PSYC001 Lecture #2 17/1/12 Empirical evidence is really important to psychology. Unsystematic observations are often skewed. E.g.

g. crime rates up when full moon ? Biases affect our perceptions may lead to erroneous conclusions. 27 Club is just a coincidence Plural of anecdote is not statistic stats are really important for looking at phenomena in psychology. You make systematic observations and compare to probability. Are men more aggressive than women ? Operational definition of aggression A statement of the procedures used to define research variables Aggression behavior with intent Sports yes men! But also includes social / relational aggression!! E.g. ignoring, gossiping, isolation Observe and record behavior case study : descriptive technique indepth to try to understand broader concept e.g. certain parts of brain destroyed effects, Piaget-cognitive development of children from his own children, Freud surveys : self-reported attitudes, opinions, or behavior. But ! How truthful are they? How accurate are their selfperceptions? Wording effect, false consensus effect ? naturalistic observation without trying to manipulate or control. E.g. Harley Davidson community correlational relationship people draw conclusion beyond grounds. E.g., people with severe stress more prone develop physical illness. When someone needs help, more bystanders, less likely someone will get help. Sales of ice cream versus drowning population : all possible individuals making up group of interest Validity important to psychology. ** ON THE EXAM Internal : extent to which instrument measures what it claims to measure External : degree to which results of experiment may be generalized. E.g., white rats (cheap, hardy, adapted to lab, easy to obtain) & college students (young, high in cognitive skill, high in need for peer approval, easy) Tradeoff : by making measures so tailored to the sample group, you might make it harder to generalize Participants Demand characteristics cues that can signal to participants how theyre supposed to behave 1

Participants expectations can affect research validity : Placebo effect Double-blind procedure both participants and experimenter don't know who got real treatment or placebo make sure manipulation is only of the independent variable Reliable measures can be replicated Describing data

Lecture #3 : Nature v nurture 19/1/12 Rats in impoverished environments thinner cortices than those in enriched environments (rosenzweig??!). Environment can influence anatomy! Read the entire chapter look out on examples Evolutionary psychology: * her thesis Evolution = change over time She just went through Lamarckian evolution not Darwinian natural selection ?!?!?!?!?!?!??! Variation within a species ; Selection ; Inheritance Inheritance Genetic material Doctors ask you for your medical history Identical twins have 48% risk of schizophrenia if their twin has. General population 1%. Bipolar disorder, depression is heritable Genetic twins usually have the same environment hence, how are we sure that research results are due to nature and not nurture? Sexual selection Intersexual competition: success in attracting mates some people are just much more desirable than others as mates Intra-sexual competition : besting same-sex rivals What tactics underpin identifying and securing mates? Parental investment how much you invest in your children has a dramatic impact on the mating decisions you make. In some species, the contribution of the male is negligible. But for the female, she has to bear the child for 9 months in her womb and then after birth care. Necessarily, from a biological perspective, her investment is greater. Hence the males will compete for the female. In sex role reversed species, the male is more selective than the female in who he is willing to copulate with. 2

Woman with a baby knows the baby is necessarily hers but the male has paternal uncertainty! The woman has cryptic ovulation The maternal grandmother devotes most resources to grandchildren because they KNOW it is their own kin. Long-term mate preferences research on marriage Both similarities and consistent differences between men & women Similarities Compatibility. Interests. Values Number 1 criteria : Love & commitment Cross-cultural love it is recognized and experienced! Not a recent phenomena. Acts of love ULTIMATELY signal commitment. This commitment will extend to the survival of the offspring. Dependability Stability & maturity Differences after the top 3 traits, men & women diverge. From the perspective of evolutionary psychology these aided survival! Men value Attractiveness more than women. Survey question since 30sbut the difference has decreased in recent generations: both men & women value attractiveness more. For men What makes someone attractive? e.g., symmetry. We do not articulate these subconscious preferences of what exactly is attractive E.g., waist-to-hip ratio. Marilyn Monroe v Twiggy. What is considered the ideal varies according to time. but biologically the WHR matters. Post-puberty : 0.85-95men. 0.670.80women. This ratio is associated with peak fertility. It is an indirect cue to her fertility. Indicators of youth make women successful. Women across ages and places are consistently younger than their husbands. QUESTION: HOW DO YOU KNOW IT ISNT REALLY EXPLAINED BY SOMETHING ELSE?????? How about todays society where contraception is readily available and thus our preferences 3

are not necessary to propagating the species???? For women Good financial prospects. Can provide for young Social status. In polygynous societies (equal ratio of men to women) who are the men who end up with the multiple wives? Research in personal ads Women do not articulate it consciously . But wait, what about the personal ads ???? Misconceptions about evolution Environmental we do not live in our ancestral environment. Many adaptations we have are not currently beneficial. Cognitive: we do not necessarily have psychological access to our preferences. We are not moving towards a perfect species we change in accordance to environmental pressures. They modify what is most relevant to us. Other differences between men & women Differences in sexual desires : men have greater interest in casual sex, visual sexual stimulation Gender development: gender dimorphism In aggression : women more in relational, men in physical relates to mens ability to defend themselves, secure prey in a hunter-gatherer society Gender and social power: men are socially dominant Sociability : men emphasise freedom & self-reliance. Women form more connections with people than do men. Boys and girls separateboys engage in groups larger and engage in rough & tumble play, girls talk in triads/duos. Recitation #1 Self-reporting personality : You know yourself really well, so can say things other people cant say. Easy to do the research People are going to enhance themselves Insert notes on whats wrong with this study Lecture #4 : Historical perspectives on personality Jan 24

Theory of personality should relate to everyone, but from another perspective, you wanna see how much people differ in terms of traits like conscientiousness.

Freud Freud: Psychodynamic approach psychoanalysis. Have to take into account sociocultural context of his writings. Unconscious influences The behaviourists thought that the unconscious mind was irrelevant. Because it was not empirical you could not measure it. EX. Person who cannot use his hand at all. The way the nerves throughout your arm function no way you have no access to control your hand. The persons mind is exerting influence over his body. E.g., the anxiety causes loss of functioning. The unconscious mind: a reservoir of mostly unacceptable (considered inappropriate) thoughts, wishes, feelings and memories. If you were always aware of these unacceptable desires, you might feel terrible Three components Id : screaming child in a supermarket I want that I want that incredibly impulsive, trying to satisfy basic sexual & aggressive drives. Life preserving force of Eros incorporates both sexuality & Thanatos (destructive why we have wars and atrocities). It is always trying to gain access to the real world. Pleasure Principle boundless drive for immed gratification Superego : your conscience how you should behave. The internalisation of social morality. Often in direct conflict with Id. They cannot operate at the same time. Ego : tries to mediate between the two, bringing about outcome acceptable to both. The Reality Principle seeks to satisfy instinctual demands safely & effectively in the real world Personality is like an enormous iceberg majority of personality is unconscious, below the water. The Ego is part of the personality we are most engaged in. How to access the unconscious? Freudian slip people mention their unconscious wishes. Other e.g., Dreams; jokes; slips of the tongue; sublimation; anxiety symptoms Dream Analysis : Dreams were attempts at wish fulfillment that people cannot fulfill in real life. Used to analyse the unconscious mind through interpreting the manifest latent content of dreams.

 By definition we cannot access the unconscious so how do we access it? free association running off with a stream of consciousness allowing the unconscious mind to push its desires to the surface Defence mechanisms Repression : trying to banish something from your conscious mind. If something is so disturbing, we will block it from our thinking. Regression : If you have a problematic event in your life, revert to an earlier psychosexual stage. Reaction Formation : Religious minister staunchly against homosexuality has a gay lover himself. People transform their own emotions into the opposite. Eros & Thanatos Eros : general life instinct life-preserving force Thanatos : death instinct Modern tests Thematic Apperception Test showing someone an image and asking him what he thinks Rorschach inkblot test identifying inner feelings by analysing interpretations of blots. Not really used to diagnose people, but more of a sense of what people think about things, to break the ice. The two tests are not used in a legal setting. Early childhood experience Psychosexual stages of development : personality is formed during lifes first few years Oral stage : The infants libidinal energy centers on to mouth, lips, tongue. Childs primary interest is getting fed. Satisfaction gained from breast-feeding sucking & biting. Fixation results from overindulgence or frustration of infants needs. Consequences manifested in adulthood. Anal stage : getting toilet trained. Libidinal energy around anus & elimination. Issue of control becomes important if child is too controlled, he becomes anal-retentive. If too little, anal-expulsive. Phallic stage : Oedipus complex. Child develop lovefeelings for his mother that are inappropriate sees the father as a rival competing for the love of the mother. Ultimately he relinquishes his love for mother and identifies with father. Electra complex. Girls suffer from penis envy. Incorporation of the parents values

strengthens the superego. Age of 5 or 6 according to Freud actually earlier though empirically. Latency stage : children hang out with same sex peers, lowkey. Genital stage : resurgence of sexual urges to oppositesex peers. Criticisms: Case studies are merely single studies after all they can become anecdotal. Moreover, way he collected data dream analysis could be quite subjective, he could merely be imputing his assuptions. Why psychoanlytic theory is important Emphasis on development Unconscious Focus on Motivation Psychotherapy : legitimized psychological issues to nearly medical issues. Interdisciplinary contributions

Freuds theories are dark. A very different approach is The Humanistic Approach. The Humanistic Approach : takes a very different slant, both Freudian approaches are also used today. Focuses on the self, subjective experience, capacity for fulfillment. Freud was not that interested in peoples ideas in self-actualisation. Reaching your potential being all you can be. Ultimately thought that humans were fundamentally good external pressures make them bad

Maslow Interested in motives, and how people strive to self-actualisation. How did he gather his data? : looking at case studies, not just at any people. He identified people who ultimately achieved this, e.g., archival information. In contrast, Freud analysed those who came into his office. People whom he thought were accepting of themselves and others, open to experiences. Hierarchy of needs

First two : basic needs. Next two : psychological needs. Last : selffulfilment needs. From Maslows perspective, it can be argued that self-actualisation can come only to those privileged. But Connolly argues that, selfactualisation can come from strife as well.

Carl Rogers Interested in concepts of the selfwho an individual is. Self-schema : affects your self-esteem the different components of your self. Way people describe themselves differ

Different cultures personal characteristics v roles & memberships. American undergrads versus African tribes. Actual self; ideal self if great difference, source of unhappiness; ought self. What contributes to fulfillment and the ability to self-actualise is unconditional positive regard.

Evaluation Rogers has permeated counseling, education (young children), Concepts arent that clearly articulated, lacking scientific basis. At the time these theories devised however that is not the driving force now the scientific standard is to actually measure e.g. personality traits. 8

Lecture #4 : Personality Jan 26 The Trait Approach Another way of looking at personality traits define persons predominant thoughts feelings memories. Allport & his partner reduced 18,000 words from the dictionary into a few distinct traits that are actually meaningful to describe & compare individualsdidn't want overlap. How to access traits? : Self-reporting personality inventories. People behave differently in different situations. You must ask the right questions : do you tend to get angry sometimes? seems to be useless question everyone does, but these help to reflect the validity of the inventory. The Big Five (focus on these rather than textbook) C A N O E Conscientiousness Agreeableness Neuroticism Openness to experience Extraversion : having an energetic approach towards social & physical world facets: sociable, lively, active, assertive, sensation-seeking -> tendencies --manifested in> specific behaviors. Concerns: How accurately does this encompass entire personality ? Can traits predict other personal attributes and behaviours? Gosling thought that if you looked at someones workspace, you could get an idea of their 5 traits. The greatest correlation with selfreported traits was openness. Introverts prefer email to face-to-face interaction. Extraverts use more words/day. Extraverts tend to be night people. So biological basis? Extraverts have lower level of arousal so tend to seek out external simulation, compared to introverts. Females are more agreeable than males. First-borns more rebellious & openness. Two individuals scoring the same on the Big Five traits do not have exactly the same personality! This undermines the accuracy of the test. But yes, they could be quite similar to each other. Person-situation controversy : people behave differently in different situations. They are not always consistent in behavior. E.g., finals week v now. Strong situation, versus weak situation: allows true personality to shine. Therefore, traits are not good predictors of behavior.

How stable are personality traits? In adulthood, Conscientiousness rises increases most in 20s (maturing, managing jobs, relationships) Agreeableness rises increases most in 30s and continues through 60s. Neuroticism, extroversion, openness wane a little in early & middle adulthood. By and large, they are more stable than unstable. In childhood theres more variability, They are considered heritable. Monozygotic twins are actually much more similar to each other in personality traits than dizygotic (fraternal) twins! Children who are adopted have no relation to personality traits of their siblings. How meaningful in other cultures? Textbook says yes traits are roughly common, but Connolly says maybe not. Using reduction/factor analysis to find out what traits resonate the most in that culture. In China & HK 4: social harmony. Spain 7. Social-cognitive perspective (Albert Benbura) Reciprocal determinism : personality is result of interaction between person & social context. E.g., bungee jumping = internal cognitive factors (sensation-seeking behavior) + environmental factors (friends) + behavior (learning to bungee jump) Different people choose different environments the school you attend, music listen to depends partly on dispositions. Our personalities shape how we react to events and how the environment reacts to us. ???? lameeee Personal control : the extent to which we perceive control over our environment. Floor in old peoples home where each resident is given a plant to take care of in his room and can vote in the weekly movie. Individuals who are able to exert some control in environment were thought to be happier higher levels of satisfaction: this was reflected in longevity (?) If you give people too much choice on the other hand, it impairs them. The less choice, the more satisfied with ultimate decision. e.g. the increased choice that globalization gives us can actually not give us more utility. Internal locus of control: one feels that they are masters of destiny 10

External locus : one feels they do not have power over their environment inclined to leave things up to fate. The two variables fall on a continuum.

Self-control : ability to control impulses and delay gratification Willpower is a limited resource. It is however something you can exercise & increase over time. Learned Helplessness : uncontrollable bad events perceived lack of control generalized helpless behavior. e.g. dogs being shocked. Evaluation Addresses the criticism to Trait theory that Trait theory does not take into account interaction of the same person with different environments. Lecture #5 : Sex Differences by Sarah Ferri January 31 The endocrine system Series of glands that produce your hormones, which are then conveyed by the blood to target organ sex hormones produced by gonads create sex differences. Hypothalamus : very small in the brain but does a lot control of temperature, food intake, thirst, and sex behavior. It controls the pituitary which controls the other glands. Receptor: like a lock-and-key with the neurotransmitter (hormone). Some hormones function like neurotransmitters communicating across a synapse. Hormones are slow, transported through the blood, but the effects are also longer lasting. Why should we care about sex differences? Implications on medical treatments. Diseases differ in severity & prevalence. Higher incidence of Alzheimers in men estrogen could be neuro-protective! When given to rats & humans before a memory test, inhibits spatial memory but enhances declarative memory. Learning/educational implications function difference is small, but difference in how they do it is large Most basic animal research includes only males may give rise in misleading results. Sex hormones Hypothalamus Pituitary Gonads Sex differences 11

Critical period for sexual development In utero organized permanently as either a male or female Genetic sex (Y/ no Y) Gonadal sex (Testes/ovaries) Hormonal sex (testosterone/absence of testosterone) Morphological sex (male/female external genitalia) Females are the default sex In the womb, Testosterone is changed into Estradiol responsible for masculinizing the male brain By the 8th week of gestation, genitals are developed. Sometimes, accidental exposure to hormones can cause masculinisation of a fetus e.g. females brain masculinised by excess testosterone will make her more tomboyish. However, male brains are not affected by excess estrogen, but rather the lack of testosterone e.g. ineffective androgen receptors, castration, certain medications/chemicals. Females exposed to stress during pregnancy can have feminized male babies. Disorders of sex development Turner syndrome XO chromosome (no need to know symptoms) Klinefelter syndrome XXY (dick + breast) Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) XX male raised as female overgrown adrenal glands secrete large amounts of androgens. Androgen insensitivity syndrome XY males have defective testosterone receptors. Live as female Puberty activating effects Hormones circulate again during and after puberty Activational effects are transient, reversible : menstrual cycle/increased muscle, lowering of voice etc in males. Removing the testes/ovaries in rats results in a cessation of sexual behavior. This can be rescued with external injections of hormones Women in ovulation, when estrogen levels peak, are more likely to initiate sex. They preferred more masculine faces, body shapes, pheromones. Endocrine disruptors Chemicals that mimic hormonal action and disrupt endocrine functioning. Naturally disrupting or man-made high levels of soy can decrease testosterone e.g. soy, pesticides (DDT), BPA, certain antipsychotics Exposure during critical period would likely result in irreversible effects 12

Sexual Dimorphism Males have bigger brains than females. They start off with equal number of cells but more female brain cells die Parts of the frontal cortex & limbic cortex are larger in females (cognitive & emotional responses) In rats Pre-optic area of the hypothalamus contains the Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus 5-6 times larger in males than females. SDN is important in sexual behavior. This is paralleled in humans as well, but the difference in size is not that big & the function is not confirmed. General intelligence is the same, but the two sexes use different parts of their brain. In women, white matter contributes more to general intelligence. White matter has to do with myelin, fatty covering of neurons. In men, gray matter is more important Spatial rotation test: Estrogen levels low females do better on mental rotation tasks Single administration of testosterone to healthy women increases their performance Navigation Males perform better at map reading evolved from days when men roamed large areas to hunt. Women use landmarks, while men use absolute distance & directions like north. Communication Greater density of neurons in temporal lobe important for language Men use one part of one hemisphere to solve tasks, women tend to use more on both sides. Development Girls develop faster than boys : the brains of 17year old boys look like the brains of 11 year old girls. Degree of myelination more progressed in girls brains than boys brains from ages 7-22. Multiple sclerosis is more common in female than men their myelins start to degrade at an earlier age than men Serotonin 52% higher on average in men than women Temporarily separating a rat pup from its mother : male rat pup had increased serotonin receptor density, but female had decreased it. It seems like females are more vulnerable to stress.

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 PTSD more common in females than males. Giving betablockers right after trauma, which interferes with memory formation. They are more effective for women than men. Perhaps hormones have something to do with this as well LAME Reaction to stress Male rats sometimes learn better in the face of acute (short) stress than females, but are more affected by chronic stress (males hippocampal cells more vulnerable to neurotoxin after being restrained in small mesh cage) Addiction important in drug & alcohol addiction Females progress more rapidly from initial drug use to dependence than men. And higher occurrence of relapse Gender roles Parents contribute to the establishment of gender roles, as does social norms in general. Very young baby in yellow (genderneutral) handed to a mother. Played with Joey a lot more physically & roughly than Janie. Father are more disapproving of boys that want to play with dolls than girls who wanna play with trucks. Mothers are more likely to offer gender-neutral toys than fathers. Stereotype threat a self-confirming concern that one will be evaluated based on a negative stereotype Women who were told of stereotype threat before math test did as well as men, told nothing performed worse Identify your sex before taking test did worse Score higher when taking a test without men in the room Nature versus nurture? Monkey parents do not influence the types of toys their children will play with. The boy monkeys were a lot more rough, smashing things, usually e.g. ripping a doll into half. The females were more likely to play with dolls -- select toys that allow them to hone skills they need to nurture their young. Female infants are more people-centered one year old girls spend more time looking at mothers than boys of the same age. When given a choice of what to watch, girls look longer at films of a face, whereas boys prefer watching film of cars One-day-old babies- boys spend more time looking at mobile that resembles girls face, girls at the girls face. Bruce Reimer was born as a twin in 1965, penis severely disfigured in circumcision. Dr John Money suggested that they remove the rest of his penis and raise him as a girl. He believed

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it would be fine gender was fluid then. He had sex reassignment surgery & was raised as a girl. BUT Brenda became increasingly depressed felt like a boy trapped in a girls body. At age 14, he returned to being a male. Got married, adopted her children. Committed suicide at age 38 Doctor Moneys theories are now not as accepted. Gender could be dictated by social and environmental influences, solidifies after the age of 2 and half. Homosexuality Homosexual sheep suggests biological basis for sexual preference Lecture #6 : The Brain and Nervous System Feb 2 Everything psychological is simultaneously biological Neuron Communication Within the neuron action potential Brief refractory period where the neuron will not fire, but after that it will go again and again and again. Action potentials themselves abide by the all or none law. Synapse: Neurons communicate with each other w/o ever touching! Using Neurotransmitters: Chemical communication How neurotransmitters influence us Serotonin pathways are involved with mood regulation - antidepressants Dopamine implicated in diseases like Parkinsons. Any anti-psychotic drugs you take attempt to directly operate on your neurotransmitters Agonist & Antagonist drugs Agonist increase / Antagonist block the release of neurotransmitters The Brain Psychology is very much limited by its technology mRIs, CAT scans help us to determine which part of the brain is associated with various bodily functions. We are still not entirely informed about how the brain works. With the most sophisticated technology we still cannot recreate the brain of a 2 year old. We do not entirely understand the brain and how it works. The brain is an integrated organ.

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The Brain Stem : top of the spinal cord includes medulla and pons. Key life-sustaining functions i.e. evolutionarily old part of the brain (Quiz 2) Evolutionarily newer parts of the brain make us more sophisticated than animals Midbrain & thalamus relay & process sensory information to the rest of the brain Thalamus does not relay the sense of smell! Cerebellum movement & sensory integration. NOT IN PICTURE?!?! The Limbic System : interconnected structures crucial for emotion, motivation, memory Hypothalamus : motivation eating, drinking, sex. Reward center. Helps us to understand addiction. Amygdala: almond-shaped, temporal lobe structure. Associated with emotion. Emotional experiences activate this part of the brain (as well as others) Hippocampus : Incredibly important for memory. Cortex: outermost layer of the forebrain. Large, thin sheet of tissue crumpled inside skull. Different parts of functioning, different lobes: frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal. Relatively new apes have smaller cortexes than humans. Frontal lobes: planning (executive function-working towards long term goals) & controlling thought & behavior. People in car accidents damaging front of brain Prefrontal cortex: Associated with working memory, strategy. e.g., Phineas Gage (quiz 2) Occipital lobes: important for visual information. Information perceived on left side is processed through the right. Functional fMRI scan shows that the visual cortex activates (increased blood flow) as subject looks at faces. Parietal lobes/Sensory cortex: important for sensation. Post-stroke patients sometimes suffer from hemineglect/neglect syndrome, inattentive to stimuli on the left/right hand side. Prism glasses shift the visual field to the other side areas of your brain associated with greater sensitivity (lips are really huge) occupy greater parts of the sensory cortex. Motor cortex : Projection area : small area projects to a larger area. Temporal lobes : by the ears. Important for language 16

Left & right brains Deficit of the brain Visual agnosia : where an individual cannot recognize a stimulus. Eyes, senses, functioning perfectly. Occipital lobes. Prosopagnosia : cannot recgonise facetemporal & parietal lobe damage. Book: The man who mistook his wife for a hat. Aphasia: individuals who experience strokes have trouble with native language. Damage usually at left hemisphere either to Brocas area (Impaired speaking) or Wernickes area (impaired understanding) Plasticity The nervous system is subject to alteration in the way it functions, eg. Corpus callosum : a big bundle of nerves that joins the two sides of the brain Individuals with traumatic epilepsy volunteered to become split brain patients, limiting the damage the seizure can do. Split-brain patients. The brain is contralateral. Experiment: Responding using the left side of the brain, seeing what is right side of the brain (e.g. ART). Visual information is sent to the left hemisphere. Pointing with the left hand though will use the right hemisphere and point at what is on the left (HE). Lecutre#8 : The unconscious mind (Chapter 3 of textbook) Unconscious : allows processes that are fast, effortless, automatic god, did I just really drive for 20 minutes? Function of consciousness : e.g., when you are trying to break habit, resist temptation Sleep deprivation Frequency of accidents increase with loss of sleep. Proof: after daylight savings time implemented in the fall, accident rates fell. Vice versa in the spring. Biological clock signals the pineal gland to secrete Melatonin, affects bodily states related to being tired. Exposure to artificial light has altered this. 5 stages of sleep : 1.5 hours each. Contractions of muscles in the face Narcolepsy : overpowering urge to fall asleep occurring while talking or standing up. Insomnia : persistent inability to fall / stay asleep. 17

 Sleep apnea : dont breathe when sleeping, wakes numerous times throughout the night, hence incredibly sleep-deprived. Most commonly found in individuals overweight. Night terrors : sudden arousal from sleep with intense fear accompanied by physiological reactions (rapid heart rate, perspiration) that occurs during stage 4 sleep. Sleep walking: stage 4 disorder (quiz 2) Why do we sleep? : Sleep protects Sleep recuperates : restore & repair brain tissue Helps remembering : restores & rebuilds fading memories Play a role in growth process : the pituitary gland releases growth hormone. Dreams REM sleep dreams : vivid, bizarre, emotion-filled, often illogical Non-REM sleep : boring What do we dream? 8 or 10 dreams have negative emotional content anger, sadness fear. 2 out of every 100 characters in peoples dreams get murdered. Sexual dreams : Men one out of 10, Women one out of 30. Failure dreams Dreams of gender : men dream more about male characters, in females dreams male & females are equally represented Peoples dreams are influenced by recent events Hypnosis State of consciousness person is relaxed and highly suggestible Facts and falsehood Any one can experience hypnosis as long as the person is willing Enhance recall of forgotten events? No Force people to act against their will? No Alleviate pain? Yes, more than acupuncture, morphine, placebo. Drugs Pyschoactive : chemical substance that alters perceptions & mood affects consciousness 1. Stimulants 18

a. Excite neural activity & speeds up body functions b. e.g. caffeine, nicotine, cocaine (quiz 2) 2. Depressants a. Reduce neural activity & slow body functions b. E.g. Alcohol, barbiturates (sedative), opiates (quiz 2). Alcohol affects motor skills, judgment, memory, increases aggressiveness while reducing self-awareness like drunk driving. 3. Hallucinogens (Quiz 2) cannabis exhibits a mix of all properties, perhaps leaning the most towards hallucinogenic or psychedelic properties, though with other effects quite pronounced as well Addiction : physiological state failing to infest leads to withdrawal symptoms, state characterized by anxiety, tension, craving Dependence : absence of drug leads to feeling of physical pain, intense cravings (Physical dependence), and negative emotions (Psychological dependence) * brain Lecture #9 notes on paper Lecture #10 on Developmental Psychology Feb 14 Qualitative differences in terms of stages how much of our development is characterized differently from one stage to the next? Stability how stable are our e.g. personality traits? How much do we actaulyl change over lifespan? Peoples earliest memories are about 3.5 years old. Pre-natal brain development Brain develops early in utero to 28 billion neurons. When born, child has 23 billion neurons. Pruning analogy the neural connections that are not used recede. Teratogens viruses/chemicals (e.g. drugs, alcohol) can enter the placenta and harm the developing fetus Infancy and childhood Slow development facilitates different aspects of human interactions. Parents invest in us throughout childhood Development of culture

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Habituation repeated exposure will make you pay less attention. Babies devote their interest to novel stimuli in experiments, than habituated ones. Infants are particularly drawn to face-like objects. They also mimic facial expression that are made to them. When an infant is able to crawl (7-9 months) they rely on facial cues to learn about possible stimuli in their environment. They see how their parent responds to e.g. new adult in the room. Infants' tendency to gaze longer at novel stimuli than at familiar ones provides compelling evidence regarding their memory capacities (quiz 3) Imprinting : promotes survival by proximity to mother. (John Bowlby) e.g. Harlow rhesus monkeys Attachment : emotional tie with another person. Young children seek closeness to caregiver and show distress on separation Separation anxiety: infants begin to feel this between 6 -8 months. Child cries in the absence of the mother. The child develops a bond with the parent that serves as a secure base when the child is exploring the environment. Secure attachment (pacified when mother returns) vs Insecure attachment (when mother comes back, not pacified) Ainsworth Attachment styles are relatively stable, can change if circumstances change. This predicts events in social and emotional development. This is simply a correlational and not causation relationship. Does attachment style in childhood affect romantic relationships in adulthood? Physical contact is very important in the formation of the attachment relationship. E.g. the monkey and the terry cloth mother Child-rearing practices Parenting style depends on the parents & the childs characteristics Same-sex friendships growing up It is a buffer against loneliness. Children with friends seem better able to handle stress. Rejected children more aggressive and anxious Piaget: Children construe the world through their consistent errors Sensorimotor stage (quiz 3) (to 2 years old) Differentiates self from objects 20

Object permanence: Objects continue to exist even you no longer perceive them Preoperational Begin to categorize information : distinguish between cats, dogs etc Concrete operational (7-12 years) Think logically about concrete objects Achieves conservation of number, mass and weight none Scale errors Conservation of number task Formal operational (12 years up) Can think logically about abstract propositions Concern with possible as well the real

Theory of Mind Preschoolers age of 5 start to develop theory of mind. Only when you develop this that you are able to lie otherwise you presume that everyone knows the same thing I do. Adolescence Risk-taking, immaturity in the prefrontal cortex Teenagers use amygdala (limbic system) to processes information instinctively primitive part of the brain; adults use the frontal cortex more (quiz 3) Erikson's psychosocial development theory: Developing a sense of identity Lecture # Kohlbergs developmental theory of moral stages (Feb 16) (look at Zechs notes) Thinking & Language (Feb 21) We tend not to rely on strict logic when making decisions risk averse when seeking gains, risk seeking when facing losses. Dunckers Candle Problem functional fixedness (quiz 3): fixation on only seeing objects in their intended use Sometimes the solution to a problem requires a radical restructuring to overcome a misleading mental set set Insight: sudden novel realization of a solution to a problem. This activates the right temporal cortex (Researcher was looking at tool use in animals) Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: language determines the way we think. It conveys information, and this influences thought. Our use of words & syntax can influence and even guide thought processes.

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Therefore people of different cultures must think in different ways Different words for putting on (bricks) putting in (CD) in English but same word in Korean Critics language influences but does not completely determine thought. Animal thinking & language Apes & humans : culture, problem solving (warfare!!!) , insight, concept formation American Sign Language doesn't rely on vocalization: chimpanzees Gardner & Gardner (1969) trained Washoe, a chimp, leaned 181 signs by age of 32. Chimps can use signs meaningfully but not syntax. Make signs to receive a reward like pigeons, who have not learned a language. Acquire limited vocab with great difficulty unlike young children.

Language Feb 23 Efforts to preserve language in culture in Ireland Wichita dying language Structures Phoneme sounds : meaningless by themselves. McGurk effect where you hear what you see Morpheme smallest meaningful unit of language : e.g. prefixes, suffixes, words dog|s walk|ed Sentences made of phrases Meaning Rules of language Grammar Semantics rules from which meaning derived from morphemes, words, sentences Relationship between language & objects / events and language depicts Don't rock the boat Syntax combining words into meaningful sentences Disorders Aphasia left hemisphere damage Brocas area (in front controls speech muscles via motor cortex), Wernickes area (Behind comprehension)

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Language development Babbling stage: not an imitation of adult speech!! Once 10-12 months, lose ability to discriminate between different phonemes of a different language. Quiz 3: After the babbling stage, a child who hears only English stops uttering other phonemes. One-word stage: around first birthday. Child can understand and communicate using one-word. Two-word stage: vocab expanded, able to relate two words together. (24 months quiz 2) Longer phrases : utter longer phrases with syntactical sense. Start to understand comedy Intuition of language learning Application of rules Can you show me a seb? : the bowl? Can you show me sebbing? Point to hands kids made kneading / scooping motions Can you show me some seb? : point to contents of bowl Overregularisation errors : Children don't learn language by imitation-they learn rules. House houses. Mouse mouses Operant learning (Skinner) Seeing what other people say, mimic that behavior. Doesn't explain how language is created. Children are obviously saying things theyve never heard before e.g. I goed to the store Inborn universal grammar (Chomsky) Rate of acquisition is so fast it cannot be explained through learning principles. Cryptophasia : Secret language 2-3 years old Speech directed generally but unintelligible to parent, clearly understood within the child pair (usually twins) Twins usually have a developmental lag for language Children aren't properly forming words & adults cant understand them? E.g. Deaf children in Nicaragua invented their own sign language Isolated children Critical/Sensitive period ends at the age of puberty. Children who have been isolated till then cannot learn language? Case study : Genie started learning English at 13 She appeared to be mentally retarded, but she was mentally capable of growth 23

 She learnt words fairly quickly vocabulary, sending across a message clearly. The words she learnt were different from the typical words learnt by a toddler e.g. encompassing emotions However, she was not able to put the words into the right syntax

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