Unit 6 Notes

States of Consciousness

• Sleep
• Hypnosis
• Drugs

Sleep

• A state of consciousness
• We are less aware of our surroundings
• Why do we daydream?
• The can help us prepare for future events
• THey can nourish our social development
• Can substitue for impulsive behavior
• 
  

Fantasy Prone Personality

• Someone who imagines and recalls experiences with lifelike vividness and who spends considerable time fantasizing

Biological Rhythms

Annual Cycle : Seasonal variation

• 28 day cycles : menstrual cycle
• 24 hour cycle : Our circadian rhythm
• 90 minute cycle : sleep cycles

Circadian Rhythm

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

Sleep Stages

• 5 identified stages of sleep 
• Takes 90-100 minutes to pass through all 5 stages
• The brains waves will change according to the sleep stage you are in
• The first four stages are known as NREM
• the 5th is called REM sleep

Stage 1

• Kind of awake, kind of asleep
• Only lasts a few minutes, and you usually only experience it once a night
• Eyes begin to roll slightly
• Your brain produces theta waves ( high amplitude, low frequency (slow))

Stage 2 

• This stage is part of the 90 minute cycle and occupies approximately 45-60& of sleep
• More Theta waves that get progressively slower
• Begin to show sleep spindles ( short bursts of rapid brain waves)

Stages 3 and 4

• Slow wave sleep
• you produce Delta waves
• If awaken you will be very groggy
• Vital for restoring body's growth hormones and good overall health
• May last 15-30 minutes
• It is called "slow wave" sleep because brain activity slows down dramatically from the "theta" rhythm of stage 2 to a much slower rhythm called "delta" and the height or amplitude of the waves increases dramatically

REM sleep (Stage 5)

• Rapid eye-movement
• Brain is very active

Sleeping Disorders

Insomnia

• Persistent problems falling asleep
• Affects 10% of the population 

Narcolepsy

• Suffers from sleeplessness and may fall asleep at unpredictable or inappropriate times
• Directly into REM sleep
• Less than .001% of population

Sleep Apnea

• A person stops breathing during their sleep
• Wake up momentarily, gasps for air, then falls back to sleep
• Very common especially in heavy males

Night Terrors

• A sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified
• Occurs in stage A, not REM, and are not often remembered

Sleepwalking

• sleepwalking is a sleep disorder affecting an estimated 10% of all humans at least once in their lives
• sleepwalking most often occurs during deep non-REM sleep (stages 3 or 4) early in the night

Unit 5 Notes: Sensation and Perception

Sensation: 

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

Perception:

• the process of organizing and interpreting information, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events. 

1. Bottom-up Processing: begins with sense receptors and works up to the brain's integration of sensory information.
2. Top-Down Processing: information processing got it by higher level mental processes. 

1. Absolute Threshold: the minimum stimulation needed to detect a stimulus 50% of the time. 
2. Difference Threshold: The minimum difference that a person can detect between two stimuli.

Weber's Law: 

• The idea that, to perceive a difference between two stimuli, they must differ by a constant percentage; not a constant amount.

1. Vesticular sense: tells us our body is oriented in space.
2. Kinesthetic sense: tells us where our body parts are. 

Death Perception:

• the ability to see objects in three dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimensional.
• allows us to judge distance.

Binocular Cues:

• the closer an object comes to you the greater the disparity is between the two images. 

UNIT 4 NOTES:

The Nervous System:

It starts with an individual nerve cell called a NEURON.

Neurotransmitters: chemical messengers released by terminal buttons through the synapse. 

Types of Transmitters:

1. Acetylcholine (ACH): deals with motor movement and memory.
2. Dopamine: deals with motor movement and alertness.
3. Serotonin: involved in mood control.
4. Endorphins: involved in pain control.

Types of Neurons:

1. Sensory Neuron: Take information from the senses to the brain.
2. Inter Neuron: Take messages from sensory neurons to other parts of the brain or to motor neurons.
3. Motor Neuron: Take information from brain to the rest of the body.

The cerebral cortex is made up of four lobes:

1. Frontal Lobe: 

• Abstract thought and emotional control
• contains motor cortex
• contains broca's area

2. Parietal Lobe:

• contain sensory cortex
• most of the parietal lobes are made up of association areas

3. Occipital Lobe: 

• deals with vision
• contains visual cortex

4. Temporal Lobe: 

• process sound sensed by our ears
• contains wernike's area
• wenicke's aphasia: unable to understand language

Unit 3: Notes

Motivation&Emotion:

Motivation: A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior. 

Instinct Theory: We are motivated by our inborn automated behavior.

Drive-Reduction Theory: The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state (a drive) that motivates an organism to satisfy they need. 

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: Abraham Maslow said we are motivated by needs, and all needs are not created equal. We are drive to satisfy the lower level needs first.

Hunger: Hunger is both physiological and psychological. 

Biological Basis of Hunger:

• Hunger does not come from the stomach.
• It comes from the brain.
• Brain part: Hypothalamus

Hypothalamus:

1. Lateral Hypothalamus: when stimulated, it makes you hungry.
2. Ventromedial Hypothalamus: when stimulated, you feel full.

Two Theories:

1. Leptin: Leptin is a protein produced by bloated fat cells.
2. Set Point: 

• Hypothalamus acts like a thermostat.
• We are meant to be in a certain weight range.
• When we fall below weight out body will increase hunger and decrease energy expenditure. 

Body Chemistry:

• Glucose 
• The hormone insulin converts glucose to fat. 
• When glucose level drop-hunger increases.

Eating Disorders:

Bulimia Nervosa: Characterized by eating large amounts of food and getting rid of food.
Anorexia Nervosa: 

• Starve themselves to below 85% of their normal body weight.
• See themselves as fat.
• Vast majority are women.

Obesity: 

• Severely overweight to the point where it causes health issues. 
• Mostly eating habits but some people are predisposed towards obesity.

Achievement Motivation:

• Intrinsic Motivators: Rewards we get internally, such as enjoyment or satisfaction.
• Extrinsic Motivators: Reward that we get for accomplishments from outside ourselves.

Management Theory:

Theory X: 

• Managers believe that employees will work only if rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment.
• Think employees are extrinsically motivated.
• Only interested in Maslow's lower needs.

Theory Y: 

• Managers believe that employees are internally motivated to do good work & policies should encourage this internal motive.
• Interested in Maslow's higher needs.

Unit 2 Notes:

Research Methods:

• Hindsight Bias: The tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that you knew all along.

• 
  

• The Barnum Effect: It is the tendency for people to accept very general or vague characterizations of themselves and take them to be accurate. 
• Applied Research has clear, practical applications.
• Basic Research explores questions that you may be curious about, but not intended to be used immediately.
• 
  

This video will tell you the difference between applied and basic research:

Descriptive Research is any research that observes and records. Also, it does not talk about relationships, it describes it. 

• Types of Descriptive Research:

 
1. The Case Study: often includes face to face interviews. its one type of observational data collection technique in which on individual is studied in depth in order to identify behavioral, emotional, and cognitive qualities.
2. The Survey: method for collecting info and data as reported by individuals. 
3. Naturalistic Observation: watches subjects and observe them in their natural habitat. 

Go to these websites for more information: 

1. http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/09/27/the-3-basic-types-of-descriptive-research-methods/
2. http://srmo.sagepub.com/view/encyc-of-case-study-

• Experimental Research: explores cause and effect relationships

• Experimental Method:

1. Blind Study: subjects are unaware if assigned to experimental or control group.
2. Double Blind Study: neither subjects nor experiments know which group is control or experiment. 

• Descriptive Statistics vs. Inferential Statistics:

1. Descriptive Statistics:  describe the results of research
2. Inferential Statistics: are used to make an inference or draw a conclusion beyond the raw data.

Psychological Disorders

• a "harmful dysfunction" in which behavior is judged to be a typical disturbing, maladaptive, and unjustifiable.
• Medical Perspective: psychological disorders are sicknesses and can be diagnosed, treated and cure.
• Bio-psycho-social perspective: assumes biological, psychological and sociocultural factors combine to interact causing psychological disorders.
• DSM-IV: Diagnostic statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
  

Narcissitic Personality Disorder

Learn more about this disorder in this video where it explains it.

I will be posting about Narcissitic Personality Disorder. This disorder is a type of a Personality Disorder. This condition affects one percent of the population, which mean its really rare. This disorder is characterized by unwanted feelings of self importance. They have a strong feel for admiration, but they lack feelings of empathy. A person with this type of disorder constantly needs attention from everyone. They wanna feel special and superior against others.They want to believe that they have people that looks up to them. With this type of personality, they can be addressed as someone arrogant in attitudes and behavior.