Psychology Exam II

Psychology Exam II

1. Learning

   • Neural Changes
     • Changes in regional activity for skill learning
       • Motor skills experiment
         • Initially cerebellum was active, then with practice striatum takes over
     • Changes in correlations in disparate neural circuits accompany learning new associations between stimuli
       • Learners & Connectivity Paths
         • Successful learners have several strong connections in different regions of the brain while less successful and non-learners have few connections that are all weak
     • Changes in synaptic activity; long-term potentiation, habituation, & sensitization
       • glutamate & serotonin
     • Changes in anatomy accompany intensive learning
       • Spatial Navigation
         • Birds
           • hippocampus increases in size when the birds remember where they put their seeds months later
         • Taxi Cab Drivers
           • Taxi cab drivers have large hippocampi to memorize maps
   • Definition
     • Acquisition of new knowledge & behavior Enduring change in behavior as the result of experience  Often hard to measure
   • Classical (Pavlovian) Conditioning
     • learning associations between events (stimuli), between emotions and events (stimuli), between behavior and its consequences
     • Ivan Pavlov
       • Nobel Prize for his findings on digestion
       • Dog Experiment
         • US: food --> UR: salivating
         • CS: bell + US: food --> CR: salivating
         • CS: bell --> salivating
         • Results
           • "existing" behaviors can be put to new uses
           • acquired behavioral change: can be adaptive; can be deleterious
     • Basis of all human learning
       • Conditioning in everyday emotional life
       • Human irrationality (phobias)
         • Phobias
           • unrelenting, disproportionate fear of a situation, activity, or thing, resulting in avoidance and/or panic
           • Freudian Model
             • Assumes an internal psychological structure that is out of sync
             • Little Hans
               • agoraphobia because fear of being bit by a horse
               • Underlying problem: Oedipal complex
           • Anxiety/Panic
             • Recognition that fear is excessive + irrational
             • Phobia interferes with other activities
             • Physiological symptoms
               • increase in heart rate increase in blood pressure sweating nausea dry mouth aches confusion inability to speak
           • Types
             • Social phobia
             • Agoraphobia
             • Specific phobias
           • Demographics
             • Early onset
             • Females
             • Independent of education/but not income
               • earning a living is more anxiety provoking and schools are a relatively protected environment
               • Why?
           • Classical Conditioning Model
             • phobias are caused by the experiences that affect you and by your capacity to learn
             • Little Albert
               • John Watson conditioned Little Albert to have a fear of all furry things by accompanying the presence of a furry thing with a loud noise --> phobia of the furry things
               • shows fear through conditioning (not an underlying problem)
               • "tabula rasa" = blank slate
           • Traumatic Event
             • phobias are often not accompanied by recall of a traumatic event
               • Imitiation
                 • Monkey Experiment
                   • lab-reared monkeys are not afraid of snake while wild-reared monkeys are always afraid
                   • Results
                     • when the lab monkeys observed the wild monkeys, they acted the same way as the wild monkeys to the snakes 
               • Heritability of fear
             • many individuals experience trauma but do not develop phobias
             • Non-lab evidence of the role of conditioning in phobias
               • Defibrillator Study
                 • 72 patients with implantable cardio defibrillators  many can anticipate arrhythmias --> anticipate shock 16% develop anxiety disorders (phobias)
               • Conditioned Immunization
                 • Farm animals
                   • farmers don't develop phobias to animals because of conditioning
                 • Safety Blankets
                   • produces a parasympathetic response (calming effect)
             • Individual Differences in Susceptibility
               • Biology of stress
                 • external threat --> amygdala --> hypothalamus --> sympathetic nervous system + adrenal glands --> release of adrenalin, noradrenalin & stress hormones --> flight/flight response
               • Flight/fight response
                 • heart beats fast greater blood flow + redistribution spleen releases more red blood cells air passages in lungs widen increase in BP liver releases sugar sweating increases pupils widen sweaty palms 
               • Temperament Research
                 • children who are frightened at novelty at a young ante are more likely to develop phobias
               • Heritability
                 • if a sibling has an anxiety disorder, likelihood of at least one other sibling having a disorder is: 11% if no disorder in parents 25% if one parent has anxiety 40% if both parents have anxiety
             • Treatment of Phobias
               • Spider phobics Experiment
                 • pictures of spiders to handling a real spider in gradual steps + relaxation
               • presenting the conditioned stimuli but not the unconditioned stimuli
                 • Go outside but do not present a biting dog 
               • Deconditioning
                 • Because you can be susceptible and imagination can form a phobia face your fears and hang out with brave monkeys
     • Learning is Orderly
       • Magnitude of the US
       • Magnitude/saliency of the CS
       • Frequency of CS/US pairings
       • Temporal constraints regarding relations between CS & US
     • Wide range of stimuli would function as conditioned stimuli
     • All species were susceptible to classical conditioning
     • Pairing of stimuli is not necessary but sufficient
       • Forward conditioning > backward conditioning
       • CS has to predict US
       • Prediction vs. Pairing
         • Pairing: necessary but not sufficient because it's not necessarily learning Prediction: requires some degree of pairing and is sufficient
       • Food Delivery + Sound Experiment
         • Random food deliveries (US) + Random tones (CS) Combining random streams together 1. Playing tune but food at random intervals = no learning 2. Playing tune and food at same times = learning to predict when food is there
     • Good Behavior Conformity
       • People obey the law most of the time
         • Feeling guilty for doing bad things
         • rational thinking of consequences
         • Anti-social behavior triggers disapproval/punishment
           • Contemplation of antisocial behavior = punished by negative fear (CC) = doesn't occur (even when no one's watching)
         • Differences in susceptibility to classical conditioning predict criminal history
           • Conditioned Response of Criminals Experiment
             • 3 groups: No criminal history but anti-social, control group, serious criminal history Tested for strength of response to unpredictably loud noises --> lowest responses = highest number of arrests 
   • Operant/Reward Based
     • changes in the topography and frequency of behavior as a function of its consequences  rewards/punishments "shape" behavior
     • BF Skinner
       • 1904-1990 Read Pavlov's work and was interested in studying behavior 
       • Accomplishments
         • Drug discovery + neuroscience
         • Clinical Impact
           • Behavioral treatment based on reinforcement
         • Intellectual Impact
           • Behavior as a natural science = behavioral economic
         • Social Engineering
           • people naturally have unplanned, ineffectual reinforcement contingencies --> want to replace them with planned, effective reinforcement contingencies to have an ideal behavior
         • Punishment vs. Reinforcement Contingencies
           • Can predict + control behavior = manufacture a new breed of human being  Change the environment = change the individual 
     • Origins of Reinforced Behavior
       • Spontaneous actions
       • Shaping
         • feedback process whereby consequences of behavior (rewards + punishment) shape behavior = new behavior
       • Reinforcement Contingency
         • Discriminative stimulus operant behavior reinforcer
       • Cumulative Recorder
         • device that measures behavior visualizes activity in the brain to a 2D representation on a roll of paper that moves at a constant speed the pen is electronically connected to the reinforcer --> every time subject responds it deflects vertically  measured rate at which the individual response = slope of line
         • Behavior Patterns
           • Trendline: Waiting for the bus
             • scallopped trend because while waiting for the bus, it flattens out (loses interest) but picks up when the bus arrives
           • Trendline: Checking emails
             • straight trend line because the emails are random = constantly checking to see if there are emails
           • Trendline: Slot machine
             • steeper straight line because random reinforcers but the random reinforcers are stronger
           • Capitalism
             • Worker: you want 1st trend for guaranteed pay (pay by hour) Factory Owner: you want 3rd trend because random reinforcers (less than 2nd) and higher work load
           • Ann + John
             • Ann wanted music --> touched the cylinder and got music --> trend line is scalloped then steep (because she caught on) John wanted food --> touched cylinder and got food --> almost flat line because he didn't catch on...
       • Voluntary Behavior
         • Gymanastics
           • coaches are very stern very few rewards but working very hard --> isn't just the environment; also is PERSONAL MOTIVATION
         • Reinforcers: approval + disapproval
           • "Dictator Game"
             • Will approval/disapproval influence sharing money even when approval/disapproval have no consequences? Results: what someone else thinks (someone they don't even know), it affects their behavior 
       • Impulsiveness/Self-control
         • having a large access to reinforcers leads to problems in addiction, procrastination
         • Health, Wealth & Criminal Convictions Study
           • studying children in self-control ages 3-11  followed children after 20 year period --> observed health, wealth & crimes psychological variables: IQ, self control, socioeconomic status 
           • Results
             • results: low self control --> more health problems, single parent, more crimes, etc. 
         • Self-help industry
           • Why is self-help a problem? -lack of understanding -compulsion -self-control = important individual difference
         • Marshmallow Test
           • children had the option of eating the marshmallow right away or not eating it now and receiving another later
         • Pigeon Reward Experiment
           • pecks produced reward pecks --> delay --> reward  delay time decrease = increase in response rate 
         • Joe incentive Experiment
           • -1st reward is smaller but comes sooner -2nd reward is larger but has a delay of 5 minutes -when both rewards are distant, the long-term reward's value is larger
         • How to Control Impulsivity
           • change the shape of the curve
             • give other rewards (or smaller ones) so that the value of the long-term reward is still higher
           • divert your attention while waiting
           • being help accountable (side bets)
             • if not fulfilling your bet = embarrassment make the side bets before crossing point (where the longterm > short term) 
           • precommittment
             • -knowing that switching preferences will happen but don't want it to happen --> take precautions before the shift to prevent yourself from switching
             • Odysseus + Sirens
       • Punishment
         • a contingent event that reduces the likelihood of the behavior that produced it
         • Drawbacks
           • -teaches avoidance of punisher -is hard to make severe enough -severe corporal punishment correlated with negative outcomes -adds negative value to reinforcer (fear of punishment makes reinforcer less desirable)
       • Reinforcers
         • virtually anything can be a reinforcer
         • Behavior is determined
           • Should we punish people for acts they are not responsible for?
   • Why is learning necessary?
     • creatures needs the ability to adjust to changing circumstances  world changes at a rapid rate and heredity/evolution cannot keep pace

2. Eating

   • Energy Problem
     • Cells are independent organisms and need energy continuously 
     • Metabolism
       • transform outside energy sources into glucose
       • Glucose
         • Energy: Brain + Body
           • Short-Term Storage: Glycogen Liver
             • storage frees the need of eating continuously
       • Fat
         • Long-Term Storage: Fatty Tissue
       • Amino Acids
         • Protein Synthesis
       • Eating
         • Hunger
           • Sensor Detects Deviation From Set Point
         • Satiation
           • Sensor Detects Return to Set Point
         • Living Creature
         • Incentive Rewards
           • Taste/smell/stress/social
       • Metabolic Factors
         • Initiate eating
           • Hypoglycemia
             • low blood glucose
           • Lipoprivation
             • depriving cells of lipids
           • Ghrelin
             • hormone that is released when the stomach is empty to promote eating
           • Other Factors
             • decrease in body temperature release of insulin
         • Slow eating
           • Short-term
             • CCK
               • depends on fat content of intestine stimulates metabolism of fat injections of CCK slow eating  rats without CCK receptors become obese
             • PYY
               • -levels are proportional to caloric content of food in intestine -slows gastric emptying so that there is enough time to metabolize nutrient  -water does not stimulate PYY release -individual differences in PYY correlated with body weight
           • Long-term
             • Leptin
               • -hormone that is reflective of number of fat cells in the body -fuller fat cells --> release leptin --> fuller -low leptin levels = hungry + low body temp (lethargy) -high leptin levels = fuller + warmer (active)
     • Forage continuously or intermittently
   • Individual Differences
     • ethinicity
       • -environments in which food is often scarce; invidiuals better at storing food = efficient metabolisms ex: Native Americans in SW are subject to drought those who are shielded from immediate environmental (US) have inefficient metabolisms
     • Anorexia Experiment
       • Normal vs. Anorexic vs. Anorexic with treatment insulin allows cells to incorporate glucose for energy --> no insulin = high blood sugar + starving cells -Injections of Insulin  -normal: blood glucose decrease = increase in hunger -anorexic: blood glucose decrease = decrease in hunger (psychological response) -recovered anorexic: blood glucose decrease = no change in hunger
     • Taste
       • Vanilla Milkshake Experiment
         • correlation btwn eating a lot + pickiness -Normal Group + Obese Group -vanille milk shake + vanilla milkshake with quinine (bitter) -normal people drank vanilla and a little bit less quinine -obese people drank more vanilla and much less quinine
     • Willingness to Engage
       • Shelled/Unshelled Peanuts
         • normal people ate almost equal number of shelled + unshelled obese ate ALOT of unshelled and almost no shelled 
   • Food as a Reinforcer
     • -complements any event -form of self-medication -focus of cultural/social/individual elaboration
   • Diets
     • What works?
       • Exercise
       • Reduction in fat content
       • Awareness
         • Freshman 15 Experiment
           • 1 control group + 1 group that had to email their body weight every morning -group that had to email weight = weight brought into consciousness  --> lost pounds  -control group gained weight
         • Amnesic Experiment
           • people who forgot they ate dinner = kept eating dinner because it was placed in front of them

3. Memory

   • HM
     • had his temporal lobes removed (including hippocampus) in a surgery designed to stop epileptic seizures result: epilepsy cured but changes in memory
     • could carry on conversations but could not remember it after
     • could learn new motor skills but couldn't remember learning it
     • attenuated retrograde amnesia
   • Types of Memory
     • Sensory Memory
       • Short-Term (working) memory
         • Long-term memory
           • distinguishable from STM: -everyday observations -serial position effect -selective amnesias that spare working memory (HM)
           • Explicit: Intentional
             • formation often involves effort can be stated (declared) 
             • Episodic
               • biographic where you were when something happened
             • Semantic
               • knowledge
             • ex: learning French
             • Evidence for Distinction between Episodic + Semantic
               • Aging Effects Showed pictures of people who died dramatic deaths --> asked where they were when it happened -recognition: equally good -basis of fame: equally good -biography/fact: decreased as a function of age  Episodic memory affected by age 
           • Implicit: Unintentional influence of past
             • established without conscious effort hard to put into words
             • Procedural
             • ex: Riding a bike
         • Capacity
           • 5-7 chunks typically under 30 sec (7 +/- 2)
           • Acoustic Encoding Experiment
             • -Subject exposed to 3 letter string followed by an interference task that prevents rehearsal -errors were in terms of sound and not what they look like (V + B for P but rarely E for F)
             • Organizing info into chunks (meaningful units)
   • Amnesia
     • retrograde amnesia
       • remembering events before surgery
     • anterograde amnesia
       • amnesia after surgery
   • Basic Memory Processes
     • Encoding
       • processes that transform experience into an enduring change in brain/consciousness behavior
       • Depth of Encoding Experiment
         • Print vs. Sound vs. Meaning  people had to say the meaning of the word, they recognized more of the words  people memorize more things when they're more meaningful to you
     • Storage/Consolidation
       • processes that maintain experience induced changes over time
       • sleep
     • Retrieval/Forgetting
       • process of bringing to mind previously encoded/consolidated material
       • Land/Water Experiment
         • people learn words under water and recite on land/water people learn words on land and recite on land/water best memory in a setting that is the most similar to their setting in which they learned 
       • Forgetfulness
         • Cues Experiment
           • subjects learned a list and tested on it 10 min later but have to learn intervening lists between time WITHOUT CUE: more intervening lists = decreasing performance WITH CUE: performance jumps up and it doesn't matter how many lists they had 
       • Persistent Memories
         • Memory bias for emotional events
           • Amygdala function
           • Release of stress hormones
           • Memory is Malleable
             • hippocampus sorts/assembles emotions/sights aspects of memory but can assmelbe them wrong (memory with imagination)