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States of Consciousness

Consciousness – our moment to moment awareness of ourselves and our environment Has various characteristics: Subjective and Private – reality and experience depend on the individual Dynamic – consciousness experiences are ever-changing and a continuous flow of mental activity Self-reflective and Central to Our Sense of Self – mind is aware of its own consciousness…

Sensation and Perception

Sensation – the stimulus-detection process by which our sense organs respond to and translate environmental stimuli into nerve impulses that are sent to the brain Perception – active process of organizing the stimulus input and giving it meaning Sensory Processes Stimulus detection – absolute threshold designated as the lowest intensity at which a stimulus can…

Psychology: The Science of Behaviour

Psychology = The scientific study of behaviour and the factors that influence it. Taking into account Biological, Individual and Environmental factors. Basic and Applied Science Two types of research: Basic research: Knowledge gained purely for its own sake. The goals are to describe how people behave and to identify factors that influence it. Research maybe…

Brain: Imaging, Anatomy, Lateralization

Scores on neuropsychological tests show amount of damage done to person Destruction and Stimulation test: can destroy parts of the brain to see effect or stimulate nerves with electrodes  (Dr. Penfield- famous neuroscientists) – mapped motor and sensory areas Broca’s aphasia: could understand, but not speak Dorsal Stream: action (D.A) Ventral Stream: perception (V.P) Single-…

Brain Structure: Depolarization & Neurotransmitters

Neurons: constructive unit of the nervous system; interconnected like electrical circuits Made up of: Soma (cell body): contains nucleus, keeps nerve cells alive (grey matter) Dendrites: receiving portion of nerve cell- receiving end of cell Axon: sends impulses away from the cell (white matter) Dendrites and axons are all interconnected; vary in shape and size…

Statistics in Psychology: Variance, Deviation

Descriptive Statistics: Summarizes and describes characteristics of a set of scores for a group Frequency Distribution: # of people who received each score Histogram: frequency distribution turned into a graph. The measure of central tendency: mean (average), median (middle), mode (most often) The measure of variability: provide info about the spread of scores (i.e range)…

Psychology Study Methods, Research, Validity

Key scientific attitudes: Curiosity, skepticism, open-mindedness Hindsight: explaining behavior after the fact (problem: multiple conflicting outcomes and explanations for results) Use Scientific Process with variables and factual observations Scientific Process: Formulate a question based on observed events Formulate a tentative explanation for why those event transpired (hypothesis) Conduct research to test it Analyze research and…

Romeo & Juliet Act I, Scene 1 Analysis

Key players Sampson/Gregory: Servants to Capulet Abraham/Balthasar: Servants to Montague Benvolio: Nephew of Montague, Romeo’s friend Tybalt: Nephew of Lady Capulet Capulet: Head of household feuding with Montagues Lady Capulet: Wife of Capulet Prince (Escalus): Prince of Verona Montague: Head of household feuding with Capulets Lady Montague: Wife of Montague Romeo: Son of Montague Summary…

Tools and Science of Archaeology

Archaeologists are basically detectives who attempt to reconstruct past human activities from evidence most of which is buried in the earth.  Archaeology involves experts from many other fields. Even the science of archaeology, commonly divided into prehistoric and historical can be further divided into various fields: paleolithic, Egyptology, classical, industrial, environmental, underwater, salvage, and experimental…

Earliest Civilization: the Fertile Crescent & Mesopotamia

Categorized as the earliest of all civilizations as people formed permanent settlements Mesopotamia is a Greek word that means “between the rivers” Specifically, the area between the Tigris River and Euphrates River (present day Iraq) Mesopotamia is not within the “Fertile crescent“, it is in the more desert area that the “Fertile crescent” arcs around…