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Summary Intro to psychology and its methods topic 1 and 2
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Topic 1: Genes and evolution and Topic 2: The brain and the nervous system, with lecture notes and book notes and questions related to the exam
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Topic 1: Genes and evolutionLecture/slides:
Chromosomes contain DNA, and are located in nucleus of cell.
Genes are:
- Units of heredity in chromosomes.
- Meaningful sections of DNA molecule
- Govern (regreen) cells function by providing instruction to make protein (eiwit).
Gene expression means whether a gene is turned on or off.
In each cell, some genes are expressed and some not and this is controlled by the
biochemical environment inside the cell. biochemical environment inside the cell is
influenced by:
- Environment outside out cell
- Experience
- Behavior, etc.
Genome is the set of complete instructions for making an organism and it contains all the
genes in that organism.
Genotype is an organisms’ specific set of genes (Is determined at fertilization).
Phenotype are the traits and behavior of an organism (is determined by genotype and
environment).
Each gene is paired with another gene that are located at the corresponding positions on
pairs of chromosomes. An allele is one specific variant of a gene. Dominant or recessive.
Homozygote: alleles on locus are the same
Heterozygote: alleles on locus are different.
Charles Darwin hypothesized that:
- all modern organisms are descended from a small set of shared ancestors
- and have merges over time through the process of evolution.
Natural selection:
- there is variation among individuals
- individuals with certain trait survive and reproduce at higher rate than others
- the trait with advantage is passed from parents to offspring
What really matters is the survival of the genes with advantages not the survival of
individuals.
Evidence for modern evolutionary theory comes from fossil records, distribution of species
around the world, pseudogenes (genen die niet uitkomen maar wel in twee organismen
bevatten, bijv bij on sons stuitje) and resemblance between genomes of various organism.
Evolution is populations getting new characteristics or losing old ones after at least one
generation.
, Book:
Psychological science is the study, through research, of mind brain and behavior Mind
refers to mental activity. (Mental activity results from biochemical processes within the
brain). Behavior describes totality of observable actions.
How do the mind and brain relate?
The mind (mental activity) is produced by biochemical processes in the brain.
A hallmark of a good scientist is being amiable skeptic. An amiable skeptic remains open to
new ideas but is wary of new scientific findings when good evidence and sound reasoning
do not seem to support them, basically weighs the facts when deciding what to believe.
Critical thinking = systematically questioning and evaluating information using well-
supported evidence.
What is amiable skepticism?
Being open to new ideas but carefully considering the evidence.
Ignoring evidence (confirmation bias) = search for, recall information in a way that confirms
or supports one’s beliefs.
Seeing relationships that do not exist = two events that happen at the same time must be
related.
Accepting after-the-fact explanations (hindsight bias) = explaining why things happened in
the past.
Taking mental shortcuts (availability heuristics) = overestimating how often an event
probably will take place because it is seen more at the time and underestimating how often
other events will probably happen.
Why should you be suspicious of after-the-fact explanations?
Once people know an outcome, they interpret and reinterpret old evidence to make sense
of that outcome, giving a false sense of predictability.
Hypothesis generation = a pre-decisional process by which we formulate explanations and
beliefs regarding the occurrences we observe in our environment.
Why would you be skeptical of people’s descriptions of their personal strengths?
Because people often lack the expertise to accurately evaluate and compare their abilities.
A human cell contains 23 pairs of chromosomes that are made of strands and segments of
those strands are genes.
What is a gene?
A particular sequence of DNA that provides instructions for building polypeptides and
subsequently proteins.
Gene expression = whether a particular gene is turned off or on
Chromosomes = structures within the cell body that are made up of DNA, segments of
which comprise individual genes
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