Brain Structure

The brain is divided into three main parts

The Hindbrain
The Midbrain
The Forebrain

The Hindbrain

Medulla Oblongata

-controls heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure

Pons

-Connects the hindbrain, midbrain,and forebrain

-involved with facial expressions

Cerebellum

-Located in the back of the head

-means Little Brain

-coordinates muscle movements

The Midbrain

-coordinates simple movements with sensory information

Reticular formation

arousal and ability to focus attention

The Forebrain

Thalamus

-receives sensory information and sends them to the appropriate part of the brain

-Like a switchboard

-controls all senses but smell

Limbic System

-Emotional control center of the brain

-made up of the Hypothalamus, Amygdala, and Hippocampus

Hypothalamus

-Peasized

-controls body temperature, hunger, and thirst

Hippocampus

-involved in memory processing

Amygdala

-Vital for our basic emotions

The Cerebral Cortex

-Is the top layer of the brain, and contains fissures that increase the surface area of the brain, and when laid out is about the size of a pizza.

the question is, how big is the pizza

and can I have a slice

It is also divided into 2 Hemispheres, the Left and Right Hemisphere

The two hemispheres are associated with

Contrallateral control- the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, Vice Versa

and

Brain Lateralization-  Lefties are better at spatial and creative tasks, Righties are better at logic

Which one are you, and does this hold true?

The Corpus Callosum 

attatches the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex, and when removed, you are diagnosed with split brain

The Cerebral cortex can be further divided into 4 major lobes:

• The frontal lobe
• The Parietal lobe
• The Occipital lobe
• The Temporal Lobe

The Frontal Lobe

-associated with abstract thought and emotional control

-contains the Motor Cortex which is associated with muscle movements

-Contains Broca's area which is responsible for controlling muscles that produce speech

-Damage to the Broca's area is called Broca's Aphasia, in which victims are unable to make movements to talk.

The Parietal Lobe

-Contains the Sensory Cortex, which receives incoming touch sensations from the rest of the body

-most of the parietal lobe is made up of Association Areas, which are NOT associated with receiving sensory information or coordinating muscle movements. It is involved with higher thinking processes

The Occipital Lobe

-Deals with Vision

-Contains Visual Cortex and interprets messages from our eyes into images we can understand

The Temporal Lobe

-Process sound sense by our ears

- Contains Wernike's Area and interprets written and spoken speech

-those diagnosed with Wernike's Aphasia are unable to understand language; the syntax and grammar are jumbled

The Endocrine System

is the system of glands that secrete hormones. It is similar to the nervous system, except hormones work slower than neurotransmitters. The major Endocrine Glands consist of:

The Pituitary Gland

-secretes many different hormones and affect other glands

The Adrenal Gland

Inner part is called the medulla

Triggers our flight or fight instincts

The Pancreas

Regulates Level of sugar in the blood

The Reproductive Glands

-Ovaries Secrete female sex hormone

-Testes Secret male sex hormones

The Thyroid

-Affects our metabolism

For those of you who have trouble retaining all this information (and trust me, you're not alone) my friends and I made a song, that will help you remember. Below are the lyrics and Video

The Best Brain of My Life

[Verse]

We use our brain every day,

It’s made of matter that is gray,

Woah oh oh oh oh oh oh (x2)

There are 4 lobes to the brain,

Connected like a track of trains,

Woah oh oh oh oh oh oh (x2)

We have the frontal lobe, woah,

We have the occipital, woah,

Don’t forget the parietal and temporal

[Chorus]

Woo, woo, I’m gonna tell you ‘bout my brain,

My brain,

Woo, woo, It’s connected to my brainstem,

Connects my brain my whole body!

(Musical Intermission)

[Verse]

I talk and sing with Wernicke’s,

It helps me understand with ease,

Woah oh oh oh oh oh oh oh,

It’s in the temporal,

To see what I see every day,

The visual cortex guides my way,

Woah oh oh oh oh oh oh,

It’s in the occipital

The pituitary helps us – to grow

With the hypothalamus, woah

It controls thirst, hunger, temperature

[Chrous]

Woo, woo, I’m gonna tell you ‘bout my brain,

My brain,

Woo, woo, the cerebellum is the little brain,

The sensory cortex lets us feel pain!

(Musical Intermission)

[Bridge]

The cerebral cortex is the top layer,

The hippocampus processes memories,

The motor cortex moves us,

The thalamus sends signals,

The medulla controls the vitals

(Musical Intermission)

[Chorus]

Woo, woo, I’m gonna tell you ‘bout my brain,

My brain,

Woo, woo, the Corpus connects our two hemispheres,

The Pons helps me to show all my fears

(Musical Intermission)

[Verse]

Association areas,

They help us choose what’s best for us,

 Woah, it’s in all of our lobes,

Reticular formation,

Centers education,

Woah, it’s next to the Medulla

(Musical Intermission)

[Chorus]

Woo, woo, the Broca’s areas in the frontal lobe,

It helps us talk all over the globe,

Woo, woo, the last part is the Amygdala,

It controls all our emotions

Everybody think, everybody think, everybody think,

With our entire brain,

This is what our brain –

This is what it’s made up of

Woo woo, we just told you ‘bout our brain,

Our brain

The Nervous System

The nervous system is a complex system of nerves and cells called neurons that transmit signals between the parts of the body.

A Neuron

is an individual nerve cell that processes and transmits information through electrical and chemical signals.

Parts of a Neuron

Dendrites- Receive messages from other cells

Axon- Passes messages away from the cell body to other neurons, muscles, and glands

Cell body- The cell's life support center

Neural impulse- Electrical signals traveling down the axon

Myelin Sheath- Covers Axon and increases impulses

Synapse- structure that permits a neuron to pass a chemical/electrical signal to another cell

But how does a Neuron fire?

Resting Potential 

 -neuron was reached threshold when enough negative neurotransmitters reach dendrites

Action Potential

- Electrochemical process

-The electrical charges inside of a neuron

- Chemical outside of the neuron(in the synapse in the form of a neurotransmitter)

All or Nothing Principle

- The idea that either the neuron fires or does not

-no partway firing

Neurotransmitters

are chemical messengers released by terminal buttons through synaptic gap.

 There are 4 main types.

Acetylcholine (ACH)

- Deals with motor movement and memory

-Lack of ACH is linked to Alzheimers

Dopamine

-Deals with motor movement and alertness

-Lack of Dopamine is linked to Parkinson

-Overabundance is linked to Schizophrenia

Seratonin 

- Linked with mood control 

-Lack of seratonin is linked to depression

Endorphins 

-Involved with pain control

-Addictive drugs deal with endorphins

Antagonists- Stop Neural firing 

Agonists- Synthesize Neural firing

Types of Neurons

(Sensory)

Afferent Neurons

-Take info from senses to the brain

Inter Neurons

-Take messages from sensory neurons to other parts of the brain or motor neurons

(motor)

Efferent Neurons

-Take info from brain to the rest of the body and nervous system

Central Nervous System

-Brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System

-All nerves not encased in the bone

-All but spinal cord

-Diverges into somatic & autonomic Nervous system

Somatic Nervous System

- Controls voluntary muscle movement

-Uses motor neurons

Autonomic Nervous System

-Controls automatic functions of the body

Divided into 2 categories (sympathetic & parasympathetic)

Sympathetic Nervous System

-Linked to Flight or Fight instincts

-Automatically accelerates heart rate, breathing, dilates pupils, and slows digestion

Parasympathetic Nervous System

-Automatically slows the body down after a stressful event

-Heart rate and breathing slow, digestion increases

Reflexes

-Normally sensory neurons take info up through the spine to the brain

-Some reactions occur when sensory neurons reach spinal cord

Lesions

-Cutting into the brain and looking for changes- i.e Brain tumors

Motivation and Emotion

"What is my motivation?"

More like

"What caused my behavior?"

Or

"Why did I act that way?"

Motivation

A need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

Instinct Theory

Theorizes that we are motivated by our inborn automated behaviors

Drive Reduction Theory

The idea that a psychological need creates an aroused tension state that motivates an organism to satisfy a need and maintain homeostasis

We are

                                                              Pushed by our needs 

& 

                                                               Pulled by incentives

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow said that we are motivated by needs and all needs are not created Equal. We are driven to satisfy the lower needs 

Or I guess in this day and age, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs 2.0

JUST KIDDING.

Hunger

The psychological and physiological need to consume in order to prevent discomfort derived from the Hypothalamus

Hypothalamus

Lateral Hypothalamus

When stimulated, causes hunger

Ventromedial Hypothalamus

When stimulated, signals fullness

Leptin

• is a protien produced by bloated fat cells
• Hypothalamus senses rises in leptin and  will curb eating and increase activity

Set point

• The hypothalamus acts like a thermostat
• We are meant to be in a certain weight range
• When we fall below weight, our body increases hunger and decreases energy expenditure 

Body Chemistry

Glucose

• The hormone insulin converts glucose into fat if not used as energy
• When Glucose levels drop, hunger rises

Psychology of Hunger

External 

People whose eating is triggered more by the presence of food than internal factors

• Food tastes better, we chew less when hungry
• Food tastes worse, we chew more (at the end of the meal)

Bulimia Nervosa

• Characterized by Binging large amounts of food and purging

Anorexia Nervosa

• Starve themselves to below 85% of their normal body weight
• See themselves as fat
• Mostly women

Achievement Motivation

Intrinsic motivation

Rewards we get internally, such as enjoyment or satisfaction

Extrinsic Motivation

Rewards that we get for accomplishments from outside ourselves 

Management Theory

Theory X

• Manager believes that employees will work only when rewarded with benefits or threatened with punishment
• Think employees are extrinsically motivated
• Only interested in Maslow's lower needs

Theory Y

• Managers believe that employees are internally motivated to do good work and policies should encourage through internal motive
• Interested in Maslow's higher needs

Emotion

• We feel emotion because of biological changes caused by stress 
• The body changes and recognizes the feeling

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

• Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion arousing stimuli 

                        

Cannon Bard Theory of Emotion

• Emotion-arousing stimuli  simultaneously trigger:
• physiological responses
• subjective experience of emotion  

Schachter's 2-factor Theory

• To experience emotion, one must:

Be physically aroused
Cognitively label the arousal

Lie Detectors

Polygraphs are commonly used in attempts to detect lies

• Measures several of the Physiological responses accompanying emotion

Perspiration

Cardiovascular responses

Breathing changes

Catharsis

Releasing aggressive energy through action or fantasy that relieves aggressive urges

Feel good - Do good phenomenon

• People's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Adaptation-level Phenomenon

• Tendency to form judgments relative to a neutral level

Relative Deprivation

• Perception that one is worse off than these whom one compares oneself

Social Relations

How do we relate to one another? Social relations focuses on six main contributors to how we interact and connect with one another.

PREJUDICE

• An unjustifiable attitude towards a group of people
• Usually involves stereotypical believes

Social inequalities

• Ingroup- People with whom one shares a common identity
• Outgroup-  People perceived as different from one's ingroup
• Ingroup Bias-  Tendency to favor one's own group

Scapegoat Theory

Prejudice that provides an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame

AGGRESSION

Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy

Frustration Aggression principle

• Blocking of an attempt to achieve a goal, which creates anger which generates aggression
• Goals can be sports/work/relationship oriented

CONFLICT

Perceived incompatibility of  actions, goals, and ideas

Social Traps

Parties of a situation may become caught in a mutually harmful decision as they pursue their own desires

Just-world Phenomenon

The belief that those who suffer deserve what they get

Reciprocity Norm

The expectation that people will help those that have helped them

\

Social  Responsibility

The expectation that people will help those that rely on them

ATTRACTION

Are contributed to by 5 factors

1. proximity

• Geographic Nearness
• Mere exposure effectRepeated exposure breeds liking
• Mirror Image Concept

"You too totally belong together"

2. Reciprocal Liking

You are more likely  to like someone who likes you back

3. Similarity

Birds of a feather flock together

4. Physical attractiveness

Physically attractiveness predicts dating frequencies.

5. Love

Passionate Love:

Arousal state; Physical need

Compassionate Love:

Deep affectionate love composed of:

Equity (Fairness) & Self- Disclosure (No Secrets)

ALTRUISM

Unselfish regard for others welfare

Bystander Effect

The effect that people are less willing to help others if there are more people present

Social Exchange Theory

The idea that our social behavior is an exchange process, in which me maximize our benefits and minimize the costs

PEACEMAKING

• Compromise at its finest
• Works towards Win/Win situations
• Give people shared goals that can be achieved through cooperation

G.R.I.T

Graduated &

Reciprocated

Initiatives in

Tension Reduction

Social Influence

Social influence focuses on how an individual is affected by other people

According to research, Behavior is contagious. We unknowingly mimics others postures, expressions, and random nuances that we observe on a daily basis.

                                

Conformity

Is the act of adjusting ones behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard.

Conformity increases in conditions of: 

• feelings of incompetence and insecurity
• Unanimous groups made up of  > 3 People 
• Admiration for the group's status and attractiveness
• No prior engagements or commitments made
• Observers present
• Respect for social standards/norms

Reasons for conforming:

Normative Social Influence

Influence resulting from a person's desire to gain approval or avoid disappointment

Informational Social Influence

Influence resulting from one's willingness to accept other's opinions about reality

Obedience

Social facilitation

Improved performance of tasks in the presence of others

Social Loafing

Tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling efforts toward a common goal than if they were individually accountable

Deindividualization

Loss of self awareness and self restraint occurring in group situations that foster arousal and anonymity

Group Polarization

The concept that a group's attitude is one of extremes and rarely moderate

Group Think

Mode of thinking that occurs when the desire of harmony in making of a decision in a group overrides common sense

Self Fulfilling Prophecy

Social Psychology

The study of how we think about, influence, and relate to another

How do we think about one another?

         

We are social beings 

who thrive on social interaction, and our will to love, or hate drastically; which is why, despite others objections, we really truly care what others think of us.

Attribution theory

The idea that we give a casual explanation for someone's behavior

Fundamental Attribution Error

The tendency to underestimate the impact of a situation and overestimate the impact of personal disposition

Attitudes

A  belief or feeling that predisposes one to respond in a particular way to something

Foot in Door Phenomenon

The tendency for people who have first agreed to a small request, to comply later to a larger request

Door in Face Phenomenon

The tendency for people who say no to a huge request to comply with a smaller one first.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory

The theory that we do not like when we have either conflicting attitudes, or when our attitudes do not match our actions

Research Methods

There is a wide range of Psychological research methods used in our every day life. These methods are varied by the way that the information is processed, viewed, extracted, and presented. Psychological research effects our lives in many different ways; from how parents discipline their children, to how our government is run; information accumulated from this research is very important in the development of our society.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that you knew it all along

Overconfidence

We tend to think we know more than we do

The Barnum Effect

The tendency for people to accept general or vague characterizations of themselves and take them to be accurate

TYPES OF RESEARCH:

Applied research

• Clear practical applications
• you can use it

Basic Research

• Explores questions that you may be curious about, but not intended to be used immediately

Experimental research

• Explores cause and effect
• Operational Definitions: 
How will the variables  be measured in " Real Life " terms?
Explaining what we mean in our hypothesis

in an experimental study, you may have components such as

• Experimental Groups - Group in which the treatment of an experiment is exposed to its participants

• Control Groups- Group used as comparison for evaluation the effect of the treatment

• Dependent Variables-  Aspect that is being measured in an experiment

• Independent Variable- Whatever is being studied can be manipulated
• Hypothesis- Expresses a relationship between two variable

Single Blind Study

• Subjects are unaware if assigned to experimental or control group

Double Blind Study

• Neither subjects, nor experimenters know which group is controlled or experimental

Survey

• An experimental method of research in which questions are asked to a group of subjects and in which the researcher has to take careful measures to make sure that the information is not skewed or biased.

Naturalistic observation

• Researchers observe subject in their natural habitat

Cross sectional Study

• A cross section of a population is tested

Longitudinal study

• A group of subjects is studied over a long period of time

Case study

• An in-depth analysis of a single person

Statistically speaking....

Descriptive Statistics

• Describes results of research

Inferential statistics

• Used to make an inference or draw conclusion beyond the raw data

Central Tendency

Where does the center of the data tend to be?

Mode

The most frequently occurring score in a distribution

Mean

The average of scores

Median

Middle score

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores

Standard Deviation

How much the scores vary around the mean

• High Deviation: Data is spread out
• Low Deviation: Data is clustered