Psychology

Hypnosis

is a state of consciousness in which a person is specifically susceptible to suggestion.

Consciousness

is your awareness of everything that is going on around you and inside your own head at any given moment, which you use to organize your behavior including your thoughts, sensations, and feelings.

Sleep (the gentle tyrant)

one of the human body;s biological rhythms, natural cycles of activity that the body goes through.

The importance of sleep and the price of not sleeping

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adaptive theory

Sleep is the product of evolution (Webb, 1992). It proposes that animals and humans evolved different sleep patterns to avoid being present during their predators normal hunting times, which typically would be at night. for example, if a human or a prey animal (one predator will eat) is out and about at night, they are more at risk of being eaten. One of the earliest theories of sleep, sometimes called the adaptive or evolutionary theory, suggests that inactivity at night is an adaptation that served a survival function by keeping organisms out of harm’s way at times when they would be particularly vulnerable. Evolutionary theory, also known as the adaptive theory of sleep, suggests that periods of activity and inactivity evolved as a means of conserving energy. According to this theory, all species have adapted to sleep during periods of time when wakefulness would be the most hazardous. Support for this theory comes from comparative research of different animal species. Animals that have few natural predators, such as bears and lions, often sleep between 12 to 15 hours each day. On the other hand, animals that have many natural predators have only short periods of sleep, usually getting no more than 4 or 5 hours of sleep each day.

restorative theory

The other major theory of why organisms sleep. sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body. During sleep, chemicals that were used up during the days activities are replenished cellular damage is repaired. According to the repair and restoration theory of sleep, sleeping is essential for revitalizing and restoring the physiological processes that keep the body and mind healthy and properly functioning. This theory suggests that NREM sleep is important for restoring physiological functions, while REM sleep is essential in restoring mental functions. Support for this theory is provided by research that shows periods of REM sleep increase following periods of sleep deprivation and strenuous physical activity. During sleep, the body also increases its rate of cell division and protein synthesis, further suggesting that repair and restoration occurs during sleeping periods.

Two kinds of sleep:

REM (rapid eye movement ) sleep & non-REM (NREM) sleep

REM

person who moves very little in their sleep

NREM

persons body is free to move around (includes kicking someone in their sleep)

Insomnia

is the inability to get sleep, stay asleep, or get good quality sleep.

Sleep apnea

consists of loud snoring and stopped breathing

Narcolepsy

(kind of sleep seizure) Consists of sudden onset of RM sleep during otherwise waking hours. When a person suddenly slips into REM sleep during the day. Can happen suddenly without warning.

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

believed that the problems of his patients stemmed from conflicts and events that had been buried in their unconscious mind since childhood

Manifest content

the actual dream itself

Latent content

Frued believed the true meaning of a dream was hidden or latent and only expressed in symbols. ex: water in a tub might symbolize waters of birth and the tub might symbolize the mothers womb.

Theories of hyppnosis

there are two views of why hypnosis works. one emphasizes the role of dissociation or splitting the conscious awareness, whereas the other involves a kind of social role playing.

Nicotine

mild but nevertheless toxic stimulant

caffenine

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Survival

physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual

Soft science vs. hard science

the measuring tools are very sophisticated

Variable

anything that can be measured or observed and is subject to change

types of psychologist

developmental,educational, school psychologist, clinical psych, counseling,

study of behavior and 2 major aspects

1. behavior -any observable or measurable activity 2. cognition – any mental process (thinking and problem solve)

structualism

the whole of a situation or behavior is equal to the sum of its parts

measures of central tendency

used to summarize the data and give one score that seems typical of your sample

measures of variability

used to indicate how spread out the data are. are they tightly packed or s\are they widely dispersed.

psychology 4 goals

1. description 2. explanation 3. prediction 4. control

structuralism

focused on the structure or basic elements of the mind

funtionalism

how the mind allows people to adapt live , work and play

psychoanalysis

theory and therapy based on the work of sigmund frued

theory

general explanation of a set of operations or facts

behaviorism

science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only (must be directly seen or measured) prosed by John B Watson

Psycho-dynamic perspective

modern version of psychoanalysis

modern perspectives:

– humanistic perspective -cognitive perspective -social cultural perspective -biosychological perspective -evolutionary perspective

In research methods you need to know..

operational definition experimental research – if someone is valid in research, it has to be reliable, however you can have a reliable measure that isnt valid

experimental

– variable:

everthing we come in contact with is available

Hallucinogens (LCD or WEED)

causes brain to alter its interpretations of sensations . cn produce sensory distorations very similar to synthesia

LSD or Lysergic acid diethylamide

synthesized from a grain fungus called ergot

scientific / emperical

finds answers to human behavior. not a theory, because it’s proven from observation. If knowledge is empirical, it’s based on observation rather than theory. To do an empirical study of donut shops, you’ll need to visit every one you can find.

survival

physical, emotional, spiritual and intelectual

critical thinking

1. what is it i’m being asked to believe 2. what is the evidence 3. can the evidence be interpreted? 4. what evidence supports other explanations? 5. what is the most reasonable explanation?

research methods

what a researcher wants to find out, specifically regarding variables

realiability

HOW CONSISTENTLY A MEASURE IS MADE

validity

how true?

naturalistic observations

watching (observer effect)

case studies

an individual is studied in great. a detailed analysis of a person or group from a social or psychological or medical point of view

2 variables

observed or measured and subject to change

dependent variable

depends on room temperature

experimental group

group exposed to experiment

control group

is not exposed to experimental

mean

average

mode

apears often

central tndency in data?

mean,mediean and mode