Motivation refers to an inferred process within a person or animal that causes that organism to move toward a goal -- to satisfy a biological meet or achieve a psychological condition -- or away from an unpleasant situation. If you primary drives are based on psychological needs, but all human motives are affected by psychological, social, and cultural factors. Motivation may be intrinsic, for the inherent pleasure of activity, or extrinsic, for external rewards.
The hungry animal: motives to eat
Overweight and obesity are not simply a result of failed willpower, emotional disturbance, or overeating. Unger, weight, and eating are regulated by a set of bodily mechanisms, such as basal metabolism rate and number of fat cells, that keep people close to their genetically influenced set point. Genes influence body shape, distribution of fat, and whether the body will convert excess calories and fat. Genes may also account for certain types of obesity; the OB gene regulates leptin, which enables the hypothalamus to regulate appetite and metabolism.
Genetics alone cannot explain why rates of overweight and obesity are rising all over the world, among all social classes, ethnicities, and ages. The reasons reflect the interaction with them involved genetic disposition to gain weight when rich food is plentiful, and an environment that provides cheap, varied, high calorie food and rewards sedentary lifestyles. Eating habits and activity levels are also affected by cultural standards of what the ideal body should look like -- heavier thin, softt or muscular.
When genetic predispositions clashed with culture, physical and mental problems can result. In cultures that foster over eating and reward overweight as a sign of attractiveness and health, obesity is acceptable, but obesity is associated with a greatly elevated risk of many diseases. In cultures that foster are realistically thin bodies, eating disorders increase, especially bulimia and anorexia. These disorders are far more common in women than in men, but as pressures on men to have muscular bodies have increased, rates of body image problems in eating disorders among men are increasing too.
The social animal: motives to love
All human beings have a need for connection, attachment, and love. Psychologists who study love distinguish passionate (romantic) love from compassionate love. Biologically oriented researchers believe that the neurological origins of passionate love begin in infancy, and the baby's attachment to the mother. Attachment stimulates the release of various brain chemicals, including endorphins, which create rushes of pleasure and reward.
Two strong predictors of whom people will love are proximity and similarity. Once in love, people form different kinds of attachments. Attachment theory views adult love relationships, like those of infants, as being secure, avoided, or anxious-ambivalent. People's attachment styles tend to be stable from childhood to adulthood and affect their close relationships.
For most people, love consists of passion, intimacy, and commitment. Men and women are equally likely to feel love and need attachment, but they differ, on average, and how they express feelings of love and how they define intimacy. In Western societies, women often expressed love in words, where his men expressed in actions. But as women have entered the workforce in large numbers and extrinsic reasons for marriage have faded, the two sexes have become more alike in endorsing love as a requirement for marriage.
The erotic animal: motives for sex
Biological research finds that testosterone influences sexual desire in both sexes, although hormones do not call sexual behavior in a simple, direct way. The Kinsey surveys of male and female sexuality and the laboratory research of Masters and Johnson showed that psychologically, there is no "right" kind of orgasm for women to have, and that both sexes are capable of sexual arousal and response.
Some reachers believe that men have a higher frequency of many sexual behaviors, on average, because they have a stronger "sex drive" than women do. Others believe that gender differences in sexual motivation and behavior are a result of differences in roles, cultural forms, and opportunity. A compromise view is that male sexuality is more biologically influenced then is woman's, whereas female sexuality is more governed by circumstances, relationships, and cultural norms.
Men and women have sex to satisfy many different psychological motives, including pleasure, intimacy, coping, self-affirmation, partner's approval, or peer approval. Extrinsic motives for sex, such as the need for approval, are associated with riskier sexual behavior than intrinsic motives are. Both sexes may agree to intercourse for nonsexual motives: then sometimes feel obligated to "make a move" to prove their masculinity, and women sometimes feel obligated to "give in" to preserve the relationship. People's motives for consenting to on wanted sex very, depending on their feelings of security and commitment in the relationship.
A major gender difference in sexual experience has to do with rape and perceptions of sexual coercion: what many women regard as coercion is not always seen as such by men. Men who rate do so for diverse reasons, including peer pressure; Angkor, revenge, or desire to humiliate the victim; narcissism and hostility toward women; and sometimes sadism.
Cultures differ widely in determining what parts of the body people learn our a Roddick, which sexual acts are considered a Roddick will repulsive, and whether sex itself is good or bad. Cultures transmit these ideas to gender roles and sexual scripts, which specify appropriate behavior during courtship and sex, depending on a person's gender, age, and sexual orientation.
As in the case of love, gender differences in sexuality are strongly affected by cultural and economic factors -- such as the ratio of women to men and the resulting availability of partners.
As gender roles have become more like, so has the sexual behavior of men and women, with women wanting sex for pleasure rather than as a bargaining chip. Big cities have many different "sex markets" geographical and cultural areas in which people seek partners, and people tend not to cross them.
The origins of homosexuality are still unknown. Traditional psychological explanations have not been supported. Genetic and hormonal factors seem to be involved; the evidence is stronger for gay men than for lesbians, although the evidence is inconclusive. There is great variation in the expression of homosexuality around the world; woman's sexual orientations see more fluid than men's. Biology, culture, learning, and circumstance interact in complex ways to produce a given person's orientation. Research on this issue is sensitive because people's reactions to scientific findings on the origins of homosexuality are affected by their emotional feelings about the topic.
The competent animal: motives to achieve
The study of achievement motivation began with research using the Thematic Apperception Test (TAT). People who are motivated by a high need for achievements that high but realistic standards for success and excellence. The TAT has empirical problems, but it launch the study of the factors that noted the achievement.
People achieve more when they have specific, focused goals; when they set high but achievable goals for themselves; and when they have approach goals (seeking a positive outcome) rather than avoidance goals (avoiding an unpleasant outcome). People who focus on approach goals have greater will be, better health, and even better intermittent sexual relationships than those who focus on avoidance goals.
Motivation to achieve depends not only on ability, but also on whether people set mastery (learning) goals, and which the focus is on learning the task well, or performance goals, in which the focus is on performing well for others. Mastery goals lead to persistence in the face of failures and setbacks; performance goals often lead to giving up after failure, but under some conditions produce higher performance. High achievers find a balance between striving for mastery and performance. People's expectations can create self-fulfilling prophecies of success or failure. These expectations stem from one's level of self-effiacy.
Work motivation also depends on circumstances of the job itself. Working conditions that permit motivation and satisfaction are those that provide workers with a sense of meaningfulness, control, variation in tasks, clear rules, feedback, and social support. Incentive pay is more effective than predictable raises and elevating work motivation. Other conditions that affect people's work motivation are the gender ratio of members in an occupation and whether the job provides opportunities for promotion and success.
Motives, values, and well-being
Satisfaction and well-being increase when people enjoy the intrinsic satisfaction of an activity and when thier goals and values are in harmony. Having positive, intrinsically enjoyable experiences makes most people happier than having things. In an approach- approach conflict, a person is equally attracted to two goals. In an avoidance- avoidance conflict, a person is equally repelled by two goals. An approach- avoid its conflict is the most difficult to resolve, because the person is both attracted to and repelled by the same goal. Prolonged conflict can lead to physical symptoms and reduced well-being.
Abraham Maslow believe that human motives could be ranked in a hierarchy of needs, from basic biological needs for survival to hire psychological needs for self actualization. This popular theory has not been well supported empirically. A more recent approach suggests that people have four major psychological needs, for autonomy, relatedness, competence, and self-esteem.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Phychology - Chapter 12 - terms
Motivation -- an inferred process within a person or animal that causes movement either toward a goal or away from an unpleasant situation
intrinsic motivation -- the pursuit of an activity for its own sake
extrinsic motivation -- the pursuit of an activity for external rewards, such as money or fame
set point -- the genetically influenced weight range for an individual, maintained by biological mechanisms that regulate food intake, fat reserves, and metabolism
sexual scripts -- sets of implicit rules that specify proper sexual behavior for a person in a given situation, varying with the persons age, culture, and gender
need for achievement -- a learned motive to meet personal standards of success and excellence in a chosen area
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) - a projective test that asks respondents to interpret a series of drawings showing scenes of people; usually scored for unconscious motives, such as the need for achievement, power, or affiliation
approach goals -- goals framed in terms of desired outcomes or experiences, such as learning to scuba dive
avoidance goals -- goals framed in terms of avoiding unpleasant experiences, such as trying not to look foolish in public
performance goals -- goals framed in terms of performing well in front of others, being judged favorably, and avoiding criticism
mastery goals -- goals framed in terms of increasing one's competence and skills
self-fulfilling prophecy -- an expectation that comes true because of the tendency of the person holding it to act in ways that bring about
self-efficacy -- a person's belief that he or she is capable of producing desired results, such as mastering new skills and reaching goals
intrinsic motivation -- the pursuit of an activity for its own sake
extrinsic motivation -- the pursuit of an activity for external rewards, such as money or fame
set point -- the genetically influenced weight range for an individual, maintained by biological mechanisms that regulate food intake, fat reserves, and metabolism
sexual scripts -- sets of implicit rules that specify proper sexual behavior for a person in a given situation, varying with the persons age, culture, and gender
need for achievement -- a learned motive to meet personal standards of success and excellence in a chosen area
Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) - a projective test that asks respondents to interpret a series of drawings showing scenes of people; usually scored for unconscious motives, such as the need for achievement, power, or affiliation
approach goals -- goals framed in terms of desired outcomes or experiences, such as learning to scuba dive
avoidance goals -- goals framed in terms of avoiding unpleasant experiences, such as trying not to look foolish in public
performance goals -- goals framed in terms of performing well in front of others, being judged favorably, and avoiding criticism
mastery goals -- goals framed in terms of increasing one's competence and skills
self-fulfilling prophecy -- an expectation that comes true because of the tendency of the person holding it to act in ways that bring about
self-efficacy -- a person's belief that he or she is capable of producing desired results, such as mastering new skills and reaching goals
Phychology - Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Emotion -- a state of arousal involving facial and bodily changes, brain activation, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, and tendencies toward action, all shaped by cultural rules
primary emotions -- emotions considered to be universal and biologically based; they generally include fear, anger, sadness, joy, surprise, disgust, and contempt
secondary emotions -- emotions that develop with cognitive maturity and vary across individuals and cultures
facial feedback -- the process by which the facial muscles send messages to the brain about the basic emotion being expressed
display rules -- social and cultural rules that regulate when, how, and where a person may express (or must suppress) emotions
emotion work -- expression of an emotion that the person does not really feel, often because of a role requirement
Summary
Emotion and cognition are not "opposites" with one being "irrational" and the other "rational." Emotions find people together, regulate relationships, motivate people to achieve their goals, and help them make plans and decisions. The experience of emotion and bolts psychological changes in the brain, face, and autonomic nervous system; cognitive processes; and cultural norms and regulations.
Elements of emotion 1: the body
Primary emotions are those that appear to be inborn and universal; they have corresponding psychological patterns and facial expressions. Secondary emotions include all the variations and lens of emissions and may vary across cultures.
Some basic facial expressions -- anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, surprise, contempt -- are widely recognized across cultures. They probably evolved to foster communications with others, enhance infant survival, and signal our intentions to others. As studies of facial feedback shadow, they also help us to identify our own emotional state. Facial expressions can also generate emissions and others and produced unconscious mimickry, which can create mood contagion.
Certain facial expressions may be universal, but all of them take place in social context, which is why people don't always agree, across and within cultures, on what a given expression conveys. Familiarity affects the ability to read facial expressions accurately; cultures differ in the attention they pay to the social context of emotion; facial expressions may have different meanings in different contexts; and people often use facial expressions to lie about their real emotions.
Many aspects of emotion are associated with specific parts of the brain. Damage to certain areas, for example, may affect a person's ability to feel disgust. The right side of the brain is important for processing emotional feeling whereas the left is active in processing emotional meaning. The amygdala is responsible for initially evaluating the emotional importance of incoming sensory information, and is especially involved in fear. The pre-frontal cortex provides a cognitive ability to override this initial appraisal. He motions generally involve the motivation to approach or withdrawal: Regents of the left prefrontal cortex appear to be specialized for the motivation to approach others (as with happiness and anger), whereas Regents of the right prefrontal region are specialized for withdrawal or escape (as with disgust and fear). Parts of the prefrontal cortex are also involved in regulating emotions and keeping them on an even keel.
During the experience of any emotion, epinephrine and norepinephrine produce a state of psychological arousal to prepare the body for an output of energy. But differing emotions are associated with different biochemical responses and different patterns of autonomic nervous system activity.
Elements of emotion 2: the mind
Schachter and Singer's theory of emotion held that emotions result from arousal and the labeling or interpretation of that arousal. Research spurred by this there he has investigated the cognitive processes involved in emotion, such as the attributions people make a bow a year and the way people interpret and evaluate events. The cognitions involved in emotion range from immediate perceptions of a specific event to one's philosophy of life.
Thoughts and emotions operate reciprocally, each influencing the other. Some emotions, such as those that appear in infancy or that reflect conditioned responses to emotional symbols, involve simple, nonconscious reactions. Others, such a shame and guilt, require complex cognitive abilities and the emergence of a sense of self. In any emotional counter, cognitions and appraisals are constantly changing, affecting the emotions the participants feel.
Elements of emotion 3: the culture
Many psychologists believe that all human beings share the ability to experience primary emotions, where a secondary emotions made the call Pacific -- a view supported by research on emotion prototypes. But cultural psychologists believe that culture affects every aspect of emotional experience, including which emotions are considered basic. All researchers agree that cultural affects every aspect of emotional experience, including which emotions are considered basic. All researchers agree that culture affects the people feel emotional about.
Culture strongly influences the display rules that regulate how and whether people express their emotions. Emotion work is the effort a person makes to display an emotion he or she does not feel but feels obligated to convey. People also convey emotions through body language, and the ability to synchronize moods through nonverbal cues is important for establishing rapport and interacting smoothly.
Putting elements together: emotion and gender
Women and men are equally likely to feel all emissions, from love to anger. Many men seem to be more psychologically reactive to conflict that women are, however, and the sex is sometimes differ in the perceptions and attributions that generate you mentioned and emotional intensity. Although women are thought to be better than men at reading another person's emotional state, gender is less important than other factors: whether the two individuals are the same sex, how well they know each other, the senders expressiveness, which person has more power in the situation, and whether the two people hold stereotypes about gender.
Men and women differ primarily in expressiveness -- and the display rules they follow for expressing emotions, which vary across cultures. In North America, women or more likely than men to cry and to reveal feelings of fear, sadness, guilt, and loneliness; men are more likely to deny or mask such feelings of "weakness." North American Man express one emotion more freely than women: anger toward strangers. But gender differences in expressiveness depend on gender roles, cultural norms, and the specific situation. Both sexes are less expressive to a person of higher status than they, both sexes will the "emotion work" their job requires, and some situations foster expressiveness in everybody.
The example of gender and emotion shows that to understand the full experience an expression of emotion, we must understand biology, cognitive attributions and perceptions, and cultural rules. Examining just one component gives an incomplete picture.
Emotion -- a state of arousal involving facial and bodily changes, brain activation, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, and tendencies toward action, all shaped by cultural rules
primary emotions -- emotions considered to be universal and biologically based; they generally include fear, anger, sadness, joy, surprise, disgust, and contempt
secondary emotions -- emotions that develop with cognitive maturity and vary across individuals and cultures
facial feedback -- the process by which the facial muscles send messages to the brain about the basic emotion being expressed
display rules -- social and cultural rules that regulate when, how, and where a person may express (or must suppress) emotions
emotion work -- expression of an emotion that the person does not really feel, often because of a role requirement
Summary
Emotion and cognition are not "opposites" with one being "irrational" and the other "rational." Emotions find people together, regulate relationships, motivate people to achieve their goals, and help them make plans and decisions. The experience of emotion and bolts psychological changes in the brain, face, and autonomic nervous system; cognitive processes; and cultural norms and regulations.
Elements of emotion 1: the body
Primary emotions are those that appear to be inborn and universal; they have corresponding psychological patterns and facial expressions. Secondary emotions include all the variations and lens of emissions and may vary across cultures.
Some basic facial expressions -- anger, fear, sadness, happiness, disgust, surprise, contempt -- are widely recognized across cultures. They probably evolved to foster communications with others, enhance infant survival, and signal our intentions to others. As studies of facial feedback shadow, they also help us to identify our own emotional state. Facial expressions can also generate emissions and others and produced unconscious mimickry, which can create mood contagion.
Certain facial expressions may be universal, but all of them take place in social context, which is why people don't always agree, across and within cultures, on what a given expression conveys. Familiarity affects the ability to read facial expressions accurately; cultures differ in the attention they pay to the social context of emotion; facial expressions may have different meanings in different contexts; and people often use facial expressions to lie about their real emotions.
Many aspects of emotion are associated with specific parts of the brain. Damage to certain areas, for example, may affect a person's ability to feel disgust. The right side of the brain is important for processing emotional feeling whereas the left is active in processing emotional meaning. The amygdala is responsible for initially evaluating the emotional importance of incoming sensory information, and is especially involved in fear. The pre-frontal cortex provides a cognitive ability to override this initial appraisal. He motions generally involve the motivation to approach or withdrawal: Regents of the left prefrontal cortex appear to be specialized for the motivation to approach others (as with happiness and anger), whereas Regents of the right prefrontal region are specialized for withdrawal or escape (as with disgust and fear). Parts of the prefrontal cortex are also involved in regulating emotions and keeping them on an even keel.
During the experience of any emotion, epinephrine and norepinephrine produce a state of psychological arousal to prepare the body for an output of energy. But differing emotions are associated with different biochemical responses and different patterns of autonomic nervous system activity.
Elements of emotion 2: the mind
Schachter and Singer's theory of emotion held that emotions result from arousal and the labeling or interpretation of that arousal. Research spurred by this there he has investigated the cognitive processes involved in emotion, such as the attributions people make a bow a year and the way people interpret and evaluate events. The cognitions involved in emotion range from immediate perceptions of a specific event to one's philosophy of life.
Thoughts and emotions operate reciprocally, each influencing the other. Some emotions, such as those that appear in infancy or that reflect conditioned responses to emotional symbols, involve simple, nonconscious reactions. Others, such a shame and guilt, require complex cognitive abilities and the emergence of a sense of self. In any emotional counter, cognitions and appraisals are constantly changing, affecting the emotions the participants feel.
Elements of emotion 3: the culture
Many psychologists believe that all human beings share the ability to experience primary emotions, where a secondary emotions made the call Pacific -- a view supported by research on emotion prototypes. But cultural psychologists believe that culture affects every aspect of emotional experience, including which emotions are considered basic. All researchers agree that cultural affects every aspect of emotional experience, including which emotions are considered basic. All researchers agree that culture affects the people feel emotional about.
Culture strongly influences the display rules that regulate how and whether people express their emotions. Emotion work is the effort a person makes to display an emotion he or she does not feel but feels obligated to convey. People also convey emotions through body language, and the ability to synchronize moods through nonverbal cues is important for establishing rapport and interacting smoothly.
Putting elements together: emotion and gender
Women and men are equally likely to feel all emissions, from love to anger. Many men seem to be more psychologically reactive to conflict that women are, however, and the sex is sometimes differ in the perceptions and attributions that generate you mentioned and emotional intensity. Although women are thought to be better than men at reading another person's emotional state, gender is less important than other factors: whether the two individuals are the same sex, how well they know each other, the senders expressiveness, which person has more power in the situation, and whether the two people hold stereotypes about gender.
Men and women differ primarily in expressiveness -- and the display rules they follow for expressing emotions, which vary across cultures. In North America, women or more likely than men to cry and to reveal feelings of fear, sadness, guilt, and loneliness; men are more likely to deny or mask such feelings of "weakness." North American Man express one emotion more freely than women: anger toward strangers. But gender differences in expressiveness depend on gender roles, cultural norms, and the specific situation. Both sexes are less expressive to a person of higher status than they, both sexes will the "emotion work" their job requires, and some situations foster expressiveness in everybody.
The example of gender and emotion shows that to understand the full experience an expression of emotion, we must understand biology, cognitive attributions and perceptions, and cultural rules. Examining just one component gives an incomplete picture.
Monday, February 20, 2006
Psych - Chapter 6 - Summary
Sensation is the detection and direct experience of physical energy as a result of the environment or internal events. Perception is the process by which sensory impulses are organized and interpreted.
Our sensational senses
Sensation begins with the sense receptors, which convert the energy of a stimulus into electrical impulses that travel longer to the brain. Separate sensations can be accounted for by anatomical codes (as set forth by the doctrine of specific nerve energies) and functional code is in the nervous system. In a rare condition called synesthesia, sensation in one modality also he evokes a sensation in another modality, but these experiences are the exception, not the rule.
Psychologist specializing in psychophysics have studied sensory sensitivity by measuring absolute indifference thresholds. Signal- detection theory, however, holds that responses in a detection task consists of both a sensory process in a decision process and will vary with the person's motivation, alertness, and expectations.
Our senses are designed to respond to change in contrast to the environment. When stimulation is unchanging, sensory adaptation occurs. Two little stimulation can cause sensory deprivation. Too much stimulation can cause sensory overload. Selective attention prevents overload and allows us to focus on what is important, but it also deprives us of sensory information we may need, as in inattentional blindness.
Vision
Vision is affected by the wavelength, intensity, and complexity of like, which produces psychological dimensions of visual experience -- hue, brightness, and saturation. The visual receptors, rods and cones, are located in retina of the eye. They sent signals (via other cells) to the ganglion cells and ultimately to the optic nerve, which carries visual information to the brain. Rods are responsible for vision in dim light; cones are responsible for color vision. Dark adaptation occurs in two stages.
Specific aspects of the visual world, such as lines at various orientations, are detected by feature detector cells in the visual areas of the brain. Some of the cells respond maximally too complex patterns. A debate is going on about the possible existence of specialized "face modules" in the brain. In general, however, the brain takes in fragmentary information about wines, angles, shapes, motion, brightness, texture, and other features of what we see and comes up with a unified view of the world.
The trichromatic and opponent- process theories of color vision apply to different stages of processing. In the first stage, three types of cones in the retina respond selectively to different wavelengths of light. In the second, opponent- process sells in the retina and the thalamus respond and opposite fashion to short and long wavelengths of light.
Perception involves the active construction of a model world from moment to moment. The Gestalt principles described the visual strategies used by the brain to perceive forms. Example figure in ground, proximity, closure, similarity, and continuity.
We localize objects in visual space by using binocular and monocular cues to depth. Binocular cues include convergence and retinal disparity. Monocular cues include, among others, interposition and linear perspective. Perceptual consistencies allow us to perceive objects as stable despite changes in the sensory patterns they produce. Perceptual illusions occur when sensory cues are misleading or when we misinterpret cues.
Hearing
Hearing (audition) is affected by the intensity, frequency, and complexity of pressure waves in the air or other transmitting substance, corresponding to the experience of loudness, pitch, and timbre of the sound. The receptors for hearing are hair cels (cilia) embedded in the basilar membrane, located in the organ of Corti and the interior of the cochlea. The sounds we hear are determined by patterns of hair cell movement, which produce different neural codes. When we localize sounds, we use as cues settle differences in how pressure waves reach each of our ears.
Other senses
Taste (gustation) is a chemical sense. Elevations on the tongue called papillae, contain many taste buds. The basic tastes include salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and probably umami. Responses to a particular case depend in part on genetic differences among individuals; for example, some people are super tasters. Taste preferences are also affected by culture and learning, and by the texture, temperature, and smell of food.
Smell (olfaction) is also a chemical scents. No basic editors have been identified, and up to a thousand different receptor types exist. But researchers have discovered that distinct odors activate unique combinations of receptor types, and they have identified some of this combinations. Call toll and individual differences also affects people's responses to particular odors.
The skin senses include touch (pressure), warmth, cold, pain, and variations such as age and tickle. Except in case of pressure, it has been difficult to identify specialized receptors for the senses, but researchers have reported a receptor for one kind of itching and a possible receptor for cold.
Pain is both a can sense and an internal sense. According to the gate- control theory, the experience of pain depends on whether neural impulses get past a "gate" and the spinal cord and reach the brain. According to a revised version of this there he, a matrix of their lawns and the brain can generate pain even in the absence of signals from sensory neurons, which may help explain the puzzling phenomenon of phantom pain. No one theory, however, completely explains perception of pain, which involves the release of many chemicals all along the pain pathways, and also the involvement of glial cells. Pain comes in many varieties, both physiologically and psychologically, and is affected by genetics, expectations, and culture.
Kinesthesis tells us where our body parts are located, and equilibrium tells us the orientation of the body as able. Together, these two senses provide us the feeling of physical embodiment.
Perceptual powers: origins and influences
Many fundamental perceptual skills are inborn or are acquired shortly after birth. By using the visual cliff, for example, psychologists have learned that babies have depth perception by the age of six months and probably even earlier. However, without certain experiences during critical periods early in life, cells of the nervous system deteriorate, change, or fail to form appropriate neural pathways, and perception is impaired. This is why efforts to correct congenital blindness or deafness are most successful when they take place early in life.
Psychological influences on perception include needs, beliefs, emotions, and expectations (which produce perceptual sets). These influences are affected by culture, which gives people practice with certain kinds of experiences and influences what they attend to.
Puzzles are perception
In the laboratory, studies using priming shed that simple visual subliminal messages can influence certain behaviors, judgments, and motivational states, such as thirst. However, there is no evidence that complex behaviors can be altered by "subliminal perception" tapes or similar subliminal techniques.
Extrasensory perception (ESP) refers to paranormal abilities such as telepathy and precognition. Years of research have failed to produce convincing evidence for ESP. Many so-called psychics take advantage of people's desire to believe in ESP, but what they do is no different from the tricks of any good magician. The story of ESP illustrates a central fact about human perception: it does not merely capture objective reality but also reflects our needs, biases, and beliefs.
Our sensational senses
Sensation begins with the sense receptors, which convert the energy of a stimulus into electrical impulses that travel longer to the brain. Separate sensations can be accounted for by anatomical codes (as set forth by the doctrine of specific nerve energies) and functional code is in the nervous system. In a rare condition called synesthesia, sensation in one modality also he evokes a sensation in another modality, but these experiences are the exception, not the rule.
Psychologist specializing in psychophysics have studied sensory sensitivity by measuring absolute indifference thresholds. Signal- detection theory, however, holds that responses in a detection task consists of both a sensory process in a decision process and will vary with the person's motivation, alertness, and expectations.
Our senses are designed to respond to change in contrast to the environment. When stimulation is unchanging, sensory adaptation occurs. Two little stimulation can cause sensory deprivation. Too much stimulation can cause sensory overload. Selective attention prevents overload and allows us to focus on what is important, but it also deprives us of sensory information we may need, as in inattentional blindness.
Vision
Vision is affected by the wavelength, intensity, and complexity of like, which produces psychological dimensions of visual experience -- hue, brightness, and saturation. The visual receptors, rods and cones, are located in retina of the eye. They sent signals (via other cells) to the ganglion cells and ultimately to the optic nerve, which carries visual information to the brain. Rods are responsible for vision in dim light; cones are responsible for color vision. Dark adaptation occurs in two stages.
Specific aspects of the visual world, such as lines at various orientations, are detected by feature detector cells in the visual areas of the brain. Some of the cells respond maximally too complex patterns. A debate is going on about the possible existence of specialized "face modules" in the brain. In general, however, the brain takes in fragmentary information about wines, angles, shapes, motion, brightness, texture, and other features of what we see and comes up with a unified view of the world.
The trichromatic and opponent- process theories of color vision apply to different stages of processing. In the first stage, three types of cones in the retina respond selectively to different wavelengths of light. In the second, opponent- process sells in the retina and the thalamus respond and opposite fashion to short and long wavelengths of light.
Perception involves the active construction of a model world from moment to moment. The Gestalt principles described the visual strategies used by the brain to perceive forms. Example figure in ground, proximity, closure, similarity, and continuity.
We localize objects in visual space by using binocular and monocular cues to depth. Binocular cues include convergence and retinal disparity. Monocular cues include, among others, interposition and linear perspective. Perceptual consistencies allow us to perceive objects as stable despite changes in the sensory patterns they produce. Perceptual illusions occur when sensory cues are misleading or when we misinterpret cues.
Hearing
Hearing (audition) is affected by the intensity, frequency, and complexity of pressure waves in the air or other transmitting substance, corresponding to the experience of loudness, pitch, and timbre of the sound. The receptors for hearing are hair cels (cilia) embedded in the basilar membrane, located in the organ of Corti and the interior of the cochlea. The sounds we hear are determined by patterns of hair cell movement, which produce different neural codes. When we localize sounds, we use as cues settle differences in how pressure waves reach each of our ears.
Other senses
Taste (gustation) is a chemical sense. Elevations on the tongue called papillae, contain many taste buds. The basic tastes include salty, sour, bitter, sweet, and probably umami. Responses to a particular case depend in part on genetic differences among individuals; for example, some people are super tasters. Taste preferences are also affected by culture and learning, and by the texture, temperature, and smell of food.
Smell (olfaction) is also a chemical scents. No basic editors have been identified, and up to a thousand different receptor types exist. But researchers have discovered that distinct odors activate unique combinations of receptor types, and they have identified some of this combinations. Call toll and individual differences also affects people's responses to particular odors.
The skin senses include touch (pressure), warmth, cold, pain, and variations such as age and tickle. Except in case of pressure, it has been difficult to identify specialized receptors for the senses, but researchers have reported a receptor for one kind of itching and a possible receptor for cold.
Pain is both a can sense and an internal sense. According to the gate- control theory, the experience of pain depends on whether neural impulses get past a "gate" and the spinal cord and reach the brain. According to a revised version of this there he, a matrix of their lawns and the brain can generate pain even in the absence of signals from sensory neurons, which may help explain the puzzling phenomenon of phantom pain. No one theory, however, completely explains perception of pain, which involves the release of many chemicals all along the pain pathways, and also the involvement of glial cells. Pain comes in many varieties, both physiologically and psychologically, and is affected by genetics, expectations, and culture.
Kinesthesis tells us where our body parts are located, and equilibrium tells us the orientation of the body as able. Together, these two senses provide us the feeling of physical embodiment.
Perceptual powers: origins and influences
Many fundamental perceptual skills are inborn or are acquired shortly after birth. By using the visual cliff, for example, psychologists have learned that babies have depth perception by the age of six months and probably even earlier. However, without certain experiences during critical periods early in life, cells of the nervous system deteriorate, change, or fail to form appropriate neural pathways, and perception is impaired. This is why efforts to correct congenital blindness or deafness are most successful when they take place early in life.
Psychological influences on perception include needs, beliefs, emotions, and expectations (which produce perceptual sets). These influences are affected by culture, which gives people practice with certain kinds of experiences and influences what they attend to.
Puzzles are perception
In the laboratory, studies using priming shed that simple visual subliminal messages can influence certain behaviors, judgments, and motivational states, such as thirst. However, there is no evidence that complex behaviors can be altered by "subliminal perception" tapes or similar subliminal techniques.
Extrasensory perception (ESP) refers to paranormal abilities such as telepathy and precognition. Years of research have failed to produce convincing evidence for ESP. Many so-called psychics take advantage of people's desire to believe in ESP, but what they do is no different from the tricks of any good magician. The story of ESP illustrates a central fact about human perception: it does not merely capture objective reality but also reflects our needs, biases, and beliefs.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Psych - chapter 6 - terms
sensation and perception
Sensation -- the detection of physical energy omitted or reflected by physical objects; it occurs when it energy and the external environment or the body stimulates receptors in the sense organs
perception -- the process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory information
sense receptors -- specialized cells that convert physical energy and the environment or the body to electrical energy that can be transmitted as nerve impulses to the brain
doctrine of specific nerve energies -- the principle that different sensory modalities exist because signals received by the sense organs stimulate different nerve pathways leading to different areas of the brain
synesthesia -- a condition in which stimulation of one cents also evokes another
absolute threshold -- the smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected by an observer
difference threshold -- the smallest difference in stimulation that can be reliably detected by an observer went to stimuli are compared; also called just noticeable difference
signal-detection. -- a psycho-physical theory that divides the detection of a sensory signal into a sensory process and a decision process
sensory adaptation -- the reduction or disappearance of sensory responsiveness when stimulation is unchanging or repetitive
sensory deprivation -- the absence of normal levels of sensory stimulation
selective attention -- the focusing of attention on selected aspects of the environment and the blocking out of others
inattentional blindness -- failure to consciously perceive something you are looking at because you are not attending to it
hue -- the dimension of visual experience specified by color names and related to the wavelength of light
brightness -- lightness or luminance; the dimension of visual experience related to the amount of light omitted from or reflected by an object
saturation -- vividness or appearing of color; in a visual experience related to the complexity of light waves
retina -- neural tissue lining the back of the eyeballs interior, which contained the receptors for vision
rods -- visual receptors that respond to dim light
cones -- visual receptors involved in color vision
dark adaptation -- a process by which visual receptors become maximally sensitive to dim light
ganglion cells -- neurons and the retina of the eye, which gather information from receptor cells by way of intermediate bipolar cells; thier axons make up the optic nerve
feature detectors -- cells of the visual cortex and are sensitive to specific features of the environment
trichromatic theory -- a theory of color perception that proposes three mechanisms and the visual system, each sensitive to a certain range of wavelengths; their interaction is assumed to produce all the different experiences of hue
opponent-process theory -- a theory of color perception that assumes that the visual system treats pairs of colors as opposing or antagonistic
gestalt principles -- principles that describe the brains organization of sensory information into meaningful units and patterns
binocular cues -- visual cues to depth or distance requiring two eyes
convergence -- the turning inward of the eyes, which occurs when they focus on a nearby object
retinal disparity -- the slight difference in lateral separation between two objects as seen by the left eye in the right eye
monocular cues -- the accurate perception of object as stable or unchanged despite changes in the sensory patterns they produce
loudness -- the dimension of auditory experience related to the intensity of the pressure wave
pitch -- the dimension of auditory experience related to the frequency of the pressure wave; the height or depth of a tone
timbre -- the distinguishing quality of the sound smart: the dimension of auditory experience related to the complexity of the pressure wave
organ of corti -- a structure in the cochlea containing hair cells that serve as the receptors for hearing
cochlea -- a snail shaped fluid filled organ in the inner ear, contained the organ of corti, where the receptors for hearing are located
papillae -- knoblike elevations on the tongue, containing the taste buds
taste buds -- nests of taste receptor cells
gate-control theory -- the theory that the experience of pain depends in part on whether pain impulses get past a neurological "gate" and the spinal cord and thus reach the brain
kinesthesis -- the sense of body position and movement of body parts
equilibrium -- the sense of balance
semicircular canals -- sense organs in the inner ear that contribute to equilibrium by responding to rotation of the head
perceptual set -- a habitual way of perceiving, the on expectations
priming -- a method used to measure on conscious cognitive processes, in which a person is exposed to information and is later tested to see whether the information affects behavior or performance on another task or in another situation
Sensation -- the detection of physical energy omitted or reflected by physical objects; it occurs when it energy and the external environment or the body stimulates receptors in the sense organs
perception -- the process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory information
sense receptors -- specialized cells that convert physical energy and the environment or the body to electrical energy that can be transmitted as nerve impulses to the brain
doctrine of specific nerve energies -- the principle that different sensory modalities exist because signals received by the sense organs stimulate different nerve pathways leading to different areas of the brain
synesthesia -- a condition in which stimulation of one cents also evokes another
absolute threshold -- the smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected by an observer
difference threshold -- the smallest difference in stimulation that can be reliably detected by an observer went to stimuli are compared; also called just noticeable difference
signal-detection. -- a psycho-physical theory that divides the detection of a sensory signal into a sensory process and a decision process
sensory adaptation -- the reduction or disappearance of sensory responsiveness when stimulation is unchanging or repetitive
sensory deprivation -- the absence of normal levels of sensory stimulation
selective attention -- the focusing of attention on selected aspects of the environment and the blocking out of others
inattentional blindness -- failure to consciously perceive something you are looking at because you are not attending to it
hue -- the dimension of visual experience specified by color names and related to the wavelength of light
brightness -- lightness or luminance; the dimension of visual experience related to the amount of light omitted from or reflected by an object
saturation -- vividness or appearing of color; in a visual experience related to the complexity of light waves
retina -- neural tissue lining the back of the eyeballs interior, which contained the receptors for vision
rods -- visual receptors that respond to dim light
cones -- visual receptors involved in color vision
dark adaptation -- a process by which visual receptors become maximally sensitive to dim light
ganglion cells -- neurons and the retina of the eye, which gather information from receptor cells by way of intermediate bipolar cells; thier axons make up the optic nerve
feature detectors -- cells of the visual cortex and are sensitive to specific features of the environment
trichromatic theory -- a theory of color perception that proposes three mechanisms and the visual system, each sensitive to a certain range of wavelengths; their interaction is assumed to produce all the different experiences of hue
opponent-process theory -- a theory of color perception that assumes that the visual system treats pairs of colors as opposing or antagonistic
gestalt principles -- principles that describe the brains organization of sensory information into meaningful units and patterns
binocular cues -- visual cues to depth or distance requiring two eyes
convergence -- the turning inward of the eyes, which occurs when they focus on a nearby object
retinal disparity -- the slight difference in lateral separation between two objects as seen by the left eye in the right eye
monocular cues -- the accurate perception of object as stable or unchanged despite changes in the sensory patterns they produce
loudness -- the dimension of auditory experience related to the intensity of the pressure wave
pitch -- the dimension of auditory experience related to the frequency of the pressure wave; the height or depth of a tone
timbre -- the distinguishing quality of the sound smart: the dimension of auditory experience related to the complexity of the pressure wave
organ of corti -- a structure in the cochlea containing hair cells that serve as the receptors for hearing
cochlea -- a snail shaped fluid filled organ in the inner ear, contained the organ of corti, where the receptors for hearing are located
papillae -- knoblike elevations on the tongue, containing the taste buds
taste buds -- nests of taste receptor cells
gate-control theory -- the theory that the experience of pain depends in part on whether pain impulses get past a neurological "gate" and the spinal cord and thus reach the brain
kinesthesis -- the sense of body position and movement of body parts
equilibrium -- the sense of balance
semicircular canals -- sense organs in the inner ear that contribute to equilibrium by responding to rotation of the head
perceptual set -- a habitual way of perceiving, the on expectations
priming -- a method used to measure on conscious cognitive processes, in which a person is exposed to information and is later tested to see whether the information affects behavior or performance on another task or in another situation
Psych - chapter 4 - summary
the brain is the bedrock of consciousness, perception, memory, and emotion. because it is the source of self-awareness, people debate how to speak about this organ: for example, where is the "you" that is using "your brain"?
The nervous system: a basic blueprint
The function of the nervous system is to gather and process information, produced responses to stimuli, and coordinate the workings of different cells. Scientists divide into the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS, which includes the brain and spinal cord, receives, processes, interprets, and stores information and send out messages destined for muscles, glands, and organs. The PNS transmits information to and from the CNS by way of sensory and motor nerves.
The peripheral nervous system consists of the somatic nervous system, which permits sensation and voluntary actions, and the autonomic nervous system, which regulates blood vessels, glance, and internal organs. The autonomic system usually functions without conscious control. The autonomic nervous system is further divided into the sympathetic nervous system, which mobilizes the body for action, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which conserves energy.
Communication in the nervous system
Neurons are the basic units of the nervous system. they are held in place by glial cells,which nurish, insulate, protect them, and enable them to function properly. Each neuron consists of dandrites, a cell body, and an axon. In the peripheral nervous system, axons (and sometimes dandrites) are collected together in bundles called nerves. Many axons are insulated by a myelin sheath that speeds up the conduction of neural impulses and prevent signals and adjacent cells from interfering with one another.
Recent research has challenged to old assumptions: that neurons in the human central nervous system cannot be induced to regenerate, and that no new neurons formed after early infancy. In the laboratory, neurons have been induced to regenerate. And scientists have learned that stem cells and brain areas associated with learning and memory continue to divide and mature throughout adulthood. A stimulating environment seems to enhance this process of neurogenesis.
Communication between two neurons occur at the synapse. Many synapses have not yet formed at birth. During development, axons and dendrites continue to grow as result of the physical maturation and experience with the world, and throughout life, new learning results in new synaptic connections in the brain. Thus, the brain's circuits are not fixed and immutable but are continually changing in response to information, challenges, and changes in the environment, a phenomenon known as plasticity.
When a wave of electrical voltage (action potential) reaches the end of a transmitting axon, neurotransmitter molecules are released into the synaptic cleft. When these molecules bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, that neuron becomes either more likely to fire or less so. The message that reaches a final destination depends on how frequently particular neurons are firing, how many are firing, what types are firing, their degree of synchrony, and where they are located.
Through their effects on neural circuits, neurotransmitters play a critical role in mood, memory, and psychological well-being. abnormal levels of neurotransmitters have been implicated in several disorders, including depression, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.
Endorphins, which act primarily by modifying the action of neurotransmitters, reduce pain and promote pleasure. Endorphin levels seem to shoot up when an animal or person is afraid or is under stress. Endorphins have also been linked to pleasures of social contact.
Hormones, produced mainly by the endoctrine glands, affect and are affected by the nervous system. Psychologists are especially interested in melatonin, which promotes sleep and helps regulate bodily rhythms; adrenal hormones such as epinephrine and norepinephrine, which are involved in emotions and stress; and the sex hormones, which are involved in the physical changes of puberty, the menstrual cycle (estrogens and progesterone), sexual arousal (testosterone), and some non-productive functions including, some researchers believe, mental functioning.
Mapping the brain
Researchers study the brain by observing patients with brain damage; by using the lesion method with the animal; and by using such techniques as electroncephalograms (EEGs), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), positron emission tomography (PET scans), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Brain scans reveal which parts of the brain are active during different tasks, but they do not tell us precisely what is happening, either physically or mentally, during the task. Do not reveal discrete "centers" for particular function, and they must be interpreted cautiously.
A tour through the brain
All modern brain theory it's a Sioux localization of function, although a particular area may have several functions and many areas are likely to be involved in any particular activity.
In the lower part of the brain, and the brain stem, the medulla controls automatic functions such as heartbeat and breeding, and the pons is involved in sleeping, waking, and dreaming. The reticular activation system (RAS) screens and coming information and is responsible for alertness. The cerebellum contributes to balance and muscle coordination and may also play a role in some higher mental operations.
The thalamus direct sensory messages to the appropriate higher centers. The hypothalamus is involved in emotion and in drives associated with survival. It also controls operations of the automatic nervous system, and sends out chemicals that tells the pituitary gland went to talk to other endoctrine glands. a mom with other structures, the hypothalamus has traditionally been considered part of the limbic system, which is involved in emotions that we share with other animals. however, the usefulness of speaking of the limbic system as an integrated set of structures is now in dispute.
The amygdala is responsible for evaluating sensory information and quickly determining its emotional importance, and for the initial decision to approach or withdraw from a person or situation. The hippocampus has been called the gateway to memory, because it plays a critical role in the formation of long-term memories for facts and events.
Much of the brain circuitry is packed into the cerebrum, which is divided into two hemispheres and is covered by thin layers of cells known collectively as the cerebral cortex. The occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal lones of the cortex have specialized (but partially overlapping) functions. The association cortex appears to be responsible for higher mental processes. The frontal lobes, particularly areas and the pre-frontal cortex, are involved in social judgment, the making and carrying out of plans, and decision-making.
The two hemispheres of the brain
Is a split brain patients, who have had the corpus callosum cut, show that the two cerebral hemispheres have somewhat different talents. In most people, language is processed mainly in the left hemisphere, which generally is specialized for logical, symbolic, and sequential tasks. The right hemisphere is associated with spatial-visual tasks, facial recognition, and the creation and appreciation of art and music. And most mental activities, however, the two hemispheres cooperate as partners, with each making a valuable contribution.
Two stubborn issues in brain research
One of the oldest questions and the study of the brain is where the self resides. Many brain researchers and cognitive scientists believe that a unified self may be something of an illusion. Some argue that the brain operates as a collection of independent modules or mental systems, perhaps with one of them functioning as an interpreter. But much remains to be learned about the relationship between the brain and the mind.
Brain scans and other techniques have revealed some differences in the brains of males and females, for example, in lateralization during tasks involving language females or more likely to use both hemispheres. Controversy exists, however, about what these differences meet in real life. Speculation has often focused on behavioral or cognitive differences that are small and insignificant. Biological differences do not necessarily explain behavioral ones, and sex differences in experience could affect brain organization rather than the other way around.
Scholars in the new field of neuroethics are raising questions about the implications of cognitive enhancement and the potential misuse of brain scanning techniques. In a value waiting research on the brain and behavior, it is important to remember that findings about the brain are most illuminating when they are integrated with psychological and cultural ones.
The nervous system: a basic blueprint
The function of the nervous system is to gather and process information, produced responses to stimuli, and coordinate the workings of different cells. Scientists divide into the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The CNS, which includes the brain and spinal cord, receives, processes, interprets, and stores information and send out messages destined for muscles, glands, and organs. The PNS transmits information to and from the CNS by way of sensory and motor nerves.
The peripheral nervous system consists of the somatic nervous system, which permits sensation and voluntary actions, and the autonomic nervous system, which regulates blood vessels, glance, and internal organs. The autonomic system usually functions without conscious control. The autonomic nervous system is further divided into the sympathetic nervous system, which mobilizes the body for action, and the parasympathetic nervous system, which conserves energy.
Communication in the nervous system
Neurons are the basic units of the nervous system. they are held in place by glial cells,which nurish, insulate, protect them, and enable them to function properly. Each neuron consists of dandrites, a cell body, and an axon. In the peripheral nervous system, axons (and sometimes dandrites) are collected together in bundles called nerves. Many axons are insulated by a myelin sheath that speeds up the conduction of neural impulses and prevent signals and adjacent cells from interfering with one another.
Recent research has challenged to old assumptions: that neurons in the human central nervous system cannot be induced to regenerate, and that no new neurons formed after early infancy. In the laboratory, neurons have been induced to regenerate. And scientists have learned that stem cells and brain areas associated with learning and memory continue to divide and mature throughout adulthood. A stimulating environment seems to enhance this process of neurogenesis.
Communication between two neurons occur at the synapse. Many synapses have not yet formed at birth. During development, axons and dendrites continue to grow as result of the physical maturation and experience with the world, and throughout life, new learning results in new synaptic connections in the brain. Thus, the brain's circuits are not fixed and immutable but are continually changing in response to information, challenges, and changes in the environment, a phenomenon known as plasticity.
When a wave of electrical voltage (action potential) reaches the end of a transmitting axon, neurotransmitter molecules are released into the synaptic cleft. When these molecules bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, that neuron becomes either more likely to fire or less so. The message that reaches a final destination depends on how frequently particular neurons are firing, how many are firing, what types are firing, their degree of synchrony, and where they are located.
Through their effects on neural circuits, neurotransmitters play a critical role in mood, memory, and psychological well-being. abnormal levels of neurotransmitters have been implicated in several disorders, including depression, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease.
Endorphins, which act primarily by modifying the action of neurotransmitters, reduce pain and promote pleasure. Endorphin levels seem to shoot up when an animal or person is afraid or is under stress. Endorphins have also been linked to pleasures of social contact.
Hormones, produced mainly by the endoctrine glands, affect and are affected by the nervous system. Psychologists are especially interested in melatonin, which promotes sleep and helps regulate bodily rhythms; adrenal hormones such as epinephrine and norepinephrine, which are involved in emotions and stress; and the sex hormones, which are involved in the physical changes of puberty, the menstrual cycle (estrogens and progesterone), sexual arousal (testosterone), and some non-productive functions including, some researchers believe, mental functioning.
Mapping the brain
Researchers study the brain by observing patients with brain damage; by using the lesion method with the animal; and by using such techniques as electroncephalograms (EEGs), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), positron emission tomography (PET scans), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Brain scans reveal which parts of the brain are active during different tasks, but they do not tell us precisely what is happening, either physically or mentally, during the task. Do not reveal discrete "centers" for particular function, and they must be interpreted cautiously.
A tour through the brain
All modern brain theory it's a Sioux localization of function, although a particular area may have several functions and many areas are likely to be involved in any particular activity.
In the lower part of the brain, and the brain stem, the medulla controls automatic functions such as heartbeat and breeding, and the pons is involved in sleeping, waking, and dreaming. The reticular activation system (RAS) screens and coming information and is responsible for alertness. The cerebellum contributes to balance and muscle coordination and may also play a role in some higher mental operations.
The thalamus direct sensory messages to the appropriate higher centers. The hypothalamus is involved in emotion and in drives associated with survival. It also controls operations of the automatic nervous system, and sends out chemicals that tells the pituitary gland went to talk to other endoctrine glands. a mom with other structures, the hypothalamus has traditionally been considered part of the limbic system, which is involved in emotions that we share with other animals. however, the usefulness of speaking of the limbic system as an integrated set of structures is now in dispute.
The amygdala is responsible for evaluating sensory information and quickly determining its emotional importance, and for the initial decision to approach or withdraw from a person or situation. The hippocampus has been called the gateway to memory, because it plays a critical role in the formation of long-term memories for facts and events.
Much of the brain circuitry is packed into the cerebrum, which is divided into two hemispheres and is covered by thin layers of cells known collectively as the cerebral cortex. The occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal lones of the cortex have specialized (but partially overlapping) functions. The association cortex appears to be responsible for higher mental processes. The frontal lobes, particularly areas and the pre-frontal cortex, are involved in social judgment, the making and carrying out of plans, and decision-making.
The two hemispheres of the brain
Is a split brain patients, who have had the corpus callosum cut, show that the two cerebral hemispheres have somewhat different talents. In most people, language is processed mainly in the left hemisphere, which generally is specialized for logical, symbolic, and sequential tasks. The right hemisphere is associated with spatial-visual tasks, facial recognition, and the creation and appreciation of art and music. And most mental activities, however, the two hemispheres cooperate as partners, with each making a valuable contribution.
Two stubborn issues in brain research
One of the oldest questions and the study of the brain is where the self resides. Many brain researchers and cognitive scientists believe that a unified self may be something of an illusion. Some argue that the brain operates as a collection of independent modules or mental systems, perhaps with one of them functioning as an interpreter. But much remains to be learned about the relationship between the brain and the mind.
Brain scans and other techniques have revealed some differences in the brains of males and females, for example, in lateralization during tasks involving language females or more likely to use both hemispheres. Controversy exists, however, about what these differences meet in real life. Speculation has often focused on behavioral or cognitive differences that are small and insignificant. Biological differences do not necessarily explain behavioral ones, and sex differences in experience could affect brain organization rather than the other way around.
Scholars in the new field of neuroethics are raising questions about the implications of cognitive enhancement and the potential misuse of brain scanning techniques. In a value waiting research on the brain and behavior, it is important to remember that findings about the brain are most illuminating when they are integrated with psychological and cultural ones.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Psych - Chapter 4 - terms
The Brain: Source of Mind and Self
central nervous system (CNS) -- the portion of the nervous system consists in of the brain and spinal cord
spinal cord -- a collection of neurons and supportive tissue running from the base of the brain down the center of the back, protected by a column of bones (the spinal column)
peripheral nervous system (PNS) -- all portions of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord cord: it includes sensory and motor nerves
somatic nervous system -- the subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that connects to sensory receptors and to skeletal muscles; sometimes called the skeletal nervous system
autonomic nervous system -- the subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that regulates the internal organs and glands
sympathetic nervous system -- the subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that mobilizes bodily resources and increases the output of energy during emotion and stress
parasympathetic nervous system -- subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that operates during relaxed states in that conserves energy
neuron -- a cell that conducts electrochemical signals; the basic unit of the nervous system; also called a nerve cell
glia -- cells that support, nurture, and insulate neurons, removed debris when neurons die, enhance the formation and maintenance of rural connections, and modify the role functioning
dendrites -- a neurons branches that receive information from other neurons transmitting it toward the cell body
cell body -- the part of the neuron that keeps it alive and determines whether it will fire
axon -- a neurons extending fiber that conducts impulses away from the cell body and transmits them to other neurons
myelin sheath -- a fatty insulation that may surround the axon of a neuron
nerve -- a bundle of nerve fibers (axons and sometimes dendrites) in the peripheral nervous system
neurgenesis -- the production of new neurons from immature stem cells
stem cells -- immature cells that renew themselves and have the potential to develop into mature cells;given encouraging environments, stem cells from early embryos can develop into any cell type
synapse -- the site where transmission of a nerve impulse from one nerve cell to another occurs; it includes the axon terminal, the synaptic cleft, and receptor sites in the membrane of the receiving cell
action potential -- a brief change in electrical full tapes that occurs between inside and the outside of an axon when a neuron is stimulated; it serves to produce of electrical imports
neurotransmitter -- a chemical substance that is release by a transmitting neuron at the synapse and that alters the activity of a receiving neuron
endorphins -- chemical substances and the nervous system that are similar in structure and action to opiates; they are involved in pain reduction, pleasure, and memory
hormones -- chemical substances, secreted by organs called glands, that affect the functioning of other organs
endocrine glands -- internal organs that produce hormones and release them into the bloodstream
melatonin -- a hormone, secreted by the pineal gland,that is involved in the regulation of daily biological rhythms
adrenal hormones -- hormones that are produced by the adrenal glands and that are involved in motion and stress
sex hormones -- hormones that regulate the development and functioning of the reproductive organs and that stimulate the development of male and female sexual characteristics; they include androgens, estrogens, and progesterone
electroencephalogram (EEG) -- a recording of neural activity detected by electrodes
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) -- a method of stimulating brain cells, using a powerful magnetic field produced by a wire coil placed on a person's head; it can be used by researchers to temporarily inactivate rural circuits and is also being used therapeutically
PET scan (positron-emission tomography) -- a method for analyzing biochemical activity in the brain, using injections of a glucose like substance containing a radioactive element
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) -- a method for studying body and brain tissue, using magnetic fields and special radio receivers
localization of function -- specialization of particular brain areas for particular functions
brainstem -- the part of the brain at the top of the spinal cord, consisting of the medulla and the pons
pons -- a structure in the brainstem involved in, among other things, sleeping, waking, and dreaming
medulla -- a structure in the brainstem responsible for certain automatic functions, such as breathing and heart rate
reticular activity system (RAS) -- a dense network of neurons found in the core of the brainstem; it arouses the cortex and screens incoming information
cerebellum -- in brain structure regulates movement and balance, and it is involved in the learning of certain kinds of simple responses
thalamus -- a brain structure that relays sensory messages to the cerebral cortex
hypothalamus -- a brain structure involved in emotions and drives vital to survival, such as fear, hunger, thirst, and reproduction; it regulates autonomic nervous system
pituitary gland -- a small endocrine gland at the base of the brain, which releases many hormones and regulates other endocrine glands
limbic system -- a group of brain areas involved in emotional reactions and motivated behavior
amygdala -- a brain structure involved in the arousal and regulation of emotion and the initial emotional response sensory information
hippocampus -- a brain structure involved in the storage of new information in memory
cerebrum -- the largest brain structure, consisting of the upper parts of the brain; divided into two hemispheres, it is in charge of most sensory, motor, and cognitive processes
cerebral hemispheres -- the two halves of the cerebrum
corpus callosum -- a bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres
cerebral cortex -- a collection of several thin layers of cells covering the cerebrum; it is largely responsible for higher mental functions
occipital lobes -- loads at the lower back part of the brain's cerebral cortex may contain areas that receive visual information
parietal lobes -- lobes in the top of the brains cerebral cortex; they contain areas that receive information on pressure, pain, touch, and temperature
temporal lobes -- lobes at the sides of the brains cerebral cortex; they contain areas involved in hearing, memory, perception, emotion, and (in the left lobe, typically) language comprehension
frontal lobes -- lobes at the front of the brain's cerebral cortex; they contain areas involved in short term memory, higher order thinking, an initiative, social judgment, and in the left lobe,typically) speech production
central nervous system (CNS) -- the portion of the nervous system consists in of the brain and spinal cord
spinal cord -- a collection of neurons and supportive tissue running from the base of the brain down the center of the back, protected by a column of bones (the spinal column)
peripheral nervous system (PNS) -- all portions of the nervous system outside the brain and spinal cord cord: it includes sensory and motor nerves
somatic nervous system -- the subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that connects to sensory receptors and to skeletal muscles; sometimes called the skeletal nervous system
autonomic nervous system -- the subdivision of the peripheral nervous system that regulates the internal organs and glands
sympathetic nervous system -- the subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that mobilizes bodily resources and increases the output of energy during emotion and stress
parasympathetic nervous system -- subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that operates during relaxed states in that conserves energy
neuron -- a cell that conducts electrochemical signals; the basic unit of the nervous system; also called a nerve cell
glia -- cells that support, nurture, and insulate neurons, removed debris when neurons die, enhance the formation and maintenance of rural connections, and modify the role functioning
dendrites -- a neurons branches that receive information from other neurons transmitting it toward the cell body
cell body -- the part of the neuron that keeps it alive and determines whether it will fire
axon -- a neurons extending fiber that conducts impulses away from the cell body and transmits them to other neurons
myelin sheath -- a fatty insulation that may surround the axon of a neuron
nerve -- a bundle of nerve fibers (axons and sometimes dendrites) in the peripheral nervous system
neurgenesis -- the production of new neurons from immature stem cells
stem cells -- immature cells that renew themselves and have the potential to develop into mature cells;given encouraging environments, stem cells from early embryos can develop into any cell type
synapse -- the site where transmission of a nerve impulse from one nerve cell to another occurs; it includes the axon terminal, the synaptic cleft, and receptor sites in the membrane of the receiving cell
action potential -- a brief change in electrical full tapes that occurs between inside and the outside of an axon when a neuron is stimulated; it serves to produce of electrical imports
neurotransmitter -- a chemical substance that is release by a transmitting neuron at the synapse and that alters the activity of a receiving neuron
endorphins -- chemical substances and the nervous system that are similar in structure and action to opiates; they are involved in pain reduction, pleasure, and memory
hormones -- chemical substances, secreted by organs called glands, that affect the functioning of other organs
endocrine glands -- internal organs that produce hormones and release them into the bloodstream
melatonin -- a hormone, secreted by the pineal gland,that is involved in the regulation of daily biological rhythms
adrenal hormones -- hormones that are produced by the adrenal glands and that are involved in motion and stress
sex hormones -- hormones that regulate the development and functioning of the reproductive organs and that stimulate the development of male and female sexual characteristics; they include androgens, estrogens, and progesterone
electroencephalogram (EEG) -- a recording of neural activity detected by electrodes
transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) -- a method of stimulating brain cells, using a powerful magnetic field produced by a wire coil placed on a person's head; it can be used by researchers to temporarily inactivate rural circuits and is also being used therapeutically
PET scan (positron-emission tomography) -- a method for analyzing biochemical activity in the brain, using injections of a glucose like substance containing a radioactive element
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) -- a method for studying body and brain tissue, using magnetic fields and special radio receivers
localization of function -- specialization of particular brain areas for particular functions
brainstem -- the part of the brain at the top of the spinal cord, consisting of the medulla and the pons
pons -- a structure in the brainstem involved in, among other things, sleeping, waking, and dreaming
medulla -- a structure in the brainstem responsible for certain automatic functions, such as breathing and heart rate
reticular activity system (RAS) -- a dense network of neurons found in the core of the brainstem; it arouses the cortex and screens incoming information
cerebellum -- in brain structure regulates movement and balance, and it is involved in the learning of certain kinds of simple responses
thalamus -- a brain structure that relays sensory messages to the cerebral cortex
hypothalamus -- a brain structure involved in emotions and drives vital to survival, such as fear, hunger, thirst, and reproduction; it regulates autonomic nervous system
pituitary gland -- a small endocrine gland at the base of the brain, which releases many hormones and regulates other endocrine glands
limbic system -- a group of brain areas involved in emotional reactions and motivated behavior
amygdala -- a brain structure involved in the arousal and regulation of emotion and the initial emotional response sensory information
hippocampus -- a brain structure involved in the storage of new information in memory
cerebrum -- the largest brain structure, consisting of the upper parts of the brain; divided into two hemispheres, it is in charge of most sensory, motor, and cognitive processes
cerebral hemispheres -- the two halves of the cerebrum
corpus callosum -- a bundle of nerve fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres
cerebral cortex -- a collection of several thin layers of cells covering the cerebrum; it is largely responsible for higher mental functions
occipital lobes -- loads at the lower back part of the brain's cerebral cortex may contain areas that receive visual information
parietal lobes -- lobes in the top of the brains cerebral cortex; they contain areas that receive information on pressure, pain, touch, and temperature
temporal lobes -- lobes at the sides of the brains cerebral cortex; they contain areas involved in hearing, memory, perception, emotion, and (in the left lobe, typically) language comprehension
frontal lobes -- lobes at the front of the brain's cerebral cortex; they contain areas involved in short term memory, higher order thinking, an initiative, social judgment, and in the left lobe,typically) speech production
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Psychology - Chapter 7 - summary
Research on learning has been heavily influenced by behaviorism, which accounts for behavior in terms of observable events, without reference to mental entities such as "mind" or "will." Behaviorists have focused on two types of conditioning: classical and operant.
Classical conditioning
classical conditioning was for study by Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov. In this type of learning, when a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US) that elicits some reflects of unconditioned response (UR), the neutral stimulus comes to elicit a similar or related response. The neutral stimulus is then called a conditioned stimulus (CS), and the response it elicits, a conditioned response (CR). Nearly any kind of involuntary response can become a CR.
An extinction, the conditioned stimulus is repeatedly pre-sentenced without the unconditioned stimulus, and the conditioned response eventually disappears -- although later it may reappear (spontaneous recovery). And higher order conditioning, a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus by being paired with an already established conditioned stimulus. In stimulus generalization, after he stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus for some response, other, similar stimuli may produce the same reaction. In stimulus discrimination, different responses are made to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus in some way.
Many theorists believe that what an animal or person learns and classical conditioning is not just an association between the unconditioned and conditioned stimulus, the information conveyed by one stimulus about another. Indeed, classical conditioning appears to be an evolutionary adaptation that allows an organism to prepare for a biologically important event. Considerable evidence exists to show that a neutral stimulus does not become a CS unless it reliably signals or predicts the US.
Classical conditioning in real life
classical conditioning helps account for positive emotional responses to particular objects and events, fears and phobias, the acquisition of likes and dislikes, and reactions to medical treatments and placebos. John Watson showed how fears may be learned and then may be unlearned through a process of counterconditioning. Human beings and other species are biologically primed to acquire some adaptive responses easily, such as conditioned taste aversions and certain fears.
Classical conditioning is now integrating findings on motivation, learning, and biology. For example, a recent study explored brain changes in the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex that occur in response to conditioned stimuli for appetite or pleasure, and how those responses may affect motivation eat.
Operant conditioning
In operant conditioning, behavior becomes more likely to occur or less so depending on its consequences. Responses are generally not reflexive and are more complex than in classical conditioning. Research in this area is closely associated with B.F. Skinner, who called his approach "radical behaviorism."
In the Skinnerian analysis, reinforcement strengthens or increases the probability of a response and punishment weekends or decreases the probability of a response. Immediate consequences usually have a greater effect on response than do delayed consequences.
Reinforcers are called primary when they are naturally reinforcing (because they satisfy a biological need) and secondary when they have acquired their ability to strengthen response through association with other reinforcers. A similar distinction is made for punisher's.
Reinforcement punishment may either be positive or negative, depending on whether the consequence involves a stimulus that is presented or one that is removed or avoided. In positive reinforcement, something pleasant follows a response; and negative reinforcement, something unpleasant is removed. In positive punishment, something unpleasant follows the response; and negative punishment, something pleasant is removed.
Using the Skinner box and similar devices, behaviorists have shown that extinction, stimulus generalization, and stimulus discrimination occur in operant as well as in classical conditioning. A descriptive stimulus signals that a response is likely to be followed by a certain type of consequence.
The pattern of responding in operant conditioning depends in part on the schedule of reinforcement. Continuous reinforcement leads to the most rapid learning. However, intermittent reinforcement makes a response resistant to extinction and therefore helps account for the persistence of superstitious rituals. Different animated patterns of reinforcement produced different patterns of responding. What are the most common errors people make is to reward intermittently the responses they would like to eliminate.
Shaping is used to train behaviors with a low probability of occurring spontaneously. Reinforcers are given for successive approximations to the desired response until the desired response is achieved.
Biology places limits on what an animal or person can learn through operant conditioning. For example, animals sometimes have trouble learning a task because of instinctive drift.
Operant conditioning in real life
behavior modification, the application of operant conditioning principles, has been used successfully in many settings, but reinforcement punishment both have their pitfalls.
Punishment, when used properly, can discourage undesirable behavior, including criminal behavior. But it is frequently misused, and may have unintended consequences. It is often administered inappropriately because of the emotion of the moment; and may produce rage and fear; its effects are often only temporary; it is hard to minister immediately; it conveys little information about the kind of behavior that is desired; and may provide attention that is rewarding. Sanction of undesirable behavior, combined with reinforcement of the desired behaviors, is generally preferable to the use of punishment.
Reinforcers can also be misused. Rewards are given out indiscriminately, as in efforts to raise children's self-esteem, do not reinforce desirable behavior. An exclusive reliance on extrinsic reinforcement can sometimes undermine the power of intrinsic reinforcement. But money and praise do not usually interfere with intrinsic pleasure when a person is rewarding for succeeding or making progress rather than for merely participating in activity, or when a person is already highly interested in the activity.
Learning and the mind
even during behaviorism's heyday, some researchers were probing the "black box" of the mind. In the 1930s, Edward Tolman studied latent learning, in which no obvious reinforce or is present during learning and a response is not expressed until later on, when reinforcement does become available. What seems to be acquired in latent learning is not a specific response, but knowledge about responses and their consequences.
The 1960s and 1970s saw the increased influence of social cognitive theories of learning, with focus on observational learning and the role played by beliefs, interpretations of events, and other cognitions. Social cognitive theorists argue that in observational learning, as in latent learning, what is required is knowledge, rather than a specific response.
Because people differ in their perceptions and beliefs, in a long different lessons from the same event or situation. For example, some people become more aggressive after exposure to violent images in the media, but most people do not. Moreover, cause-and-effect also work in the opposite direction: aggressive individuals tend to be drawn to violent images and more affected by them than other people are.
Saturday, February 11, 2006
Psychology - Chapter 7 - Terms
Learning -- a relatively permanent change in behavior or behavioral potential due to experience
behaviorism -- an approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior in the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior
conditioning -- a basic kind of learning that involves associations between environmental stimuli and the organisms responses
unconditioned stimulus (US) -- the classical conditioning term for a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in the absence of learning
unconditioned response (UR) -- the classical conditioning term for a reflexive response elicited by stimulus in the absence of learning
conditioned stimulus (CS) -- the classical conditioning term for an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with a conditioned stimulus
conditioned response (CR) -- the classical conditioning term for response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus; it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus
classical conditioning -- the process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to deal a response through association with a stimulus that are ready elicits a similar or related response
extinction -- the weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; and classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus
spontaneous recovery -- the reappearance of a learned response after its apparent extinction
higher order conditioning -- and classical conditioning, a procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with and are ready established conditioned stimulus
stimulus generalization -- after conditioning, the tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in an original conditioning; and classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus that resembles the CS elicits the CR
stimulus discrimination -- the tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli; in classical conditioning, it occurs with stimulus similar to the CS fails to evoke the CR
counterconditioning -- and classical conditioning, the process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response
operant conditioning -- the process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so, depending on the consequences
reinforcement -- the process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows
punishment -- the process by which a stimulus or event weekends or reduces the probability of the response of it follows
primary reinforcer -- a stimulus that is inherently reinforcing, typically satisfying a psychological need; an example is food
primary punisher -- a stimulus that is inherently punishing; an example is electric shock
secondary reinforcer -- a stimulus that has acquired reinforcing properties through association with other reinforcer's
secondary punisher -- a that has acquired punishing properties through association with other punisher's
positive reinforcement -- a reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the presentation of, or increase in intensity of, a reinforcing stimulus; as a result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur
negative reinforcement -- a reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of an unpleasant stimulus; as result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur
extinction -- the weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; and operant conditioning, it occurs when a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer
stimulus generalization -- in operant conditioning, the tendency for response that has been reinforced in the presence of one stimulus to occur in the presence of other, similar stimuli
stimulus discrimination -- in operant conditioning, the tendency of a response to occur in the presence of one stimulus but not in the presence of another, similar stimuli that differ from it on some dimension
discriminative stimulus -- a stimulus that signals or particular response is likely to be followed by certain type of consequence
continuous reinforcement -- a reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is always reinforced
intermittent (partial) scheduled reinforcement -- a reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is sometimes but not always reinforced
shaping -- an operant- conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of the desired response are reinforced
successive approximations -- and the operant conditioning procedure of shaping, behaviors that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or closest to the desired response
instinctive drift -- during operant learning, the tendency for an organism to revert to instinctive behavior
Behavior modification -- the application of operant conditioning techniques to teach new responses or to reduce or eliminate maladaptive or problematic behavior; also called applied behavior analysis
extrinsic reinforcer's -- reinforcers that are not inherently related to the activity being reinforced
intrinsic reinforcers -- reinforcers that are inherently related to the activity being reinforced
latent learning -- a form of learning that is not immediately expressed with an overt response; it occurs without obvious reinforcement
social- cognitive theories -- theories that emphasized how behavior is learned and maintained through observation and imitation of others, positive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plants, expectations, and beliefs
observational learning -- a process in which an individual learns new responses by observing the behavior of another rather than through direct experience in a: sometimes called vicarious conditioning
behaviorism -- an approach to psychology that emphasizes the study of observable behavior in the role of the environment as a determinant of behavior
conditioning -- a basic kind of learning that involves associations between environmental stimuli and the organisms responses
unconditioned stimulus (US) -- the classical conditioning term for a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in the absence of learning
unconditioned response (UR) -- the classical conditioning term for a reflexive response elicited by stimulus in the absence of learning
conditioned stimulus (CS) -- the classical conditioning term for an initially neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being associated with a conditioned stimulus
conditioned response (CR) -- the classical conditioning term for response that is elicited by a conditioned stimulus; it occurs after the conditioned stimulus is associated with an unconditioned stimulus
classical conditioning -- the process by which a previously neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to deal a response through association with a stimulus that are ready elicits a similar or related response
extinction -- the weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; and classical conditioning, it occurs when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus
spontaneous recovery -- the reappearance of a learned response after its apparent extinction
higher order conditioning -- and classical conditioning, a procedure in which a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus through association with and are ready established conditioned stimulus
stimulus generalization -- after conditioning, the tendency to respond to a stimulus that resembles one involved in an original conditioning; and classical conditioning, it occurs when a stimulus that resembles the CS elicits the CR
stimulus discrimination -- the tendency to respond differently to two or more similar stimuli; in classical conditioning, it occurs with stimulus similar to the CS fails to evoke the CR
counterconditioning -- and classical conditioning, the process of pairing a conditioned stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a response that is incompatible with an unwanted conditioned response
operant conditioning -- the process by which a response becomes more likely to occur or less so, depending on the consequences
reinforcement -- the process by which a stimulus or event strengthens or increases the probability of the response that it follows
punishment -- the process by which a stimulus or event weekends or reduces the probability of the response of it follows
primary reinforcer -- a stimulus that is inherently reinforcing, typically satisfying a psychological need; an example is food
primary punisher -- a stimulus that is inherently punishing; an example is electric shock
secondary reinforcer -- a stimulus that has acquired reinforcing properties through association with other reinforcer's
secondary punisher -- a that has acquired punishing properties through association with other punisher's
positive reinforcement -- a reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the presentation of, or increase in intensity of, a reinforcing stimulus; as a result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur
negative reinforcement -- a reinforcement procedure in which a response is followed by the removal, delay, or decrease in intensity of an unpleasant stimulus; as result, the response becomes stronger or more likely to occur
extinction -- the weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned response; and operant conditioning, it occurs when a response is no longer followed by a reinforcer
stimulus generalization -- in operant conditioning, the tendency for response that has been reinforced in the presence of one stimulus to occur in the presence of other, similar stimuli
stimulus discrimination -- in operant conditioning, the tendency of a response to occur in the presence of one stimulus but not in the presence of another, similar stimuli that differ from it on some dimension
discriminative stimulus -- a stimulus that signals or particular response is likely to be followed by certain type of consequence
continuous reinforcement -- a reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is always reinforced
intermittent (partial) scheduled reinforcement -- a reinforcement schedule in which a particular response is sometimes but not always reinforced
shaping -- an operant- conditioning procedure in which successive approximations of the desired response are reinforced
successive approximations -- and the operant conditioning procedure of shaping, behaviors that are ordered in terms of increasing similarity or closest to the desired response
instinctive drift -- during operant learning, the tendency for an organism to revert to instinctive behavior
Behavior modification -- the application of operant conditioning techniques to teach new responses or to reduce or eliminate maladaptive or problematic behavior; also called applied behavior analysis
extrinsic reinforcer's -- reinforcers that are not inherently related to the activity being reinforced
intrinsic reinforcers -- reinforcers that are inherently related to the activity being reinforced
latent learning -- a form of learning that is not immediately expressed with an overt response; it occurs without obvious reinforcement
social- cognitive theories -- theories that emphasized how behavior is learned and maintained through observation and imitation of others, positive consequences, and cognitive processes such as plants, expectations, and beliefs
observational learning -- a process in which an individual learns new responses by observing the behavior of another rather than through direct experience in a: sometimes called vicarious conditioning
Psychology - Chapter 1 - summary
Psychology, pseudoscience, and popular opinion
Psychology is a discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by organisms and internal environment. Psychology's methods and reliance on empirical evidence distinguish it from pseudoscience and "psychobabble."
Psychologists have many pseudoscientific competitors, such as astrologers and psychics. But when put to the test, the claims and predictions of these competitors turn out to be meaningless or just plain wrong. Psychobabble is appealing because it confirms our beliefs and prejudices; in contrast, psychology often challenges them, although it also seeks to extend our understanding of familiar facts.
Thinking critically and creatively about psychology
One benefit of studying psychology is the development of critical thinking skills and attitudes. Critical thinking helps people evaluate competing findings on psychological issues that are personally and socially important.
The critical thinker asks questions, defines terms clearly, examines the evidence, analyzes assumptions and biases, you point emotional reasoning, avoids oversimplification, considers alternative interpretations, tolerates uncertainty. Critical thinking is an evolving process rather than a once and for all accomplishment.
Psychology's past: from the armchair to the laboratory
Psychologies forerunners made some valid observations and had useful insights, but without rigorous empirical methods they also made serious errors in the description and explanation of behavior, as in the case of phrenology.
The official founder of scientific psychology was Wilhelm Wundt, who formally establish the first psychological laboratory in 1879, in Leipzig, Germany. His work led to structuralism, the first of many approaches to the field. Structuralism emphasize the analysis of immediate experience into basic elements. It was soon abandoned, in part because of its reliance on introspection.
Another early approach, functionalism, was inspired in part by the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin; it emphasize the purpose of behavior. One of its leading proponents was William James. Functionalism, too, did not last long as the distinct school psychology, but it greatly affected the course of psychological science.
Psychology as a method of psychotherapy has roots in Sigman Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, which emphasizes on conscious causes of mental individual problems.
Psychologies present: behavior, body, mind, and culture
Five points of view predominate today and psychology. The biological perspective emphasizes bodily events associated with actions, thoughts, and Felix, and also genetic contributions to behavior. Within this perspective, a popular new speciality, evolutionary psychology, is following in the footsteps of functionalism. The learning perspective emphasizes how the environment and the person's history affect behavior; within this perspective, the Haiti arrests reject mentalistic donations and social cognitive learning theorists combined elements of behaviorism with the study of thoughts, values, and intentions. The cognitive perspective emphasizes mental processes of perception, problem-solving, Lee formation, and other human activities. The sociocultural perspective explores how social contexts and cultural rules affected individuals beliefs and behavior. And the psychodramatic perspective, which originated with Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, emphasizes on conscious motives, conflicts, and desires some accord it differs greatly from the other approaches and its methods and standards of evidence.
Not all approaches to psychology fit neatly into one of the five major perspectives. For example, too important movements, humanist psychology and feminist psychology, have influenced the questions researchers asked, the methods they use, and their awareness of biases in the field.
What psychologists do...
Psychologists do research and teaching colleges and universities, provide mental health services, and conduct research and apply findings in a wide variety of nonacademic settings. Applied psychology is concerned with the practical uses of psychological knowledge. Basic psychology is concerned with knowledge for its own sake. Among the many psychological specialties are experimental, educational, developmental, industrial/organizational, psychometric, counseling, school, and clinical psychology.
Psychotherapist is an on regulated term for anyone who does therapy, including persons who have no credentials were trading at all. Licensed therapists differ according to their training approach. Clinical psychologists have a Ph.D. , en Ed.D., or a Psy.D.; psychiatrists have an M.D.; psychoanalysts are trained in psychoanalytic institutes; and licensed clinical social workers, counselors with various specialties, and marriage, family, and child counselors may have a variety of postgraduate degrees. Many psychologists are concerned about an increase in poorly trained psychotherapists lack credentials or a firm understanding of research methods and findings.
Beyond the borders
Many, if not most, psychologist draw on more than one school psychology. Indeed, there is a growing trend in psychology to cross the borders that have traditionally divided one specially from another.
Although psychologists differ in their perspectives and goals, psychology scientists, whatever their specialty, generally agree on which methods the study are acceptable, and all psychologists are united by their fascination with the mysteries of behavior.
Psychology is a discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by organisms and internal environment. Psychology's methods and reliance on empirical evidence distinguish it from pseudoscience and "psychobabble."
Psychologists have many pseudoscientific competitors, such as astrologers and psychics. But when put to the test, the claims and predictions of these competitors turn out to be meaningless or just plain wrong. Psychobabble is appealing because it confirms our beliefs and prejudices; in contrast, psychology often challenges them, although it also seeks to extend our understanding of familiar facts.
Thinking critically and creatively about psychology
One benefit of studying psychology is the development of critical thinking skills and attitudes. Critical thinking helps people evaluate competing findings on psychological issues that are personally and socially important.
The critical thinker asks questions, defines terms clearly, examines the evidence, analyzes assumptions and biases, you point emotional reasoning, avoids oversimplification, considers alternative interpretations, tolerates uncertainty. Critical thinking is an evolving process rather than a once and for all accomplishment.
Psychology's past: from the armchair to the laboratory
Psychologies forerunners made some valid observations and had useful insights, but without rigorous empirical methods they also made serious errors in the description and explanation of behavior, as in the case of phrenology.
The official founder of scientific psychology was Wilhelm Wundt, who formally establish the first psychological laboratory in 1879, in Leipzig, Germany. His work led to structuralism, the first of many approaches to the field. Structuralism emphasize the analysis of immediate experience into basic elements. It was soon abandoned, in part because of its reliance on introspection.
Another early approach, functionalism, was inspired in part by the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin; it emphasize the purpose of behavior. One of its leading proponents was William James. Functionalism, too, did not last long as the distinct school psychology, but it greatly affected the course of psychological science.
Psychology as a method of psychotherapy has roots in Sigman Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, which emphasizes on conscious causes of mental individual problems.
Psychologies present: behavior, body, mind, and culture
Five points of view predominate today and psychology. The biological perspective emphasizes bodily events associated with actions, thoughts, and Felix, and also genetic contributions to behavior. Within this perspective, a popular new speciality, evolutionary psychology, is following in the footsteps of functionalism. The learning perspective emphasizes how the environment and the person's history affect behavior; within this perspective, the Haiti arrests reject mentalistic donations and social cognitive learning theorists combined elements of behaviorism with the study of thoughts, values, and intentions. The cognitive perspective emphasizes mental processes of perception, problem-solving, Lee formation, and other human activities. The sociocultural perspective explores how social contexts and cultural rules affected individuals beliefs and behavior. And the psychodramatic perspective, which originated with Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, emphasizes on conscious motives, conflicts, and desires some accord it differs greatly from the other approaches and its methods and standards of evidence.
Not all approaches to psychology fit neatly into one of the five major perspectives. For example, too important movements, humanist psychology and feminist psychology, have influenced the questions researchers asked, the methods they use, and their awareness of biases in the field.
What psychologists do...
Psychologists do research and teaching colleges and universities, provide mental health services, and conduct research and apply findings in a wide variety of nonacademic settings. Applied psychology is concerned with the practical uses of psychological knowledge. Basic psychology is concerned with knowledge for its own sake. Among the many psychological specialties are experimental, educational, developmental, industrial/organizational, psychometric, counseling, school, and clinical psychology.
Psychotherapist is an on regulated term for anyone who does therapy, including persons who have no credentials were trading at all. Licensed therapists differ according to their training approach. Clinical psychologists have a Ph.D. , en Ed.D., or a Psy.D.; psychiatrists have an M.D.; psychoanalysts are trained in psychoanalytic institutes; and licensed clinical social workers, counselors with various specialties, and marriage, family, and child counselors may have a variety of postgraduate degrees. Many psychologists are concerned about an increase in poorly trained psychotherapists lack credentials or a firm understanding of research methods and findings.
Beyond the borders
Many, if not most, psychologist draw on more than one school psychology. Indeed, there is a growing trend in psychology to cross the borders that have traditionally divided one specially from another.
Although psychologists differ in their perspectives and goals, psychology scientists, whatever their specialty, generally agree on which methods the study are acceptable, and all psychologists are united by their fascination with the mysteries of behavior.
Psychology - Chapter 1
Empirical -- relying on or derived from observation, experimentation, or measurement psychology -- the discipline concerned behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by the organisms the physical state, mental state, and external environment
critical thinking -- the ability and willingness excess claims and make judgments on the bases of well supported reasons and evidence, rather than emotion or anecdote
Thinking Critically
- ask questions; be willing to wonder
- define your terms
- examine the evidence
- analyze assumptions and biases
- avoid emotional reasoning
- do not oversimplify
- consider other interpretations
- tolerate uncertainty
phrenology -- the now discredited theory that different brain areas account for specific character and personality traits, which can be read from bumbs the skull
structuralism -- an early psychological approach that emphasized the analysis of immediate experience into basic elements
functionalism -- an early psychological approach that emphasized the function or purpose of behavior and consciousness
psychoanalysis -- a theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy, originally formulated by Sigmund Freud, emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts
biological perspective -- a psychological approach that emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts
evolutionary psychology -- a field of psychology emphasizing evolutionary mechanisms that may help explain human commonalities in cognition, development, emotion, social practices, and other areas of behavior
learning perspective -- a psychological approach that emphasizes how the environment and experience affected persons or animal's actions
cognitive perspective -- a psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem-solving, and other areas of behavior
sociocultural perspective -- psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behavior
psychodynamic perspective -- a psychological approach that emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflict, or the movement of instinctual energy
humanist psychology -- a psychological approach that emphasizes free will, personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential
feminist psychology -- a psychological approach that analyzes the influence of social inequities on gender relations and on the behavior of the two sexes
basic psychology -- the study of psychology or issues in order to seek knowledge for its own sake rather than for its practical application
applied psychology -- the study of psychological issues that have direct practical significance; also, the application of psychological findings
Friday, February 10, 2006
Ethical Theory and Business - Chap. 1 Contempary Theories
Rights Theories
Right-based theories hold that rights form the justifying basis of obligations because they best express the purpose of morality, which is the securing of liberties or other benefits for a rights-holder.
Virtue Ethics
In philosophy, the phrase virtue ethics refers to ethical systems that focus primarily on what sort of person one should try to be. Thus, one of the aims of virtue ethics is to offer an account of the sort of characteristics a virtuous person has. The ultimate aim of virtue ethics is eudaimonia, roughly meaning ‘flourishing’ or ‘success.’ According to virtue ethicists this is the aim to which all humans endeavour - to lead a good, happy and fulfilling life.
Feminist Ethics
Feminist Ethics is an attempt to revise, reformulate, or rethink those aspects of traditional western ethics that depreciate or devalue women's moral experience. Among others, feminist philosopher Alison Jaggar faults traditional western ethics for failing women in five related ways. First, it shows little concern for women's as opposed to men's interests and rights.
Second, it dismisses as morally uninteresting the problems that arise in the so-called private world, the realm in which women cook, clean, and care for the young, the old, and the sick. Third, it suggests that, on the average, women are not as morally developed as men.
Fourth, it overvalues culturally masculine traits like independence, autonomy, separation, mind, reason, culture, transcendence, war, and death, and undervalues culturally feminine traits like interdependence, community, connection, body, emotion, nature, immanence, peace, and life. Fifth, and finally, it favors culturally masculine ways of moral reasoning that emphasize rules, universality, and impartiality over culturally feminine ways of moral reasoning that emphasize relationships, particularity, and partiality.
Common Morality Theory
Theory believes that all people share by virtue of communal life and that this morality is ultimatly the source of all theories of morality.
Right-based theories hold that rights form the justifying basis of obligations because they best express the purpose of morality, which is the securing of liberties or other benefits for a rights-holder.
Virtue Ethics
In philosophy, the phrase virtue ethics refers to ethical systems that focus primarily on what sort of person one should try to be. Thus, one of the aims of virtue ethics is to offer an account of the sort of characteristics a virtuous person has. The ultimate aim of virtue ethics is eudaimonia, roughly meaning ‘flourishing’ or ‘success.’ According to virtue ethicists this is the aim to which all humans endeavour - to lead a good, happy and fulfilling life.
Feminist Ethics
Feminist Ethics is an attempt to revise, reformulate, or rethink those aspects of traditional western ethics that depreciate or devalue women's moral experience. Among others, feminist philosopher Alison Jaggar faults traditional western ethics for failing women in five related ways. First, it shows little concern for women's as opposed to men's interests and rights.
Second, it dismisses as morally uninteresting the problems that arise in the so-called private world, the realm in which women cook, clean, and care for the young, the old, and the sick. Third, it suggests that, on the average, women are not as morally developed as men.
Fourth, it overvalues culturally masculine traits like independence, autonomy, separation, mind, reason, culture, transcendence, war, and death, and undervalues culturally feminine traits like interdependence, community, connection, body, emotion, nature, immanence, peace, and life. Fifth, and finally, it favors culturally masculine ways of moral reasoning that emphasize rules, universality, and impartiality over culturally feminine ways of moral reasoning that emphasize relationships, particularity, and partiality.
Common Morality Theory
Theory believes that all people share by virtue of communal life and that this morality is ultimatly the source of all theories of morality.
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Ethical Theory and Business - Chap. 1 cont..
(ways to assess) Moral Disagreements
Obtain objective information
definitional clarity
example -- counterexample
analysis of arguments in positions
Egoism - The theory that regards self-interest as the foundation of morality, the regard of one’s own interest as supreme guiding principle of action, systematic selfishness.
Psychological egoism -- the view that everyone is always motivated to act in his or her perceived self interest
ethical egoism -- theory stating that only valid standard of conduct is the obligation to promote one's well-being above everyone else's
psychological egoism is a descriptive psychological theory about human motivation, ethical egoism is a normative about what people ought to do
Normative Ethical Theory
Utilitarian Theories-
utilitarian series hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences. An action or practice is right if it leads to the best possible balance of good consequences over bad consequences for all the parties affected. Utilitarians believe that the purpose or function of morality is to promote human welfare by minimizing horns and maximizing benefits.
Essential features of utilitarianism-
1. committed to the maximization of the good and the minimization of harm and evil
2. Theory of the good. Efficiency is the means for maximizing human good.
3. Commitment to the measurement comparison of goods
Act utilitarian - argues that in all situations one ought to perform that at that leads to the greatest good for the greatest number
rule utilitarians - reserved a more significant place for rules, which they do not regard as expendable on grounds that utility is maximize in a particular circumstance
Kantian Ethics
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
In Kantian theories respect for the human being and said to be necessary -- not just an option or once discretion -- because human beings possess a moral dignity and therefore should not be treated as if they had merely the conditional value possessed by machinery, industrial plants, robots, or capital.
Kant's theory finds motives for actions to be of the highest important, in that it expects persons to make the right decisions for the right reasons.
Kant's theory includes -- the person's motive for the action must involve a recognition of the duty to act
Obtain objective information
definitional clarity
example -- counterexample
analysis of arguments in positions
Egoism - The theory that regards self-interest as the foundation of morality, the regard of one’s own interest as supreme guiding principle of action, systematic selfishness.
Psychological egoism -- the view that everyone is always motivated to act in his or her perceived self interest
ethical egoism -- theory stating that only valid standard of conduct is the obligation to promote one's well-being above everyone else's
psychological egoism is a descriptive psychological theory about human motivation, ethical egoism is a normative about what people ought to do
Normative Ethical Theory
Utilitarian Theories-
utilitarian series hold that the moral worth of actions or practices is determined by their consequences. An action or practice is right if it leads to the best possible balance of good consequences over bad consequences for all the parties affected. Utilitarians believe that the purpose or function of morality is to promote human welfare by minimizing horns and maximizing benefits.
Essential features of utilitarianism-
1. committed to the maximization of the good and the minimization of harm and evil
2. Theory of the good. Efficiency is the means for maximizing human good.
3. Commitment to the measurement comparison of goods
Act utilitarian - argues that in all situations one ought to perform that at that leads to the greatest good for the greatest number
rule utilitarians - reserved a more significant place for rules, which they do not regard as expendable on grounds that utility is maximize in a particular circumstance
Kantian Ethics
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
In Kantian theories respect for the human being and said to be necessary -- not just an option or once discretion -- because human beings possess a moral dignity and therefore should not be treated as if they had merely the conditional value possessed by machinery, industrial plants, robots, or capital.
Kant's theory finds motives for actions to be of the highest important, in that it expects persons to make the right decisions for the right reasons.
Kant's theory includes -- the person's motive for the action must involve a recognition of the duty to act
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Ethical Theory and Business - Chap. 1
Fundamental concepts and problems
Morality and Ethical Theory
morality -- concerned with social practices defining right and wrong
ethical theory and moral philosophy -- reflection on the nature and justification of right actions. These words refer to attempts to induce clarity, substance, and precision of argument into the domain of morality.
As something is legal, it is not necessarily moral; if something is illegal, it is not necessarily immoral. To discharge one's legal responsibilities is not necessarily to discharge one's moral responsibilities.
Approaches to the study of morality
three general approaches dominate literature
1 -- descriptive
2 -- conceptual
3 -- prescriptive (normative)
the descriptive approach is often referred to as a scientific study of ethics. Factual description and explanation of moral behavior and believes, as performed by anthropologists, socialologists, and historians, are typical in this approach.
The conceptual study of ethics centralize his own terms such as right, obligation, Justice, good, virtue, and responsibility. Crucial terms in business ethics such as liability in deception can be given the same kind of careful conceptual attention.
Prescriptive or normative ethics is a prescriptive study at attempting to formulate and defend basic moral norms. Normative moral philosophy aims at determining what ought to be done, which ceased be distinguished from what is, in fact, practice. Ideally, and ethical theory provides reasoning for adopting a whole system of moral principles or virtues.
Utilitarianism and Kantianism are widely discussed theories.
Utilitarians argue that there is but a single fundamental principle determining right action, which can be roughly stated as follows: "an action is morally right if and only it produces at least as great a balance of value over disvalue as any available alternative action."
Kantians, by contrast, have argued for principles that specify obligations rather than a balance of value.
Ethical Relativism
Ethical relativism asserts that whatever a culture thinks is right or wrong really is right or wrong for the members of that culture.
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