Comprehensive Photo Album

David MontiAP Psychology

Period G

Prologue/Chapter 1

Structuralism

Structuralism focuses on the importance of the layout of the brain in regards to thought. A great example of this would be the engine of a car because it too emphasizes how the composition of a car influences how it operates.

Functionalism

Functionalism is a classification of psychology that stresses the overall function of the brain as the most contributing to our understanding of thought. Following the car analogy, functionalism would be the exterior presentation of the vehicle, and the functions of the car without worrying about the engine and parts.

Naturalistic Observation

Naturalistic observation is a form of gaining knowledge about people/animals by observing them in a natural setting to see how they behave when they are unaware of the observers presence. This same premise is reflected in a security camera because a person can theoretically observe a crowd at a store or other location naturally, and the subjects do not know they are being watched.

Case Study

A case study is used to evaluate the effects of an experience (usually traumatic) on a subject without repeating the event because it would be unethical. An example of a case study would be observing the psychological effects breaking a limb on a trampoline does to a child. It would be unethical to repeat such an experiment on a child, but one could use me as a case study to see if there were any effects.

Chapter 2A

Dendrite

Dendrites are the branch-like receptors of different neurotransmitters that collect the messages and then send them down the rest of the neural cell. This is equitable to the mailbox of the US Postal Service. The mailbox takes in all the messages (or neurotransmitters) which are then ready to be transported

Axon

The axon is the shaft of a neuron that carries the neural impulse along the cell to the axon terminal where neurotransmitters are released. Its function is to essentially transport the message, so mail trucks would be a great example of axons following along with the USPS analogy.

Sympathetic Nervous System

The sympathetic nervous system is what arouses the body by triggering the adrenal glands and exciting a person or animal. An example of this would be when I ask my dogs if they would like to go for a walk. Even if they are lying down, their sympathetic nervous systems will kick in and they will jump out of bed and wag their tails. In fact, if I were to overexcite them, they would start to breathe irregularly.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

The parasympathetic nervous system is what calms the body back down after an exciting or stressful experience. An example of the parasympathetic nervous system at work would be after a walk, when my dogs calm down to the point of taking a nap.

Chapter 2B

Brainstem

The brainstem is the most basic components needed in the brain for survival. Everything in the brainstem focuses on bodily functions and instinct, with no emotion or higher reasoning involved. An example of an animal who only has a brainstem and is completely survival-driven is any reptile, such as the lizards pictured here.

Cerebellum

The cerebellum is referred to as the “little brain” and is attached to the back of the brainstem. It is in charge of balance. So, in a yoga position such as this, the cerebellum is acting to keep me balanced.

Limbic System

The second most basic system in the brain after the brainstem. It in charge of basic emotions and drives beyond the instinct of survival in the brainstem. My dogs are an example of an animal who has both a brainstem and a limbic system because they can feel emotion, but even they lack the higher reasoning of a human.

Occipital Lobe

The occipital lobe is the part of the cerebral cortex of the brain that is in charge of processing the messages from the optic nerve, and perceiving vision. This television acts as an occipital lobe because it receives messages from the cable box telling it what it should be perceiving, an then forms a presentable image from those messages.

Chapter 3

Inattentional Blindness

Inattentional blindness is when someone does not perceive something because they are distracted by something they are already focusing on. For example, in this photo a person will focus on the details of my backyard such as the shed or the beautiful sky, but most people wouldn’t notice Elmo peeking around the tree if I didn’t tell them. This is due to inattentional blindness.

Change Blindness

Change blindness is the inability to perceive a change in one’s surroundings because they are not paying attention to every detail at once. For example, many people wouldn’t notice a dramatic change between these two photos, even though one of the lawn bags has been removed.

Manifest Content

The actual content or storyline of a dream. This is the completely objective experience that one perceives in a dream that is then open for interpretation. An example of manifest content would be the storyline of a dream in which Buzz Lightyear steals my car.

LSD

LSD is a powerful hallucinogenic drug that can cause its user to see or hear things that aren’t really there. A person on LSD could look up at the sky and see our friend Nemo swimming in thin air. This is an example of a hallucination.

Chapter 5

Teratogens

Teratogens are substances that can harm an unborn child if the mother were to indulge in them while pregnant. Alcohol is an example of this, as it can be harmful to a baby.

Habituation

Habituation is when a person becomes accustomed to a sensation that is perceived frequently. For example, if someone finds an old Christmas present they will be elated and excite. However, if that person found several presents, the effects of the stimulation would depreciate as the exposure remains continuous.

Conservation

Conservation is the perceiving of quantities as equal even if their appearance isn’t the same. Children tend to acquire conservation as they near 7 years old. A child that lacks conservation will perceive the glass on the right in the second picture as having more fluid than the one next to it, even though they are the same amount fluid as shown in the first picture.

Egocentrism

Egocentrism is when a person (usually a child) has a difficult time taking another’s point of view. For example, an egocentric child will stand in front of a TV blocking the screen because he/she doesn’t understand that other people can’t see it even though he/she can.

Chapter 6A

Top-Down Processing

Top-down processing is when higher mental processes influence how people see or perceive things. For example, people know that a Rubik’s cube is meant to have the same color on all sides, so those higher mental processes influences how they view this jumbled cube.

Psychophysics

Psychophysics is the study of the nature of different stimuli and how our bodies respond physiologically to them. An example of this would be how the irises on our eyes contract in bright light to regulate the amount of light entering the pupil.

Difference Threshold

Difference threshold is the minimum difference between two stimuli needed for them to be perceived as different. For example, the brightness of these two lights meets our difference threshold or “just noticeable difference” and we can perceive them as different.

Weber’s Law

Weber’s law states that a stimuli must be enhanced or reduced by at least 2% in order for the change to be perceived. For example, one would not notice the weight of this water bottle on a car because (by Weber’s law) the weight change of a water bottle is not dramatic.

Chapter 6B

Accommodation

Accommodation is the adaptation of the iris to accommodate the amount of light to be perceived. For example, in a dark room with only a candle in it, the pupils will dilate to accommodate the lack of light.

Cones

Cones are the receptor cells in the eye (specifically the retina) that are used for detection of color and details in images. For example, in this photo of my front yard, cones are what allow us to see the colors of the house, road, and mulch along with the pigmentation differences in the grass.

Kinesthesis

Kinesthesis is a sense that allows us to know the position, location, and movement of our body parts. For example, kinesthesis is what allows me to see my hand in a bowl of water, but also know its position by how it feels in the cool liquid.

Human Factors Psychology

Human-factors psychology explores the psychological relationship and implications between humans and machines. For example, here we see a human interacting on both a mobile device and an automobile. Human-factors psychology will explore the psychological impact of interacting with these machines as well as how I could make a “human error” and crash the car.

Chapter 7A

Law of Effect

The Law of Effect states that behaviors that have positive consequences are likely to be practiced more frequently and behaviors with negative consequences are likely to be practiced less. For example, studying for tests produce the positive result of a good grade, so by the law of effect, the behavior will be practiced more.

Mirror Neurons

Mirror neurons are the neurons in our brain that allow us to feel the sensation of a stimulus someone else is experiencing just by watching them experience it. For example, if I were to accidentally cut my finger, someone watching this would also wince in pain just by observing me experience this sensation. This is caused by mirror neurons.

Shaping

Shaping is a technique of operant conditioning that uses reinforcement to guide a subject closer to a desired behavior. A GPS is a good example of this because it shapes the behavior of the driver by letting him/her know if they are doing well in order to drive them towards the desired location.

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is a device used in operant conditioning that adds a desirable stimulus for a good behavior to make that behavior more likely. For example, when my dog’s go to the bathroom outside, I positively reinforce them by giving them a treat.