Introduction/Prologue

1. Wilhelm Wundt is considered the founding father of psychology because he launched the first psychological
experiment, along with some graduate students.
2. Structuralism was introduced by Titchener and used introspection to explore the structural elements of the
human mind. It was not very reliable because the results varied from person to person. Functionalism was
introduced by William James, under the influence of Charles Darwin. Functionalism states that certain functions
(mental and behavioral processes) of the body were developed because it was adaptive and contributed to our
ancestors’ survival; it tries to determine WHY we behave the way we do. Behaviorism relied on observation
because you cannot observe a sensation, feeling, or thought, but you can observe and record people’s behavior
as they respond to different situations.
3. Modern psychologists define psychology as the science of behavior and mental processes.
4. The nature/nurture question asks if our traits and behaviors come from nature (our genes, what we were born
with) or nurture (how we were raised, our peers, outside influences). Most behaviors are influenced by both,
but psychologists are interested to what extent they attribute to these behaviors. Twin studies shows that
nature has more of an influence on our traits/behaviors.
5. The three levels of analysis of psychology:

Biological Influences Psychological Influences Social-Cultural Influences

 Natural selection of  Learned fears and other  Presence of others
adaptive traits learned expectations  Cultural, societal, and
 Genetic predispositions  Emotional responses family expectations
responding to  Cognitive processing and  Peer and other group
environment perceptual influences
 Brain mechanisms interpretations  Compelling models (such
 Hormonal influences as in the media)
All of these contribute throughout behavior or mental processes.

6. Basic research focuses on building our knowledge base. The goal is to further science, to learn more about the
way we behave or about our minds. Some examples of basic research are cognitive and developmental
psychology. Applied research focuses on solving real world problems and addresses practical problems.
Examples include clinical and I/O psychology.

Chapter 1: Critical Thinking

1. Hindsight bias is the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it, and is also
known as the “I knew it all along” phenomenon. Overconfidence explains how we tend to think we know more
than we do. In other words, we tend to overestimate the accuracy of our current knowledge.
2. Critical thinking is “thinking smarter” and does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions, but rather
evaluating and assessing them. Critical thinking requires curiosity, an empirical approach, and humility.
3. Operational definition – descriptions of the procedures used to define research variable. Describes the
procedures that we use so that they can be replicated. A theory is parsimonious if they have simple
explanations that do not require unnecessary assumptions and are consistent of what we already know. A
hypothesis is falsifiable when there is a way we can test it and prove that it is or is not true.
 4. Science vs Pseudoscience

Science Pseudoscience
 Testable theories  Anecdotal evidence
 Collection of data  Use of scientific language with no clear
 Peer review definitions or explanations (e.g. auras)
 Self-correcting  Bold statements
 Resistance to scientific examination/peer
review
 Overemphasis on coincidence
 Ignoring failures
 Overly general claims

5. Types of research studies

Description Correlation Experiment

 Collect data and describe  Collecting data and  Variables
them looking for relationships  Cause and effect
 Naturalistic observations among variables (inference)
 Case studies  Scatter plots
 Surveys  Correlation does not
imply causation

6. If you conduct a survey, you should be concerned about the accuracy of responses, relying on inaccurate
memory, wording effects, and representativeness of the sample.
7. A scatterplot is a method of showing the relationship between two variables. Each point on the graph
represents and individual person.
8. Correlation does not imply causation! It helps us predict.
9. An illusory correlation is when we believe there is a relationship between two things, then we are likely to
notice and recall instances that confirm our belief.
10.
11. Demand characteristics are cues that tell a participant what is expected of him or her and what the
experimenter hopes to find. These can be eliminated by a double blind procedure in which neither the
experimenter nor the participant knows which condition the participant is assigned to.
12.
13.
14. The standard measures of central tendency are mean, median, and mode. The average is most influenced by
extreme scores. Variation measures the width of distribution and includes the range and standard deviation.
15. Two distributions are more likely to be statistically significant if there is a large difference between means, large
sample sizes, and small differences among individuals within each group.

Chapter 2: Neuroscience and Behavior

1. The basic parts of the neuron are:

Cell body – the cell’s life support center/headquarters
Dendrite – receives messages from other cells
Axon – carries messages to other neurons or muscles
2.
 3. Two different ways that neurotransmitters can influence the next neuron is excitatory and inhibitory. Excitatory
increases the likelihood that the next neuron will fire, and inhibitory does the opposite.
4. Neurotransmitters are localized to particular brain regions or pathways. They tend to be concentrated in
different neural pathways, such that they influence particular functions of the nervous system.
5. Nervous system->Peripheral and Central
Peripheral -> Autonomic (controls self-regulated action of internal organs and glands) and Somatic (controls
voluntary movements of skeletal muscles)
Autonomic ->Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
6. Reflexes are simple, automatic, inborn responses to sensory stimuli and do not require input from the brain.
They serve to protect the body from pain.
7. EEG – use electrodes to pick up on action potentials
CT & MRI – used to take static images of the brain in different angles. MRI is more detailed
PET – techniques that measure changes in local brain activity during tasks
8. The oldest parts of the brain are the lower structures, which include the brainstem, thalamus, cerebellum, and
limbic system (hypothalamus, pituitary gland, amygdala, hippocampus). The most recent is the cerebral cortex.
9. Brainstem – basic survival functions
Thalamus – sensory relay station
Cerebellum and Basal Ganglia – voluntary movement and balance
Limbic system – memory and emotion
Hypothalamus – controls the endocrine system
10. The cerebral cortex is the control & info processing center of the brain. It is much larger in humans than in other
species and we have more folds.
11. Occipital – vision
Temporal – hearing and vision
Parietal – body senses, spatial attention
Frontal – motor control, memory, executive function
12. Sensory cortex is regions specialized for processing sensory information, and association areas are for higher
mental functions.
13.
14.
15. Left hemisphere – language
Right hemisphere – spatial functions and attention

Chapter 3: Consciousness

1. Consciousness is the awareness of ourselves and our environments. Some states of consciousness are: awake,
sleep, hypnotic states, drug-induced, lack of awareness/inattention, automatic processes.
2. Dual processing says that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious and unconscious
tracks. Controlled processing is mental activity that involves attention (e.g. learning how to drive a car).
Automatic processing does not require attention (e.g. breathing).
3. Selective attention is the focusing of conscious awareness on a particular stimulus and allows us to ignore
unimportant information (e.g. the basketball/gorilla test). Inattentional blindness is failing to see visible objects
or changes in objects when our attention is directed elsewhere (e.g. “door” study)
4. Circadian rhythm – our 24 hour cycle of sleep and wakefulness marked by fluctuations in body temperature.
5. Sleep stages are levels of sleep that are defined by characteristic patterns of brain activity and the order in
which they occur. Awake – alpha waves, stage 1 – hallucinations, sensation of falling, stage 2 – sleep spindles,
sleep-talking, stage 3 – transitional, stage 4 – delta waves, REM – rapid eye movement, dreams.
 6. Sleep stage order: 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 (REM). REM occurs in stage 1 of sleep. It takes approximately 8 hours for a
typical person to go through an entire cycle of all the sleep stages.
7. You are in REM sleep more often than deep sleep.
8. During REM sleep, your muscles are relaxed, and you start to dream vividly. It is known as the paradoxical sleep
because you are internally aroused and externally calm.
9. The energy conservation theory says that we sleep to conserve fuel and protect us from danger, it is an
evolutionary perspective. The repair and restoration theory says we sleep to recover from exertions of the day. The
body repairs itself when we are asleep and evidence comes from sleep deprivation studies. The memory consolidation
theory says we sleep to help us retain information and remember material better.
10.
11. According to Freud, we dream to satisfy our inner wishes. Manifest content is the actual story line (which is
supposed to be symbolic), and latent content is the underlying meaning, based on unconscious drives and wishes.
Some theories say that dreams are the brain’s attempt to make sense of random neural activity. REM helps consolidate
the day’s memories. And it enhances brain maturation as well as cognitive development.
12. Hypnosis is a condition of increased suggestibility. Hypnotic suggestibility says that not everyone can be
hypnotized and related to the subject’s openness to suggestion and ability to focus attention inwardly.
13. Hypnosis can improve memory for past events but they are not reliable because they can be subject to false
recall, which are memories that did not occur.
14. Some arguments say that hypnosis can induce experiences and behaviors, but also argue that many people will
still do the same things even when not hypnotized.
15. Hypnosis may have beneficial effects because it is effective in raising tolerance to pain and may be therapeutic
in that subjects are influenced by posthypnotic suggestion, in which a behavior is to be carried out after being
hypnotized.
16. The two contrasting views concerning hypnosis is that it is an altered state of consciousness and causes divided
consciousness, in which hypnosis causes a split in awareness. The other view is that it is not an altered state of
consciousness and only reflects the workings of normal consciousness.
17. A psychoactive drug is a chemical substance that affects the nervous system.
18. Drugs directly interfere with neural transmissions by increasing (agonist) or decreasing (antagonist)
communication between neurons. They indirectly interfere by exciting or inhibiting the various brain pathways.
19. Cocaine affects the brain by increasing neural activity, speeding up body functions and increasing arousal by
stimulating the sympathetic nervous system. It is an example of an agonist.
20. Drugs are typically categorized into depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens. Depressants reduce neural
activity in general and decrease arousal. Stimulants increase neural activity and speed up body functions and increase
arousal. Hallucinogens alter perceptions and are generally less addictive.
21.

Physical Dependence Psychological dependence

 A physiological need for a drug as  A psychological need for a drug
evidenced by tolerance and withdrawal  Characterized by drugs that produce
symptoms strong stimulation of the nucleus
 Tolerance – the need to take larger and accumbens (pleasure pathway)
larger doses to get the same effect
 Withdrawal symptoms – unpleasant
physical symptoms resulting from
cessation of use
 22. Other factors that contribute to drug abuse and dependency are genetic predispositions (born more susceptible
to dependence), psychological factors (depression, anxiety, insomnia), and environmental factors (social pressures).
23. Myths: if you try an addictive drug, you will become addicted.
You need therapy to quit a drug.
The concept of addiction can be applied to other behavior.

Chapter 4: The Nature and Nurture of Behavior

1. Chromosomes are composed of DNA, and every human has 23 pairs, half coming from the mother and the other
half coming from the father. Genes are small sections of DNA that are responsible for making protein and
control certain physical traits (and can also influence behavior). Mutations are random errors in error replication
that give rise to new traits.
2. Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection is “survival of the fittest.” Evolutionary psychologists say that traits that
enhance reproduction and survival are more likely to be passed on.
3. Males can mate with several females (because their sperm is unlimited), while females have the advantage in
being highly selective in who she mates with.
4. Evolutionary psychology does NOT argue that our behaviors are predetermined by genetics or that we have no
control over them. It also does not argue that the current collection of adaptive mechanisms is optimal.
5. Heritability is an estimate of the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. It is
estimated through twin studies.
6. It is important to compare identical twins versus fraternal twins as a control because they have some of the
same genes.
7. Adoption and twin studies tell us that genes have strong influences on personality traits while environment
plays a stronger role in attitudes and values.
8. The various types of environmental influences on behavior are: prenatal, parental, experience, peer influences,
and culture. Peers have more influence than parents. As we get older, peer influences get stronger versus
parental influences.
9. Experience influences brain development and behavior by causing changes in the brain. Enriched environments
results in more neural connections, dendrites, etc.
10. Culture influences our behavior by sharing behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions with a large group of
people. An example is that Europeans kiss as a greeting.
11. Gender is determined by genetics because of the X and Y chromosomes. Females have a better chance of
survival in the womb, in early childhood, and tend to live longer than men because they have 2 X chromosomes,
protecting them from sex-linked traits.
12. Sex-linked traits primarily occur in males because they only have 1 X and 1 Y chromosome, meaning they have
no backup chromosome.
13. The primary function of the Y chromosome is to stimulate development of the testes and produce androgens.
14. Androgens cause development of male sexual characteristics and more aggressive behavior. Their presence =
male, and lack of androgens = female.
15. Gender roles are a set of expected behaviors for males and females. The Social Learning Theory is a theory that
we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished. The Gender schema
theory is the theory that states children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male and
female and adjust their behavior accordingly.

Chapter 5: Development

1. The three stages of prenatal development are: zygote (the fertilized egg, 2 weeks of rapid cell division), embryo
(2 weeks to end of 9 weeks), and fetus (9 weeks to birth).
 2. Infant reflexes are important for survival. There is the grasp-reflex (important for hanging on) and the rooting-
reflex (important for getting food).
3. Newborns are tested for their ability to discriminate stimuli through the habituation procedure (presenting one
stimulus repeatedly to the infant until it loses interest, and then presenting 2nd stimuli. If they are more
interested in the second stimulus, then it can apparently discriminate between the two.) Infants prefer human
faces and voices, and the smell and sound of their own mother.
4. Maturation is the biological growth process that enables orderly changes in behavior and is relatively
uninfluenced by experience (you can’t teach your child to walk before they can crawl). It sets the course for
development while experience adjusts it.
5. Neurons have increased connectivity during brain development, but we do not grow more of them.
6. The stages of motor development are: turning over, crawling, walking, and then running. Not all children learn
these skills at the same time, but they do learn them in the same order.
7. Cognition refers to the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and remembering. Schema – a
concept or framework that organizes and interprets information (e.g. a dog has four legs)
Assimilation – interpreting new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas (e.g. a cat is not a dog)
Accommodation – adapting current schemas to incorporate new information (e.g. different types of dogs)
8. Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Typical Age Range Description of Stage Developmental Phenomena

Birth to nearly 2 years Sensorimotor  Object permanence
 Experiencing the world  Stranger anxiety
through senses and
actions
2 to about 6 or 7 Preoperational  Pretend play
 Representing things with  Egocentrism
words and images; using
intuitive rather than
logical reasoning
About 7 to 11 years Concrete operational  Conservation
 Thinking logically about  Mathematical
concrete events; transformations
grasping concrete
analogies and
performing arithmetical
operations
About 12 through adulthood Formal operational  Abstract logic
 Abstract reasoning  Potential for mature
moral reasoning
 9. Erickson’s stages of psychosocial development in childhood

Stage (approximate age) Issue Description of Task

Infancy (0-1 yr) Trust vs. mistrust If needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic
trust
Toddlerhood (1-3 yrs) Autonomy vs shame and Toddlers learn to exercise their will and do things for
doubt themselves, or they doubt their abilities
Preschool (3-6 yrs) Initiative vs guilt Preschoolers learn to imitate tasks and carry out plans, or
they feel guilty about their efforts to be independent
Elementary school (6 yrs Industry vs inferiority Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks,
to puberty) or they feel inferior

10. Attachment is an intense emotional tie to caregivers. Harlow’s studies tell us that body contact plays an
important role in attachment; babies prefer the cloth mother over the wire mother, and gets security from the
cloth mother.
11. A self-concept is a sense of identity and personal worth. It can be demonstrated in small children through the
mirror test, a test of self-recognition.
12. Adolescence is the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.
13. Puberty is the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing. Primary sex
characteristics are structures essential for sexual reproduction such as the ovaries and testes, and secondary
sex characteristics include the non-reproductive sexual characteristics such as breasts, voice change, hair
growth, etc.
14. The two major aspects of cognitive development in adolescence are reasoning power (Piaget’s stage of formal
operations) and morality (discerning right from wrong).
15. Kohlberg’s Moral Ladder:
Pre-conventional level: morality of self-interest, to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards
Conventional level: morality of law and social rules, to gain approval or avoid disapproval
Post-conventional level: morality of abstract principles, to affirm agreed-upon rights and personal ethical
principles.
16. The major milestones in adolescence for social development are: forming an identity, developing intimacy, and
separation from parents.
17. Some of the important physical changes that occur in adulthood as we age are: menopause (ending of menstrual
cycle in women), sensory loss (lowered ability of hearing, smelling, and so on), and dementia & Alzheimer’s
Disease (rapid form of deterioration of Acetylcholine, loss of memory, loss of reasoning)
18.
19. Some of the important social changes that occur as we age are generativity (sense of contribution to the world),
and integrity (sense of satisfaction over one’s life).
20. Recognition is relatively stable with age, but recall declines with age. Verbal scores are stable with age, math
declines with age. A cross-sectional method suggests decline in reasoning, a longitudinal method suggests
stability.
21. A cross-sectional study compares people of different ages, while a longitudinal study compares the same people
throughout their life from different ages. The cross-sectional study shows that there is a decline in intelligence
with age, while the longitudinal study shows that intelligence generally remains the same throughout a lifetime.
The disadvantage of cross-sectional studies is that it compares people of different eras. The disadvantage of
longitudinal studies is that those who survive through the study are healthier and perhaps more intelligent.