Psychology basics for Acupuncturists

The Science of psychology.
Psychology	Involves the study of mental activity and behavior
Psychologist	is someone who has a career involving understanding
	mental life or predicting behavior.
Science	We are humans with intuition and try to understand and predict others behaviors.
	People predict if others are kind, trustworthy, good caretakers, good teachers, etc.
	People often rely on common sense and gut feelings. Psychology is more than
	intuition and common sense, it is the research done of mind, brain , and behavior.
Mind	Mental activity, 5 senses, interacting with the world, memories, thoughts, feelings.
	Mental activity is the biological process within the brain.
Behavior	Observable actions, subtle to complex, debating, philosophy, performing.
	animalistic: eating, drinking, mating.
Psychology History	founded by philosophers and great thinkers to understand human nature.
	Confucius- human development, education, discipline, schools of thought.
Nature vs Nurture	Aristotle and Plato- biologically innate or acquired by education, experience, culture.
	Nature and nurture dynamically interact and shape mind, brain and behavior.
Mind-Body Problem	Are mind and body separate and distinct?
	Egyptians embalmed the heart, Greeks and Romans knew of mental function
	of the brain, roman gladiator injuries taught on brain issues.
	Leonardo Davinci challenged that mind and body were not separated.
	The taught Sensus Communis (common sense) as home of thought and judgement.
	Rene Descartes- Dualism theory. Separate but intertwined, governed by reflex.
	Mental functions like memory, imagination were from body functions.
	Deliberate action was controlled by the rational mind.
	Today psychologist reject dualism as mind is from brain activity.
John Stuart Mills	John stuart Mills mid-1800’s. Psychology not philosophy needs observation
	and experiment of science, “science of the elementary laws of the mind”.
	mental activity through careful scientific observation.
Wilhelm Wundt	Created first psychology lab, degree in psychology
	study reaction time- how people can respond and process
	Introspection: people to inspect and report on contents of their thoughts
Edward Titchener-	Wundt student who founded structuralism- conscious experience can be
	broken down into basic underlying components
	Overtime introspection was largely abandoned since it was too subjective.
William James	wrote Principles of Psychology. He argued that the mind consists of ever-changing
	continues series of thoughts, stream of consciousness. How the mind operates
	Functionalism- how the mind operates, how the mind came into existence over human evolution
	mind works as it does because it is useful for preserving life and passing along genes to future.
	Mind helps to adapt to environmental demands.
Charles Darwin	influenced functionalism. Observed changes in species, survival and reproduction, adaptations
	Evolutionary theory, Adaptations, and natural selection.
Gestalt School- Max Wertheimer 1912	whole of personal experience is not simply the sum of its constituent elements,
	the whole is different form the sum of its parts.
	Perception of objects is subjective and dependent on context.
	Two people can see different things looking at the same object.
	The study of vision and understanding human personality
Sigmund Freud	Neurological disorders, some people had few medical reasons for their paralysis
	hysterias or psychological factors were involved, human behavior is determined by
	mental processes operating below the level of conscious awareness.
	Subconscious level is called the unconscious. It was often sexual and in conflict, psychological
	discomfort and in some cases even psychological disorders.
	Many unconscious conflicts have origin in childhood experience that a person blocks from memory
	Psychoanalysis: Freud pioneered the clinical study approach
Pscyhoanalysis	therapist and patient work together to bring out patients contents of their conscious awareness
	Once revealed the therapist helps patient deal with them constructively.
	Free association the patient talks about whatever for however long they like to reveal contents
	that causes psychological problems. The work helps shape public view of psychology
Behaviorism. John B. Watson. 1913	Environment affects observable behavior. Nurture was everything.
Ivan pavlov	Watson agrees that animals acquire or learn all behavior through environmental experience.
	Environmental Stimuli or triggers in particular situations. By understanding the stimuli we
	can predict animals behaviors responses to those stimuli. Behaviors well researches into 1960’s.
	Evidence emerged that learning is not as simple as behaviorist thought.
	Research conducted on memory, language and child development showed simple laws they
	could not explain, they suggested that mental functions are important for understanding behavior.
George Miller and Congnitive revolution	Psychologist G. Miller looked at data concerning behavior and cognition.
Cognitive psychology	is concerned with mental functions such as intelligence, thinking, language, memory and decision
	making. The way people think influences their behavior.
Cognitive neuroscience	1980’s, cognitive psychologists joined with neuroscientists, computer scientist, philosophers
	to develop integrative view of mind and brain. Researchers in this field study neural mechanism
	like brain, nerves and nerve cells that underlie thought, learning, perception, language, memory.
	Peoples behaviors are affected by presence of others.
	Topics of authority, obedience, and group behavior.
Kurt Lewin and Social Psychology	scientific experimental approach to understanding how people are affected by others.
	The power of the situation and on the way people are shaped through interactions with others.
Personality psychology	the study of people’s characteristic thoughts, emotions,
	behaviors and how they vary across social situations like shy or outgoing.
1950: Carl rogers Abraham Maslow	Humanistic approach to psychological disorder treatment.
	Acceptance of the self to reach unique potential
	Questioning and listening in therapy. There is no one size fits all for psychological disorders.
Behavior and Biology
Nervous system	responsible for everything people think, feel, and do. Each of us is a nervous system
	Neurons- nerve cells
	complex network of neurons sending and receiving signals, functional basis of psychological activity
	Neurons do not communicate random only or arbitrarily, they communicate selectively
	with other neurons to form circuits call NEURAL Networks.
	The networks develop through maturation and experience and repeated firings.
	Permanent alliances form among groups of neurons.
Divisions of Nervous system	CNS- central nervous system, Brain and Spinal cord
	PNS- peripheral nervous systems composed of 2:
	1. Somatic nervous systems (2)
	a. skin, muscles, joints send signals to spinal cord and brain
	b. Brain and spinal cord send signals to the muscles, joints, and skin.
	2. Autonomic Nervous system: (2)
	a. Glands and internal organs send signals to spinal cord and brain
	b. Brain and spinal cord send signals to the glands and internal organs (2)
	i. Sympathetic Nervous system
	ii. Parasympathetic system
Neurons	specialized for communication
	Nerve cells are excitable, powered by electrical impulses and communicate w/ chemical signals
	1. Sensory neuron: detect information from the physical world and pass that information to brain
	2. Motor neurons: direct muscles to contract or relax, thereby producing movement.
	3. Interneurons: communicate with local or short-distance circuits.
	Dendrites- Cell body- Axon- myelin sheath, node of Ranvier- synapse
Neurotransmitters	Reuptake- neurotransmitter is taken back into presynaptic terminal
	enzyme deactivation- enzyme destroys neurotransmitter in synapse
	Autoreceptors- neurotransmitters bind with receptors on presynaptic neuron to monitor how much
Neurotansmitters and mental activity/behavior	learned through systemic study of how drugs and toxins affect emotion, thought, and behavior
	they can alter how a neurotransmitter is synthesized
	raise or lower the amount a neurotransmitter is released from a terminal
	block the reuptake
	Agonists: enhance the actions of neurotransmitters
	Antagonists: inhibit the actions or neurotransmitters.
Acetylcholine	motor control over muscles. Associated with Alzheimer’s when deficient)
	learning, memory, sleeping, dreaming
epinephrine	energy, (adrenaline) fight-flight response
noreponephrine	arousal, vigilance, attention. Sensitive to the world around you.
Serotonin	emotional state, impulsiveness
	dreaming. Sad and anxious when low, food cravings and aggressive behavior.
Dopamine	reward and motivation. Planning. Lack of dopamine is in Parkinson’s disease- rigidity, tremors.
	motor control over voluntary movement
Gaba (gamma-aminobutyric acid)	Inhibition of action potentials. Distributed in brain, without it the synaptic excitation can get chaotic.
	anxiety reduction. Xanax, Valium, alcohol- all relax.
Glutamate	Enhancement of action potentials
	learning and memory
Endorphins	pain reduction
	reward
Brain Structure	Everything we do is orchestrated by the brain
	spinal cord- control of rudimentary actions
paul Broca	19th century- evidence of brain regions
	Broca’s area: left frontal region used in the production of language. Understand language
	some with Broca’s area injury cannot very speak well, but understand language.
Brain Study Imaging	EEG- Electroencephalogram measures brain activity, electrodes to scalp
	PET- Position emission Tomography- radioactive tracer to show metabolic activity of tissues/organs
	MRI- Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Magnet and radio waves to create image of tissues/body
	fMRI- functional MRI-brain imaging technology, detects brain activity by measuring blood flow change
	TMS (Transcranial magnetic stimulation)- brain stimulation with magnetic field to induce electric current
	in the brain. Used in depression.
Brain stem	controls functions – heart rate, breathing, swallowing, vomiting, urination, orgasm
	Midbrain, Pons, Medulla oblongata
Cerebullum	coordinate movement and balance
Hypothalamus	regulates body functions, body temperature, body rhythms, blood pressure, blood glucose,
	influences basic motived behaviors.
Thalamus	gateway to brain, receives all incoming sensory information before reaching cortex
Hippocampus	brain structure this is associated with the formation of memories.
Amygdala	vital role in learning to associate things with emotional responses and in processing emotional info
Basal Ganglia	Subcortex structures important in planning and production of movement.
Cerebral cortex	Outer layer of brain tissue, convolutes surface of the brain- thoughts, perceptions, complex behaviors
Corpus Callosum	bridge of millions of axons that connect the hemispheres of the brain, flow between them
Frontal Lobe	important in movement, higher-level psychological processes associated with the prefrontal cortex.
Prefrontal cortex	directs and maintains attention, keeping ideas in mind. Indispensable for rational activity
	Important for social life, thinking, behaving to cultural norms, contemplations of one’s existence.
	sense of self, capacity to empathize with others or feel guilty about harming them
	damage here causes people to have disturbances in ability to get along with others.
Brain communication with body
Sympathetic \| Parasympathetic	Eyes: dilate \| contract
action \| rest	Lungs: relaxes \| constricts
	Heart: accelerates \| slows
	ST/LI: inhibit digestion \| stimulates activity
	Blood vessels of internal organs: contracts \| dilates
Brain plastcity	critical periods of development to proceed normally, brain is constantly changing
	decreases with age but can grow new neural connections, grow new neurons
	rewiring and growth in the brain represents biological basis of learning.
	Strengthen of existing connections. Fire together, wire together.
	Burning in of experience, ingraining of habits, has to do with minds recall and tendence to behave
	New growth is a major factor in recovery from brain injury.
neurogenesis	new neuron growth in pars of brain like hippocampus (storage of new memories)
	Social environment can affect brain plasticity, neurogenesis may underly neural plasticity
Consciousness	One’s subjective experience of the world resulting from brain activity
	Natural variations in consciousness like sleep. It can be manipulated with meditation or drugs.
	Attention to surrounds o reflecting on current thoughts.
	brain is regulating body temp, controlling breathings, calling up memories
	Attention: unified and coherent. A conscious steam of thoughts. Selectively focused
	Automatic processes- driving, walking, word understanding
	Controlled processes- for complex and novel situations
	Selective attention- the gate opens for important information but closes for irrelevant information
	Change blindness- attending to little amount of information, perceptions are often inaccurate
Unconscious processing influences behavior	Freudian slip– unconscious thought is suddenly expressed at inappropriate time
	Subliminal perception- stimuli is processed by sensory systems, because they are subtle,
	or have short duration, do not reach consciousness.
Sleep	Brain regions are still active in sleep, problem solving can occur in sleep
	brain activity are regulated in circadian rhythms influenced by light and dark
	eyes- suprachiasmatic nucleus- pineal gland- melatonin
sleep stages	stage 1: theta waves- drifting off to sleep, sensation of falling asleep, limbs jerk
	stage 2- breathing regulates, less sensitive to external stimuli theta waves plus sleep spindles K-complex
	stage 3: deep sleep, delta waves, very hard to wake
	REM: 90 minutes into sleep, beta wave activity, eyes move, dreaming.
	slow wave to REM sleep happens about 5 times a night
Altered Consciousness	Hypnosis, meditation and immersion in an action
Hypnosis	Hypnosis is when a person is induced by suggestion, experiences a change in memory,
	perception or voluntary action.
	Often used to help patients quit smoking, deal with chronic pain
Meditation	Meditation: concertation on an object, Mindfulness- watch thoughts without examination.
Immersion in an Action	Losing self in activities: music while exercising, offers a distraction from physical exertion, bring about energizing
	shift in consciousness.
	Exercise- people start of with pain and fatigue, but then get euphoric and glorious release of endorphins called:
	Runner’s high, a state mediated by physiological shift in consciousness. Religious ecstasy is a example.
Flow	Psychological theory of Flow. Flow is a particular kind of experience that is so engrossing and enjoyable
	that it is worth doing for its own sake even though it may have no consequences outside of itself.
	Flow is the optimal experience in that the activity is absorbing and completely satisfying.
	Flow experience, the person loses track of time, forgets their problems, and fails to notice the world around them.
	Flow can occur when playing video games, playing sports, or doing satisfying work.
Escaping from the self:	Sports or work help people escape thinking about their problems
	Expense: getting obsessive, example: playing online games and losing job or marriage.
	Self destruction: binge eating, unsafe sex, gambling, drugs and alcohol, extreme of suicide.
	Behavior of escaping from the problem reduces self-awareness, long term planning, and meaningful thinking.
Perception vs Sensation	what do senses tell you? Example grapefruit juice spilled on you
	Sensations: detection of physical stimuli and transmission of that information to the brain. Detection in essence.
	Sensation is the basic experience of those stimuli. It involves no interpretation of what we are experiencing.
	Perception: the brain further processing, organization and interpretation of sensory information.
	Perception results in our conscious experience of the world. Essence is useful and meaningful info about sensation.
2- way street processing	Bottom-up: physical features of stimulus. The sensory aspect of a stimulus is processed, the aspect
	build up into perception of that stimulus.
	Top-down: is how knowledge, expectations or past experiences shape the interpretation of sensory information,
	context affects perception.
Detection rquires a certain amount of stimulus	Psychologists have trie to understand the relationship between the worlds physical properties and how we
	sense and perceive them.
	Psychophysics, examines our psychological experiences of physical stimuli. How much physical energy is required
	for our sense organs to detect stimulus?
	Sensory thresholds: your sensory organs constantly acquire information from your environment. You do not
	notice much of this information. It has to surpass some level before you can detect it.
	Absolute threshold: is the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before you experience a sensation.
	It is the stimulus intensity you would detect more often than by chance.
	how loudly must someone in the next room whisper for you to hear it?
	Difference threshold: sometimes called a “noticeable difference”, is the smallest difference between two stimuli
	that you can notice. It is the minimum amount of change required for a person to detect a difference.
	example: the louder commercial on TV, a heavier letter in the mail.
Signal Detection Theory	Realizing their methods of testing absolute thresholds were flawed, researchers formulates Signal theory.
	(had ignored the fact that people are bombarded by competing stimuli, affects judgment and attention)
	Theory states that detecting a stimulus is not an objective process.
	Detecting a stimulus is instead a subjective decision with two components:
	1) sensitivity to the stimulus in the presence of distractions from other stimulus (e.g. background noise)
	2) the criteria used to make the judgement from ambiguous information.
flawed:
Taste	1 teaspoon of sugar in 2 gallons of water
Smell	1 drop of perfume diffused into entire volume of 6 rooms
Touch	A fly’s wing falling on your cheek from a distance of 0.04 inch
Hearing	The tick of a clock at 20 feet under quiet conditions
Vision	A candle flame seen at 30 miles on a dark, clear night
Example: Radiologist.	A radiologist looking for a faint shadow that might signal early-stage cancer. Judgement can be influenced by:
	Knowledge about the patient, medical training, experience, motivation, attention. Also by
	the awareness of the consequences: being wrong could mean missing a fatal cancer or unnecessary treatment.
Sensory Adaption	Our sensory systems are tuned to detect changes in our surroundings.
	It is important for us to be able to detect such changes because they might require responses.
	It is less important to keep responding to unchanging stimuli.
	Sensory adaption is a decrease in sensitivity to a constant level of stimulation.
	Example: studying and construction is going on outside, the sounds are loud and disturbing
	but after a few minutes, the noise seems to have faded in the background, once it stops, you notice the silence.
Learning
	Learning is a result of experience. It is relatively enduring change in behavior from experience
	Learning occurs when an animal benefits from experience so that its behavior s better adapted to environment
	ability to learn is critical for all animals. Survival means knowing which foods are dangerous,
	where it is safe to sleep, sounds that signal potential dangers.
	Learning is central to almost all aspects of human existence: our basic abilities
	Our complex ones like intimate relationships, it shapes many aspects of our life: clothing, music
	social rules, cultural values, preserving environment.
Types of learning:	Non-associative: the simplest form of learning occurs after repeated exposure to a single stimulus or event.
	A response to something in the environment. The change in response to the stimulus is a form of learning.
	Associative learning: Understanding how stimuli, or events, are related. You might associate work with pay.
	Associations develop through conditioning, a process in which the environmental stimuli and
	behavioral responses become connected.
	Observational learning: is acquiring or changing a behavior after exposure to another individual performing
	the behavior.
Habitual vs sensation	Habituation is a decrease in behavioral response after repeated exposure to a stimulus.
	we tend to notice new things around us. If something is neither rewarding nor harmful.
	habitual leads us to ignore it.
	Sensitization is an increase in behavioral response after exposure to a stimulus. The stimuli that most
	often lead to sensitization are those that are threatening or painful.
	a reduction in neurotransmitter release leads to habituation. An increase in neurotransmitter leads to
	sensitization.
Conditioning	The essence of learning is understanding associations. We learn these predictive associations through
	conditioning, the process that connects environmental stimuli to behavior. Psychologist study two types
	of associative learning, classical conditioning and operant conditioning.
	Classical or Pavlovian conditioning: a neural stimulus elicits a response because it has become associated
	with a stimulus that already produces that response. You learn that one event predicts another.
	Unconditioned response: a response that does not have to be learned, such as a reflex.
	Uncondtioned stimulus: a stimulus that elicits a response, such as a reflex, without any prior learning.
	Conditioned stimulus: a stimulus that elicits a response only after learning has taken place.
	Conditioned response: a response to a conditioned stimulus, a response that has been learned.
	Acquisition: the gradual formation of an association between the conditioned and unconditioned stimuli.
	Extinction: a process in which the conditioned response is weakened when the conditioned stimulus
	is repeated without the unconditioned stimulus.
Phobia:	Learned components. John B. Watson demonstrated that phobias we learned by conditioning.
	Operant conditioning: B.F. Skinner. The learning process in which an actions consequence determine the
	likelihood of that action being repeated -> the human or animal makes associations between events
	that it can control. Example: the cat, lever and trap door to get to food.
General theory of learning, law of effect:	Any behavior that leads to a “satisfying state of affairs” is likely to occur again.
	Any behavior that leads to an “annoying state of affairs” is less likely to occur again.
	Reinforcement: a reinforcer is a stimulus that occurs after a response and increases the likelihood
	that the response will be repeated. Skinner boxu: the mouse will hit lever to get the food.
	Shaping: reinforces behaviors.
	Primary reinforcers: food and water
	Secondary reinforcers: money
Positive and negatice reinforcement	Premack principle: a more-valued activity can be used to reinforce the performance of a less-valued activity.
	Reinforcement always increases behavior
	Positive reinforcement: increases the probability of that behavior being repeated, reward.
	Negative reinforcement: increases behavior through the removal of an unpleasant stimulus.
	Negative reinforcement example- taking a pill to help a headache.
	Continuous reinforcement: a type of learning in which behavior is reinforced each time it occurs
	Partial reinforcement: a type of learning in which behavior is reinforced intermittently.
Positive and negative punishment	Punishment reduces the probability that a behavior will recur
	Positive punishment: decreases the behavior probability through the administration of a stimulus.
	usually the stimulus in positive punishment is unpleasant. Receiving a spray of water- positive punishment.
	Negative punishment: decreases the behavior probability through the removal of a usually pleasant stimulus.
	example- speeding ticket vs license revolved.
	People learn from punishment is how to avoid it. Learning how not to get caught for example.
	It can lead to negative emotions like fear and anxiety. May be associated with the person administering punishment
	One concern is physical punishment teaches the child that violence is an appropriate behavior for adults.
	Psychologists today understand why. The neural basis of reinforcement is Dopamine
	dopamine is involved in addictive behavior. It is important for the wanting aspect of reward.
Observational and Imitation learning	Learn by watching what other people are doing. Observational learning is the acquisition or modification of a behavior
	after exposure to another individual performing that behavior, social learning, is a powerful adaptive tool for humans.
Modeling	through observation people can learn complex skills through demonstration
	The imitation of observed behavior is called modeling. Models are people reproducing behaviors.
	Modeling is effective only if the observer is physically capable of imitating the behavior.
Memory	The nervous systems capacity to retain and retrieve skills and knowledge.
	This capacity enables organisms to take information from experiences and store it for retrieval later.
	Yet memory does not work like a digital video camera.
	Information we store and retrieve are often incomplete, biased, and distorted.
	Memory is a process of information, in this model, the ways that memory works are roughly
	analogous to the ways computers process information; encoding, storage, and retrieval.
	Donald Hebb (1949) proposed memory is the result of alterations in synaptic connections.
	memories are stored in multiple regions of the brain that are linked through memory circuits.
	When one neuron excites another, some change takes place, that strengthens the connection between 2 neurons.
	Firing one neuron becomes increasingly likely to cause firing of the other. Cells that fire together, wire together.
	Long-term storage of information results from the development of new synaptic connections between neurons.
3 memory system (Atkinson and Shiffrin)	1) Sensory memory: temporary memory system closely tied to the senory systems. Fraction of a second.
	We are not normally aware it is operating.
	A sensory memory occurs when light, sound, odor, taste, or tactile impression leaves a vanishing trance on the
	nervous system for the fraction of a second.
	Sensory memory enable us to experience the world as a continuous stream rather than discrete sensations.
	2)Working memory– we pay attention and information from sensory memory goes to short term memory.
	Short term memory briefly holds a limited amount of information available to use.
	Working memory lasts less than half a minute without continuous rehearsing as a way to remember.
	Working memory holds about 7 items aka “Memory span”.
	Chunking is breaking down information into small chunks. Chunking efficiently helps you remember more.
	example: BCPHDNYUMAUCLABAMIT, now try BC PHD NYU MA UCLA BA MIT
	3) Long term memory: relatively permanent storage of memory/information. Longer duration, great capacity,
	Practice makes perfect, proficient in any activity. Memory are strengthened with retrieval.
	Of the billions of sensory experience and thoughts we have daily we want to store USEFUL info to benefit from exp.
	Memory allows us to use information in ways that assist in reproduction and survival. Friends and foes.
	Long term memory is based on meaning. Mental representations for complex and abstract ideas,
	including beliefs and feelings. Mental representations are stored by meaning. Rehearsal leads to encoding.
	Maintenance is simply repeating. Elaborative rehearsal encodes the information in meaningful ways.
	Chunking, is good way to encode groups of items for memorization. The more meaningful the chunks
	The better they are remembered. Schemas are decisions on how to chunk information.
	Schemas provide structures for understanding events in the world. They can bias how info is encoded,
	might no work in other environments, you will learn by making mistakes. You interpret
	things based on your culture or understanding.
Network of Associations	Information is stored in Association networks. Concepts are connected through associations: example- red- apple- pear.
	Retrieval cue- anything that helps a person recall a memory. Stimulus can recall a memory, a smell for example.
	Encoding specificity principle: stimulus can trigger a memory of the experience
	Contact-dependent memory-
	State dependent memory- remembering something while in a certain mood
Mnemonics	Learning aid in memory. Method of loci.
Thinking intelligence	Showing intelligence is related to thinking skill
	Cognition: mental activity that included thinking and understanding.
	Cognitive psychology: 1) knowledge of world is stored in brain in representations. 2)thinking is the mental manipulation of these
	representations. We use analogical and symbolic types of mental representations.
	analogical: physical characteristics of objects, analogous to the object: clock example- time.
	symbolic: abstract mental representations that do not correspond to the physical features of objects or disease. Words, numbers.
	Concepts are symbolic representations. Concept is a category or class of related items consisting of mental representations.
	Prototype model: the best example or prototype, for that category and others compare to.
	Exemplar model: no single best representation.
Schema organize information	Schema help us perceive, organize and process information.
	Knowledge on how to behave for example a restaurant table vs a poker table.
	Stereotypes: cognitive schemas that allow for fast processing based on membership in certain groups.
	Script: is a schema that directs behavior over time within a situation. They dictate appropriate behaviors.
	What is views as appropriate is shaped by culture. Schemas and scripts that children learn will affect their behavior when older.
	They minimize the amount of attention required to navigate familiar environments.
	They allow us to recognize unusual/danger situations.
How to make decisions	Two groups of theories: Normative and Descriptive
	Normative: attempts to define how people should make decisions. People select the choice that yields the largest gain.
	Descriptive: attempts to predict how people actually make choices, not to define ideal choices.
	Expected utility theory: people make decisions by considering the possible alternatives and choosing the most desirable one.
	Heuristics- fast and efficient strategies that help people typically use to make decisions. Often unconsciously.
	it is useful partly because it requires minimal cognitive resources and allows us to focus our attention on other things.
heuristic thinking	Relative comparison- people use comparison to judge value. Example score of 85 not that bad if class average was 75 and not 95.
	Anchoring: tendency in making judgements, to rely on first piece of information encountered or information that comes to mind.
	Framing: tendency to emphasize the potential losses or gains from at least one alternative.
	representative heuristic- can lead to faulty thinking, putting someone in a category. Ex. Mailman with a background in physics.
Affective forecasting	The tendency for people to overestimate how events will make them feel in the future.
	Expectations for how decisions will change affective states in the future are powerful forces in decision making.
	People are poor estimators and overestimate. Like getting married to be happy.
	They overestimate their pain, and underestimate how well they will cope with the event.
Paradox of choices	People think the more options they have the better, but when they have too many options, it is hard to make the decision.
Intelligence	intelligence is being good at using knowledge to reason, make decisions, make sense of events, solve problems, understand
	complex ideas, learn quickly, and adapt to environmental challenges.
	intelligence is measured by standardized tests. Psychometric approach to measuring intelligence focuses on how people
	perform on standardized tests that assess mental activities. These tests examine what people know and how they solve problems.
	Achievement tests: assess people current levels of skill and of knowledge.
	Aptitude Test: seel to predict what tasks and even what job people will be good at in the future.
	Alfred Binet, theodore simon- intelligence is best understood as a collection of high-level mental processes.
	Intelligence scale: tests for measuring each child’s vocabulary, memory, skill with numbers and other mental abilities.
	Adults: Wechsler Adult Intelligence scale (WAIS)
IQ (Inteligence Quotient)	The concept of mental age, like when a child age 3 yo thinks like a 5 year old. Test score and chronological age.
	William Stern- IQ test childs mental age/ childs chronological age x100.example- 5/3 x100= 166.
	Intelligence is related to cognitive performance. The speed of neural responses and the sensitivity of the sensory/perceptual sys.
	Smart people have quick responses and keen perceptions. Larger and more efficient brains. Not intelligent “a bit slow”.
	intelligent scores are closely related to how people process information in working memory.
	Attention is the link between working memory and general intelligence. In particular, being able to pay attention, especially
	while being bombarded with competing information or distractions, allows a person to stick to task until successful completion.
	intelligent people are called brainy. Studies on head circumference to estimate brain size and scores on intelligence tests.
	Brain imaging have found significant correlation between the size of selected brain structures and intelligence score tests.
	Different kinds of intelligence seem to be related to the sizes of certain brain regions.
Emotions	emotions, feelings, moods
	Emotion: immediate response negative or positive to environmental events or internal thoughts.
	Emotions interrupt whatever is happening, they trigger changes in thought and behavior.
3 components	Physiological process- the heart can beat fast or sweating for example.
	behavioral responses become connected. Eyes or mouth open wide for example.
	Feeling- cognitive appraisal of situation and interpretation of bodily states “I’m scared”.
	Feeling is subjective experience of the emotion, but not emotion itself.
Moods	Diffuse, long-lasting emotional states that do not have identifiable object or trigger.
	Rather than interrupting what is happening they influence thought and behavior.
	People in good or bad moods have no idea why they feel the way they do.
	Moods refer to peoples vague senses that they feel certain ways.
Emotions Vary	Primary: basic emotions are innate evolutionarily adaptive and universal. Anger, fear, sad, disgust, happy, ect.
	Secondary: blends of primary emotions like guilt, remorse, submission, shame, love, bitterness, and jealousy.
	Emotions are categorized along different dimensions.
	Circumplex model. Emotions are plotted along 2 continuums
	Valence: how negative and positive they are.
	Arousal: how arousing they are like physiological activation- increase in brain activity and automatic response
	like blood pressure, sweating muscle tension and more.
	positive activation states- Dopamine increase
	negative activation state- norepinephrine increase
Limbic system	subcortical brain regions are involved in emotions called limbic system (1952)
	Today we know many brain structures outside the limbic system are involved in emotion and that many limbic
	structures are not central to emotions per se.
Insula	Insula: receives and integrates somatosensory signals from the entire body.
	It is also involved in the subjective awareness of bodily states, such as sensing the heartbeat or feeling hungry.
	Emotions- bodily responses, not surprising that the insula plays an important role in the experience of emotion.
	Insula is particularly active when people feel disgust, anger, guilt, anxiety.
Amygdala	Amygdala- process emotional significance of stimuli. It generates immediate response emotional/behavioral reactions.
	The processing of emotion in the amygdala is a circuit that has developed in evolution to protect from danger.
	Important for emotional learning (conditioning)
	Amygdala damage- people will not develop conditioned response to fear or dangerous objects.
	Brain imaging emotional events increase activity it amygdala, increasing long-term memory for the event.
	Amygdala modifies how the hippocampus consolidates memory, especially memory for fearful events.
3 theories of Emtions	James-Lange Theory: bodily changes will happen before feeling.
	Cannon-Bard theory: emotions and physical reactions are independent but at same time.
	Schachter-Singer two factor theory: experience physical changes and applies to cognitive label to explain those changes.
Development	Starts in the womb, conception through birth, 9 months and more.
	Brain development- brain circuits mature through myelination. Beginning in the spinal cord 1st trimester,
	neurons in 2nd trimester. By age 4, 80% has grown to adult size. Use it or lose it. Nutrition affects brain development.
	Lack of stimulation undermines brain development. Environment affects brain: stress, poor nutrition, toxins, violence, etc.
	Children learn by obtaining informaiton principally thorugh the senses. Sensory capacities allow infants to
	observe and evaluate objects and events. Infants use the information gained from perception to try to make sense
	of how the world works.
	Jean Piaget (1924) watched children make errors and succeed on tasks. 4 stages of development:
	1) Sensorimotor birth to 2 years, 2) Preoperational 2 to 7 years. 3) Concrete operational 7-12 years
	4) Formal operational (12 and up)
	Assimilation: new experience is placed into a existing scheme.
	Accommodation: a new scheme is created or a existing one is dramatically altered to include new information
	that otherwise would not fit into the scheme.
Identity:	Children will develop a sense of identity, who he or she is.
	identity formation is part of social development where individual is valued and how interact with others.
	Eric Erikson (1980) theory of human development that emphasized age-related psychosocial challenges
	and their effects on social functioning across the life span. 8 stages with a crisis/confrontation for development.
	1. infancy, 2. toddler, 3. preschool 4, childhood, 5. adolescence 6. young adult 7. middle adult 8. old age
	Infancy: trust vs mistrust \| children learn the world is safe, people are loving and reliable.
	Toddler: autonomy vs shame and doubt \| encouraged to explore the environment, independence and self-esteem
	Preschool: initiative vs guilt \| develop a sense of purpose by taking on responsibilities, capacity for guilt and misdeed
	Childhood: industry vs inferiority \| work successfully with outers, assessing how others view them, learn to feel competent
	Adolescence: Identity vs role confusion \| explore different social roles, develop identity
	Young Adult: Intimacy vs isolation \| Gain the ability to commit to long-term relationships
	Middle Adult: generativity vs stagnation \| gain a sense of leaving a legacy and caring for future generations
	Old age: integrity vs despair \| sense of satisfaction that they lived a good life and developed wisdom
Health and Well Being	there are biological and medical terms for health, psychology appreciates the importance of lifestyle factors.
	Health psychology is about well-being, a positive state that is sought by striving for optimal health and life satisfaction.
	Health enhancing behaviors are needed to achieve optimal health.
3 factors to health	1) psychological: thoughts/actions, lifestyle, stress, health beliefs
	2) Biological characteristics: genetic predispositions, exposure to microbes, brain and nervous system
	3) Social conditions: environment, cultural influences, family relationships, social support.
Stress	Stress is a response typically unpleasant with anxiety or tension. It is perceived as threatening or demanding.
	Stress elicits a coping response, which is an attempt to avoid escape from or minimize the stressor.
	One persons stress may be another persons cherished activity for example public speaking.
	When too much is expected of us, or when events become worrisome or scary, we perceive a discrepancy
	between the demands of the situation and our resources to cope with them. Avoid, escape, or minimize the stressor.
	The discrepancy can be real or just an illusion.
	Positive and negative life changes are stressful. Two types of stress: Eustress and Distress.
	Eustress is the stress of positive events. Example a party you are preparing for.
	Distress is the stress of negative events like late for a meeting or stuck in traffic.
	Both stresses put strain on the body, the number of stressful events a person experiences predicts health outcomes.
	Major life stress: changes or disruptions that strain central areas of people lives, like having a child, or flood, war. Etc.
	Daily hassles: small day-to-day irritations and annoyances, driving in heavy traffic, waiting in line.
	Daily hassles combined can be compared to a major life change. They pose threat to coping responses wearing down person.
Physiology of stress	Stress activates two systems:
	1) fast acting sympathetic nervous system
	2) slow acting response resulting from a complex system of biological events know as hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA).
	Stress begins in the brain with the perception of some stressful event.
	Hypothalamus-> sympathetic nervous system -> the adrenal glands to release epinephrine and norepinephrine which
	will increase HR, BP, and RR making body ready for action.
	They hypothalamus gets to work as well and starts the HPA to secrete Cortisol.
	Cortisol will increase glucose in the bloodstream. This helps body prepare to respond to stressor.
	Hormones have a long-lasting effect, stress affects the organs after the stressor has been removed.
	Stress- brain- hypothalamus (chemical messengers)- pituitary (hormones) – Adrenal glands – Cortisol.
	Excessive stress disrupts working memory, an effect that is especially noticeable when the demands on working memory is high.
	Chronic stress has also been associated with long-term memory impairments.
	Excess cortisol damages neurons in the brain like hippocampus used in long term memory and retrieval from long term memory.
	Early childhood stress is a risk factor for developing psychological disorders later in life.
	Stress can be passed along from one generation to the next.
	The ability to deal with stress effectively is important to survival and reproduction.
	“Fight or Flight” response was created to describe how animals deal with an attack. All energy is directed to dealing with the threat.
	Within seconds the sympathetic NS response to stressor enables the organism to direct all energy to dealing with the threat.
	Women: “Tend-and-befriend” response to stress. Oxytocin a bonding hormone rises in women who tend to be distressed.
	General Adaption syndrome: nonspecific stress response (immune goes down, adrenals enlarge, peptic ulcer can occur.
	3 stages: alarm, resistance, exhaustion.
	Alarm: emergency reaction that prepares body to fight or flee.
	Resistance: body prepares for longer, sustained defense from the stressor. Immunity to infection and disease increases.
	Exhaustion: various physiological and immue systems fail, body organs that were weak from stress can fail.
	Chronic stress weakens the body and immune system. Decrease lymphocyte production.
	Cardiovascular system is affected. Type A personality- competitive, achievement oriented, aggressive, impatient get heart issues.
	Type B who is non-competitive, relaxed, easygoing, accommodating are more healthier.
Cardiovasular health at risk	People often cope with behaviors that are bad for health like eating, smoking, drugs, alcohol, etc.
	Some personality traits like hostility and depression have negative effects on social networks and support.
	Negative stress directly affects the heart, the sympathetic NS, BP, blood vessels, elevated cortisol, fatty acids, artery plaques.
Personality: “persona” aka mask	Combination of genetics, forces in their environments, the life choices they make.
	Personality consist of peoples characteristic thoughts, emotional responses, and behaviors.
	Personality trait: a pattern of thought, emotion, and behavior that is relatively consistent over time and across situations.
	Freud developed psychodynamic theory of personality: Unconscious forces such as wishes, desires, and hidden memories
	determine behavior. Many of Freuds ideas are controversial and not well supported by scientific research. But had an
	enormous influence over psychological thinking for much of the early history of the field.
Conscious/Preconsious/Unconscious	Conscious Awareness is only a small fraction of mental activity
	Conscious: thoughts that people are aware of.
	Preconscious: not currently in awareness but that could be brought to awareness.
	Unconscious: material that the mind cannot easily retrieve.
3 Interacting structures:	Vary in access to consciousness
	ID: exists at the most basic level, completely submerged in the unconscious. It operates according to the Pleasure Principle.
	Pleasure Principle directs the person to seek pleasure and to avoid pain.
	Superego: acts as a brake on the id. Largely unconscious, the superego develops in childhood and is the internalization of
	parental and social standards of conduct. It is a rigid structure of morality, or conscience.
	Ego: mediates between the id and the superego. It tries to satisfy the wishes of the id while being responsive to the
	dictates of the superego. The ego operates by way of the Reality Principle, which involves rational thought and problem solving.
	The unique interactions of the id, ego, and superego produce individual differences in personality.
	id: instincts vs. Ego: reality vs. Superego: morality.
	conflicts between the id and superego lead to anxiety.
	The ego copes with anxiety through defense mechanisms.
Defense mechanisms	Unconscious mental strategies that the mind uses to protect itself from distress.
	*Denial:* Refusing to acknowledge the source of anxiety. Ex. Il person ignoring medical advice.
	*Repression:* Excluding source of anxiety from awareness. Failing to remember an unpleasant event.
	Projection: attributing unacceptable qualities of the self to someone else. Competitive person describing others as XS competitive.
	*Reaction formation:* Warding off an uncomfortable thought by overemphazing the opposite. Ex, a person with
	homosexual desires makes homophobic remarks.
	*Rationalization:* Concocting a seemingly logical reason or excuse for behavior that might otherwise be shameful.
	ex. A person cheats on Taxes “cause every does it” remarks.
	*Displacement:* shifting the attention of emotion from one object to another. Ex. Person yells at children after a bad day at work.
	*Sublimation*: channeling socially unacceptable impulses into constructive, even admirable behavior.
	ex. A sadist becomes a surgeon or dentist.
Personality psychology: 5 Factor theory	five basic personality traits: Openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
	Scores on the five have shown to predict a wide variety of different behaviors.
	Some cross-cultural differences emerge, Interpersonal relatedness or harmony in China is more important than in the west.
	Openness to experience: imaginative vs down-to-earth, likes variety vs likes routing, independent vs. conforming.
	Conscientiousness: Organized vs disorganized, careful vs careless, self-disciplined vs weak-willed.
	Extraversion: social vs retiring, fun-loving vs sober, Affectionate vs Reserved.
	Agreeableness: Softhearted vs ruthless, Trusting vs. Suspicious, Helpful vs uncooperative.
	Neuroticism: worried vs calm, Insecure vs secure, Self-pitying vs. satisfied.
Biological Trait Theory	Personality traits have two major dimensions: Introversion and Extraversion and emotional stability.
	Introversion refers to shy, reserved, and quiet person is.
	Extraversion: refers to how sociable, outgoing, and bold a person is.
	Emotional stability is the variability in a person’s moods and emotions.
	Stability describes consistency in moods and emotions. Similar to neuroticism. A person more emotional is considered neurotic.
Psychoticism	a third dimension is a mix of aggression, poor impulse control, self-centeredness, and a lack of empathy. Constraint
	Big 5 trait of conscientiousness or how careful and organized someone is.
	Neurotic vs emotionally stable and Introvert vs Extrovert.
Behavioral Activations system	Proposes that personality is rooted in two motivational functionals:
	Behavioral Approach system: sensitivity to rewards, pleasure seeking, positive affect, extraversion.
	Behavioral inhibition system- inhibits behavior leading to pain or danger. Sensitive to punishment, increase anxiety. Neurotic.
	These functions evolved to help people respond efficiently to reinforcement and punishment.
Psychological disorders
Types of mental illness:	Anxiety disorders, Bipolar, depressive disorders, Eating disorders, Obsessive-compulsive disorder, sleep-wake disorders
psychopathology	sickness or disorder of the mind
	Hippocrates- mania, melancholia, phrenitis (mental confusion) based on humors of the body.
DSM	Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders. Standard of psychology and psychiatry. Etiology and symptoms, treatment.
	A client must reach specific criteria to receive particular diagnosis.
DSM disorders	Neurodevelopmental disorders like Autism
	Schizophrenia spectrum and Psychotic disorders
	Bipolar and related disorders
	Depressive disorders
	Anxiety disorders like panic attacks
	Obsessive disorders lke Body dysmorphic disorder
	Trauma-Stressor disorders like PTSD
	Dissociative disorders like amnesia
	Somatic symptoms like conversion disorder
	Feeding and eating disorder like Anorexia
	Elimination disorders like Enuresis
	Sleep-wake disordrs like narcolepsy
	Sexual dysfunctions like erectile disfunction
	Gender Dysphoria
	Disruptive, impulse-control, conduct disorder like Pyromania
	Substance and addiction like alcoholism
	Neurocognitive disorders like Delirium
	Personality disorders like Borderline
	Paraphilic disorders like Exhibitionist disorder
Mood disorders	When emotions or moods go from being a normal part of daily living to being extreme enough to disrupt peoples
	daily living and extreme enough to disrupt ability to work, learn, play, psychological disorder.
	Anxiety, phobias, OCD, bipolar.
Thought disorders	Disorders that revolve around thinking, losing sense of identity, external forces are controlling their thoughts.
	Psychosis- person has a break from reality and what is imagines. Difficult functioning in life. Schizophrenia.
	Delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, catatonic behavior, negative symptoms.
	Persecutory- believing someone is spying on them.
	Referential- believing certain objects, events, people have significance to one.
	Grandiose- Belief one has great power, knowledge, or talent.
	Identity – belief that one is someone else lke Jesus or the President.
	Guilt- belief one has caused a terrible sin.
	Control- Belief ones thoughts are controlled from external forces.
Personality disorders	Personality reflects each persons unique response to their environment.
	Interacting and coping is fairly fixed by adolescence. When causing problems in work and social it is personality disorder.
	Most people exhibit symptoms of personality disorder like indecisive, self-absorbed, or emotionally unstable.
	The behave in maladaptive ways, show extreme level of maladaptation behavior, experience personal distress and
	other problems as a result of their behavior.
Cluster A: odd and eccentric behavior	Paranoid- tense, guards, suspicious, grudges
	Schizoid- socially isolated, restricted emotional expression
	Schizotypal- peculiarities of thought, appearance, behavior,
Cluster B: Dramatic, emotional, erratic	Histrionic: seductive behavior, need immediate gratification and constant reassurance, rapidly changing moods, shallow emotions
	Narcissistic is self-absorbed, expects special treatment, envious of attention to others.
	Borderline cannot stand to be alone, intense, unstable moods and personal relationships, chronic anger, drug/alcohol use
	Antisocial are manipulative, exploitative, dishonest, disloyal, lack guilt, break social rules, often in trouble with the law.
Cluster C: anxious or fearful	Avoidant are easily hurt and embarrassed, few close friends, sticks to routines to avoid new and stressful situations.
	Dependent wants others to make decisions, needs constant advice and reassurance, fears being abandoned.
	Obsessive compulsive are perfectionistic, overconscientious, indecisive, preoccupied with details, unable to express affection.
Childhood disorders	Intellectual disabilities like reasoning problems, problem solving, planning, learning, social participation
	Communication disorders are deficits in language, speech, communication, stuttering, failure to follow social rules
	Autism spectrum disorder- impairment in social interaction, unresponsiveness, impaired language,
	ADD.ADHD: a pattern of hyperactivity, inattentive, impulse behavior that causes social or academic impairment.
	specific learning disorders – difficult learning, low scores in math, reading, written expression, intelligence.
	Motor disorders- recurrent motor and vocal tics that cause marked distress or deficits in developing coordinated motor skills.

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