Comprehensive Photo AlbumKelly Maguire

Period B

Prologue/Chapter 1

Structuralism

Through structuralism, Edward Bradford Titchner aimed to study the structure of the mind. One of the main methods that he used was introspection. For example, Titchner would have a person look into these flowers and report their immediate sensations, thoughts, and feelings. He would then figure out how these things relate to each other, and would search for the mind’s structural elements through these personal reports.

Functionalism

This is a diagram of the human eye from my biology class freshman year. The diagram explains the function of each part of the eye and why each part is important. Similarly, functionalism focused on the specific ways in which our mental processes function and the ways in which they assist our adaptation and survival.

Double-Blind Procedure

If we wanted to test the effectiveness of this pill, a double-blind procedure would be used. Half of the research participants would receive the pill, and the other half would receive a placebo. Neither the participants nor the research staff would know whether the participants have received the actual pill or the placebo. In other words, they would be “blind” to this information. If the energy of the participants in experimental group was higher than that of the people who received the placebo, then we could conclude that the drug is effective.

Case Study

Like a magnifying glass, which allows us to look at one particular thing in great detail, the case study is used to study one individual in depth. By closely studying one person, scientists and psychologists hope to reveal things that are true of all of us.

Chapter 2A

Dendrite

Just as the dendrites of a neuron receive messages from other cells and conduct them toward the cell body, a telephone receives calls from other people and directs them toward us.

Myelin Sheath

The myelin sheath encases the fibers of neurons and allows for greater speed of neural impulses. Similarly, lotion acts as a protective and moisturizing barrier on our skin and helps to speed the healing of dry, cracked skin.

Endorphins

When running on the treadmill (or taking part in any vigorous form of exercise) endorphins are released in our bodies. Endorphins are linked to pain control and pleasure, and help explain why exercise makes us feel good.

Sympathetic Nervous System

The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for arousing the body and providing energy in stressful situations. Likewise, energy drinks such as Rockstar provide the body with a rush of energy.

Chapter 2B

Medulla

The function of the medulla is to control the most basic survival functions; heartbeat and breathing. Without these functions, humans would not be able to operate. Batteries do the same for electronic devices. Without power, devices such as calculators cannot add, subtract, divide, or perform any of their given purposes.

Cerebellum

The cerebellum coordinates our movements and helps us to stay balanced. Coordination and balance are essential to yoga. Doing yoga is facilitated by the functions of the cerebellum.

Amygdala

The amygdala is located in the limbic system and influences anger and rage. My sister’s amygdala is very active when she is angry.When my sister is having a temper tantrum, she looks at this list in order to help her calm down.

Occipital Lobe

In order to see things far away in the distance, I need to wear glasses. When I look at things through my glasses, the information is sent to the occipital lobes, a portion of the cerebral cortex located at the back of the head. The occipital lobes receive information from the visual fields and allow me to see things.

Chapter 3

Circadian Rhythms

The circadian rhythm is similar to this clock. Just as the clock displays the time and the weather for the proceeding hours, our circadian rhythm is a biological clock of regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24-hour cycle. Such bodily rhythms include temperature and wakefulness. Our circadian rhythm helps to explain why we feel most alert around the same time every day and most tired the same time every day.

Delta Waves

Delta waves are the large, slow brain waves that are present during deep sleep. It is likely that the brain of my dog is emitting delta waves. She was so tired that she fell asleep on top of my psych textbook!

Sleep Apnea

Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder marked by brief interruptions in breathing which ultimately disrupts the quality of sleep. My mom has sleep apnea, and she has to wear this mask every night. It pumps a flow of air into the nasal passages in order to keep her airways open.

Amphetamines

Amphetamines are drugs that stimulate and cause sped-up body functions and changes in energy and mood. The caffeine that is present in coffee has similar effects. After drinking coffee, our neural activity and body functions are aroused and we feel a rush of energy and alertness.

Chapter 5

Teratogen

Teratogens are substances that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm to the growing baby. Alcohol would be classified as a teratogen. When a pregnant woman drinks, the alcohol enters both the woman’s and her fetus’ bloodstream and depresses activity in both of their nervous systems. Consumption of alcohol during pregnancy puts the baby at risk for brain damage, birth defects, and mental retardation.

Habituation

When Riley was a puppy, she loved bones and the gray/brown toy was her favorite. She would play with them for hours and would never get bored. As is evident in the picture, she has no interest in playing with them. Because it has been three years, she is disinterested in the toy and the bones. This is known as habituation: “decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation.” Riley is no longer responsive to these objects because she has gained familiarity to them with three years of repeated exposure.

Theory of Mind

I work with many autistic children through Special Olympics. It has become apparent to me that these children lack a theory of mind. They typically have trouble understanding and perceiving others’ mental states, emotions, and feelings. It is also difficult for them to interpret different social cues, and they typically have trouble communicating their own thoughts and feelings.

Imprinting

Imprinting is an attachment process that occurs during a critical period very early in the life of certain animals. This is very commonly seen among ducks. Shortly after hatching, the newborn ducklings spot the first moving object, which is normally their mother. From then on, they follow her everywhere.

Chapter 6A

Transduction

Transduction is the process of converting one form of energy into another. In the context of sensation, transduction is the conversion of sights, sounds, and smells into neural impulses that our brain can interpret. Similarly, a blender transduces solids into liquids that we can drink and swallow.

Bottom-Up Processing

Difference Threshold

Weber’s Law

Chapter 6B

Rods

Rods are retinal receptors that detect black, white, and gray. Without rods, it would be very difficult to read the newspaper because it is printed in black and white.

Cones

Without cones, it would be difficult to detect the different colors and the details of these paintings. Cones help us to identify fine details and help us to perceive color.

Fovea

The fovea is the central point of the retina where all of the eye’s cones cluster together. Similarly, the living room of my house is the place where all of my family members gather together.

Vestibular Sense

The vestibular sense monitors the body’s movement and position, including the sense of balance. A good sense of balance is crucial in order to ride a bike. If our vestibular sense fails us while riding a bike, we would probably end up on the sidewalk with a scraped knee.

Chapter 7A

Classical Conditioning

Classical conditioning is when one learns to link stimuli and anticipate events. My dog was classically conditioned to stop barking with this collar. Whenever she barked at a neighbor or another dog, the collar would make an unpleasant high-pitched beep. After a couple weeks, she learned that if she barked, the unpleasant beep would follow. Ultimately, she has learned to stop barking at neighbors and other dogs.

Operant Conditioning

Using operant conditioning, I have trained my dog to sit on command. Upon hearing the word “sit”, she has learned to associate her own action of sitting with the reward of a treat. Whenever I tell her to sit, she sits down immediately because she has learned that this action will produce a treat.

Mirror Neurons

When watching a movie, we tend to feel the emotions of the characters as if they were our own. For example, when viewing a sad movie, we feel sad along with the characters and may react by crying. Our mirror neurons produce these effects. They are active when we perform certain actions or when we watch someone else do so. Empathy is enabled through the brain’s mirroring of another’s actions.

Negative Reinforcement

Negative reinforcement removes or reduces an undesirable or unpleasant stimulus. Most mornings when my alarm goes off, I press the snooze button. By doing so, I am removing the unpleasant stimulus of the annoying alarm. The result (end of the alarm) provides negative reinforcement and increases the odds that I will press the snooze button again the next morning.

Chapter 7B

Fixed-Ratio Schedule

This coupon displays a fixed-ratio reinforcement schedule. It says that you will get a free $10 Bonus Card for every $50 in gift cards that you purchase. Therefore, reinforcement (a free $10 gift card) is given after only a specified number of responses (after every $50 dollars purchased in gift cards).

Variable-Ratio Schedule

A variable-ratio schedule reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses. Regardless of how many scratch tickets you buy, you are never guaranteed to win. Every so often, you may win as little as a dollar or as large as one million dollars. However, there is no way of knowing for sure. Because you may win after an unpredictable number of tickets purchased, a variable-ratio schedule is apparent.

Fixed-Interval Schedule

Over the summer, my sister was very excited to receive her school schedule in the mail. The letters were mailed during the last week of August, and our mail usually comes around 4:00 p.m.. Every day during the last week of August between 3:30 and 4:30, my sister would check the mail every 10 minutes. This would be an example of a fixed-interval schedule, which reinforces the response after a fixed time period. My sister would check the mail more often as the anticipated time for reward (the letter) drew near.

Variable-Interval Schedule

A variable-interval schedule reinforces a response after an unpredictable period of time. I had to reset my Twitter password, and I was waiting for the confirmation email to come. I checked my email persistently for about 30 minutes, but the message did not come. There was no way of knowing when the wait would be over. After an hour, the message came. The “You’ve got mail” voice sounded on my computer, and I was finally rewarded after my persistence in re-checking my email.

Chapter 8

Recall

On this fill-in-the-blank test, my recall was tested. Recall is a measure of memory in which you must retrieve information learned at an earlier time . On this test, there were no hints or context clues. I had to retrieve specific facts and pieces of information about the parts of the brain on my own.

Recognition

Identification of important terms and concepts is what comprises the measure of memory known as recognition. Recognition is often tested through multiple-choice tests. Rather than coming up with information on your own, you only need to identify certain items and terms that you had previously learned.

Hippocampus

The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is most involved with memory storage. This game set has several memory games, such as the card matching games and multiple others having that test your memory. When we playthese games, our hippocampus is very active.

Echoic Memory

In the game “Name That Tune”, small portions of a song are played and contestants guess the name of the song. Even if our attention is not focused directly on the song, our echoic memory helps us to recall the words and sounds within three or four seconds. If we were distracted while the song was being played, our echoic memory would help us to temporarily replay the portion of the song in our heads and we could still have a chance at guessing the correct song name.

Chapter 10A

General Intelligence (g)

According to Spearman, there is a general intelligence factor (g) that underlies all mental abilities and is measured by every task on an intelligence test. Air could be seen as a g factor. The availability of air underlies all of our capabilities as humans. Without air, we would not be able to do anything, and therefore we would not be able to walk, talk, or display our talents and intelligence.

Savant Syndrome

People with savant syndrome often score low on intelligence tests and are typically limited in mental ability. However, these people usually have one specific skill, such as painting, that they exceed in. Someone with savant syndrome who may not be capable of understanding any mathematical concepts may be able to produce amazing paintings and works of art.

WAIS

The WAIS is the most widely used intelligence test. The test consists of 11 subtests assess several different areas of intelligence, such as verbal comprehension and object assembly. This toy that I found in my basement reminded me of something that could be used on the WAIS as a block design puzzle. If shown the completed object (on the right) the person may be asked to take it apart and replicate it.

Gardner

Gardner theorized that instead of a single intelligence, we have multiple intelligences. He proposed that intelligence goes beyond basic mathematical and verbal comprehension. Some of his proposed intelligences include musical, spatial, and bodily-kinesthetic. Therefore, Gardner would agree that a setter on a volleyball team exhibits different types of intelligence than does a computer programmer.

Chapter 10B

Standardization

Because my PSAT scores were compared with the scores of a pretested group, we can conclude that the PSAT is standardized. This way, I can compare and determine my position relative to others.

Content Validity

In order to get my license, I had to pass a road test. The road test had content validity. This means that the test sampled the behavior that was of interest. The test sampled different kind of situations that drivers will face on a regular basis. I had to parallel park, three-point turn, back up in a straight line, and drive around town. If the test only consisted of parallel parking, it would not have content validity because there is much more to driving than being able to parallel park.

Test-Retest Reliability

Through my personal experience, I have found that the SAT has reliability. I have taken the SAT twice, and both times my scores were almost the exact same. This would be known as test-retest reliability. Because the two sets of scores were almost exactly the same, the test is reliable.

Split-Half Reliability

When I looked at all of my answers on the SAT, I found that the odd-question scores and even-question scores agreed. This is known as split-half reliability. Because I got almost the same number of even-numbered questions right as odd-numbered questions, the test is reliable.

Chapter 11

Set Point

Our body’s set point is the weight at which our “weight thermostat” is set. When a person’s body weight falls below this point, hunger increases and metabolism lowers in order to restore the body’s weight back to its stable set point.

Drive-Reduction Theory

According to the drive-reduction theory, my dog had a physiological need (need for food) which created an aroused state (hunger), which drove her to reduce the need by engaging in a drive reducing behavior (eating).

Optimum Arousal Theory

According to the optimum arousal theory, people who engage in risky activities such as sky-diving have all of their biological needs satisfied and lack stimulation. They sky-dive as a way to cure boredom and increase arousal.

Homeostasis

Homeostasis is the body’s maintenance of a balanced internal state. An example of homeostasis is the body’s temperature-regulation system. It If our body temperature cools, our blood vessels constrict in order to keep us warm.

Chapter 12A

Paul Ekman

Facial Feedback

Schacter’s Two Factor TOE

Cannon-Bard TOE

Chapter 12B

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon

The adaptation-level phenomenon is our tendency to make judgments in comparison to a certain level defined by past experience. On my 16th birthday, my grandmother gave me this $100 dollar bill. Before my 16th birthday, I was accustomed to and happy with receiving about $2o dollars from my grandmother on my birthday. However, from that point on, my judgment and expectations of birthday money was raised. This is known as the adaptation-level phenomenon. Receiving $20 dollars seemed like nothing compared to receiving $100 dollars for my birthday.

Relative Deprivation

Relative deprivation is the sense that we are worse off than others with whom we compare ourselves. If we compare ourselves with Gwen Stefani, who apparently has $4,000 worth of sunglasses, we will feel worse about ourselves and about our own possessions.

Type A

People who are classified as “Type A” personalities are typically hard-driving, reactive, and meticulous. My sister’s Type A personality is evident through her spotless bedroom. She becomes very angry and impatient if everything is not in its set place.

Type B

My Type B personality is evident through my bedroom. Unlike my sister, I am generally easy-going and relaxed. I don’t mind having a messy bedroom, and I definitely would not have a break-down if there are clothes and shoes scattered across my room.

Chapter 13

Id

According to Freud, the id is the largely unconscious portion of personality that strives to satisfy our immediate wants and desires, operating on the “pleasure principle.” Freud would view Amanda Bynes as an id-dominated person. She puts her present happiness above future consequences. She would rather party now than sacrifice her happiness of the present for future happiness and success.

External Locus of Control

People who have an external locus of control believe that outside forces determine their fate and their future. They typically believe that the course of their life is beyond their personal control. If someone truly believes in horoscopes, which say that the position of the stars and planets affect your life, then this person would have an external locus of control because they would believe that external forces determine their fate.

Spotlight Effect

In third grade, I experienced the spotlight effect. One day at lunch, I spilled an entire cup of applesauce down the front of my shirt. Only five or six kids who were at my lunch table saw, but I was humiliated. I thought that the entire cafeteria was laughing at me. I was so devastated that I stayed in the nurse’s office for the rest of the school day!

TAT

The Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) is a type of projective test. People make up stories about ambiguous scenes, and their inner thoughts and feelings are expressed through these stories. If this picture was used for the TAT, someone may say that the dog and cat grew up together and the dog was always shy and apprehensive while the cat was always there to protect the dog. Through such a story about an ambiguous scene, people’s inner feelings and interests are expressed.