States of Consciousness

Sleep: It is a state of consciousness and that we are less aware of our surroundings

• conscious
• subconscious
• unconscious
  

Why do we daydreams?

• Help prepare for future events
• Nourish our social development
• Substitute for impulsive behavior

Fantansy Prone Personalities: Someone who imagines and recalls experiences with like vivdness and who spend considerate tme fantasizing

Biological Rhythms

• Annual cycles: seasonal variations
• 28 day cycles: menustrual cycle
• 24 hour cycle: our circadian rhythm
• 90 minute cycle: sleep cycles

Circadian Rhythm

• Our 24 hour biological clock
• Our body temperature and awareness changes throughout the day

Sleep of Consciousness

• 90 - 100 minutes to pass through 5 stages
• The brain's waves change according to the sleep stage you are in
• The firsts four stages; it is called NREM sleep
• The fifth stage is called REM sleep

Stage 1

• Kind of awake and kind of asleep
• Only lasts a few minutes, and you usually only experience it once a night
• Your brain produces Theta waves

Stage 2

• Follows stage 1 sleep and is the "baseline" of sleep
• This stage is part of the 90 minute cycle and occupies appromixately, 45 - 60% of sleep
• More Theta waves that get progressively slower

Stage 3-4

• Slow wave sleeo
• You produce Delta waves
• If awoken, you will be very groggy
• Vital for restoring body's growth hormone and good overrall health
• May last 15 - 30 minutes
• It is called "slow wave" sleep because brain activity slows down dramactically from the "theta" rhythm of stage 2 to a much slower rhythm called "delta" and the height of amplitude of the waves increases dramatically
• Contrary to popular belief, it is delta sleep that is the "deepest" stage of sleep (not REM) and the most restorative
• It is delta sleep that a sleep deprived person's brain craves the first and foremost
• In chldren, delta sleep can occupy up to 40% of all sleep time and this is what makes children unawakenable

REM Sleep

• Rapid eye movement
• Brain is very active
• Dreams usually occur in REM
• Body is essentially paralyzed
• Composes 20 - 25% of a normal nights sleep
• Breathing, heart rate and brain wave activity quicken
• Vivid dreams can occur
• From REM, you gback to stage 2

DREAMS

Dreams: a ssequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person's mind

Manifest Content: the remembered storyline of a dream

Latent Content: The underlying meaning of a dream

Why do we dream?

Three Theories

Freud's Wish-Fulfillment Theory

• Dreams are the key to understanding our inner conflicts
• Ideas and thoughts that are hidden in our unconscious
• Manifest and latent content

Information Processing Theory

• Dreams act to sort out and understand the memories that you experience that day
• REM sleep does not increase after stressful events

Activation - Synthesis Theory

• During the night, our brain stem releases random neural activity, dreams may be a way to make sense of that activity

Learning

Learning: It is a long lasting change in behavior due to experience

Ivan Pavlov: He was best known for being the man behind classical conditioning

 Classical Conditioning: it is an automatic learning; it involves being exposed to an unconditioned stimulus which is respnded with an uncondiotioned response

-Soon enought the (UCS) and the (UCR) become (CS) and (CR)

Acquisiton: does not exist for long

Timing Matters:

- Delayed Conditioning: present (CS), why (CS) is still there, present (UCS)

-Trace Conditioning: present (CS), short break, then present (UCS)

-Simultaneous Conditioning: (CS) and (UCS) presented at the same time

-Backward Condtioning: (UCS) is presented, then (CS) is presented

Spontaneous: After extinction, the (CR) still randomly appears after the (CS) is presented

Generalization: Something is so similar to the (CS) that you get a (CR)

Discrimination: Something is so different to the (CS) so you don't get a (CR)

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OPERANT CONDITIONING

Edward Thorndike: He made the theory Law of Effect; It is said that behavior changes when consequences are given

B.F. Skinner: well known for the theory, Operant Conditioning



Reinforces

- A reinforcer is anyhting that increases a behavior

Positive Reinforment: The addition of something pleasant

Negative Reinforcement: The removal of something unpleasant

Punishment

- To punish is to decrease an undesirable behavior

Positive Punishment: addition of something unpleasant

Negative Punishment: removal of something pleasant

Shaping: is reinforcing small steps on the way to the desired behavior

Primary v. Secondary Reinforcers

Primary Reinforcer: Things that are in themselves rewarding

Secondary Reinforcer: Things we have learned to value

Token Economy: Every time a desired behavior is performed, a token is given

Reinforcement Schedules

• Continuous
• Fixed Ratio
• Fixed Interval
• Variable Ratio
• Variable Interval

Memory

Memory: is the persistence of learning over time through the storage and retrieval of information.

Memory Process:

• Encoding
• Storage
• Retrieval

Encoding: is the processing of information into the memory system.

Storage: is the retention of encoded material over time.

Retrieval: is the process of getting the information out of memory storage.

Recall Vs. Recognition:

• With recall you must retrieve the information from your memory, while with recognition you must identify the target from other possible targets.

Flashbulb Memory: is a clear moment of an emotionally significant moment or event.

Types of Memory:

Sensory: immediate, initial recording of sensory information stored just for an instant, must get unprocessed.

Short-term: memory that holds only a few items, the information will be stored into long-term or forgotten.

Long-term: relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system.

Encoding

Automatic Processing:

-unconscious encoding of incidental information

-you encode space, time, and word meaning

-things become automatic with practice

Effortful Processing:

-encoding that requires attention and conscious effort

-rehearsal is the most common effortful processing technique

-through enough rehearsal, what was effortful becomes automatic

The next-in-line effect: we seldom remember what the person has just said or done if we are next.

Spacing Effect:

-we encode better when we study or practice over time.

Serial Positioning Effect: Our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list.

Types of Encoding:

Semantic Encoding: the encoding of meaning, like the meaning of words.

Acoustic Encoding: the encoding of sound, especially the sounds of words.

Visual Encoding: the encoding of picture images.

Mnemonic Devices: use imagery"

Chunking:

-organizing items into familiar, manageable units

-often it will occur automatically

Types of Retrieval Failure:

Proactive Interference: the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information

Retroactive Interference: the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information

Misinformation Effect: incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event.

Perception

Perception: The process of organizing and interpreting informatio, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

Gestalt Philosophy: The whole is greater than some of its parts

Figure-Ground Relationship: The organiztion of the visual fields into objects (figures) that stand out from their surroundings (ground)

Grouping: The perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into groups that we understand

Depth Perception: The ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are ywo dimensional
-Allows us to judge distance

Binocular Cues: Retinal Disparity: a binocular cue for seeing depth
-The closer an object comes to you the greater the disparity is between the two images

Sensation

Sensation: your window to the world

Perception: interpreting what comes in your window

Sensation

The process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive stimulus from the environment

Bottom-up v. Top-Down Processing

Bottom Up: begins with the sensory receptors and nervous system receive stimulus from the environment

Top-Down: information processing guided by higher level mental processes

Absolute Threshold: the minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time

Difference Threshold: the minimum difference that a person can detect between two stimuli

- Also known as Just Noticeable Difference

Weber's Law: the idea that, to perceive a difference between two stimuli, they must differ by a constant percentage not a constant amount

Signal Detection Theory: predict how we detect a stimulus amid other stimuli

Sensory Adaptation: decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation

Selective Attention: the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus

Cocktail-party phenomenon: The cocktail party effect describes the ability to focus one's listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises, ignoring other conversations
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Vision

Vision: our most dominating sense

Gathering Light

• Short Wavelength = High frequency (bluish colors, high-pitched sounds)
• Long Wavelength = Low frequency (reddish colors, low-pitched sounds)

 Transduction: Transforming signals into neural impulses
-Information goes from the senses to the thalamus then to the various areas in the brain

Conversion of one form of energy to another
Stimulus energies to neural impulse

• Light energy rto vision
• Chemical energy to smell and taste
• Sound waves to sound



Color Vision:

Two Major Theories

Young-Helenholtz Trichromatic (three color) Theory

Three types of cones: - Red -Blue - Green

-These three types of cones can make million of combinations of colors

Opponent-Process Theory: the sensory receptors comes in pairs

• Red/Green
• Yellow/Blue
• Black/White

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Hearing

Hearing: The height of the wave gives us the amplitude of the sound

-The frequency of the wave gives us the pitch of the sound



Transduction of the ear

Sound waves hit the eardrum then anvil then hammer then stirrup then anvil window

-Everything is just vibrating

-Then the cochlea vibrates

-The cochlea is lined with mucus called basilar membrane

-In basilar membrane there are hair cells

-When the hair cells vibrate they turn vibrations into neural impulses which are called organ of corti

-Sent then to thalamus to auditory nerve

Pitch Theories:

Place Theory: different hairs vibrate in the cochlea when thre are different pitches

-So some hairs vibrate when they hear high pitches and other vibraet when they hear low pitches

Frequency Theory: all the hairs vibrate but at different speeds

Deafness

Conduction Deafness: Something goes wrong with the sound and the vibration on the way to the cochlea

-You can replace the bones or get a hearing aid to help

Nerve Deafness: The hair cells in the cochlea get damaged

-Loud noises can cause this deafness

-NO WAY to replace the hairs

-Cochlea implant is possible

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Taste

Taste: We have bumps on our tongue called papillae

-Taste buds are located on the papillae

-Sweet, salty, sour, and bitter

 Umami: flavorable meaty favory taste

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Touch

Touch: Receptors located in our skin

-Gate Control Theory of Pain

Gate Contril Theory of Pain: Where the spinal cord controls a neurological gate that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on the brain

Vestibular Sense: Tells us where our body is oriented in space

-Our sense of balance

Kinesthetic Sense: Tells us where our body parts are

-Receptors located in our muscles and joints

Brain Structures

Scientists divide the brain up into 3 parts

1. Hindbrain

-Medulla Oblongata : Heart rate, breathing, blood pressure
-Pons : Connects hindbrain, midbrain and forebrain
  ~ Together, involved in facial expressions
-Cerebellum : located in the back of our head and also known as little brain
  ~Coordinates muscle movements, like tracking a target

2. Midbrain

-Reticular Formation : arousal and ability to focus attention
-Cerebellum : located in the back of our head and known as little brain
 ~ Coordinates muscle movements

3. Forebrain

-Thalamus : receives sensory information and sends them to appropriate areas of forebrain
 ~It's like a switchboard, everything but smell

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Limbic System - emotional control center of the brain
-It is made up of:

• Hypothalamus - pea sized in prain, but plays a large role in body temperature, hunger, thirst and sexual arousal (libido)
• Hippocampus - involved in memory processing
• Amgdala - vital for our nasic emotions  

Cerebral Cortex - top layer of the brain

Hemispheres - divided into right and left hemisphere

Contralateral controlled - left controls the right side of the body and vise versa

Corpus Callosum - attaches the two hemispheres of cerebral cortex

Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology - The study of you from womb to tomb
- Study how we change physically, socially, cognitively, and mentally over our lifetimes

Nature v. Nuture

Nature - The way you were born

Nurture - The way you were raised

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Prenatal Development - Conception begins with the drop of an egg and the release of about 200 million sperm
-The sperm seeks out the egg and attempts to penetrate the eggs surface

...Once the sperm penetrates the egg, we have a fertilized egg called...the zygote

Zygotes - Less than half of all zygotes survive first two weeks
-About 10 days after conception, the zygote will attach itself to the uterine wall
-The outer part of the zygote becomes the placenta (which filters nutrients)

...After two weeks, the zygote ddevelops into...an embryo

Embryo - Lasts about six weeks
-Heart begins o beat and the organs begin to develop

...By nine weeks, we have...a fetus

Fetus - About the 6th month, the stomach and other organs have formed enough to survive outside the mother
-At this time the baby can hear (and recognize) sounds and respond to light

Teratogens - Chemical agents that can harm the prenatal environment

• Alcohol (FAS)
• STDS
• HIV
• Herpes

Healthy Newborns - Turn head towards voices
-See 8 - 12 inches from their faces
-Gaze longer at human like objects right from birth

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Reflexes - Inborn automatic responses
-Rooting
-Sucking
-Graping

Maturation - Physical growth, regardless of the environment

Puberty - The period of sexual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Primary Sexual Characteristics - Body structures that make reproduction possible
- Testes - Ovaries etc.

Secondary Sexual Characteristics - Non-reproductive sexual characteristics
-Widening of the hips
-Deeper voices
-Breast Development
-Body Hair

Landmarks for Puberty

• Menarche for girls (Aunt Flow, Red Niagara Falls)
• Spermarche for boys (Popping a bottle of champagne)

Physical Milestones

• Menopause

Death - Elizabeth Kubler-Ross's Stages of Death/Grief

1. Denial
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance