Week 1: Psychology Introduction
Who is usually marked as the "founding father" of modern psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt
What is the difference between the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system?
Sympathetic = activates body in heightened or threatening situations
Parasympathetic = wants to reduce the sympathetic nervous systems activations. Brings body back to homeostasis
What is the difference between sensation and perception?
Sensation are automatic messages we receive from the senses (it is a non-negotiable element of the nervous system). Perceptions are how we make sense of the sensory information.
Touching a hot stove and moving your hand away is a type of processing
Bottom-up processing
When does most dreaming occur?
REM sleep
The study of the evolution of behaviour and mind, using principles of natural selection.
Evolutionary psychology
Afferent is to sensory as efferent is to __
Motor
What sense is associated with olfaction?
Sense of smell
What is a psychological response to vision?
Seeing colour! The reality of seeing a certain colour is a psychological experience.
Colour helps us interpret the world. We use categories to do this.
Which level of consciousness is associated with automatic bodily functions like breathing and heart rate?
Non-conscious
A historically significant perspective that emphasised the growth potential of healthy people.
Humanistic psychology
Which part of the endocrine system is under the influence of the hypothalamus and regulates growth and controls endocrine glands?
Pituitary gland
FREE POINTS
haha
Your ability to read a battered old sign that has some letters missing is a result of ___ processing.
Top down processing
What are some examples of an 'altered state of consciousness'
Which behaviourists studied how consequences shape behaviour?
John B. Watson & B. F. Skinner
Depolarised = more likely to fire an action potential
hyperpolarised = less/no chance of firing an action potential
True or false?
True
Depolarising a neuron makes it more excitatory, whereas polarised neurons are more inhibitory.
Converting physical energy into a neural signal
Transduction process
When adding sugar to coffee, a person can perceive a change in sweetness when the amount of sugar is increased by 1 teaspoon (for example)
Just noticeable difference
A benefit of hypnosis
- Used to manage pain
- Used in research to get insights about cognitive processes
Is nature or nurture currently winning the debate?
NEITHER - they are both just as important
Explain what a PET scan can help with (brain imaging technique)
PET scans can help show where certain chemical changes in the brain occur as someone performs a specific task. E.g., can show what area of the brain lights up when someone looks at a scary video.
A theory suggesting that the spinal cord can either let pain impulses travel upwards to the brain or block their progress
The gate theory of pain
What is an example of how perceptions differ between culture or experiences?
Interpretation of colour - we all have different categories of colour
Your heart rate drops too low and your body wakes you up because it thinks you are dying
Hypnic jerk