in their heads can something that is already well known
help them remember longer -​ deeper kind of processing than
-​ a person is simply continuing to pay maintenance rehearsal and so leads
attention to the information to be held in to better long-term storage
memory, and since attention is how that ➔​ Craik and Lockhart - theorized that
information got into STM in the first information that is more “deeply processed”,
place, it works quite well or processed according to its meaning
-​ When rehearsal stops or when rather than just the sound or physical
interrupted, the memory rapidly decays characteristics of the word or words, will be
and is forgotten remembered more efficiently and for a
-​ Interference can happen if information longer period of time
exceeds capacity
-​ Information may be pushed out for newer What are the various types of long-term
information memory, and how is information stored in
long-term memory organized?
How is long-term memory different from other
types of memory? Types of Long-term Information
Long-term Memory - include general facts and
➔​ Long-term memory knowledge
-​ system into which all the information ➢​ Procedural (nondeclarative) Memory
is placed to be kept more or less -​ For skills that people know how to
permanently do
-​ Unlimited -​ What people can do
-​ relatively permanent physical -​ series of steps or procedures
change in the brain itself when a -​ emotional associations, habits, and
long-term memory is formed simple conditioned reflexes that may
GONZALES, S.M.
 or may not be in conscious -​ represent episodes from their lives
awareness, which are often very -​ tend to be updated and revised more
strong memories or less constantly
-​ Amygdala: most probable location -​ may not be as exact as people
for emotional associations, such as sometimes assume they are
fear -​ Updating process: survival
-​ Cerebellum: in the hindbrain is mechanism, because although
responsible for storage of memories semantic and procedural memories
of conditioned responses, skills, and are useful and necessary on an
habits ongoing basis, no one really needs
-​ Anterograde Amnesia: new to remember every little detail of
long-term declarative memories every day
cannot be formed -​ Explicit memory: easily made
-​ Alzheimer’s Disease: affects the conscious and brought from
hippocampus and the frontal cortex long-term storage into short-term
(involved in decision making and memory; can be forgotten but
planning) and eventually affects always have the potential to be
other areas of the brain after it has made conscious
progressed nearly to the end
-​ Rare to lose procedural memory
-​ Implicit memory - memories for
these skills, habits, and learned
reflexes are not easily retrieved into
conscious awareness; it is
impossible or extremely difficult to
bring implicit memories into
consciousness
➢​ Declarative Memory
LONG-TERM MEMORY ORGANIZATION
-​ For facts
LTM has to be fairly well organized for retrieval to
-​ What people can know
be so quick.
-​ Facts are things that are known and
-​ organized in terms of related meanings and
can be declared
concepts
●​ Semantic memory
➢​ Semantic network model
-​ General knowledge that anyone has
-​ information is stored in the brain in a
the ability to know and that is often
connected fashion with concepts
learned in school or by reading
that are related to each other stored
-​ Meaning
physically closer to each other than
-​ awareness of the meanings of
concepts that are not highly related
words, concepts, and terms as well
as names of objects, math skills, and
so on RETRIEVAL OF LONG-TERM MEMORIES
-​ Relatively permanent What kind of cues help people remember?
●​ Episodic memory
-​ personal knowledge that each Retrieval Cues
person has of his or her daily life and
-​ Stimulus for remembering, the sound of the
personal history, a kind of
word or phrase
autobiographical memory
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ more cues stored with a piece of -​ ability to match a piece of
information, the easier the retrieval of that information or a stimulus to a stored
information will be image or fact
➢​ Encoding specificity - tendency for -​ Much easier than recall
memory of any kind of information to be -​ False positives: occurs when a
improved if the physical surroundings person thinks that he or she has
available when the memory is first formed recognized something or someone
are also available when the memory is but in fact does not have that
being retrieved something or someone in memory
➢​ State-dependent learning - particular
physiological or psychological state will be Automatic Encoding: Flashbulb Memories
easier to remember while in a similar state ➢​ Automatic Encoding
-​ enter permanent storage with little or
How do the retrieval processes of recall and no effort at all
recognition differ, and how reliable are our -​ People unconsciously notice and
memories of events? seem able to remember a lot of
➢​ Recall things, such as the passage of time,
-​ retrieved with few or no external knowledge of physical space, and
cues, such as filling in the blanks on frequency of events
an application form -​ Flashbuld memories: unexpected
●​ RETRIEVAL FAILURE event or episode in a person's life
-​ Tip of the tongue phenomenon has strong emotional associations,
-​ cannot retrieve the sound or actual such as fear, horror, or joy; vivid and
spelling of the word to allow it to be detailed; subject to decay and
pulled into the auditory recorder of alterations over time as other kinds
STM so that it can be fully retrieved of memories
●​ THE SERIAL POSITION EFFECT
-​ Primacy effect: Words at the very Emotional reactions stimulate the release of
beginning of the list tend to be hormones that have been shown to enhance the
remembered better than those in the formation of long-term memories.
middle of the list; first few words,
when the listener has nothing
RECONSTRUCTIVE NATURE OF LONG-TERM
already in STM to interfere with their
MEMORY RETRIEVAL: HOW RELIABLE ARE
rehearsal, will receive far more MEMORIES?
rehearsal time than the words in the
middle, which are constantly being
Constructive Processing of Memories
replaced by the next word on the list
-​ Recency effect: last word or two How are long-term memories formed, and how
was just heard and is still in can this process lead to inaccuracies in
short-term memory for easy memories?
retrieval, with no new words entering
to push the most recent word or As new memories are created in LTM, old
words out of memory memories can get lost, but they are more likely to
➢​ Recognition be changed or altered in some way.
-​ looking at or hearing information and
matching it to what is already in ➔​ Psychologist John Kihlstrom
memory
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➢​ Constructive processing 2.​ Individuals are given information that helps
-​ memories are literally “built” from the them believe that the event could have
pieces stored away at encoding happened to them personally
➔​ Hindsight bias
-​ tendency of people to falsely believe FORGETTING
that they would have accurately
Why do we forget?
predicted an outcome without having
Mnemonist - memory expert or someone with
been told about it in advance
exceptional memory ability

Memory Retrieval Problems

Ebbinghaus and the Forgetting Curve
➢​ Misinformation Effect
Hermann Ebbinghaus - one of the first
-​ created by a person being exposed
researchers to study forgetting
to information after the event
➔​ The curve of forgetting - forgetting
-​ information that comes not only after
happens quickly within the first hour after
the original event but also in an
learning the lists and then tapers off
entirely different format (i.e., written
gradually
instead of visual) can cause
-​ forgetting is greatest just after
memories of the event to be
learning
incorrectly reconstructed
-​ applied to other types of information
as well
Reliability of Memory Retrieval
➔​ Distributed practice - spacing out one s
What is false memory syndrome? study sessions
-​ creation of inaccurate or false memories -​ Massed practice: attempt to study a
through the suggestion of others, often body of material all at once
while the person is under hypnosis
-​ Hypnosis: may make it easier to recall Encoding Failure
some real memories, it also makes it easier
-​ some things never get encoded in the first
to create false memories; increase the
place
confidence people have in their memories
-​ failure to process information into memory
regardless of whether those memories are
real or false
-​ not only harmful to the persons directly Memory Trace Decay Theory
involved but also makes it much more ➔​ Memory trace - physical change in the
difficult for genuine victims of molestation to brain, perhaps in a neuron or in the activity
be believed when they do recover their between neurons, which occurs when a
memories of the painful traumas of memory is formed
childhood -​ If not used, may decay, fading into
-​ false memories cannot be created for just nothing
any kind of memory ➔​ Decay (STM) - Information that is not
-​ Psychologist and memory expert Kathy brought to attention in sensory memory or
Pezdek continuously rehearsed in STM will fade
away
Steps to interpret thoughts and fantasies about ➔​ Disuse (LTM) - use it or lose it
false events as true memories: -​ people can recall memories they had
1.​ The event must be made to seem as assumed were long forgotten
plausible as possible

GONZALES, S.M.
Interference Theory ➔​ Memories of fear seem to be stored in the
-​ although most long-term memories may be amygdala
stored more or less permanently in the ➔​ semantic and episodic long-term memories,
brain, those memories may not always be evidence suggests that these memories are
accessible to attempted retrieval because also stored in the frontal and temporal lobes
other information interferes but not in exactly the same places or in the
same location as short-term memories

Neural Activity and Structure in Memory

Formation
➔​ memory formation involves not one physical
change but many: changes in the number of
receptor sites, changes in the sensitivity of
the synapse through repeated stimulation
(called long-term potentiation), and
changes in the dendrites and in the proteins
within the neurons
➔​ these changes serve to increase the neural
connections and make connections that
➢​ Proactive interference - the tendency for already exist more sensitive to stimulation
older or previously learned material to
interfere with the learning (and subsequent ➢​ Consolidation - changes that take place as
retrieval) of new material a memory is forming
➢​ Retroactuve interference - When newer -​ may take only a few minutes for
information interferes with the retrieval of some memories, but may take years
older information for others

The Hippocampus and Memory

➢​ Hippocampus - part of the limbic system
-​ part of the brain that is responsible
for the formation of new long-term
declarative memories
-​ Henry Gustav Molaison
NEUROSCIENCE OF MEMORY

How and where are memories formed in the When Memory Fails: Organic Amnesia
brain? How does amnesia occur?
➔​ Specific areas of the brain are physically ➢​ Retrograde amnesia
altered during memory formation and that -​ “Without memory”
different areas may be involved for different -​ loss of memory from the point of
types of memory injury backwards
➔​ procedural memories seem to be stored in -​ the consolidation process, which
the cerebellum was busy making the physical
➔​ short-term memories are stored in the changes to allow new memories to
prefrontal cortex (the very front of the frontal be stored, gets disrupted and loses
lobe) and the temporal lobe everything that was not already
nearly “finished”
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) - ●​ Comprehensive - all inclusive, covering
therapy for severe depression everything
➢​ Anterograde amnesia - loss of memories ●​ Parallel Distributed Processing (PDP)
from the point of injury or illness forward Model - a model of memory in which
-​ Often seen in people with senile memory processes are proposed to take
dementia: mental disorder in which place at the same time over a large network
severe forgetfulness, mental of neural connections
confusion, and mood swings are the ●​ Levels-of-Processing Model - model of
primary symptoms memory that assumes information that is
-​ As long as you are attending to the more deeply processed, or processed
data, you can access the data, but according to its meaning rather than just the
as soon as you stop thinking about sound or physical characteristics of the
it, the information is lost, because it word or words, will be remembered more
was never transferred to the efficiently and for a longer period of time
long-term memory ●​ Simultaneous - all at the same time
●​ Sensory memory - the very first stage of
➔​ beta-amyloid protein deposits (plaques) memory; the point at which information
➔​ protein tau enters the nervous system through the
➔​ brain-derived neurotrophic factors sensory systems
(BDNF) ●​ Iconic memory - visual sensory memory,
lasting only a fraction of a second
TERMS ●​ Eidetic memory - the ability to access a
visual memory for 30 seconds or more
●​ Hyperthymesia - not only has an
●​ Echoic memory - the brief memory of
astonishing and rare ability to recall specific
something a person has just heard
events from his or her personal past (called
●​ Short term memory (STM) - the memory
autobiographical memory) but also
system in which information is held for brief
spends an unusually large amount of time
periods of time while being used
thinking about that personal past
●​ Selective attention - the ability to focus on
●​ Memory - an active system that receives
only one stimulus from among all sensory
information from the senses, puts that
input
information into a usable form, organizes it
●​ Working memory - an active system that
as it stores it away, and then retrieves the
processes the information in short-term
information from storage
memory
●​ Encoding - the set of mental operations
●​ Maintenance rehearsal - practice of saying
that people perform on sensory information
information to be remembered over and
to convert that information into a form that is
over in one s head in order to maintain it in
usable in the brain s storage systems
short-term memory
●​ Storage - holding onto information for some
●​ Long term memory (LTM) - the system of
period of time
memory into which all the information is
●​ Retrieval - getting information that is in
placed to be kept more or less permanently
storage into a form that can be used
●​ Elaborative rehearsal - a method of
●​ Information-Processing Model - model of
transferring information from STM into LTM
memory that assumes the processing of
by making that information meaningful in
information for memory storage is similar to
some way
the way a computer processes memory in a
●​ Duration - how long something lasts
series of three stages

GONZALES, S.M.
●​ Procedural (nondeclarative) memory - pulled from memory with very few external
type of long-term memory including memory cues
for skills, procedures, habits, and ●​ Recognition - the ability to match a piece of
conditioned responses. These memories information or a stimulus to a stored image
are not conscious but are implied to exist or fact
because they affect conscious behavior ●​ Serial position effect - tendency of
●​ Anterograde amnesia - loss of memory information at the beginning and end of a
from the point of injury or trauma forward, or body of information to be remembered more
the inability to form new long-term accurately than information in the middle of
memories the body of information
●​ Implicit memory - memory that is not easily ●​ Primacy effect - tendency to remember
brought into conscious awareness, such as information at the beginning of a body of
procedural memory information better than the information that
●​ Declarative memory - type of long-term follows
memory containing information that is ●​ Recency effect - tendency to remember
conscious and known information at the end of a body of
●​ Semantic memory - type of declarative information better than the information at
memory containing general knowledge, the beginning of it
such as knowledge of language and ●​ False positive - error of recognition in
information learned in formal education which people think that they recognize
●​ Episodic memory - type of declarative some stimulus that is not actually in memory
memory containing personal information not ●​ Automatic encoding - tendency of certain
readily available to others, such as daily kinds of information to enter long-term
activities and events memory with little or no effortful encoding
●​ Explicit memory - memory that is ●​ Flashbulb memories - type of automatic
consciously known, such as declarative encoding that occurs because an
memory unexpected event has strong emotional
●​ Autobiographical - the story of a person's associations for the person remembering it
life as told by that person ●​ Coherent - understandable
●​ Hierarchy - an ordered listb or series ●​ Constructive processing - referring to the
●​ Semantic network model - model of retrieval of memories in which those
memory organization that assumes memories are altered, revised, or influenced
information is stored in the brain in a by newer information
connected fashion, with concepts that are ●​ Hindsight bias - the tendency to falsely
related stored physically closer to each believe, through revision of older memories
other than concepts that are not highly to include newer information, that one could
related have correctly predicted the outcome of an
●​ Retrieval cue - a stimulus for remembering event
●​ Encoding specificity - the tendency for ●​ Misinformation effect - the tendency of
memory of information to be improved if misleading information presented after an
related information (such as surroundings or event to alter the memories of the event
physiological state) available when the itself
memory is first formed is also available ●​ Molestation - unwanted or improper sexual
when the memory is being retrieved activity
●​ Recall - type of memory retrieval in which ●​ Curver of forgetting - a graph showing a
the information to be retrieved must be distinct pattern in which forgetting is very

GONZALES, S.M.
 fast within the first hour after learning a list
and then tapers off gradually
●​ Distributed practice - spacing the study of
material to be remembered by including
breaks between study periods
●​ Encoding failure - failure to process
information into memory
●​ Memory trace - physical change in the
brain that occurs when a memory is formed
●​ Decay - loss of memory due to the passage
of time, during which the memory trace is
not used
●​ Disuse - another name for decay, assuming
that memories that are not used will
eventually decay and disappear
●​ Proactive interference - memory problem
that occurs when older information prevents
or interferes with the learning or retrieval of
newer information
●​ Retroactive interference - memory
retrieval problem that occurs when newer
information prevents or interferes with the
retrieval of older information
●​ Consolidation - the changes that take
place in the structure and functioning of
neurons when a memory is formed
●​ Retrograde amnesia - loss of memory from
the point of some injury or trauma
backwards, or loss of memory for the past

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 6: CONSCIOUSNESS (p229-260; p171-210) THE RHYTHMS OF LIFE: CIRCADIAN RHYTHMS
-​ Sleep-wake cycle
WHAT IS CONSCIOUSNESS? -​ Latin: circa “about”; diem “day” - “about a
day” to complete
➔​ Consciousness
-​ ultimately controlled by the brain,
-​ Daniel Dennett: Consciousness
specifically by an area within the
Explained (1991) - there is no single
hypothalamus, the tiny section of the brain
stream of consciousness but rather
that influences the glandular system
multiple “channels,” each of which is
handling its own tasks
THE ROLE OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS: THE
-​ your awareness of everything that is
MIGHTY MITE
going on around you and inside your
➔​ Melatonin - a hormone normally secreted
own head at any given moment,
by the pineal gland
which you use to organize your
-​ Release is influenced by a structure
behavior, including your thoughts,
deep within the tiny hypothalamus in
sensations, and feelings
an area called the suprachiasmatic
-​ generated by a set of action
nucleus, the internal clock that tells
potentials in the communication
people when to wake up and when
among neurons just sufficient to
to fall asleep
produce a specific perception,
➔​ Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) -
memory, or experience in our
sensitive to changes in light
awareness (cognitive neuroscience
-​ Daylight fades (SCN tell the pineal
view)
gland (located in the base of the
➔​ Waking consciousness
brain) to secrete melatonin) (will feel
-​ their thoughts, feelings, and
sleepy)
sensations are clear and organized,
-​ Light increase (stop secreting
and they feel alert
melatonin) (awaken)

Altered States of Consciousness

Melatonin supplements are often used to treat a
-​ people experience states of consciousness condition called jet lag, in which the body’s
that differ from this organized waking state circadian rhythm has been disrupted by traveling to
-​ occurs when there is a shift in the quality or another time zone.
pattern of your mental activity
-​ Thoughts may become fuzzy and ➔​ Serotonin - associated with arousal and
disorganized and you may feel less alert, or sleep regulation
your thoughts may take bizarre turns, as -​ Promote sleepiness
they so often do in dreams -​ Serotonin-producing neurons are
most active during wakefulness, less
SLEEP active during SWS, and relatively
inactive during REM
The Biology of Sleep -​ effects differ based on which
-​ “The gentle tyrant” serotonergic cells are firing and
-​ one of the human body’s biological rhythms, which brain structures are receiving
natural cycles of activity that the body must those messages
go through (ex. Sleep-wake cycle) -​ some serotonin receptors are
excitatory and others are inhibitory

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ some receptors facilitate some The Stages of Sleep
stages of sleep while others inhibit KINDS OF SLEEP
other stages ➢​ REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep -
relatively psychologically active type of
➔​ Body Temperature - plays a part in sleep when most of a person’s dreaming
inducing sleep takes place
-​ suprachiasmatic nucleus - controls -​ voluntary muscles are inhibited
body temperature ➢​ non-REM (NREM) sleep - spans from
-​ Higher body temperature, more lighter stages to a much deeper, more
alert; lower body temperature, restful kind of sleep
sleepier -​ the person’s body is free to move
-​ Asleep: lowest level around

THE IMPORTANCE OF SLEEP AND THE PRICE ➔​ Electroencephalograph - allows scientists

OF NOT SLEEPING to record the brain-wave activity as a person
➔​ Microsleeps - brief sidesteps into sleep passes through the various stages of sleep
lasting only seconds and to determine what type of sleep the
person has entered
➔​ Sleep deprivation - loss of sleep
-​ results in irritability and problems 1.​ Beta waves - wide awake and mentally
with concentration active
-​ very small and very fast
●​ Proper functioning of simple daily activities -​ kind of brain activity that usually
●​ Mental, biological, and physical functioning signals wakefulness
●​ Forming memories 2.​ Alpha waves - relaxes and gets drowsy,
slightly larger and slower
THEORIES OF SLEEP 3.​ Theta waves - even slower and larger
➢​ Adaptive Theory of Sleep 4.​ Delta waves - deep sleep
-​ product of evolution
-​ animals and humans evolved STAGES OF SLEEP (non-REM)
different sleep patterns to avoid ➢​ N1 (R&K Stage 1): Light Sleep
being present during their predators’ -​ theta wave activity increases and
normal hunting times, which typically alpha wave activity fades away
would be at night -​ hypnogogic
-​ why people sleep when they do images/hallucinations - vivid visual
events
➢​ Restorative Theory of Sleep -​ Greek: hypnos “sleep”
-​ sleep is necessary to the physical -​ Hypnic jerk
health of the body ➢​ N2 (R&K Stage 2): Sleep Spindles
-​ During sleep, chemicals that were -​ As people drift further into sleep, the
used up during the day’s activities body temperature continues to drop
are replenished and cellular damage -​ Heart rate slows, breathing becomes
is repaired more shallow and irregular, and the
-​ why people need to sleep EEG shows signs
-​ brief bursts of activity lasting only a
second or two
-​ Theta waves predominate
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➢​ N3 (R&K Stage 3): Delta waves roll in ➔​ REM Rebound - experience greatly
-​ slowest and largest waves make increased amounts of REM sleep
their appearance
-​ Delta waves - increase during this ➔​ REM Myth - people deprived of REM sleep
stage from about 20 percent to more would become paranoid, seemingly
than 50 percent of total brain activity mentally ill from lack of this one stage of
-​ SWS (Slow-wave sleep) - deepest sleep
stage sleep
-​ growth hormones are released from Sleep Disorders
the pituitary gland and reach their ➢​ Nightmares and REM Behavior Disorder
peak -​ Nightmares: bad dreams
-​ body is at its lowest level of -​ vividly remembered immediately
functioning upon waking
-​ delta waves become the dominant -​ Awaken and immediately talk
brain activity for this stage of sleep about the bad dream
-​ REM sleep
➔​ Deep sleep - body growth occurs -​ REM behavior disorder: brain
mechanisms that normally inhibit the
➢​ R (R&K REM) voluntary muscles fail, allowing the
-​ go back up through N2 and then into person to thrash around and even
a stage in which body temperature get up and act out nightmares
increases to near-waking levels -​ Sleepwalking
-​ eyes move rapidly under the eyelids, ➢​ Night terrors
the heart beats much faster, and -​ More likely in children
brain waves resemble beta waves -​ state of panic experienced while
sound asleep
REM Sleep: Perchance to dream? -​ non-REM sleep
-​ Paradoxical sleep ➢​ Sleepwalking
-​ associated with dreaming -​ Somnambulism
-​ 90 percent of dreams actually take -​ Heredity
place ➢​ Insomnia
-​ REM dreams tend to be more vivid, -​ inability to get sleep, stay asleep, ot
more detailed, longer, and more get a good quality of sleep
bizarre than the dreams of NREM -​ psychological causes are worrying,
sleep trying too hard to sleep, or having
-​ NREM dreams - more like thoughts anxiety
about daily occurrences and far -​ physiological causes are too much
shorter than REM dreams caffeine, indigestion, or aches and
pain
➔​ Sleep paralysis - the body is unable to act STEPS TO SLEEP
upon these dreams under normal conditions 1.​ consuming no caffeinated drinks or foods
because the voluntary muscles are that cause indigestion before bedtime
paralyzed during REM sleep 2.​ taking medication for pain
3.​ dealing with anxieties in the daytime rather
PURPOSE OF REM SLEEP than facing them at night
-​ Physically demanding sleep: NREM 4.​ Go to bed only when you are sleepy
-​ Emotionally stressful: REM 5.​ Don’t do anything in your bed but sleep
GONZALES, S.M.
6.​ Don’t try too hard to get to sleep
7.​ Keep to a regular schedule
8.​ Don’t take sleeping pills or drink alcohol or
other types of drugs that slow down the
nervous system

➔​ Cognitive-behavior therapy - a type of

therapy in which both rational thinking and
controlled behavior are stressed
➢​ Sleep apnea DREAMS
-​ Type of snoring where the person
stops breathing for 10 seconds or Freud’s Interpretation: Dreams as Wish
more Fulfillment
-​ cause heart problems as well as
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
poor sleep quality
-​ problems of his patients stemmed from
-​ Continuous positive airway
conflicts and events that had been buried in
pressure (CPAP) device - delivers
their unconscious minds since childhood
a continuous stream of air under
mild pressure
●​ Manifest content - actual dream itself
-​ Surgery to remove uvula (the little
●​ Latent content - true meaning of a dream
flap that hangs down at the back of
was hidden, and only expressed in symbols
the throat) and some of the soft
tissues
The Activation-Synthesis Hypothesis
-​ Young infants experience this due to
immaturity of the brain stem; sudden -​ dreams are products of activity in the pons
infant death syndrome or SIDS (lower area that inhibits the
➢​ Narcolepsy neurotransmitters that would allow
-​ Affecting 1 in every 2,000 persons movement of the voluntary muscles while
-​ “Sleep seizure” sending random signals to the areas of the
-​ may slip suddenly into REM sleep cortex that interpret vision, hearing, and so
during the day (especially when the on)
person experiences strong -​ a dream is merely another kind of thinking
emotions) that occurs when people sleep
-​ excessive daytime sleepiness that -​ less realistic because it comes not from the
results in the person falling asleep outside world of reality but from within
throughout the day at inappropriate people’s memories and experiences of the
times and in inappropriate places past
-​ may occur many times and without -​ Frontal lobes: more or less shut down
warning during dreaming
-​ Cataplexy - sudden loss of muscle
tone

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Activation-Information-Mode model
(AIM): information that is accessed during
waking hours can have an influence on the Theories of Hypnosis
synthesis of dreams
➢​ Dissociation: The hidden observer
-​ Ernest Hilgard
THE EFFECTS OF HYPNOSIS
-​ hypnosis worked only on the
➔​ Hypnosis - a state of consciousness in immediate conscious mind of a
which a person is especially susceptible to person, while a part of that person’s
suggestion mind (a “hidden observer”) remained
aware of all that was going on
Steps in Hypnotic Induction
1.​ The hypnotist tells the person to focus on ➢​ Social Role-Playing: Social-Cognitive
what is being said explanation
2.​ The person is told to relax and feel tired -​ people who are hypnotized are not
3.​ The hypnotist tells the person to “let go” and in an altered state but are merely
accept suggestions easily playing the role expected of them in
4.​ The person is told to use vivid imagination the situation

➔​ Hypnotic susceptibility - degree to which THE INFLUENCE OF PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS

a person is a good hypnotic subject ➔​ Psychoactive drugs - chemical substances
➔​ Basic suggestion effect - tendency to act that alter thinking, perception, memory, or
as though their behavior is automatic and some combination of those abilities
out of their control
Dependence
➢​ Physical dependence
-​ The body is craving the drug
-​ the body becomes unable to function
normally without the drug and the

GONZALES, S.M.
 person is said to be dependent or rush of sugar into the bloodstream by
addicted stimulating the release of adrenalin in
-​ Drug tolerance: larger doses of the addition to raising dopamine levels in the
drug are needed to achieve the brain’s reward pathway
same initial effects of the drug -​ relaxing effect on most people and seems to
-​ Withdrawal: the body is trying to reduce stress
adjust to the absence of the drug -​ Active ingredient in tobacco
-​ Contingency-management theory -
patients earn vouchers for negative CAFFEINE
drug tests -​ almost everyone uses, with many using it
-​ Cognitive-behavioral interventions every day
➢​ Psychological dependence -​ stimulant found in coffee, tea, most sodas,
-​ belief that the drug is needed to chocolate, and even many over-the-counter
continue a feeling of emotional or drugs
psychological well-being -​ natural substance
-​ found in coffee beans, tea leaves, cocoa
Major Drug Categories nuts, and at least 60 other types of plants
●​ Stimulants -​ mild stimulant, helps maintain alertness,
-​ increase the functioning of the and can increase the effectiveness of some
nervous system pain relievers such as aspirin
-​ cause either the sympathetic division
or the central nervous system (or ●​ Depressants
both) to increase levels of -​ decrease the functioning of the
functioning nervous system
-​ “Speed up”
-​ “Uppers” MAJOR AND MINOR TRANQUILIZERS
➢​ Major tranquilizers - strong depressant
AMPHETAMINES effect
-​ synthesized in laboratories rather than -​ Sleeping pills
being found in nature -​ Barbiturates: drugs that have a
-​ depress the appetite sedative effect
-​ Amphetamine psychosis ➢​ Minor tranquilizers - relatively mild
depressant effect
COCAINE -​ Benzodiazepines
-​ natural drug found in coca plant leaves -​ lower anxiety and reduce stress
-​ produces feelings of euphoria -​ Valium, Xanax, Halcion, Ativan, and
-​ deadens pain and suppresses the appetite Librium
-​ experience a severe mood swing into -​ Rohypnol - benzodiazepine tranquilizer;
depression (the “crash”), followed by “date rape”
extreme tiredness, nervousness, an inability
to feel pleasure, and paranoia ALCOHOL
-​ most commonly used and abused
NICOTINE depressant
-​ relatively mild but nevertheless toxic -​ fermentation or distillation of various kinds
stimulant, producing a slight “rush” or sense of vegetable matter
of arousal as it raises blood pressure and -​ Fetal alcohol syndrome
accelerates the heart, as well as providing a
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ a depressant that gives the illusion of MANUFACTURED HIGHS
stimulation, because the very first thing -​ developed in the laboratory
alcohol depresses is a person’s natural
inhibitions, or the “don’ts” of behavior ➢​ LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
-​ Release of GABA (major depressant) -​ synthesized from a grain fungus
called ergot (grows on rye grain but
can be found on other grains as
well)
-​ one of the most potent, or powerful,
hallucinogens
➢​ PCP (phenyl cyclohexyl piperidine)
(phencyclidine)
-​ useful only in veterinary medicine as
a tranquilizer
➢​ MDMA (Ecstasy)
-​ Stimulatory hallucinogens - produce
a mixture of psychomotor stimulant
and hallucinogenic effects
-​ causes the release of large amounts
of serotonin and also blocks the
reuptake of this neurotransmitter

NARCOTICS NONMANUFACTURED HIGH: MARIJUANA

-​ suppress the sensation of pain by binding to ➢​ Marijuana
and stimulating the nervous system’s -​ best known and most commonly
natural receptor sites for endorphins, the abused of the hallucinogenic drugs
neurotransmitters that naturally deaden pain -​ comes from the leaves and flowers
sensations of the hemp plant called Cannabis
-​ All narcotics are a derivative of a particular sativa
plant-based substance—opium -​ Hashish is the concentrated
substance made by scraping the
➢​ Opium resin from these leaves, and both
-​ opium poppy marijuana and hashish contain
-​ pain-relieving and euphoriainducing cannabinoids
properties -​ most psychoactive cannabinoid, and
➢​ Morphine the active ingredient in marijuana, is
-​ created by dissolving opium in an tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
acid and then neutralizing the acid -​ ability to produce a feeling of
with ammonia well-being, mild intoxication, and
➢​ Heroin mild sensory distortions or
-​ Extremely addictive hallucinations

●​ Hallucinogens
-​ alter perceptions and may cause
hallucinations

GONZALES, S.M.
HALLUCINATIONS

➢​ Hypnogogic hallucination
-​ a type of hallucination can occur just
as a person is entering N1 (NREM
Stage 1) sleep
-​ feel very real to the person
experiencing them
➢​ Hypnopompic hallucination
-​ hallucination happens just as a
person is in the between-state of
being in REM sleep (in which the
voluntary muscles are paralyzed)
and not yet fully awake

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 7: COGNITION (p297-340) rather as the result of experiences
➔​ System 1 with these concepts in the real world
-​ making quick decisions and using ➔​ Prototype
cognitive shortcuts, is guided by our -​ a concept that closely matches the
innate abilities and personal defining characteristics of the
experiences concept
➔​ System 2 -​ develop according to the exposure a
-​ relatively slow, analytical, and person has to objects in that
rule-based, is dependent more on category
our formal educational experiences -​ Culture matters in formation
People tend to look at potential examples of a
concept and compare them to the prototype to see
THINKING
how well they match.
➔​ Thinking or Cognition
-​ Latin: “to know” ●​ Schemas - mental generalizations about
-​ mental activity that goes on in the objects, places, events, and people
brain when a person is processing ●​ Scripts - a kind of schema that involves a
information—organizing it, familiar sequence of activities
understanding it, and communicating
it to others Problem-Solving and Decision-Making
Strategies
Mental Imagery
➔​ Problem-solving
Short-term memories are encoded in the form of -​ occurs when a goal must be reached
sounds and also as visual images, forming a by thinking and behaving in certain
mental picture of the world. ways
-​ one aspect of decision making
➔​ Mental Images ➔​ Decision-making
-​ representations that stand in for -​ identifying, evaluating, and choosing
objects or events and have a among several alternatives
picturelike quality
-​ One of several tools used in the ➢​ Trial and Error (Mechanical Solutions)
thought process -​ trying one solution after another until
finding one that works
Concepts and Prototypes -​ Rote - a learned set of rules
➔​ Concepts
-​ ideas that represent a class or ➢​ Algorithms
category of objects, events, or -​ specific, step-by-step procedures for
activities solving certain types of problems
-​ allow the identification of new -​ will always result in a correct
objects and events that may fit the solution, if there is a correct solution
concept to be found, and you have enough
-​ Formal concepts - defined by time to find it
specific rules or features and quite -​ Ex. mathematical formulas
rigid -​ aren’t always practical to use
-​ Natural concepts - people form not -​ very specific and will always lead to
as a result of a strict set of rules, but a solution

GONZALES, S.M.
➢​ Heuristics Problems with Problem-solving and
-​ “rule of thumb” Decision-making
-​ a simple rule that is intended to ➢​ Functional fixedness
apply to many situations -​ thinking about objects only in terms
-​ educated guess based on prior of their typical uses
experiences that helps narrow down -​ “Fixed on the function”
the possible solutions for a problem -​ A kind of mental sets
●​ Representativeness Heuristic ➢​ Mental sets
-​ categorizing objects and -​ tendency for people to persist in
simply assumes that any using problem-solving patterns that
object (or person) that shares have worked for them in the past
characteristics with the ➢​ Confirmation bias
members of a particular -​ tendency to search for evidence that
category is also a member of fits one’s beliefs while ignoring any
that category evidence to the contrary
-​ Base rates - actual -​ what is “set” is a belief rather than a
probability of a given event method of solving problems
●​ Availability Heuristic
-​ based on our estimation of Creativity
the frequency or likelihood of
an event based on how easy -​ coming up with entirely new ways of looking
it is to recall relevant at the problem or unusual, inventive
information from memory or solutions
how easy it is for us to think -​ solving problems by combining ideas or
of related examples behavior in new ways
●​ Working Backward
-​ work backward from the goal ➔​ Convergent thinking
●​ Subgoals -​ a problem is seen as having only
-​ as each subgoal is achieved, one answer and all lines of thinking
the final solution is that much will eventually lead to (converge on)
closer that single answer by using previous
knowledge and logic
➢​ Insight ➔​ Divergent thinking
-​ When the solution to a problem -​ reverse of convergent thinking
seems to come suddenly to mind -​ starts at one point and comes up
-​ the solution seems to come in a with many different, or divergent,
flash ideas or possibilities based on that
-​ A person may realize that this point
problem is similar to another one -​ attributed not only to creativity but
that he or she already knows how to also to intelligence
solve or might see that an object can
be used for a different purpose than INTELLIGENCE
its original one
-​ mind simply reorganizes a problem, Definition
sometimes while the person is -​ ability to learn from one’s experiences,
thinking about something else acquire knowledge, and use resources

GONZALES, S.M.
 effectively in adapting to new situations or ➔​ Practical intelligence
solving problems -​ Street smarts
-​ ability to use information to get
Theories of Intelligence along in life
➢​ Spearman’s G Factor
-​ Charles Spearman HOW THEY ARE ILLUSTRATED
-​ Two different abilities ➔​ Analytical
➔​ G factor - ability to reason and solve -​ run a statistical analysis on data
problems from the experiment
-​ General intelligence ➔​ Creative
➔​ S factor - task-specific abilities in -​ design the experiment in the first
certain areas such as music, place
business, or art ➔​ Practical
-​ Specific intelligence -​ get funding for the experiment from
-​ donors
➢​ Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences
-​ Howard Gardner Measuring Intelligence
➢​ Binet’s mental ability test
-​ Alfred Binet and colleague Theodore
Simon
-​ help identify children who were
unable to learn as quickly or as well
as others, so that they could be
given remedial education
-​ a test that not only distinguished
➢​ Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory between fast and slow learners but
-​ Robert Sternberg also between children of different
-​ Triarchic theory of intelligence - age groups as well
three kinds of intelligence -​ Fast learners: answers of older
children
➔​ Analytical intelligence -​ Slow learners: answers of younger
-​ ability to break problems down children
into component parts, or -​ Key element: Mental age (average
analysis, for problem solving age at which children could
-​ measured by intelligence tests successfully answer a particular
and academic achievement tests level of questions)
-​ Book smarts
➢​ Stanford-Binet and IQ
➔​ Creative intelligence -​ Lewis Terman adopted William
-​ deal with new and different Stern’s method
concepts and to come up with -​ Comparing mental age and
new ways of solving problems chronological age
-​ Divergent thinking -​ More on verbal
-​ automatically process certain -​ divide the mental age (MA) by the
aspects of information, which chronological age (CA) and multiply
frees up cognitive resources to the result by 100 to get rid of any
deal with novelty
GONZALES, S.M.
 decimal points (resulting score is -​ Another aspect addresses the
Intelligence Quotient or IQ) comparison group whose scores will
-​ Five primary areas of cognitive be used to compare individual test
ability: fluid reasoning, knowledge, results
quantitative processing, -​ chosen randomly from the
visual–spatial processing, and population for whom the test is
working memory intended and, like all samples, must
be representative of that population
➢​ The Wechsler tests
-​ David Wechsler ➢​ Norms
-​ a series of tests designed for -​ scores from the standardization
specific age groups group
-​ Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale -​ standards against which all others
(WAIS-IV), Wechsler Intelligence who take the test would be
Scale for Children (WISC-IV), and compared
the Wechsler Preschool and Primary -​ Normal curve - distribution in which
Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI-IV) the scores are the most frequent
-​ both a verbal and performance around the mean (average) and
(nonverbal) scale, as well as become less and less frequent the
providing an overall score of further from the mean they occur
intelligence -​ Standard deviation - average
-​ Four specific cognitive domains: variation of scores from the mean
verbal comprehension, perceptual -​ Average intelligence
reasoning, working memory, and -​ Deviation IQ scores - based on the
processing speed normal curve distribution; IQ is
assumed to be normally distributed
Test Construction with a mean IQ of 100 and a typical
➔​ Reliability - producing consistent results standard deviation of about 15
each time it is given to the same individual
or group of people A test can fail in validity but still be reliable but a
➔​ Validity - a test actually measures what it’s test cannot be valid when it is not reliable.
supposed to measure
-​ Ecological validity - extent that an IQ Tests and Cultural Bias
obtained score accurately reflects -​ not everyone comes from the same “world”
the intended skill or outcome in -​ Cultural bias - a term referring to the
real-life situations, not just validity for tendency of IQ tests to reflect, in language,
the testing or assessment situation dialect, and content, the culture of the
person or persons who designed the test
➢​ Standardization of Tests
-​ Standardization - process of giving Usefulness of IQ Tests
the test to a large group of people ●​ predicting academic success and job
that represents the kind of people for performance
whom the test is designed ●​ Neuropsychology
-​ establishment of consistent and
standard methods of test
Head Injuries
administration
➔​ Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ not only have immediate effects but -​ memory, reasoning, language,
can also be permanent, impacting reading, writing, math, and other
the day-to-day functioning of both academic skills
individuals and their loved ones for ●​ Social
the rest of their lives -​ empathy, social judgement,
➔​ Mild traumatic brain injury or interpersonal communication, and
Concussion other skills that impact the ability to
-​ impairment of brain function for make and maintain friendships
minutes to hours following a head ●​ Practical
injury -​ self-management skills that affect
-​ a loss of consciousness for up to 30 personal care, job responsibilities,
minutes, “seeing stars,” headache, school, money management, and
dizziness, and sometimes nausea or other areas
vomiting
●​ Athletics CAUSES
-​ Protein tau -​ Unhealthy living conditions can affect brain
●​ Military development
-​ factors resulting in inadequate brain
Extremes of Intelligence development or other health risks
➢​ Intellectual disability (Intellectual associated with poverty
developmental disorder) ➔​ Fetal alcohol syndrome - a condition that
-​ formerly mental retardation or results from exposing a developing embryo
developmentally delayed to alcohol, and intelligence levels can range
-​ neurodevelopmental disorder from below average to levels associated
-​ person exhibits deficits in mental with intellectual disability
abilities ➔​ Fragile X syndrome - male has a defect in
-​ Adaptive behavior (skills that allow a gene on the X chromosome of the 23rd
people to live independently) is pair, leading to a deficiency in a protein
severely below a level appropriate needed for brain development
for the person’s age -​ Lack of oxygen at birth, damage to the fetus
in the womb from diseases, infections, or
DIAGNOSIS drug use by the mother, and even diseases
➔​ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of and accidents during childhood can lead to
Mental Disorders (DSM) intellectual disability
➔​ American Psychiatric Association
➔​ American Association on Intellectual and ➢​ Giftedness
Developmental Disabilities (AAIDD) -​ IQ of above 130: Gifted
-​ Levels of adaptive functioning and level of -​ IQ above 140 to 145: Geniuses or
support the individual requires highly advanced
-​ diagnosis of intellectual disability is based -​ Lewis Terman
on deficits in intellectual functioning,
determined by standardized tests of ➢​ Emotional Intelligence
intelligence and clinical assessment, which -​ accurate awareness of and ability to
impact adaptive functioning across three manage one’s own emotions to
domains facilitate thinking and attain specific
●​ Conceptual goals, and the ability to understand
what others feel
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Peter Salovey and John Mayer The Levels of Language Analysis
-​ Popularized by Dan Goleman ➢​ Grammar
-​ possesses self-control of emotions -​ system of rules governing the
such as anger, impulsiveness, and structure and use of a language
anxiety -​ humans have an innate ability to
-​ Empathy, the ability to understand understand and produce language
what others feel, is also a through a device he calls the
component, as are an awareness of language acquisition device, or
one’s own emotions, sensitivity, LAD (innate “program” that
persistence even in the face of contained a schema for human
frustrations, and the ability to language)
motivate oneself ●​ Phonemes
-​ basic sounds of language
The Nature/Nurture Controversy Regarding -​ difference is in how we say the
Intelligence sound
➢​ Twin and Adoption studies -​ one of the biggest problems for
-​ Natural experiments - people who are trying to learn
circumstances existing in nature that another language is the inability
can be examined to understand to both hear and pronounce the
some phenomenon phonemes of that other language
-​ Heritability - proportion of change in ●​ Morphemes
IQ within a population that is caused -​ smallest units of meaning within
by hereditary factors a language
-​ extreme environments can modify ●​ Morphology
even very heritable traits -​ study of the formation of words
-​ Flynn effect - IQ scores are steadily ●​ Syntax
increasing over time, from -​ rules for the order of words
generation to generation, in -​ system of rules for combining
modernized countries words and phrases to form
grammatically correct sentences
The Bell Curve and Misinterpretation of ●​ Semantics
Statistics -​ rules for determining the
meaning of words and sentences
-​ Race
●​ Pragmatics
-​ Stereotype threat - just being aware of
-​ practical social expectations and
negative stereotypes can result in an
uses of language
individual scoring poorly on intelligence
-​ practical aspects of
tests
communicating with others, or
the social “niceties” of language
LANGUAGE
-​ Intonation - rhythm and
➔​ Language - a system for combining emphasis
symbols (such as words) so that an infinite
number of meaningful statements can be The Relationship Between Language and
made for the purpose of communicating Thought
with others -​ Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky

GONZALES, S.M.
 ●​ Piaget - concepts preceded and aided the
development of language
-​ Collective monologue - a process
where each child would be talking
about something totally unrelated to
the speech of the other
●​ Vygotsky - language actually helped
develop concepts and that language could
also help the child learn to control
behavior—including social behavior
-​ the “egocentric” speech of the
preschool child was actually a way
for the child to form thoughts and
control actions
-​ “private speech” was a way for
children to plan their behavior and
organize actions so that their goals
could be obtained

➢​ Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

-​ the thought processes and concepts
within any culture are determined by
the words of the culture
-​ thought processes and concepts are
controlled by (relative to) language
-​ the words people use determine
much of the way in which they think
about the world around them
-​ Cognitive universalism - concepts
are universal and influence the
development of language

➢​ Animal Studies in Language

WAYS TO IMPROVE THINKING

➔​ Fluid intelligence - the ability to adapt and

deal with new problems or challenges the
first time you encounter them, without
having to depend on knowledge you already
possess
➔​ Physical activity and aerobic fitness
➔​ Crossword puzzles
➔​ Reading books

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 8: DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE LIFE people share a common time period or
SPAN (p341-388) common life experience

ISSUES IN STUDYING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

➔​ Human development - scientific study of

the changes that occur in people as they
age, from conception until death

Research Designs
➔​ Independent variable - the variable in an
experiment that is deliberately manipulated
by the experimenter Nature Versus Nurture
➢​ Nature - heredity, the influence of inherited
➢​ Longitudinal design - one group of people characteristics on personality, physical
is followed and assessed at different times growth, intellectual growth, and social
as the group ages interactions
-​ advantage of looking at real ➢​ Nurture - influence of the environment on
age-related changes as those all of those same things and includes
changes occur in the same parenting styles, physical surroundings,
individuals economic factors, and anything that can
-​ Disadvantage of lengthy amount of have an influence on development that does
time, money, and effort involved in not come from within the person
following participants over the years,
as well as the loss of participants All that people are and all that people become is
when they move away, lose interest, the product of an interaction between nature and
or die nurture.

➢​ Cross-sectional design - several different ➔​ Behavorial Genetics - a field in the

age-groups are studied at one time investigation of the origins of behavior in
-​ advantages of being quick, relatively which researchers try to determine how
inexpensive, and easier to much of behavior is the result of genetic
accomplish than the longitudinal inheritance and how much is due to a
design person’s experiences
-​ disadvantage is that the study no
longer compares an individual to that
THE BASIC BLOCKS OF DEVELOPMENT
same individual as he or she ages;
instead, individuals of different ages
Chromosomes, Genes, and DNA
are being compared to one another
-​ Differences between age-groups are ➔​ Genetics - science of heredity
often a problem in developmental
research ➢​ DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) - a very
➢​ Cross-sequential design - combination of special kind of molecule (the smallest
the longitudinal and cross-sectional designs particle of a substance that still has all the
properties of that substance)
➔​ Cohort effect - particular impact on -​ consists of two very long
development that occurs when a group of sugar–phosphate strands, each
linked together by certain chemical
GONZALES, S.M.
 elements called amines or bases Genetic and Chromosome Problems
arranged in a particular pattern Several genetic disorders are carried by recessive
-​ Two strands making up the sides: genes.
sugars and phosphates
-​ The “rungs” that link the two strands: DISEASES INHERITED FROM TWO RECESSIVE
amines GENES
➔​ Amines - contains genetic codes for ➢​ Cystic fibrosis - a disease of the
building the proteins that make up organic respiratory and digestive tracts
life and that control the life of each cell ➢​ Sickle-cell anemia - a blood disorder
➔​ Gene - section of DNA containing a certain ➢​ Tay-Sachs disorder - a fatal neurological
sequence (ordering) of these amines disorder
➔​ Chromosomes - where genes are located; ➢​ Phenylketonuria (PKU) - an infant is born
rod-shaped structures; found in the nucleus without the ability to break down
of the cell phenylalanine (an amino acid controlling
-​ Total of 46 chromosomes in each coloring of the skin and hair)
cell of the body (exception of sperm -​ If levels of phenylalanine build up,
and egg cells) brain damage can occur; if
➔​ Autosomes - 22 pairs that determine most untreated, it can result in severe
characteristics intellectual disabilities
➔​ Sex chromosomes - the two chromosomes
of the last pair CHROMOSOME DISORDERS
-​ Two X-shaped chromosomes ➢​ Down syndrome - there is an extra
indicate a female while an X and a Y chromosome in what would normally be the
indicate a male 21st pair
-​ Symptoms commonly include the
Dominant and Recessive Genes physical characteristics of
The nature of each gene determines the almond-shaped, wide-set eyes, as
characteristic that will be observable if there are well as intellectual disability
two different genes. ➢​ Klinefelter’s syndrome - there is an extra
sex chromosome in the 23rd pair
➢​ Dominant - more active in influencing the -​ 23rd set of sex chromosomes is
trait XXY, with the extra X producing a
-​ always be expressed in the male with reduced masculine
observable trait characteristics, enlarged breasts,
➢​ Recessive - less active in influencing the obesity, and excessive height
trait and will only be expressed in the ➢​ Turner’s syndrome - the 23rd pair is
observable trait if they are paired with actually missing an X, so that the result is a
another less active gene lone X chromosome
-​ tend to recede, or fade, into the -​ very short, infertile, and sexually
background when paired with a underdeveloped
more dominant gene
PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT
➔​ Polygenic Inheritance - process where
almost all traits are controlled by more than Fertilization, The Zygote, and Twinning
one pair of genes
➢​ Fertilization - a process when an egg and a
-​ Polygenic: “many genes”
sperm unite

GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Egg - also called an ovum ➢​ Germinal Period - process that takes about
➢​ Zygote - the resulting single cell that has a a week, followed by about a week during
total of 46 chromosomes which the mass of cells, now forming a
-​ begin to divide, first into two cells, hollow ball, firmly attaches itself to the wall
then four, then eight, and so on, with of the uterus
each new cell also having 46 -​ 2-week period of pregnancy
chromosomes, because the DNA -​ cells begin to differentiate, or
molecules produce duplicates, or develop into specialized cells, in
copies, of themselves before each preparation for becoming all the
division various kinds of cells that make up
-​ Mitosis - division process the human body

TWO TYPES OF TWINS ➔​ Placenta - begins to form in the germinal

➢​ Monozygotic twins - identical twins period
-​ the two babies come from one -​ a specialized organ that provides
(mono) fertilized egg (zygote) nourishment and filters away the
-​ Early in the division process, the developing baby’s waste products
mass of cells splits completely into ➔​ Umbilical cord - begins to develop at this
two separate masses, each of which time, connecting the organism to the
will develop into a separate infant placenta
-​ The infants will be the same sex and ➔​ Stem cells - stay in a somewhat immature
have identical features because they state until needed to produce more cells
each possess the same set of 46
chromosomes The Embryonic Period
➢​ Dizygotic twins - fraternal twins ➔​ Embryo - the developing organism once
-​ more an accident of timing and is firmly attached to the uterus
more common in women who are
older and who are from certain ➢​ Embryonic period - last from 2 weeks after
ethnic groups conception to 8 weeks, and during this time
-​ A woman’s body may either release the cells will continue to specialize and
more than one egg at a time or become the various organs and structures
release an egg in a later ovulation of a human infant
period after a woman has already -​ By the end of this period, the embryo
conceived once is about 1-inch long and has
-​ May possibly have triplets primitive eyes, nose, lips, teeth, and
➢​ Conjoined twins - the mass of cells does little arms and legs, as well as a
not completely split apart beating heart

➔​ Dicephaly - they share one lower body

The Critical Period

The Germinal Period -​ times during which some environmental

influences can have an impact—often
➔​ Uterus - zygote begins dividing and moving devastating—on the development of the
down to here infant
-​ muscular organ that will contain and ●​ Limbs: 3-8 weeks
protect the developing organism ●​ Heart: 2-6 weeks
●​ CNS: 2-5 weeks

GONZALES, S.M.
 ●​ Eyes: 3-8 weeks INFANCY AND CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
●​ Teeth and roof of the mouth: 7-12 weeks ➢​ Preferential looking - the longer an infant
spends looking at a stimulus, the more the
PRENATAL HAZARDS: TERATOGENS infant prefers that stimulus over others
➔​ Teratogen - Any substance such as a drug, ➢​ Habituation - the tendency for infants (and
chemical, virus, or other factor that can adults) to stop paying attention to a stimulus
cause a birth defect that does not change
➔​ Fetal Alcohol Syndrome - Consumption of
alcohol during pregnancy, particularly during
Physical Development
the critical embryonic period, causing a
series of physical and mental defects REFLEXES
including stunted growth, facial deformities, -​ innate (existing from birth), involuntary
and brain damage behavior patterns
➔​ Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) ●​ Grasping reflex
- larger category of permanent birth defects ●​ Startle reflex (Moro reflex)
due to maternal alcohol use during ●​ Rooting reflex
pregnancy ●​ Stepping reflex
●​ Sucking reflex

MOTOR DEVELOPMENT: FROM CRAWLING TO

A BLUR OF MOTION
●​ Raising head and chest: 2-4 months
●​ Rolling over: 2-5 months
●​ Sitting up with support: 4-6 months
●​ Sitting up without support: 6-7 months
●​ Crawling: 7-8 months
●​ Walking: 8-18 months
The Fetal Period: Grow, Baby, Grow
➔​ Fetal period - a period of tremendous BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
growth lasting from about 8 weeks after -​ At birth, an infant’s brain consists of over
conception until birth 100 billion neurons
-​ The length of the developing ➔​ Synaptic pruning - a necessary loss of
organism increases by about 20 neurons
times and its weight increases from -​ unused synaptic connections and
about 1 ounce at 2 months to an nerve cells are cleared away to
average of a little over 7 pounds at make way for functioning
birth connections and cells
➔​ Fetus - the developing organism in this
period
Sensory Development
➔​ Preterm - Babies born before 38 weeks
-​ may need life support to survive ●​ Touch: most well developed
➔​ Miscarriage - spontaneous abortion ●​ Smell: highly developed
-​ most likely during in the first 3 ●​ Taste: nearly fully developed
months, as the organs are forming -​ Preference for sweets
and first becoming functional -​ 4 months: salty
-​ Sour and bitter: spitting and horrible
faces

GONZALES, S.M.
 ●​ Hearing: functional before birth but may
take a little while to reach its full potential
after the baby is born
●​ Vision: least functional sense
-​ Eyes are complex organs STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
-​ Rods: fairly well developed at birth
-​ Cones: take another 6 months to
fully develop

CLASSIC STUDIES IN PSYCHOLOGY

➔​ The Visual Cliff - depth perception

Cognitive Development 1.​ Sensorimotor

-​ First stage
-​ The development of thinking, problem
-​ infants from birth to age 2
solving, and memory
-​ infants use their senses and motor
abilities to learn about the world
Piaget’s Theory: Four Stages of Cognitive
around them
Development
-​ Example: begin to interact
➔​ Jean Piaget - developed a four-stage deliberately with objects by grasping,
theory of cognitive development based on pushing, tasting, and so on; Infants
observation of infants and children move from simple repetitive actions,
-​ understanding of how children think such as grabbing their toes, to
about the world around them complex patterns, such as trying to
-​ shifted the commonly held view that put a shape into a sorting box
children’s thinking was that of “little ➔​ Object permanence - the
adults” toward recognition that it was knowledge that an object exists even
actually quite different from adult when it is not in sight
thinking -​ Example: the game of
-​ stressed the importance of the “peek-a-boo” is important in
child’s interaction with objects as a teaching infants that
primary factor in cognitive Mommy’s smiling face is
development always going to be behind
➢​ Schemes - mental concepts formed by her hands
children as they experience new situations 2.​ Preoperational
and events -​ Ages 2-7
➢​ Assimilation - a process where children -​ developing language and concepts
first try to understand new things in terms of -​ no longer have to rely only on
schemes they already possess senses and motor skills but now can
-​ Ex. The child might see an orange ask questions and explore their
and say “apple” because both surroundings more fully
objects are round -​ not yet capable of logical thought
➢​ Accommodation - process of altering or (they can use simple mental
adjusting old schemes to fit new information concepts but are not able to use
and experiences those concepts in a more rational,
-​ Ex. When corrected, the child might logical sense)
alter the scheme for apple to include LIMITATIONS OF PREOPERATIONAL STAGE
“round” and “red”
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Animism - a quality where they about possibilities and even
believe that anything that moves is impossibilities
alive
➔​ Egocentrism - the inability to see ➢​ Relativistic thinking
the world through anyone else’s -​ Another stage beyond formal
eyes but one’s own operations
-​ Examples: if she couldn’t see -​ found in young adults, particularly
her mother, her mother those who have found their old ways
couldn’t see her; Jamal of thinking in “black and white” terms
wants to give his challenged by the diversity they
grandmother an action figure encounter in the college
for her birthday because environment
that’s what he would want -​ young adults recognize that all
➔​ Centration - Focusing only on one problems cannot be solved with pure
feature of some object rather than logic, and there can be multiple
taking all features into consideration points of view for a single problem
➔​ Conservation - ability to understand EVALUATING PIAGET’S THEORY
that altering the appearance of -​ the idea of distinct stages of cognitive
something does not change its development is not completely correct and
nature (its amount, its volume, or its that changes in thought are more
mass) continuous and gradual rather than abruptly
➔​ Irreversibility - unable to “mentally jumping from one stage to another
reverse” actions -​ preschoolers are not as egocentric as
3.​ Concrete Operations Piaget seemed to believe and that object
-​ Ages 7-12’ permanence exists much earlier than Piaget
-​ become capable of conservation and thought
reversible thinking
-​ Centration no longer occurs as Vygotsky’s Theory: The Importance of Being
children become capable of There
considering all the relevant features ➔​ Lev Vygotsky - Russian psychologist
of any given object -​ stressed the importance of social
LIMITATION OF CONCRETE OPERATIONS and cultural interactions with other
➔​ Inability to deal effectively with people, typically more highly skilled
abstract concepts children and adults
➢​ Abstract concepts - those that do not have ➢​ Scaffolding - a process of asking leading
some physical, concrete, touchable reality questions and providing examples of
-​ Example: freedom concepts
➢​ Concrete concepts - kind of concepts -​ the more highly skilled person gives
understood by children of this age, are the learner more help at the
about objects, written rules, and real things beginning of the learning process
4.​ Formal Operations and then begins to withdraw help as
-​ Ages 12-adulthood the learner’s skills improve
-​ abstract thinking becomes possible ➢​ Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) -
-​ not only understand concepts that the difference between what a child can do
have no physical reality, but also alone versus what a child can do with the
they get deeply involved in help of a teacher
hypothetical thinking, or thinking
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➢​ Private speech - a way for the child to 5.​ Whole sentences
“think out loud” and advance cognitively -​ Preschool years
-​ learn to use grammatical terms and
Stages of Language Development increase the number of words in
-​ language allows children to think in words their sentences, until by age 6 or so
rather than just images, to ask questions, to they are nearly as fluent as an adult,
communicate their needs and wants to although the number of words they
others, and to form concepts know is still limited when compared
➢​ Child-directed speech - a style of speaking to adult vocabulary
influenced by the language they hear
-​ the way adults and older children Autism Spectrum Disorder
talk to infants and very young -​ a neurodevelopmental disorder that actually
children, with higher pitched, encompasses a whole range of previous
repetitious, sing-song speech disorders, which cause problems in thinking,
patterns feeling, language, and social skills in
➢​ Receptive-productive lag - a phenomenon relating to others
where infants seem to understand far more ➔​ Dr. Andrew Wakefield
than they can produce -​ British gastroenterologist (19980
STAGES -​ published the results of two studies
1.​ Cooing that seemed to link the MMR
-​ Around 2 months (measles, mumps, and rubella)
-​ Vowel-like sounds vaccine to autism and bowel disease
2.​ Babbling in children
-​ About 6 months -​ With a sample size of only 12
-​ Add consonant sounds to the vowels children, no control groups, and with
-​ at times can almost sound like real neither study being blind—single or
speech double—the studies were quickly
-​ Deaf children actually decrease their denounced as inadequate and
babbling after 6 months while dangerous by autism specialists and
increasing their use of primitive hand others
signs and gestures -​ Falsified his data
3.​ One-word speech
-​ Before or around age 1 Immunizations
-​ most children begin to say actual FACTS
words -​ Most vaccines are made from dead viruses,
-​ words are typically nouns and may and it is impossible to get the disease in this
seem to represent an entire phrase way. Vaccines that use very weak live
of meaning viruses (like the chicken pox vaccine) might
-​ Holophrases - whole phrases in cause a child to develop a mild version of
one word the disease, but the risk is very small and
4.​ Telegraphic speech the full-blown disease is far more serious
-​ Around a year and a half and deadly
-​ Begin to string words together to -​ Vaccines are one of the most effective
form short, simple sentences using weapons we have against disease. They
nouns, verbs, and adjectives work in 85 percent to 99 percent of cases
-​ Only the words that carry the and greatly reduce your child’s risk of
meaning of the sentence are used
GONZALES, S.M.
 serious illness, particularly when more and -​ If change is introduced gradually,
more people use them these babies will “warm up” to new
-​ the risk of these is much lower than that of people and new situations
catching the disease if a child is not
immunized ➢​ Attachment - emotional bond that forms
-​ Children must continue to be vaccinated between an infant and a primary caregiver
against them because it is easy to come -​ an extremely important development
into contact with illnesses through travel in the social and emotional life of the
MYTHS infant, usually forming within the first
-​ Children who are given an immunization 6 months of the infant’s life and
can get the disease itself showing up in a number of ways
-​ If all the other children in a school are during the second 6 months
immunized, there’s no harm in not -​ Ex. stranger anxiety (wariness of
immunizing one’s own child strangers) and separation anxiety
-​ The vaccine isn’t 100 percent effective, so (fear of being separated from the
why subject a child to a painful injection? caregiver)
-​ Immunizations cause bad reactions ATTACHMENT STYLES
-​ Immunization is not needed because these ➔​ Mary Ainsworth
diseases have been eliminated -​ devised a special experimental
design to measure the attachment of
Psychosocial Development an infant to the caregiver
-​ involves the development of personality, -​ Strange Situation - exposing an
relationships, and a sense of being male or infant to a series of leavetakings and
female returns of the mother and a stranger
1.​ Secure
➢​ Temperament - the behavioral and -​ willing to get down from their
emotional characteristics that are fairly well mother’s lap soon after entering the
established at birth room with their mothers
TEMPERAMENTS STYLES OF INFANTS -​ explored happily, looking back at
1.​ Easy their mothers and returning to them
-​ regular in their schedules of waking, every now and then
sleeping, and eating and are -​ When the stranger came in, these
adaptable to change infants were wary but calm as long
-​ happy babies and when distressed as their mother was nearby
are easily soothed -​ When the mother left, the infants got
2.​ Difficult upset
-​ opposite of easy ones -​ When the mother returned, the
-​ irregular in their schedules and are infants approached her, were easily
very unhappy about change of any soothed, and were glad to have her
kind back
-​ They are loud, active, and tend to be -​ Mother: loving, warm, sensitive to
crabby rather than happy their infant’s needs, and responsive
3.​ Slow to warm up to the infant’s attempts at
-​ associated with infants who are less communication
grumpy, quieter, and more regular 2.​ Avoidant
than difficult children but who are -​ somewhat willing to explore, did not
slow to adapt to change “touch base”
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ did not look at the stranger or the ➢​ Contact Comfort - the seeming attachment
mother, and reacted very little to her of the monkeys to something soft to the
absence or her return, seeming to touch
have no interest or concern -​ an important basic affectional or love
-​ Mother: unresponsive, insensitive, variable
and coldly rejecting
3.​ Ambivalent (mixed feeling about Who Am I?: The Development of the
something) Self-concept
-​ clinging and unwilling to explore, ➔​ Self-concept - the image you have of
very upset by the stranger yourself, and it is based on your interactions
regardless of the mother’s presence, with the important people in your life
protested mightily when the mother
left, and were hard to soothe Erikson’s Theory
-​ When the mother returned, these
➔​ Erik Erikson - psychodynamic theorist
babies would demand to be picked
-​ emphasized the importance of social
up, but at the same time push the
relationships in the development of
mother away or kick her in a mixed
personality
reaction to her return
-​ believed that development occurred
-​ Mother: tried to be responsive but
in a series of eight stages, with the
were inconsistent and insensitive to
first four of these stages occurring in
the baby’s actions, often talking to
infancy and childhood
the infant about something totally
STAGES
unrelated to what the infant was
doing at the time
4.​ Disorganized-Disoriented
-​ seemed unable to decide just how
they should react to the mother’s
return
-​ approach her but with their eyes
turned away from her, as if afraid to
make eye contact
-​ seemed fearful and showed a dazed
and depressed look on their faces
-​ Mother: abusive or neglectful in
interactions with the infants
INFLUENCES ON ATTCHMENT
➔​ Psychologist Jay Belsky
-​ Parenting
-​ Cultural differences

Harlow and Contact Comfort

1.​ Infancy: Trust vs. Mistrust (Hope)
➔​ Harry Harlow -​ Mistrust - Crying; inconsistency
-​ felt that attachment had to be -​ Implicit and Explicit
influenced by more than just the -​ Basic sense of trust or mistrust
provision of food develops as a result of consistent
and inconsistent care

GONZALES, S.M.
 2.​ Early Childhood/Toddler: Autonomy vs the body as sexual development
Shame and Doubt (Will) reaches its peak
-​ Issue: control -​ result of a complex series of
-​ Do something when being told glandular activities, stimulated by the
-​ Potty training “master gland” or the pituitary gland,
-​ Strives for physical independence when the proper genetically
determined age is reached
3.​ Childhood (Play or Preschool Age): -​ thyroid gland increases the rate of
Initiative vs Guilt (Purpose) growth, and the adrenal glands and
-​ Doing something without orders sex glands stimulate the growth of
-​ Doing something even without characteristics such as body hair,
orders muscle tissue in males, and the
-​ Strives for emotional and menstrual cycle in girls
psychological independence and -​ often begins about 2 years after the
attemps to satisfy curiosity about the beginning of the growth spurt, the
world rapid period of growth that takes
place at around age 10 for girls and
4.​ Childhood (School or Elementary Age): around age 12 for boys
Industry vs Inferiority (Competence) -​ prefrontal cortex of the brain -
-​ Productivity which is responsible in part for
-​ Good efforts = Good results impulse control, decision making,
-​ Progress rather than perfection and the organization and
-​ Strives for a sense of competence understanding of information, does
and self-esteem not stabilize in its development until
we are in our 30s
Adolescence
Cognitive Development
➔​ Adolescence - the period of life from about
age 13 to the early 20s PIAGET’S FORMAL OPERATIONS REVISITED
-​ a young person is no longer -​ abstract thinking becomes possible
physically a child but is not yet an -​ adolescents are not yet completely free of
independent, self-supporting adult egocentric thought
-​ adolescence isn’t necessarily -​ A lot of introspection and may become
determined by chronological age convinced that their thoughts are as
-​ also concerns how a person deals important to others as they are to
with life issues such as work, family, themselves
and relationships ➔​ Personal fable - adolescents have spent so
much time thinking about their own thoughts
Physical Development and feelings that they become convinced
➔​ Puberty - clearest sign of the beginning of that they are special, one of a kind, and that
adolescence no one else has ever had these thoughts
-​ physical changes in both primary and feelings before them
sex characteristics (growth of the -​ teenagers may feel that they are
actual sex organs such as the penis somehow protected from the
or the uterus) and secondary sex dangers of the world and so do not
characteristics (changes in the take the precautions that they should
body such as the development of ➔​ Imaginary audience - extreme
breasts and body hair) that occur in self-consciousness in adolescents
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ everyone is looking at them and that -​ Men tend to judge as moral the
they are always the center of actions that lead to a fair or just end,
everyone else’s world, just as they whereas women tend to judge as
are the center of their own moral the actions that are nonviolent
-​ the intense self-consciousness that and hurt the fewest people
many adolescents experience
concerning what others think about Psychosocial Development
how the adolescent looks or ➢​ Adolescence: Identity vs Role Confusion
behaves (Fidelity)
-​ must choose from among many
MORAL DEVELOPMENT options for values in life and beliefs
-​ the teenager’s understanding of “right” and concerning things such as political
“wrong” issues, career options, and marriage
➔​ Lawrence Kohlberg - Hardvard University -​ a consistent sense of self must be
professor found
-​ Developmental psychologist -​ teens who have successfully
-​ Influenced Piaget and others resolved the conflicts of the earlier
-​ outlined a theory of the development four stages are much better
of moral thinking through looking at “equipped” to resist peer pressure to
how people of various ages engage in unhealthy or illegal
responded to stories about people activities and find their own identity
caught up in moral dilemmas during the adolescent years
➢​ Parent-Teen Conflict - conflicts with
THREE STAGES OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT parents
-​ a certain amount of “rebellion” and
conflict is a necessary step in
breaking away from childhood
dependence on the parents and
becoming a self-sufficient adult
1.​ Preconventional morality
-​ based on the consequences
-​ actions that get rewarded are right Adulthood
and those that earn punishment are -​ period of life from the early 20s until old age
wrong and death
2.​ Conventional morality
-​ An action is morally right if it Physical Development
conforms to the rules of the society -​ divided into at least three periods: young
and wrong if it does not adulthood, middle age, and late adulthood
3.​ Postconventional morality -​ Emerging adulthood - time from late
-​ determined by the experiences and adolescence through the 20s
judgment of the person, even if that -​ Young adulthood - physical changes are
judgment disagrees with society’s minimal
rules -​ 20s - Oil glands in the neck and around the
eyes begin to malfunction, contributing to
➔​ Carol Gilligan wrinkles in those areas near the end of the
-​ proposed that men and women have 20s and beginning of the 30s
different perspectives on morality

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ 30s - not bring noticeable changes, but -​ most frequent causes of death in middle
vision and hearing are beginning to decline age are heart disease, cancer, and stroke
-​ 40s - bifocal lenses may become necessary -​ Increase in health problems
as the lens of the eye hardens, becoming
unable to change its shape to shift focus; Cognitive Development
hearing loss may begin; Skin begins to -​Decrease in reaction time
show more wrinkles, hair turns gray (or falls -​Challenges in memory most likely caused
out), vision and hearing decline further, and by strand high volumes of information to
physical strength may begin to decline retain
-​ 50s - hearing loss may begin but not CHANGES IN MEMORY
noticeable until 60s and 70s -​ Mose noticeable changes
-​ 60s and 70s - hearing aids become -​ having a hard time recalling a particular
necessary word or someone’s name
-​ difficulty in retrieval is probably not evidence
The levels of the female hormone estrogen decline of a physical decline
as the body’s reproductive system prepares to HOW TO KEEP YOUR BRAIN YOUNG
cease that function -​ People who exercise their mental abilities
➢​ Hot flashes - a sudden sensation of heat have been found to be far less likely to
and sweating that may keep them awake at develop memory problems or even more
night serious senile dementias
➢​ Climacteric - physical decline in the
reproductive system Psychosocial Development
-​ Ends at about age 50
➢​ Young/Early Adulthood: Intimacy vs
➢​ Perimenopause - the period of 5 to 10
Isolation (Love)
years over which these changes occur
-​ Emotional connection
➢​ Menopause - cessation of ovulation and the
-​ Finding a mate
menstrual cycle and end of reproductive
-​ True intimacy - an emotional and
capability
psychological closeness that is
➢​ Andropause - usually begins in the 40s
based on the ability to trust, share,
with a decline in several hormones,
and care (an ability developed
primarily testosterone
during the earlier stages such as
-​ Physical symptoms are also less
trust versus mistrust), while still
dramatic but no less troubling:
maintaining one’s sense of self
fatigue, irritability, possible problems
-​ Young adults who have difficulty
in sexual functioning, and reduced
trusting others and who are unsure
sperm count
of their own identities may find
-​ Rarely lose all reproductive ability
isolation instead of intimacy
AFFECTS OF AGING ON HEALTH
-​ high blood pressure, skin cancer, heart
5.​ (Middle) Adulthood: Generativity vs
problems, arthritis, and obesity
Stagnation (Care)
-​ High blood pressure can be caused by
-​ turn their focus outward, toward
lifestyle factors such as obesity and stress
others
but may also be related to hereditary factors
-​ Generativity - parenting the next
-​ Sleep problems, such as loud snoring and
generation and helping them through
sleep apnea (in which breathing stops for 10
their crises
seconds or more)

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ engaging in careers or some major limits on the child’s behavior or to require
life work that can become one’s any kind of obedience
legacy to the generations to come 3.​ Authoritative parenting
-​ Pass the learnings -​ combining firm limits on behavior
-​ Train younger generation with love, warmth, affection, respect,
-​ Stagnation: they don’t feel that and a willingness to listen to the
there’s more to life child’s point of view
-​ more democratic, allowing the child
PARENTING STYLES to have some input into the
➔​ Diana Baumrind (1967) formation of rules but still
-​ outlined three basic styles of maintaining the role of final decision
parenting, each of which may be maker
related to certain personality traits in -​ Punishment tends to be nonphysical,
the child raised by that style of such as restrictions, time-out, or loss
parenting of privileges
1.​ Authoritarian parenting -​ set limits that are clear and
-​ Overky concerned with the rules understandable, and when a child
-​ stern, rigid, controlling, and crosses the limits, they allow an
uncompromising, demands explanation and then agree upon the
perfection, and has a tendency to right way to handle the situation
use physical punishment -​ Children raised in this style of
-​ Children raised in this way are often parenting tend to be self-reliant and
insecure, timid, withdrawn, and independent
resentful
-​ As teenagers, they will very often 6.​ Old Age/Late Adulthood: Ego Integrity vs
rebel against parental authority in Despair (Wisdom)
very negative and self-destructive -​ Life review - Look back on the life
ways, such as delinquency, drug they lived; deal with mistakes,
use, or premarital sex regrets, and unfinished business
2.​ Permissive parenting -​ Ego integrity - can look back and
-​ parents put very few demands on feel that their lives were relatively full
their children for behavior and are able to come to terms with
-​ Children from both kinds of regrets and losses
permissive parenting tend to be -​ Integrity - final completion of the
selfish, immature, dependent, identity or ego
lacking in social skills, and -​ Learned a lot and ready to go
unpopular with peers -​ If people have many regrets and lots
➢​ Permissive neglectful - parents simply of unfinished business, they feel
aren’t involved with their children, ignoring despair, a sense of deep regret over
them and allowing them to do whatever they things that will never be
want, until it interferes with what the parent accomplished because time has run
wants out
-​ this relationship may become an
abusive one Theories of Physical and Psychological Aging
➢​ Permissive indulgent - too involved with
their children, allowing their “little angels” to Cellular-Clock Theory
behave in any way they wish, refusing to set -​ One of the biologically based theories
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ cells are limited in the number of times they Stages of Death and Dying
can reproduce to repair damage ➔​ Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
-​ Once the limit is reached, damage celles -​ theorized that people go through five
begin to accumulate stages of reaction when faced with
-​ Telomeres - structures on the ends of death
chromosomes that shorten each time a cell
reproduces Stages
-​ When telomeres are too short, cells cannot
1.​ Denial
reproduce and damage accumulates,
-​ people refuse to believe that the
resulting in the effects of aging
diagnosis of death is real
2.​ Anger
Wear-and-Tear Theory
-​ anger at death itself and the feelings
-​ As time goes by, repeated use and abuse of of helplessness to change things
the body’s tissues ause it to be unable to 3.​ Bargaining
repair all the damage -​ the dying person tries to make a
-​ points to outside influences such as stress, deal with doctors or even with God
physical exertion, and bodily damage 4.​ Depression
-​ the body’s organs and cell tissues simply -​ sadness from losses already
wear out with repeated use and abuse experienced and those yet to come
-​ Damaged tissues accumulate and produce 5.​ Acceptance
the effects of aging -​ accepted the inevitable and quietly
-​ Ex. Collagen - a natural elastic tissue that awaits death
allows the skin to be flexible While Westerners see a person as either dead or
alive, in some cultures a person who, by Western
Free-Radical Theory standards is clearly alive, is mourned as already
-​ the latest version of the wear-and-tear dead—as is the case in many Native American
theory in that it gives a biological cultures.
explanation for the damage done to cells
over time
-​ Oxygen molecules with an unstable electron
move around the cell, damaging cell
structures as they go
-​ Free radicals - oxygen molecules that
have an unstable electron; oxygen
molecules that have an unstable electron
-​ As people get older, more and more free
radicals do more and more damage,
producing the effects of aging

Activity Theory
-​ Assumes older people are happier if they
remain active in some way, such as
volunteering or developing a hobby

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 9: MOTIVATION AND EMOTION (p389-422) -​ some human behavior is controlled
by hereditary factors
APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING MOTIVATION

➔​ Motivation - process by which activities are Approaches Based on Needs and Drives
started, directed, and continued so that ➔​ Need - a requirement of some material
physical or psychological needs or wants (such as food or water) that is essential for
are met survival of the organism
-​ Latin: movere “to move” ➔​ Drive - the tension
-​ what “moves” people to do the -​ psychological tension as well as a
things they do physical arousal that motivates the
-​ Cause, direct, and sustain organism to act in order to fulfill the
need and reduce the tension
Types of Motivation
●​ Drive-reduction Theory - connection
➢​ Extrinsic Motivation
between internal physiological states and
-​ a person performs an action
outward behavior
because it leads to an outcome that
-​ Assumes behavior arises from
is separate from the person
physiological needs that cause
-​ Ex. giving a child money for every A
internal drives to push the organism
received on a report card, offering a
to satisfy the need and reduce
bonus to an employee for increased
tension and arousal
performance, or tipping a server in a
➢​ Primary Drives
restaurant for good service
-​ involve survival needs of the
-​ external or extrinsic rewards
body such as hunger and
➢​ Intrinsic Motivation
thirst
-​ a person performs an action
➢​ Acquired (Secondary) Drives
because the act itself is fun,
-​ those that are learned
rewarding, challenging, or satisfying
through experience or
in some internal manner
conditioning, such as the
need for money or social
Instincts and The Evolutionary Approach
approval
➔​ Instincts - biologically determined and -​ Ex. the need of recent former
innate patterns of behavior smokers to have something
-​ exist in both people and animals to put in their mouths
-​ Ex. the human instinct to reproduce ➔​ Primary reinforcers - satisfy primary drives
is responsible for sexual behavior, ➔​ Secondary reinforcers - satisfy acquired,
and the human instinct for territorial or secondary drives
protection may be related to
aggressive behavior ➔​ Homeostasis - the tendency of the body to
➔​ Instinct Approach - approach to motivation maintain a steady state
that assumes people are governed by -​ body’s version of a thermostat (keep
instincts similar to those of animals the temperature of a house at a
●​ William McDougall (1908) - proposed a constant level)
total of 18 instincts for humans, including
curiosity, flight (running away), pugnacity When there is a primary drive need, the body is in a
(aggressiveness), and acquisition (gathering state of imbalance. This stimulates behavior that
possessions) brings the body back into balance, or homeostasis.
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Whereas someone who is a high
achiever may not need a lot of
money to validate the achievement,
someone who is high in the need for
power typically sees the money as
the achievement
➢​ Need for Achievement (nAch) - a strong
Psychological Needs desire to succeed in attaining goals, not
only realistic ones but also challenging ones
-​ motivation is about needs
-​ look for careers and hobbies that
-​ most needs are the result of some inner
allow others to evaluate them
physical drive (such as hunger or thirst) that
because these high achievers also
demands to be satisfied
need to have feedback about their
performance in addition to the
MCCLELLAND’S THEORY: AFFILIATION,
achievement of reaching the goal
POWER, AND ACHIEVEMENT NEEDS
-​ Harvard University psychologist David C.
PERSONALITY AND nAch: CAROL DWECK’S
McClelland (1961, 1987)
SELF-THEORY OF MOTIVATION
-​ a theory of motivation that highlights the
-​ motivation and personality psychologist
importance of three psychological needs not
Carol Dweck (1999)
typically considered by the other theories
-​ need for achievement is closely linked to
personality factors, including a person’s
➢​ Need for Affiliation (nAff) - a psychological
view of how self (the beliefs a person holds
need for friendly social interactions and
about his or her own abilities and
relationships with others
relationships with others) can affect the
-​ people high in this need seek to be
individual’s perception of the success or
liked by others and to be held in high
failure of his or her actions
regard by those around them
-​ high affiliation people good team
➔​ Locus of control
players, whereas a person high in
➢​ Internal locus of control - people
achievement just might run over a
who assume that they have control
few team members on the way to
over what happens in their lives
the top
➢​ External locus of control - those
➢​ Need for Power (nPow) - Power is not
who feel that their lives are
about reaching a goal but about having
controlled by powerful others, luck,
control over other people
or fate
-​ People high in this need would want
to have influence over others and
-​ people can form one of two belief systems
make an impact on them
about intelligence, which in turn affects their
-​ their ideas to be the ones that are
motivation to achieve
used, regardless of whether or not
➔​ Intelligence is fixed and unchangeable -
their ideas will lead to success
demonstrate an external locus of control
-​ Status and prestige are important,
when faced with difficulty, leading them to
so these people wear expensive
give up easily or avoid situations in which
clothes, live in expensive houses,
they might fail—often ensuring their own
drive fancy cars, and dine in the best
failure in the process
restaurants

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ prone to developing learned -​ need more complex and varied
helplessness, the tendency to stop sensory experiences than do other
trying to achieve a goal because people
past failure has led them to believe -​ may be related to temperament
that they cannot succeed
-​ goals involve trying to “look smart” Incentive Approaches
and to outperform others ➔​ Incentives - things that attract or lure
➔​ Intelligence is changeable - can be people into action
shaped by experiences and effort in small ➔​ Incentive Approaches - behavior is
increases, or increments explained in terms of the external stimulus
-​ tend to show an internal locus of and its rewarding properties
control, both in believing that their -​ These rewarding properties exist
own actions and efforts will improve independently of any need or level of
their intelligence, and in taking arousal and can cause people to act
control or increasing their efforts only upon the incentive
when faced with challenges -​ does not explain the motivation
-​ work at developing new strategies behind all behavior
and get involved in new tasks, with -​ motivation as a result of both the
the goal of increasing their “smarts” “push” of internal needs or drives
-​ motivated to master tasks and don’t and the “pull” of a rewarding external
allow failure to destroy their stimulus
confidence in themselves or prevent
them from trying again and again,
Humanistic Approaches
using new strategies each time
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Arousal Approaches -​ first humanistic theory
-​ Abraham Maslow (1943, 1987)
➔​ Stimulus Motive - one that appears to be -​ there are several levels of needs that a
unlearned but causes an increase in person must strive to meet before achieving
stimulation the highest level of personality fulfillment
-​ Self-actualization - seldom reached
OPTIMUM AROUSAL
➔​ Arousal Theory - theory of motivation in
which people are said to have an optimal
(best or ideal) level of tension that they seek
to maintain by increasing or decreasing
stimulation
-​ a moderate level of arousal seems
to be best
➔​ Yerkes-Dodson Law - stimulus intensity
-​ Performance is related to arousal
-​ Moderate levels of arousal lead to
better performance than do levels of
arousal that are too low or too high
-​ Easy tasks: high-moderate level
-​ Difficult tasks: low-moderate level
➔​ Sensation Seeker - person who needs
more arousal
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Peak Experiences - Times in a person’s life proteins, and carbohydrates in the whole
in which self-actualization is achieved, at body, including glucose (blood sugar)
least temporarily -​ reduces the level of glucose in the
-​ the process of growth and bloodstream
self-actualization is the striving to -​ normally released in greater
make peak experiences happen amounts after eating has begun,
again and again causes a feeling of more hunger
because of the drop in blood sugar
SELF-DETERMINATION THEORY (SDT) levels
-​ Richard Ryan and Edward Deci (2000) -​ Carbohydrates cause insulin level to
-​ three inborn and universal needs that help spike even more than other foods do
people gain a complete sense of self and because there is such a large
whole, healthy relationships with others amount of glucose released by these
foods at one time
➢​ Autonomy - need to be in control of one’s -​ High blood sugar leads to more
own behavior and goals insulin released, which leads to a
-​ Ex. self-determination low blood sugar level, increased
➢​ Competence - need to be able to master appetite, and the tendency to
the challenging tasks of one’s life overeat
➢​ Relatedness - need to feel a sense of ➢​ Glucagon - hormones that are secreted by
belonging, intimacy, and security in the pancreas to control the levels of fats,
relationships with others proteins, and carbohydrates in the whole
body, including glucose (blood sugar)
➔​ Intrinsic Motivation - type of motivation in -​ increases the level of glucose in the
which a person performs an action because bloodstream
the act itself is rewarding or satisfying in ➢​ Leptin - one of the factors that controls
some internal manner appetite

HUNGER: WHY PEOPLE EAT THE ROLE OF HYPOTHALAMUS

➔​ Hypothalamus - plays a role in hunger
Physiological Components of Hunger -​ Responds to levels of glucose and
insulin in the body
➔​ Stomach contractions - “hunger pangs”
-​ Leptin - hormone that signals the
-​ Cause hunger and that the presence
hypothalamus that the body has had
of food in the stomach would stop
enough food, reducing appetite and
the contractions and appease the
increasing the feeling of being full, or
hunger drive
satiated

Although the stomach does have sensory receptors

➢​ Ventromedial Hypothalamus (VMH) -
that respond to the pressure of the stretching
involved in stopping the eating response
stomach muscles as food is piled in and that send
when glucose levels go up
signals to the brain indicating that the stomach is
➢​ Lateral Hypothalamus (LH) - influence the
full, people who have had their stomachs removed
onset of eating when insulin levels go up
still get hungry.

HORMONAL INFLUENCES
➢​ Insulin - hormones that are secreted by the
pancreas to control the levels of fats,
GONZALES, S.M.
WEIGHT SET POINT AND BASAL METABOLIC EATING DISORDERS
RATE ➢​ Anorexia Nervosa
➔​ Weight Set Point - the particular level of ➢​ Bulimia Nervosa
weight that the body tries to maintain ➢​ Binge-Eating Disorder
-​ Injury to the hypothalamus does
raise or lower the weight set point EMOTION
rather dramatically, causing either
drastic weight loss or weight gain The Three Elements of Emotion
➔​ Metabolism - the speed at which the body
➔​ Emotion - Latin: mot “to move”
burns available energy
-​ the “feeling” aspect of
➔​ Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - rate at
consciousness, characterized by
which the body burns energy when a person
three elements
is resting
●​ a certain physical arousal
-​ directly tied to the set point
●​ a certain behavior that reveals the
-​ BMR decreases: set point increases
feeling to the outside world
(if same calories are consumed)
●​ an inner awareness of the feeling

THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EMOTION

-​ an arousal is created by the sympathetic
Social Components of Hunger nervous system
-​ Convention -​ heart rate increases, breathing becomes
-​ Classical conditioning more rapid, the pupils dilate, and the mouth
-​ Appeal of food may become dry
-​ Comforting routine -​ different emotions may be associated with
-​ Cultural factors different physiological reactions
-​ Gender -​ Sadness, anger, and fear are associated
●​ Cultural customs with greater increases in heart rate than is
●​ Food preferences disgust; higher increases in skin
●​ Use of food as a comfort device or escape conductance occur during disgust as
from unpleasantness compared to happiness; and anger is more
-​ Some people may respond to the often associated with vascular measures,
anticipation of eating by producing such as higher diastolic blood pressure, as
an insulin response compared to fear

Obesity ➢​ Amygdala - a small area located within the

limbic system on each side of the brain
➔​ Obesity - a condition in which the body -​ associated with emotions such as
weight of a person is 20 percent or more fear and pleasure in both humans
over the ideal body weight for that person’s and animals
height -​ a complex structure with many
different nuclei and subdivisions,
➢​ Biological factors - heredity, hormones, whose roles have been investigated
and slowing metabolism with age primarily through studies of fear
➢​ Overeating - a major factor as food conditioning
supplies stabilize in developing countries -​ Emotional stimuli travel to the
and Western-culture lifestyles are adopted amygdala by both a fast, crude “low

GONZALES, S.M.
 road” (subcortical) and a slower but -​
seven facial expressions: anger,
more involved cortical “high road” fear, disgust, happiness, surprise,
sadness, and contempt
➔​ Display Rules - vary from culture to culture
-​ learned ways of controlling displays
of emotion in social settings

SUBJECTIVE EXPERIENCE: LABELING

EMOTION
-​ interpreting the subjective feeling by giving it
a label: anger, fear, disgust, happiness,
sadness, shame, interest, and so on
-​ Cognitive Element - the labeling process is
a matter of retrieving memories of previous
similar experiences, perceiving the context
➢​ Frontal lobe of the emotion, and coming up with a
-​ Left frontal lobe: positive emotions solution—a label
-​ Right frontal lobe: negative feelings
➢​ Hemisphere Theories of Emotion
-​ when people are asked to identify ➢​ Common Sense Theory of Emotion - a
the emotion on another person’s stimulus leads to an emotion, which then
face, the right hemisphere is more leads to bodily arousal
active than the left, particularly in ➢​ James-Lange Theory of Emotion
women -​ William James (1884, 1890, 1894)
-​ recognition of faces to the right -​ also the founder of the functionalist
hemisphere perspective in the early history of
➢​ Anterior Cingulate Cortex psychology
-​ distraction -​ Carl Lange (1885)
➢​ Lateral Prefrontal Cortex -​ A physiological reaction leads to the
-​ Reappraisal labeling of an emotion
➢​ Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion -
THE BEHAVIOR OF EMOTION: EMOTIONAL Physiologists Walter Cannon (1927) and
EXPRESSION Philip Bard (1934)
➔​ Facial expressions - can vary across -​ emotion and the physiological
different cultures, although some aspects of arousal occur more or less at the
facial expression seem to be universal same time
-​ Charles Darwin (1898) - one of the -​ Cannon: an expert in sympathetic
first to theorize that emotions were a arousal mechanisms, did not feel
product of evolution and, therefore, that the physical changes caused by
universal—all human beings, no various emotions were distinct
matter what their culture, would enough to allow them to be
show the same facial expression perceived as different emotions
because the facial muscles evolved -​ Bard: the sensory information that
to communicate specific information comes into the brain is sent
to onlookers simultaneously (by the thalamus) to
both the cortex and the organs of the
sympathetic nervous system
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Vagus nerve - one of the cranial
nerves
➢​ Schachter-Singer and Cognitive Arousal
Theory of Emotion - two things have to
happen before emotion occurs: the physical
arousal and a labeling of the arousal based
on cues from the surrounding environment
-​ two things happen at the same time,
resulting in the labeling of the
emotion
➢​ The Facial Feedback Hypothesis: Smile,
You’ll Feel Better - facial expressions
provide feedback to the brain concerning
the emotion being expressed, which in turn
causes and intensifies the emotion
➢​ Lazarus and the Cognitive-Mediational
Theory - the most important aspect of any
emotional experience is how the person
interprets, or appraises, the stimulus that
causes the emotional reaction
-​ Mediate: come between
-​ the cognitive appraisal mediates by
coming between the stimulus and
the emotional response to that
stimulus
-​ A stimulus must be interpreted by a
person in order to result in a physical
response and an emotional reaction

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 10: SEXUALITY AND GENDER (p423-454) ➔​ Primary Sex Characteristics - directly
➔​ Couvade Syndrome - a gender-defying involved in human reproduction
condition in which a man whose partner is -​ not fully developed until puberty, but
pregnant may experience a kind of are present in the infant at birth
“sympathy pregnancy”
-​ For instance, he may feel physical FEMALE
pain while his wife is in labor ➢​ Vagina - the tube leading from the
POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS outside of the body to the opening of
-​ psychiatric disorder—perhaps out of the womb
jealousy of the attention given to the ➢​ Uterus - the womb in which the
pregnant wife baby grows during pregnancy
-​ involves real biological changes ➢​ Ovaries - the female sex glands
-​ these men produce female hormones
normally associated with the production of MALE
breast milk ➢​ Penis - the organ through which
-​ a way for some men to work through their males urinate and which delivers the
feelings about impending fatherhood male sex cells or sperm
-​ may be related to how emotionally sensitive ➢​ Testes/Testicles - the male sex
they are, or prone to personal distress glands
➢​ Scrotum - an external pouch that
➔​ Human Sexual Behavior - responsible for holds the testes
the reproduction of the human race, but it is ➢​ Prostate Gland - a gland that
also one of the most important motivators of secretes most of the fluid that carries
human behavior the sperm
➔​ Gender - the psychological identification of
a person as masculine or feminine
-​ affects not only how people think of
themselves but also their
relationships with others as friends,
lovers, and coworkers, and how
those others think of them as well

THE PHYSICAL SIDE OF HUMAN SEXUALITY

The physical structures of the human sexual

system and the function of those structures differ
for females and males and develop at different
times in an individual’s life.

The Primary Sex Characteristics

➔​ Sexual Organs - include structures that are
The Secondary Sex Characteristics
present at birth and those that develop
during puberty ➔​ Secondary Sex Characteristics - develop
➔​ Puberty - the period of physiological during puberty and are only indirectly
change that takes place in the sexual involved in human reproduction
organs and reproductive system during late -​ serve to distinguish the male from
middle childhood and adolescence the female and may act as
GONZALES, S.M.
 attractants to members of the ➢​ Pubic Hair
opposite sex, ensuring that sexual ➢​ Fat Deposits - on the buttocks and thighs
activity and reproduction will occur ➢​ Growth and Development of the Primary
-​ a physical necessity for reproduction Sexual Organs
●​ Mammary Glands - in the breasts
FEMALE become capable of producing milk
-​include a growth spurt that begins at for an infant and when the menstrual
about ages 10 to 12 and finishes cycle begins
about 1 year following the first
menstrual cycle MALE
➢​ Menstrual Cycle - the blood and tissue ➢​ Deepening Voice
lining of the uterus exit the body through the ➢​ Facial, Chest, and Pubic Hair
vagina if there is no pregnancy to support ➢​ Coarser Skin Texture
●​ Menarche - first cycle ➢​ Large Increase in Height - continues
-​ occurs at an average age of beyond the growth spurt of the female
about 12 in more developed -​ male growth spurt occurs about 2
countries such as the United years later than the female growth
States spurt, but males continue to gain
➔​ Secular Trend - earlier onset of menarche height until the late teens
in more developed countries is associated ➢​ Larynx (voice box) - increases in size in
with the availability of better health care and both sexes, it increases so much in males
nutrition, and, along with an increase in that part of the tissue forming it becomes
height and weight compared to previous visible under the skin of the neck in a
generations structure known as the Adam’s apple
-​ a change or series of changes that ➢​ Onset of the Production of Sperm
takes place over a long period of ●​ Spermarche - occurring at a little
time over 14 years of age
-​ better physical health is not the only factor ➢​ Growth of Penis and Testes - eventually
in the decrease in age of menarche allow the male to function sexually and to
-​ Stress, in the form of marital strife, absentee reproduce
fathers, and increasing rates of divorce also
plays a part in speeding up the changes of Development of Sex Characteristics
puberty -​ primary sex characteristics develop as the
CONSEQUENCES embryo is growing in the womb as a result
-​ possibility of pregnancy in children at a far of the chromosomes contained within the
younger age than previously thought embryonic cells as well as hormonal
possible influences
-​ Pregnancy in adolescence is not only hard ➔​ Gonads - about 5 weeks of pregnancy
on the young mothers physically but has -​ two organs that form in the embryo
negative social impact—poverty, child -​ Two sets of ducts (tubes) also develop next
abuse and neglect, and a failure to continue to the gonads
in school, to name a few ➢​ Wolffian Ducts - can become the
male sex organs
➢​ Enlarged Breasts - about 2 years after the ➢​ Mullerian Ducts - can become the
growth spurt female sex organs
➢​ Wider Hips - allow the passage of the fetus -​ the gonads are undifferentiated—neither
through the pelvic bones fully male nor fully female—and the embryo
GONZALES, S.M.
 could potentially become either male or THE PSYCHOLOGICAL SIDE OF HUMAN SEXUALITY
female ➔​ Sex - the physical characteristics of being
-​ Deciding factor is controlled by the male or female
chromosomes ➔​ Gender - the psychological aspects of being
●​ If the chromosomes of the 23rd pair male or female
contain a Y chromosome, a gene on
that Y chromosome causes the The expectations of one’s culture, the development
gonads to release testosterone of one’s personality, and one’s sense of identity are
-​ Testosterone causes the all affected by the concept of gender.
Wolffian ducts to develop into
the male sex organs, while
Gender Roles and Gender Typing
the Müllerian ducts
deteriorate ➔​ Gender Roles - the culture’s expectations
➔​ Testosterone - a male hormone or for behavior of a person who is perceived as
Androgen male or female
➔​ Estrogens - female hormones -​ including attitudes, actions, and
●​ If the 23rd pair of chromosomes personality traits associated with a
contains two female or X particular gender within that culture
chromosomes, the Y gene is absent ➔​ Gender Typing - the process by which
so no testosterone is released, and people learn their culture’s preferences and
the gonads will develop into the expectations for male and female behavior
estrogen-secreting ovaries ➔​ Gender Identity - a sense of being male or
-​ The Müllerian ducts become female
the female sex organs while -​ process of developing is influenced
the Wolffian ducts deteriorate by both biological and environmental
factors (in the form of parenting and
➢​ Intersexed or Intersexual - an infant is other child-rearing behaviors)
born with sexual organs that are -​ which type of factor has greater
ambiguous—not clearly male or female influence is still controversial
-​ “between the sexes” -​ not always as straightforward as
-​ Hermaphroditism - previously used males who are masculine and
-​ very rare to find a person who truly females who are feminine
has both ovary and testicle material ➔​ Transgendered - does not always match
in their body their external appearance or even the sex
-​ the development of the external chromosomes that determine whether they
genitals is affected by either are male or female
chromosome defects or the ➔​ Gender Dysphoria - syndrome
presence of the wrong hormones at -​ a person experiences gender
a critical time in the development of incongruence, feeling that he or she
the fetus in the womb is occupying the body of the other
-​ a female clitoris might look more like gender, or some alternative gender
a penis, or a penis might be so small that is not the same as their
as to resemble a clitoris assigned gender, and has significant
-​ Approximately 1 out of 1,500 distress about the incongruence
children are born with this condition -​ some evidence for both prenatal
influences and early childhood
experiences as causes

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​
some people with this condition feel behavior that is typically associated with
so strongly that they are the wrong one gender or the other
gender that they have surgery to
have primary and/or secondary Using a brain-scanning technique called functional
sexual sex characteristics of the magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the
gender they feel they were always researchers found that the amygdala and
meant to be hypothalamus areas of the limbic system (areas
-​ many others prefer to receive involved in emotional and sexual responses) were
hormone treatment only or to more strongly active in men than in women who
embrace their identity as it is viewed the pictures.
➔​ Transsexuals - People who choose to alter
themselves physically through surgery or The researchers concluded that the male brain’s
hormonal treatments enhanced reaction might be a product of natural
selection, as early human males who could quickly
●​ Native American - long recognized the role recognize a sexually receptive female would have
of the male winkte had a greater opportunity to mate and pass on their
-​ not only tolerant of such different genes to their offspring.
individuals but also had important
places for them in the social Environmental Influences
structure as caretakers of children, -​ influenced by the pressures of society
as cooks, and as menders and -​ In most cultures, there are certain roles that
creators of clothing males and females are expected to play
-​ begun to be replaced with -​ the pressure that can be brought to bear on
homophobic attitudes and a person who does not conform to these
aggressive behavior toward those expectations can be tremendous
who are different in this way -​ In most Western cultures, the pressure to
➔​ Winkte - a contraction of the Lakota word be masculine is even greater for males than
winyanktehca the pressure to be feminine is for girls
-​ “to be as a woman or two-souls ➔​ Tomboy - not generally viewed as an insult,
person” but there are no terms for a boy who acts in
-​ performed certain rituals for a feminine manner that are not insulting
bestowing luck upon a hunt -​ fathers are almost always more concerned
-​ Although some may have been about their sons showing male gender
homosexuals, many were not and behavior than they are about their
would now be recognized as having daughters showing female gender behavior
an alternate gender identity or
gender dysphoria
Culture and Gender

Biological Influences -​ A person’s culture is also an environmental

influence
-​ Aside from the obvious external sexual ➔​ Individualistic Cultures - those stressing
characteristics of the genitals, there are also independence and with loose ties among
hormonal differences between men and individuals and have fairly high standards of
women living
-​ Some researchers believe that exposure to -​ becoming more nontraditional,
these hormones during fetal development especially for women in those
not only causes the formation of the sexual cultures
organs but also predisposes the infant to
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Collectivistic Cultures - stressing -​ believed that children would learn
interdependence and with strong ties their gender identities as a natural
among individuals, especially familial ties consequence of resolving the sexual
-​ more traditional views of gender conflicts of early childhood

SEX DIFFERENCES IN SCIENCE AND MATH Social Learning Theory

-​ Men have better spatial ability than women. -​ emphasizes learning through observation
Because fields like science, technology, and imitation of models, attributes
engineering, and math (often referred to as gender-role development to those
STEM) are heavily dependent upon having processes
a good spatial ability, men tend to dominate -​ Children observe their same-sex parents
these fields behaving in certain ways and imitate that
-​ Environmental Influence - cultural behavior
expectations, upbringing, and social -​ When the children imitate the appropriate
experiences gender behavior, they are reinforced with
➔​ David Reilly and David Neumann - positive attention
analyzed 12 studies of a particular aspect of -​ Inappropriate gender behavior is either
spatial ability (mental rotation) in males and ignored or actively discouraged
females from high school age through -​ parents are not the only gender-role models
young adulthood available to children. In addition to older
-​ gender roles may play a very large brothers and sisters, family friends,
part in the sex differences in spatial teachers, and peers, children are exposed
abilities to male and female behavior on television
-​ found that there are much larger and in other media
differences in spatial ability within -​ Ex. doctors are males and nurses are
one gender than can be found female far more often than the other way
between genders around
-​ found that men with a strong male
gender identity and both men and Gender Schema Theory
women with an androgynous gender -​ theory of gender-role development that
identity (one in which people see combines social learning theory with
themselves as people first and male cognitive development
or female second) were superior in -​ based on the Piagetian concept of schemes
spatial ability to those who -​ children develop a schema, or mental
possessed a strong female gender pattern, for being male or female in much
identity the same way that they develop schemas
-​ If we want to see more women going into for other concepts such as “dog,” “bird,” and
STEM fields, the answer may lie in “big”
encouraging girls to engage in play activities -​ As their brains mature, they become
that have been traditionally considered “for capable of distinguishing among various
the boys.” concepts
-​ Ex. a “dog” might at first be anything with
THEORIES OF GENDER-ROLE DEVELOPMENT four legs and a tail, but as a child
➔​ Sigmund Freud - early psychodynamic encounters dogs and other kinds of animals
theorist and is given instruction, “dog” becomes

GONZALES, S.M.
 more specific and the schema for “dog” -​ Ex. A positive stereotype for men is
becomes well defined that they are strong and protective of
-​ children develop a concept for “boy” and women, implying that women are
“girl” weak and need protection, just as
-​ Once that schema is in place, children can the positive female stereotype of
identify themselves as “boy” or “girl” and will natural nurturance of children
notice other members of that schema implies that males cannot be
-​ They notice the behavior of other “boys” or nurturing
“girls” and imitate that behavior -​ Such stereotypes, although
-​ They play with their parents and pick up on somewhat “flattering” for the sex
differences in the behavior of fathers and about whom they are held, can be
mothers harmful to the other sex
-​ Rather than being simple imitation and
reinforcement (social learning theory), Androgyny
children acquire their gender-role behavior ➔​ Psychologist Sandra Bem (1975, 1981)
by organizing that behavior around the -​ developed the concept of androgyny
schema of “boy” or “girl” to describe a characteristic of people
-​ Evidence for this theory includes the finding whose personalities reflect the
that infants can discriminate between male characteristics of both males and
and female faces and voices before age 1, females, regardless of gender
a sign that infants are already organizing -​ allows them to be more flexible in
the world into those two concepts everyday behavior and career
choices
GENDER STEREOTYPING -​ People who fall into the gender-role
➔​ Stereotype - a concept that can be held stereotypes often find themselves
about a person or group of people that is limited in their choices for problem
based on very superficial characteristics solving because of the stereotype’s
➔​ Gender Stereotypes - a concept about constraints on “proper” male or
males or females that assigns various female behavior
characteristics to them on the basis of ➔​ Androgynous Person - can make a
nothing more than being male or female decision based on the situation rather than
➔​ Male Gender Stereotypes - aggressive, on being masculine or feminine
logical, decisive, unemotional, insensitive, -​ Ex. a man, through an unhappy
nonnurturing, impatient, and mechanically circumstance, is left to raise his
talented three small children. If he is a male
➔​ Female Gender Stereotypes - illogical, who has “bought into” the male
changeable, emotional, sensitive, naturally stereotype, he has no confidence in
nurturing, patient, and all-thumbs when it his ability to bring up these children
comes to understanding machines by himself. He may rush into another
➔​ Sexism - prejudice about males and relationship with a woman just to
females provide his children with a “mother.”
➔​ Benevolent Sexism - acceptance of -​ Ex. a “traditional” female who is left
positive stereotypes can lead to this without a husband might have
-​ prejudice that is more socially difficulty in dealing with raising sons
acceptable but still leads to men and and with a task as simple as mowing
women being treated unequally the lawn

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ when traditional males, traditional -​ Girls are encouraged to form emotional
females, and androgynous people attachments, be emotional, and be open
are compared in terms of the degree about their feelings with others
of depression they experience when -​ when men talk to each other, they tend to
their lives are filled with many talk about current events, sports, and other
negative events, the androgynous events (a “report” style of communication
people report less than half the and seems to involve switching topics
depression exhibited by traditional frequently, with attempts to dominate the
men and only a third of the conversation by certain members of the
depression felt by traditional women group)
-​ women tend to use a “relate” style of
GENDER DIFFERENCES communication with each other, revealing a
lot about their private lives and showing
Cognitive Differences concern and sympathy (tend to interrupt
each other less and let everyone participate
-​ females score higher on tests of verbal
in the conversation)
abilities than do males, but that males score
-​ Men: listen with the left hemisphere only
higher on tests of mathematical skills and
-​ Women: listen with both hemispheres,
spatial skills
suggesting that women pay attention to the
-​ Early explanations involved physical
tone and emotion of statements as well as
differences in the way each sex used the
the content
two hemispheres of the brain as well as
hormonal differences
HUMAN SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
-​ Other research strongly suggests that
psychological and social issues may be ➔​ Dr. William Masters (Gynecologist) and Dr.
more responsible for these differences, as Virginia Johnson (Psychologist)
these differences have become less and -​ 1957
less obvious -​ began what would become a
-​ differences in math abilities between boys controversial study of the human
and girls have now been shown to be more sexual response in 700 men and
the effect of girls’ lack of confidence rather women volunteers
than any biological difference in the working -​ At that time in history, human
of the brain sexuality was still a relatively
-​ as society has begun to view the two forbidden topic to all but young
genders as more equal in ability is taken as adults, who were exploring the
a sign that more equal treatment in society concepts of “free love” and engaging
has reduced the gender difference in premarital sex far more openly
than in the past
Social and Personality Differences -​ devised equipment that would
-​ The differences normally cited between men measure the physical responses that
and women in the ways they interact with occur during sexual activity
others and in their personality traits are -​ used this equipment to measure
often the result of stereotyped thinking physiological activity in both men
about the sexes and women volunteers who either
-​ Boys are taught to hold in their emotions, were engaging in actual intercourse
not to cry, to be “strong” and “manly” or masturbation

GONZALES, S.M.
Sexual Response ➢​ Phase 3: Orgasm
-​ The transition between the stages is not -​ shortest of the three stages and
necessarily as well defined as the involves a series of rhythmic
descriptions of the stages might seem to muscular contractions (orgasm)
describe, and the length of time spent in any WOMEN
one phase can vary from experience to ●​ Involves the muscles of the vaginal walls
experience and person to person and can happen multiple times, lasting
slightly longer than the orgasm experience
➢​ Phase 1: Excitement of the male
-​ beginning of sexual arousal ●​ The uterus also contracts, creating a
-​ can last anywhere from 1 minute to pleasurable sensation
several hours MEN
-​ Pulse rate increases, blood pressure ●​ orgasmic contractions of the muscles in and
rises, breathing quickens, and the around the penis trigger the release of
skin may show a rosy flush, semen (the fluid that contains the male sex
especially on the chest or breast cells, or sperm)
areas ●​ typically have only one intense orgasm
WOMEN -​ Timing is also different for women
●​ clitoris swells and men, with women taking longer
●​ lips of the vagina open to reach orgasm than men, and
●​ inside of the vagina moistens in preparation women requiring more stimulation to
for intercourse achieve orgasm
MEN
●​ penis becomes erect ➢​ Phase 4: Resolution
●​ testes pull up -​ the return of the body to its normal
●​ skin of the scrotum tightens state before arousal began
-​ Nipples will harden and become -​ The blood that congested the blood
more erect in both sexes, but vessels in the various areas of the
especially in the female genitals recedes
-​ the heart rate, blood pressure, and
➢​ Phase 2: Plateau breathing all reduce to normal levels
-​ physical changes that began in the during this phase
first phase are continued WOMEN
-​ may last only a few seconds to ●​ clitoris retracts
several minutes ●​ color of the vaginal lips returns to normal
WOMEN ●​ lips close once more
●​ outer part of the vagina swells with MEN
increased amounts of blood to that area ●​ erection is lost
●​ clitoris retracts under the clitoral hood but ●​ testes descend
remains highly sensitive ●​ scrotal sac thins again
●​ outer lips of the vagina become redder in ➔​ Refractory Period - they cannot achieve
color another erection, lasting anywhere from
MEN several minutes to several hours for
●​ the penis becomes more erect different individuals
●​ release a few drops of fluid -​ The older the man gets, the longer
the refractory period tends to extend

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Women do not have a refractory -​ Some critics claimed that Kinsey
period and in fact may achieve gave far more attention to sexual
another series of orgasms if behavior that was considered
stimulation continues unusual or abnormal than he did to
“normal” sexual behavior
Different Types of Sexual Behavior -​ a face-to-face interview might cause
➔​ Study of Sexual Behavior - not the study some people being interviewed to be
of the sex act, but rather when, with whom, inhibited about admitting to certain
and under what circumstances sexual acts kinds of sexual behavior, or others
take place might exaggerate wildly, increasing
➔​ Alfred Kinsey - his original work remains the likelihood of inaccurate data
an important source of information
concerning the different ways in which ➢​ The Janus Report
people engage in the sex act -​ 1993
-​ Dr. Samuel S. Janus and Dr.
➢​ The Kinsey Study Cynthia L. Janus
-​ 1948 -​ published the results of the first
-​ Alfred Kinsey large-scale study of human sexual
-​ published a controversial report on behavior since those of Kinsey and
the results of a massive survey of colleagues (1948) and Masters and
sexual behavior collected from 1938 Johnson (1966)
forward -​ begun in 1983, sampled 3,000
-​ believed that sexual orientation was people from all 48 mainland states
not an either/or situation in which -​ ranged in age from 18 to over 65
one is either completely years old from all levels of marital
heterosexual or completely status, educational backgrounds,
homosexual but instead that sexual and geographical regions in the
orientation is on a continuum, with United States
some people falling at either -​ fewer men reported masturbating in
extreme and some falling closer to the Janus Report than did in
the middle Kinsey’s study (eighty percent
-​ used highly trained interviewers who versus ninety-two percent), but the
conducted face-to-face interviews percentage of women reporting
with the participants, who were all increased from sixty-two percent in
male in the original study Kinsey’s survey to seventy percent
-​ nearly half of the men but less than in the Janus survey
twenty percent of the women -​ Rates of premarital sex were about
reported having bisexual the same as in Kinsey’s survey, but
experiences men in the Janus survey reported
-​ More than three times as many men less extramarital sex than men in the
as women had intercourse by age Kinsey survey, while women’s
16 reporting of extramarital sex was the
-​ Men were also more likely to report same in the two surveys
engaging in premarital sex, -​ Percentages of both men and
extramarital sex, and masturbation women in the Janus survey reporting
than were women as predominantly homosexual were

GONZALES, S.M.
 also very similar to the earlier Kinsey -​ age is not necessarily a barrier to being
study sexually active
➔​ Sexual Deviance - behavior that is -​ The survey of over 3,000 people aged 57 to
unacceptable according to societal norms 85 found that many people are sexually
and expectations active well into their 80s
-​ most common barriers to sexual activity
EXPLAINING THE SURVEY FINDINGS were health problems or lack of a partner
-​ Evolutionary theory emphasizes that rather than a lack of desire
organisms will do what they must to -​ 30 percent did not consider oral sex to be
maximize their chances of passing on their sex
genetic material in their offspring, and that -​ Many older men—nearly a fourth of those
process is different for men and women surveyed—did not consider penile–vaginal
➔​ Robert Trivers - proposed a theory of intercourse to be sex
parental investment to explain the different -​ Some thought it wasn’t sex if there was no
sexual behavior of men and women orgasm
-​ Males of many species, including
humans, do not have to invest a lot Sexual Orientation
of time or effort into impregnating a ➔​ Sexual Orientation - a person’s sexual
female, so they are better attraction and affection for members of
off—genetically speaking—when either the opposite or the same sex
they seek many sexual encounters
with many sexual partners ➢​ Heterosexual - most common sexual
-​ Females, on the other hand, invest orientation
much more time and effort in -​ a person’s sexual attraction and
reproducing: the pregnancy, feeding affection for members of either the
the infants, and so on opposite or the same sex
-​ females are better off being more -​ Greek: hetero “other”
selective about the males they -​ “Other sexual”
choose for sex -​ attraction for the other sex
-​ men preferring women who are younger, -​ a socially acceptable form of sexual
prettier (immediate sexual attraction being behavior in all cultures
the big draw), and therefore are likely to
produce healthy, attractive offspring ➢​ Homosexual - sexual attraction to
-​ Women are more likely to prefer men who members of one’s own sex
are older (which means they will likely have -​ Greek: homo “same”
more income and resources), hard workers, -​ problem concerns the discrimination,
and loyal prejudice, and mistreatment that
-​ Men are much more likely than women to homosexual people face in most
have multiple sexual partners, even well into cultures, making it more likely that a
middle age, while women are more likely to homosexual person will lie about his
have fewer partners over their lifetime or her sexual orientation to avoid
-​ true for both heterosexual and homosexual such negative treatment
men and women -​ their sexual orientations are
-​ Men even think about sex differently, having exclusively or predominantly
more sexual fantasies than women and of a homosexual
greater variety as well as simply thinking
about sex more often than women
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➢​ Bisexual - be either male or female and is -​ If it is biological, either through
attracted to both sexes genetic influences or hormonal
-​ do not necessarily have influences during pregnancy, then it
relationships with both men and can be seen as a behavior that is no
women during the same period of more a choice than whether the
time and may vary in the degree of infant is born a male or a female
attraction to one sex or the other
over time ●​ Biological differences in the brains of
-​ Many bisexuals may not act on their heterosexual and homosexual males
desires but instead have a long-term -​ severe stress experienced by
monogamous relationship with only pregnant women during the second
one partner trimester of pregnancy (the time
during which the sexual differences
DEVELOPMENT OF SEXUAL ORIENTATION in genitalia are formed) results in a
-​ Although heterosexuality may be socially significantly higher chance of any
acceptable across cultures, there are male children becoming homosexual
various cultures in which homosexuality and in orientation
bisexuality are not considered acceptable -​ homosexual men and heterosexual
and in which people of those orientations women respond similarly (and quite
have faced prejudice, discrimination, differently than heterosexual men) to
harassment, and much worse a testosterone-based pheromone
(glandular chemical) that is secreted
●​ Coming to terms with their identities in perspiration
-​ seem to have great difficulty when ➔​ Epi-marks - genetic “switches” that can be
faced with being homosexual, passed on and which may be the reason
bisexual, or transgender that homosexuality tends to run in families
-​ higher risk than their heterosexual -​ control when, where, and how much
peers for substance abuse, sexually of the information contained in our
risky behavior, eating disorders, genes is expressed
suicidal thinking, and victimization by -​ There are sex-specific epi-marks
others that control the sexual
-​ When identification of one’s sense of characteristics of the fetus during
self as homosexual is paired with prenatal development
being another type of social minority -​ include not only physical sex organ
(such as Asian American or Pacific development but also sexual identity
Islander living in the United States), and sexual partner preference
the stresses and pressures are
compounded ●​ Birth order
-​ the more older brothers a man has,
●​ Product of upbringing and environmental the more likely the younger man is to
experiences be homosexual in orientation
-​ it can be assumed to be a behavior -​ with each male birth, the mother of
that can be changed, placing a these males develops a kind of
burden of choice to be “normal” or “antibody” effect against the Y
“abnormal” squarely on the chromosome and these antibodies
shoulders of homosexual people pass through the placenta and affect

GONZALES, S.M.
 the sexual orientation of the within that culture as neither man
later-born males nor woman, much as the winkte in
Lakota culture
●​ Neuroimaging studies -​ the fa’afafine far more likely than the
-​ heterosexual men and homosexual women or heterosexual men to help
women seemed neurologically their own kin rather than children in
similar general
-​ homosexual men and heterosexual
women are neurologically similar to SEXUAL DYSFUNCTIONS AND PROBLEMS
each other
➔​ Sexual Dysfunction - a problem with
sexual functioning, or with the actual
●​ Genetic influences on sexual orientation
physical workings of the sex act
-​ In studies of male and female
-​ involve problems in three possible
homosexuals who have identical
areas of sexual activity: sexual
twins, fraternal twins, or adopted
interest, arousal, and response
siblings, researchers found that 52
●​ Organic - stemming from physical
percent of the identical twin siblings
sources or disorders
were also gay, compared to 22
-​ Stress-induced dysfunction
percent of the fraternal twins and
●​ Psychogenic - related to
only 11 percent of the adopted
psychological factors such as worry
brothers and sisters
and anxiety
-​ homosexuality may be transmitted
●​ Behavioral
by genes carried on the X
chromosome, which is passed from
➢​ Paraphilia - also known as atypical
mother to son but not from father to
sexual behavior
son
-​ a condition in which the person
-​ an area on the X chromosome (in a
either prefers to, or must, achieve
location called Xq28) that contains
sexual arousal and fulfillment
several hundred genes that the
through sexual behavior that is
homosexual brothers had in
unusual or not socially acceptable
common in every case, even though
➔​ Paraphilic Disorders - arise when
other genes on that chromosome
individuals have a paraphilia that is causing
were different
distress or impairment to the individual, or
poses a risk or harm to others
●​ Male homosexuals are consistently
“feminine” as children
-​ Developmental psychologist J. Causes and Influences
Michael Bailey and Ken Zucker ➢​ Organic Factors
-​ Ex. illness or side effects from drugs
➢​ Kin Selection Hypothesis - Even though a -​ physical problems such as illnesses,
homosexual member of a family may not side effects from medication, the
reproduce himself or herself, by nurturing effects of surgeries, physical
other family members such as nieces and disabilities, and even the use of
nephews, they would be helping to continue illegal and legal drugs, such as
many of their own genes through those kin cocaine, alcohol, and nicotine
-​ Fa’afafine - men who prefer men as
sexual partners and are accepted
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Chronic illnesses such as diabetes, lack of sexual skills on the part of
cancer, or strokes also belong in this one or both partners
category of factors -​ There are a variety of physical
sexual dysfunctions included in the
➢​ Sociocultural Factors Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
-​ Ex. negative attitudes toward sexual Mental Disorders, although not
behavior directly related to the sequence or
-​ people may have experienced timing of the sexual response cycle,
instruction from their parents (both some are related to desire and
direct and indirect teaching) that arousal, others to the mechanics or
actually influenced them to form physical aspects of sexual
negative attitudes toward sex and intercourse, and some to the timing
sexual activities, such as or inability to reach orgasm
masturbation
-​ Some religious upbringing may also SEXUAL DESIRE OR AROUSAL DISORDERS
foster a sense of guilt about sex or ➢​ Female sexual interest/arousal disorder
an interest in sex ➢​ Male hypoactive sexual desire disorder
-​ the more conservative and
traditional the married couples were, PHYSICAL ACT OF INTERCOURSE DISORDERS
the less interest and pleasure they ➢​ Erectile disorder
took in sexual activity and the more ➢​ Genito-pelvic pain/penetration disorder
they experienced guilt, shame, and
sexual inhibitions TIMING OR INABILITY TO REACH ORGASM
-​ In non-Western cultures, such as DISORDERS
that of India, sex may be seen as not ➢​ Premature (early) ejaculation
only a duty of married couples but ➢​ Female orgasmic disorder
also a joy to be celebrated within the ➢​ Delayed ejaculation
context of producing children
Prevalence
➢​ Psychological Factors -​40 to 45 percent of women and 20 to 30
-​ stemming from either personality percent of men have at least one sexual
problems, traumatic events, or dysfunction, and the rate increases as we
relationship problems age
-​ include individual psychological TREATMENT
problems, such as low self-esteem, ➢​ Medication
anxiety over performance of the sex ➢​ Psychotherapy
act, depression, self-consciousness ➢​ Hormone therapy
about one’s body image, anxiety ➢​ Stress reduction
disorders, or a history of previous ➢​ Sex therapy
sexual abuse or assault ➢​ Behavioral training
-​ Ex. unresolved arguments, ➔​ Sensate Focus - treatment of premature
resentment of the partner who feels ejaculation
he or she has less power and -​ each member of a couple engages
influence over the relationship, lack in a series of exercises meant to
of trust, infidelities, lack of physical focus attention on his or her own
attractiveness to the partner, or even sensual experiences during various
stages of sexual arousal and activity
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Male Erectile Disorder - commonly treated -​ Sores that appear on or in the genital area
with drug therapy and can spread to other body parts and the
brain
SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED INFECTIONS
➢​ Gonorrhea
➔​ Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI) - an
-​ Treatable with antibiotics
infection spread primarily through sexual
CAUSE
contact
-​ Bacterial infection that grows rapidly in
-​ Some STIs affect the sex organs
warm, moist areas of the body (mouth,
themselves, whereas others have
anus, throat, genitalia)
broader and more life-threatening
SYMPTOMS
effects
-​ In men, a foul-smelling, cloudy discharge
-​ The bacterial infections are quite
from the penis, burning upon urination; in
treatable with antibiotics, but those
women, inflamed cervix, light vaginal
caused by viruses are more difficult
discharge
to treat and are often incurable
➢​ Genital Herpes
-​ Cannot be cured
-​ Increased risk of cancer
CAUSE
-​ Herpes simplex virus
SYMPTOMS
➢​ Chlamydia - most common STI and is -​ Sores on the genital area; itching, burning,
easily treated but may go undetected in throbbing, “pins-and-needles” sensations
women because there are few symptoms or where sores are about to appear
no symptoms noticed
-​ If left untreated, chlamydia can ➢​ Genital Warts
cause pelvic inflammatory -​ Cannot be cured
disorder (PID) -​ Increased risk of cancer
-​ Treatable with antibiotics CAUSE
➔​ Pelvic Inflammatory Disorder (PID) - a -​ Human papillomavirus (HPV)
condition that can damage the lining of the SYMPTOMS
uterus and the fallopian tubes as well as the -​ Warty growths on the genitalia
ovaries and other nearby structures
CAUSE ➢​ AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency
-​ Bacterial infection that grows within the Syndrome)
body’s cells -​ caused by a viral infection,
SYMPTOMS specifically the human
-​ Swollen testicles, discharge, burning during immunodeficiency virus, or HIV
urination; women may experience no -​ Drug treatments are available but no
symptoms cure
➔​ Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) - A
➢​ Syphilis person who has HIV does not necessarily
-​ Treatable with antibiotics have AIDS but is at risk for developing AIDS
CAUSE in the future
-​ Bacterial infection -​ wears down the body’s immune
SYMPTOMS system, making the body vulnerable
GONZALES, S.M.
 to “opportunistic” infections aimed at reducing the virus in the blood so
(infections caused by bacteria or that it is no longer detectable
viruses that, while harmless in a -​ While it is not a cure, this treatment
healthy immune system, will take can delay progression from HIV to
hold when the immune system is AIDS and improve immune system
weakened) health
-​ When a person with HIV develops
one of these types of infections or HOW TO STOP THE SPREAD OF STIs
when their immune system’s T-cell
➔​ Using condoms
count goes below a certain level, the
➔​ Having only one partner
person is said to have AIDS
➔​ Abstaining from sex
-​ can be transmitted to a person from
➔​ Avoiding IV drug use
anyone who has the infection, even
➔​ Knowing the symptoms of the various
if that person doesn’t look sick
diseases
➔​ Centers for Disease Control and
➔​ Getting regular physicals
Prevention (CDC)
➔​ World Health Organization (WHO)
TRANSMITTED THROUGH:
●​ Having unprotected vaginal, oral, or anal
sexual contact
●​ Sharing a contaminated needle, syringe, or
drug solution
●​ Pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding
●​ Occupational exposure (accidental needle
stick injuries or exposure to contaminated
blood or other body fluids)
●​ Blood transfusion or organ transplant (this is
extremely rare in the United States)
-​ Blood, vaginal fluid, semen, breast
milk, and other bodily fluids
containing blood are ways in which
HIV is passed from the infected
person to an uninfected person
-​ unprotected vaginal or anal sex or
sharing needles with an infected
person are the most common ways
HIV is transmitted in the United
States
CAUSE
-​ Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
SYMPTOMS
-​ Severe malfunction and eventual
breakdown of the immune system

➔​ Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy

(HAART) - a powerful “cocktail” of at least
three and sometimes more medications
GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 11: STRESS AND HEALTH (p455-488) ➢​ Eustress - results from positive events that still
➔​ Humor - a great stress reliever make demands on a person to adapt or change
➔​ Laughing - can not only significantly increase -​ Coined by Hans Selye
levels of health-protecting hormones, but also -​ New definition: the optimal amount of
just looking forward to a positive and humorous stress that people need to promote
laughing experience can significantly decrease health and well-being
levels of potentially damaging hormones
-​ repetitive, joyous laughter causes the ➔​ Stressors
body to respond as if receiving -​ Stress-causing events
moderate exercise, which enhances -​ they can come from within a person or
mood and immune system activity, from an external source and range from
lowers both bad cholesterol and blood relatively mild to severe
pressure, raises good cholesterol, and -​ can range from the deadly serious
decreases stress hormones (hurricanes, fires, crashes, combat) to
➔​ Stress - not a rare experience the merely irritating and annoying
-​ something that all people experience in (delays, rude people, losing one’s car
varying degrees every day keys)
-​ can even be imaginary
-​ Ex. a couple puts off doing their income
STRESS AND STRESSORS
tax return, imagining that they will have
➔​ Stress to pay a huge tax bill; when a parent
-​ the term used to describe the physical, imagines the worst happening to a
emotional, cognitive, and behavioral teenage child who isn’t yet home from
responses to events that are appraised an evening out
as threatening or challenging
-​ Physical problems: unusual fatigue, Two Kinds of Stressors
sleeping problems, frequent colds, and
➢​ Cause distress
even chest pains and nausea
➢​ Cause eustress
-​ Behavior: pacing, eating too much,
crying a lot, smoking and drinking more
➔​ Arousal theory - a certain level of stress, or
than usual, or physically striking out at
arousal, is actually necessary for people to feel
others by hitting or throwing things
content and function well
-​ Emotional: anxiety, depression, fear, and
-​ can be viewed in terms of eustress
irritability, as well as anger and
frustration
❖​ The Basics: Stress and Your Health: Stress
-​ Mental: problems in concentration,
and Memory
memory, and decision making, and lose
-​ studies have shown that small amounts
their sense of humor
of stress may actually improve our
-​ Some people feel the effects of stress
memory
more than others because what is
appraised as a threat by one person
might be appraised as an opportunity by Environmental Stressors
another ➢​ Catastrophes
-​ an unpredictable event that happens on
Two Kinds of Stress a large scale and creates tremendous
amounts of stress and feelings of threat
➢​ Distress - occurs when people experience
-​ Ex. Wars, hurricanes, floods, fires,
unpleasant stressors
airplane crashes, and other disasters
-​ Ex. a high level of anxiety concerning an
-​ Ex. terrorist-driven destruction of the
impending exam that actually interferes
World Trade Center in New York City on
with the ability to study or to retrieve the
September 11, 2001, Hurricane Katrina
information at exam time
on August 29, 2005, and Hurricane
GONZALES, S.M.
 (“Superstorm”) Sandy on October -​ more appropriate for adults who are
22–29, 2012 already established in their careers

➢​ Major Life Changes

-​ stress is present even in relatively
ordinary life experiences and does not
have to come from only negative events
-​ Sometimes there are big events, such
as marriage or going to college, that
also require a person to make
adjustments and changes
-​ adjustments and changes are really the
core of stress

➔​ The Social Readjustment Rating Scale

(SRRS)
-​ Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe
(1967)
-​ believed that any life event that required
people to change, adapt, or adjust their
lifestyles would result in stress
-​ assumed that both negative events
(such as getting fired) and positive
events (such as getting a promotion)
demand that a person adjust in some
way, and so both kinds of events are
associated with stress
-​ a sample of nearly 400 people
-​ devised a scale to measure the amount ➔​ The College Undergraduate Stress Scale
of stress in a person’s life by having that (CUSS)
person add up the total “life change -​ Renner & Mackin (1998)
units” associated with each major event -​ use as life events some of those things
-​ when an individual adds up the points more likely to be experienced by college
for each event that has happened to him students
or her within the past 12 months (and -​ the stressful events listed and rated
counting points for repeat events as include those that would be more
well), the resulting score can provide a common or more likely to happen to a
good estimate of the degree of stress college student
being experienced by that person
-​ certain ranges of scores on the SRRS ➢​ Hassles
could be associated with increased risk -​ the bulk of the stress we experience
of illness or accidents daily actually comes from little
-​ The risk of illness or accidents increases frustrations, delays, irritations, minor
as the score increases disagreements, and similar small
-​ score is 300 or above, that person has a aggravations
very high chance of becoming ill or
having an accident in the near future ➔​ Hassles Scale
-​ people under a lot of stress tend to be -​ Lazarus and Folkman (1984)
more distracted and less cautious and, -​ has items such as “misplacing or losing
therefore, place themselves at a greater things” and “troublesome neighbors.”
risk for having an accident

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ rate each item in the scale in terms of -​ The less control a person has, the
how much of a hassle that particular greater the degree of stress
item was for the person -​ lack of control in a situation actually
-​ ratings range between 0 (no hassle or increases stress disorder symptoms
didn’t occur) to 3 (extremely severe -​ Rodin and Langer
hassle) -​ found that those residents who
-​ the day-today minor annoyances, were given more control over
delays, and irritations that affect their lives (e.g., being able to
immediate health and well-being are far choose activities and their
better predictors of short-term illnesses timing) were more vigorous,
such as headaches, colds, backaches, active, and sociable than those
and similar symptoms in the control group
-​ it was not so much the number of daily -​ Employees at mental health clinics who
hassles that predicted headaches but have more input into and control over
rather the perceived severity of the policy changes experience less stress
hassles than those who believe themselves to
have little control
Psychological Stressors -​ When potentially stressful situations are
unpredictable (ex. police work) the
➢​ Pressure
degree of stress experienced is
-​ urgent demands or expectations for a
increased
person’s behavior coming from an
-​ an unpredictable situation is one that is
outside source
not controllable, which may at least
-​ occurs when people feel that they must
partially explain the increase in stress
work harder, faster, or do more
-​ Ex. meeting a deadline or studying for
➢​ Frustration
final exams
-​ occurs when people are blocked or
prevented from achieving a desired goal
➔​ Time Pressure
or fulfilling a perceived need
-​ one of the most common forms of
-​ The seriousness of a frustration is
pressure
affected by how important the goal or
-​ Although some people claim to “work
need actually is
well under pressure,” the truth is that
pressure can have a negative impact on
➔​ External Frustrations
a person’s ability to be creative
-​ Ex. when a car breaks down, a desired
-​ Psychologist Teresa Amabile
job offer doesn’t come through after all,
-​ gathered research within actual
or a theft results in the loss of one’s
work settings strongly indicating
belongings
that when time pressure is
-​ losses, rejections, failures, and delays
applied to workers who are
trying to come up with creative,
➔​ Internal Frustrations
innovative ideas, creativity
-​ Personal frustrations
levels decrease dramatically
-​ occur when the goal or need cannot be
-​ even though the workers may
attained because of internal or personal
think they have been quite
characteristics
productive because of the effort
-​ Ex. someone who wants to be an
they have made
astronaut might find that severe motion
sickness prevents him or her from such
➢​ Uncontrollability
a goal
-​ the degree of control that the person
has over a particular event or situation

GONZALES, S.M.
RESPONSES TO FRUSTRATIONS -​ Some people manage a psychological
●​ Persistence - the continuation of efforts to get escape or withdrawal into apathy
around whatever is causing the frustration (ceasing to care about or act upon the
-​ may involve making more intense efforts situation), fantasy (which is only a
or changing the style of response temporary escape), or the use of drugs
-​ Ex. anyone who has ever put coins into -​ Others resort to what they see as the
a vending machine only to find that the final escape: suicide
drink does not come out has probably
(1) pushed the button again, more ➢​ Conflict
forcefully, and (2) pushed several other -​ Whenever you find yourself torn
buttons in an effort to get some kind of between two or more competing and
response from the machine incompatible desires, goals, or actions
●​ Aggression - actions meant to harm or destroy
➔​ Frustration–aggression hypothesis ➔​ Approach–Approach Conflict
-​ a connection between -​ a person experiences desire for two
frustration and aggression goals, each of which is attractive
-​ believed that some form of -​ often called a “win–win situation”
frustration nearly always -​ relatively easy to resolve and does not
precedes aggression, that does involve a great deal of stress
not mean that frustration always -​ Because both goals are desirable, the
leads to aggression only stress involved is having to choose
-​ aggression is a frequent and between them, acquiring one and losing
persistent response to the other
frustration, but it is seldom the -​ Ex. need to choose between the
first response chocolate cake or key lime pie for
-​ frustration creates an internal dessert
“readiness to aggress” but that -​ “Six on one hand, half a dozen on the
aggression will not follow unless other”
certain external cues are also
present ➔​ Avoidance–Avoidance Conflict
-​ Ex. if the human source of a -​ Much more stressful
person’s frustration is far larger -​ the choice is between two or more goals
and stronger in appearance or events that are unpleasant
than the frustrated person, -​ so common that there are numerous
aggression is an unlikely phrases to symbolize it
outcome -​ “caught between a rock and a hard
➔​ Displaced Aggression place,” “between the devil and the deep
-​ take out one’s frustrations on blue sea,” “out of the frying pan into the
less threatening, more available fire,” and “lose–lose situation”
targets -​ Ex. fearful of dental procedures might
-​ Such targets often become face the conflict of suffering the pain of a
scapegoats toothache or going to the dentist
➔​ Scapegoats - habitual targets -​ Because neither alternative is pleasant,
of displaced aggression many people avoid making a choice by
-​ often pets, children, delaying decisions
spouses, and even
minority groups ➔​ Approach–Avoidance Conflict
●​ Escape or Withdrawal -​ only involve one goal or event
-​ can take the form of leaving, dropping -​ That goal or event may have both
out of school, quitting a job, or ending a positive and negative aspects that make
relationship the goal appealing and yet unappealing
at the same time.
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Ex. marriage is a big decision to make -​ studied the sequence of physiological
for anyone and usually has both its reactions that the body goes through
attractive features, such as when adapting to a stressor
togetherness, sharing good times, and
companionship, and also its negative ➔​ General Adaptation Syndrome
aspects, such as disagreements, money -​ a classic theory of the body’s
issues, and mortgages physiological reactions to stress
-​ the most stressful of all of the types of -​ Consists of three stages
conflict, causing many people to
vacillate or be unable to decide for or ➢​ Alarm
against the goal or event -​ When the body first reacts to a stressor,
the sympathetic nervous system is
➔​ Multiple Approach–Avoidance Conflicts activated
-​ When the choice is between two goals -​ adrenal glands release hormones that
that have both positive and negative increase heart rate, blood pressure, and
elements to each goal the supply of blood sugar, resulting in a
-​ Ex. a person had the choice of buying a burst of energy
house out in the country or in the city -​ Reactions such as fever, nausea, and
-​ Each choice has both good and bad headache are common
points ➢​ Resistance
-​ This type of conflict also tends to lead to -​ As the stress continues, the body settles
vacillation into sympathetic division activity,
-​ Fairly common continuing to release the stress
-​ one would have more than two goals or hormones that help the body fight off, or
options to consider, making the decision resist, the stressor
even more difficult and stressful -​ early symptoms of alarm lessen and the
person or animal may actually feel
PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS better
-​ This stage will continue until the stressor
➔​ Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) - part of ends or the organism has used up all of
the human nervous system that is responsible its resources
for automatic, involuntary, and life-sustaining -​ one of the hormones released under
activities stress, noradrenaline
●​ Sympathetic - the “fightor-flight” system (norepinephrine), actually seems to
-​ reacts when the human body is affect the brain’s processing of pain, so
subjected to stress: Heart rate that when under stress a person may
increases, digestion slows or experience a kind of analgesia
shuts down, and energy is sent (insensitivity to pain)
to the muscles to help deal with ➢​ Exhaustion
whatever action the stressful -​ When the body’s resources are gone,
situation requires exhaustion occurs
●​ Parasympathetic - returns the body to -​ can lead to the formation of
normal, day-to-day functioning after the stress-related diseases (e.g., high blood
stress is ended pressure or a weakened immune
system) or the death of the organism if
The General Adaptation Syndrome outside help is unavailable
➔​ Hans Selye -​ When the stressor ends, the
-​ founder of the field of research parasympathetic division activates and
concerning stress and its effects on the the body attempts to replenish its
human body resources

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Alarm and resistance are stages that people -​ stress triggers the same response in the
experience many times throughout life, allowing immune system that infection triggers
people to adapt to life’s demands -​ Certain enzymes and other chemicals
-​ It is the prolonged secretion of the stress (including antibodies) are created by
hormones during the exhaustion stage that can immune cells when the immune cells, or
lead to the most harmful effects of stress white blood cells, encounter an infection
-​ convinced other researchers of the connection in the body
between stress and certain diseases of -​ The white blood cells surround the
adaptation bacteria or other infectious material and
-​ The most common of these diseases are ulcers release the chemicals and enzymes into
and high blood pressure the bloodstream
-​ From there, these chemicals activate
receptor sites on the vagus nerve (the
longest nerve that connects the body to
the brain)
-​ It is the activation of these receptor sites
that signals the brain that the body is
sick, causing the brain to respond by
further activation of the immune system

➔​ Stress
-​ activates this same system but starts in
the brain rather than in the bloodstream
-​ the same chemical changes that occur
in the brain when it has been alerted by
the vagus nerve to infection in the body
occurred in laboratory animals when
they were kept isolated from other
animals or given electric shocks
-​ has the effect of “priming” the immune
system, allowing it to more successfully
resist the effects of the stress, as in
Selye’s resistance stage of the GAS

➔​ Hormones
-​ also play a part in helping the immune
system fight the effects of stress
-​ a hormone called
Immune System and Stress dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA),
known to provide antistress benefits in
➔​ Immune System
animals, also aids humans in stress
-​ the system of cells, organs, and
toleration—perhaps by regulating the
chemicals in the body that responds to
effects of stress on the hippocampus
attacks on the body from diseases and
(part of the limbic system)
injuries
-​ Affected by stress
POSITIVE EFFECT OF STRESS
➔​ Psychoneuroimmunology
-​ positive effects of stress on the immune system
-​ the study of the effects of psychological
only seem to work when the stress is not a
factors such as stress, emotions,
continual, chronic condition
thinking, learning, and behavior on the
-​ As stress continues, the body’s resources begin
immune system
to fail in the exhaustion phase of the general
adaptation to stress
GONZALES, S.M.
-​ The suppression of immune system functioning become less efficient as the body size
by stress apparently can continue even after the increases
stress itself is over -​ can respond favorably to proper diet,
-​ One reason that the early stress reaction is exercise, and weight loss, but may also
helpful but prolonged stress is not might be that require medication
the stress reaction, in evolutionary terms, is -​ Typically, it is associated with older
really only “designed” for a short-term response, adults, but with the rise in obesity
such as running from a predator among children, more cases of Type 2
-​ Humans experience the stress reaction over diabetes in children are now occurring
prolonged periods of times and in situations that -​ not only is associated with mental
are not necessarily life-threatening, leading to a decline in middle-aged individuals, but
breakdown in the immune system there is also indication that stress can
compound the risk of that mental decline
➢​ Heart Disease
-​ Stress has been shown to put people at ➢​ Cancer
a higher risk of coronary heart disease -​ not one disease but rather a collection
(CHD) of diseases that can affect any part of
➔​ Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) - the buildup of the body
a waxy substance called plaque in the arteries of -​ Unlike normal cells, which divide and
the heart reproduce according to genetic
-​ This relationship is at least in part instructions and stop dividing according
because the liver, which is not activated to those same instructions, cancer cells
while the sympathetic nervous system is divide without stopping
aroused, does not have a chance to -​ resulting tumors affect the normal
clear the fat and cholesterol from the functioning of the organs and systems
bloodstream, leading to clogged arteries they invade, causing them to fail,
and eventually the possibility of heart eventually killing the organism
attacks or strokes -​ stress itself cannot directly give a
person cancer, stress can have a
➢​ Diabetes suppressing effect on the immune
-​ weight problems may also become system, making the unchecked growth
associated with stress of cancer more likely
-​ chronic illness sometimes associated ➔​ Natural Killer (NK) Cell
with excessive weight gain, specifically -​ an immune-system cell
Type 2 Diabetes -​ Has as its main functions the
-​ Controllable, but is a serious disorder suppression of viruses and the
that has now been associated with an destruction of tumor cells
increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, -​ Stress has been shown to depress the
although memory loss appears to be release of natural killer cells, making it
slower for diabetic Alzheimer patients more difficult for the body’s systems to
than for nondiabetic Alzheimer’s fight cancerous growths
patients ➔​ Adrenaline
-​ Hormone
➔​ Type 1 Diabetes -​ released under stress and has been
-​ associated with failure of the pancreas found to interfere with a protein that
to secrete enough insulin, necessitating normally would suppress the growth of
medication, and is usually diagnosed cancer cells
before the age of 40 -​ stress has been linked to the release of
➔​ Type 2 Diabetes hormones such as adrenaline and
-​ associated with excessive weight gain noradrenaline that, over time, can cause
and occurs when pancreas insulin levels mistakes

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ such as damage to the telomeres, -​ want to know how to prevent illness, and
structures at the ends of chromosomes how factors like poverty, wealth, religion,
that control the number of times a cell social support, personality, and even
can reproduce in the instructions given one’s ethnicity can affect health
by the genes to the cells of the body
THE INFLUENCE OF COGNITION AND PERSONALITY IN
-​ Stress may impact the effectiveness of STRESS
cancer treatments as well
Cognitive Factors In Stress: Lazarus’ Cognitive
➢​ Other Health Issues Appraisal Approach
-​ children in families experiencing
ongoing stress are more likely to ➢​ Cognitive-Mediational Theory
develop fevers with illness than are -​ Cognitive Psychologist Richard
other children Lazarus
-​ in children, stress actually seems to -​ a cognitive view of stress
improve the function of their natural -​ the way people think about and appraise
killer cells, just the opposite effect that is a stressor is a major factor in how
seen in adults stressful that particular stressor
-​ found stress to be a contributing factor becomes
in a variety of human diseases and -​ two-step process in assessing the
disorders, including heart disease, degree of threat or harm of a stressor
depression, and HIV/AIDS and how one should react to that
stressor

HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY
➔​ Primary Appraisal
➔​ Health Psychology -​ involves estimating the severity of the
-​ focuses on how our physical activities, stressor and classifying it as a threat
psychological traits, and social (something that could be harmful in the
relationships affect our overall health future), a challenge (something to be
and rate of illnesses met and defeated), or a harm or loss
-​ Psychologists who specialize in this field that has already occurred
are typically clinical or counseling -​ Threat: negative emotions may arise
psychologists and may work with that inhibit the person’s ability to cope
medical doctors in a hospital or clinic with the threat
setting, although there are health -​ Challenge: possible to plan to meet that
psychologists who are primarily challenge, which is a more positive and
engaged in teaching and research less stressful approach
-​ Some focus on health and wellness -​ Perceiving a stressor as a challenge
issues in the workplace or public health instead of a threat makes coping with
issues such as disease prevention the stressor (or the harm it may already
through immunizations or nutrition have caused) more likely to be
education successful
-​ Others are more concerned with -​ perceiving the stressor as an
health-care programs that service all embarrassment, or imagining future
levels of the socioeconomic layers of failure or rejection, is more likely to lead
society to increased stress reactions, negative
-​ seek to understand how behavior (such emotions, and an inability to cope well
as use of drugs, optimism, personality, ➔​ Secondary Appraisal
or the type of food one eats) can affect a -​ people who have identified a threat or
person’s ability to fight off illnesses or harmful effect must estimate the
increase the likelihood of getting sick resources that they have available for
coping with the stressor

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Resources might include social support, -​ feel a constant sense of pressure and
money, time, energy, ability, or any have a strong tendency to try to do
number of potential resources, several things at once
depending on the threat -​ Often successful but frequently
-​ If resources are perceived as adequate unsatisfied, they always seem to want to
or abundant, the degree of stress will be go faster and do more, and they get
considerably less than if resources are easily upset over small things
missing or lacking -​ finds it difficult to relax and do nothing
-​ take work with them on vacation, a
laptop to the beach, and do business
over the phone in the car
➔​ Type B
-​ not that competitive or driven, tend to be
easygoing and slow to anger, and seem
relaxed and at peace
-​ more likely to take a book to the beach
to cover up their face than to actually
read the book

COMPARISON
-​ Type A men were 3 times more likely to develop
heart disease than were Type B men
-​ Framingham Heart Study
-​ the risk of coronary heart disease for
women who work and are also Type A is
four times that of Type B working
women
-​ Hostility
-​ Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory
-​ a personality test that looks for certain
characteristics that include the level of
hostility

➔​ Type C
Personality Factors In Stress
-​ Temoshok and Dreher (1992)
-​ personality was almost as important to longevity -​ associated with a higher incidence of
as were genetic, physical, or lifestyle factors cancer
-​ tend to be very pleasant and try to keep
TYPE A AND TYPE B the peace but find it difficult to express
-​ Medical Doctors Meyer Freidman and Ray emotions, especially negative ones
Rosenman -​ tend to internalize their anger and often
-​ Type A Behavior and Your Heart experience a sense of despair over the
-​ book was the result of studies spanning loss of a loved one or a loss of hope
three decades of research into the -​ Often lonely
influence of certain personality -​ These personality characteristics are
characteristics on coronary heart strongly associated with cancer, and
disease people who have cancer and this
personality type often have thicker
➔​ Type A cancerous tumors as well
-​ Workaholics -​ Just as the stress of hostility puts the
-​ very competitive, ambitious, hate to cardiovascular systems of Type A
waste time, and are easily annoyed people at greater risk, the internalized
GONZALES, S.M.
 negative emotions of the Type C -​optimism is associated with longer life
personality may increase the levels of and increased immune-system
harmful stress hormones, weaken the functioning
immune system, and slow recovery -​ being optimistic to higher levels of
helper T cells (immune system cells that
Many of the characteristics of the Type A personality, for direct and increase the functioning of
example, fit the description of a major personality trait the immune system) and higher levels of
called neuroticism. natural killer cells, the body’s antivirus,
❖​ Neuroticism - the tendency to worry, be moody, and anticancer cells
and be emotionally intense ➔​ Learned Helplessness
-​ these characteristics are associated with an -​ Martin Seligman
increased risk of an earlier death because -​ social learning psychologist
people with these traits engage in poor health -​ began the positive psychology
habits—poor diet, excessive drinking, smoking, movement
and lack of exercise, to name a few -​ the tendency to stop trying to achieve a
goal that has been blocked in the past
➔​ The Hardy Personality
-​ Some people actually seem to thrive on FOUR WAYS OPTIMISM AFFECT HOW LONG A
stress instead of letting stress wear PERSON LIVES
them down 1.​ less likely to develop learned helplessness
-​ Psychologist Suzanne Kobasa (1979) 2.​ more likely than pessimists to take care of their
-​ Type H health by preventive measures (such as going to
the doctor regularly, eating right, and exercising)
DIFFER IN THREE WAYS (THREE Cs OF because they believe that their actions make a
HARDINESS) difference in what happens to them
-​ a deep sense of commitment to their values, 3.​ far less likely than pessimists to become
beliefs, sense of identity, work, and family life depressed, and depression is associated with
-​ feel that they are in control of their lives and mortality because of the effect of depression on
what happens to them the immune system
-​ tend to interpret events in primary appraisal 4.​ more effectively functioning immune systems
differently than people who are not hardy; when than pessimists do, perhaps because they
things go wrong, they do not see a frightening experience less psychological stress
problem to be avoided but instead a challenge to
be met and answered ➢​ Pessimists
-​ seem to expect the worst to happen
➔​ Commitment
-​ makes a person more willing to make SOCIAL FACTORS IN STRESS
sacrifices and to deal with hardships
than if commitment were lacking -​ much of the stress in everyday life comes from
➔​ Control having to deal with other people and with the
-​ uncontrollability is one of the major rules of social interaction
factors cited as increasing stress -​ Ex. overcrowding can cause road rage
➔​ Challenge ➔​ Road Rage - a criminal act of assault by drivers
-​ Seeing events as challenges rather than against other drivers, which can result in serious
problems also changes the level of injuries or even death
stress experienced
➢​ Poverty
-​ Lack of sufficient money to provide the
Explanatory Style: Optimists and Pessimists
basic necessities of life can lead to
➢​ Optimists many stressors for both adults and
-​ people who always tend to look for children
positive outcomes

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​overcrowding, lack of medical care, trying to form a positive relationship with
increased rates of disabilities due to members of the majority culture
poor prenatal care, noisy environments, -​ acculturative stress is usually low
increased rates of illness, violence, and ➔​ Assimilation
substance abuse -​ the minority person gives up the old
➢​ Job Stress cultural identity and completely adopts
-​ stresses associated with the workplace the majority culture’s ways
that add to daily stressors -​ moderate levels of stress, most likely
-​ workload, a lack of variety or due to the loss of cultural patterns and
meaningfulness in work, lack of control rejection by other members of the
over decisions, long hours, poor minority culture who have not chosen
physical work conditions, racism, assimilation
sexism, and lack of job security ➔​ Separation
-​ Physical: headaches, high blood -​ a pattern in which the minority person
pressure, indigestion, and other physical rejects the majority culture’s ways and
symptoms tries to maintain the original cultural
-​ Psychological: anxiety, irritability, identity
anger, depression, and other -​ Members of the minority culture refuse
psychological symptoms to learn the language of the dominant
-​ Behavioral: overeating, drug use, poor culture, and they live where others from
job performance, or changes in family their culture live, socializing only with
relationships others from their original culture
-​ results in a fairly high degree of stress,
➔​ Burnout and that stress will be even higher if the
-​ negative changes in thoughts, emotions, separation is forced (by discrimination
and behavior as a result of prolonged from the majority group) rather than
stress or frustration, resulting in both voluntary (self-imposed withdrawal from
mental and physical exhaust the majority culture)
-​ symptoms of burnout are extreme ➔​ Marginalized
dissatisfaction, pessimism, lowered job -​ greatest acculturative stress
satisfaction, and a desire to quit -​ neither maintaining contact with their
-​ The emotional exhaustion associated original culture nor joining the majority
with burnout can be lessened when a culture
person at risk of burnout is a member, -​ essentially live on the “margins” of both
within the work environment, of a social cultures without feeling or becoming part
group that provides support and also the of either culture
motivation to continue to perform -​ do not have the security of the familiar
despite being exhausted culture of origin or the acceptance of the
majority culture and may suffer a loss of
How Culture Affects Stress identity and feel alienated from others
-​ have little in the way of a social-support
➔​ Acculturation
system to help them deal with both
-​ the process of adapting to a new or
everyday stresses and major life
different culture, often the dominant
changes
culture
➔​ Acculturative Stress
-​ stress resulting from the need to change Positive Benefits of Social Support
and adapt to the dominant or majority ➔​ Social-support System
culture -​ the network of friends, family members,
➔​ Integration neighbors, coworkers, and others who
-​ the individual tries to maintain a sense can offer help to a person in need
of the original cultural identity while also

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ That help can take the form of advice, -​ works for stressors that are
physical or monetary support, uncontrollable and for which
information, emotional support, love and problem-focused coping is not possible
affection, or companionship -​ using emotion-focused coping may
-​ having a good social-support system is decide to view the stressor as a
of critical importance in a person’s ability challenge rather than a threat, decide
to cope with stressors that the problem is a minor one, write
-​ People with good social-support down concerns in a journal, or even
systems are less likely to die from ignore the problem altogether
illnesses or injuries than those without -​ Ex. using humor
such support
-​ Ex. marriage: a good predictor of Meditation and Relaxation as a Coping Mechanism
healthy aging and longevity
➢​ Meditation
-​ Lupus: a chronic inflammatory disease
-​ a series of mental exercises meant to
that can affect nearly any part of the
refocus attention and achieve a
body
trancelike state of consciousness
-​ people who experience warmer, more
-​ can produce a state of relaxation that
pleasant and upbeat emotions tend to
can aid in coping with the physiological
have better health
reactions to a stressful situation
-​ Social support can make a stressor
-​ When properly meditating, brain waves
seem less threatening because people
change to include more theta and alpha
with such support know that there is
waves (indicating deep relaxation), but
help available. Having people to talk to
little to no delta waves, which would
about one’s problems reduces the
indicate deep sleep
physical symptoms of stress and talking
➔​ Concentrative Meditation
with people who have had similar
-​ form of meditation best known to the
experiences can help put the event into
general public
perspective
-​ the goal is to focus the mind on some
repetitive or unchanging stimulus (such
COPING WITH STRESS as a spot or the sound of one’s own
heart beating) so that the mind can
Coping Strategies forget daily hassles and problems and
➔​ Coping Strategies - actions that people can the body can relax
take to master, tolerate, reduce, or minimize the -​ Herbert Benson
effects of stressors, and they can include both -​ meditation produces a state of
behavioral strategies and psychological relaxation in which blood
strategies pressure is lowered, alpha
waves (brain waves associated
➢​ Problem-Focused Coping with relaxation) are increased,
-​ to work on eliminating or changing the and the amounts of melatonin
stressor itself secreted at night (the hormone
-​ eliminate the source of a stress or that helps induce sleep) are
reduce its impact through their own increased
actions
➢​ Emotion-Focused Coping -​ reduce the levels of chronic pain, reduce the
-​ a strategy that involves changing the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and hostility,
way a person feels or emotionally reacts and reduce stress levels in cancer patients
to a stressor
-​ reduces the emotional impact of the ➢​ Progressive Muscle Relaxation
stressor and makes it possible to deal -​ focus on tensing and then relaxing each
with the problem more effectively of your muscle groups, usually

GONZALES, S.M.
 beginning with the feet and working your 2.​ involves the rituals and rites that help people
way up the body feel better about personal weaknesses, failures,
-​ Purpose is to help people recognize the or feelings of inadequacy
difference between tense muscles and -​ confession of sins or prayer services
relaxed ones during times of stress

➢​ Visualization 3.​ increase the likelihood that a person will

-​ use your imagination to “go” to a calm, volunteer to help others, and feel stronger and
peaceful place or situation, using as better in many ways
many of your senses as you can
4.​ religious beliefs can give meaning to things that
How Culture Affects Coping otherwise seem to have no meaning or purpose,
such as viewing death as a pathway to a
●​ Vietnamese
paradise, or the destruction of one’s home in a
-​ include rituals, consulting a
natural disaster as a reminder to place less
fortune-teller, or eating certain foods
attachment on material things
●​ Asian
-​ meditation is a common stress-relief
tool, including the art of tai chi, a form of WAYS TO BECOME AN OPTIMISTIC THINKER
meditational exercise -​ monitor one’s own thinking
●​ Thai -​ Recognition of negative thoughts
-​ twice as likely to use emotion-focused -​ disputing those same negative thoughts
coping methods when facing powerful
adults 1.​ When a bad mood strikes, stop and think about
●​ Northern Ireland what just went through your head.
-​ blame themselves when experiencing 2.​ When you’ve recognized the negative
stress over social issues but also use statements, treat them as if they came from
more social/emotional support someone else—someone who is trying to make
●​ Colombia your life miserable. Think about the damage the
-​ used more problem-focused coping, as statement is doing to you.
well as spiritual support and taking 3.​ Argue with those thoughts. Challenge each
social action negative statement and replace it with a more
positive statement.
How Religion Affects Coping
-​ A belief in a higher power can also be a source
of great comfort in times of stress

1.​ most people who hold strong religious beliefs

belong to a religious organization and attend
regular religious functions, such as services at a
synagogue, mosque, temple, or church
-​ membership can be a vital part of a
person’s social-support system
-​ People do not feel alone in their
struggle, both literally because of the
people who surround them in their
religious community and spiritually
because of the intangible presence of
their deity

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 12: SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY (p489-536) ➢​ Asch’s Classic Study on Conformity
➔​ Bystander Effect - well-known principle in -​ Solomon Asch (1951)
social psychology -​ the first of his classic studies on
-​ The likelihood of someone who is in conformity by having seven participants
trouble being helped decreases as the gather in a room
number of witnesses or bystanders -​ the number of confederates mattered
increases -​ Conformity increased with each new
confederate until there were four
confederates; more than that did not
SOCIAL INFLUENCE: CONFORMITY, GROUP BEHAVIOR,
increase the participants’ tendency to
COMPLIANCE, AND OBEDIENCE
conform
➔​ Social Psychology -​ conformity greatly decreased if there
-​ looks at behavior and mental processes was just one confederate who gave the
but includes as well the social world in correct answer
which we exist, as we are surrounded -​ if participants knew that there was at
by others to whom we are connected least one other person whose answer
and by whom we are influenced in so agreed with their own, the evidence of
many ways their own eyes won out over the
-​ scientific study of how a person’s pressure to conform to the group
behavior, thoughts, and feelings
influence and are influenced by social ➔​ Normative Social Influence
groups -​ the need to act in ways that we feel will
➔​ Social Influence let us be liked and accepted by others
-​ A process where interactions provide -​ We use the behavior and attitudes of
ample opportunity for the presence of other people as our “measuring stick” of
other people to directly or indirectly what is “normal”
influence the behavior, feelings, and ➔​ Informational Social Influence
thoughts of each individual -​ we take our cues for how to behave
-​ The mere presence of others, whether from other people when we are in a
real or merely implied, can even situation that is not clear or is
influence the way people perform tasks ambiguous
successfully or unsuccessfully -​ the behavior of the people around us
provides us with information about how
Conformity we should act, and so we conform to
their actions
➔​ Conformity
-​ changing one’s own behavior to more
closely match the actions of others The Hazards of Groupthink
❖​ Social Psychologist Muzafer Sherif ➔​ Groupthink
-​ 1936 -​ occurs when people within a group feel
-​ conducted a study in which participants it is more important to maintain the
were shown into a darkened room and group’s cohesiveness than to consider
exposed to a single point of light the facts realistically
-​ Under those conditions, a point of light -​ Ex. Titanic (assumed she was
will seem to move because of tiny, unsinkable and did not even bother to
involuntary movements of the eye include enough lifeboats on board for all
➔​ Confederate - a person chosen by the the passengers)
experimenter to deliberately manipulate the
situation WHY DOES GROUPTHINK HAPPEN
-​ Social psychologist Irving Janis (1972, 1982)
-​ originally gave the phenomenon its
name

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ group members may come to feel that the group Group Behavior
can do no wrong, is morally correct, and will ➢​ Group Polarization
always succeed, creating the illusion of -​ Once called the “risky shift”
invulnerability phenomenon
-​ tend to hold stereotyped views of those who -​ the tendency for members involved in a
disagree with the group’s opinions, causing group discussion to take somewhat
members to think that those who oppose the more extreme positions and suggest
group have no worthwhile opinions riskier actions when compared to
-​ exert pressure on individual members to individuals who have not participated in
conform to group opinion, prevent those who a group discussion
might disagree from speaking up, and even -​ Ex. jury (if members of a jury individually
censor themselves so that the group’s mindset favored a relatively low amount of
will not be disturbed in a “don’t rock the boat” punitive damages before deliberation,
mentality after deliberation the amount usually
-​ Self-appointed “mind guards” work to protect the lessened further; if the individual jurors
leader of the group from contrary viewpoints favored stiffer penalties, the deliberation
process resulted in even higher
CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPTHINK penalties)
●​ Invulnerability - Members feel they cannot fail -​ due to both normative social influence
●​ Rationalization - Members explain away and informational social influence
warning signs and help each other rationalize
their decision ➢​ Social Facilitation and Social Loafing
●​ Lack of introspection - Members do not -​ Social influence can affect the success
examine the ethical implications of their decision or failure of an individual’s task
because they believe that they cannot make performance within a group
immoral choices -​ The perceived difficulty of the task
●​ Stereotyping - Members stereotype their seems to determine the particular effect
enemies as weak, stupid, or unreasonable of the presence of others as well
●​ Pressure - Members pressure each other not to -​ If a task is perceived as easy, the
question the prevailing opinion presence of other people seems to
●​ Lack of disagreement - Members do not improve performance
express opinions that differ from the group -​ If the task is perceived as difficult, the
consensus presence of others actually has a
●​ Self-deception - Members share in the illusion negative effect on performance
that they all agree with the decision ➔​ Social Facilitation - positive influence of others
●​ Insularity - Members prevent the group from on performance
hearing disruptive but potentially useful -​ occurs because the presence of others
information from people who are outside the creates just enough increased arousal
group to improve performance
➔​ Social Impairment - the negative influence of
MINIMIZE THE POSSIBILITY OF GROUPTHINK others on performance
-​ leaders should remain impartial -​ the presence of others when the task is
-​ the entire group should seek the opinions of difficult produces too high a level of
people outside the group arousal, resulting in impaired
-​ Any voting should be done by secret ballots performance
rather than by a show of hands In both, the presence of other people acts to increase
-​ it should be made clear that group members will arousal.
be held responsible for decisions made by the ➔​ Social Loafing - people who are lazy tend not
group to do as well when other people are also
working on the same task, but they can do quite
well when working on their own

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ it is easier for a lazy person (a “loafer”) are quite likely to comply because they
to hide laziness when working in a have already agreed to the smaller one
group of people, because it is less likely and they want to behave consistently
that the individual will be evaluated with their previous response
alone -​ the first small request acts as an opener
-​ when the social loafer is working alone, -​ Ex. Door-to-door salespeople once
the focus of evaluation will be on that literally stuck a foot in the door to
person only prevent the occupant from shutting it so
-​ In that case, the loafer works harder they could continue their sales pitch
because there is no one else to whom -​ people in individualist cultures are more
the work can be shifted likely to comply with the second request
-​ depends heavily on the assumption that than are people in collectivist cultures
personal responsibility for a task is -​ people in collectivist cultures are not as
severely lessened when working with a concerned with being consistent with
group of other people previous behavior because they are less
focused on their inner motivation than
➢​ Deindividuation are people in individualist cultures, who
-​ the lessening of their sense of personal are more concerned with their inner
identity and personal responsibility motives and consistency
-​ can result in a lack of self-control when
in the group that would not be as likely ➢​ Door-in-the-face Technique
to occur if the individual were acting -​ the larger request comes first, which is
alone usually refused
-​ People in a crowd feel a degree of -​ followed by a second smaller and more
anonymity—being unknown and reasonable request that often gets
unidentified—and are more likely to act compliance
impulsively as a result -​ Ex. if the neighbor first asked you to
-​ One only has to think about behavior of take care of his dog and cat in your
people in a riot or even the actions of home. After you refused to do so, the
groups neighbor might ask if you would at least
water his plants, which you would now
Compliance be more likely to do

➔​ Consumer Psychology
➢​ Lowball Technique
-​ devoted to figuring out how to get
-​ once a commitment is made, the cost of
people to buy things that someone is
that commitment is increased
selling
-​ Ex. a professor agrees to write a
➔​ Compliance
textbook for a publishing company; buy
-​ occurs when people change their
the car at one low price is quickly
behavior as a result of another person
followed by the addition of other costs
or group asking or directing them to
change
-​ The person or group asking for the Anatomy of a Cult
change in behavior typically doesn’t ➔​ Cult - refers to any group of people with a
have any real authority or power to particular religious or philosophical set of beliefs
command a change and identity
➔​ Obedience - when the authority exists and -​ Negative connotation: A group of people
behavior is changed as a result whose religious or philosophical beliefs
and behavior are so different from that
➢​ Foot-in-the-door Technique of mainstream organizations that they
-​ When compliance with a smaller request are viewed with suspicion and seen as
is followed by a larger request, people

GONZALES, S.M.
 existing on the fringes of socially ideas, people, objects, and situations
acceptable behavior and can include opinions, beliefs, and
biases
STEPS -​ influence the way people view these
1.​ Love-bombing: shower the recruits with affection things before they’ve actually been
and attention and claim to understand just how exposed to them
the potential cult members feel -​ not something people have when they
2.​ Efforts are made to isolate the recruits from are born
family and friends who might talk them out of -​ learned through experiences and
joining contact with others and even through
3.​ Teach their members how to stop questioning direct instruction from parents, teachers,
thoughts or criticisms, which are typically seen and other important people in a person’s
as sins or extremely undesirable behavior life
-​ Because attitudes involve a positive or
Obedience negative evaluation of things, it’s
possible to go into a new situation, meet
➔​ Obedience
a new person, or be exposed to a new
-​ changing one’s behavior at the direct
idea with one’s “mind already made up”
order of an authority figure (social
to like or dislike, agree or disagree, and
power)
so on
-​ Ex. children’s attitudes on food
➢​ Milgram’s Shocking Research
-​ Social Psychologist Stanley Milgram
➢​ The ABC Model of Attitudes
-​ designed what has become one of the
1.​ Affective Component
most famous experiments in the history
-​ the way a person feels toward
of psychology
the object, person, or situation
➔​ Affect - “emotions” or “feelings”;
EVALUATION OF MILGRAM’S RESEARCH
emotional component
-​ may have been due to the same kind of
-​ Ex. some people might feel that
foot-in-the-door technique of compliance as
country music is fun and
discussed earlier, with participants more likely to
uplifting
go on with each next demanding step of the
2.​ Behavior Component
experiment because they had already agreed to
-​ the action that a person takes in
the smaller increments of shock
regard to the person, object, or
situation
SOCIAL COGNITION: ATTITUDES, IMPRESSION -​ Ex. a person who feels that
FORMATION, AND ATTRIBUTION country music is fun is likely to
➔​ Social Cognition listen to a country music station,
-​ focuses on the ways in which people buy country music MP3s, or go
think about other people and how those to a country music concert
cognitions influence behavior toward 3.​ Cognitive Component
those other people -​ the way a person thinks about
him or herself, an object, or a
Attitudes situation
-​ These thoughts, or cognitions,
➔​ Attitudes include beliefs and ideas about
-​ a tendency to respond positively or the focus of the attitude
negatively toward a certain idea, person, -​ Ex. the country music lover
object, or situation might believe that country music
-​ developed through peoples’ experiences is superior to other forms of
as they live and work with others, can music
affect the way they behave toward those

GONZALES, S.M.
Attitudes turn out to be pretty poor predictors of actual ➔​ Persuasion
behavior in a number of controlled research studies. The -​ the process by which one person tries to
results of several decades of research indicate that what change the belief, opinion, position, or
people say and what people do are often two very course of action of another person
different things. through argument, pleading, or
-​ Ex. doctors who say that people should do explanation
everything they can to protect their health and
promote wellness, yet many doctors still smoke FACTORS OF PERSUASION
tobacco, fail to exercise, and often get too little ➢​ Source
sleep ➔​ Communicator - the person delivering
the message
Some attitudes are stronger than others, and strong -​ a strong tendency to give more weight
attitudes are more likely to predict behavior than weak to people who are perceived as experts,
ones. as well as those who seem trustworthy,
attractive, and similar to the person
Attitude Formation receiving the message
➢​ Message
-​ the result of a number of different influences with
-​ actual message should be clear and
only one thing in common
well organized
-​ Forms of learning
-​ usually more effective to present both
sides of an argument to an audience
➢​ Direct Contact - direct contact with the person,
that has not yet committed to one side
idea, situation, or object that is the focus of the
or the other
attitude
-​ Messages that are directed at producing
-​ Ex. a child who tries and dislikes
fear are more effective if they produce
brussels sprouts will form a negative
only a moderate amount of fear and also
attitude about brussels sprouts
provide information about how to avoid
the fear-provoking consequences
➢​ Direct Instruction - either by parents or some
other individual
➢​ Target Audience
-​ Ex. Parents may tell their children that
-​ characteristics of the people who are the
smoking cigarettes is dangerous and
intended target of the message of
unhealthy
persuasion
-​ Ex. age of the audience members
➢​ Interaction with Others - the person is around
-​ people who are in the young adult stage
other people with that attitude
of the late teens to the mid-20s are
-​ Ex. If a person’s friends all hold the
more susceptible to persuasion than are
attitude that smoking is cool, that person
older people
is more likely to think that smoking is
cool as well
➢​ Medium
-​ form through which a person receives a
➢​ Vicarious Conditioning (Observational
message
Learning)
-​ Ex. seeing and hearing a politician’s
-​ the observation of other people’s actions
speech on television may have a very
and reactions to various objects, people,
different effect than simply reading
or situations
about it in the newspaper or online
-​ Ex. a child whose mother shows a fear
of dogs may develop a similar fear
➢​ Elaboration Likelihood Model
-​ it is assumed that people either
Attitude Change elaborate (add details and information)
-​ Because attitudes are learned, they are also based on what they hear (the facts of
subject to change with new learning the message) or they do not elaborate
GONZALES, S.M.
 at all, preferring to pay attention to the wooden spools and turning wooden
surface characteristics of the message pegs
(length, who delivers it, how attractive -​ After the hour, the experimenters asked
the message deliverer is, etc.) the participant to tell the female
volunteer in the waiting room that the
TYPES OF PROCESSING IN THIS MODEL task was enjoyable
➢​ Central-route Processing
-​ people attend to the content of the ➔​ Self-perception Theory
message -​ Daryl Bem
➢​ Peripheral-route Processing -​ instead of experiencing negative
-​ a style of information processing that tension, people look at their own actions
relies on peripheral cues (cues outside and then infer their attitudes from those
of the message content itself) actions
-​ such as the expertise of the message ➔​ Left Frontal Cortex
source, the length of the message, and -​ where language and much of our
other factors that have nothing to do decision making occurs
with the message content -​ particularly active when people have
-​ causes people not to pay attention to made a decision that reduces
the message itself but instead to base dissonance and then acted upon that
their decisions on those peripheral decision
factors
Impression Formation
Cognitive Dissonance ➔​ Impression Formation
➔​ Cognitive Dissonance -​ the forming of the first knowledge a
-​ an emotional discomfort person has about another person
-​ Ex. When people find themselves doing -​ includes assigning the other person to a
things or saying things that don’t match number of categories and drawing
their idea of themselves as smart, nice, conclusions about what that person is
or moral likely to do
-​ an inconsistency in cognitions ➔​ Primacy Effect - The first time people meet
➔​ Dissonance - a term referring to an someone, they form an impression of that
inconsistency or lack of agreement person, often based on physical appearance
-​ the resulting tension and arousal are alone, that persists even though they may later
unpleasant, and their motivation is to have other contradictory information about that
change something so that the person
unpleasant feelings and tension are
reduced or eliminated ➢​ Social Categorization
-​ the assignment of a person to some
THREE THINGS TO REDUCE COGNITIVE kind of category or group
DISSONANCE -​ This assignment is usually based on
1.​ Change their conflicting behavior to make it characteristics the new person has in
match their attitude common with other people or groups
2.​ Change their current conflicting cognition to with whom the perceiver has had prior
justify their behavior experience
3.​ Form new cognitions to justify their behavior -​ mostly automatic and occurs without
conscious awareness of the process
➔​ Psychologist Leon Festinger and colleague ➔​ Stereotype - a belief that a set of
James Carlsmith (1959) characteristics is shared by all members
-​ each male student volunteer was given of a particular social category
an hour-long, very boring task of sorting -​ very limiting, causing people to
misjudge what others are like

GONZALES, S.M.
 and often to treat them -​ it is the person’s internal personality
differently as a result characteristics that are seen as the
cause of the observed behavior
➢​ Implicit Personality Theories -​ Ex. late: careless of a person’s and
-​ The basis of the categories into which other’s time
people place others
-​ sets of assumptions that people have ➢​ Fundamental Attribution Error
about how different types of people, -​ best-known attributional bias
personality traits, and actions are all -​ the tendency for people observing
related and form in childhood someone else’s actions to overestimate
-​ Ex. happy people are also friendly the influence of that person’s internal
people and people who are quiet are characteristics on behavior and
shy underestimate the influence of the
-​ Schemas: mental patterns that situation
represent what a person believes about -​ Actor-observer Bias - the tendency to
certain “types” of people use situational attributions instead of
❖​ Implicit Association Test personal
-​ a test designed to measure the implicit -​ we are the actor, not the
attitudes that make up one’s implicit observer
personality theory -​ people tend to explain the
-​ taken by computer, measures the actions of others based on what
degree of association between certain “kind” of person they are rather
pairs of concepts than looking for outside causes,
such as social influences or
Attribution situations
-​ Ex. cheating
➔​ Attribution - the process of explaining both
one’s own behavior and the behavior of other
MAKING ATTRUBTION ERRORS LESS LIKELY
people
1.​ notice how many other people are doing the
same thing
CAUSES OF BEHAVIOR
-​ if a lot of people are doing it, it is
➢​ Attribution Theory
probably caused by an outside factor
-​ Social Psychologist Fritz Heider
2.​ think about what you would do in the same
(1958)
situation
-​ a way of not only explaining why things
happen but also why people choose the
particular explanations of behavior that SOCIAL INTERACTION: PREJUDICE AND
they do DISCRIMINATION
●​ Situational Cause
-​ the cause of behavior is assumed to be Defining Prejudice and Discrimination
from external sources ➔​ Prejudice - when a person holds an
-​ such as the weather, traffic, educational unsupported and often negative stereotyped
opportunities, and so on attitude about the members of a particular social
-​ observed behavior is assumed to be group
caused by whatever situation exists for -​ attitude
the person at that time ➔​ Discrimination - when prejudicial attitudes
-​ Ex. late: heavy traffic or car problems cause members of a particular social group to
●​ Dispositional Cause be treated differently than others in situations
-​ the cause of behavior is assumed to that call for equal treatment
come from within the individual -​ Behavior that can result from that
attitude

GONZALES, S.M.
Discrimination can be controlled and in some cases -​ Prejudice may result from the need to
eliminated, but the prejudicial attitude that is responsible increase one’s own self-esteem by
for the discrimination cannot be so easily controlled or looking down on others
eliminated.
1.​ Social Categorization
Types of Prejudice and Discrimination -​ Just as people assign categories to
others to help organize information
➔​ In-groups - all the people with whom a
about those others, people also assign
particular person identifies
themselves to social categories to help
➔​ Out-groups - everyone else
determine how they should behave
-​ usually going to become stereotyped
2.​ Identification or Social Identity
according to some superficial
-​ Social Identity - the part of the
characteristic, such as skin color or hair
self-concept that includes the view of
color, and getting rid of a stereotype
oneself as a member of a particular
once formed is difficult at best
social group within the social
➔​ Scapegoating - a person or a group, typically a
category—typically, the in-group
member or members of an out-group, who
3.​ Social Comparison
serves as the target for the frustrations and
-​ people compare themselves favorably to
negative emotions of members of the in-group
others to improve their own self-esteem
-​ going to be the group of people with the
-​ Ex. “Well, at least I’m better off than that
least power, and the newest immigrants
person”
to any area are typically those who have
-​ Members of the out-group make handy
the least power at that time
comparisons

How People Learn Prejudice ➢​ Stereotype Vulnerability

➢​ Social Cognitive Theory -​ Stereotype - the widespread beliefs a
-​ using cognitive processes in relation to person has about members of another
understanding the social world group
-​ prejudice is seen as an attitude that is -​ Not only do stereotypes affect
formed as other attitudes are formed, the way people perceive other
through direct instruction, modeling, and people, but also stereotypes can
other social influences on learning affect the way people see
themselves and their
➢​ Realistic Conflict Theory performance
-​ increasing prejudice and discrimination -​ the effect that a person’s knowledge of
are closely tied to an increasing degree another’s stereotyped opinions can have
of conflict between the in-group and the on that person’s behavior
out-group when those groups are -​ when people are aware of stereotypes
seeking a common resource, such as that are normally applied to their own
land or available jobs group by others, they may feel anxious
about behaving in ways that might
➢​ Social Identity Theory support that stereotype
-​ three processes are responsible for the -​ Self-fulfilling prophecy - the effect that
formation of a person’s identity within a expectations can have on outcomes
particular social group and the attitudes, -​ Stereotype threat - members of a
concepts, and behavior that go along stereotyped group are made anxious
with identification with that group and wary of any situation in which their
-​ explain why people feel the need to behavior might confirm a stereotype
categorize or stereotype others,
producing the in-group sense of “us Overcoming Prejudice
versus them” that people adopt toward
-​ best weapon against prejudice is education
out-groups
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ learning about people who are different from you The Rules of Attraction
in many ways ➢​ Physical Attractiveness
-​ Intergroup contact - ex. College setting: -​ physical beauty is one of the main
students and faculty from many different factors that influence individuals’
backgrounds live, work, and study together. choices for selecting people they want
Because they go through many of the same to know better, although other factors
experiences (midterms, finals, and so on), may become more important in the later
people from these diverse backgrounds find stages of relationships
common ground to start building friendships and ➢​ Proximity
knowledge of each other’s cultural, ethnic, or -​ The closer together people are
religious differences physically, the more likely they are to
form a relationship
➢​ Equal Status Contact -​ refers to being physically near someone
-​ “Robber’s Cave” else
-​ they were all in the same situation with -​ People choose friends and lovers from
neither group holding power over the the pool of people available to them,
other and availability depends heavily on
-​ shown to reduce prejudice and proximity
discrimination, along with ongoing, -​ Mere Exposure Effect - the idea of
positive cooperation repeated exposure to new stimuli
-​ personal involvement with people from -​ The more people experience
another group must be cooperative and something, whether it is a song,
occur when all groups are equal in a picture, or a person, the more
terms of power or status to have a they tend to like it
positive effect on reducing prejudice -​ “It grew on me”
-​ When people are in physical proximity to
➢​ The “Jigsaw Classroom” each other, repeated exposure may
-​ students have to work together to reach increase their attraction to each other
a specific goal ➢​ Similarity
-​ each student is given a “piece of the -​ People tend to like being around others
puzzle,” or information that is necessary who are similar to them in some way
for solving the problem and reaching the -​ The more people find they have in
goal common with others—such as attitudes,
-​ Students then share their information beliefs, and interests—the more they
with other members of the group tend to be attracted to those others
-​ Interaction between diverse students is -​ makes sense when seen in terms of
increased, making it more likely that validation of a person’s beliefs and
those students will come to see each attitudes
other as partners and form friendly -​ When other people hold the same
relationships rather than labeling others attitudes and beliefs and do the same
as members of an out-group and kinds of actions, it makes a person’s
treating them differently own concepts seem more correct or
valid
LIKING AND LOVING: INTERPERSONAL ATTRACTION -​ Complementary: characteristics in the
one person that fill a need in the other
➔​ Interpersonal Attraction
➢​ Reciprocity of Liking
-​ Liking or having the desire for a
-​ people have a very strong tendency to
relationship with someone else
like people who like them, a simple but
powerful concept
-​ liking produced more liking
-​ The only time that liking someone does
not seem to make that person like the
GONZALES, S.M.
 other in return is if a person suffers from -​
often the basis for a more lasting
feelings of low self-worth relationship
-​ finding out that someone likes you when -​ Western cultures: the ideal relationship
you don’t even like yourself makes you begins with liking, then becomes
question his or her motives romantic love as passion is added to the
-​ This mistrust can cause you to act mix, and finally becomes a more
unfriendly to that person, which makes enduring form of love as a commitment
the person more likely to become is made
unfriendly to you in a kind of self-fulfilling ➢​ Companionate Love
prophecy -​ intimacy and commitment
-​ people who like each other, feel
Love Is A Triangle: Robert Sternberg’s Triangular emotionally close to each other, and
Theory of Love understand one another’s motives have
made a commitment to live together,
➔​ Love
usually in a marriage relationship
-​ Dictionary: refer to a strong affection for
-​ often the binding tie that holds a
another person due to kinship, personal
marriage together through the years of
ties, sexual attraction, admiration, or
parenting, paying bills, and lessening
common interests
physical passion
➔​ Robert Sternberg
➢​ Consummate Love
-​ all three components of love are present
The Three Components Of Love -​ the ideal form of love that many people
➢​ Intimacy see as the ultimate goal
-​ the feelings of closeness that one has -​ the kind of love that may evolve into
for another person or the sense of companionate love when the passion
having close emotional ties to another lessens during the middle years of a
-​ not physical but psychological relationship’s commitment
-​ Friends have an intimate relationship
because they disclose things to each AGGRESSION AND PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR
other that most people might not know,
they feel strong emotional ties to each
Aggression
other, and they enjoy the presence of
the other person ➔​ Aggression
➢​ Passion -​ When one person hurts or tries to
-​ the physical aspect of love destroy another person deliberately,
-​ the emotional and sexual arousal a either with words or with physical
person feels toward the other person behavior
-​ not simply sex; holding hands, loving -​ One common cause of aggressive
looks, and hugs can all be forms of behavior is frustration (occurs when a
passion person is prevented from reaching some
➢​ Commitment desired goal)
-​ the decisions one makes about a ➔​ Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis
relationship -​ concept of aggression as a reaction to
-​ short-term decision: “I think I’m in love” frustration
-​ long-term decision: “I want to be with -​ Ex. pain
this person for the rest of my life” ➔​ Sigmund Freud
-​ believed that aggression was a basic
human instinct, part of our death instinct
The Love Triangles
➔​ Famed Sociobiologist Konrad Lorenz (1966)
➢​ Romantic Love -​ saw aggression as an instinct for
-​ intimacy and passion are combined fighting to promote the survival of our
-​ passionate love species

GONZALES, S.M.
Aggression and Biology help someone in trouble decreases as
The frontal lobes, amygdala, and other structures of the number of bystanders increases
the limbic system have been shown to trigger -​ If only one person is standing by, that
aggressive responses when stimulated in both animals person is far more likely to help than if
and humans. there is another person, and the addition
➔​ Testosterone - a male sex hormone of each new bystander decreases the
-​ has been linked to higher levels of possibility of helping behavior even
aggression in humans more
-​ Bibb Latané and John Darley
The Power of Social Roles
➔​ Diffusion of Responsibility
➔​ Social Learning Theory -​ the phenomenon in which a person fails
-​ explanation for aggression states that to take responsibility for either action or
aggressive behavior is learned (in a inaction because of the presence of
process called observational learning) other people who are seen to share the
by watching aggressive models get responsibility
reinforced for their aggressive behavior -​ a form of attribution in which people
➔​ Social Role explain why they acted (or failed to act)
-​ the pattern of behavior that is expected as they did because of others
of a person who is in a particular social
position
Five Decision Points in Helping Behavior
-​ Ex. doctor

Prosocial Behavior
➔​ Prosocial Behavior
-​ far more pleasant form of human social
interaction
-​ socially desirable behavior that benefits ➔​ Noticing
others rather than brings them harm -​ Realizing that there is a situation that
➔​ Altruism might be an emergency
-​ helping someone in trouble with no -​ Ex. Hearing a loud crash or a cry for
expectation of reward and often without help
fear for one’s own safety ➔​ Defining an Emergency
➢​ Temporoparietal Junction (TPJ) -​ Interpreting the cues as signaling an
-​ larger in individuals who make altruistic emergency
choices, particularly in the right -​ Ex. Loud crash is associated with a car
hemisphere accident, people are obviously hurt
-​ more active during decision making that ➔​ Taking Responsibility
involved a greater cost of helping the -​ Personally assuming the responsibility
individual to act
-​ located where the temporal and parietal -​ Ex. A single bystander is much more
lobes meet likely to act than when others are
-​ a key neural structure involved in present
competitive behavior ➔​ Planning a Course of Action
-​ Deciding how to help and what skills
Why People Won’t Help might be needed
-​ Ex. People who feel they have the
➔​ Bystander Effect
necessary skills to help are more likely
-​ refers to the finding that the likelihood of
to help
a bystander (someone observing an
➔​ Taking Action
event and close enough to offer help) to
-​ Actually helping

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Ex. Costs of helping (e.g., danger to
self) must not outweigh the rewards of
helping

➔​ Ambiguity
-​ the more ambiguity in a situation, the
less likely it will be defined as an
emergency
➔​ Mood of bystanders
-​ People in a good mood are generally
more likely to help than people in a bad
mood, but oddly enough, they are not as
likely to help if helping would destroy the
good mood
➔​ Gender
-​ women more likely to receive help than
men if the bystander is male, but not if
the bystander is female
➔​ Physically attractive
-​ more likely to be helped
-​ Victims who look like “they deserve what
is happening” are also less likely to be
helped

SOCIAL NEUROSCIENCE

➔​ Social Neuroscience
-​ the study of how our bodies and brains
work during social behavior
➔​ Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging
(fMRI)
-​ a brain-scanning technique that allows
not only the structure but also the
functioning of the living brain to be
examined during various tasks and
activities

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 13: THEORIES OF PERSONALITY (p537-572) and personal thought processes also
➔​ Personality - the sum total of who you are influence learning and personality
-​ your attitudes and reactions, both ➢​ Humanistic Perspective
physical and emotional -​ first arose as a reaction against the
-​ what makes each person different from psychoanalytic and behaviorist
every other person in the world perspectives
-​ the unique way in which each individual -​ focuses on the role of each person’s
thinks, acts, and feels throughout life conscious life experiences and choices
-​ an area of the still relatively young field in personality development
of psychology in which there are several ➢​ Trait Perspective
ways in which the characteristic -​ differs from the other three in its basic
behavior of human beings can be goals
explained -​ more concerned with the end
➔​ Character result—the characteristics themselves
-​ refers to value judgments made about a -​ some trait theorists assume that traits
person’s morals or ethical behavior are biologically determined, others make
➔​ Temperament no such assumption
-​ the enduring characteristics with which The psychodynamic, behaviorist, and humanistic
each person is born perspectives all seek to explain the process that causes
-​ Ex. irritability or adaptability personality to form into its unique characteristics.
-​ based in one’s biology, either through
genetic influences, prenatal influences, THE MAN AND THE COUCH: SIGMUND FREUD AND THE
or a combination of those influences ORIGINS OF THE PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE
-​ forms the basis upon which one’s larger ➔​ Sigmund Freud
personality is built -​ born and raised in Europe during the
Both character and temperament are vital parts of Victorian Age, a time of sexual
personality. Every adult personality is a combination of repression
temperaments and personal history of family, culture, -​ came to believe that there were layers
and the time during which they grew up. of consciousness in the mind
-​ belief in the influence of the
➔​ Hippocrates and Galen unconscious mind on conscious
-​ believed that temperament or behavior
personality was related to the relative -​ Psychopathology of Everyday Life
balance of the four physical humors of
the body: blood, black bile, yellow
The Unconscious Mind
bile, and phlegm
-​ Freud believed that the mind was divided into
three parts
Traditional Perspectives in Personality Theory
-​ Preconscious, Conscious, and Unconscious
➢​ Psychodynamic Perspective
-​ Sigmund Freud ➔​ Conscious Mind
-​ focuses on the role of the unconscious -​ no one really disagreed with the idea of
mind in the development of personality a conscious mind
-​ heavily focused on biological causes of -​ one’s current awareness exists
personality differences ➔​ Preconscious Mind
➢​ Behaviorist Perspective -​ containing memories, information, and
-​ based on the theories of learning events of which one can easily become
-​ focuses on the effect of the environment aware
on behavior and as addressed here, ➔​ Unconscious Mind
includes aspects of social cognitive -​ there is a part of the mind that remains
theory in that interactions with others hidden at all times, surfacing only in
symbolic form in dreams and in some of
GONZALES, S.M.
 the behavior people engage in without ➢​ Ego: The Executive Director
knowing why they have done so -​ Latin: “I”
-​ Even when a person makes a -​ to deal with reality
determined effort to bring a memory out -​ mostly conscious and is far more
of the unconscious mind, it will not rational, logical, and cunning than the id
appear directly ➔​ Reality Principle - the need to satisfy
-​ the most important determining factor in the demands of the id only in ways that
human behavior and personality will not lead to negative consequences
-​ sometimes the ego decides to
Freud’s Divisions of the Personality deny the id its desires because
the consequences would be
painful or too unpleasant
-​ “if it feels good, do it, but only if
you can get away with it”

➢​ Superego: The Moral Watchdog

-​ third and final part of the personality
-​ the moral center of personality
-​ Latin: “over the self”
-​ develops as a preschool-aged child
learns the rules, customs, and
expectations of society
➔​ Conscience - the part of the personality
that makes people feel guilt, or moral
anxiety, when they do the wrong thing
-​ It is not until the conscience develops
➢​ ID
that children have a sense of right and
-​ If it feels good, do it
wrong
-​ first and most primitive part of the
personality
The Angel, The Devil, and Me: How The Three Parts
-​ present in the infant
of the Personality Work Together
-​ Latin: “it”
-​ a completely unconscious, -​ the id is usually a little devil, the superego an
pleasure-seeking, amoral part of the angel, and the ego is the person or animal
personality that exists at birth caught in the middle, trying to decide what
-​ containing all of the basic biological action to take
drives -​ the id makes demands, the superego puts
-​ Ex. hunger, thirst, self-preservation, and restrictions on how those demands can be met,
sex and the ego has to come up with a plan that will
-​ Difficult to retrieve material quiet the id but satisfy the superego
-​ well below the surface of awareness -​ Sometimes the id or the superego does not get
-​ Infants are demanding, irrational, its way, resulting in a great deal of anxiety for the
illogical, and impulsive ego itself
-​ They want their needs satisfied -​ This constant state of conflict is Freud’s view of
immediately, and they don’t care about how personality works
anyone else’s needs or desires -​ it is only when the anxiety created by this conflict
➔​ Pleasure Principle - the desire for gets out of hand that disordered behavior arises
immediate gratification of needs with no ➔​ ID - being portrayed as the devil but not “evil”
regard for the consequences -​ it is concerned with survival and
-​ “If it feels good, do it” immediate gratification

GONZALES, S.M.
Defense Mechanisms ➢​ Regression
➔​ Psychological Defense Mechanisms -​ falling back on childlike patterns as a
-​ ways of dealing with anxiety through way of coping with stressful situations
unconsciously distorting one’s -​ Ex. Four-year-old Blaine starts wetting
perception of reality his bed after his parents bring home a
-​ Anna Freud (Sigmund Freud’s new baby
daughter) ➢​ Identification
-​ one of the most important tools for -​ trying to become like someone else to
dealing with the anxiety caused by the deal with one’s anxiety
conflict -​ Ex. Samantha really admires Emily, the
most popular girl in school, and tries to
➢​ Denial copy her behavior and dress
-​ refusal to recognize or acknowledge a ➢​ Compensation (Substitution)
threatening situation -​ trying to make up for areas in which a
-​ Ex. Pat is an alcoholic who denies being lack is perceived by becoming superior
an alcoholic in some other area
➢​ Repression -​ Ex. Ethan is not good at athletics, so he
-​ “pushing” threatening or conflicting puts all of his energies into becoming an
events or situations out of conscious academic scholar
memory ➢​ Sublimation
-​ Ex. Regan, who was sexually abused as -​ turning socially unacceptable urges into
a child, cannot remember the abuse at socially acceptable behavior
all -​ Ex. Ryder, who is very aggressive,
➢​ Rationalization becomes a mixed martial arts fighter
-​ making up acceptable excuses for
unacceptable behavior Stages of Personality Development
-​ Ex. “If I don’t have breakfast, I can have ➔​ Psychosexual Stages
that piece of cake later on without -​ determined by the developing sexuality
hurting my diet” of the child
➢​ Projection -​ At each stage, a different erogenous
-​ placing one’s own unacceptable zone (area of the body that produces
thoughts onto others, as if the thoughts pleasurable feelings) becomes
belonged to them and not to oneself important and can become the source of
-​ Ex. Britni is attracted to her sister’s conflicts
husband but denies this and believes ➔​ Fixation
the husband is attracted to her -​ Conflicts that are not fully resolved can
➢​ Reaction Formation result to this
-​ forming an emotional reaction or attitude -​ getting “stuck” to some degree in a
that is the opposite of one’s threatening stage of development
or unacceptable actual thoughts
-​ Ex. Charley is unconsciously attracted ➢​ Oral Stage (First 18 Months)
to Sean but outwardly voices an -​ erogenous zone is the mouth
extreme hatred of homosexuals -​ Conflict: over weaning (taking the
➢​ Displacement mother’s breast away from the child,
-​ expressing feelings that would be who will now drink from a cup)
threatening if directed at the real target -​ Weaning that occurs too soon or too late
onto a less threatening substitute target can result in too little or too much
-​ Ex. Sandra gets reprimanded by her satisfaction of the child’s oral needs,
boss and goes home to angrily pick a resulting in the activities and personality
fight with her husband traits associated with an orally fixated
adult personality

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Ex. overeating, drinking too much, chain -​ Oedipus - king in a Greek tragedy who
smoking, talking too much, nail biting, unknowingly killed his father and
gum chewing, and a tendency to be married his mother
either too dependent and optimistic -​ The sexual attraction is not that of an
(when the oral needs are overindulged) adult male for a female but more of a
or too aggressive and pessimistic (when sexual curiosity that becomes mixed up
the oral needs are denied) with the boy’s feelings of love and
affection for his mother
➢​ Anal Stage (18 to 36 Months) -​ his jealousy of his father leads to
-​ erogenous zone moves from the mouth feelings of anxiety and fears that his
to the anus father, a powerful authority figure, might
-​ children got a great deal of pleasure get angry and do something terrible
from both withholding and releasing -​ To deal with this anxiety, the boy will
their feces at will repress his sexual feelings for his
-​ Conflict: toilet training, the demand that mother and identify with his father
the child use the toilet at a particular ➔​ Electra Complex - Girls go through a similar
time and in a particular way process with their father as the target of their
➔​ Anal Expulsive Personality affections and their mother as the rival
-​ someone who sees messiness as a -​ The result of identification is the
statement of personal control and who is development of the superego, the
somewhat destructive and hostile internalized moral values of the
-​ Ex. The child who rebels openly will same-sex parent
refuse to go in the toilet -​ If a child does not have a same-sex
➔​ Anal Retentive Personality parent with whom to identify, or if the
-​ No mess, no punishment opposite-sex parent encourages the
-​ As adults, they are stingy, stubborn, and sexual attraction, fixation can occur
excessively neat -​ Fixation in this stage involves immature
-​ Ex. some children are terrified of making sexual attitudes as an adult
a mess and rebel passively—refusing to
go at all or retaining the feces ➢​ Latency Stage (6 Years to Puberty)
-​ children will remain in this stage of
➢​ Phallic Stage (3 to 6 Years) hidden, or latent, sexual feelings
-​ erogenous zone shifts to the genitals -​ children grow and develop intellectually,
-​ Children have discovered the physically, and socially but not sexually
differences between the sexes by now -​ boys play only with boys, girls play only
-​ most have also engaged in perfectly with girls, and each thinks the opposite
normal self-stimulation of the genitals, or sex is pretty awful
masturbation
-​ awakening of sexual curiosity and ➢​ Genital Stage (Puberty On)
interest in the genitals -​ the sexual feelings that were once
-​ Greek: phallos “penis” repressed can no longer be ignored
➔​ Castration Anxiety - when boys realized that -​ Bodies are changing and sexual urges
the little girl down the street had no penis they are once more allowed into
developed a fear of losing the penis consciousness, but these urges will no
➔​ Penis Envy - girls develop this because they longer have the parents as their targets
were missing a penis -​ the focus of sexual curiosity and
-​ Conflict: awakening sexual feelings of attraction will become other
the child adolescents, celebrities, and other
➔​ Oedipus Complex - boys develop both sexual objects of adoration
attraction to their mothers and jealousy of their -​ represented the final process in Freud’s
fathers during this stage personality theory, as well as the entry
into adult social and sexual behavior
GONZALES, S.M.
The Neo-Freudians -​ Firstborn children with younger
➔​ Psychoanalysis siblings feel inferior once those
-​ the term Freud applied to both his younger siblings get all the attention and
explanation of the workings of the often overcompensate by becoming
unconscious mind and the development overachievers
of personality and the therapy he based -​ Middle children have it slightly easier,
on that theory getting to feel superior over the
➔​ Neo-Freudians dethroned older child while dominating
-​ “new” Freudian psychoanalysts younger siblings; They tend to be very
competitive
➢​ Carl Gustav Jung -​ Younger children are supposedly
-​ disagreed with Freud about the nature pampered and protected but feel inferior
of the unconscious mind because they are not allowed the
-​ believed that the unconscious held freedom and responsibility of the older
much more than personal fears, urges, children
and memories
-​ not only a personal unconscious, as ➢​ Karen Horney
described by Freud, but a collective -​ disagreed with Freudian views about the
unconscious as well differences between males and females
➔​ Collective Unconscious - contains a and most notably with the concept of
kind of “species” memory, memories of penis envy
ancient fears and themes that seem to ➔​ Womb Envy - men felt the need to
occur in many folktales and cultures compensate for their lack of
➔​ Archetype - collective, universal human child-bearing ability by striving for
memories success in other areas
●​ Anima (the feminine side of a ➔​ Basic Anxiety - created in a child born
man) & Animus (the masculine into a world that is so much bigger and
side of a woman) more powerful than the child
●​ Shadow - the dark side of -​ people whose parents gave
personality, called the “devil” in them love, affection, and
Western cultures security would overcome this
●​ Persona - The side of one’s anxiety
personality that is shown to the ➔​ Neurotic Personalities - developed in
world people with less secure up-bringings
-​ maladaptive ways of dealing
➢​ Alfred Adler with relationships
-​ also in disagreement with Freud over -​ Some children try to deal with their
the importance of sexuality in anxiety by moving toward people,
personality development becoming dependent and clingy
-​ developed the theory that as young, -​ Others move against people, becoming
helpless children, people all develop aggressive, demanding, and cruel
feelings of inferiority when comparing -​ A third way of coping would be to move
themselves to the more powerful, away from people by withdrawing from
superior adults in their world personal relationships
-​ The driving force behind all human
endeavors, emotions, and thoughts was ➢​ Erik Erikson
not the seeking of pleasure but the -​ an art teacher who became a
seeking of superiority psychoanalyst by studying with Anna
-​ Defense mechanism of compensation Freud
-​ also developed a theory that the birth -​ also broke away from Freud’s emphasis
order of a child affected personality on sex, preferring instead to emphasize

GONZALES, S.M.
 the social relationships that are person brings into the situation from
important at every stage of life earlier experiences
➔​ Reciprocal Determinism
Current Thoughts on Freud and the Psychodynamic -​ The three factors each affect the other
Perspective two in a reciprocal, or give-and-take,
relationship
➔​ Interpretation of Dreams
➔​ Free Association - talking about anything
without fear of negative feedback

THE BEHAVIORIST AND SOCIAL COGNITIVE VIEW OF

PERSONALITY

➔​ Behaviorists - researchers who use the

principles of conditioning to explain the actions
and reactions of both animals and humans
-​ personality is nothing more than a set of
learned responses or habits
-​ everything a person or animal does is a
-​ Environment: includes the actual
response to some environmental
physical surroundings, the other people
stimulus that has been reinforced or
who may or may not be present, and the
strengthened by a reward in some way
potential for reinforcement in those
-​ Ex. shy personality: Beginning in
surroundings
childhood, a person might be exposed
-​ The intensity and frequency of the
to a parent with a rather harsh discipline
behavior will not only be influenced by
style (stimulus). In this way, a pattern
the environment but will also have an
(habit) of shyness would develop.
impact on that environment
➔​ Social Cognitive Theorists - researchers who
➔​ Self-efficacy
emphasize the influence of social and cognitive
-​ a person’s expectancy of how effective
factors on learning
his or her efforts to accomplish a goal
-​ emphasize the importance of both the
will be in any particular circumstance
influences of other people’s behavior
-​ can be high or low, depending on what
and of a person’s own expectancies on
has happened in similar circumstances
learning, hold that observational
in the past (success or failure), what
learning, modeling, and other cognitive
other people tell them about their
learning techniques can lead to the
competence, and their own assessment
formation of patterns of personality
of their abilities
➔​ Social Cognitive View
-​ people high in self-efficacy are more
-​ behavior is governed not just by the
persistent and expect to succeed,
influence of external stimuli and
whereas people low in self-efficacy
response patterns but also by cognitive
expect to fail and tend to avoid
processes such as anticipating, judging,
challenges
and memory as well as learning through
➔​ Self-esteem - the positive values a person
the imitation of models
places on his or her sense of worth

Bandura’s Reciprocal Determinism and Self-efficacy

Rotter’s Social Learning Theory: Expectancies
➔​ Albert Bandura
➔​ Julian Rotter
-​ believes that three factors influence one
-​ devised a theory based on a basic
another in determining the patterns of
principle of motivation derived from
behavior that make up personality: the
Thorndike’s law of effect: People are
environment, the behavior itself, and
motivated to seek reinforcement and
personal or cognitive factors that the
avoid punishment
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​viewed personality as a relatively stable THE THIRD FORCE: HUMANISM AND PERSONALITY
set of potential responses to various ➔​ Humanistic Perspective
situations -​ wanted psychology to focus on the
-​ If in the past, a certain way of things that make people uniquely
responding led to a reinforcing or human, such as subjective emotions
pleasurable consequence, that way of and the freedom to choose one’s own
responding would become a pattern of destiny
responding, or part of the “personality”
➔​ Locus of Control
Carl Rogers and Self-Concept
-​ the tendency for people to assume that
they either have control or do not have Both Maslow and Rogers (1961) believed that human
control over events and consequences beings are always striving to fulfill their innate capacities
in their lives and capabilities and to become everything that their
-​ Internal - People who assume that their genetic potential will allow them to become.
own actions and decisions directly affect ➔​ Self-actualizing tendency - striving for
the consequences they experience fulfillment
-​ people high in internal locus of ➔​ Self-concept - important tool in human
control with the personality self-actualization
characteristics of high -​ the development of an image of oneself
achievement motivation (the will -​ based on what people are told by others
to succeed in any attempted and how the sense of self is reflected in
task) the words and actions of important
-​ External - people who assume that their people in one’s life, such as parents,
lives are more controlled by powerful siblings, coworkers, friends, and
others, luck, or fate teachers
-​ Those who give up too quickly
or who attribute events in their ➢​ Real and Ideal Self
lives to external causes can fall -​ Real self - one’s actual perception of
into patterns of learned characteristics, traits, and abilities that
helplessness and depression form the basis of the striving for
self-actualization
➢​ Expectancy -​ Ideal self - the perception of what one
-​ fairly similar to Bandura’s concept of should be or would like to be
self-efficacy in that it refers to the -​ primarily comes from important,
person’s subjective feeling that a significant others in a person’s
particular behavior will lead to a life, especially our parents when
reinforcing consequence we are children
-​ A high expectancy for success is similar -​ when the real self and the ideal self are
to a high sense of self-efficacy and is very close or similar to each other,
also based on past experiences with people feel competent and capable, but
successes and failures when there is a mismatch between the
➢​ Reinforcement Value real self and ideal self, anxiety and
-​ refers to an individual’s preference for a neurotic behavior can be the result
particular reinforcer over all other -​ The two halves of the self are more
possible reinforcing consequences likely to match if they aren’t that far
-​ Things or circumstances that are apart at the start
particularly appealing to us have a -​ When a person has a realistic view of
higher reinforcement value than other the real self, and the ideal self is
possible reinforcers something that is actually attainable,
there usually isn’t a problem of a
mismatch

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ It is when a person’s view of self is TRAIT THEORIES: WHO ARE YOU?
distorted or the ideal self is impossible ➔​ Trait Theories - less concerned with the
to attain that problems arise explanation for personality development and
changing personality than they are with
➢​ Condititonal and Unconditional Positive describing personality and predicting behavior
Regard based on that description
-​ Positive Regard - warmth, affection, ➔​ Trait - a consistent, enduring way of thinking,
love, and respect that come from the feeling, or behaving, and trait theories attempt to
significant others (parents, admired describe personality in terms of a person’s traits
adults, friends, and teachers) in people’s
experience
Allport
-​ vital to people’s ability to cope
with stress and to strive to -​ One of the earliest attempts to list and describe
achieve self-actualization the traits that make up personality can be found
-​ Unconditional Positive Regard - love, in the work of Gordon Allport
affection, and respect with no strings -​ Gordon Allport and H.S. Odbert
attached, is necessary for people to be -​ literally scanned the dictionary for words that
able to explore fully all that they can could be traits, finding about 18,000, then paring
achieve and become that down to 200 traits after eliminating
-​ Conditional Positive Regard - love, synonyms
affection, respect, and warmth that -​ Believed that these traits were literally wired into
depend, or seem to depend, on doing the nervous system to guide one’s behavior
what those people want across many different situations and that each
-​ Self-actualizing - actively exploring person’s “constellation” of traits was unique
potentials and abilities and experiencing
a match between the real self and ideal Cattell and the 16PF
self -​ Raymond Cattell
-​ a goal that people are always -​ Surface traits - like those found by Allport
striving to reach -​ representing the personality
-​ seen as having trusted their true characteristics easily seen by other
feelings and innermost needs people
rather than just going along with -​ Source traits - those more basic traits that
the crowd
underlie the surface traits
-​ Fully Functioning Person - a person
-​ Ex. shyness, being quiet, and disliking crowds
who is in the process of self-actualizing
might all be surface traits related to the more
-​ in touch with their own feelings
basic source trait of introversion (a tendency to
and abilities and are able to
withdraw from excessive stimulation)
trust their innermost urges and
➔​ Factor Analysis - a statistical technique that
intuitions
looks for groupings and commonalities in
-​ a person needs unconditional
numerical data
positive regard to become fully
-​ identified 16 source traits, and later determined
functioning
that there might be another 7 source traits to
-​ only a person who is fully
make a total of 23
functioning is capable of
➔​ The Sixteen Personality Factor (16PF)
reaching the goal of
Questionnaire
self-actualization
-​ These 16 source traits are seen as trait
dimensions, or continuums, in which
➔​ Positive Psychology
there are two opposite traits at each end
-​ First used by Maslow
with a range of possible degrees for
-​ stressed the need for psychology to
each trait measurable along the
focus on human potential, rather than
dimension
problems
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Ex. someone scoring near the ➢​ Agreeableness
“reserved” end of the -​ refers to the basic emotional style of a
“reserved/outgoing” dimension would be person, who may be easygoing, friendly,
more introverted than someone scoring and pleasant (at the high end of the
in the middle or at the opposite end scale) or grumpy, crabby, and hard to
get along with (at the low end)
The Big Five: Ocean, or the Five-Factor Model of -​ High scorer characteristics:
Personality Good-natured, trusting, helpful
-​ Low scorer characteristics: Rude,
➔​ Five-factor Model or Big Five
uncooperative, irritable, aggressive,
-​ represent the core description of human
competitive
personality—that is, the only dimensions
➢​ Neuroticism
necessary to understand what makes us
-​ refers to emotional instability or stability
tick
-​ People who are excessive worriers,
overanxious, and moody would score
➢​ Openness
high on this dimension, whereas those
-​ described as a person’s willingness to
who are more even-tempered and calm
try new things and be open to new
would score low
experiences
-​ High scorer characteristics: Worrying,
-​ People who try to maintain the status
insecure, anxious, temperamental
quo and who don’t like to change things
-​ Low scorer characteristics: Calm,
would score low on openness
secure, relaxed, stable
-​ High scorer characteristics: Creative,
➔​ Robert McCrae and Paul Costa
artistic, curious, imaginative
-​ proposed that these five traits are not
-​ Low scorer characteristics:
interdependent
Conventional, down-to-earth, uncreative
-​ knowing someone’s score on
nonconforming
extraversion would not give any
➢​ Conscientiousness
information about scores on the other
-​ a person’s organization and motivation,
four dimensions, allowing for a
with people who score high in this
tremendous amount of variety in
dimension being those who are careful
personality descriptions
about being places on time and careful
with belongings as well
➔​ Trait-situation Interaction
-​ Someone scoring low on this dimension
-​ Walter Mischel
might always be late to important social
-​ the particular circumstances of any
events or borrow belongings and fail to
given situation are assumed to influence
return them or return them in poor
the way in which a trait is expressed
condition
-​ Ex. outgoing extrovert might laugh, talk
-​ High scorer characteristics: Organized,
to strangers, and tell jokes at a party
reliable, neat, ambitious
-​ Low scorer characteristics: Unreliable,
lazy, careless, negligent, spontaneous THE BIOLOGY OF PERSONALITY: BEHAVIORAL
➢​ Extraversion GENETICS
-​ A term first used by Carl Jung (1933) ➔​ Behavioral Genetics
-​ Extraverts: outgoing and sociable -​ devoted to the study of just how much of
-​ Introverts: more solitary and dislike an individual’s personality is due to
being the center of attention inherited traits
-​ High scorer characteristics: Talkative,
optimistic, sociable, affectionate Twin Studies
-​ Low scorer characteristics: Reserved,
-​ studying genetically identical twins raised in
comfortable being alone, stays in the
different environments can help investigators
background
understand the genetic influences on personality
GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Identical twins - share 100 percent of their -​ have friends based on shared
genetic material, having come from one fertilized activities and interests and may
egg originally belong to many different loosely
➔​ Fraternal twins - share only about 50 percent of organized social groups
their genetic material, as any other pair of -​ Autonomy, change, youth,
siblings would security of the individual, and
➔​ Minnesota Twin Study - revealed that identical equality are all highly valued
twins are more similar than fraternal twins or -​ Ex. United States and Great
unrelated people in intelligence, leadership Britain
abilities, the tendency to follow rules, and the ➔​ Collectivistic Cultures - people are
tendency to uphold traditional cultural from birth deeply tied into very strong
expectations ingroups, typically extended families that
-​ more alike with regard to nurturance, include grandparents, aunts and uncles,
empathy, assertiveness, and and cousins
aggressiveness -​ loyalty to the family is highly
-​ This similarity holds even if the twins are stressed, and the care of the
raised in separate environments family is placed before the care
of the individual
Adoption Studies -​ Group membership is limited to
only a few permanent groups
-​ studying unrelated people who are raised in the
that have tremendous influence
same environment should help investigators
over the individual
discover the influence of environment
-​ The values of this kind of culture
are duty, order, tradition, respect
Current Findings for the elderly, group security,
➔​ Heritability - how much some trait within a and respect for the group status
population can be attributed to genetic and hierarchy
influences, and the extent individual genetic -​ Ex. Japan, China, Korea,
variation impacts differences in observed Mexico, and Central America
behavior ➢​ Power Distance
-​ the five personality factors of the -​ refers to the degree to which the less
five-factor model have nearly a 50 powerful members of a culture accept
percent rate of heritability across several and even expect that the power within
cultures the culture is held in the hands of a
-​ the studies of genetics and personality select few rather than being more
seem to indicate that variations in evenly distributed
personality traits are about 25 to 50 -​ Philippines, Mexico, many Arab
percent inherited countries, and India were found to be
high in such expectations
Geert Hofstede’s Four Dimensions of Cultural -​ Austria, Sweden, Australia, Great
Personality Britain, and the United States were low
in power distance
➔​ Geert Hofstede
➢​ Maculinity/Femininity
-​ conducted a massive study into the
-​ how a culture distributes the roles
work-related values of employees of
played by men and women within the
IBM, a multinational corporation
culture
-​ this dimension varies more for the men
➢​ Individualism/Collectivism
within a culture than for the women
➔​ Individualistic Cultures - tend to have
➔​ Masculine - assertive and competitive,
loose ties between individuals, with
although more so for men than for
people tending to look after themselves
women
and their immediate families only
➔​ Feminine - modest and caring
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​
Both men and women in “feminine” -​ looking at behavior from multiple
countries have similar, caring values perspectives can often bring insights
-​ in “masculine” countries, the women are into a person’s behavior that would not
not quite as assertive and competitive easily come from taking only one
as the men, leading to a greater perspective
difference between the sexes in -​ Many professionals will not only use
masculine countries several different perspectives but also
-​ Japan, Austria, Venezuela, Italy, several of the assessment techniques
Switzerland, Mexico, Ireland, Jamaica, that follow
the United States, Great Britain, and
Germany were found to be masculine
countries
-​ Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands,
Denmark, Costa Rica, Yugoslavia,
Finland, Chile, Portugal, Thailand, and
Guatemala were ranked as more
feminine
➢​ Uncerntainty Avoidance
-​ Some cultures are more tolerant of
uncertainty, ambiguity, and unstructured
situations Interviews
-​ Cultures that do not tolerate such
➔​ Interview - therapists ask questions and note
uncertainty and lack of structure tend to
down the answers in a survey process
have strict rules and laws with lots of
-​ likely to be unstructured and flow
security and safety measures and tend
naturally from the beginning dialogue
toward a philosophical/religious belief of
between the client and the psychologist
One Truth
-​ when psychologists interview clients, clients
-​ Cultures that are more accepting of
must report on their innermost feelings, urges,
uncertainty are more tolerant of different
and concerns—all things that only they can
opinions and have fewer rules
directly know
-​ They tend to allow many different
-​ Clients can lie, distort the truth, misremember, or
religious beliefs to exist side by side and
give what they think is a socially acceptable
are less anxious and emotional than
answer instead of true information
people in uncertainty-avoiding countries
-​ Interviewers themselves can be biased,
-​ Uncertainty-avoiding countries include
interpreting what the client says in light of their
Greece, Portugal, Guatemala, Uruguay,
own belief systems or prejudices
Belgium, El Salvador, Japan,
➔​ Halo Effect - a tendency to form a favorable or
Yugoslavia, and Peru
unfavorable impression of someone at the first
-​ those that are more tolerant of
meeting, so that all of a person’s comments and
uncertainty include Singapore, Jamaica,
behavior after that first impression will be
Denmark, Sweden, Hong Kong, Ireland,
interpreted to agree with the
Great Britain, Malaysia, India,
impression—positively or negatively
Philippines, the United States, Canada,
-​ can happen in any social situation,
and Indonesia
including interviews between a
psychological professional and a client
ASSESSMENT OF PERSONALITY -​ First impressions really do count, and
➔​ Eclectic View people who make a good first
-​ a way of choosing the parts of different impression because of clothing,
theories that seem to best fit a particular personal appearance, or some other
situation, rather than using only one irrelevant characteristic will seem to
theory to explain a phenomenon

GONZALES, S.M.
 have a “halo” hanging over their ➔​ Rating scale
heads—they can do no wrong after that -​ a numerical rating is assigned, either by
-​ Horn effect - negative impression the assessor or the client, for specific
behaviors
Projective Tests ➔​ Frequency count
-​ the assessor literally counts the
➔​ Ambiguous Stimulus - one that is capable of
frequency of certain behaviors within a
being interpreted in more than one way
specified time limit
-​ psychoanalysts (and a few other psychologists)
show their clients ambiguous visual stimuli and
ask the clients to tell them what they see Personality Inventories
-​ The hope is that the client will project ➔​ Personality Inventory
unconscious concerns onto the visual stimulus, -​ a questionnaire that has a standard list
revealing them to the examiner of questions and only requires certain
➔​ Projective Tests - Tests using this method specific answers, such as “yes,” “no,”
-​ can be used to explore a client’s and “can’t decide”
personality or used as a diagnostic tool -​ The standard nature of the questions
to uncover problems in personality (everyone gets the same list) and the
lack of open-ended answers make these
➢​ The Rorschach Inkblots assessments far more objective and
-​ One of the more well-known projective reliable than projective tests
tests
-​ 1921 ➢​ Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)
-​ Swiss Psychiatrist Hermann Rorscach -​ based on the ideas of Carl Jung and
-​ 10 inkblots, 5 in black ink on a white looks at four personality dimensions
background and 5 in colored inks on a
white background ●​ Sensing/Intuition (S/N)
-​ still used to describe personality, -​ includes people who prefer to rely on
diagnose mental disorders, and predict what they can see, hear, and so on
behavior through their own physical senses
➢​ The Tat (sensing)
-​ 1935 -​ on its opposite end, those who look for
-​ Psychologist Henry Murray patterns and trust their hunches
-​ Thematic Apperception Test (intuition)
-​ consists of 20 pictures, all black and -​ Sensing people are very detail oriented,
white, that are shown to a client preferring to work only with the known
facts
Behavioral Assessments -​ intuitive people are more willing to use
metaphors, analogies, and look for
➔​ Direct Observation
possibilities
-​ the psychologist observes the client
●​ Thinking/Feeling (T/F)
engaging in ordinary, everyday behavior,
-​ those who prefer to use logic, analysis,
preferably in the natural setting of home,
and experiences that can be verified as
school, or workplace, for example
facts (thinkers)
-​ A therapist who goes to the classroom
-​ those who tend to make decisions
and observes that tantrum behavior only
based on their personal values and
happens when a child is asked to do
emotional reactions (feeling)
something involving fine motor abilities
●​ Introversion/Extraversion (I/E)
(like drawing or writing) might be able to
-​ same classic dimension that began with
conclude that the child has difficulty with
Jung and is represented in nearly every
those skills and throws a tantrum to
personality theory, including the Big Five
avoid the task

GONZALES, S.M.
 ●​ Perceiving/Judging (P/J) ➔​ Extraversion
-​ those who are willing to adapt and -​ associated with a higher volume in the
modify decisions, be spontaneous, and medial orbitofrontal cortex (underside of
who are naturally curious and tend to frontal lobe, directly above the eyes)
put off making a final decision so that all -​ This area of the brain is associated with
possibilities are covered (perceiving) recognizing the value of rewarding
-​ the action-oriented, decisive, information
get-thetask-done-and-don’t-look-back ➔​ Neuroticism
type (judging) -​ associated with lower brain volume in
-​ often used to assess personality to help people several areas responding to threat,
know the kinds of careers for which they may punishment, and negative emotions
best be suited -​ Reduced volumes were found in the
dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (toward
➢​ The MMPI-2 the top and middle of the prefrontal
-​ the most common personality inventory cortex) and in the left posterior
-​ Minnesota Multiphasic Personality hippocampus
Inventory, Version II -​ Neuroticism was also associated with
-​ specifically tests for abnormal behavior higher brain volume in the middle
and thinking patterns in personality cingulate cortex (cortical component of
-​ consists of 567 statements such as “I limbic system), associated with error
am often very tense” or “I believe I am detection and response to pain
being plotted against” ➔​ Agreeableness
-​ The person taking the test must answer -​ associated with the intentions of actions
“true,” “false,” or “cannot say” and mental states of others
-​ 10 clinical scales and 8 validity scales in -​ with the area of the posterior cingulate
addition to numerous subscales cortex showing a greater volume in
individuals high in that trait and a lesser
➔​ Validity Scales volume in the left superior temporal
-​ built into any well-designed sulcus
psychological inventory, are intended to ➔​ Conscientiousness
indicate whether or not a person taking -​ associated with the left lateral prefrontal
the inventory is responding honestly cortex, an area located on the side of
-​ Responses to certain items on the test the frontal lobes involved in planning,
will indicate if people are trying to make working memory, and voluntary control
themselves look better or worse than of behavior
they are ➔​ Openness
-​ failed to find any significant differences
BIOLOGICAL BASES OF THE BIG FIVE

-​ 1796
-​ Dr. franz Joseph Gall
-​ German physician
-​ developed a theory of personality traits based on
the shape of a person’s skull
-​ This theory became very popular in the
nineteenth century and was known as
phrenology
-​ believed that certain areas of the brain were
responsible for certain aspects of personality,
and that the skull itself would bulge out
according to which of these traits were dominant

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 14: PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS (p573-610) -​belief in demonic possession (in which
the possessed person was seen as a
WHAT IS ABNORMALITY victim) gave way to a belief in witchcraft,
and mentally ill persons were most likely
Psychopathology - the study of abnormal behavior and
called witches and put to death
psychological dysfunction
➔​ Present Day
-​ psychological disorders are often
BRIEF HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS viewed from a medical model in that
➔​ 3000 B.C.E. they can be diagnosed according to
-​ archaeologists have found human skulls various symptoms and have an etiology,
with small holes cut into them, and close course, and prognosis
examination indicates that the holes -​ In turn, psychological disorders can be
were made while the person was still treated, and like many physical
alive ailments, some may be “cured” whereas
-​ Many of the holes show evidence of other psychological disorders will
healing, meaning that the person require lifelong attention
survived the process -​ while numerous perspectives in
-​ Although trephining (cutting holes into psychology are not medical in nature,
the skull of a living person) is still done the idea of diagnosis and treatment of
today to relieve pressure of fluids on the symptoms bridges many of them
brain, in ancient times the reason may
have had more to do with releasing the WHAT IS ABNORMAL
“demons” possessing the poor victim
➔​ Hippocrates (460–377 B.C.E.) Statistical or Social Norm Deviance
-​ Greek physician
-​ Frequently occurring behavior would be
-​ during the time in which the rest of the
considered normal, and behavior that is rare
world and even many Greeks believed
would be abnormal
in the demonic possession explanation
-​ how much behavior or thinking deviates from the
of mental illness
norms of a society
-​ challenged that belief with his assertion
-​ Ex. refusing to wear clothing in a society that
that illnesses of both the body and the
does not permit nudity would likely be rare and
mind were the result of imbalances in
be seen as abnormal
the body’s vital fluids, or humors
-​ deviance (variation) from social norms is not
-​ not correct in his assumptions about the
always labeled as negative or abnormal
humors of the body (phlegm, black bile,
-​ Ex. a person who decides to become a monk
blood, and yellow bile), his was the first
and live in a monastery in the United States
recorded attempt to explain abnormal
would be exhibiting unusual behavior, and
thinking or behavior as due to some
certainly not what the society considers a
biological process
standard behavior, but it wouldn’t be a sign of
➔​ Middle Ages
abnormality
-​ believed in spirit possession
➔​ Situational Context
-​ Spirit Possession - a belief influenced
-​ the social or environmental setting of a
by the teachings of the Roman Catholic
person’s behavior
Church and the remnants of other
-​ can also make a difference in how
religious/cultural systems; one cause of
behavior or thinking is labeled
abnormality
-​ Ex. if a man comes to a therapist
-​ The treatment of choice for such
complaining of people listening in on his
maladies was a religious one: exorcism
phone conversations and spying on all
(the formal casting out of the demon
his activities, the therapist’s first thought
through a religious ritual)
might be that the man is suffering from
➔​ Renaissance
thoughts of persecution; But if the man

GONZALES, S.M.
 then explains that he is in a witness -​ Ex. homosexuality was once considered
protection program, the complaints take a psychological disorder rather than a
on an entirely different and quite variation in sexual orientation
understandable tone 3.​ Does the behavior or psychological function
cause the person significant subjective
Subjective Discomfort discomfort?
4.​ Is the thought process or behavior maladaptive,
-​ emotional distress while engaging in a particular
or does it result in an inability to function?
behavior or thought process
5.​ Does the thought process or behavior cause the
-​ Ex. a woman who suffers from a fear of going
person to be dangerous to self or others?
outside her house would experience a great deal
-​ as in the case of someone who tries to
of anxiety when trying to leave home and
commit suicide or who attacks other
distress over being unable to leave
people without reason
-​ all thoughts or behavior that might be
considered abnormal do not necessarily create
Psychological Disorder - Abnormal thinking or
subjective discomfort in the person having them
behavior that includes at least two of these five criteria
or committing the act
-​ any pattern of behavior or psychological
-​ Ex. a serial killer does not experience emotional
functioning that causes people significant
distress after taking someone’s life
distress
-​ some forms of disordered behavior involve
-​ causes them to harm themselves or others, or
showing no emotions at all
harms their ability to function in daily life

Inability To Function Normally ➔​ Insanity - not a psychological term

-​ Thinking or behavior that does not allow a -​ a legal term used to argue that a
person to fit into society or function normally can mentally ill person who has committed a
also be labeled abnormal crime should not be held responsible for
-​ These may termed maladaptive (the person his or her actions because that person
finds it hard to adapt to the demands of was unable to understand the difference
day-to-day living) between right and wrong at the time of
-​ Maladaptive thinking or behavior may initially the offense (insanity defense)
help a person cope but has harmful or damaging
effects MODELS OF ABNORMALITY
-​ Ex. a woman who cuts herself to relieve anxiety
does experience initial relief but is harmed by
The Biological Model: Medical Causes for
the action
Psychological Disorders
-​ Maladaptive thinking or behavior are key
elements in the definition of abnormality Biological Model - proposes that psychological
disorders have a biological or medical cause
-​ explains disorders such as anxiety, depression,
Working Definition of Abnormality
and schizophrenia as caused by faulty
At least two of these criteria must be met to form a neurotransmitter systems, genetic problems,
diagnosis of abnormality: brain damage and dysfunction, or some
1.​ Is the thinking or behavior unusual? combination of those causes
-​ such as experiencing severe panic -​ Ex. a growing body of evidence suggests that
when faced with a stranger or being basic personality traits are as much influenced
severely depressed in the absence of by genetic inheritance as they are by experience
any stressful life situations and upbringing, even across cultures
2.​ Does the thinking or behavior go against social -​ One of the Big Five factors was neuroticism and
norms? it is easy to see how someone who scores high
-​ keep in mind that social norms change in neuroticism would be at greater risk for
over time anxiety-based disorders

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ had a great deal of influence, especially in the ➢​ Cognitive Perspective: Thinking Problems
language used to describe disorders: mental ➔​ Cognitive Psychologists - study the
illness, symptoms of disorder, and terms such way people think, remember, and
as diagnosis, mental patient, mental hospital, mentally organize information
therapy, and remission all come from medical -​ they see maladaptive
terminology functioning as resulting from
-​ The use of such terms, although still illogical thinking patterns
widespread, may tend to bias the assumptions -​ might explain Emma’s fear of spiders as
of professionals who are not psychiatrists or distorted thinking: “All spiders are
medical doctors toward a biological cause for vicious and will bite me, and I will die!”
disordered psychological functioning or -​ Emma’s particular thinking patterns put
behavior, or the idea that disorders might be her at a higher risk of depression and
diseases that can be “cured” anxiety than those of a person who
-​ Many disorders can effectively be controlled but thinks more logically.
may not be fully resolved
The Sociocultural Perspective
The Psychological Models -​ abnormal thinking or behavior (as well as
➢​ Psychodynamic View: Hiding Problems normal) is seen as the product of behavioral
-​ explains disordered thinking and shaping within the context of family influences,
behavior as the result of repressing the social group to which one belongs, and the
one’s threatening thoughts, memories, culture within which the family and social group
and concerns in the unconscious mind exist
-​ These repressed thoughts and urges try -​ In particular, cultural differences in abnormal
to resurface, and disordered functioning thoughts or actions must be addressed when
develops as a way of keeping the psychological professionals are attempting to
thoughts repressed assess and treat members of a culture different
-​ Ex. a woman who has unacceptable from that of the professional
thoughts of sleeping with her ➔​ Cultural Relativity
brother-in-law might feel “dirty” and be -​ a term that refers to the need to
compelled to wash her hands every time consider the unique characteristics of
those thoughts threaten to become the culture in which the person with a
conscious, ridding herself symbolically disorder was nurtured to be able to
of the “dirty” thoughts correctly diagnose and treat the disorder
-​ Ex. in most traditional Asian cultures,
➢​ Behaviorism: Learning Problems mental illness is often seen as a
-​ define personality as a set of learned shameful thing that brings disgrace to
responses, have no trouble explaining one’s family; It may be seen as
disordered behavior as being learned something inherited and, therefore,
just like normal behavior something that would hurt the marriage
-​ Ex. when Emma was a small child, a chances of other family members, or it
spider dropped onto her leg, causing her may be seen as stemming from
to scream and react with fear; Her something the family’s ancestors did
mother made a big fuss over her, giving wrong in the past
her lots of attention; Each time Emma -​ This leads many Asian people suffering
saw a spider after this, she screamed from disorders that would be labeled as
again, drawing attention to herself depression or even schizophrenia to
-​ Behaviorists would say that Emma’s fear report bodily symptoms rather than
of the spider was classically emotional or mental ones, because
conditioned, and her screaming reaction bodily ailments are more socially
was positively reinforced by all the acceptable
attention

GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Culture-bound Syndromes -​ Ex. a person may have a genetically inherited
-​ Disorders unique to specific cultures tendency for a type of disorder, such as anxiety,
-​ Ex. anorexia nervosa and bulimia but may not develop a full-blown disorder unless
nervosa have traditionally been most the family and social environments produce the
often found in Western societies right stressors at the right time in development
The idea of “culture-bound” has been replaced by three -​ How accepting a particular culture is of a
concepts: cultural syndromes, cultural idioms of specific disorder will also play a part in
distress, and cultural explanations or perceived determining the exact degree and form that
cause disorder might take
➢​ Cultural syndromes ➔​ Biopsychosocial Model - has become a very
-​ may or may not be recognized as an influential way to view the connection between
illness within the culture but are mind and body
nonetheless recognizable as a distinct
set of symptoms or characteristics of DIAGNOSING AND CLASSIFYING DISORDERS
distress
➢​ Cultural idioms of distress -​ Having a common set of terms and systematic
-​ refer to terms or phrases used to way of describing psychological and behavioral
describe suffering or distress within a symptoms is vital to not only correct
given cultural context identification and diagnosis, but also in
➢​ Cultural explanations or perceived cause communication among and between
-​ are culturally defined ways of explaining psychological professionals and other
the source or cause of symptoms or health-care providers
illness
➢​ World Health Organization’s (WHO’s)
Other Background and Influential Factors: International Classification of Diseases (ICD)
-​ socioeconomic status -​ currently in its tenth edition (ICD-10)
-​ education level
-​ primary language ➢​ Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
-​ degree of acculturation (adapting to or merging Disorders (DSM)
with another culture) -​ In the United States, the prevalent
resource to help psychological
-​ Psychosocial functioning has been part of the professionals diagnose psychological
diagnostic process for some time now, but disorders
traditionally, greater attention has been paid to -​ first published in 1952
specifically identifying symptoms of pathology -​ has been revised multiple times as our
rather than focusing on the environmental knowledge and ways of thinking about
factors that influence an individual’s overall level psychological disorders has changed
of functioning -​ The most recent version, which was
-​ Ex. college students of Mexican heritage with released in 2013, is the Diagnostic and
migrant farming backgrounds reported more Statistical Manual of Mental
symptoms of anxiety and depression as Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5)
compared to nonmigrant college students of -​ It also includes changes in organization
Mexican heritage of disorders, modifications in
-​ The nature of migrant farming poses different terminology used to describe disorders
stressors than those faced by nonmigrant and their symptoms, and discusses the
families possibility of dimensional assessments
for some disorders in future versions of
the manual
Biopsychosocial Perspective: All of the Above
-​ has been useful in providing clinicians
-​ no longer seen as independent causes with descriptions and criteria for
-​ these influences interact with one another to diagnosing mental disorders but it has
cause the various forms of disorders not been without its share of controversy

GONZALES, S.M.
DISORDERS IN THE DSM-5 -​ Approximately 45 percent of individuals with a
-​ describes about 250 different psychological mental disorder meet criteria for 2 or more
disorders disorders
-​ Each disorder is described in terms of its
symptoms, the typical path the disorder takes as The Pros and Cons of Labels
it progresses, and a checklist of specific criteria
-​ They make up a common language in the
that must be met in order for the diagnosis of
mental health community, allowing psychological
that disorder to be made
professionals to communicate with each other
-​ previous editions of the manual divided
clearly and efficiently
disorders and relevant facts about the person
-​ Labels establish distinct diagnostic categories
being diagnosed along five different categories,
that all professionals recognize and understand,
or axes
and they help patients receive effective
-​ the DSM-5 uses a single axis for all disorders,
treatment
with provisions for also noting significant and
-​ However, labels can also be dangerous—or, at
relevant facts about the individual
the very least, overly prejudicial
-​ Ex. whereas the DSM-IV used Axis I for mental
➔​ David Rosenhan
disorders, Axis II for personality disorders and
-​ 1972
mental retardation (now called intellectual
-​ asked healthy participants to enter
disability), and Axis III for medical diagnoses,
psychiatric hospitals and complain that
the DSM-5 combines all of these disorders and
they were hearing voices. All of the
diagnoses into a single list
participants called “pseudopatients,”
-​ A few of the 20 categories of disorders that can
were admitted into the hospitals and
be diagnosed include depressive disorders,
diagnosed with either schizophrenia or
anxiety disorders, schizophrenia spectrum and
manic depression (now called bipolar
other psychotic disorders, feeding and eating
disorder)
disorders, and neurodevelopmental disorders
-​ Once the pseudopatients were admitted,
such as ADHD
they stopped pretending to be ill and
-​ Other categories include personality disorders,
acted as they normally would, but the
intellectual disability, trauma- and
hospital staff’s interpretation of the
stressor-related disorders, and
pseudopatients’ normal behavior was
obsessive-compulsive and related disorders
skewed by the label of mental illness
-​ Ex. hospital workers described one
How Common Are Psychological Disorders pseudopatient’s relatively normal
-​ psychological disorders are more common than relationships with family and friends as
most people might think evidence of a psychological disorder,
-​ In any given year, about 26.2 percent of and another pseudopatient’s note-taking
American adults over age 18 suffer from a habits were considered to be a
mental disorder pathological behavior
-​ that comes to about 61.5 million people in the -​ The pseudopatients had been
United States using 2010 census data diagnosed and labeled, and those labels
-​ Fortunately, only about 5.8 percent of the U.S. stuck, even when actual symptoms of
population, or 1 in 17 adults, suffers from a mental illness disappeared
severe mental disorder -​ concluded that psychological labels are
-​ mental disorders are the leading cause of long-lasting and powerful, affecting not
disability in the United States and Canada only how other people see mental
-​ In fact, it is quite common for people to suffer patients but how patients see
from more than one mental disorder at a time, themselves
such as a person with depression who also has -​ Labels can be time-saving and even life-saving
a substance-abuse disorder, or a person with an tools, but they can also bias us, affect our
anxiety disorder who also suffers from sleep judgment, and give us preconceived notions that
disorders may very well turn out to be false

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ intended to help both psychologists and ➔​ Free-floating anxiety - term given to anxiety
patients, and they do help that seems to be unrelated to any realistic and
-​ It’s very easy to see oneself in these disorders specific, known factor, and it is often a symptom
-​ Medical students often become convinced that of an anxiety disorder
they have every one of the symptoms for some
rare, exotic disease they have been studying Phobic Disorders
➔​ Psychology Student’s Syndrome - a problem
➔​ Phobia - more specific anxiety disorders
Psychology students studying abnormal
-​ an irrational, persistent fear of
behavior can also become convinced that they
something
have some mental disorder
-​ The “something” might be an object or a
-​ The problem is that so many psychological
situation or may involve social
disorders are really ordinary variations in human
interactions
behavior taken to an extreme
-​ Ex. some people are natural-born worriers; They
➢​ Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)
look for things that can go wrong around every
-​ involves a fear of interacting with others
corner
or being in a social situation and is one
-​ it doesn’t become a disorder until the worrying
of the most common phobias people
causes them significant distress, causes them to
experience
harm themselves or others, or harms their ability
-​ afraid of being evaluated in some
to function in everyday life
negative way by others, so they tend to
avoid situations that could lead to
DISORDERS OF ANXIETY, TRAUMA, AND STRESS something embarrassing or humiliating
➢​ Anxiety Disorders -​ very self-conscious as a result
-​ includes disorders in which the most -​ Common types of social phobia are
dominant symptom is excessive or stage fright, fear of public speaking, and
unrealistic anxiety fear of urinating in a public restroom
-​ can take very specific forms, such as a -​ often have a history of being shy as
fear of a specific object, or it can be a children
very general emotion, such as that ➢​ Specific Phobias
experienced by someone who is worried -​ an irrational fear of some object or
and doesn’t know why specific situation
-​ the anxiety is either excessive—greater -​ such as a fear of dogs, a fear of being in
than it should be given the small, enclosed spaces
circumstances—or unrealistic (claustrophobia), a fear of injections
-​ Ex. If final exams are coming up and a (trypanophobia), fear of dental work
student hasn’t studied enough, that (odontophobia), fear of blood
student’s anxiety is understandable and (hematophobia), and fear of heights
realistic; But a student who has studied, (acrophobia)
has done well in all the exams, and is Washing and Bathing Ablutophobia
very prepared and still worries
excessively about passing is showing an Spiders Arachnophobia
unrealistic amount of anxiety
-​ Ex. People who are in danger of losing Lightning Ceraunophobia
their job might experience quite a bit of
Dirt, Germs Mysophobia
anxiety, but its source is obvious and
understandable. But someone whose Snakes Ophidiophobia
life is going well, and for whom nothing
bad is looming in the future, and who Darkness Nyctophobia
still feels extremely anxious may be
Fire Pyrophobia
experiencing an anxiety disorder

GONZALES, S.M.
 few minutes, with most attacks peaking
Foreigners, Strangers Xenophobia
within 10 to 15 minutes
Animals Zoophobia -​ Having a panic attack is not that unusual,
especially for adolescent girls and young adult
women
➢​ Agoraphobia
-​ cigarette smoking greatly increases the risk of
-​ Greek: “fear of the marketplace”
panic attacks in adolescents and young adults
-​ the fear of being in a place or situation
-​ it is only when panic attacks occur more than
from which escape is difficult or
once or repeatedly, and cause persistent worry
impossible if something should go
or changes in behavior, that they become a
wrong
panic disorder
-​ the anxiety is present in more than one
-​ Many people try to figure out what triggers a
situation
panic attack and then do their best to avoid the
-​ they feel anxiety in at least two of five
situation if possible
possible situations such as using public
-​ Ex. If driving a car sets off an attack, they don’t
transportation like a bus or plane, being
drive; If being in a crowd sets off an attack, they
out in an open space such as on a
don’t go where crowds are
bridge or in a parking lot, being in an
enclosed space such as a grocery store
or movie theatre, standing in line or Generalized Anxiety Disorder
being in a crowd like at a concert, or Free-floating Anxiety - no known specific source and
being out of the home alone may be experienced by people with generalized anxiety
-​ cannot avoid their phobia’s source disorder
because it is simply being outside in the
real world ➔​ Generalized Anxiety Disorder - excessive
-​ A severe case can make a person’s anxiety and worries (apprehensive expectations)
home a prison, leaving the person occur more days than not for at least 6 months
trapped inside unable to go to work, -​ People with this disorder may also
shop, or engage in any kind of activity experience anxiety about a number of
that requires going out of the home events or activities
-​ Ex. such as work or school performance
Panic Disorder -​ These feelings of anxiety have no
particular source that can be pinpointed,
➔​ Panic Attack - a sudden onset of extreme panic
nor can the person control the feelings
with various physical symptoms
even if an effort is made to do so
-​ racing heart, rapid breathing, a
-​ People with this disorder are just plain
sensation of being “out of one’s body,”
worriers
dulled hearing and vision, sweating, and
-​ They worry excessively about money,
dry mouth
their children, their lives, their friends,
-​ Many people who have a panic attack
the dog, as well as things no one else
think that they are having a heart attack
would see as a reason to worry
and can experience pain as well as
-​ They feel tense, edgy, get tired easily,
panic, but the symptoms are caused by
and may have trouble concentrating
the panic, not by any actual physical
-​ They have muscle aches, they
disorder
experience sleeping problems, and are
-​ the person having a panic attack is in a
often irritable—all signs of stress
state of terror, thinking that this is it,
-​ often found occurring with other anxiety
death is happening, and many people
disorders and depression
may feel a need to escape
-​ despite anxiety being a common
-​ The attack happens without warning and
symptom, the following disorders are no
quite suddenly
longer classified as anxiety disorders in
-​ Although some panic attacks can last as
the DSM-5
long as half an hour, some last only a
GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ Obsessive-compulsive disorder now falls in -​ the symptoms of PTSD may not occur
the category of “Obsessive-Compulsive and until 6 months or later after the event
Related Disorders” while posttraumatic stress
disorder and acute stress disorder are found Treatment of these stress disorders may involve
under “Trauma- and Stressor-Related psychotherapy and the use of drugs to control anxiety.
Disorders”
-​ found that women have almost twice the risk of
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder developing PTSD than do men and that the
likelihood increases if the traumatic experience
➔​ Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - a disorder
took place before the woman was 15 years old
in which intruding thoughts that occur again and
-​ However, female and male veterans tend to
again (obsessions, such as a fear that germs
have similar symptoms of PTSD, at least for
are on one’s hands) are followed by some
military-related stressors
repetitive, ritualistic behavior or mental acts
-​ Children may also suffer different effects from
(compulsions, such as repeated hand washing,
stress than do adults
counting, etc.)
-​ Severe PTSD has been linked to a decrease in
-​ The compulsions are meant to lower the
the size of the hippocampus in children with the
anxiety caused by the thought
disorder
-​ whether a person likes to perform the
-​ The hippocampus is important in the formation
ritual (but doesn’t have to) or feels
of new long-term declarative memories and this
compelled to perform the ritual and feels
may have a detrimental effect on learning and
extreme anxiety if unable to do so
the effectiveness of treatments for these children
-​ Ex. You may wash your hands a time or
-​ those with PTSD were more likely to develop
two after picking up garbage but it is
dementia (10.6 percent risk) when compared to
entirely different if you must wash them
those without PTSD (only 6.6 percent risk)
a thousand times to prevent getting sick
-​ individuals with ASD and PTSD likely perceive
-​ The distress caused by a failure or an
the world around them differently
inability to successfully complete the
-​ more likely to identify trauma-related pictures
compulsion is a defining feature of OCD
than neutral pictures, as compared to trauma
survivors not diagnosed with ASD or PTSD
Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and Posttraumatic -​ such preferential processing of trauma-related
Stress Disorder (PTSD) information may be more strongly primed in
-​ related to exposure to significant and traumatic individuals with PTSD and is supported by fMRI
stressors studies demonstrating heightened brain
processing in areas associated with associative
➢​ Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) learning and priming in individuals with PTSD
-​ symptoms of ASD often occur
immediately after the traumatic event Causes of Anxiety, Trauma, and Stress Disorder
and include anxiety, dissociative
➢​ Behavioral and Cognitive Factors
symptoms (such as emotional
-​ Behaviorists believe that anxious
numbness/lack of responsiveness, not
behavioral reactions are learned
being aware of surroundings,
-​ Ex. see phobias as nothing more than
dissociative amnesia), recurring
classically conditioned fear responses,
nightmares, sleep disturbances,
as was the case with “Little Albert”
problems in concentration, and
-​ Cognitive psychologists see anxiety
moments in which people seem to
disorders as the result of illogical,
“relive” the event in dreams and
irrational thought processes
flashbacks for as long as 1 month
-​ One way in which people with anxiety
following the event
disorders show irrational thinking is
➢​ Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
through magnification, or the tendency
-​ the symptoms associated with ASD last
to “make mountains out of molehills” by
for more than 1 month
GONZALES, S.M.
 interpreting situations as being far more heat, and become very aggressive,
harmful, dangerous, or embarrassing either verbally or physically
than they actually are -​ These attacks usually come after some
-​ Ex. In panic disorder, a person might stressful event such as the death of a
interpret a racing heartbeat as a sign of loved one
a heart attack instead of just a -​ Several syndromes that are essentially
momentary arousal types of phobias are specific to certain
cultures
➔​ All-or-nothing thinking - a distorted thought -​ Ex. koro, found primarily in China and a
process cognitive-behavioral psychologists may few other South Asian and East Asian
see anxiety as related to countries, involves a fear that one’s
-​ a person believes that his or her genitals are shrinking
performance must be perfect or the -​ Ex. taijin kyofusho (TKS), found
result will be a total failure primarily in Japan, involves excessive
fear and anxiety, but in this case it is the
-​Overgeneralization (a single negative fear that one will do something in public
event interpreted as a never-ending that is socially inappropriate or
pattern of defeat), jumping to embarrassing, such as blushing, staring,
conclusions without facts to support that or having an offensive body odor
conclusion, and minimization (giving -​ Panic disorder occurs at similar rates in
little or no emphasis to one’s successes adolescents and adults in the United
or positive events and traits) are other States and parts of Europe, but found
examples of irrational thinking less often in Asian, African, and Latin
➢​ Biological Factors American countries
-​ contribute to anxiety disorders
-​ Several disorders, including generalized DISORDERS OF MOOD: THE EFFECT OF AFFECT
anxiety disorder, panic disorders,
phobias, and OCD, tend to run in ➔​ Affect - in psychological terms, used to mean
families, pointing to a genetic basis for “emotion” or “mood”
these disorders ➔​ Mood Disorders - are disturbances in emotion
-​ genetic factors in PTSD seem to and are also referred to as affective disorders
influence both the risk of developing the -​ can be relatively mild or moderate
disorder and the likelihood individuals (straying only a short distance from the
may be involved in potentially “average”) or they can be extreme
dangerous situations (existing at either end of the full range)
-​ Functional neuroimaging studies have
revealed that the amygdala (an area of Major Depressive Disorder
the limbic system) is more active in
phobic people responding to pictures of
spiders than in nonphobic people and
also more active in individuals with
➔​ Major Depressive Disorder - When a deeply
PTSD and social anxiety disorder,
depressed mood comes on fairly suddenly and
suggesting excessive conditioning and
either seems to be too severe for the
exaggerated responses to stimuli that
circumstances or exists without any external
would typically elicit minimal fear-related
cause for sadness
responses
-​ Major depression would fall at the far
➢​ Cultural Variations
extreme of sadness
-​ Ex. in some Latin American cultures
-​ depressed for most of every day, take
anxiety can take the form of ataque de
little or no pleasure in any activities, feel
nervios, or “attack of nerves,” in which
tired, have trouble sleeping or sleep too
the person may have fits of crying, shout
much, experience changes in appetite
uncontrollably, experience sensations of
GONZALES, S.M.
 and significant weight changes, ➔​ Manic Episodes - excessive excitement,
experience excessive guilt or feelings of energy, and elation
worthlessness, and have trouble ➔​ Bipolar Disorder - When a person experiences
concentrating periods of mood that can range from severe
-​ also suffer from delusional thinking and depression to manic episodes
may experience hallucinations. Most of
these symptoms occur on a daily basis, ➢​ Bipolar I Disorder
lasting for the better part of the day -​ the individual may only experience
-​ Some people with depression may have mood that spans from normal to manic,
thoughts of death or suicide, including and may or may not experience
suicide attempts episodes of depression
-​ Death by suicide is the most serious -​ In the manic episodes, the person is
negative outcome for the person with extremely happy or euphoric without any
depression real cause to be so happy
-​ the third leading cause of death among -​ Restlessness, irritability, an inability to
young people from 15 to 24 years of sit still or remain inactive, and seemingly
age, and more than 90 percent of unlimited energy are also common
suicides are associated with a -​ The person may seem silly to others
psychological disorder, with depression and can become aggressive when not
being the most likely cause allowed to carry out the grand (and
-​ the most common of the diagnosed sometimes delusional) plans that may
disorders of mood and is 1.5 to 3 times occur in mania
more likely in women as it is in men -​ Speech may be rapid and jump from
-​ true even across various cultures one topic to another
explanations include the different -​ people in the manic state are often very
hormonal structure of the female system creative until their lack of organization
(menstruation, hormonal changes during renders their attempts at being creative
and after pregnancy, menopause, etc.) useless
and different social roles played by ➢​ Bipolar II Disorder
women in the culture -​ spans of normal mood are interspersed
-​ gender roles and social factors such as with episodes of major depression and
marital status, career type, and number episodes of hypomania (a level of
of children may have more importance mood that is elevated but at a level
in creating the gender difference than below or less severe than full mania)
biological differences
-​ Women also tend to ruminate, or -​ There does seem to be a connection between
repeatedly focus more on negative attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
emotions, more than men and this may and the onset of bipolar disorder in adolescence,
also be a contributing factor for reported but only a small percentage of children with
gender differences in prevalence rates ADHD go on to develop bipolar disorder
for both depression and anxiety -​ The symptoms of bipolar disorder include
➔​ Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) - is a mood irrational thinking and other manic symptoms
disorder that is caused by the body’s reaction to that are not present in ADHD
low levels of light present in the winter months -​ Confusion between the two disorders arises
because hyperactivity (excessive movement and
Bipolar Disorders an inability to concentrate) is a symptom of both
disorders
➔​ Major Depressive Disorder - sometimes
referred to as a unipolar disorder because the
emotional problem exists at only one end, or Causes of Disordered Mood
“pole,” of the emotional range -​ Behavioral theorists link depression to learned
helplessness

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ social cognitive theorists point to distortions of -​
They have extremely distorted body
thinking such as blowing negative events out of images, seeing fat where others see
proportion and minimizing positive, good events only skin and bones
-​ In the social cognitive view, depressed people -​ If the weight loss due to anorexia is
continually have negative, self-defeating severe (40 percent or more below
thoughts about themselves, which depress them expected normal weight), dehydration,
further in a downward spiral of despair severe chemical imbalances, and
➔​ Learned helplessness - linked to an increase in possibly organ damage may result
such self-defeating thinking and depression in -​ Hospitalization should occur before this
studies with people who have experienced dangerous point is reached
uncontrollable, painful events -​ the estimated mortality rate in anorexia
-​ does not necessarily mean that negative is highest among all of the eating
thoughts cause depression; it may be disorders, and much higher than any
that depression increases the likelihood other psychological disorder
of negative thoughts ➢​ Bulimia Nervosa
-​ Biological explanations of disordered mood -​ a condition in which a person develops
focus on the effects of brain chemicals such as a cycle of “binging,” or overeating
serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine; drugs enormous amounts of food at one
used to treat depression and mania typically sitting, and then using inappropriate
affect the levels of these three methods for avoiding weight gain
neurotransmitters, either alone or in combination -​ engage in “purging” behaviors, such as
-​ Genes also play a part in these disorders deliberately vomiting after the binge or
misuse of laxatives, but some may not,
EATING DISORDERS using other inappropriate methods to
avoid weight gain such as fasting the
➢​ Anorexia Nervosa day or two after the binge or engaging in
-​ a condition in which a person (typically excessive exercise
young and female) reduces eating to the
point that their body weight is SIMILARITIES WITH ANOREXIA
significantly low, or less than minimally -​ victims are usually female, are obsessed with
expected their appearance, diet excessively, and believe
-​ For adults, this is likely a body mass themselves to be fat even when they are quite
index (BMI; weight in kilograms/height in obviously not fat
meters2) less than 18.5 ➢​ Binge-Eating Disorder
-​ Hormone secretion becomes abnormal, -​ involves uncontrolled binge eating but
especially in the thyroid and adrenal differs from bulimia primarily in that
glands individuals with binge-eating disorder do
-​ The heart muscles become weak and not purge or use other inappropriate
heart rhythms may alter methods for avoiding weight gain
-​ Other physical effects of anorexia may -​ Treatment may use some of the same
include diarrhea, loss of muscle tissue, strategies used for anorexia and
loss of sleep, low blood pressure, and bulimia, with the added issue of weight
lack of menstruation in females loss management in those with obesity
-​ Some will eat in front of others (whereas
individuals with bulimia tend to binge eat
Causes of Eating Disorder
as secretly as possible) but then force
themselves to throw up or take large -​ the greatest risk factor appears to be someone
doses of laxatives being an adolescent or young adult female
-​ often obsessed with exercising and with -​ Increased sensitivity to food and its reward value
food— cooking elaborate meals for may play a role in bulimia and binge-eating
others while eating nothing themselves disorder

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ fear and anxiety may become associated with even personal information such as
food in anorexia nervosa, with altered activity or identity
functioning of associated brain structures in -​ individual may become confused about
each identity, sometimes even taking on a
whole new identity in the new place
DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS: ALTERED IDENTITIES -​ usually take place after an emotional
trauma and are more common in times
➔​ Dissociative Disorders - involve a break, or of disasters or war
dissociation, in consciousness, memory, or a
person’s sense of identity
Dissociative Identity Disorder
-​ Ex. how people sometimes drive
somewhere and then wonder how they -​ most controversial dissociative disorder
got there—they don’t remember the trip -​ formerly known as multiple personality disorder
at all -​ a person seems to experience at least two or
-​ This sort of “automatic pilot” driving more distinct personalities existing in one body
happens when the route is familiar and -​ There may be a “core” personality, who usually
frequently traveled knows nothing about the other personalities and
-​ One part of the conscious mind was is the one who experiences “blackouts” or losses
thinking about work, school, or whatever of memory and time
was uppermost in the mind while lower -​ Fugues are common with the core personality
centers of consciousness were driving experiencing unsettling moments of “awakening”
the car, stopping at signs and lights, and in an unfamiliar place or with people who call the
turning when needed person by another name

Dissociative Amnesia and Fugue Causes of Dissociative Disorder

➔​ Dissociative Amnesia -​ Psychodynamic theory sees the repression of
-​ the individual cannot remember threatening or unacceptable thoughts and
personal information such as one’s own behavior as a defense mechanism at the heart
name or specific personal events—the of all disorders, and the dissociative disorders in
kind of information contained in episodic particular seem to have a large element of
long-term memory repression—motivated forgetting—in them
-​ the cause is psychological rather than -​ Cognitive and behavioral explanations for
physical dissociative disorders are connected: The
-​ The “blow” is a mental one, not a person may feel guilt, shame, or anxiety when
physical one thinking about disturbing experiences or
-​ memory loss is usually associated with a thoughts and start to avoid thinking about them
stressful or emotionally traumatic -​ people with depersonalization/derealization
experience, such as rape or childhood disorder (a dissociative disorder in which
abuse, and cannot be easily explained people feel detached and disconnected from
by simple forgetfulness themselves, their bodies, and their
-​ It can be a loss of memory for only one surroundings) have lower brain activity in the
small segment of time, or it can involve areas responsible for their sense of body
a total loss of one’s past personal awareness than do people without the disorder
memories
-​ can occur with or without fugue SCHIZOPHRENIA: ALTERED REALITY
➔​ Fugue
➔​ Dementia Praecox
-​ Latin “fugere”: flight
-​ Latin: out of one’s mind before one’s
➔​ Dissociative Fugue
time
-​ occurs when a person suddenly travels
➔​ Schizophrenia
away from home (the flight) and
-​ renamed by Eugen Bleuler
afterwards cannot remember the trip or
-​ Swiss psychiatrist

GONZALES, S.M.
 -​ better illustrate the division (schizo-) persistently, string words together on the
within the brain (phren) among basis of sounds (clanging, such as
thoughts, feelings, and behavior that “come into house, louse, mouse, mouse
seems to take place in people with this and cheese, please, sneeze”), and
disorder experience sudden interruptions in
-​ the term literally means “split mind” it speech or thought
has often been confused with ➔​ Thoughts
dissociative identity disorder, which was -​ are significantly disturbed as well, with
at one time called “split personality” individuals with schizophrenia having a
-​ Modern definition: a long-lasting hard time linking their thoughts together
psychotic disorder (involving a severe in a logical fashion
break with reality), in which there is an -​ Advanced: may express themselves in a
inability to distinguish what is real from meaningless and jumbled mixture of
fantasy as well as disturbances in words and phrases sometimes referred
thinking, emotions, behavior, and to as a word salad
perception ➔​ Attention
-​ typically arises in the late teens or early -​ trouble “screening out” information and
twenties, affects both males and stimulation that they don’t really need,
females, and is consistent across causing them to be unable to focus on
cultures information that is relevant
➔​ Hallucinations
Symptoms -​ they hear voices or see things or people
that are not really there
➔​ Delusions - Disorders in thinking
-​ Hearing voices is actually more common
-​ not prominent in everyone with
and one of the key symptoms in making
schizophrenia, they are the symptom
a diagnosis of schizophrenia
that most people associate with this
-​ involving touch, smell, and taste are less
disorder
common but also possible
-​ false beliefs about the world that the
➔​ Emotional Disturbances
person holds and that tend to remain
-​ Flat Effect - a condition in which the
fixed and unshakable even in the face of
person shows little or no emotion
evidence that disproves the delusions
-​ Emotions can also be excessive and/or
●​ Delusions of Persecution
inappropriate
-​ people believe that others are trying to
-​ Ex. a person might laugh when it would
hurt them in some way
be more appropriate to cry or show
●​ Delusions of Reference
sorrow
-​ people believe that other people,
➔​ Behavior
television characters, and even books
-​ become disorganized and extremely
are specifically talking to them
odd
●​ Delusions of Influence
-​ may not respond to the outside world
-​ people believe that they are being
and either doesn’t move at all,
controlled by external forces, such as
maintaining often odd-looking postures
the devil, aliens, or cosmic forces
for hours on end or moves about wildly
●​ Delusions of Grandeur (Grandiose Delusions
in great agitation
-​ people are convinced that they are
-​ Catatonia - Both extremes, either wildly
powerful people who can save the world
excessive movement or total lack
or have a special mission
thereof
➔​ Positive symptoms
➔​ Speech disturbances
-​ appear to reflect an excess or distortion
-​ Common
of normal functions, such as
-​ People with schizophrenia will make up
hallucinations and delusions
words, repeat words or sentences

GONZALES, S.M.
 ➔​ Negative symptoms -​ disorder is the personality itself, not one
-​ appear to reflect a decrease of normal aspect of it
functions, such as poor attention or lack -​ a person has an excessively rigid,
of affect maladaptive pattern of behavior and
-​ at least two or more of the following symptoms ways of relating to others
must be present frequently for at least 1 month -​ This rigidity and the inability to adapt to
to diagnose schizophrenia: delusions, social demands and life changes make
hallucinations, disorganized speech, negative it very difficult for the individual with a
symptoms, and grossly disorganized or personality disorder to fit in with others
catatonic behavior, and at least one of the two or have relatively normal social
symptoms has to be delusions, hallucinations, or relationships
disorganized speech
●​ Cluster A - the people are seen as odd or
Causes of Schizophrenia eccentric by others
-​ Paranoid
➔​ Stress-vulnerability Model
-​ Schizoid
-​ assumes that persons with the genetic
-​ Schizotypal
“markers” for schizophrenia have a
●​ Cluster B - the behavior of the person is very
physical vulnerability to the disorder but
dramatic, emotional, or erratic
will not develop schizophrenia unless
-​ Antisocial
they are exposed to environmental or
-​ Borderline
emotional stress at critical times in
-​ Histrionic
development, such as puberty
-​ Narcissistic
➔​ Cingulum bundle
●​ Cluster C - the main emotion is anxiety or
-​ A white matter tract
fearfulness
-​ lies under the cingulate gyrus and links
-​ Avoidant
part of the limbic system, and another
-​ Dependent
that links the frontal lobe to the temporal
-​ Obsessive-Compulsive
lobe, were found to have significantly
less myelin coating on the axons of the
➢​ Antisocial Personality Disorder
neurons within the bundle
-​ “Against society”
-​ This makes these areas of the brain less
-​ may habitually break the law, disobey
efficient in sending neural messages to
rules, tell lies, and use other people
other cells, resulting in decreased
without worrying about their rights or
memory and decision-making ability
feelings
-​ the less myelin and lower neural
-​ may be irritable or aggressive
efficiency is partly responsible for
-​ may not keep promises or other
attention problems in schizophrenia and
obligations and are consistently
lower white matter integrity in areas of
irresponsible
the frontal lobe might be associated with
-​ may also seem indifferent, or able to
genetic predisposition to schizophrenia
rationalize taking advantage of or
hurting others
PERSONALITY DISORDERS -​ Ex. they borrow money or belongings
➔​ Personality Disorders and don’t bother to repay the debt or
-​ a little different from other psychological return the items, they are impulsive,
disorders in that the disorder does not they don’t keep their commitments
affect merely one aspect of the person’s either socially or in their jobs, and they
life, such as a higher than normal level tend to be very selfish, self-centered,
of anxiety or a set of distorted beliefs, and manipulative
but instead affects the entire life -​ More common in men than in women
adjustment of the person

GONZALES, S.M.
➢​ Borderline Personality Disorder
-​ have relationships with other people that
are intense and relatively unstable
-​ impulsive, have an unstable sense of
self, and are intensely fearful of
abandonment
-​ Life goals, career choices, friendships,
and even sexual behavior may change
quickly and dramatically
-​ Close personal and romantic
relationships are marked by extreme
swings from idealization to demonization
-​ Periods of depression are not unusual,
and some may engage in excessive
spending, drug abuse, or suicidal
behavior (suicide attempts may be part
of the manipulation used against others
in a relationship)
-​ Emotions are often inappropriate and
excessive, leading to confusion with
histrionic personality disorder
-​ Different in the pattern of
self-destructiveness, chronic loneliness,
and disruptive anger in close
relationships
-​ More common in women than in men

GONZALES, S.M.
CHAPTER 15: PSYCHOLOGICAL THERAPIES (p611-648) ➢​ Medical interventions
-​ to bring the symptoms under control
TREATMENT OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DISORDERS: PAST TO
PRESENT Although we can separate treatments into these two
larger categories, in actual practice, many effective
Early Treatment of the Mentally Ill treatment strategies or treatment plans combine facets
of both. Just as there is no one single “cause” of a
➔​ England
disorder, different psychological treatments are often
-​ Middle of the Sixteenth Century
used in tandem or combined with biomedical
-​ Bethlehem Hospital in London (later
interventions.
known as “Bedlam”)
-​ converted into an asylum (a word
Eclectic
meaning “place of safety”) for the
-​ using more than one treatment approach or
mentally ill
technique to best meet the needs of the people
-​ the first asylums were little more than prisons
they are working with
where the mentally ill were chained to their beds
-​ “Treatments” consisted of bloodletting (which
more often than not led to death or the need for TYPES OF THERAPY
lifelong care for the patient), beatings, ice baths
in which the person was submerged until Psychotherapy
passing out or suffering a seizure, and induced -​ involves an individual, couple, or small group of
vomiting in a kind of spiritual cleansing individuals working directly with a therapist and
-​ This cleansing or purging was meant to rid the discussing their concerns or problems
body of physical impurities so that the person’s -​ Goal: to help both mentally healthy and
mind and soul could function more perfectly psychologically disordered persons understand
themselves better
➔​ 1793 ●​ Insight Therapies - Because understanding of
-​ efforts were made to treat the mentally ill one’s motives and actions is called insight
with kindness and guidance—known as -​ therapies aimed mainly at this goal
“moral treatment”—rather than beating ●​ Action Therapy - A therapy that is directed
them or subjecting them to the harsh more at changing behavior than providing
physical purging that had been insights into the reasons for that behavior
commonplace
-​ It was at this time that Philippe Pinel Many psychological professionals use a combination of
personally unchained the inmates at La insight and action therapeutic methods.
Bicêtre Asylum in Paris, France,
beginning the movement of humane
Biomedical Therapy
treatment of the mentally ill
-​ uses some biological treatment in the form of a
medical procedure to bring about changes in the
Current Treatments: Two Kinds of Therapy
person’s disordered behavior
Therapy -​ include the use of drugs, surgical methods,
-​ treatment methods aimed at making people feel electric shock treatments, and noninvasive
better and function more effectively stimulation techniques
-​ It is important to understand that biomedical
➢​ Based primarily in psychological theory and therapy often eliminates or alleviates the
techniques symptoms of a disorder, while psychotherapy
-​ people tell the therapist about their addresses issues associated with the disorder,
problems, and the therapist listens and and when used together, these two types of
tries to help them understand those therapy facilitate each other
problems or assists them in changing -​ Example: when medications are needed,
the behaviors related to the problem individuals taking the proper medications are
going to benefit more from psychotherapy, as
GONZALES, S.M.
 their symptoms will be better controlled.
Furthermore, psychotherapy, not medication, is
going to help them better understand what the
symptoms of their disorder are and facilitate
adjustment, other coping strategies, and
proactive ways of addressing the disorder or its
related outcomes

PSYCHOTHERAPY

➢​ For Freud - removing all the “impurities” of the

unconscious mind that he believed were
responsible for his patients’ psychological and
nervous disorders
-​ The impurities of the unconscious mind
were considered to be disturbing
thoughts, socially unacceptable desires,
and immoral urges that originated in the
id (the part of the personality that is
itself unconscious and driven by basic
needs for survival and pleasure)

GONZALES, S.M.