Chapter 1

What is psychology? The scientific study of human behavior. Psyche:

soul, spirit. ology: branch of knowledge
Clinical psychology the study and treatment of behavioral disorders
that can range from marital problems to severe depression
Psychology: science of behavior of the mind
Aristotle naturalist, placed humans at the top of a natural scale of
intelligence above elephants
St Thomas Aquinas humans are separate from other creatures.
Humans alone possess a thinking, rational soul
Rene Descarte dichotomy between humans and animals
View of the body: laws of physics that apply to objects must also apply
to the body
-human and animal bodies are machines
-fire moves skin on leg, skin pulls thread, thread pulls open pore
to brain, fluid flows to muscles, leg muscles retract. The fire is reflected
in the leg withdrawal reflex
Cartesian Dualism: the body and mind are separate
Pineal gland: the intersection of mind and body. Reflexes: input and
output interact through the pineal gland
Thomas Hobbes: rejected dualism. Materialism: all behavior results
from physical process
British empiricism- tabula rasa- empty slate
Empirism- knowledge learned through experience
Nativism- knowledge is innate
Charles Darwin- survival of the fittest
Ivan Sechenov- behavior could be explained by reflexes. Stimulus in
the external world could trigger both an action and a thought
Wilhelm wundt: establishing first psychology laboratory in Leipzig
CHAPTER 2

Field study (case study) natural environment, hard to control

Laboratory study unnatural environment, easier to control
Descriptive: observation
Correlation: measures relationship between two variables. Correlation
does not equal causation
Experiment- manipulate one thing, measure another
Dependent variable: what experimenter measures WHAT YOU SEE
Independent variable: what the experimenter varies WHAT YOU DO
Variance- value minus mean then squared. Add all up and divide by n.
SD- square root variance
Null hypothesis: no effect of the independent variable on the
dependent variable
Experimental hypothesis: is an effect of independent variable on
dependent
CHAPTER 3
Artificial selection studies: specific strains of animals (rats) are bred for
a particular trait. Strength of that trait is measured over successive
generations
Cooperative traits: good for both self and neighbours
Altruistic traits: good for neighbours bad for self
Kin selection theory: I would gladly lay down my life for my two
brothers
Reciprocal altruism: altruistic behavior can occur among unrelated
individuals (natural selection)
The nervous system: peripheral, central, hierarchical brain: structures
and functions
Neural bases of behavior: neurons, electrochemical process, synaptic
transmission
CNS: brain + spinal cord
PNS: all nerves except brain and spinal cord
Somatic: voluntary- body movements

Autonomic: involuntary
Sympathetic- mobilize
Parasympathetic- conserve
Midbrain: pons, medulla: vital reflexes (breathing rate, heart rate)
sleep and arousal
Thalamus: relays messages. Sensory messages directed to higher
centers (except smell)
Cerebellum: little brain balance and muscle coordination
Basal ganglia: movement parkinsons disease affect bG
Limbic system:
-amydala: emotion
-hippocampus: memory formation
-hypothalamus: regulate body functions, autonomic NS
-pituitary gland: receives messages from hypothalamus, sends
hormones to endocrine glands
Phrenology: bumps on head said to be related to personality traids
Occipital lobe: visual, input from eyes via optic nerve, outputs to
parietal and temporal lobes
Temporal lobe: auditory cortex get input from ears, visual input from
occipital lob, recognition and memory, outputs to limbic system, BG
and brainstem
Parietal lobe: inputs from touch somatosensory cortex, vision via
occipital, audition via temporal. Output to frontal lobe. Sensorimotor
control, hand-eye coordination, eye movements, attention
Frontal lobe: no direct sensory input, includes motor speech
area(broca). Important for planning and sequencing ideas
NEURONS!
Glia: glue, support cells, provide nutrients, clean-up repair
Neurons: information processing cells
Dendrites: branchlike that collect info from other neurons
Cell body: one cell body per neuron

Axon: threadlike strand that transmits signals from one neuron to

another
Sensory neurons: relay info, not many dendrites
Interneurons: collect and integrate info
Motor neurons: collect info, long axons
Resting potential: stable, negatively charged neuron -70mV
All or none law: a nerve impulse resulting from a weak stimulus is just
as strong as a nerve impulse resulting from a strong stimulus
Depolarization (+)
Saltatory conduction: action potential jumps between nodes
Multiple sclerosis: decay of myelin sheaths, impaired sensations and
movements, axons are exposed and break down. Sclerosis = hardening
Agonists: drug that increase the effectiveness of synaptic transmission
Antagonists: drugs that decrease the effectiveness of synaptic
transmission
Acetylcholine (ACh) : neurotransmitter in the PNS and CNS that
involved in motor control, learning and memory, and sleep and
dreaming
Serotonin: neurotransmitter involved in emotions and dreaming:
depression
EEG: measure voltage difference with electrodes place on scalp
MRI: studies brain anatomy
fMRI: studies basic function
TMS: temporary lesions, wire coil on head, magnetic pulse, causes
neurons to fire
CHAPTER 4
Psychophysics: detection: absolute threshold 50%. Discrimination: JND.
Scaling: rating of subjective magnitude

Sensory neurons: carry impulses to CNS via thalamus except smell

Touch is more trustworthy than other senses
Touch acuity: minimum separation that can be detected between two
points. Fingertips and lips: high sensitive. Back and stomach: poor
sensitive
Anosmia: inability to smell
Olfaction: volatile, substances must give off vapors
Odor identification: most people can identify fewer than half the odors
Tip of the nose phenomenon: inability to name a familiar odor
Odor discrimination: people can tell the difference between 10000
odors
Smell: better in females than males, declines with age, worse for
smokers than non-smokers
Taste: sweet, salty, bitter, sour, umami
Flavor= taste and smell
Taste buds: receptor cells for taste, in papillae(small pimples), none in
center of tongue. In throat, roof of mouth, inside cheeks. Life
expectancy 10 days.
Taste system: 3 nerves thalamus insula (primary gustatory
cortex)
Nontasters: report little taste, 25% of people - tt
Tasters: report bitter taste, 50% of people - Tt
Supertasters: report extremely bitter taste, 25% of people TT
-caffeine tastes more bitter, more sensitive to oral pain, tend to
be thinner, less likely to like sweet or high fat foods, more intense
sensation of fat in dairy products, less likely to smoke or become
alcoholic
VISION
Wavelength perceived colour
Short wavelength- high frequency
Long wavelength- low frequency
Light goes through pupil, focuses by cornea and lens, focused on retina

PHOTORECEPTORS: cones + rods: transduce photons of light into

neural signals, each type contains a different type of photo pigment,
dont fire action potentials hyperpolarize to light
CONES: dense near fovea, need bright light, high visual acuity, 3 types
(in people with normal colour vision)-> colour perception BLUE, GREEN,
RED cones
RODS: dense outside of fovea, can see in dim light, low visual acuity, 1
type (no color perception with rods alone eg in dim light)
Dimensions of colour:
HUE: the colour of the target, quality that distinguishes among red,
yellow, green -> wavelength
SATURATION: degree of whiteness in the target, characterizes a colour
as pale, vivid, or something in between -> spectral purity
BRIGHTNESS: the perceived intensity of the target -> luminance
FOVEA: many cones, few rods- visual acuity
Periphery (outside fovea): many rods, few cones
Bipolar cells: do not fire action potentials, can hyperpolarize or
depolarize to light
Ganglion cells: fire action potentials, axons form optic nerve
Blind spot: area where retinal ganglion cells and blood vessels leave
retina, no photoreceptors there
VISION DONE IN THE BRAIN NOT THE EYES