Download Modules 22-30

Mike, Jason, Ian, Jack
Modules 22-30
Module 22: Understanding Consciousness and Hypnosis
Consciousness- our awareness of ourselves and our environment.
● Our conscious awareness is one part of our dual processing that goes on in our two
track minds
○ Dual processing: the principle that information is often simultaneously processed
on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.
● According to William James we experience a continuous stream of consciousness
○ Ie: When learning to ride a bike we focus on the action itself but as soon as that
becomes automatic we tend to focus on other new things while on the bike.
Hypnosis: a social interaction in which one person (the subject) responds to another person’s
(the hypnotist’s) suggestions that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will
spontaneously occur.
● Hypnotist start with a few minutes of hypnotic induction to send their subject into a state
of hypnosis
● Hypnotist rely on the subject’s openness to suggestion, their ability to focus on certain
images or behaviors.
● Most people are subject to hypnosis to some extent
● Hypnotic ability is the ability to become deeply absorbed in imaginative activity
● Hypnotically Refreshed memories are memories that combine fact with fiction
● Post hypnotic suggestion:A suggestion made during a hypnosis session to be carried out
after the subject is no longer hypnotized; used by some clinicians to help control
undesired symptoms and behaviors
● Hypnosis can relieve pain
○ An unhypnotized person will put their arm in an ice bath and feel pain within 25
seconds while the same person hypnotized will do so for much longer with little
pain.
○ Some dentist use light hypnosis to make their patients forget about the pain.
● Many people believe that hypnosis is inducing someone to play the a role and be a good
subject while others believe it includes a special state of dissociation
● Dissociation: A split in consciousness, which allows some thoughts and behaviors to
occur simultaneously with others
Module 23: Sleep Patterns and Sleep Theories
Biological Rhythms and Sleep
● Our bodies roughly synchronize with the 24 hour cycle of day and night by an internal
biological clock called the Circadian Rhythm
● Circadian Rhythm: The biological clock; Regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour
cycle
○ As morning approaches body temperature rises, peaks mid day, and starts to go
down as night approaches.
○ Thinking is sharpest and memory is most accurate mid day
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When taking a night shift or pulling an all nighter you will feel groggiest in the
middle of the night but may have renewed energy during your normal wake up
time.
● Age affects our rhythm, young adults are more evening-energized while the older adults
tend to be early birds.
○ Morning types tend to do better in school, take more initiative and be less
susceptible to depression
Sleep: periodic natural loss of consciousness
● REM Sleep: A recurring sleep stage in which vivid dreams occur.
○ Get’s its name from the the rapid eye movement that occurs every minute or so
○ These eye movements announce the beginning of a dream.
● Alpha Waves: awake but relaxed state
● Hallucinations: False sensory experiences, which are normal during NREM-1 Sleep
● NREM-2 Sleep- a furthered state of relaxed that involves periodic sleep spindles (burst
of rapid rhythmic brain activity)
● NREM-3 Sleep is deep sleep, during this stage you are hard to wake up and your brain
is emitting delta waves.
● NREM Sleep: Encompasses all sleep other than REM sleep (Non Rapid Eye Movement)
● Suprachiasmatic Nucleus (SCN): A pair of cell clusters in the hypothalamus that controls
circadian rhythm. The SCN responds to late thus modifying our feeling of sleepiness
Module 24- Sleep Deprivation, Sleep Disorders, and Dreams
Sleep loss
- Sleep is a basic need of the body, so when it yearns for it and does not get it, we begin
to feel terrible.
- When people are given the option to sleep unhindered, most will sleep at least 9 hours a
night. With that much sleep, we are more refreshed, have better moods, and perform
better at work and school.
- College students are most at risk to sleep deprivation.
- Sleep loss is a predictor of depression, and increases cortisol: a stress hormone that
increases body fat.
- Sleep deprivation increases ghrelin, decreases leptin, and causes the body to produce
excess fat, making some more vulnerable to obesity. It can also suppress the immune
system.
- Sleep deprivation slows reactions and inhibits one's ability to operate machinery and
drive cars, causing accidents.
Sleep disorders
- Insomnia is recurring problems in falling or staying asleep. Insomnia can be worsened if
brooded upon, and may be aggravated by quick solutions such as sleeping pills and
alcohol.
- Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks.
- Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing
during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings. 1 in 20 people experience this.
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Night terrors are characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified;
unlike nightmares, night terrors occur within 2-3 hours of falling asleep and are seldom
remembered.
Dreams
- Dreams are a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping
person’s mind.
- Dreams can be pleasant or nightmarish- people who have suffered emotional trauma
tend to have more nightmares. This is because dreams often build upon or reflect on our
waking lives.
- According to freud: Manifest content is the remembered story line of a dream, and latent
content is the underlying meaning of a dream.
- The meaning of dreams is unclear in the scientific community, but some predictions
include: satisfying our own wishes, filing away memories, developing and preserving
neural pathways, making sense of neural static, and reflecting cognitive development.
- REM rebound is the tendency for REM sleep to increase following REM sleep
deprivation.
Module 25-Psychoactive Drugs
· Substance Use disorder is caused by the use of psychoactive drugs.
· As a psychoactive drug is used, the user gains tolerance and becomes less susceptible to
the effects of that drug.
· Using excessive amounts of a drug can cause addiction and other health problems in the
user
· Trying to quit a drug while addicted causes the debilitating effects of withdraw
· The Three major types of psychoactive drugs are Depressants, Stimulants, and
Hallucinogens
· The biggest examples of depressants are Alcohol, Tranquilizers/, and Opiates.
· Effects of Alcohol are:
o Slowed Neural Processing
o Memory disruption
o Reduced self-Awareness and Control
· Even believing that you have ingested alcohol can cause you to emulate its effects
· Tranquilizers have similar effects to alcohol and put the whole body into a depressed state
· Opiates are used in pain killers and have the effect of replacing pain and anxiety with
pleasure.
· Use of opiates causes the body’s natural endorphin levels to fall
· Stimulants do the opposite of depressants and speed up body function.
· Effects include:
o Dilated pupils
o Increased Heart Rate
o Higher Blood Sugar
o Lower appetite
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Higher Energy and Self confidence
Withdraw causes:
Fatigue
Irritability
Headaches
Depression
Examples of Stimulants include Caffeine, Nicotine, Amphetamines, Cocaine, and Ecstasy
Hallucinogens distort perceptions and evoke sensory images in the lack of sensory input.
Major Examples are LSD, MDMA, Marijuana, and other “Natural Substances”.
Users of LSD report experiences of their mind leaving their body and dreamlike sequences
Module 26- How we Learn and Classical Conditioning
How do we learn?
- Learning is the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or
behaviors.
- Habituation is an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure
to it.
- Associative learning is learning that events happen together- either two stimuli or a
response and its consequence
- A Stimulus is any event or situation that evokes a response.
- Cognitive learning is the acquisition of mental information by observing events, watching
others, or use of language.
- Classical conditioning is a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli
and anticipate events
- Behaviorism is the view that psychology should 1. Be an objective science and 2. Study
behavior without reference to mental process. Most agree with 1 but not 2.
- A neutral response is a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.
- An Unconditioned response is an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an
unconditioned stimulus.
An unconditioned stimulus is a stimulus that unconditionally- naturally and
automatically- triggers a response.
- Pavlov proved that organisms are classically conditioned by conditioning dogs to salivate
at the sound of a tone rather than the sight or smell of food.
- A conditioned response is a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.
- A conditioned stimulus is an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with
unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response.
- Acquisition in classical conditioning is the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus
and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the
conditioned response.
- High-order conditioning is a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one
conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often
weaker) conditioned stimulus.
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Extinction in classical conditioning is the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs
when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus.
Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished
conditioned response.
Generalization is the tendency for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit
similar responses.
Discrimination in classical conditioning is the learned ability to distinguish between a
conditioned stimulus and stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus.
Module 27- Operant Conditioning
● In Operational Conditioning, organisms associate their own actions with consequences.
Actions followed by reinforcers increase; those followed by punishers often decrease.
● Operant Behavior- Behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or
punishing stimuli.
● Edward L. Thorndike’s work was elaborated on by Skinner; Law of effect: Rewarded
behavior is likely to recur.
● Operant Chamber (Skinner box)- chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can
manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer.
● Reinforcement- Any event that STRENGTHENS the behavior it follows.
● Shaping- Procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer
approximations of the desired behavior. Uses successive approximations.
● Discriminative stimulus- stimulus that elicits a response after association with
reinforcement. (Green vs. Red traffic lights)
● Positive reinforcements- increasing behaviors by presenting positive reinforcers. Any
stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.
● Negative reinforcement- Increasing behaviors by stopping a negative stimuli. Any
reinforcer that when removed after a response, strengthens the response (Not
punishment)
● Primary Reinforcer- innately reinforcing stimulus that satisfies a biological need (Food or
water).
● Conditioned reinforcer- Stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association
with a primary reinforcer. (AKA Secondary reinforcer) (Ex. Light signaling food delivery).
● If reinforcement is delayed, a behavior may not be learned. However many humans
respond to delayed reinforcers.
● Reinforcement schedule- Pattern that defines how often a desired response will be
reinforced.
● Continuous reinforcement- reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.
● Partial reinforcement- (intermittent) Reinforcing a response only art of the time. Results
in slower acquisition but greater resistance to extinction.
● Fixed-Ratio Schedule- In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces
a response only after a specified number of responses.
● Variable-ratio schedules- A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an
unpredictable number of responses.
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Fixed-interval schedule- In operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that
reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.
Variable-interval schedule- A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at
unpredictable time intervals.
Punishment- An event that tends to decrease the behavior that follows.
○ Punished behavior is suppressed, not forgotten. May negatively reinforce
parent’s punishing behavior.
○ Punishment teaches discrimination among situations.
○ Punishment can teach fear (generalization)
○ Physical punishment may increase aggression by modeling aggression as a way
to cope with problems
○ Punishment tells you what not to do;reinforcement tells you what to do.
Module 28: Operant Conditioning’s Applications, and Comparison to Classical
Conditioning
Operant Condition Application
● Computer assisted learning has helped reach Skinner’s goal of individually paced
instruction with immediate feedback
● In sports people can start with the more basic and once master move onto the mor
advanced
○ Ie: A golfer can start off with shorter putts and once mastered move back to
longer and more challenging putts.
● Knowing that reinforcers reflect productivity many business owners share risks or
opportunity for rewards because it is more likely to increase productivity.
● Operant Condition should be immediate
○ Thomas Watson of IBM knew this and when an employee did something well
done he would write them a check on the spot.
● Parents should be giving their children rewards for doing something good and not to
make them stop a bad behavior.
● The difference between Classical Conditioning and Operant Condition is that Classical
involves respondent behavior which is an automatic response while operant behavior is
behavior that operates on the environment.
Module 29- Biology, Cognition, and Learning
● Biological (genetic, unconditioned responses, adaptive responses), Psychological
influences (previous experiences, predictability of associations, generalization,
discrimination), Social- cultural influences (culturally learned preferences, motivation
affected by presence of others)
● Garcia and Koellig challenged the idea that all associations can be learned equally well
(taste aversion)
● Conditioning is faster and stronger when CS is ecologically relevant.
● Biological constraints predispose organisms to learn associations that are naturally
adaptive.
● Animals can learn predictability of an event, as if they learn an expectancy.
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Skinner was famous for discounting the importance of biological underpinnings of
behavior and the existence of private thought processes, which cannot be ignored.
Cognitive map- Mental representation of the layout of one’s environment.
Latent Learning-Learning that occurs but does not appear until there is an incentive to
demonstrate it.
There is more to learning than associating a response with a consequence; there is also
a cognition
Insight- An abrupt realization of a problem’s solution
Intrinsic motivation- A desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake. (Overuse
of bribes that leads people to see their actions as externally controlled rather than
internally appealing has been called overjustification.
Extrinsic motivation- A desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or
avoid threatened punishment.
Coping- alleviating stress using emotional, cognitive, or behavioral methods.
Problem-focused coping- attempting to alleviate stress directly by changing the stressor
or the way we interact with that stressor.
Emotion focused coping- Attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor
and attending to emotional needs related to one’s stress reaction.
Learned helplessness- the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human
learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events. (An animal avoids escape of
abuse even though they have access to it. Uncontrollable bad events → Perceived Lack
of control → generalized helpless behavior
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External locus of control- perception that chance or outside forces beyond our personal
control determine our fate.
Internal locus of control- Perception that you control your own fate.
○ Internals are often seen as being more successful and been less depressed than
externals.
Self Control- Ability to control impulses and delay short term gratification for greater
long-term rewards. Self control fluctuates,weakens after exertion, replenishes with rest,
becomes stronger with exercise.
Module 30- Learning By Observation
· Observational learning is learning by observing others or learning without direct experience
· Modeling is the act of observing and imitating behavior.
· The Bobo doll experiment was the proof of this concept.
o Children who saw adults beating up a doll were more likely to beat up the doll when the
adults left.
· Mirror Neurons that fire both when performing an action and when seeing another person
perform that action.
· This allows people to more easily imitate others.
· It is so easy to do that children ages 2-5 often over imitate the adults around them.
Mike, Jason, Ian, Jack
· This also allows people to more accurately emphasize with the pain of others.
· Observational learning can be both good and bad, but it is always most effective when one’s
actions and words are in accordance.
· Opponents of violent video games and Movies cite observational learning as a reason to
limit them