Class notes
Psyc 100 Chapter 5 Textbook Notes
- Course
- Psychology 100
- Institution
- University Of Maryland - College Park
This is a comprehensive and detailed textbook notes for chapter 5; biological foundations. *Essential Study Material!!
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Lecture 5: Biological FoundationsOctober 13th
A note on the brain
o Holistic perspective
All of the brain does everything
All of the brain is active for any given process
Certain regions “specialize” but not 100%
o There are certain areas of the brain that do more for certain
processes but they are not technically specialized
o Plasticity
Repair, extend functions, especially in response to learning and damage
Some parts of the brain can compensate for others that have suffered
damage
o Brain processes objective information
Only a small fraction
o Most of the human brain’s activity is geared towards simulating the world
Responsible for most of our suffering
We are constantly simulating what might happen
o Brain is influenced by social factors
Social environmentbrain development (maturity), regulation, output
However, correlation does not equal causation
o Just because there is activity in the brain associated with
some kind of outcome does not mean that the brain is
causing it
Neurological patterns can change depending on the changing age of
adulthood
Free Will
o Benjamin Libet’s Experiments
Wired up subjects to an EEG machine measuring brain activity
Asked them to do random hand movements when they felt like it but he
was also tracking brain activity and asked individuals to record when they
told their hand to move
Brain activity started before the individual willed anything to
happen
o Science has a problem with Free Will because it likes one thing to cause another
Different aspects of the same physical process
Consciousness is a brain activity and that is what leads your life
o Defined: The freedom to make whatever choice you want
We decide what to do and when to do it
What if free will was just an illusion?
If we aren’t in control…then we can’t be held accountable for our
actions
Neuroscientists are figuring out that everything is led back to the brain
Shaped by genetics and environment
, o Neurons in the brain are governed by physics and therefore
you cannot control them
Subconscious brain is already deciding before the conscious part
o Is neuroscience more “real” than psychology?
Many people believe so
o Neurobabble: appeal of “superfluous neuroscience information”
Social science- how people were raised
Neuroscience-brain region thought to be associated with behavior
Why study the brain?
o Implicit assessment-Convergence
Reduces likelihood of self-report bias
Placebo effectexpensive wine tastes better
Actual pleasure or demand characteristics?
Blood flow to medial orbitofrontal cortex
o Implicit vs Explicit Attitudes
IAT (Implicit Association Test) for prejudice
Uncorrelated with surveys
Amygdalagut-level reaction
Emotional learning
Associated with gut level reactions based on race
Anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal corticesregulation,
conscious thought
Brain regions more associated with conscious explicit attitudes
o Validate self-report measures
Passionate romantic love scale
Correlates with: thoughts, feelings, behavior and brain
activityanteromedial caudate body; ventral tegmental area
o Disambiguation (2 competing theories)
Romantic love: emotion or motivational state?
Caudate and VTA (dopamine), not amygdala (emotional learning)
Cognitive dissonance or self-perception?
Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (dACC) attitude change
o Cognitive dissonance
Evolutionary Psychology
o Three Stages of Brain Evolution
Reptilian: Brainstem, Cerebellum, Hypothalamus
Reactive and reflexiveavoid hazards
Mammalian: Limbic System, Cingulate, Early Cortex
Memory, Emotion, Social behaviorapproach rewards
Human
Massive cerebral cortex
Abstract thought, language, cooperative planning, empathyhigher
order thinking (Calculus)
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