Where is my Mind?
Now you See Me, Now you Don't.
You (Don't) Snooze, You Lose.
Out of (Dis)order.
Blast from the Past (Review of Chapters 1-3)
100
This psychologist developed the concept of the Collective Unconscious.
Who is... Carl Jung?
100
Define and describe both bottom-up and top-down processing as it concerns attention.
What is...
Bottom-up processing requires no previous knowledge or learning; it is based upon the senses and integrating them into our perception. It integrates certain features in the environment, such as when light is around us and hits our photo-receptors. We can see simple shapes, features, textures - these are things that get sent to the visual cortex first. It does not require us to have any previous experience with it, we just are first "detecting" something, and then we start to process it.
Top-down processing is based on prior experiences and knowledge. It is like a predictive mechanism, we interpret using context because from what we see, such as an object that we are trying to search for, we have expectations for what we are trying to see. It also goes into expectations and experiences within our environment. When you are searching for your keys, you are looking for specific features that resemble your keys - perhaps pointy, sharp, shiny, and attached to a circular metal ring? Additionally, you expect that your keys would be somewhere either where you last were at, or even on the floor because it could have fallen out of your pocket. That is what is meant by top-down processing driven by expectations + experiences.
Attention requires that we use both processes at the same time.
100
Describe stage 1 of Non-Rem (N-REM sleep).
What is...
Heartbeat and breathing slows down, body temperature decreases. Alpha and theta waves dominate brain activity. Lower frequency, higher amplitude brain waves when going from alpha waves to theta waves. Body is in a relaxed state.
Start with alpha waves which are higher frequency, lower amplitude than theta waves which are lower frequency, higher in amplitude. Body is in a relaxed state, and you are not asleep yet in this stage.
100
Based on the description below, determine the most likely sleep disorder:
Emma, a 27-year-old graduate student, has been experiencing difficulty falling asleep for the past two months. Despite going to bed at a reasonable hour, she often lies awake for over an hour before finally drifting off. As her frustration grows, she finds herself becoming more anxious about bedtime, worrying that she won’t be able to sleep again. This anxiety increases her arousal level, making it even harder for her to relax and fall asleep—creating a frustrating cycle.
What is... Insomnia?
100
When a cell is at resting state—otherwise known as membrane potential—tell me the ions that are concentrated INSIDE the cell, and the cell’s electrical charge.
What is...
1. Potassium.
2. Negative
Note: Potassium ions in cell membrane at resting state; Ohm’s law contributes to this, never can be a true balance of ions inside and outside of cell. Potassium channels flow freely in and out the cell (carries positive charge outside of cell which is why internal cell membrane is negative) due to diffusion following concentration gradient, and electrostatic pressure (but that is more so with sodium-potassium pump and kicking out any straggling sodium ions that come in through leak channels. 3:2 ratio. Way to try and keep “equilibrium” but that will never actually happen since there needs to be some uneven balance to have charge in cell).
200
Describe and define some notable components of the Activation-Synthesis Theory as proposed by Alan Hobson.
What is...
Neural activity fires in cerebellum and brain stem while we sleep. Our brain tries to make sense of these processes which is why we have dreams. There is additional research cited in the textbook that extends Alan Hobson’s Activation-Synthesis Theory, particularly with viewing dreams as a virtual reality that can help us reconcile our waking reality and solve problems. But to keep things simple, Activation-Synthesis is just our brains making sense of its own processes and dreaming is a result of that.
200
Determine if the example below is indicative of top-down or bottom-up processing.
I am trying to look for my phone in my house; I know the phone case is red, so I am going to look for anything that is rectangular, red, and has a damaged screen, while filtering out other areas that I know my phone would not reasonably be, such as on the ceiling fan.
What is...
Top-down processing. Top-down processing with perception concerns already knowing what you are looking for—you are filtering out anything that is not relevant as visual stimuli and focusing on characteristics that match what you are looking for.
200
The stage of sleep that is the most difficult to shake someone awake from.
What is... Stage 3?
200
Based on the description below, determine the most likely sleep disorder:
James has been experiencing strange sensations in his legs for the past several months. Every evening, as he sits down to relax or gets into bed, he feels an uncomfortable tingling and burning sensation in his lower legs. The only way to relieve the discomfort is to move his legs constantly, making it nearly impossible to stay still long enough to fall asleep. James describes the feeling as a mix between aching and itching deep in his muscles, almost like a bruising sensation. It worsens when he’s inactive, especially at night, and disrupts his ability to get restful sleep. As a result, he often feels fatigued during the day and struggles to focus at work.
What is... Restless Leg Syndrome?
This is a parasomnia where disruptive motor activities disrupt sleep. These can occur during REM or N-REM stages.
Fun fact: Your TA really does have this disorder. It is horrible. : )
200
Tell me the function of each lobe--what is it best known for?
(The brain really cannot be entirely localized by its function. Consider it more of an aggregated view where each part plays a role in how the brain works; there is some localization, but it doesn't explain the whole thing).
What is...
Frontal lobes are responsible for our executive function, our logical reasoning, controlling impulses, planning movement, language, emotions, judgement, etc. Broca's area is located here, responsible for speech production. The primary motor cortex allows us to plan movement. The prefrontal cortex is as well located here, allowing higher cognitive function to occur.
The parietal lobes are where the somatosensory cortex is. We perceive both spatial (where we are in space; body orientation) and tactile (touch, temperature, pain) information here. Additionally, it is what helps us make course-corrections in our movements, and even for avoiding incoming disasters (such as avoiding to be hit by a nearby car).
The temporal lobes are where the primary auditory cortex is located. This is also where Wernike's area is--how we can comprehend language.
The occipital lobe is where the primary visual cortex is located. Fun fact: If you ever bashed the back of your head and saw stars, this was due to your neurons being compressed because of the hit in this region.
300
Briefly list the different states of consciousness that we can experience (not exhaustive).
What is...
Daydreaming; being in a deep sleep; intoxication; drug-induced anesthesia; hypnosis.
300
Determine if the example below is indicative of top-down or bottom-up processing.
You receive a text message from your friend that says: "Meet me at teh cofe shop at 3pm." You still are able to see and understand their message without really thinking too hard about it - in fact, you didn't notice at first that they made those typos.
What is... top-down processing?
In this example, you are not processing each individual line and letter to determine what it says. You do this automatically. You are able to interpret the message based on the context, filling in the gaps of what your friend is actually trying to say as based on prior experience and expectation.
300
This stage of sleep has brain activity similar to beta waves.
What is... REM stage?
Beta waves concerns brain activity happening while we are awake. REM sleep stage has activity similar to beta waves, and it is in this stage we have dreams.
300
Based on the description below, determine the most likely sleep disorder:
Lena, a 9-year-old girl, has been experiencing frightening nighttime episodes for the past few months. Several times a week, about an hour after falling asleep, her parents hear her screaming from her bedroom. During these episodes, Lena appears completely panicked, flailing her arms and occasionally trying to get out of bed as if she’s running from danger. Her parents try to comfort her, but she doesn’t respond to their reassurances. After a few minutes, she stops, lies back down, and falls asleep again—completely unaware of what just happened. In the morning, she has no memory of the event, though her parents remain shaken by the experience.
What are... Night terrors?
These occur during N-REM. Generally, there are no treatment options for this, unless there is an underlying cause (medical or physiological) for the night terrors.
TA Tip: Be sure to be able to explain the difference between what night terrors are vs. what nightmares are.
300
Give an example of structuralism vs. functionalism. Tell me the difference between the two.
As well, describe a stimulus error.
TA's example:
If my object were a blanket, a structuralist could describe the individual components of the blanket itself. Maybe the stitching, maybe the color, the design, the fabric too, the size, etc.
A functionalist would describe it in terms of its purpose: A blanket is generally used to keep you warm, but it can be used in other ways. Sometimes I use a bed spread to cover up my sheet from cat hair (true story), and sometimes a blanket can be used to cover something (If I were going to sneak snacks in my room as a kid, I would hide them under the blanket!). Or even, I use the blanket for my cats to sleep on.
Although there are different purposes for using a blanket, I would still say that its primary one is to keep warm, regulate temperature, maybe keep cool depending on if you have a cooling blanket for the summer.
Structuralism focuses on individual components that make up our conscious experience in life. It can--in a sense--show you the bricks of a house, but it is NOT telling you what the bricks are used for. Functionalism is very much telling us that the bricks are used to provide support for the house, to hold it up, to insulate the inside, to regulate temperature, to be a barrier, etc, etc, etc.
A stimulus error is actually saying what the object is, instead of describing its components. Going back to my first example, if I saw a blanket and said "blanket" as a way to describe it as part of my conscious experience, that would be a stimulus error because it is relying already on my knowledge of what a blanket is.
400
Determine if the example below is indicative of top-down or bottom-up processing.
Imagine you walk into a café, and a song you have never heard before starts playing. At first, you listen closely to individual sounds, picking up the beat, instruments, and vocals as separate elements. As the song continues, your brain begins to piece together the melody and lyrics from the raw sensory input.
What is... bottom-up processing? This is taking sensory stimuli and creates our perception. Since you never heard of this song before, you are first figuring out the source of sound, figuring out the vocals and the instrumentals, perceiving it in a certain way before figuring out the shifts in the music with key changes and tone changes.
400
Describe and define characteristics of REM sleep.
What is...
- Paralysis of muscle systems except for blood circulation and breathing. Voluntary movement does not occur in a normal individual in this stage of sleep.
- High brain activity, lack of muscle tone.
- Implicated in learning and memory, as well as emotional regulation.
- REM Rebound—deprivation of REM sleep, spend more time in REM to make up for the lost time.
REM is characterized by rapid eye movements during sleep. Known as paradoxical sleep because it is deep sleep in some ways, but light sleep in other ways. EEG waves are irregular, low-voltage, and fast. Postural muscles of the body are more relaxed than other stages.
REM sleep is predominate later in the night. Length of the REM stages increases as the night progresses.
400
Based on the description below, determine the most likely sleep disorder:
Mark has been experiencing extreme daytime fatigue for the past year. Despite getting what should be a full night's sleep, he wakes up feeling exhausted and often struggles to stay alert at work. His wife has also noticed that he snores loudly and sometimes seems to stop breathing during the night, only to suddenly gasp for air before resuming sleep.
What is... Sleep Apnea?
400
This psychologist earned their PhD from Harvard in 1895, but they refused to grant it to her. She developed the pair-association test used in the field of cognitive psychology to study memory such as with proactive and retroactive interference. She was the first female president of the American Psychological Association.
Who is... Mary Whiton Clark?
500
Conceptually define what is meant by an absolute threshold.
What is... Minimum amount of stimulus energy present to be detected half of the time.
What you do NOT need to know, just fun facts:
This is Fechner's law, and there are different ways to detect a threshold of a stimulus (method of limitation, method of constant stimuli, etc). This is really asking the question of "When do you first perceive something?" When on the upper part of the curve with detecting a physical stimulus, you are more likely to detect it at least half of the time. If on the lower end, less likely to.
It isn't a linear process, however, because of individual differences. One person may detect the threshold during one point, and another may report detecting it at a different one.
500
Describe the role of the SCN in how it maintains sleep patterns.
What is...
The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is responsible for how we synchronize our sleeping patterns to the outside world. When it is light out, we are awake. When it is dark, we fall asleep. Axons in the retina send info to the SCN based on the amount of light available which causes this synchronization to occur. The axons within the neuron are light-sensitive. SCN is located within the hypothalamus, an area that is often referred to as the master control of the endocrine system. The hypothalamus carries instructions to the pituitary gland, and the pituitary gland then helps control all other glands of the endocrine system.
EXTRA STUFF - DO NOT NEED TO KNOW FOR YOUR EXAM:
Light keeps our clock adjusted internally, helps synchronize our endogenous rhythm. The SCN in the hypothalamus receives input from the visual system, particularly through the reintohypothalamic pathway (RT pathway). There are brain areas that do depend on entrainment, they will be tracking fluctuations in ambient light that fall on your eye. The SCN controls circadian rhythms by inhibitory processes that occur in the brain. This gives rise to the sleep-wake flipflop. It contains both inhibitory and excitatory processes depending on if we are awake or asleep, with certain brain areas suppressing the parts of us that are awake, and vice versa for when we are asleep.
500
Based on the description below, determine the most likely sleep disorder:
Jake, a 22-year-old college student, has been struggling with sudden bouts of sleepiness throughout the day. No matter how much rest he gets at night, he often finds himself falling asleep at inappropriate times—during lectures, while eating, and even in the middle of conversations. His friends joke about how he can “fall asleep anywhere,” but for Jake, it has become a serious problem.
Recently, Jake has started experiencing cataplexy, where his muscles suddenly go weak when he laughs or feels strong emotions. During these episodes, he remains conscious but is unable to move for several seconds. He has also had hallucinations—vivid, dream-like experiences just as he is falling asleep. These episodes have made daily life unpredictable and sometimes dangerous, particularly when he almost fell asleep while driving home from class.
What is... Narcolepsy?
Note: Narcolepsy can be triggered by heightened stress, episodes can last from a minute to half an hour. This disorder can interfere with daily life such as when eating or socializing, or result in significant harm such as when driving.
It is typically treating using psychomotor stimulant drugs such as amphetamines—which promote increased levels of neural activity. Narcolepsy is also associated with reduced levels of the signaling molecule hypocretin in some areas of the brain, and traditional stimulant drugs do not have direct effects on this system.
All of this is in your textbook, so I didn't go nerding out on you!
500
Define and Differentiate between Beneficence, Autonomy, and Justice.
What is...
Beneficence concerns maximizing the benefits, minimizing the risk of harm from participating in a research study.
Justice concerns equitable selection.
Autonomy concerns that participants know, within reason, what they are going to expect in a research study, the risks, any potential benefits, etc.
600
Conceptually define what is meant by Just Noticeable Difference (JND).
What is...
How much difference in stimuli is enough to detect a difference? Difference threshold, unlike absolute threshold, changes based on the intensity of the stimulus.
This is Weber's law. It represents a mathematical process of understanding us, of understanding when we can detect a change in the way that we are perceiving our physical world based upon this awareness. A great example is this scenario: When do you tell the difference between something that weighs 30 and 31 grams?
They may feel the same to you, but then compare with 30 and 32. Still feel the same, as most would report. But 30 and 33? That's when you may notice the difference.
600
Identify the type of perspective below that is one of the many explanations for why we sleep:
Sleep's adaptive function is to restore energy that has been expended during the day. Our ancestors did it to avoid predation; some studies support this with the relationship between amount of time sleeping and risk of predation being complex, while others report no link.
What is... the evolutionary psychology perspective?
600
Differentiate and describe the different types of research (Hint: PSY vs. PSY video):
Naturalistic observation.
Case study.
Survey.
Archival research.
Longitudinal research.
What is...
Naturalistic observation is observing variables naturally as they exist. This is done out in the real world, and there is no manipulation of anything directly. High in external validity. The downside is that perhaps observing someone's behaviors in public could be defined differently, and we all carry pre-existing biases. For example, one researcher at a park observing instances of child aggression might consider any point of contact (which could include hits, slaps, throwing objects at another's direction) as instances of aggression. Another might also consider that as criteria but may also define it with instances of verbal insults. The important thing here is to agree beforehand how these behaviors are coded and defined; as well as to have multiple observers watching the same behavior to have a good sense of reliability (this is inter-rater reliability here with having multiple observers watch Ps independently and then compare instances of what they observed and if they agreed or disagreed).
Case studies can focus on one individual or a group of individuals who have a specific situation, disease, or case about them. The problem here with case studies are that they are difficult to generalize to the regular population, because these cases are so specific and we are only following a small group of individuals. The advantage to this is we are observing the conditions in which change a person's situation, especially since it would be unethical, for instance, to lobotomize someone and see how they react to various situations with memory, coordination, or balance. We can instead find individuals who have had something happen to them and see the changes that have happened.
Surveys ask people questions, can be in the form of an unstructured interview (open response) or structured interview (closed response). These are pretty easy in some ways to put together and information can be collected quickly, but we also see problems with response bias, social desirability bias, the way questions of a survey are worded, the accessibility of a survey (for instance--if online, can just anyone access it and respond to it multiple times?), non-response bias (only people who respond to surveys are the people that are being represented, so it could be an issue when generalizing to people who are not interested in taking a survey), participants may not understand the questions, etc.
Archival Research relies on looking at past records to make sense of patterns in history. We are using other people's data to make new connections, but sometimes, the information is just not available or easy to find which can lead to gaps in what you are trying to look into.
Longitudinal Research: This is a study where you collect data over a long period of time. You may follow a group of individuals as they grow up and try to see a trend (such as with age and test scores). However, participants may drop out of the study or die (attrition) which can alter the representability of that study--such as if people are continually dropping out, then the people who stayed may not be entirely representative of the population we are trying to generalize to. Additionally, societal pressures are different and things can change so fast.
700
Based on your ALA 6 for Chapter 5, calculate the Just Noticeable Difference based on the information given below:
Participant 1:25- 20
Participant 2: 26 - 20
Determine the Intensity weight, then solve for k. As well, define what k represents in this problem.
What is...
Participant 1: Difference of 5 grams
Participant 2: Difference of 6 grams
These are the difference thresholds.
I = 20
This is the initial stimulus intensity/starting weight.
5/20 = 0.25
6/20 = 0.30
700
Identify the type of perspective below that is one of the many explanations for why we sleep:
Sleep regulates cognitive function and memory formation. Sleep deprivation delineates disruptions in forming memories, recalling long term memories, making decisions, maintaining attention, etc.
What is... the cognitive function perspective?
800
As you saw in your ALA 6 for chapter 5, you (hopefully) saw that a smaller distance is required to detect a stimulus as having two separate points when it is directed on an area where the receptive fields overlap. For areas where the receptive fields do not overlap, they require a much larger distance before you would be able to distinguish the stimulus points as having two separate points. Tell me the areas on the body that would require a larger difference in millimeters until someone would be able to say it is two different points.
What are...
Areas that we don't typically use for direct sensations. Example: Thighs, stomach, tricep. List is not exhaustive, to note.
800
Describe and differentiate the characteristics of the three stages of Non-REM sleep (N-REM).
Stage 1—drifting off. Heartbeat and breathing slows down. Period of relaxation, decrease in body temperature and muscle tension. Alpha and theta waves dominate brain activity in this stage. These waves show someone in a relaxed state, albeit still awake. As stage 1 continues, theta waves increase—lower frequency, higher amplitude brain waves when compared to alpha waves. Move from alpha to theta.
Stage 2—body in deep relaxation. Theta waves dominate, but sleep spindles briefly crop up. These are rapid bursts of higher frequency brain waves, essential for memory and learning. K-complexes also appear in this stage—these waves are very high in amplitude and can respond to environmental stimuli, serving as a bridge to arousal to our external environment while asleep.
Stage 3. Deep sleep (slow-wave sleep). Delta waves dominate this stage; these are low frequency and high amplitude. With amplitude and frequency, these are the waves with the lowest levels when compared to beta, alpha, and theta waves discussed above. Heart rate and respiration slow, and it is hard to wake someone up from sleep during this state—especially when compared to stage 1 and how easily it is to wake up during then.
900
Define sensory adaptation.
What is...
When stimuli remains constant over a long period of time, we do not perceive it the same way as we originally did; it decreases in intensity in spite of it remaining relatively constant in presence.
900
Describe in detail the differences between nightmares and night terrors.
What is...
Nightmares are frequently remembered and common, person is reluctant to go back asleep; easy to awake and be responsive to environment; slight or no movements; occurs during REM sleep.
Night terrors, however, are not as remembered - most have limited or no memory of the episode. Person can fall back asleep rapidly; difficult to awake the sleeper, they are often unresponsive to environment; extreme motor activity and physiological arousal; occurs during non-REM sleep.