Lecture 1:

Slide 1: 0:00 - 5:28

What is psychology > psychology is the scientific study of thought and behavior

What are the streams of psychology > Neuroscience, Developmental, Cognitive Psychology,
Social psychology

What is Neuroscience > Neuroscience is the study of psychology when it comes to the physical
workings of the brain

What is developmental psychology > it is the study of how people develop and grow up

What is cognitive psychology > The study of all cognitions in terms of mental structures such as
memory and perception. How we speak,play and develop language

What is social psychology > it is the study of how people interact, it aims to answer things such
as why do we like some groups more than others and why we are more forgiving of ourselves
over others

What is clinical psychology > focuses on mental health and mental illness

Slide 2: 5:28 - 12:45

What is the birthday of psychology > 1879 when Willham Wundt started the first psychology
laboratory with minimal funding. This is the start of scientific psychology as we pondered
psychological questions before then

What did Psychology fall under before 1879 > it was a considered a part of philosophy and
physiology

What was psychology in ancient greece > greek philosophers pondered some psychological
questions

What did socrates do in psychology > asked questions about human behavior and development

What did aristotle do for psychology > In many of writings he describes the mind as part of the
soul that understood the world, this is the first definition of the mind.

What is something about psychology that the ancient greeks understood > The mind is the
workings of the brain
What did Hippocrates do for psychology > he believed that people’s dispositions is made up of

four liquids in the body this is the theory of humorism

What did Confucious do for psychology > he wrote extensively about interpersonal relationships
and human development which coincide with developmental and social psychology

What did China implement that is relevant to psychology > they implemented psychological
tests for anyone wanting to go into government which coincides with industrial psychology

What did Al-Kindi contribute to psychology > He adopted the writings of the ancient greek and
promoted it, he attempted solutions at mood disorders especially depression. He could be the
considered the first psychotherapist

Slide 3: 12:45 - 17:46

How did psychology evolve in the middle ages > wisdom in philosophy was replaced with
church doctrine, any promoters of opposing views were put to death, as a result, psychology
came to a halt. This suffered along with all the other sciences

What happened for psychology in the renaissance > rebirth of focus on psychology. People
became more interested with the workings of the current life than they are with the afterlife

What happened for psychology in the middle ages to the 1800s in Europe > The birthday of
psychology, psychology was no longer a branch of philosophy

What was John Stewart Mill’s contribution to psychology > John Stewart Mill argued that
psychology should be an observation based science over speculation based. Then the
methodology was yet to be refined.

Slide 4: 17:46- 27:27

What is Structuralism by Edward Titchener > conscious experience can be broken down into
smaller pieces through introspection (bottom up approach). We examine our thoughts and
emotions and we write about them. This is very subjective as it cannot be verified independently

What is a bottom up approach in science > looking at observations and trying to make theories
from them

What is functionalism by William James > He said that most consciousness is continuous, he
named this the Stream of Consciousness. The theory says that in order to understand the mind
we need to examine its functions and why it function this way

What theory does Functionalism go hand in hand with > Darwin’s theory of natural selection as
it means that a trait is beneficial in order for it to survive. Which means that trait must serve a
function. We can investigate this

What is Gestalt Psychology by Max Wertheimer > Looking at the world more broadly gives a
better picture than focusing on its individual parts. The whole of personal experience is different
from the sum of its individual elements. Phenomenology is at the core of this theory, the way we
view the world is subjective. We need to analyze why we view the world in our subjective ways.

What is perception in Gestalt psychology > it is the interactions of limited stimuli

Slide 5,6: 27:27 - 29:14

How would the different schools of thought analyze a triangle > Structuralists say that it is three
lines that make up a shape. Functionalists would question its purpose.

What do illusions teach us > perception is subjective

Slide 7: 29:14 - 33:07

What is behaviourism of John B watson > we need to examine observable behavior rather than
internal processes. He limited this down to reinforcement and punishment and nature vs
nurture. He downplayed heredity in the nature vs nurture debate

What was psychology back then >The scientific study of behaviour, which is overt or observable
responses or activities

What is the main criticism of behaviorism > the studies were based on animals which have less
complex behaviours than humans

Slide 8: 33:07 - 39:17

What is Psychoanalysis and Freud > He focused on the role of the unconscious on behaviours,
it houses hidden or suppressed thoughts. He proposed that these thoughts exert influence over
people’s behaviour

How did Freud reach his conclusions > through interviews, he never actually tested his theories,
it is impossible to test it. He called the interviews the talking cure, because he noticed that
people he talked to felt better after letting out repressed thoughts

Why was Freud controversial > he had ideas that sex and aggression ruled everything at a time
of great conversatism

What was wrong with Freud’s theories > he had many theories including ones about
development that are impossible to test, this is the polar opposite of behaviorism

Slide 9: 39:17 - 43:24

According to Freud what is behaviour influenced by > unconscious sexual and aggressive
thoughts that play a central role in behaviour. This is a controversial notion that caused debate
and resistance. Despite that it had a significant impact on the field of psychology and inspired
followers such as Carl Jung and Alfred Adler (they left him because he was not accepting of
criticism). How could we control our behaviour if we cannot control unconscious thoughts.

What is the Humanistic perspective of maslow and Rogers > People are inherently good due to
free will and potential for personal growth. We need to explore the environment in which those
unique traits flourish

Slide 10: 43:24 - 49;27

What is Clinical psychology > rather than rigorous research, it focuses on applying those
theories to help people. Including treating mental illnesses

What are the three steps of clinical psychology > psychopathology, assess and make a
decision, and intervention

What is psychopathology > classifying the disorder (research etiology and course of disorder)

What is assess and make a decision > it is making the diagnosis (evaluate outcome)

What is intervention > it is treating based on the diagnosis

Slide 11: 49:27 - 50:40

What is cognition and neuroscience > cognition is mental processes involved in acquiring
knowledge. The way for neuroscience was paved by scientists in the 1950’s and 1960’s :
Piaget, Chomsky, and Simon. They did this through scientific methods of internal mental events.
Cognitive science is now the dominant strain of psychology

What is Biological psychology > explaining behaviour through physical physiological traits in
humans, they do this by studying animals.

Slide 12: 50:40 - 52:28

What were the early discoveries in neuroscience > James Olds discovered that electric
stimulation in animals evoked an emotional response, Roger Sperry discovered left and right
brain specialization, and Donald Hebb in 1949 discovered that cell-assemblies describe neural
networks

Slide 13: 52:28 - 54:12

What is evolutionary psychology > the theory that natural selection occurs not only for physical
traits but also for behaviour. We look at evolutionary psychology to explain things like jealousy

Slide 14: 54:12 - 57:06

What is positive psychology > positive psychology is a branch of psychology that uses theory
and research to better understand good traits about human beings and existence. We use these
to find traits that make better relationships and environments

Lecture 2

What kind of science is psychology > psychology is an empirical science that relies on the
scientific method

What is the scientific method > The scientific method aims to measure and understand what we
observe, predict what could happen in the future, and how we can control nature.

What is a theory > a theory is a model of interconnected ideas and concepts that explains what
is observed and makes predictions about future events. This is the model for which
experimentation is done and replicated

What is replication > being able to conduct the same study and be able to replicate it to increase
confidence in a theory

What is a hypothesis > It is a prediction of what should happen if a theory is correct and we use
that to affirm theories. Hypothesis can be testable or non-testable
What is a testable vs non-testable hypothesis > Testable hypotheses are hypotheses that can
be tested while non-testable hypotheses are hypotheses that cannot be tested. Testable: the
more you study the higher grades you get. Non-Testable: good people have guardian angels

What is conducting research > it is designing a study and collecting data

What is analyzing research > analyzing the research and drawing conclusions from it. We have
discussions and talk about limitations of the study

How do we report findings > we peer review the research that adds new informations to the
body of information

What is a Good Theory vs Bad Theory > A theory is parsimonious (simple) and reaches a
conclusion with a minimal amount of assumptions. It can be falsified. An example of Piaget’s
theory of Human Development. A bad theory is a theory that cannot be falsified. An example of
this is Freud’s Interpretation of dream. A dream can be analysed into having two kinds of
dreams. Manifested and Latent content. Explainable content and metaphorical content. You
cannot prove this is true or false. It also does not create a testable hypothesis

What is the theory of Phrenology > The shape of your head is a window into your personality. It
is now remembered for its racist and sexist interpretations. Parts of your brain are
compartmentalized into different organs and each organ is responsible for a part of your
personality. It was also believed that the brain is a muscle that can grow with exercise. It lost
popularity in the 20th century when we debunked it.

Multitasking impairs productivity is an example of > a testable hypothesis because we can

measure the productivity with and without multitasking

Covid 19 being caused by 5G towers is a > non-testable hypothesis

What is an experiment > an experiment is where we isolate and manipulate variables in order to
test for a change in another variable. The isolated variable is called the independent variable
and the changed variables are called the dependent variables. We can use this to look for cause
and effect

What is an example of an experiment > texting causes worse driving. We can control for cell
phone use (independent variable) and see if that causes a change in the number of errors in
driving (dependent variable) and look for a causal relationship. We split a number of participants
between the experimental group and a control group. The control group has nothing done to
them and are used as a benchmark for the experimental group to see if there is an increase or
decrease in the dependant variable

What is ideal for an experiment between control groups and experimental groups > if we can
isolate only one independent variable
What is one unreliable way of testing the driving hypothesis > by making a survey as people
tend to lie to make themselves appear better. They might give what seems to be the desired
answer

What is an experimental group > subjects who get manipulated (receive special treatment)

What is a control group > subjects who do not get manipulated (receive no special treatment)

What are Extraneous variables > variables that you either do not know about or you cannot
control. We can control this by paying extra attention to the variables

What is a confounding variable > a confounding variable is something about one group being
fundamentally different than the other group (driving experience for the driving example) we fix
this through random assignments, and attaching the probability to the research

What are the advantages of a true experiment > it can isolate the relationship between variables
and establish cause and effect

What are the disadvantages of a true experiment > the study is artificial, the data is not naturally
occurring. Some variables are impossible or unethical to manipulate. They occur in lab settings
which are dissimilar to lab settings as people act as if they are being observed

What is a field experiment > It is an experiment that uses settings that are very much like real
life.

What is an advantage of field experiments > when testing things like how good people are,
doing this in a lab setting would not produce an accurate result as people tend to act more
morally when they are observed. This needs to be done as a field experiment.

What is an example of a field experiment > testing who helps people by creating an emergency
and testing how people react (whether or not they help)

What are descriptive studies > they are studies that test correlations (not causations), it is a
study where we cannot control variables, they allow us to observe data as it occurs naturally

What are the three types of descriptive studies > Naturalistic observations, case studies, and
surveys/questionnaires

What is naturalistic observation > the hawthorne effect (named after the first study done under
this method). Experiments done through the observation of natural behaviour

What is the study that the hawthorne effect was based on > there was a hypothesis to test about
what factors affect how well employees work. When they were observed none of the factors
mattered, this is because productivity increased when people were observed. This is the result
of the experiment. This was done through observation

What are case studies > case studies are when we study special cases to understand different
factors about those cases

What is the relationship between ‘Fifty First Dates’ and case studies > it is about a man who
suffers from anterograde amnesia who resets his memory and keeps thinking he just woke up
from a coma. This happens every 7 seconds. We can only make the movie with knowledge
about what the people who actually have this condition go through. This needs case studies and
interviews, as it is the best way to derive this information

What are surveys and questionnaires > studies like twenty statements test, write an I am
statement 20 times, and we tally the results. We can derive conclusions from the studies and
questionnaires

What is Raw Data > The sorted data we collected

What do we do with raw data > we use statistics to understand the data
What is descriptive statistics > statistics that organise the data to give us some general overview
(mean, median, mode). We can use those to build histograms. And we can also use a scatter
plot that represents data received from a person, we can use those to find outliers that we
researchers either need to understand or recognize a mistake they made. Mean is most
impacted by the mean because it is the only one that is computed

What do we need to remove an outlier from a data set > we need a justification or it will mess up
our results

What is a bell curve > a bell curve or a normal distribution is a naturally occuring distribution that
occurs when we measure out things such as height or personality traits

What is standard deviation and range > range is the difference between the highest and lowest
data points. Standard deviation measures how spread out data points are. Standard deviation
helps us in differentiating between graphs that could even have the same mean mode and
median

What are Correlational studies > correlational studies are studies that use the correlational
method which is a statistical procedure for finding the relationship between two variables. The
correlation is a numerical index for the degree of relationship between two variables. This can
be done naturally

What is a correlation coefficient > a correlation coefficient is a coefficient that measures the
strength of a relationship between two variables. It can be positive or negatives, values closer to
zero indicate a weaker relationship while values closer to one and negative one indicate
stronger relationships

What are positive and negative correlations > positive correlation is when one variable
increases or decreases and the other does the same. A negative correlation is when a variable
moves inverse to another variable

What correlation does not indicate is … > it does not indicate causation. A grave example of this
is when a scientist said that a correlation between vaccines and autism is a causal relationship
which caused mass fear. The vaccinations schedule for children happens around the same time
that diagnosis for autism happens, this is incidental.

What is directionality > we do not know which variable caused the other variable, for example do
less friendly people have less friends because they are not friendly or are they not friendly
because they do not have friends

What is the third variable problem > there is a correlation between drowning and ice cream, they
do not cause each other but the weather causes both

What is inferential statistics > we need inferential statistics to make sense of the data in order to
recognize if it confirms or denies the hypothesis. Whether the result came due to chance

When is something statistically significant > it is when when there is a 95% chance that the
results of the experiment are not due to chance P = 0.05 and in some situations we need a
99% chance that the findings are not due to chance P = 0.01

What is Meta-Analysis > A study of many other studies that asks broader questions than a
normal study and aims to generalize using the studies (gender and IQ)

How do we evaluate research > replication, even though it is not as common in psychology.

What is sampling bias >Reducing sampling bias; sample is usually intro psych students, we
need to ask ourselves if the sample represents the population.

How is the placebo effect used in research > Placebo effect: we test things as compared to the
expectation of experiencing a change that does not occur.

How is social desirability accounted for in research > Social desirability: people’s tendency to
change the way they behave to change their impression or to believe that they are better than
they are (impression management, self deceptive positivity). These lead to people telling the
researcher what they want to hear rather than the truth.
How do we combat social desirability > We can combat social desirability by creating a
response set, by analysing responses to see if a person rushed through the questionnaire to get
through it, then you would remove those people from your data set.

What is the Halo effect > expecting that good traits are grouped together.

What is Experimenter bias > an experimenter having a subconscious bias, we can counteract
this through a double-blind situation where both the researcher and the subject don’t know
about the variables

What does the placebo effect cause > it causes both physical changes and psychological
changes

What is the replication crisis > researchers are not replicating foundational research and
research with a null hypothesis is not being released. New initiatives are trying to fix this

What bias did we need to address in sampling > a gender bias against women

What is ethics in psychology > we perform psychology in order to benefit people. Ethics in
psychology are standards we need to follow when dealing with human and animal subjects. We
need to justify deceiving people’s emotions, people are free to withdraw at any point. These
standards are reviewed and held by the American Psychological Association and Canadian
Psychological Association

Lecture 3:

What do we need to fully understand how people behave > we need to understand how the
brain works and how genetics and the environment influence human behaviours

All our behaviours are due to a combination of what > biological and environmental factors

What is Dualism > it is a theory between the relationship of the mind and the body. Rene
Descartes had a theory that unlike animals, the human brain is characterized by a duality. The
mental properties of humans do not exist in a physical sphere. This theory is much older, and
has prominence in many religions in the form of the soul and the mind. This theory is also seen
in movies such as the matrix. The theory also put reincarnation as a scientific fact. This theory
gives comfort to people in that they get to feel that a part of them lives on beyond death. This
idea is both present in religious people and atheists

What is one of the interests of the Rene Descartes > he made theories about how would a
person know if they were possessed by a demon
What is materialism > A theory that the only things that exist are the mind and energy, the mind
is what the brain does making both concepts inseparable. We can detect what the brain does
through technologies such as brain scans.

What idea is followed today between materialism and dualism > materialism, because it is more
empirical. As we can detect changes in the brain that cause different mental changes (such as
emotional reactions), and there are diseases that impact the brain that also impact how a
person behaves.

What is the most complex mechanism in the known universe > the human brain

What does the human brain look like > a meatloaf, this is a humbling thought.

The brain is part of which system > it is part of the central nervous system along with the spinal
cord

What is the peripheral nervous system > it is the nerves outside the brain and the spinal cord. It
is a communication pathway between the central nervous system and the extremities of the
body such as hands

What are nerves > they are bundles of axons that transport electrochemical impulses

What does the brain do > it takes in and stores information in the form of sensory input. It takes
the information and integrates it into motor output

What is the brain protected by > Meninges and cerebrospinal fluid

What is the meninges > it is a system of membranes that protects the brain and spinal cord.
They can get inflamed, this is called meningitis. This is very dangerous and is often deadly or
disabling

What is the cerebrospinal fluid > it protects the brain from infections and regulates blood flow

What is the spinal cord > it connects the brain to the peripheral nervous system. It is also an
extension of the brain as it controls some reflexes such as the withdrawal reflex. The lower an
injury is on the spinal cord the less severe it is

What are the connections of neurons > the older you get the less neurons you have, but the
more connections are built between them, this is where learning happens. The brain loses
neurons and forms connections. Areas with more connections are called white matter and areas
with more neurons than connections are called grey matter. Grey matter turning into white
matter is called synaptic pruning. The neuron is the basic unit of the brain
What is the Glia > the glial cells create the cerebral fluid, they insulate the brain, and in 2010,
they found that glial cells impact the way neurons communicate. We saw this in multiple
sclerosis ( a disease where glial cells are inflamed) where damage to the Glial cells caused
damage to brain function.

What are the parts of the neuron > soma, which is the cell body, dendrites, which receive
information from other neurons, and axons, which transmit information to other neurons.

How does an axon work > The axons have axon terminals which release neurotransmitters to
other neurons that affect the way the other neuron behaves. Myelin sheaths allow the
information to be transmitted. Myelin sheaths are specialized glial cells

What are the three types of neurons > Sensory Neurons, Interneurons, and motor neurons

What are sensory neurons > sensory neurons turn information from external stimuli into internal
stimuli for the central nervous system

What are interneurons > they form connections to other neurons in the central nervous system

What are motor neurons > They transmit commands by the central nervous system to the
muscles, glands, and organs

What are the two types of signals from neurons > excitatory and inhibitory signals. Excitatory
signals are signals that are likely to send a message. Inhibitory signals are less likely to
communicate and send signals

What is the action potential > it is a shift in electrical charge that makes information go from one
neuron to the other. Neurons communicate in chemical signals. The chemical signal is
processed, depending on whether the signal is inhibitory or excitatory, it is released as an
electrical signal to other neurons. There are vesicles in each neurons that form
neurotransmitters

Do neurons touch > no, there is a millionth of an inch gap between the axon terminal and the
action terminal

How does communication have in the neuron > the + and - ions are summed up in the cell body,
a certain threshold of positive charge sends an electrical signal. The axon is much longer than
the dendrites. This is insulated by the Myelin Sheaths, this makes the information transformation
much quicker. This happens as networks between many neurons which makes it the most
complex machine in the universe

How do neurons function > an ion is a molecule that has either gained or lost an electron. The
neuron is stable at -70 millivolts. This is called the resting potential. Which is an unequal
distribution between the inside and outside of the cell. The signals taken in are processed with
positive or negative charge, when the charge goes above -70 millivolts, a signal is sent out.
Potassium and sodium are the positive ions that get computed as the positive charge. Chloride
is the one interpreted as a negative charge

What do neurons at rest represent > stored energy

What is action potential > it is a rapid reversal of electric charge. Channels in the cell membrane
open up allowing for negative ions to leave the cell and for positive ions to come in the cell.
When the threshold of -70 to +30 millivolts is reached, that energy is discharged through the
axon. Then the neuron either fires or not, the higher the rate of firing the higher the stimulus.
When this is done the neuron goes into an absolute refractory period. This is the minimum
amount of time that is required for the neuron to charge up again.

What is the cycle of neuron > In the resting potential, the neuron is at -70 millivolts. The action
potential then allows for negative ions to leave and for positive ions to enter the neuron. This
happens up to 30 millivolts. The cell then either reaches that threshold and fires or does not.
The intensity of the stimulus depends on the rate of firing. When the firing through the axons is
complete the neuron goes into an absolute refractory period where it charges up its resting
potential again.

What is synaptic transmission > synaptic transmission happens in the gap between the
dendrites and the synaptic neurons. This is called the synaptic cleft. The neuron that sends the
chemical message and the neuron that receives the chemical message are called the
Presynaptic and Postsynaptic neurons respectively.

What are the steps of synaptic transmission >

synthesis: making neurotransmitters, we do not even know all of them.

Store and transport: sending through axons and storing in vesicles

Release: when action potential causes the release of neurotransmitters.

Binding: the released molecules can bind with specialised proteins called receptors that
can influence whether the new molecule will have its own potential.

Deactivation: when a neurotransmitter is destroyed by an enzyme, this happens because

the neurotransmitter that does not bind could have a never ending influence on the neuron
which is not desirable so the enzyme destroys it, some drugs stop this.

Auto receptor activation: when a neurotransmitter binds to the neuron that released it,
this is to regulate how much of a neurotransmitter is made in synthesis.
 Reuptake: when an excess of a neurotransmitter is taken back by the releasing
(presynaptic) neuron. We regulate this in some cases of depression by stopping the reuptake of
serotonin.
Degradation: the destruction of excess neurotransmitters

What is graded potential > it is the process that takes the neuron from not firing to firing. This is
needed as there are many signals coming into a neuron at once. The neuron integrates signals
before deciding when to fire or not. When neurotransmitters bind to receptors, in the ion
channels, it opens and closes to allow ions to move in and move out. It is the cumulative change
to the cell membrane that allows the cell to function. The positive ions enter through the sodium
channels and leave through the potassium channels. If the cell becomes more negative it is
called hyperpolarization. If it becomes more positive it becomes depolarized . the sufficient
threshold is reached at -50 millivolts.these are called inhibitory postsynaptic potentials, because
they inhibit the postsynaptic neuron, some excite the postsynaptic neuron and are called
excitatory postsynaptic neurons

What is the continual dynamic process of neurons > there are patterns of neural activity that
interconnect neurons that make them fire together or sequentially

What is the Hebbian Learning Rule > there are complex neurons in networks that influence
behaviour and learning, this is called long term potentiation

What is long term potentiation > it is a long lasting increase in excitability in a specific pathway
of neurons, this strengthens the synapse

What is synaptic pruning > it is the elimination of old synapses. This makes the brain very
malleable

How can the creation of new neurons be promoted > it can be promoted through sleep, exercise
and avoiding processed foods. Lowering inflammation in the brain by lowering some foods such
as sugar. Managing stress. This is done in the hippocampus

Can we make a neuron inhibit another neuron > there are transmitters that inhibit the
postsynaptic neuron

Psychopharmacology in neurons > there are chemicals called Agonists such as nicotine that
inhibit the postsynaptic neuron. There are chemicals called antagonists that oppose the effect of
neurotransmitters, thus inhibiting them, examples of these are some poisons such as curare.
This stops muscle movements and people thought that they eased pains, but they do not,
patients reported feeling the pains of operations but being unable to react

What is Acetylcholine > it is the first neurotransmitter discovered. It is present throughout the
nervous system and is what allows for voluntary movement, these are found in the
neuromuscular junctions. Some animals capitalize on this by releasing venoms that inhibit this
neurotransmitter. The mongoose has mutations that block the binding of the venom to
acetylcholine. Acetylcholine has implications on attention, arousal, and memory, a drug that
treats alzheimers does so by slowing down the reuptake of Acetylcholine.

What are the monoamines > Dopamine, Norepinephrine, and Serotonin

What is dopamine > dopamine regulates mood, reward, pleasure, movement, learning, and
attention. It is found in recreational drugs. If they are destroyed they can have severe
consequences such as parkinsons

What is Norepinephrine > it is synthesized in the brain stem from dopamine, and it regulates
things like attention, the fight or flight response, wakefulness. It works very closely with
adrenaline (produced in the adrenal gland). So when you are stressed the adrenaline goes up
bringing up the Norepinephrine causing wakefulness and a fight or flight response to threat

What is serotonin > it plays a critical role in depression as it plays a role in attention memory,
arousal and sleeping. When this is low, it leads to depression and aggressive behavior as the
body uses it to elevate mood among the other things mentioned. 80% of it is found in the GI
tract (intestines)

What is Gaba > it relaxes you by inhibiting neuronal activity, it is in 40% of synapse.it regulates
anxiety and sleep and arousal. Even though it is not well researched, some people take it as a
supplement, it is naturally found in rotten food

What are endorphins > chemicals that are produced in the nervous system that cope with pain
and stress, they are widely distributed in the body. They work similarly to opiods. They cause
runners high. Some people have lower levels of endorphins and are more likely to experience
depression.

What are opioids > opioids are chemicals that are used for post operation that give a feeling of
euphoria and relieve pain. Scientists discovered that there are many neurotransmitters in the
body that bind to opioids, this is how we found out about endorphins.

What are some opioid drugs > Oxycodone, Codeine, Morphine, Fentanyl, and Heroin. They
have a very high risk of overdose, addiction, and withdrawals.

What are the parts of the peripheral nervous system > the Somatic nervous system and the
Autonomic nervous system

What is the somatic nervous system > afferent sensory neurons (Sensory division) only carry
information to the CNS, and efferent sensory neurons (Motor division) only carry information
from the CNS to the body.
What is the autonomic nervous system > it has two parts; the sympathetic autonomic nervous
system that mobilizes resources in the body, and the parasympathetic autonomic nervous
system which conserves resources (to bring the body in a state of homeostasis)

What is the sympathetic autonomic nervous system > it prepares the body for action, when
there is a perceived danger, it increases the rates of adrenaline and noradrenaline and makes
prompt body changes; increases heart rate paired with shutting down capillaries incase of a
wound, it increases the oxygen in the body by 30% by increasing the lung capacity, it makes
pupils dilate, and organs are modified to meet danger or flee, like sexual arrousal, the urge to
use the washroom, and stomach cramps. It prepares the body for emergencies, it can be
caused by strong emotions and strenuous activities. It is responsible for fight or flight

What is the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system > it controls organs under normal
circumstances it is the opposite of the sympathetic nervous system, it restores the body to a
normal state, it restores equilibrium in the body. It decreases arousal, slow breathing and heart
rate, and lowers blood pressure.

How can we use the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system > by controlling your breathing
to make the sympathetic autonomic nervous system. The best way to control your breathing is
through the box breathing method, breathe for 4 seconds (expands your lungs), pause for 4
seconds, and exhale for 4 seconds. This works because it is one of the few deliberate attempts
to regulate the sympathetic autonomic nervous system.

Lecture 4:

What is an EEG > it is short for Electroencephalography. Since the brain produces electricity, we
can use electrodes to track the activity of the brain. We use the evoked potential technique. We
give them a stimulus such as a song or a mood, we measure for an increase or decrease in
brain activity before and after the stimulus. The EEG does not tell us what exactly is becoming
more active / less active.
What is a Pet Scan > Positron Emission tomography. A person ingests a trace of a substance
that gets in the brain because the brain is metabolically active. The more a part of the brain is
used, the more of the chemical ends up in that area of the brain as the brain needs blood, and
we then measure this. This has its place in medicine but people often do not like to ingest
radioactive substances

What is an fMRI > a functional magnetic resonance imaging. We look at which areas of the
brain are used based on the rate that areas of the brain use oxygen. We can compare the
image of the brain before and after a stimulus. one study found which parts of the brain are
more active with blood flow and oxygen after exposure to stress among optimists and
pessimists. Pessimists had more activation in the stress related areas.

What is a damage study > in humans it usually comes from victims

What is transcranial Magnetic Stimulation > The head of the person is fixed as to stop
movement,then a magnetic field is placed that is meant to activate or depress parts of the brain.
Because the magnetic field penetrates about 2cm deep in the brain, this makes it more effective
for the parts of the brain closer to the skull. This acts like a brain lesion without the invasive side
effects. This has helped with managing many mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and
improving cognitive performance

What is ESB > it stands for Electrical Stimulation

What is Brain imaging > Computerized Tomography, Positron Emission Tomography, Magnetic
Resonance Imaging

What is a CT scan > an x ray apparatus takes images of the brain and helps us look for things
such as tumours and conduct research for neuroscience

How else can we explore the brain > lesions tumors, strokes, and injuries that are a result of an
accident. We use it to research parts of the brain affected in that accident. We have learned that
personality is mainly in the prefrontal lobe, and language has its own areas. They help us
generalize studies of animals on humans.

What are brain injuries and behavioural outcomes > We learn about many things in
neuroscience by observing how people with a damaged part of the brain behave. For example,
we learned about apraxia, agnosia and others. We managed to find out what specialized parts
of the brain are responsible for controlling what behaviours (recognizing objects, recognizing
speech)

What is apraxia > apraxia is when a person can move but cannot coordinate, they cannot do
complex tasks such as picking up a spoon

What is Agnosia > it is when a person can see but cannot recognize any objects

What is synesthesia > it is when there is an intermixing of sensory stimuli, people would report
things such as colors having smells, or stop signs having taste. Occurs in 1 in 2000 people. We
cannot validate whether people have synesthesia or not. There are written records of this as
long back as 4000 years ago. It has a strong genetic basis and people with this tend to be more
creative and artistics. They focus on making new connections

What are the regions of the brain > there are the forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain

What is the hindbrain > where the spinal cord meets the brainstem. Its vital functions; medulla
regulates breathing, muscle control, and other involuntary functions.
Pons; regulates things like sleep and arousal.
Cerebellum regulates things like the coordination of movement and equilibrium. Most injuries to
the hindbrain are fatal.
What is the midbrain > it mainly controls sensory functions and voluntary movement. It regulates
breathing during sleep. Parkinsons is caused by damage to a structure in the midbrain. It
controls dopamine projections and reticular activating system

What is the Forebrain > It is the largest and most complex of the regions of the brain. It contains
the thalamus which controls incoming sensory information. It contains the hypothalamus which
controls the regulating of emotions, temperature, motivation, and sexual behaviour, early
research in rats has found to correspond to regulating behaviour (removing soe parts leads to
over eating to death, removing of other parts leads to starving to death). Cerebral cortex is the
outer layer of the cortex that contains everything that we identify as human, all the upper level
complex behaviour such as learning. Much bigger in humans than animals.

What is the cerebral cortex > it is the outer wrinkly part of the forebrain. If we laid it out flat it
would be 2 ft2 . It is responsible for all the higher functions of the brain.it has two hemispheres
connected by the corpus callosum. Each hemisphere is specialized primarily on some aspects.
The temporal lobes are near the ears and for that reason specialize in dealing with sound. Fish
do not have this.The Occipital lobe controls vision. The Parietal lobe controls somatosensory
Primates have it but no where the size that humans have it at. In Humans it makes up 80% of
the brain’s volume.

What is the specialization of the left side of the brain > verbal processing, language, speech,
reading, writing

What is the specialization of the right side of the brain > it is responsible for non verbal
processing: spatial, musical, and visual recognition

READ THE SECTION IN THE BOOK ABOUT SPLIT BRAIN OPERATIONS

Split brain patient with the left and right brain > patient suffers from seizures and both parts of
the brain work independently. He lives day to day life normally. He was asked to draw two
different shapes, one with each hand, and could do the task that is normally very difficult for the
average person to do. When he is asked to look at the center of the screen and draw what he
sees, each hand draws only what is seen on one of the halves. When he is asked what he sees
on one half of the screen, the half opposite to the one not responsible for his communication, he
says he cannot see it but he is able to draw it. (right brain, not speaking, left brain, speaking).
When given stimuli where one word is connected to an object (the object is seen by the right
brain) when he is asked. To choose which object the word represents, he chooses the object
seen by the right brain but comes up with a different reasoning to appease the logical left side of
the brain. When shown an image of a face made up of vegetables on the right side, (the left
hemisphere which does not recognize faces,)he sees it as vegetables when it is shown on the
left side (the right brain which specializes in seeing faces) he sees it as faces.

What is a sensory map > we can induce an electrical shock and create physical and sensory
responses based on the area of the brain that is shocked. A homunculus is an image of the
parts of the body scaled to how much sensory real estate is dedicated to processing information
from this part in the brain. The parts of the body are not to physical scale but parts of brain that
are closer together in the brain are closer together in the diagram

Are there sex differences in the brain > there are biological and environmental factors in the
differences between males and females. Men show a superiority when it comes to controlling
objects in space while women have a superiority in skills that involve language such as
storytelling. Sexual dimorphism is the term for the sex differences in anatomical structures.
Males brain’s are 9% larger (this does not mean men are more intelligent). Women tend to have
denser brain connections. The processing structures between men and women are different.
For men hearing a story and understanding what it means activates only the left side of the
brain but for women activates both. This means that if this part is damaged women can regain
this ability much easier.

What is Brain plasticity > Brain plasticity is the redistribution of sensory information and, how if
a part of the brain is no longer in use, the brain reuses the resources. The ability for the brain to
generate new neurons is called neurogenesis, this occurs in the hippocampus

What activities increase neurogenesis > getting sleep, certain foods such as flaminoids
(inflammatory foods decrease it), Omega 3 rich foods (saturated fats decrease it). Exercise and
stress regulation.

What is the endocrine system > it is a hormonal system that prepares the body to deal with
physical and social threats. Hormones are found in the bloodstream and are released into the
bloodstream which can take hours, which is slow compared to the release of neurotransmitters.
The pituitary gland controls growth. The thyroid controls the metabolic rate, the adrenal gland
controls salt and carbohydrate metabolism. The pancreas controls sugar metabolism. The
gonads control the sex hormones

Hormones and sexual behaviour >testes are the organs in males and ovaries are the organs in
females. Androgens (testosterone) is the sex hormone in males, Estrogens (estradiol,
progesterone) is the sex hormone in females. Women have some testosterone but at much
lower rates than men. Mens need minimum levels of testosterone before puberty to be able to
perform sexually, an injection of testosterone can give the ability for the person to perform.
Women have a more complex story, the presence of the physical features of the women is
related to estrogen, but sexual behaviour is related to the testosterone levels

What are behavioural genetics > the study of the influence of genetic factors on behavioural
traits

What compromises what in genes > genes have strands of DNA, the DNA is located in
chromosomes, there are 46 chromosomes each containing thousands of genes, these are all
stored in every cell in the human body. A gene can be dominant or recessive. A recessive gene
can be masked while a dominant gene cannot
What is heritability > is a statistical concept that helps us estimate people’s tendency to act in
ways that are similar to their relatives. It is the proportion of observed variance and how it can
be explained by the genetic make up. How much of what we see is influenced by what we see.
This can only be used in a group.

What is the heritability coefficient > (correlation between identical twins - correlation between
fraternal twins ) x2. This is because any difference of a trait in identical twins is not genetic so it
has no genetic influence. Environmentality is how traits are influenced by the environment.
Environmentality + heritability = 1

What are the misconceptions about heritability > it cannot be computed for individuals. It is not
constant or immutable (therefore it is given in a range extrovertedness .4 -.6). It is not precise, it
is an estimate. There is no debate about nature vs nurture at an individual level, it is only at the
group level.

What methods do we use to study behavioural genetics >

Selective breeding > breeding members of the same species (not humans) for a trait and over
time we see more of that trait.

What are family studies > the correlation between the genetic overlap between family members
and the degree of similarity in a trait. This has an issue when it comes to the fact that it cannot
control for environment. These studies are never definitive

What are twin studies > we compare the traits of monozygotic twins and dizygotic twins, and if
there is more of a similarity between MZ than DZ that there is evidence for heritability. We
assume that twins are treated similarly, and we assume that the twins are representative (this is
not exactly true)

What are adoption studies > we look for correlations between the adopted child and their
adoptive parents and the traits of their genetic parents. Whichever side the trait leans to shows
whether the trait is more heritable or more environmental.

What is the gold standard for behavioral genetics experiments > twins separated at birth

What is evolutionary psychology > it tries to explore how our ancestors brains evolved certain
traits

What is natural selection > all humans today come from an unbroken line of ancestors that
reached the age of reproductive age and finding a mate. Only the best adapted to their
environment reach this. Successful variants that are naturally occurring are selected and
become more dominant over time while less successful variants are weeded out
What is an adaptation > are inherited solutions against reproductive problems posed by hostile
forces in nature

What is sexual selection > the traits evolved because they contributed to an individual’s mating
success. This can be split up into Intrasexual and intersexual selection

Intrasexual and intersexual selection > the former is members of the same sex competing to
have access to females. The latter is when a member of a sex chooses a member of the other
sex based on certain traits (peacocks feathers, cardinal’s feathers)

Lecture 5:

What is the difference between sensation and perception > sensation describes the stimulation
of sense organs. Perception is a more complicated process that occurs in the brain. Perception
is the selection organization, and interpretation of sensory input.

What is Psychophysics > the study of how physical stimuli are translated into psychological
experiences

What is an example of the difference between sensation and perception > the nether cube shifts
after being looked at for 15 seconds. The sensation (stimuli) did not change but the perception
in the brain did.

In order to function what does our brain need > our brain needs qualitative information and
quantitative information. For example: when crossing the street the qualitative information is the
color of the light, the quantitative information would be the loudness of the honk telling you
whether the car is going to stop or not. Quantitative information acts on the rate of firing of
neurons. While qualitative acts on different neurons firing.

What is the absolute threshold > the minimum intensity of stimulation that must occur before you
experience a sensation. We can detect every magnitude of stimuli. The weakest detectable
stimulus is the absolute intensity. The minimum intensity can be detected 50 percent of the time
for it to be the minimum.

What is the JND > it is the “Just Noticeable Difference” is the smallest difference in stimuli that a
person can detect. Weber found that the size of the JND is a constant proportion of the initial
size of the stimulus. K (amount) = difference between stimuli / standard initial stimulus.there is
no constant value that causes a constant 0 to 100 jump in detection, we found that it can be
detected 50% of the time.

What are examples of JND for some stimuli > taste: 50%: teaspoon of sugar in 3.7 Liters of
water. Smell: 50%: one drop of perfume for 6 rooms. Touch: 50%: a fly’s wing falling on our
cheeks falling from a height of 0.04 inches. Hearing: 50% We can hear the ticking of the clock
from 20 feet away. Vision: 50%: we can see a candle light from 30 miles away.
What is light > light is electromagnetic radiation that differs in amplitude and wavelength affects
the color we perceive. Light can be different in purity depending on how many different colors
are mixed in. This is how we evaluate saturation.

What is the eye > It is the main part of the body that gathers information about light and it can
tell us things about the safety of the room or if a person is a friend or an enemy. We have many
metaphors about this. The human eye does not work like a camera, it is an intelligent process
that is not passive

What is the eye > it houses neural tissue and channels its information to the brain. It processes
and sends the information. Light passes through the cornea and the lens bends them to form an
image on the retina (the inner surface of the back of the eyeball there is more refraction on the
cornea then on the lens. The pupil regulates how much light enters the eye, it does not move.
The iris is a colored ring of muscle that determines how to contract the pupil based on the
amount of light ( can also be based on if we see something we like) it does this through
contraction and dilation contraction and dilation. All of this makes an upside down image on the
retina. The information that travels goes in as bits and pieces and gets synthesized in the brain.

What are saccades > small movements in the eye that we can’t see that sends information to
the brain to make the image more clear.

What is the retina > it absorbs light, processes images and sends the information to the brain. It
is made of neural tissue.
What is the fovea > it is a tiny spot in the center of the optic disk containing only cones.
What is the optic disk > it wis where the optic nerve leaves the eyeball causing a blind spot

What are rods and cones > rods are activated for night vision, they are activated when there is
very low lumination. Cones are a specialized type of neural tissue that specialize in
distinguishing color and daylight color. There are 120m and 6m respectively. Adaptation occurs
due to changes in the chemical makeup of rods and cones, and it can make you more or less
sensitive to light.

What are receptive fields > collections of rods and cones cells that send information to the brain
depending on the type of information. They respond to particular visual cells

What are lateral antagonism > when neural activity either increases or decreases based on
activity of surrounding cells

What are the processes that occur from when we open our eyes > light - rods and cones -
neural signals - bipolar cells - ganglion cells with long axons that create the optical nerve - optic
nerve - optic chiasm (the point where the optic nerve projects into the brain) - opposite half of
the brain
What is the main pathway > going from the thalamus to the primary visual cortex (occipital lobe
) this either goes to the parietal lobe if the information is magnocellular (where) or to the
temporal lobe if the information is Parvocellular(what)

What is the secondary pathway > superior colliculus > thalamus > occipital lobe)

Hubel and Wiesel feature detector > they discovered that neurons fire to different stimuli, for
example faces and lines

What do we know about color > the longer the wavelength the more reddish the color, the
shorter the wavelength the more violet the color is. We cannot detect infrared ultraviolet etc. we
can only view 400-700 nanometers. Color is a product of our visual system, it is the reflection of
color off of an object, the object does not have color.

Trichromatic theory of color > three types of colors are picked up by three different types of
cones (red, green, blue) colors mixed form other colors, all the the colors combined as waves
gives the color white, all the colors mixed together in pigment is black, it is the equivalent of
subtracting colors. Dichromats( color blindness) are the result of genetics, where the cones are
not as strong.

Color blindness occurs in >> mainly men and the most common kind is red green

What is Opponent Process THeory > there are three types of color receptors (red -green)
(blue-yellow) (light - dark). These colors antagonize each other (antagonistic colors)

Which of the two theories are correct > both are correct former explains activity in the
specialized cone, latter explains what happens when ganglion cells process signals from many
kinds of cells

What is the Gestalt principle of form perception > figure ground: choosing to focus on the shape
of the object or the shape of the background Proximity: how close things are helps us interpret
them as one shape Similarity: things that share characteristics are grouped together Continuity:
we interpret intersecting lines as continuous Closure: information that fits into an already known
patter are grouped together as that pattern Face Perception: we tend to look at things to see the
face (specific cells activate for this, this is because seeing faces are important to recognize
evolutionarily)

How are depth and perception detected > binocular cues and Monocular cues (clues coming
from both eyes and clues coming from one of the eyes respectively)

What are binocular cues > retinal disparity, when things are closer than 25 feet we see the
images differently from both eyes and the brain synthesizes the images together. when things
move towards you both eyes view it moving at different rates and those images are synthesized
which is how we know how far or close something is
What are monocular cues > Motion parallax:when things move towards you the eye is taking
multiple images and can use that to track the movement. Pictorial depth cues, are cues that our
eyes have to tell us the depth of something

What are perceptual constancies > things that we evaluate to make sense of changing stimuli.
We perceive the tree to look bigger as we move closer to something. We accommodate
movement as ourselves moving instead of the environment like when we are in a car and see
trees going by . We also do this with brightness, hue and shape.