Chapter 1

Psychology = the scientific study of mental processes and behavior

Mental Processes = activities of our brain when engaged in thinking, observing, and
using language
Behaviour = observable activities of an organism

4 Goals Of Psychology:
● Description of what we observe
○ Eg. What is aggression?
● Explanation of these observations
○ What causes aggressive behaviour?
● Prediction of the circumstances that lead to the expression of a specific
behaviour
○ When are we more likely to see aggressive behaviour?
● Controlling behaviours
○ How can we prevent the expression of aggression?

Levels of Analysis
● The Brain
○ Brain structure and function
■ How does stimulation of the amygdala affect aggression?
● The Person
○ Thoughts and feelings
■ How do personality factors influence aggressive behaviours
● The Group
○ Family, friends, culture
■ How does exposure to violence in the media affect aggression

Philosophy = the study of knowledge and reality

● Ancient greek philosophers asked questions about the human mind - approx.
400 B.C.E
○ Mind-body relation: nature/nurture question
Francis Bacon: created empiricism - the view that all knowledge comes from
experience
Descartes: contemplated mind-body dualism - mind as distinct from the body and
connected to the body via the pineal gland
John Locke: argued that we are born with a tabula rasa and that we learn by
experience

Psychophysics = the study of the relationship between physical stimuli and their
psychological effects
● Pioneered by Johannes Muller in the 1800s
● Herman von Helmholtz - measured the speed of neural impulses
● Gustav Fechner - one of the founders of experimental psychology; showed how
mental events can be quantified

Wilheim Wundt
● Opened the first psychology lab in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany
● Made psychology a science by adding
○ Carefully measured observations
○ Experiments

G. Stanley Hall
● 1883: established the first psychology lab in North America
● 1887: launched America’s first psychology journal
● 1892: major player in establishing the American Psychology Association (APA)

James Mark Baldwin

● 1890: established the first psychology lab in Canada at U of T

Structuralism - led by Edward Titchener

● Sought to understand the basic elements of consciousness
● Relied on introspection
○ Reporting on sensations and other elements of experience
○ Not very scientific
Functionalism - led by William James
● Sought to understand the function or purpose of consciousness
● Wrote Principles of Psychology which was published in 1890
● Led other schools of thought
○ Behaviourism
○ Applied psychology

Gestalt Psychologists
● Said consciousness cannot be broken down into elements
● We perceive things as whole perceptual units
○ The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
● Learning is tied to what we perceive

Perspectives on behaviour = different vantage points for analyzing behaviour and its
causes
● Major perspectives in psychology:
○ Psychoanalysis
○ Behaviourism
○ Humanistic psychology
○ Cognitive psychology
○ Psychobiology / Neuroscience

Psychoanalysis
● Founded by Sigmund Freud in the early 1900s
● Focused on the role of the unconscious
○ Drives, wishes, needs and desires in which we are not aware
● Emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences

Behaviourism
● Dominant school of thought in the early 1900s
● Founded by John B. Watson
○ Emphasized psychology's focus on observable psychology
○ Showed that phobias can be learned (Little Albert)
 ● Ivan Pavlov
○ Studied classical conditioning in dogs
● B.F. Skinner
○ Showed how consequences of behaviour can influence future behaviour
○ Studied rats and pigeons
● Albert Bandura
○ Described learning by observation

Humanistic Psychology
● Argued that psychoanalysis and behaviourism were de-humanizing
● Emphasised the unique qualities of humans
○ Focused on freedom and personal growth
● Led by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Cognitive Psychology
● Cognition = mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge
● 1950’s and 1960’s - Neisser, Miller and Chomsky (to name a few)
○ Applied the scientific method to study the mind
○ Became the dominant perspective in psychology

Psychobiology / Neuroscience
● Explained behaviour in terms of physiological processes - highly dependent on
technology
● Karl Lashley (1950’s)
○ Observed behavioural changes in rats after removing parts of their brain
● Donald Hebb (1950’s)
○ Cell assemblies describe neural networks
● Wilder Penfield (1970’s)
○ Mild electrical stimulation of different areas of the brain evokes different
responses
● Roger Sperry (1980’s)
○ Left and right brain functions
Chapter 2 & Appendix B

What is a science?
● Events are governed by some lawful order that can be observed, measured and
tested

Scientific Method = designed to

help the scientific process remain
as accurate and precise as
possible (psychology uses the
scientific method)

Step 1: Make observations, review the literature

● Eg. you're working at a kids camp and notice that kids who eat more candy and
sugar throughout the day are less able to follow rules and instructions for the
games and activities you create for them
○ Makes you wonder about the link between refined sugar consumption
and hyperactivity so you review previous studies

Step 2: Develop a testable hypothesis

● Hypothesis = a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more
variables
○ Best if the hypothesis is operationally defined
■ Defined in such a way that is testable
 ■ Eg. how to define ‘sugar consumption’ and ‘hyperactivity’?
○ Variables = any measurable conditions that are controlled or observed in
a study
■ Independent Variable = the variable that you manipulate
■ Dependent Variable = the variable that you measure
● Eg. children who consume more than 50 mg of refined sugar in a day will be
less able to sit still in a chair for 15 minutes
○ Independent variable?
○ Dependent variable?

Step 3: Choose participants, select the research method, collect data

● A sample of participants is chosen from a population using random selection
○ Population = the entire group that is of interest to researchers
○ Sample = the portion of the population that is used in the study
■ Sampling bias = choosing a sample that does NOT represent your
population
■ Random selection = when everyone in the population has an equal
chance of being involved in the study
● Two Main Types of Research Methods:
○ 1: Descriptive Research = research that is used to observe and describe
behaviour
■ Used to determine the relationship between variables
● Advantages: more natural conditions, easier data collection,
good for theory development
● Disadvantages: no control, researcher and participants
biases, cannot explain cause and effect
■ Three Types of Descriptive Research
● 1) Case Studies = focuses on a single person
○ Potential problem = researcher bias - when the
researcher only sees what they expect to see
○ Advantages: Only useful method to study
behaviours, very detailed
○ Disadvantages: results may not generalize to people,
cannot determine cause and effect
 ● 2) Naturalistic Observation = observe people behaving as
they normally do
○ Potential problem = hawthorne effect - when
participants act differently because they know they're
being observed
○ Advantages: behaviour studied under natural, good
to use in conjunction with experiments
○ Disadvantages: time consuming, cannot determine
cause and effect
● 3) Surveys = use of a written questionnaire or interview
○ Potential problem = participant bias - when
participants answer questions according to what they
think they should say rather than truthfully
○ Advantages: quick and cheap data collection, good to
study convert behaviours
○ Disadvantages: cannot determine cause and effect
○ 2: Experimental Research = research that is used to demonstrate cause
and effect
■ Manipulates an independent variable and measures a dependent
variable
● Advantages: good control, can identify cause and effect
● Disadvantages: ethical concerns, practical limits, artificial
conditions, confounding variables, researcher and
participant bias
■ Two Types of Groups in Experimental Research
● Experimental Group = the group of participants that
receives the manipulation (ie, the independent variable)
● Control Group = the group of participants that does not
receive the manipulation
○ Used to compare how the manipulation affects
behaviour
● Eg. need to ensure that the experimental group is the same
as the control group EXCEPT for the presence or absence of
refined sugar consumption
 ● Experiments allow for cause and effect conclusion because:
○ If the only difference between the experimental and control group is the
independent variable, then any difference found between the groups
must be caused by the independent variable
■ Eg. if the only difference between our two groups of children is the
amount of sugar consumption, then any difference in sit-still scores
between the two groups must be caused by the sugar
consumption
● Random assignment = when each person who is going to participate in your
study has an equal chance of going into either of your two groups
○ Population → Random selection → Random assignment → Exp.’tal
group/control group
● Data collection needs to be done empirically, without any biases
○ Double Blind Procedure = neither the participant nor the researcher
knows who is in which group
■ Eg. neither the children themselves, nor the person collecting the data
from the sit-still chair, know who consumed sugar and who didn’t

Step 4: Analyze the data, accept or reject the hypothesis

● Use statistics
● If hypothesis WAS supported:
○ Confidence in the theory increases
■ Theory = a set of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of
observations
○ Consider alternate explanations
○ Inspect data and research methods for possible errors
● If hypothesis WAS NOT supported:
○ Confidence in theory decreases
○ Revise, refine, or discard theory

Step 5: Seek scientific review, publish, replicate

● Allows your work to be reviewed, criticized, and scrutinized by other experts in
the field
● Ensures that the research you read in peer-reviewed journals is top-notch
Step 6: Build a theory
● Incorporate your results into existing theories or develop a new theory
● Process starts over again at step 1

Statistics
● Descriptive research - no manipulation, the researcher just measures two
variables
○ Correlations indicate if there is a relationship between the two variables
● Experimental research - researcher manipulates a variable and compares
performance across different groups
○ Inferential statistics indicate if the difference between groups is
meaningful

Correlations describes relations

● Example: do children who eat more sugar in a day score higher on a measure of
hyperactivity
○ Measure sugar consumption and hyperactivity in each child and plot
results

● We can calculate the correlation coefficient ‘r’

○ A numerical representation of the relation between variables
● If we find a correlation, what conclusions can we draw from it?
○ Eg. suppose we find that there is a positive correlation between ice cream
sales and rates of violent crime - does this mean that ice cream causes
violence
● If we find a correlation, what conclusions can we draw from it?
○ Correlation IS NOT causation - a relationship between two variables
doesn’t mean that one variable caused the other
■ Eating ice cream causes violent behaviour
■ Violent behaviour causes ice cream eating
■ Both eating ice cream and violent behaviour are the result of some
third variable
● Hot temperatures, blood sugar levels
● Experiments allow causal conclusions
○ Uses inferential statistics to make inferences about data sets
■ Conclude differences between groups are genuine and not due to
chance
■ To do this, need to look at descriptive statistics
● Want the difference between groups to be greater than the
differences in scores within a group
○ Descriptive Statistics = statistics that are used to organize raw data into
meaningful descriptions
■ Measures of central tendency = a numerical value that represents
the centre of the distribution
● Eg. mean, median, mode
■ Measures of variability = a numerical value that represents how
different the scores within a group are from each other
● Eg. range, standard deviation, variance

● Using the appropriate inferential test, a researcher calculates the

statistical significance
○ When you have a very low probability that your findings are
due to chance
■ Low probability = researcher generally accept a 5%
chance that the results are due to chance alone
● If so, you could say that your findings are
‘statistically significant’, and you would say
that ‘p<.05’

● What is the appropriate inferential test? It depends on your research

design
○ Recall our example: compared two groups of participants tested at
one point in time and manipulated one independent variable
■ If the difference between the two means is great enough,
and the variability within groups is small enough, then you
will find a big t-value
■ If your t-value is big, your p-value will be small
Research Ethics Board (REB) = a research oversight group that evaluates research to
protect the rights of participants in the study
● Key Elements of ethical guidelines:
○ Informed consent = principle that states that participants have the right
to be informed of all aspects of the study prior to participation
○ Debriefing = after participation, participants are fully informed of the
purpose of the study
○ Confidentiality = must keep all information about the participant in the
strictest confidence

● Animal Research:
○ The Canadian Council on Animal Care oversees all research involving
animal subjects
■ Animals are only used if the research promises significant benefit
to humans or animals
■ Animals are used if there is no other way
● Humane methods must be used
● Smallest number of animals possible must be used
● All pain and distress must be limited

Chapter 3

Two approaches to learning about the brain:

● Case studies on brain damage, lesioning, electrical stimulation, magnetically
deactivating
● Use fancy equipment to study normal brain structure and function
○ CT scans, MRI, fMRI, PET scans, EEG, ERP, DTI

Case Studies on Brain Damage

● When a stroke or injury damages part of the brain, we have a chance to see the
impact on the mind
Lesioning
● Surgical destruction of brain tissue performed on animals
● Has yielded some insights about less complex brain structures
○ Eg. morris water maze

Electrical Stimulation
● Parts of the brain, and even neurons, can be stimulated electrically, chemically,
or magnetically,
● This can result in behaviours such as giggling, head turning, or simulated vivid
recall

Magnetically Deactivating
● Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
○ A procedure in which an electromagnetic pulse is delivered to a specific
region of the brain to temporarily inactivate that region
○ Using a weaker pulse can stimulate arrears and has therapeutic uses
■ Depression, gambling

Computed Tomographic Scans (CT Scans)

● When a computer constructs a three-dimensional X-ray image from a series of
two-dimensional images

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan (MRI Scan)

● Brain structure is mapped out using magnetic fields
○ Different areas of the brain are made up of light different molecular
compositions, when have different magnetic properties

● Produces a picture of the brain that is very clear

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scan (fMRI Scan)

● It relies on the fact that oxygen is sent to regions of the brain that are active
○ fMRI scanner can measures differences in blood oxygen over time while
the person is doing a task
 ○ This functional map is then put on top the structural map to get an
overall of how much each region is working on a given task

Positron emission tomography scan (PET Scan)

● Allows us to see what part of the brain is active by tracing where a radioactive
form of glucose goes while the brain performs

Electroencephalogram (EEG)
● A recording of the electrical waves sweeping across the brain’s surface
● Useful for studying seizures and sleep

Event related potential (ERP)

● When the change in electrical activity is time locked to the presentation of the
stimulus
● Requires many trials averaged over many EEG signals to remove the
fluctuations in EEG signals

Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)

● A structural neuroimaging technique that allows researchers to measure
white-matter pathways in the brain
○ These pathways are often damaged in individuals who suffer concussions

Nervous System contains two main categories of cells:

● Glial Cells:
○ Found throughout the nervous system
○ Provides support for neurons
○ Recent evidence that they also modulate neural activity
● Neurons:
○ Directly involved in communication
○ Receive, integrate, and transmit information to and from other neurons

4 Classes of Glial Cells:

● Astrocytes
○ Largest glia, star-shaped, many functions
 ● Oligodendrocytes
○ Myelinate axons in central nervous system
● Microglia
○ Respond to injury or disease
● Schwann Cells
○ Myelinate axons in peripheral nervous system

Parts of The Neuron

Dendrites = branching extensions that receive inputs from other neurons

● Many different forms, depending on type and location of neuron

Axon = single process that extends from the cell body and represents the outburst
side of the neuron
● Can take many forms

Cell body = contains the metabolic machinery that maintains the neuron

Two Main Divisions in Nervous System:

● Central Nervous System (CNS)
○ Brain and spinal cord

● Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

○ All neural pathways outside of the brain and spinal cord
○ Connects CNS with muscles, glands, and sensory receptors

The autonomic nervous system:

● Sympathetic NS arouses (fight or flight)
● Parasympathetic NS calms (rest and digest)

Spinal Cord:
● Most nerves enter /leave through spinal cord
Brain:
● number of structures controlling behaviour
○ Both voluntary and involuntary
● Two hemispheres (left and right)
○ Number of structures within the beneath
● Three major regions:
○ Hindbrain = survival functions
○ Midbrain = sensation and action
○ Forebrain = memory, thought and emotion
● Hindbrain:
○ Medulla: automatic survival functions
■ Breathing, blood circulation, reflexes
○ Pons
■ Sleep and wakefulness
■ Coordinates automatic and unconscious movements
● Swallowing, posture, facial expression, eye movements
○ Cerebellum
■ Balance, coordination, and timing of movements
■ Attention and emotion
○ Reticular Formation:
■ A network of neurons in the brainstem
■ Enables alertness
■ Also filters incoming sensory information
● Midbrain:
○ Substantia Nigra
■ The nucleus from which dopamine neurons send their axons to the
striatum (forebrain)
■ Involved in movement control
● Forebrain:
○ Everything above the midbrain including the cerebral ventricles
○ Composed of the:
■ Thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland
■ Limbic system
■ Basal ganglia
 ■ Cerebral cortex
○ Thalamus:
■ The sensory switchboard
■ All sensory messages (except smell) are routed through the
thalamus on the way to the cortex

● Hypothalamus:
○ Regulates body temperature
○ Ensures adequate food and water intake
○ Involved in sex drive

● Pituitary Gland
○ The master gland of the endocrine system
○ Produces hormones that regulate other glands

● Limbic System:
○ An integrated network involved in emotion and memory
○ Made up of four structures:
■ Amygdala
■ Hippocampus
■ Hypothalamus
■ Thalamus

● Amygdala:
○ Helps process emotions, especially fear and aggression
○ Meditates memory formation for emotional events

● Hippocampus:
○ Important in the formation of new memories
● Basal Ganglia
○ Functions in both voluntary movement and responses to rewarding
stimuli
● The cerebral cortex
○ The outermost layer of the brain