COGNITIVE PROCESSES

LECTURE 1
Behaviorism
Watson (1914)

• Psychology -> purely objective, experimental branch of natural science which needs
introspection, as little as other sciences, e.g. physics and chemistry

• Behaviourism rejects subjective methods like introspection (examining one's own thoughts
and feelings). It focuses on observable behaviours that can be measured and studied
scientifically.

• Behaviourists believe that psychology should be based on controlled experiments to

establish cause-and-eIect relationships between stimuli and responses.

• Watson viewed psychology as a branch of natural science, similar to fields like chemistry
and physics. This implies that it should follow the same rigorous scientific methods.

• Behavior of animals can be investigated without appeal to consciousness

o The quote suggests that the study of animal behaviour can provide valuable insights
into human behaviour, as both are governed by similar principles of learning and
conditioning.

• Introspect: the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes

Tolman (1948) - not a behaviorist

• He demonstrated that you need some notion of mental representation (mental map) to
explain rat behavior

• Tolman's primary motivation for studying latent learning was to challenge the prevailing
behaviourist view that learning is solely the result of reinforcement - Behaviourists argued
that learning occurs through conditioning, where a behaviour is strengthened or weakened
based on its consequences.

o He hypothesized that rats might form mental representations or maps of their

environment, allowing them to navigate even without immediate rewards.

• Experiments with rats and mazes to examine the role of reinforcement in how rats learn their
way through complex mazes

• The study:

o A maze with three paths was built, one leading to a reward (food) and the other two
being dead ends.
 o Group I: control – run in maze once per day and found food in the goal box

• Immediate food reinforcement for finding the correct path

o Group II: experimental – not fed at all while in the maze for 7 days, then rewarded in
maze from then on

• Received no reinforcement during the learning period

o Group III: experimental – not fed at all while in the maze for 3 days, then rewarded in
maze from then on

• Received delayed reinforcement, only receiving food after the learning

period

o Findings:

• Group I: As expected, these rats quickly learned the shortest path to the
reward.

• Group II: Surprisingly, these rats also demonstrated knowledge of the maze,
taking the next shortest path when the original path was blocked. This
indicated latent learning.

• Group III: Like Group 2, these rats also showed evidence of latent learning,
despite not receiving immediate reinforcement.

Working memory - humans have limitations when it comes to processing cognitively

Role of technology

• Attentional overload

• Computer study (timing)

• Computer metaphor

Analogy to information processing by a computer

• Provides a helpful framework for understanding the three stages of memory (encoding,
storage and retrieval)

• By studying how information is processed in computers, psychologists can gain insights into
how the human brain encodes, stores, and retrieves information.
1. Encoding:

• Like how a computer keyboard is used to input data, encoding involves transforming sensory
information into a neural code that can be stored in the brain.

• The keyboard represents the sensory organs (like eyes and ears) that receive information,
while the data entered represents the raw sensory input.

2. Storage:

• Just as a computer's hard disk stores data, the brain stores encoded information in various
memory systems, such as short-term memory and long-term memory.

• The hard disk represents the brain's memory storage areas, and the saved data represents
the encoded information.

3. Retrieval:

• When a computer user needs to access previously stored data, they retrieve it by calling up
the file and displaying it on the monitor.

• Retrieval in psychology involves recalling stored information from memory and making it
conscious. This process is similar to accessing a saved file on a computer.

Cognitive model

• Boxes and arrows refer to the processing and transfer of information

• This model emphasizes the role of attention and rehearsal in transferring information
between stages
 • Sensory Memory: The initial stage where sensory information is briefly held. Unattended
information is quickly lost.

• Attention: Selective attention determines which information from sensory memory is

transferred to working memory.

• Working Memory (Short-term Memory): A limited-capacity store where information is

actively maintained and manipulated through maintenance rehearsal. Unrehearsed
information is quickly lost.

• Encoding: The process of transforming information from working memory into a more
permanent format for long-term storage.

• Long-term Memory: A vast storehouse of information that can be retained for extended
periods. Some information may be lost over time.

• Retrieval: The process of accessing and retrieving stored information from long-term
memory.

Mental chronometry

• Method used in psychology to measure the amount of time it takes for a person to perform a
mental task

• Measuring reaction time to various stimuli =>inferring using the data to diIerent
cognitive processes

• It involves measuring the reaction time to various stimuli and using that data to infer the
duration of diIerent cognitive processes

• Tasks such as recognizing a word, deciding or solving a problem

Simple reaction time: press button to any light

Choice reaction time: press one button to red light and another button to green light

Choice RT - Simple RT = estimate of stimulus evaluation time (how long it took for them to
think)
MEMORY SCANNING EXERIMENTS

Aim: to understand how people think and find the perfect way of thinking.

• This model if a classic example of mental chronometry

o Sternberg's model is specifically used to investigate the processes involved in

memory search.

• Stimulus Quality: The model begins with the presentation of a stimulus, which is encoded
into a mental representation.

• Size of Positive Set: The number of items in the memory set that are to be searched.

• Serial Comparison: The stimulus is compared sequentially with each item in the memory
set.

• Binary Decision: Once a match is found or all items have been compared, a decision is
made (yes/no).

• Translation & Response Organization: The decision is translated into a response (e.g., "yes"
or "no"), and the response is organized and executed.
Positive response: item selected from set

Negative response: opposite of item in set (is not i set itself)

Humans could either use serial self-terminating or serial exhaustive search Many of our thoughts
and processes occur without any conscious awareness

Cognitive bias - occurs also without conscious awareness

Humans: risk averse and risk seekers

Why do we have to investigate cognitive processes so indirectly?

• Introspection

o Refers to the processes of examining one's own thoughts, feelings and sensations

o Limitations

• Can vary greatly between individuals - subjective

• People may not be accurate in their self-reports, especially when dealing

unconscious or complex processes

• Many cognitive processes occur outside of conscious awareness, making

them inaccessible to introspective >>hard to study

• Consciousness

o The state of being aware of one's surroundings and oneself

o Limitations

• a limited resource and cannot process all information simultaneously.

• focusing on certain aspects of information while ignoring others. > selective

• Hard to measure and quantify

• Cognitive bias

o Systematic errors in thinking that can aIect our perceptions, judgments, and
decisions.

o Limitations

• can lead to distorted perceptions of reality, making it diIicult to accurately

assess cognitive processes.

• operate unconsciously, making them diIicult to detect or correct.

LECTURE 2
Role of attention:
• Parallel pre attentive processes
o These are automatic, unconscious processes that occur simultaneously
and allow us to quickly process basic features of stimuli (e.g., color,
shape, orientation).
• Serial attention
o This involves consciously focusing on one specific item or aspect of a
stimulus at a time. It requires eDort and is limited in capacit
• Attention is required to bind features together
o Attention is necessary to combine individual features (e.g., color, shape,
location) into a coherent object or percept.
• It is limited in capacity
o Attention is a limited resource, meaning we can only focus on a certain
amount of information at once.

• Stimulus: The initial input or information that is processed.

• Sensory Detection: The stage where the stimulus is detected by the sensory
system (e.g., eyes, ears).
• Recognition of Meaning: The stage where the stimulus is identified and its
meaning is understood.
• Response Selection: The stage where a decision is made about how to respond
to the stimulus.
 • Response: The final action or output resulting from the processing of the
stimulus.
• Early selection models
o Only a limited amount of information is allowed to pass through
the filter for further processing, while the rest is discarded.
o The selection of information occurs based on physical
characteristics (e.g., loudness, brightness) rather than meaning.
• Late selection models
o All incoming information is processed for meaning before being
filtered.
o The selection of information occurs based on meaning or
relevance.

Focused attention & diDused attention

• Focused attention
o Involves intense concentration on a specific task or piece of information
o Allows dep, detailed processing, making it ideal for tasks requiring
precision, logical thinking and problem solving
• DiDused attention
o Involves a relaxed, broad form of attention where the mind wanders freely,
allowing for a more holistic, big picture view of a situation or problem
Perceptual illusions:
• When the brain misinterprets sensory information, leading to a distorted or
inaccurate perception of reality
Cognitive illusions
• Mental errors or biases in thinking, where the mind processes information in a
way that leads to false or misleading conclusions

Inattentional blindness
• We don’t process things when we don’t pay attention to it
• Very little answer usually
• Attention is a realization that you don’t process everything just because it is
hitting your retina
Why is attention limited?
• Limited attention resources
• Hardware limitations
• The information that is selected we act on it
o Limited size, limited processing capacity
• We don’t process everything at once > no coordination
o So, this could be why we process some things and not the others, it could
be too much to process everything at once
o We are filtering out thing because we cant actually act on It
o Early locus of selection
• Removing stimuli early on based on physical characteristics
• Thing that we don’t pay attention to aren't processed > they don’t
impact is
• Filtering occurs at the initial stages of processing, where the brain
selects which stimuli to focus on based on basic physical features
like color, brightness or loudness
• This means that only the selected stimuli are processed further for
meaning, while the reast are filtered out early and not fully
analyzed

o Late locus of selection

• Suggests the filtering of irrelevant information happens after the brain has
processed the meaning of all stimuli, not just the basic physical
characteristics
• This means that the brain briefly processes all incoming information for
meaning before deciding what to focus on and\ what to ignore
• Treisman (1986)
§ Treisman presented participants with visual displays containing
multiple objects that had diDerent features, like colours and
shapes.
§ She then asked participants to focus on specific objects or report
what they saw, allowing her to study how attention aDects the way
these features are combined into a single, coherent perception.
 § Proposes that we process feature independently un a pre-
attentive manner
§ She concluded that individual features of objects, such as color,
shape and size are processed automatically and in parallel across
the visual field
• To clearly see and understand an object, like knowing that
an apple is red and round, you need to focus your attention.
If you're not paying enough attention, your brain might mix
up details, like thinking a red ball is an apple, leading to
mistakes in what you see.

DICHOTIC LISTENING
A psychological technique used to study selective attention.
• Researchers can investigate how the brain filters and processes information, and
how attention influences our ability to focus on one stimulus while ignoring
others.
• In this task, a diDerent message is presented to each ear simultaneously through
headphones.
• Participants are instructed to focus on one of the messages and repeat it aloud
(shadowing), while ignoring the other message.
TREISMAN (1960) : dichotic listening + ear switching

• Participants are presented with two diDerent messages simultaneously, one to

each ear.
• At a certain point during the task, the two messages "switch ears." This means
that the message previously heard in the left ear is now heard in the right ear, and
vice versa.
• Participants are instructed to repeat one of the messages aloud (shadowing)
while ignoring the other.
• Findings:
• Found that participants were able to follow a message across ears, even
when the physical characteristics of the message changed. This suggests
that attention is based on meaning and content, rather than simply
physical cues.

COCKTAIL PARTY PHENOMOENON / COCKTAIL PARTY EFFECT

• Refers to our ability to selectively attend to a particular conversation or stimulus
in a noisy environment, such as a crowded party.
• Demonstrates the human brain's remarkable capacity to focus on relevant
information while filtering out irrelevant background noise.
• Wood and Cohen (1995)
• Wood and Cowan (1995) concluded that unattended information can still
be processed at a deeper level, even if it is not the focus of attention.
 • They found that people can detect important or relevant information (like
their own name) in unattended streams, indicating that some level of
processing occurs without conscious attention.

Flexible locus of selection (Lavie, 2005, 2007)

• Lavie proposed that the locus of selection is flexible and can shift between early
(basic features) and late (meaning processing) stages depending on task
demands and available attentional resources.
• When resources are limited or tasks are demanding, selection occurs early to
manage information eDiciently, while more resources allow for later selection,
processing more detailed information.

• It is the idea that the point at which the brain filters and selects information for
further processing can change depending on the task or situation
o This means that attention can be focused early (based on basic features)
or later (after some level of meaning has been processed)
• Depending on what is most useful or necessary at the time

ROLE OF ATTENTION
• Parallel pre-attentive processes
• Serial attention

TREISMAN'S FEATURE INTEGRATION THEORY

• A two-stage model for object perception.
1. Pre-attentive stage
• We process features independently in a pre-attentive manner (very
quickly and in parallel)
• This stage does not require focused attention.
2. Focused on attention stage
• Role of attention (the 'attention spotlight') was to bind these features
together into objects (a slow and serial process)
• Because attention is limited, we can only focus on a small number of
objects at a time.
Control of attention
• Exogenous / involuntary / stimulus driven
• captured by salient or unexpected stimuli in the environment, often
without our conscious control.
o Bright color, sudden sound / loud sound
o You are not looking for it but it happens to be the most obvious
• Endogenous / voluntary / controlled
• driven by our internal goals, intentions, or expectations. We consciously
direct our attention towards specific stimuli or tasks.
o You are looking for it
o E.g. Focusing on a particular conversation in a noisy room
Example
• Looking for a red target but all the dots are blue --> endogenous
• You are looking for red target but a target suddenly appears captures your
attention --> exogenous

Change blindness
• Perception of completeness > illusion
• Amount encoded > very minimal
• Role of attention > choose what to process

NEGATIVE IMPACT OF DIVIDED ATTENTION

• Decreased accuracy: When trying to focus on multiple tasks simultaneously, we
may make more errors or overlook important details.
• Reduced speed: Performing multiple tasks can slow down our overall processing
speed and response time.
• Impaired memory: Divided attention can interfere with our ability to encode and
retrieve information from memory.
• Increased stress: Juggling multiple tasks can lead to increased stress and
anxiety, which can further impair cognitive function.
 • Reduced creativity: Focusing on multiple tasks at once can limit our ability to
think creatively and generate new ideas.

LECTURE 3
SHORT TERM MEMORY

What is memory?

• Complex cognitive process that involves encoding , storage, retrieval of information

Types of memory

• Iconic and echoic/sensory memory

o Sensory memory: initial stage of memory where sensory information (visual,

auditory , etc.) is briefly held. 'snapshot'

o Iconic: brief visual memory

• ~200milliseconds

o Echoic : brief auditory memory

• 2-3 seconds

• Allows us to perceive speech and understand sentences

• Short term memory/ working memory

o a limited-capacity system that holds information for a short period (seconds to

minutes).

o Essential for tasks like mental arithmetic or remembering a phone number

• Long term memory (explicit or implicit)

o Storage of information that can be retained for years or even decades

Iconic and echoic memory --> sensory buUer

• Holds thoughts to be processed

-> Sternberg demo

• Probe of top, middle or bottom

Iconic memory

• Duration is very short , it will disappear by the time you type down at least 4, 5 letters

• 800 milli seconds duration

• Studies have shown that people can typically hold around 7-9 items in iconic memory
for a short period.

Grid of letters and participants were to asked to recall as many letters as they could

• How many letters could participants recall:

• If asked to recall ALL?

§ Participants typically could only recall a few letters, demonstrating the

limited capacity of iconic memory.

• If asked to recall just one row?

§ After the display, participants could recall a significantly larger number

of letters, suggesting that iconic memory holds more information than
initially apparent, but it decays rapidly.

Echoic memory

• Can last a long time - 8 seconds

• High capacity

• Auditory information - comes in sequentially

• Echoic memory can hold a larger amount of information than iconic memory, allowing
us to perceive and understand speech.

• Feature of short term memory

• If they sound the same - interfere with memory

• Phonological memory
STM and LTM are di,erent memory systems

• Serial position eUects in short term recall - recall is influenced by the order of items in a
list >> this eUect demonstrates the distinction between STM and LTM

• Primacy E,ect --> information transferred to LTM

• Items presented at the beginning of a list are more likely to be

remembered than those in the middle

• Items have more time to be rehearsed and transferred to LTM

• Recency E,ect --> information "dumped" from short term buUer

• Items presented at the end of the list are also more likely to be
remembered - due recent exposure

• This eUect is primarily attributed to STM > info in STM is more

readily accessible

CODING DIFFERENCES

• Short term memory

• Primarily encodes information in a phonological (sound-based) format.

• Evidence: phonological similarity eUect

• Items that sound similar are harder to remember than items that sound
diUerent

• Long term memory

o Encodes information in a semantic (meaning-based) format

 • This is why we often remember the meaning of a concept rather than the
exact words used to

NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

• HM

o Case of a man who had his hippocampus removed to treat a form of epilepsy

o Lost the ability to form LTM (anterograde amnesia)

• He could still remember events from before the surgery and could
perform tasks that required procedural memory (implicit memory)

• Suggests that STM and LTM are distinct systems

• Clive wearing

o Man who suUered from severe anterograde amnesia due to damage to the
hippocampus and other brain regions

o Could only remember a few second of his past at a time >> importance of
hippocampus when transforming info from STM to LTM

o No past to anchor

o No future to look towards

o Moment to moment consciousness

o Developed anterograde and retrograde amnesia - brain infection

Not transferring from STM to LTM -> no progression , not learning new things

Working memory - more modern version of STM

• A type of short term memory that actively holds and manipulates information for current
tasks; 'mental workspace'

• Consists of

• Central executive

o responsible for controlling and coordinating the other components of

working memory.

o allocates attention, regulates cognitive processes, and updates and

monitors information in the system.

• Episodic buUer
 o integrates information from the phonological loop, visuo-spatial
sketchpad, and long-term memory to create a unified representation of
an event or experience.

• "slave systems"

• Phonological loop

§ Responsible for maintaining and manipulating verbal

information.

§ a phonological store (which holds spoken or heard information)

and a subvocal rehearsal process (which silently rehearses
information to keep it active in memory).

• Visuo-spatial scratch pad

§ Responsible for maintaining and manipulating visual and spatial

information.

§ Allows us to mentally visualize objects, images, and spatial

relationships.

•
• Phonological loop occupied when you are recreating the sentences to yourself -
use of fingers to count

o Counting demonstration

• counting backwards from 20 while simultaneously performing

another task, such as tapping a rhythm.

• Both require phonological loop >> challenging

o Speed of speech

• Individuals with faster rates of subvocalization tend to have

better digit spans (the number of digits they can remember).

o EUect of language eUiciency / digit span

 • Languages with more complex phonological structures (e.g.,
those with more sounds or more similar-sounding words) can be
more diUicult to maintain in the phonological loop.

• Digit span - part of IQ tests

What are the diUerences between short term memory and long term memory?

• Working memory is the more modern theory of the human short term store

• Working memory has separate internal systems unlike STM which has just one

• Working memory is active and its capacity relates to intelligence and reasoning

WORKING MEMORY MODEL

• Development of MSM - by Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

• The model suggests that STM Consists of multiple diUerent stores

• This was suggested from studies that used dual-task technique(multitasking)

• They found when participants performed two tasks related to listening , they
performed less well, when doing two tasks which involved listening and vision -
no problem

o Proposing diUerent stores for diUerent types of information

 • The 'slave systems'

• Phonological loop

o Holds auditory information

• episodic buUer

o 'backup store; which is fed by the slave systems and is linked to central
executive

o Holds information temporarily and combines diUerent types of

information

• visuospatial sketchpad

o Stores visual and spatial information

• Central executive

• Attention control

• Responsible for monitoring the operation of the slave systems

• Decides which information should be given attention to

ICONIC AND ECHOIC MEMORY - both are types of sensory memory

• Iconic memory

• For visual information - holds a brief snapshot of what you see, lasting only
about 1 second or less

• For example, when you glance at an image and then close your eyes, the fleeting
picture that remains in your mind for a moment is your iconic memory.

• Echoic memory

• For auditory information

• It holds information for slightly longer than iconic memory

LECTURE 4
LONG TERM MEMORY
 EXPLICIT MEMORY

Semantic memory Episodic memory

Type of long-term memory that stores facts, concepts and A type of long-term memory that stores personal
general knowledge experiences and events - "autobiographical memory"

o What things mean o It is tied to specific time and

place
o How you acquired knowledge vs
remembering the knowledge o It is unique to the individual
experiencing the event
o It is based on understanding and
meaning o Do you always remember
where you learn things?
o It is a type of explicit memory that can
be consciously recalled • Eg. Vocabulary

o A type of memory that you

actively recall, like
remembering a fact for a test
or recalling a friend's birthday

Hierarchical network models

Collin & Quillian (1969); Collins & Loftus (1972)

• Logical hierarchical structure with interconnected "nodes"

• Connecting nodes >> indicating there are relationship between them

o E.g. Canary, bird, animal; properties e.g. yellow, has wings, breathes
 • Based on the principle of cognitive economy

o each concept and property is stored only once at the highest level where it
applies.

• Spreading activation retrieves meanings

o When a concept is presented, the corresponding node is activated.

o his activation then spreads to related nodes, allowing for the retrieval of
associated information.

• E.g. presenting the concept "canary" activates the node for "canary,"
which in turn activates nodes for "bird," "yellow," "can sing," and so on.

EVALUATION

o Sentence verification task (Collins and Loftus 1972) - measure time to verify sentences

• Participants were presented with sentences and asked to determine if they were
true or false. The time it took participants to respond was measured.

“Is this true?”

§ A robin is a bird

§ A robin can breath

§ A robin can swim

o Spreading nodes? Taking time e.g from canary to animal, that takes time to connect

• Spreading activation process

• When a concept is activated (e.g. canary) , the activation spreads to related

concepts (e.g. "bird", "yellow", "singing")

§ This spreading activation takes time; the further apart the concepts in
the hierarchy>> longer it takes for activation to reach them

o If two concepts are related, spreading activation from two concepts will intersect
o Time to verify sentence depends on distance between concepts (plus time to evaluate
intersection)

• The time it takes to verify a sentence depends on two factors:

§ Distance between concepts - the closer the concepts are in the

hierarchy, the faster the spreading activation + quicker the verification

§ Time to evaluate intersection - If the activation paths of two concepts

intersect, there may be an additional processing step required to
evaluate the intersection. >> add to the overall verification time

• Collin and Loftus proposed that time to verify a sentence is influence not only by the
semantic distance between concept but also by:

o The strength of the initial activation

• Stronger activation of a concept >> the faster it can spread activation to

related concepts >> quicker verification.

• E.g. If a person has been thinking about birds, the concept of "bird" will
be more strongly activated

o The amount of time since the initial activation

• If a concept was activated a long time ago, it may take longer to

reactivate it and spread activation to related concepts. >> decaying

• Which sentence be verified fastest ?

o " A kookaburra is a kookaburra"

o Two concepts involved are identical >> no need for spreading activation between
them

• BUT typicality e,ects

o People take longer to verify sentences involving less typical examples.

o E.g. it would take longer to verify that "A penguin is a bird" than "A robin is a bird"

• Semantic memory may not be strictly hierarchical >> typicality could

influence sentence verification

• AND category size e,ects

• People verify sentences about larger categories (e.g., "A dog is an animal") faster
than those about smaller categories (e.g., "A dog is a mammal").

• Indicates the number of instances within a category can influence ho1 quickly
we can process info about that category
 • These findings are inconsistent with the assumptions of a hierarchical organization
of knowledge

• the findings on typicality and category size eUects suggest that semantic
memory may be more complex and flexible than this model can account for.

• may involve additional factors, such as associative networks or spreading

activation that is not strictly hierarchical.

PARALELL DISTRIBITED PROCESSING (PDP) MODELS

• Computational models : computer programs inspired by neural metaphor

• Set of interconnected processing nodes (~neurons) >> 'communicate' by

sending activation or inhibition

o Nodes: represent inidviual units; similar to neurons in the brain

o Connection: link between nodes, representing the strength of the

relationship between them

• A "learning rule" for adjusting connections throughout the network

• computational models inspired by structure and function of human brain

• OUer an alternative to hierarchical network models >> providing more flexible

and distributed representation of semantic memory
 • PDP : type of a connectionist model that represent knowledge as distributed patterns of
activation across interconnected nodes

THE STRICTURE OF MEMORY: SCHEMAS

• AUect the way we perceive the world

• Generalized mental representations or concepts , describing as a class of objects,

people or events

o To make sense of. The world around us

• Cognitive frameworks that organize and interpret information.

War of ghosts study - Bartlett

• Investigated how schemas influence memory

• Participants are North American Caucasians

• They were asked to read a Native American folktale and then recall it after varying
intervals.

• He found that participants' recollections were significantly distorted over time,

reflecting their cultural schemas and expectations.

• Details they were unfamiliar with due to culture diUerences - made some transformation
and changes to fit their schemas

• Eg 'Canoe' tended to become boat as they are unaware of the canoe

o 'Hunting seal' >> 'fishing'

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCHEMAS

§ Why do we use schemas?

o Allows us to process information more eUiciently by providing a mental shortcut

o Helps us to predict future events on past experiences

o Help us make sense of the world by providing a framework for organizing and
interpreting information.

o Make memory coding more eUicient

§ Can schemas distort experiences and perceptions?

o Yes

o We are more likely to perceive information in a way that is consistent with our
existing schemas, even if it contradicts reality.
 • Confirmation bias

§ What about information that does not fit into a schema? (exceptions)

o Cognitive dissonance >> state of discomfort that arises when our beliefs or
behaviors are inconsistent with each other

SCHEMA EXAMPLES

• Stereotypes or "person schemas"

o Generalized beliefs about groups of people; positive, negative or neutral >>

oversimplification and prejudice

• Racial and gender stereotypes

• We can use stereotypes as a shortcut

• Schema for narrative structure

o Mental representation of the typical sequence of events in a story

• Script or even schema

o Schemas for specific events or situations >> understand and anticipate

sequence of actions and interactions involved in a particular event

• Birthday script

§ Activity, cake , present, candle, singing

• Doing things in an order, e.g. wedding script, ceremony, vows etc.

SALEEM AND ANDERSON : VIDEO GAMES AND ACTIVATION OF STEREOTYPES

• Investigated the impact of stereotypic video game portrayals on attitudes, perceptions,

and aUect towards the stereotyped group.

• Specifically, portrayal of Arabs as terrorist in video games

• Participants who played a Counter-Strike game featuring Arab terrorists displayed

heightened anti-Arab attitudes compared to those who played a nonviolent game or a
game with Russian terrorists.

• Playing the Arab-terrorist game activated stereotypes about Arabs, leading participants
to draw "typical" Arabs with stereotypical traits, negative aUect, and weapons.

• Even without violent content, simply including Arab characters in a nonviolent game was
suUicient to increase anti-Arab attitudes
SCRIPT TRANSFERENCE; HIGH SCHOOL VS UNIVERISTY

HIGH SCHOOL UNIVERSITY

• Passivity - Students are • The university experience encourages

expected to wait for teachers to students to explore the content and
instruct them on what to do. enjoy the learning process.

• Exams are the primary goal • Students must adhere to their own
deadlines and complete all course
components.

• Students need to plan their time

eUectively to balance coursework and
other commitments.

• Students are expected to take initiative

in choosing courses, finding
requirements, and setting their own
learning priorities.
LECTURE 5

IMPLICIT MEMORY

• a type of memory that you use without consciously thinking about it, like riding a bike or
typing on a keyboard

• Classical conditioning and priming

o Priming - one of the concepts is activated "spreading activation" to other related

concepts

• Involves the unconscious activation of related concepts or memories by

a preceding stimulus

o Classical conditioning - type of learning where an organism comes to associate

an initially neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus >> creates a conditioned
response

o Unconscious associations between stimuli

• Dentist’s drill (neutral stimulus) + pain (meaningful stimulus) --> anxiety

(conditioned response)
Declarative memory

• Conscious memory that can be verbally expressed // explicit memory

o Semantic

• Our general knowledge of facts, concepts and the world around us

o Episodic

• Our personal memory of events and experiences - 'diary of our lives' >>
capturing specific moments

Procedural memory

• It is unconscious and diUicult to verbalize >> our memory for how to do things, often
acquired through practice and repetition /// implicit memory

• Memory for how to do things

• Not available for conscious awareness

• Learnt through gradual, incremental experience

• In the cerebellum

STEM COMPLETION TASK AND IMPLICIT MEMORY >> IMPLICUT MEMORY TASKS

• Common method used to assess implicit memory

• Involves presenting participants with incomplete word stems (e.g. "cat_", "dog_”) and
asking them to complete the words as quickly as possible

o Priming: the related words PRIME the associated concepts, making them more
likely to be activated and completed in the task

o Unconsciously influence: Participants complete the stems based on their

previous experiences and associations; often. Without consciously recalling the
priming words

• demonstrates the influence of implicit memory on word retrieval.

FREE RECALL AND RECOGNITION >> EXPLICIT MEMORY TASK

• Participants are asked to recall as many items from a list as possible, without any cues
or prompts. This requires active retrieval of information from memory.

• Participants are presented with a list of items, some of which they saw previously and
some of which are new. They are asked to indicate whether each item was old or new.
This involves matching new information with stored memories.
Dissociations: implicit memory performance is di,erent from explicit memory

• Levels of processing

o The way information is processed can aUect explicit memory but not necessarily
implicit memory

o Shallow processing > focusing on superficial features e.g. appearance or sound

>> less likely to lead to strong explicit memory

o Deep processing > focusing on meaning and relationships >> more likely to
result in better explicit memory

• Both types of processing can influence implicit memory

• Modality/format

o Studying with images for a test? Will disrupt the format, won’t be as eUective if
it’s not the same format

o The way information is presented (e.g., visually, auditorily) can impact explicit
memory.

• E.g. The way information is presented (e.g., visually, auditorily) can

impact explicit memory.

o Implicit memory often shows less sensitivity to modality, suggesting that it's
more based on underlying associations rather than specific sensory details.

• Delay / retention interval

o The length of time between encoding and retrieval can aUect both implicit and
explicit memory.

o Implicit memory often shows a slower rate of forgetting in comparison to explicit

memory

• Amnesic patients

o Particularly patients who have a damaged hippocampus >> show impairments

in explicit memory

o No disruptions to implicit memory

• Suggests that the two types of memory rely on diUerent brain regions

DIFFERENT MEMORY SYSTEMS

• DiUerent neuroanatomical structures underlie implicit and explicit memory

o Hippocampus: crucial role in forming explicit memories particularly episodic

memory
 o Basal ganglia: involved in procedural memory, particular for motor skills and
habits

o Cerebellum: plays a role in procedural memory, especially for motor learning

• Declarative vs procedural (squire, 1987)

o Squire (1987) proposed a distinction between declarative (explicit) and

procedural (implicit) memory.

• Tendency to create MORE memory systems to account for new dissociations

o Can lead to a proliferation of memory systems and make it diUicult to

understand the underlying mechanisms.

DRM paradigm

• Roediger and McDermott

• Reading a list

o Participants are presented with a list of related words (e.g., "bed," "rest," "dream,"
"nap," "snooze").

• Controlled condition

• Remembering related words rather than the words listed

o After a delay, participants are given a recognition test, where they are asked to
indicate whether each word was presented on the original list.

• Eg the concept of 'sweet' hence it arises the assumption the word sweet to be included
in the list when it isn't included

• Participants frequently report recognizing critical lures as having been on the original list

o Related words activate the concept of "sleep," >>> false memory that it was
presented.

• DRM paradigm highlights the diUiculty of distinguishing between actual memories and
imagined or inferred information.

o Participants often confuse the source of their memory, attributing the critical
lures to the original list.

FALSE MEMORY

• Misleading 'post-event'

o Eyewitness "misinformation paradigm" Loftus (1974)

• demonstrates how leading questions or suggestive information can

influence a person's memory of an event.
 • "How fast was the car going when it smashed into the wall?" can lead to
an overestimate of the speed compared to asking "How fast was the car
going when it hit the wall?"

o Leading questions and wording of questions

• The way questions are phrased can also influence memory. >>> diUerent
recollections of an event

• Social pressure (lost in a shopping mall)

o Studies have shown that individuals can develop false memories of being lost as
children, often influenced by suggestions from family members or therapists.

• Fitting memory to schemas and scripts

o Filling in the blanks (missing details) or distort memories to fit our preconceived

notions

o Our existing knowledge and expectations, often organized into schemas and
scripts,

• Can influence how we remember events

• Source confusion

o occurs when we forget where we learned a piece of information or whether it

was a real or imagined event.

• Hypnosis?

• Spreading activation in semantic memory

o Our general knowledge of the world can influence memory.

o When we encounter new information, it can activate related concepts in our

semantic memory, leading to associations and potential false memories.

FLASHBULB MEMORIES

• Vivid and detailed memories surrounding dramatic world events

o Personal memory of what YOU were doing during the traumatic event

o They happen at a certain moment at a time - timestamp

o Recollection of HIGHLY or SURPRISING events

o While they are often vivid and detailed >> doesn’t necessarily mean they are
accurate

• People may be overly confident

• Brown and Kulik (1977)

o Proposed that a special neural mechanism is activated during highly emotional

events >> formation of flashbulb memories

o Investigation of the flash bulb memories after JFK assassination as well as the
assassination of Martin Luther King Jr

o They found that people had vivid memories of when they received the news

• Neisser (1982)

o Flashbulb memories of Pearl Harbor

o Found that memories change overtime

• Could be due to emotions -- reconstructive memory??

• Inaccuracy of memories due to emotions

• Recollections of the event changed over time >> FBM are subject to
distortion

• Less reliability of memories

• MEMORY DISTORTION

• More recent research suggests we are more confident about flashbulb memories, but
they decay just like other memories

• Talarico and Rubin's (2003)

• Researchers compared the accuracy

of participants' flashbulb memories of the

9/11 terrorist attacks with their everyday
memories.

• Both flashbulb and everyday memories

declined in accuracy over time. >>> that there
is no special mechanism preserving flashbulb
memories

• The rate of decay for flashbulb and everyday memories was similar
 • While people often report being highly confident in their flashbulb memories, the study
shows that this confidence doesn't necessarily correlate with accuracy.

• 9/11 study by Conway, Skitka, Hemmerich and Kershaw (2009)

o In 2001 678 people completed a survey between September and October

o In 2002 half were retested before the anniversary and half were tested after

o In 2003 a final survey was given (to the remaining 319 participants)

• Each survey asked for recollections and confidence ratings for each

• Confidence is high but actual memory is bad

§ Despite the decline in accuracy, participants remained highly

confident in their flashbulb memories. This highlights the
dissociation between confidence and accuracy in memory.

• The study found that the most consistent details in flashbulb memories
were also the most accurate. This suggests that some aspects of
flashbulb memories may be more reliable than others.

*Conway et al showed that flashbulb memories aren't always accurate? People are NOT
consistent when it came to recalling the memory of when they first learnt the news

LIFETIME MEMORIES

Infantile Amnesia

• diUiculty adults have in recalling specific autobiographical memories from early

childhood, typically before the age of 2-3 years.

• Caused COULD be; neurological development, language, social factors

o Neurological development

• The brain regions involved in memory formation and retrieval may not be
fully developed during early childhood.

o Language Acquisition

• development of language skills may be necessary for the encoding and

retrieval of autobiographical memories.

o Social factors

• Social interactions and the way caregivers talk about past events can
influence memory formation and retention.

Reminiscence bump

• the phenomenon where adults tend to have more vivid and detailed memories of events
that occurred during their late adolescence and early adulthood (typically between ages
15-25).

• Explanation; identity formation, cultural scripts, neurological factors

 •

LECTURE 6

HOW TO REMMEBER BETTER

• Attitudes to study / Effort
o Self-schema (strengths, weaknesses, age)
o Learn, don’t collect
• Use context
• Avoid interference
• Study at the best time of day for you
• Deep encoding
• Prepare before lectures and tutorials
• Evaluate your study technique
o Put effort into finding the best strategy
• Motivation - attitude towards studies
Memory and aging
o Neurons lose their myelin as we age
• Myelin - speeds up transmission
• Loss in neurons particularly in hippocampus >> crucial for memory formation
o Connections between neurons (synapses) also weakened over time >> affecting
transmission of information
o Levels of neurotransmitters may decline with age >> impact on memory function
Potential causes of memory decline; biological factors, lifestyle factors, medications

Recognition memory and recall memory tasks - there is a difference

o Recognition memory - you are shown objects and asked if you recognize it
o Recall memory
• Retrieval cues
• Why does recalling fall off as we age? We don’t attempt to recall
• Memory requires effort
Rahal, Hasher and Colcombe (2001)
• Investigated the impact of instructional set on memory performance in older adults
• Memory task where half the subjects were told it was testing memory ability and the
other half were told it was assessing their ability to learn trivia
 • When older adults were instructed that the task was a test of memory ability, they
performed significantly better on a recognition memory task compared to a free recall
task.
• When older adults were given neutral instructions, emphasizing learning trivia, there
was no significant difference in their performance on the recognition and free recall
tasks.
• Stereotype threat - when they realize it is a memory test, they perform not as well and
not try as hard
• Recall vs recognition
o Free recall task: report items from earlier study episode
o Recognition task: select previously studied items from mixture of old and new
items

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

o You read the stems
o Need to have processed elaborately to retrieve related information and choose correct
answer
o Study for recall not recognition
• Actively retrieving information from memory without any cues >> more
challenging but can lead to a deeper understanding of the material
o Often perceived as 'easier' because they provide information and require inly
recognition
• Misleading as they questions can be designed to test deep understanding
• Are SAQ fairer?
§ Often considered fairer because they require students to generate their
own response - could however be time consuming and challenging to
grade
o MCQs harder because must discriminate between exactly right and nearly right =>
wrong answer might activate an incorrect memory
o Strategies:
• Elimination of the obvious incorrect answer
• Logic + knowledge to make an educated guess
• Allocate time wisely

CONTEXT
• Retrieval is best when encoding and retrieval MATCH
o Mood
o Time and place
o Thoughts and feelings
o Smells
o Images
o Nature of the task
• Context is A RETREIVAL CUE
GODDEN AND BADDELEY (1975)
• Demonstrates the importance of context in memory retrieval
• Researchers investigated how the environment in which information is encoded
(learned) affects its subsequent recall.
• Participants were asked to learn a list of words in two conditions
o On land - while standing on a beach
o Underwater - while submerged in water
 o After a delay, participants were tested on their recall
of the list under one of the same conditions or the opposite condition.
E.g. those who learned the list underwater might be tested on land or vice versa.
• Recall was significantly better when the encoding and retrieval contexts matched.

ENCODING
• Avoid distraction
o Eg music disrupts encoding and concentration
o It is about most efficient approach
o Don’t look at the results (confirmation bias)
o Limit technology
o Create a quiet space
• Silence is best
o Music interreference
o Perham and Vizard 2011, found that music, whether liked or disliked, can be as
distracting as speech.
• Seek serenity before or after study periods
o Retroactive and proactive interference
o Study in the morning to get rid of proactive interference
o Retroactive interference - what affects the knowledge you just learnt e.g. Playing
a video game after studying
o Pre-study relaxation
o Post study activities; running, swimming etc.

AVOID INTEREFERENCE
• Competition from other material
o Study one subject at a time to avoid interference from other material
• Retroactive - new material affects recall of old material
• Proactive - old material affects learning new material
• Similarity is important

DEEP PROCESSING
• Asking questions / elaboration of material
• Structing material semantically
• Self-referent encoding
o Reframing information as if its relevant to you
• Reading the same information from difference sources, different authors
• Circular logical 'trap'
• Semantic structing of information allows for more effective chunking, and allows you to
relate the information you are trying to what you know
• Elaboration creates more retrieval cues
• Larks (morning people) vs owls (evening people)
SAVING VS REMEMBERING

Cognitive offloading
• When people know things are being recorded - people put less effort into remembering
and encoding
o E.g. in lecture, not paying attention because it is being recorded
• RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGY FOR INFORMATION STORAGE and RETRIEVAL
o Students may be less motivated to learn and remember information if they
believe it is easily accessible

BRANSFORD & JOHNSON (1972)

• Found that simply repeating a passage without understanding its context has little
effect on memory.
• Studying with context beforehand leads to less overall study time required.
• Understanding the context beforehand doubles both comprehension and recall ratings.

METHOD OF LOCI
• Memory enhancement which uses visualization
• Can significantly improve memory for lists of items, speeches or other information
 • Encourages use of imagination and creativity >> memorable associations
• Can be applied to a wide range of information
Exam study techniques
• Summarization
o Better than copying
o Depends on the understanding of the learner
• Low utility
• Highlighting and underlining
o No evidence it is effective
o Only SUPER relevant information
• Low utility
• Rereading
o Good for recall, unclear whether it helps with comprehension
o Unclear how dependent effects are on students' ability
o Inefficient compared to other techniques
• Low utility
• Practice testing
o Strong and diverse evidence it is effective
o Direct and mediated effects
o Spacing matters
• High utility
• Distributed practice
o Spacing effects vs massed practice
o Lag effects (longer = better)
o Materials reprocessed or reminded of previous learning or consolidation
• High utility
• 30 days between sessions is the most effective
TEST-ENHANCED LEARNING
• Roediger & Karpicke's (2006)
o Investigated effectiveness of testing a learning strategy compared to additional
studying
Considered prose passages: ~260 words
• Participants:
– Studied for 7 minutes; then Studied for 7 minutes OR
– Studied for 7 minutes; then ‘tested’ for 7 minutes
• The recall ‘test’ was just a blank page with the title of the passage
– Recall test: 5 minutes, 2 days, 7 days after
o Findings
• Participants who studied material and then took a practice test (study-test
condition) performed significantly better on a final test compared to those who
studied twice (study-study condition).
• The study suggests that the act of retrieving information (testing) strengthens
memory and facilitates later recall.
• The benefits of testing were particularly evident for longer retention intervals (2
days and 7 days).
o

o Experiment 2 - increasing number of study-test cycle from 2 to 4

o The condition with four consecutive study periods (SSSS) resulted in the highest initial
recall but the steepest forgetting curve.
o The condition with one study period followed by three tests (STTT) showed the lowest
initial recall but the shallowest forgetting curve.
o The results demonstrate the spacing effect, which suggests that distributed practice
(spacing out study sessions) is more effective for long-term retention than massed
practice (cramming).
o The STTT condition, with frequent testing, was particularly effective in enhancing long-
term retention, highlighting the benefits of retrieval practice.

o
 • Semantic structuring of info allows for more effective chunking, and allows you to relate
info to what you know e.g. for neuroscience
• Elaboration creates more retrieval cues

LEARNING AND MOTIVATION

LECTURE 1 – CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
LEARNING OUCTOMES
• What is classical conditioning
• Who is Ivan Pavlov and what did he do?
• What is second order conditioning
• What is extinction

• Pavlovian conditioning - Ivan Pavlov

o He was a physiologist
o Interested in the studies of digestion in dogs
o He noticed that they started to salivate before they were presented with food -
spontaneous reaction
o The food prepared was in the form of a meat platter
 o All of the sequences before presenting the food - the dog memorized the sequences
that led up to the point of serving the food
• The dogs learn the routine, so they started expecting the food to come
o The researchers themselves were a cue for the food - when they came in, that was
an idea for dogs that the food is about to come
o Food is presented with food > dog salivates (without any conditioning or any
learning)
o Pavlov - without any complicated routine, he suggested why don’t we use a discrete
stimulus
• Can the dog predict that the food is associated with this stimulus?
• He paired it with a specific sound (e.g. a bell)
• After multiple pairings, the dog will learn to associate the sound and that it
is related to food

TERMINOLOGY
• Pavlov termed the learned response as "psychic reflex"
• Later referred to as the "conditioned response"
• The process has been referred to as "conditioning"
• Unconditioned - not learnt
Pavlov's General terminology Abbreviation
experiments
Food Unconditioned stimulus US
• Has a biological significance
Salivation to food Unconditioned response UR
• Response that doesn’t need to be learnt about
• Biological/automatic response
Bell Conditioned stimulus CS
• Neutral stimulus > doesn’t produce any strong
responses in the animal
Salvation to bell Conditioned response CR
• When the bell is associated with food > learnt
response

CONDITONED VS UNCONDITONED RESPONSE

• Pavlov termed the process of conditioning "stimulus substitution"
o THE BRAIN SUBSITITES CS IN PLACE OF THE US
o DOES NOT INVOLVE THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW BEHAVIOURS
• However, the CR is not always the same as the UR
• E.g.
o Fear conditioning experiments
o Mildly painful > unpleasant event > escape behavior or defense aggression (UR)
o Fight and flight response
• E.g.
o Classical conditioning example
o Giving the rats a warning signal e.g. light - conditioned stimulus
o That creates fear > mechanism (conditioned response)

SECOND ORDER CONDITONING

• A form of learning in which a stimulus is first made meaningful of consequential for an
organism through an initial step of learning
o Then that stimulus is used as a basis for learning about some new stimulus
 • It explains lots of complex learning that happens in the real world
• First phase
o You get presentations of bell or a bell and food at the same time
• Second phase
o Pairing the light and the bell together
o In this case, the neutral stimulus; light
o Condition stimulus = bell (without presence of food)
o Light (NS2) is repeatedly paired with a bell
• Light becomes CS2
§ Can directly elicit the conditioned response (salivation) without
presence of food or a bell

• You have pairings of two neutral stimuli

• What would the dog response be to the light
o Salvation - chain of learning
• You already know that the bell is associated with food, so when you associate light with
bell, it is an indirect association
• This happens a lot in fear conditioning examples
o You have an original stimulus that you become afraid due to a pairing e.g. a
traumatic event
o You start to generalize it to other stimuli as well if you see signals
o This is prevalent in anxiety disorders

Is conditioning just all spits and twitches?

• Conditioning is viewed by some as a study of very primitive automatic reflexes like
salivation, eye blinks responses and freezing
• Classical conditioning is good at distilling what the fundamental principles are for how
we learn to associate events in the environment
• We are simplifying everything we are learning into four things to help us to learn more
about complex behaviors
o How the environment influences our behavior (first and higher order)
o Psychological/neural mechanism for range of maladaptive behaviors

REAL LIFE CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

• Appetitive conditioning
o E.g. Development of food references
o Food references can develop in two ways
• If you pair that initial neutral flavor with nutrients, humans and animals
will come to prefer that initially neutral flavor
o Place preference
• E.g. if in school you had good grades, good friends etc. > you will start to
develop a preference for preferring to go to school
• Aversive conditioning
o Conditioned fear
o Anticipatory nausea
• Happens a lot when you receive chemotherapy
• A classical conditioning is a good framework for understanding why
people get anticipatory nausea when they are receiving chemotherapy
o Conditioned taste aversion
• In some cases, you need multiple pairings and associations
• In conditioned taste aversion, it is such a strong response that you get it
after one experience
 o Place avoidance

Feature Aversive conditioning Appetitive conditioning

Unconditioned stimulus Aversive (unpleasant) Appetitive (pleasant)
Unconditioned response Negative emotional response or Positive emotional response or
avoidance behavior approach behavior
Goal TO decrease or inhibit a To increase or elicit a behavior
behavior

CONDITIONING IN ADVERTISING
• Brands will want you to associate a particular character in a particular empierce with
their brain > that character is often is someone very likable
• Advertising often operated by associating stimuli that elicit positive affective responses
with a brand/product
• Thought to work on the assumption that we fail to discount the positive emotional
response elicited by the source
• We don’t realize/care that the origin of those emotions is the UNCONDITIONED STIMULI
(something else we like) , not the conditioned stimuli (Brand/product)

EXTINCTION
• Acquisition phase - the bell and the food are associated together > repeated
presentation of CS and US
• This results In an increased CONDITIONED RESPONSE upon the presentation of
CONDITIONED STIMULI
• Extinction - unlearning of the conditioning
o Repeated presentation of the CONDITIONED STIMULI alone following
acquisition result in reduction in the CONDITIONED RESPONSE (when the
CONDITIONED STIMULI is presented)
o Break the memory of the bell being associated by food - presenting bell alone

• After the extinction process - two memories are actually in place after conditioned
o Memory 1 : bell was associated with food
o Memory 2: bell was sometimes not associated with food
o Repercussions: if we had unlearning > memory is almost erased
o In certain scenarios, the other memory is dominant
o After some time has elapsed and you still present the dog with food
• So next time you present the bell, the dog will salivate a little bit > there
are two competing memories
• Initial acquisition memory competing against extinction memory
 • There is still Conditioned response > important for expose therapy

LECTURE 2 – INSTRUMENTAL/OPERANT CONDITIONING

LEARNING OUTCOMES
• What is Thorndike’s Law of Effect?
• What is instrumental conditioning?
• What are the different types of instrumental conditioning and what do they involve?
• What are the different schedules of reinforcement and what do they involve?
• What is shaping?

• Occurs when a behavior is associated with an occurrence of a significant event

• Process in which animals learn about the relationship between their behaviour and their
consequences
• Voluntary behaviour is strongly influenced by its consequences

• EDWARD THORNDIKE (1874-1949)

o Interested in animal intelligence
o Once animal has learnt something - they know it
o Dissatisfied with popular descriptions of animals being "lile humans"
• There was a lack of scientific method
• He tried to test this theory using the scientific method

HOW DID HE STUDY ANIMAL'S INTELLIGENEC?

• There is a cat and outside there is a food / some appetizing generally that the cat
likes
• Cat inside the box must figure out a mechanism to get out by opening the door
and escaping the puzzle box > to reach the food reward
o Pulling the lever is a voluntary behavior that is called operant behavior -
a behavior that is controlled by its consequences
• Inside the puzzle box there is a lever, that if the cat can pull that lever, the cat will
be able to open the door > come out and get food, so in this case, the food
serves as reinforcers (rewards) >> increases the likelihood of the cat pulling the
lever to receive more food
Three different cats’ graphs
X-axis - a single trial
Y-axis - how long did it take for a cat to escape
CAT A
• First time it was put into a box; it took it quote a long time to solve and escape
• Around trial 3, it solved the puzzle box quickly
• At trial 6-7, that rebounded, and it went back up
• There is a gradual reduction for the time it took for the cat to escape the box
CAT B
• Following similar pattern to Cat A
CAT C
• It solved the puzzle quickly
• In the middle however, it took the cat a long time to solve the puzzle box

• Example of trial-and-error learning

o E.g. scratches on the door
o Overtime, the memory gets strong, or association gets stronger between
pushing the pedal and the door opening to get the food
• Cat C just probably accidentally stumbled on the lever in the early trials
o That’s why in middle trials it took longer
• Progressive improvement over many trials
o This is evidence AGAISNT the evidence of insight

LAW OF EFECT
• What a human or animal does is strongly influenced by the immediate
consequences of such behavior in the past
o responses that produce a satisfying effect in a particular situation becomes more likely
to occur again in that situation (reinforcement) and responses that produce a
discomforting effect become less likely to occur again (punishment)
 • Thorndike's (1911) Law of effect:

• How we modify behaviors in humans and animals as well

RADICAL BEHAVIOURISM (Skinner and Watson)

• Behaviorism: scientific study of changes in behavior
o Simple, objective explanations
o What leads us to perform an action more or less
o Every behavior that is performed is observable and it doesn’t rely on
interreferences to internal states
• It is a concept that focuses on how environmental factors influence our state of
mind
• Radical: rejection of anything unobservable
o E.g. the cat pressed the button to get the satisfying outcome - food
o They wanted to strip away anything that required emotional and mental
processes > they didn’t like to study the idea of insight
• They also didn’t like the animal having some sort of discomfort
• Belief that all human psychology was reducible to relationships between stimuli,
responses, consequence
o They thought they could explain human behavior simply through the
responses and the outcomes that we got from them
• BF SKINNER - popular radical behaviorist
• Watson

WHAT ARE REINFORCERS

• To overcome a need to reference "satisfaction" or "discomfort"
• Reinforcers are events/outcomes/consequences that result in an increase in a
particular behavior
• Many reinforcers are intrinsically valuable (primary reinforcers)
o E.g. cat food outside puzzle box; pellet/sucrose in skinner box
• Secondary reinforcers acquire their reinforcing properties through experiences
e.g. money, clicker training (sound that has been associated with food rewards /
or something positive)
o Money doesn’t have intrinsic value, but we have learnt its value through
association
• Social reinforcement e.g. Praise
• Reinforcers are a critical component of instrumental conditioning
 • Punishers: responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a
behavior being repeated; so, it weakens the behavior
BEHAVIOUR SHAPING
• You don’t reward the behavior straight away because the behavior that you are
trying to get is quite complex behavior and it might not be performed
spontaneously
• Training an animal to close the door
• Two types of reinforcers: Praise + reward
• Principles of successive approximation to learn complex behaviors
o We are reinforcing behaviors that slowly get closer and closer to the
target behavior
• Reinforce behaviors that are closer and closer to a target behavior
• Gradually make the conditions of reinforcement more stringent, more precise >
can generate entirely novel behavior
• No element of learning - could do the behavior accidentally
• Primary reinforcers - food
• Secondary reinforcers - tokens for humans e.g. medals
• Humans learn better through semantics

TYPES OF INTRUSMENTAL CONDITONING

• Positive here doesn’t mean pleasant - relationship between response and the
consequence
• Negative - if you perform that action, something is taken away
• Reinforcements > increase the likelihood of that response or that action being
performed again
• Punishments > decreases the likelihood of that response or that action being
performed again
• Negative reinforcement is NOT a punishment

Positive reinforcement
• When a pleasant stimulus is added after a response, it increases the likelihood of that response happening
again. For example, getting a reward for completing a task.
• E.g. praising a dog (pleasant stimulus) for sitting down on command (behaviour)

Negative reinforcement (escape / avoid)

• Removing something unpleasant to increase the likelihood of a behaviour
• E.g. taking a painkiller (behaviour) to cure a headache (unpleasant stimulus)

Negative punishment (omission)

• Removing something pleasant to decrease the likelihood of a behavior
• E.g. if a child misbehaves, their parent may take away their favorite toy
• Removing something positive (toy) to decrease the likelihood of bad behavior (misbehaving)

Positive punishment
• Adding an unpleasant stimulus to decrease the likelihood of a behavior
• E.g. if a child misbehaves, a parent scolds them
• Adding something unpleasant (scolding) to decrease the likelihood of a behavior (misbehaving)
 SCHEDUELES OF REINFORCMNET

Fixed (schedule is predictable) Variable (schedule is unpredictable)

Ratio • Reinforcement • Reinforcement occurs
(responses) occurs after a fixed after a variable number of
number of responses.
responses. • E.g. A slot machine pays
• E.g. rat receives out after an average of 10
food pellet after pulls, but the exact
every 5 lever number varies
presses.
Interval (time) • Reinforcement • Reinforcement occurs
occurs after a fixed after a variable amount of
amount of time has time has passed.
passed. • E.g. Checking your email,
• E.g. A worker not knowing exactly when
receives a paycheck a new message will arrive.
every two weeks.

•
Four different types of reinforcement schedules - affecting rate of responding
 • Skinner was alluding to that the reinforcement schedule could be more
important than the reinforcement amount
• When you have a fixed ration > responses will be made very rapidly
• In a short amount of time, you are going to perform the response a lot
• Variable ratio > the slope will get shallow - green line
o Less steep

Classical conditioning vs Instrumental conditioning

Classical conditioning Instrumental conditioning

Differences Involuntary behavior Voluntary behavior (operant behavior)
with a consequence
Passive learning (involuntary
learning/ unconditioned Active learning (voluntary learning)
response?) reinforcers/punishers after behavior
either strengthen it or weaken it
Neutral stimuli turn into
conditioned stimulus - elicit The response causes either encourages
behavior an action or prevents an action
LECTURE 3 – STIMULUS CONTROL
Learning Outcomes
• What is stimulus control?
• What is generalisation?
• What is discrimination?
• What is a discriminative stimulus?
• What is discrimination learning?

Positive vs negative > relationship between the action and the outcome
THORNDIKE'S LAW OF EFFECT
• When there is a specific stimuli present > perform a specific behavior
• Satisfying outcomes strengthen the connection between the stimulus
and the response
o When an action (response) leads to a positive consequence
(satisfying outcome) >> likelihood of repeating that action in
similar situations increases
o Conversely, if an action leads to a negative consequence, the
likelihood of repeating that action decreases
 •

• Stimuli and the context

• "I should perform this response in the presence of this stimuli based on
the context"

STIMULUS RESPONSE (S-R) LEARNING

• Instrumental behaviors (responses) are "controlled" by stimuli with which
they are associated
o Goal-directed behaviors: the individual's response is motivated by
the desired outcome or consequence
• Discriminative stimulus: stimuli in the environment acts a signal that an
action will produce a particular outcome (trigger)
o The individual learns to recognize these stimuli and associate
them with the appropriate response
o E.g. traDic light turning green is a discriminative stimulus that
signals it is safe to cross the street
SKINNER'S TRIPARITE CONTINGENCY - ABC
• Antecedent (Sd): the stimulus controlling behavior; it is a trigger or cute
that sets the stage for the behavior to occur.
o Can be a specific event, a situation or a thought
• Behavior (R ) : observable action or response that the individual makes -
can range from simple actions to complex behavior
• Consequence (Sr or Rft) : the immediate outcome or result of the
behavior - it determines whether the behavior is likely to be repeated in
the future
 •

• Discriminative stimulus
o When an individual distinguishes between diDerent stimuli and
responds diDerently to each
o it often involves learning processes where a subject learns to
respond diDerently to stimuli based on their distinct properties.
STIMULUS CONTROL THEORY
o Theory emphasized the importance of S-R associations
o We learn to connect specific stimuli with responses overtime >> guides
our behavior in similar situations / stimuli
o Our decisions and actions are controlled by S-R associations we have
learned in the past (contrasted: experience of free will)
• Environment controls your actions, e.g. cramming for exams
wasn’t a bad experience and had decent results
• If you know the study habits of a person in high school, you can
predict their study habits in university
o If we had complete knowledge of an individual's learning history and the
current stimuli >> we could potentially predict their behavior
• If we could know an organism's entire learning history: Should be
able to predict behavior based on the stimuli present

• Watson believed that everything could be trained > nurture component

• Behaviorist >> behavior is shaped by environmental influences rather
than internal factors like free will
GENERALISATION AND DISCRIMINATION
• Every instance in which we encounter a stimulus or event is diDerent
• How is a previously learned response (in a particular situation) transferred
to a new but similar situation

• Generalisation = the extent to which behavior transfers to a new stimulus

// can be adaptive
o We apply what we've learned in one situation to a similar but new
situation
• Discrimination = the extent to which behavior does NOT transfer to a new
stimulus
o Ability to distinguish between similar stimuli and respond diDerent
to each >> allows us to fine-tune our responses based on specific
cues
FACTORS AFFECTING OUR STIMULUS CONTROL
• How eDective the S is learned about (Learning related)
o Basic conditions necessary for associative learning - fundamental
conditions necessary for learning to occur
o True of classical and instrumental conditioning - both rely on the
eDective learning of stimulus-response associations
• In Classical conditioning - a neutral stimulus becomes associated
with an unconditioned stimulus
• In Instrumental conditioning - a specific behaviour becomes
associated with a particular consequence
• How similar or diDerent the S is to previously learned stimuli
(performance-related)

o Behaviour in new (but similar) situations- our past experiences

with similar stimuli influence our response to new but related
stimuli
• We generalise our responses to new stimuli that resemble
previously learned ones
o Factors dictating generalisation and discrimination
• Such as similarity of the stimuli, the frequency of
reinforcement and the presence of distinctive cues
GENERALISATION AND LITTLE ALBERT
• Watson and Rayner (1920) set out to test generalisation of learned fear in
an infant, Albert B
• Observed Albert's reaction to a various stimuli including a white rat, a
rabbit, a loud noise - in which Albert showed no fear towards these stimuli
initially
o Researchers paired the presentation of the white rat with a loud
clanging noise
o US: Loud clanging noise
• Albert is afraid
• It is elicited a fear response (UR)
o After several pairings, Albert began to associate the white rat (CS)
with the fear response (CR)
o CS: White rat
• They would bang only if Albert touched the white rat
o CR: fear elicited by the rat
• When Little Albert saw the rat > fear due to association with
the loud noise
• Albert generalised this fear, not only white rats - white rabbits, white fur
coat etc // Generalisation of colour and diDerent textures of a rat as well
o Fear responses to all these stimuli>> generalisation of the
conditioned fear to objects like the original CS (white rat)
GENERALISATION GRADIENT

• E.g. pigeon learns it will get food at green light

 • Then test for slightly diDerent colours
• Generalisation is highest for physically similar stimuli
• Decreases as stimuli share less and less in common
DISCRIMINTAION LEARNING
• Discrimination can learn through training with diDerent schedules of
reinforcements
• Individuals learn to distinguish between similar stimuli and respond
diDerently to each
• Allows us to adapt to our environments and make appropriate responses
based on specific cues
• Examples:

Classical Conditioning example Instrumental conditioning example

High pitched tone > food US In presence of high-pitched tone:

Response> Rft
Low pitched tone > no US (food)
In presence of low-pitched tone: response
DiUicult for dogs to discriminate between
> no Rft
two diUerent tones initially
• Same response but it is only
• Result: dog learns to associate the
reinforced in the presence of one
high-pitched tone with the
stimuli comparison to a diUerent
expectation of food and develop a CR
stimulus
e.g. salivation
Dog learns to discriminate between the
The US is only contingent on the high tone
two tones and only performs the response
and CR will diUer
when the high-pitched tone is present

Reinforcement is contingent on the

stimulus and response
GENERALISATION IN HUMANS

• More complicated

o Physical attributes

• How similar something is to the trained stimulus

o Semantic similarity

• Conceptually, how similar are they?

o Rules/analogies that link otherwise dissimilar events

• Link similar events together

• Physically diUerent events

o Razran (1939) study using students

§ Salivation response in people

§ Pairing neutral words with food (US)

§ (Style, Urn, Freeze and Surf) >> each paired with

presentation of food

§ He used cotton wool and put under the tongue

§ Words (CS) paired with food (US) > salivation CR

o Tested responses to

§ Novel words

§ They look the same, sound the same but NOT identical

§ He also tested words that are conceptually / categorically similar

• Phonologically similar: Stile, Earn, Frieze, Serf

• Semantically similar: Fashion, Vase, Chill, Wave

§ More CR to items on the second list (semantically similar words)

§ Generalisation based on the meaning of the words

§ We can generalise based on semantic relationships

§ It would be hard to test this on animals

LECTURE 4 - SOCIAL LEARNING
LEARNING OUTCOMES
• What is social learning?

• How can classical conditioning occur by observation?

• What is emulation and imitation?

• What other social processes aUect learning (but are not considered social
learning)?

• What is social modelling?

SOCIAL LEARNING

• Classical and instrumental conditioning involves learning from direct

experience

• Radical behaviorists (Skinner/Watson): all behaviors result from:

o Conditioning and reinforcement

o Generalization of learned responses

• Tendency to apply learned responses to similar situations

• When behavior changes because of observing the behavior

• Acquiring the same behavior of others through observation

o If we observe someone's behavior, we may do the behavior same exact

way

o We learn to adopt specific behaviors that we see others exhibiting

• Acquiring new/altered behaviors through observations of others' actions and

their consequences

o Not copying same exact action, more of copying the style

CONTROLLING THROUGH BEHAVIOUR

• The behavior of others can act as a US that supports classical conditioning

• If behavior of conspecific elicits a particular response automatically

OBSERVATIONAL CONDITIONING

• Lab raised monkeys

o They are not afraid of snakes > no direct negative experiences with
snakes

• Wild monkeys
 o Have a fear snakes

o Learnt this fear through experience in the jungle

o A wild monkey (performer) exhibiting fear towards snake, the lab raised
monkey (the observer) witnesses this behavior

• Lab raised monkeys observe the wild monkeys and they learn the fear > learnt
that snakes are potentially dangerous

• Acquired learning through conditional learning

• Wild monkey > their behavior is eliciting an unconditioned response

o A reaction to the conditioned stimulus

• This example highlights how observational conditioning can shape our behaviors
and attitudes; demonstrates that we don’t always need DIRECT experience to
learn rather we can learn by observing others

COOK AND MINEKA (1990)

• Tested the behavior of monkeys in the presence of a real snake and similar toys

•
• Monkeys showed a significant increase in fear response (longer latency) towards
the real snake and similar toys after observing a fearful model

• If you are not afraid, you will reach the food very quickly

• Pre-observation learning - reaching the food very fast

• Showing discrimination of snakes vs other objects

• Follow up - the latency to reach for food remained the same

PREPAREDNESS FOR LEARNING

• Cook and Mineka suggested there is a biological predisposition preparedness to

learn fear about some stimuli over others
• Spliced videos of fear reaction

o To manipulate the association between a flower and a toy snake

• Made two types of videos to watch

o Monkey that was being watched, afraid of flower but not snake

o Switched it around; so a monkey being scared of a snake but not a flower

• Flower fear, toy snake safe (FL+ / SN-)

• Flower safe, toy snake fear (SN+ / FL-)

• Findings

o Suggested there is a biological preparedness to learn fear about some

stimuli over others

o
• Some fear to the real snake

• Monkeys were more likely to develop a fear response to the stimulus paired with
fear in the video

o regardless of whether it was a natural fear-inducing stimulus like a snake

or a neutral stimulus like a flower

• Condition of the monkeys being scared to snake

o Before this video, they were not afraid

o Acquired fear to a real snake and a toy snake

• Preparedness is specific to aversive (negative) stimuli nit appetitive (positive)

o We are more likely to quickly learn to fear something that could harm us
in comparison to learning about something beneficial

• May not be innate fear of stimuli

• Potentially evolved to learn more quickly about potential threats - evolutionary

advantage // survival mechanism

o Biological preparedness to learn about the fear of snakes

INSTRUMNETAL LEARNING THROUGH OBSERVATION

• Learning can occur by observing others preform an action or behavior

• Learning can occur by observing the consequences of others performing an

action or behavior (R-Rft)

OBSERVATIONAL INSTRUMENTAL LEARNING

• Emulation

o Understanding there is a goal not using the same method to gain access
to the goal

o based on what other people are doing - do their actions lead to a

reward?

• It is not copying the same exact method

• Understanding there is a goal to be achieved but using a diUerent

method to reach it

o Chimpanzee being shown an apple on a block with the use of the hook

• Demonstrate

o There is understanding of the goal

o But the specific response required to obtain the goal may not be well
understood

- Imitation

o Copying behavior with reference to a goal

o Copied actions made with respect to the goal

o Replication of the same responses made by the performer

o E.g. infants solving two-action tasks in the same manner as the

demonstrator

• Two action puzzle box in a Japanese Quail - you can open this box
in two ways, either pecking or stepping (Akins and Zentall 1998)

o You can have the researcher demonstrate how to open the box in one of the
ways - observer quail were then tested to see if they imitated either of these
actions
§ Does the baby open the box randomly or imitate the researcher
§ If they perform at random - not imitating
 o Show them two videos one of pecking and one is stepping to get the food

• Showed a bird peck

• Showed another Japanese quail step on the lever to get the food

o Pecking a lever to get food / stepping on the lever to get food

o If they were preforming the pecking randomly

o Bars would be around 50/50

o Study provides evidence that animals can learn through observation and
imitation (even if the imitation may be limited to certain behaviors)

o It highlights the importance of social learning in shaping animal behavior

SOCIAL LEARNING

• When you copy a behavior based on seeing someone else perform the behavior

o It is not related to you having a direct experience, rather, someone else is

having the experience and watching you do it

• English blue tit learns to open milk bottles and steal cream - in England in 1970s

• Birds learn this response by observing others' successful behavior and copy it>>
chain reaction of learning

o Spread of behavior

• Complex example of simple learning mechanisms - instrumental or

reinforcement

o Birds are essentially learning a sequence of actions that are rewarded

with food (cream)
 • How might trial and error learning fit in this example?

o An individual learns a behavior through direct experience - try diUerent

action and learn from the consequences

• If the bird accidentally opens the lid and makes a pecking response > milk is the
reward (reinforcement) >learning the presence of a specific (discriminative)
stimulus is the clanging of bottles when the milkman delivers the milk

• Or, another discriminative stimulus: leaving of the milkman, so it is safe to start

pecking the lid of the bottles

• If they have learnt for themselves - NOT SOCIAL LEARNING > it is an example of
trial and error

SOCIAL FACILITATION

• If it is not social learning, it is SOCIAL FACILITATION

o Presence of others can influence an individual's performance on a task;

either enhance or impair performance depending on the task and
familiarity

• Being around a social group has helped you to learn it directly for yourself

• Learning from direct experience due to living in a social group or hierarchy

o i.e., NOT social learning

• Examples:

• Goal Enhancement

• Access to appetitive consequence facilitates later trial and error learning, e.g.,
access to cream is not usually readily available

• Getting direct experience of the reward

• Presence of others can increase motivation and focus on a specific goal

• For the blue tits, presence of other birds opening milk bottles might increase
their motivation to try same behaviour
 • Especially if they see the reward (cream) associated with it

o Stimulus Enhancement

• Follow others in a group and being more likely to approach the same places,
e.g., the milk bottles

• Being in a group leads to access of stimulus by being in the same place

• Presence of others can draw attention to specific stimuli or objects

• For the blue tits, seeing other birds pecking at milk bottles might draw their
attention to the bottles as a potential source of food.

o Increased Motivation to Act/Explore

• Try more new things in the company of friends and parents

• Safety being in a group

• Social hierarchy of trial error

• Presence of others can draw attention to specific stimuli or objects

• Blue tits might experiment with opening milk bottles if they are in a group
of other birds who are also trying it

SOCIAL FACILIATTION VS SOCIAL LEARNING

• In social facilitation, behavior is changing NOT through observing the behavior

of others

o In social facilitation, e.g. a bird is pecking to get the cream BECAUSE it is

in a group

o Being in a group helps in the situation

• Behavior is changing via increased access to the goal, stimulus, or motivation to

act by following or being near others

o Then learning through direct experience once there is access to the goal
or stimulus

• Behavior of others facilitates your (direct) learning without any social

(observational) learning

o Direct learning of that experience without the observational learning of

watching another member of your species do it

SOCIAL FACILITATION SOCIAL LEARNING

• Increased access to goals, stimuli, or • Learning by observing and

motivation through the presence of imitating the behaviour of others
others
 • Direct experience and trial-and-error • Acquisition of new behaviours
learning facilitated by the presence of through observation and
others imitation

• Others provide opportunities or • Others serve as models for new

incentives for learning behaviours

MODELLING

• Imitation + modeling

o Children can directly imitate specific actions they observe

o Generating new behaviors in the same style or concept

o Bandura's study

• Modelling aggression in children

• Children would watch the demonstrator behaving aggressively

towards Bobo dolls

• The child modelled - picking up a hammer and hitting the Bobo doll -
this was never demonstrated

• Children will not only imitate an adult’s specific behavior but also model general
styles of behavior

o e.g., novel actions and language

• Generating new behaviors + novel language (abusive language that the modeler
never used)

• Suggests there is a cognitive aspect of social learning:

• Understanding of the actions of others/modelers; intention

• Children try to understand the intent behind the actions they observe

• Consider the reasons why the model performed a specific behavior

• Use this knowledge in situations where it is useful, application

• Selective imitation - they choose which behaviors to adopt based on

their own goals and understanding of the situation

• Information is not always used immediately, memory

• How does reinforcement influence modelling?

• Bandura was interested in seeing how reinforcement or punishment aUected

behaviour when these videos were watched
 • There was no consequence to the model

• There is another condition where the model was being aggressive towards
the doll, then someone came in and said stop being aggressive towards the
doll

• Model was being punished for displaying violent behaviour towards

the doll

• Third condition the model was being aggressive towards the doll and got
rewarded after

• Split by gender - to see diUerence

• Boys in general displayed more aggressive behavior across three reward conditions

• For punished condition> had an eUect > less likely to perform

• Positive incentive - result of punishment and not due to a diUerence in memory

• Generating a fearful response in the observer > leads to forgetting

• Choosing NOT TO model because of the punishment - negative reinforcement

• Bandura (1965): Model observed on TV

• Model rewarded

• Model punished
 • No consequence

Modelling is dependent on reinforcement/punishment (towards the modeller)

Modelling can occur through media, not just in person (no relationship between modeller and
observer)

APPLICATIONS

• Children are more likely to model behaviour of people they look up to

• Social modelling for good?

• Advertising campaigns to reduce drink driving, smoking, dieting

• Smacking a child to discipline or punish bad behavior (positive punishment) can

itself be modelled

• Punish younger siblings or friends in the same way

LECTURE 5 ; GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

• What factors aBects conditioning?

• What is (and isn’t) learning?

• How can learning and performance diBer?

• What are reflexes and instincts?

• What is habituation and sensitization?

GOAL OF LEARNING RESEARCH

• Identify principles that are general to many situations

a. Helps predict behavior

b. Helps modify behavior

i. Looking at what happened in the past (diBerent stimuli) - how did they control the
behavior

ii. Allows us to anticipate what will happen in a similar situation

• Identify factors impacting the strength, speed and eBicacy of learning - conditions of the learning

a. Classical conditioning

b. Instrumental conditioning

WHAT AFFECTS CONDITONING

Frequency: number of event pairings

 • Classical conditioning example

• More CR - better learning of the association / relationship

o Strength of how the animal associated the CS-US

• Rates of CR - reaches asymptote

o Most changes occur in the early trials

• Acquisition: process of acquiring new response through repeated pairings of the CS and US

o Graph shows the acquisition phase as the initial steep rise in the CR strength

• More event pairings - More learning

o Stronger association between the CS and the US >> stronger CR

Intensity

a. The salience of the CS / Sd

b. The salience of the US / Reinforcer

• Salience is about what catches your attention - event that stands out and grabs
our focus

• This can be due to various factors such as intensity (loud noise, bright light
etc.) , novelty (something new or unexpected) or personal relevance

SALIENCE OF THE CS / Sd

• Discriminative stimulus (Sd) - In operant conditioning, this is a stimulus that signals the
availability of reinforcement

• Conditioned stimulus (CS) - In classical conditioning, this is the stimulus that, after repeated
pairings with the unconditioned stimulus (US), elicits a conditioned response (CR).
 • Stronger CS - you learn about the relationship much more quicker and vice verse

o Though you still reach the asymptote similarly

o A more intense CS/Sd >> faster learning

• E.g. a louder bell (conditioned stimulus) will be more eBective in eliciting a

response

SALIENCE OF THE US / Reinforcer

•
• Unconditioned stimulus (US) - In classical conditioning, this is a stimulus that naturally
elicits a response.

• Reinforcer (Rft) - In operant conditioning, this is a stimulus that increases the probability
of a behaviour occurring.

• Pairing more food - support more salivation

• Pairing sound with less food - less salivation

• Instrumental conditioning - how much reward you are giving

• A more intense or rewarding US/Rft leads to greater learning.

o E.g. a dog might learn faster with a more appetizing food (US)

Contiguity (Timing): how far apart the events occur

• Refers to the closeness in time between two events

o It suggests that when two stimuli are experienced close together in time, an
association may form between them
 • Temporal contiguity - the time interval between the onset of the conditioned stimulus (CS)
and the unconditioned stimulus (US)

o A shorter interval (stronger temporal contiguity) generally leads to better learning.

• ISI can be wider or shorter

• Gow far apart the the CS and US - higher ISI

• More pairing may be required if there was a delay

• Almost overlapping - diBicult to learn about it

• As US-CS are far apart - more diBicult to learn

o While a shorter interval between CS and US >> stronger learning

• Biological process involved (digestion)

o Good connection is within 3-6 hours

Contingency : statistical relationship between events

• Refers to to the predictability or reliability of the relationship between two events

• the occurrence of one event reliably predicts the occurrence of another.

• Need two pieces of information:

1. What is the probability of the US given the CS

• The likelihood of the US occurring when the CS is present

• Higher probability >>stronger contingency and better learning

• E.g. probability food presented follows the bell

• Higher? Better statistical relationship

• Every time you present the bell of the dog - present the food

• 100% probability that the dog will get food after the bell

• This will increase the learning

2. What is the probability that the US occurs anyway

• The likelihood of the US occurring regardless of the CS

• If the US occurs frequently on its own, it weakens the association between the CS
and US >> reducing the eBectiveness of learning

• The CS must increase the probability of the US

• You always get the food after the bell

• When the bell isn't there the dog still gets food - that weakens the relationship between bell
and food

• Weakens association between US and CS

• Example:

• High Contingency:

• Bell (CS) always signals food (US).

• Dog learns strong association.

• Dog salivates (CR) at the sound of the bell.

• Low Contingency:

• Bell (CS) sometimes signals food (US), sometimes not.

• Dog learns weaker association.

• Dog's salivation (CR) is less reliable.

WHAT IS LEARNING

“An enduring change within an organism brought about by experience that leads to a change in behaviour”

• “enduring”: changes are relatively stable

• “experience”: previous trials (history), practice, observation

LEARNING =/= PERFROMANCE

• If there is learning, you can see it in behaviour

• Not all changes in behaviour are examples in learning

Learning is often reflected by a change in behaviour

• Not all changes in behaviour are examples of learning

• No behaviour/performance does not always reflect no learning

Performance is aBected by learning, but it also depends on:

• Opportunity
• Motivation

• Sensory and motor capabilities

• Situations where you have learnt but unable to express the behavior

Changes in performance (or lack of) do not always reflect changes in learning (or lack of)

LEARNING IS NOT: -

• Reflexes: these changes in behaviour are not brought about by experience, they are innate

• They are automatic, usually very fast and learning is not required: eliciting stimuli -->
corresponding response

§ Food --> salivation

§ Air puB --> eye blink

§ Movement --> eye turn

§ Knee tap --> knee jerk

§ Pain --> withdrawal

• Reflexes are generally helpful

• Baby head turn helps find milk and grip while falling

• Arm withdrawal prevents further pain

§ Involve the fewest neurons out of any type of behaviour

§ Touching something hot - reflex to avoid further tissue damage

- Reflex arc: Sensory neurons detect stimuli, send signals to the brain, which activates motor
neurons to stimulate muscles.

• Instincts: these changes in behaviour are also genetically determined, but are more complicated
than reflexes

• Instinctive behaviours are typical of all members of a species

• E.g. all birds have the instinct to build nests and care for their young

• Instinctive behaviours are often linked to specific motivational states, such as hunger, thirst,
or reproduction.
 • E.g. a bird may only build a nest during the breeding season.

• Innate behaviours that are present from birth and don’t require learning

• DiBerence between reflexes and instinct is in complexity of behaviour, rather than type of
behaviour

• Instincts (more complex) - involve a sequence of coordinated behaviours, often

triggered by specific stimuli or internal states

Reflexes instincts

• Individual muscle systems • Several muscle systems

• Simple, automatic • Complex, coordinated behaviours

responses
• Slower, more deliberate responses
• Fast, immediate responses
• Sensitive to motivational state
• Not sensitive to motivation

• Maturation: these changes in behaviour are brought about by aging

• Changes that take place in your body and in your behaviour because you are getting
older

• E.g. learning to walk

• Fatigue: this change in behaviour is not enduring

• A transient state of discomfort and loss of eBiciency as a normal reaction to emotional

strain, physical exertion, boredom or lack of rest

• May lead to physical inability to perform a learnt response, but this is not evidence for
lack of learning

SIMPLEST FORMS OF LEARNING

HABITUATION

• DECREASE IN RESPONDING DUE TO REPEATED EXPOSURE TO STIMULUS

• The organism becomes familiar with the stimulus and no longer perceives it as novel or
threatening.

• IS NOT FATIGUE - it is a learning process

• Fatigue occurs when muscles become incapacitated so the organism can no

longer perform the response

• Organism can still respond but chooses not to

• E.g., rat can still jump

• IS NOT SENSORY ADAPTION

• Sense organs become temporarily insensitive to stimulation (by bright light or

loud noise)

• Involves a temporary decrease in sensitivity of sensory receptors

 • E.g., rat can still hear the loud noise

How to test whether the rat is fatigued or habituated?

• Present a diBerent sound

SENSITISATION

• Increased responding produced by repeated exposure to stimulus

• The organism becomes more easily triggered by the stimulus, requiring less
intensity to elicit a response.

E.g., Rats run more in response to the same amount of cocaine if they have been pre-exposed to cocaine

WHY HABITUATE AND SENSITISE

• Help us sort out what stimuli to ignore and what to respond to, help us to organize and
focus our behaviour in a world of meaningless stimuli

• Very adaptive

• Habituate - allow us to ignore stimuli we shouldn’t care about

• Prevents wasting energy on safe stimuli

• Adaptive

• Ignore irrelevant stimuli that is consistently present > prevents us from wasting
energy

• Sensitization

• Helps to avoid harmful stimuli - detecting threats

§ Helps us become more responsive

• Allow us to adjust our behavior in response to changes in our environment

LECTURE 6 – MOTIVATION, HABITS AND GOALS

• What is motivation?

• How are instincts motivated?

• Fixed action pattern, sign stimulus

• What are habits vs goals?

• What is incentive motivation?

• What is delayed reward discounting?

MOTIVATION
• Why individuals initiate, choose or persist in specific actions in specific circumstances

• A necessary condition of behavior

o If you have learnt something but not motivated to perform - we wont be able
to see that action or the behavior being performed

o It is a necessary condition for behavior and it has an energizing eUect on

behavior

• A energizing eUect on behavior

o If you are less motivated > reduced amount of responding despite the
amount of learning being the same

o We have learnt the most - association between CS and US in classical

conditioning

• Motivation can vary the amount to which the conditioned response is

elicited

o If the asymptote is high on one day, it may vary from day to day > the
conditioned response isn't the same level

• That’s likely due to the energizing eUect on behavior - temporary

state

• A temporary state that can vary over time

o It is a dynamic state that can fluctuate over time, it can be influenced by

various factors, such as emotions, needs and external stimuli

HEBB'S ANALOGY - neuroscientists

• Learning and motivation in duality

• Duality of learning and motivation

• Cars move
 • The engine can be thought of as the driver that powers the car and the steering can
be direction determinate

• Movement of car > learning a memory in a similar duality of its impact on behavior

• An individual's behavior is powered by our motivations

• It is the innate tendency or the learned experience that determines the direction in
which that behavior goes

TWO FORMS OF MOTIVATION

• Biological: innate, species specific

• Psychological: goal/value driven, depends on individual

o Rarely see psychological motivation in non-human animals

BIOLOGICAL

• FIXED ACTION PATTERNS

o A type of instinct that is biologically stimulated

o Innate behavior displayed all members/sex of the spies in response ot the same
"sign stimulus"

• Sign stimulus: external stimuli that signal the fixed action pattern

o A sequence of behaviors, often regulated by specific biological state

• Breeding season, nesting, specific development stage

• It is done without respect to a goal - could be automatic

• Konrad Lorenz and Nikolas Tinbergen

§ Removed the egg midway a fixed action process - a goose starting to

fetch the egg back to the nest

§ If that action is goal directed - the goose should chase after the egg
to keep rolling it back

o Can be the sign stimulus for a reciprocal response in another individual:

• Mating rituals, appeasement signals

§ When a male bird sees a female bird > mating dance, which can be
thought of as a fixed action pattern

§ This can also elicit a fixed action pattern in female

• SUPERNORMAL STIMULUS
 o Exaggerated version of a sign stimulus motivates stronger behavior tendencies (e.g.
maternal instinct)

• INSTINCTS AND MOTIVATION

o Fixed action patterns (and instincts generally) are not directly motivated by a
consideration of the end goal

• Fixed action patterns are a type of instinct

o Instead, they are elicited by a combination of biological and environmental

circumstance

• Specific stages/seasons

• STUDYING HUMAN INSTINCTS

How can we tell if behavior is instinctive vs learned?

o Is it an innate behavior e.g. the paradise bird mating dance, has it seen another bird
doing this behavior

• Could it be a behavior that the bird has learnt through past experience (previous
breeding season)

• Biological basis

• IS THERE A BIOLOGICAL NEED TO DO THIS BEHAVIOUR

• Twin studies

§ Specific behavior could be tied to specific genes

§ Studies that map out genome sequence linked to maladaptive behavior

• Biological component

• Cross species similarity

• Maybe passed on through evolutionary chain

• Cross cultural similarity

• Are there certain behaviors that are similar across diUerent cultural societies

• Upbringing > innate tendencies of humans

• Twin studies

• Developmental studies

• Looking at behaviors in infants

CROSS CULTURAL TEST

• Eibl-Eibesfeldt used a side-viewing camera to capture "natural" human facial expression -

non verbal communication

• Naturalistic observation / setting

 • Are there similarities of facial expression across diUerent cultures/ societies ?

• Smile > instinctive behavior that humans do automatically

• WOULD SUGGEST A BIOLOGICAL BASIS FOR THE BEHAVIOUR

• He proposed that identifiable components of the human behavior can be seen across
cultures

• Smiling - instinct / natural when you are happy

• Studies have shown someone who is blind and deaf have the tendency to smile
when happy

STUDYING HUMAN INSINCTS

• Problems with evolutionary/biological explanations for behavior

• Circular reasoning: when the end of an argument comes back to the beginning

• Behaviors are innate > not learnt

• Proliferation: tendency to overuse instincts as the explanation for a range of behaviors

• E.g. observe n diUerent behaviors > n diUerent instincts

• If we have a very large number of diUerent behaviors, does that suggest there are
that many diUerent instincts

• If we see 100 unique behaviors, does that suggest that those 100 unique
behaviors all derive from 100 diUerent instincts

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Habits

• Learned behaviors can often look like innate behaviors when they are performed without
much thought

• Does not necessarily mean it has a biological basis

• Doing actions without respect to a goal

• A habit is a learned response performed without consideration of the value of the reinforcer
or "goal"

• S-R learning (autopilot)

§ We have learnt to make response because that response has been awarded
- been rewarded in the presence of a discriminative stimulus or in the
presence of a particular context

§ Initially it used to be with respect to a goal, however if you do it so frequently

• You accidentally do the behavior if when the goal isn't there

• Devaluation test can be used to assess whether behaviors are habitual or goal directed
 • If the behavior is goal directed, it should be influenced when the value of the
goal varies

• Food deprivation vs satiety

§ E.g. skinner box

• Value of the food is going to be higher when the rat is hungry;

lower when the rat is full

• Under vs over training

§ Model of addiction

§ Over train a behavior (for 3 weeks approx.) > becomes habitual > no
longer goal directed

• When you do devaluation test, e.g. skinner box

• Rats will press the lever even when they are full > becomes
habitual

• Reward has been devalued but still going for it > habitual
response

Goals

• Long-term motivations for behavior

• Requires an understanding of incentive value

• Anticipated reward/pleasure (beyond biological needs) > incentive value

• How much an individual "wants" something

• Our goals often Centre on intrinsic sources of motivation

• E.g. satisfaction from achieving success

• E.g. feeling good for helping people

• Driving you in the longer term to reach the goal

Incentive value

• The degree to which rewards " attract" an individuals' behavior

• Can be acquired through classical conditioning (similar to the conditioning in the

context of advertising)

• Stimuli that have been associated with highly rewarding outcomes

• E.g. cue-elicited cravings and cue-induced feeding

• Elicit you to e.g. want to smoke, drink

 • Cues elicit cravings because they have acquired the incentive values
from the source

• Can change moment-by-moment

• Biological state e.g. hanger

• Liking (hedonic value) vs wanting (incentive value)

• Hedonic value - if you like something a lot, you will tend to want it
more

• In contrast, cases of addiction

• Drug still leads to negative consequences > hedonic

value is very low

• Because al of the incentive value

• Become maladaptive > you can want something even if you don’t like it
anymore

• Liking and wanting something > become detached in the case of

drugs

DELAY REWARD DISCOUNTING

• CONCEPT OF REWARD CHANGING OVERTIME > depreciates overtime

• Motivation properties of incentives follow economic principles:

• Value of rewards decreases with time

• Correlated with impulsivity and disorders of abuse

• Value of 100$ overtime

• People in high impulsivity > value of 100$ depreciates much more quickly

• At zero days, value is 100$ is equivalent to a value of 60$ in 70 days

• Delay of gratification (Walter Mischel)

• One marshmallow now vs two marshmallows later

• 2/3 ate first marshmallow within 15 mins

• Follow up: children who waited had better outcomes - job success > patience

• Correlational study

• Preferences predicted by SES and environment scarcity

• If you grow up in an environment with a sacristy of resources > independently

of your impulsivity levels

• If you grow up in an environment with access to food and resources > take
the food now rather than wait

• Environment plays a role in your decision making

• Motivational properties if incentives follow economic principles

• Value of rewards decreases with time

• Correlated with impulsivity and disorders of abuse

NEUROSCIENCE
LECTURE 1: DIVISIONS OF NERVOUS SYSTEM
Why should psychologists study neuroscience?

• Enrich our understanding of many psychological processes

• Computer hardware vs software is a useful analogy for relationship between psych and brain

o Biology constraints certain aspects of our psychological processes

• E.g. language - you acquire this skill as a child

• Brain constraints the number of languages that can be taken

• Human brain operates in a certain way that constraints the languages we

can learn
NERVOUS SYSTEM

Peripheral nervous system

o Sensory

• Pick up pain

• In retinas, it picks up light

• Controls your balance - gravity

• Taste and smell

o Motor

• CNS sends neurofibrils that controls that PNS

• Controlling movement, muscle contractions and gland secretions

o Autonomic nervous system (subdivision of the PNS)

o Controls many non-voluntary bodily functions

o 4 F's

• Feeding

• Fight

• Flight

• FU** (sex)

o 2 branches: sympathetic vs parasympathetic

• Have opposite eIects: both controlled by brain

• Sympathetic branch

§ Prepares the body for a stress response - "fight-or-flight"

§ Increases HR, BP and breathing rate

§ Ejaculation

The sympathetic nervous system is primarily responsible for controlling

ejaculation.
 • Both play a role in sexual arousal

• SNS triggers contraction of muscles in the reproductive organs >> expulsion of

semen

• Parasympathetic is more involved in the earlier stages of sexual arousal e.g.

erection

• Parasympathetic

§ Calms the body and returns it to a resting state

§ Reduces BP and HR, activates the gut > causes salivation

§ Feeding and digestion controls

§ Sexual arousal

o Uses neurotransmitters (Acetylcholine and noradrenaline (main target for drugs) )

• ANS uses neurotransmitters

§ Which are chemical messengers to communicate between neurons or allow

to control organs

o Enteric nervous system

• Complex network of neurons located within the walls of gastrointestinal tract

§ Often referred to as the "second brain" because of its extensive neural

network and its ability to function independently of the CNS

• Dedicated to the control of the gut - gastrointestinal tract

• Walls of the intestine

• Connected to CNS and ANS

§ Not dependent on these systems, they function on their own

• Feeling full: hormones secreted in the gut

• Controls digestive activity

§ Peristalsis (contractions of muscular walls of the GI)

§ Secretion of enzymes (release of digestive enzymes to breakdown food into

smaller molecules)

• Detector conditions of the gut

• Uses neurotransmitters > dopamine and serotonin

§ To transmit signals between neurons

• These neurotransmitters are found in the brain -highlight close

connection between ENS and CNS
Central nervous system

• Brain and spinal cord

• Estimated to contain about 86 billion neurons

o Not the biggest number in the animals - elephants have around 100 billion neurons

• Brain used for an average person

o 100%

o NOT 10% - MYTH!!!

o Our brains are expensive organs - they consume a lot of energy

o We use most of our brain, even during sleep

o Brain and spinal cord are protected by 3 layers:

• Bone - skull, protects the brain; vertebral column, protects the spinal cord

• Meninges - 3 layers of tissues that surround and protect the brain and spinal
cord

• Blood-brain barrier - A selective barrier that prevents many substances from

entering the brain.

• There is almost no ability of CNS to regenerate itself - inability to heal

o Unlike the rest of the body

o Cells in the rest of the body are constantly being replaced by new cells

THE MENINGES
 o Flexible sheet between brain/spinal cord and bones, made from 3 membranes

1. Dura mater

• Outermost layer: tough fibrous membrane that provides primary protection for the
brain and spinal cord; flexible

2. Arachnoid mater

• Middle layer: delicate, web-like membrane that lies beneath the dura mater

3. Pia mater

• Innermost layer; thin; highly vascular membrane that is tightly adhered to the
surface of the brain and spinal cord

• Where the blood vessels travel in

o Physical protections - preventing any damage

o
o Between arachnoid layer and pia mater - SUBARACHNOID SPACE, filled with CSF
(cerebrospinal fluid)

• Cushioning, nutrient supply and waste removal

BLOOD BRAIN BARRIER

• Blood vessels in brain - walls have smaller pores than the ones in the body >> more diIicult
for chemicals to pass through

• KEY FUCNTIONS OF BBB

• Restricts the entry of many chemicals into the CNS >> crucial for protecting the
brain from harmful substances

o Treatment for medical conditions

• Chemicals need their structures to be modified in order to get across into

the BBB

§ BBB can be a challenge for delivering medications to the brain to

treat neurological conditions

• Morphine doesn’t get into BBB very well - it is in the CNS

§ That’s why you need to use a large dose to get it into the BBB to
achieve therapeutic eIects
 • Heroine - morphine group with two acetyl groups

§ Minor modification > to get into BBB

§ More potent than morphine

• Anti histamine - reduce allergy reactions

§ Drowsiness is a side eIect because it is getting into the brain - as

the drug aIect the brain

BRAIN HAS HIGH ENERGY DEMANDS

• 25% of the O2 in the blood is used by the brain

• Weight of the brain is about 2% of your body weight

• Uses about 10% of the blood flow

• Blood vessels supplying blood to CNS have special walls, restricting entry of many
chemicals into CNS

THE SPINAL CORD

• Nervous tissue in the centre = section of the meninges

• Major interface between the rest of the CNS and our body

o spinal cord serves as a crucial communication link between the brain and the rest of
the body.

o relays sensory information from the body to the brain and transmits motor
commands from the brain to the muscles and organs.

• Control of reflexes

o Allows spinals cord to do urgent things for protection - takes time

o plays a vital role in controlling reflexes, which are rapid, involuntary movements that
help protect the body from harm.

CNS RESPONSIBILITY

• Receiving and processing sensory information

• Initiating and controlling motor functions

o CNS sends commands to the muscles to control movement, posture and balance

• Regulating bodily function

• Higher cognitive functions

o E.g. thought, language, memory, learning and emotions

LECTURE 2: THE BRAIN
LEARNING OUTCOMES

• What are the fluid-filled cavities in our brain and why are they there?

• What does the brainstem do? What can happen to it after a head injury and why is that dangerous?

• Where is the cerebellum and what does it do?

• What structures sit at the very centre of the brain, at the top of the brain stem? What are their functions?

• What parts of the brain make up the limbic system and the basal ganglia? What aspects of behaviour do they contribute to?

• Why is your cortex so wrinkled? What are the diMerent lobes, and what diMerent functions are they specialised for?

• What connects your two hemispheres?

• How has the brain changed during the course of evolution?

The brain

• Brain is a large clump of approximately 87 billion neurons

• Divided into two hemispheres

o Left and right

o Mirror images of each other (not completely)

• There are slight diBerences

o The brain is responsible for a wide range of complex behaviors, including

thought, perception and emotion

• The ventricles

o Cavities within the brain that are filled with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)

•
o Space inside the brain - not whole solid
 • Lateral ventricle

• CSF

• Sewerage system of CNS

• Removes waste products

• BBB limits the ability to get stuB into your blood tissue

• CSF is the product

• Ventricles are connected to one another

• CSF drains back into the blood system

• It can get blocked - during fetal development

• Hydrocephalus - blockage of ventricles

• Abnormal build up of CSF deep within the brain

• Small tumor / benign tumor growing in the brain

• Brain plates are diBused

• Symptoms e.g. nausea

• Condition where ventricles bceome enlarged >> putting pressure on the brain

MAJOR SUBDIVISION OF THE BRAIN

Brain stem

• The 'stock' where the brain sits on

• Base of the skull

• Connected to the spinal cord

• Controls life supporting functions

 • Damage following head injury > coma and death

• Control of automimic system

• Controlling breathing, BP, HR etc.

• Basic aspects of movement and posture

• Oldest part of the brain

• Only opening is the brain stem opening

• Increased pressure in the brain can be dangerous due to the small brainstem
opening

• Opening is too small for the brain stem > head trauma

• Doctors usually drill diBerent hole to release some pressure that is added to the
brain stem hole

Cerebellum

• 10% of the volume of the brain

• Contains 70% of the neurons - densely packed

• For elephants, 95% of the neurons are in their cerebellum

• Important role to play in movement and skilled actions (especially learnt actions)

• Fast calculations of what the signals from brain stem - what are they?

• "super computer" > to make precise accurate movement in the correct timings

• Receiving lots of input from all the sensory organs

• The actions happen very quickly and they are outside of our consciousness

• It is highly neuro-dense, responsible for fast, complex movements

• Huge rule in consciousness

• Plays a crucial role in coordinating movement, balance and posture

• Also contributes to motor learning and fine motor control

Thalamus and hypothalamus

• All sensory information goes via thalamus e.g. through eyes , taste

• Only thing doesn’t go through thalamus is the smell

• Thalamus acts as a central relay station for most sensory information from the body

• Vision

• Taste

• Touch

• Hearing

• Routes sensory information to the cerebral cortex for further processing and
interpretation

• Hypothalamus is involved in hormonal regulation and motivational control (feeding and

sex)

• Directly influences the pituitary gland, which secretes hormones that regulates
various bodily functions, such as growth, metabolism and reproduction

• Involved in regulating basic drives and motivations

• Hunger

• Thirst

• Sexual behavior

• Sleep-wake cycles
Limbic system

• Control of emotion and memory

• Organized together because they are part of the same important function of the
control of our behavior

• Set of structures WRAPPED around the thalamus

• The structures of the limbic system are organized together because they share the
common function of controlling our behavior and emotional responses

• Key structures

• Cingulate cortex - involved in emotional processing, particular pain and conflict

resolution

• Hippocampus - essential for memory formation and retrieval

• Amygdala - plays a crucial role in emotional processing, especially fear and

aggression

• Thalamus - acts as a relay station for sensory information, but also contributes
to emotional processing

• Olfactory bulb - processes sensory information from the nose, contributing to

emotional responses associated with smells

• Mammillary bodies (in hypothalamus) - involved in memory formation and

retrieval, particularly spatial memory

Basal ganglia
• Action and thought

• Plays a crucial role in planning and initiating voluntary movements

• They help determine which actions should be performed and when to perform
them

• They are not controlling actions - involved in earlier stages

• What actions should be performed? What should I be doing now?

• Parkinson's disease is most known in the basal ganglia

• Primary symptom: inability to move and rigidity

• Dementia could be one of the symptoms - advanced symptom

• Caused by degeneration of neurons in basal ganglia

• Involved in thought processes

• For example schizophrenia is based in basal ganglia

• Dysfunction in the basal ganglia may contribute to some of its symptoms such
as disorganized thoughts and movements

• Neocortex

• Convoluted sheet on top of the brain - 1cm thick

• Wrapped around the brain

•
• Why is the cortex wrinkled

• Its area is too large for the head

• It gets folded during evolution and during the development of the brain

• It gets folded on top of itself so that it fits inside the head > wrinkly

• It is a convoluted sheet of tissue approximately 1 cm thick

 • Neocortex is responsuble for the majority of high order cognitive functions

• Conscious thougt, perception, language, memory, learning, motor

control

• So much cortex that it has been divided into 4 diBerent lobes

• Frontal lobe - planning and movement, and executive functions such as desciiosn
making and personality

• Close to the motor cortex

• Parietal lobe - representing space for action - processes sensory information, particular
touch and spatial awareness

• Temporal lobe -involved in auditor processing, language comprehension and memory

formation

• Occipital lobes - visual processing

Corpus callosum

• Connecting 2 hemispheres

•
• A thick bundle of nerve fibers that connects the two hemispheres of the brain; it
is the largest joint in the brain

• Managing / preventing epilepsy

• Corpus callosotomy >> prevent seizures by limiting the spread of

abnormal electrical activity

• Primary function : facilitate communication between left and right hemispheres

of the brain

• This communication is essential for coordinated functions and overall

brain function

• Coordination tasks such as motor control, language processing and

perception

COMPARATIVE NEUROANATOMY

• Nervous system almost a defining feature of animals

• Nearly universal among animals; key characteristic that distinguishes them

from other organisms

• Complexity and organization of nervous system vary widely across species

• Roundworm has 302 neurons

• One of the simplest nervous systems among animals

• Starfish have ~ 500 neurons

• "nerve nets" in jellyfish have 5,000-10,000 neurons

• These nerve nets coordinate their movements

 • Nervous system has more complex organization in insects

• Clusters of neurons ("ganglia") forming cord or "brain"

• Some specialization of neurons (e.g. motor vs sensory)

• Vertebrates have separation between PNS and CNS

• Level of diBerentiation - PNS doing sensory things. While CNS > making
decisions

Brain is divided into three main regions

• Forebrain - responsible for higher-order cognitive functions.

• Midbrain - sensory processing and motor control.

• Hindbrain - Controls vital functions such as breathing, heart rate, and balance.

• Among vertebrates, large diBerences in relative size of diBerent regions of brain ,

reflecting complexity of behavior

• Large increase in size of forebrain across vertebrates; appearances (and enlargement) of

neocortex in mammals

• The forebrain > varies a lot (in size and structure) across diBerent species

• Reflecting their specific behavioral and ecological needs

LECTURE 3: ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE
NEURON
Learning outcomes

• What is the primary job of any neuron?

• What sort of signals do neurons send and what direction do they travel along a neuron?

• What is the resting state of a neuron? What charge does it have?

• What happens when a neuron is depolarised?

• How many states can a neuron have? What does this tell us about the sort of signalling they are capable of?

• What is myelin? What does it do?

• How do neurons communicate with one another? Where does this communication occur?

• How might a neurotransmitter from one neuron aMect another neuron?

• What stops the eMects of neurotransmitters in the synapse?

• Where do most psychoactive drugs work in the nervous system?

• In what ways can drugs interact with neurotransmission?

ANATOMY OF A NEURON

• Neuron - transmit information throughout the nervous system

• Building blocks of the brain and nervous system

• Resposnible for receiving, processing and transmitting electrical signal - 'nerve

impulses'

• Injected with a fluorescent dye - transported throughout the cell

• Soma contains the nucleus

• Filaments extending out from cell body

• Axon - thicker than other fibers (dendrites)

o Pick up information coming from other neurons and sending information to

the end of the cell

• This determines how far the information

• Axons have myelin

• At the end of the axon, it splits into two terminals that connect to other neurons

•
• Conveying signals from point A to point B

• Binary signals - signaling whether the neuron is on or oI

o All or none

o Binary coding makes for very simple information

• Neuron has a cell wall lipid membrane

o The membrane is semi permeable

 • When the neuron is at resting state - more positive charge is higher outside the
membrane compared to inside > neuron is polarized

ACTION POTENTIAL

• The state lasts for around 2 millisecond

•
• Action potential traveling along the axon are being displayed

• Probe was vibrating at 50 hz.

• Action potentials are very close to one another

 • Sudden change in voltage is the action potential

NEURONS ARE DIGITAL

• Convery one on bit of information

• The signals that are being sent by the neurons are high fidelity

Propagation of action potential

• It is localized to small segment of membrane and spreads along membrane

• An action potential will begin if the inside of the neuron starts to become positively
charged

• When the inside of the neuron starts to become positively charger, that then starts to
open channels in the membrane which lets sodium ions in

• The channels are closed when the neuron is at rest

o When the sodium ions enter, that opens up the channels > let more sodium
in

o That's why the neuron flips from being negatively charged to being positively
charged

• The action potential doesn’t occur simultaneously on the whole neuron

o It begins in some part on the neuron and then it travels along the neuron

o 'Cascading domino eIect'

o How is the negative charge maintained

• Neuron has pumps along the membrane that pumps that positively
charged sodium ions

o When the neuron is in a hyperpolarized state, it can’t have an action

potential

• The inside is very negative

• MOSTLY, an action potential is triggered at a synapse in a dendrite or

maybe on a cell body

• Travels along the membrane and then travels down to the axon
terminal
Myelin

• Fatty membrane - impermeable to ions including Na+ ions

• Impermeable to water

• Prevents action potential from occurring underneath the myelin

• Myelin is not continuous along the forming of the axon

o Along the full length of the axon , there are only short segments of myelin
and little gaps between those segments

o The spacing of the gap is large enough that an action potential is able to
jump from one gap to the other

o The passage of the action potential along that axon is now much faster,
because it is skipping over those segments of myelin

o Without the gaps , the action potential will travel straight along the
membrane > slowing down

o If it was long, it would have just stopped

o If the axon was unmyelinated, for example if you touch something burning,
you would receive the signal of moving your hand away very late, which
could lead to a worse injury

• Myelin prevents depolarization

• Complexity of information coded

o Large number of neurons

o High firing rate of neurons

o Complexity of network connections between neurons

NEURAL FUNCTION?

o Neurons are digital, convey only one bit of information

o Sophistication of brain function due

• High speed of information transmission

• Enormous number of neurons

 • Complexity of connections, the action potential will travel straight along the
axon > slowing down of connections between neurons

§ Neurons signal diIerent things with diIerent neurotransmitters

• Certain drugs work by interfering with action potentials

HOW DO NEURONS INTERACT?

• Neurons form small junctions called "synapses" - neurons communicate across

synapses

• The terminals of one neuron connect to the dendrites of the other ot to the cell body
of another neuron and has an eIect

• Whenever a neuron's having an action potential, it is sending a signal that an eIect

on the next neuron

• Chemical synapses

• The synapses is the gap between two neurons

o The vast majority of neuron communicate via chemical transmission across

synapses

•
• Synaptic cleft is 10-20nm* wide > very fast transmission

NEUROTRANSMISSION

o Released into synapse from terminal

o
o Terminal has little bubbles called vesicles - they contain the neurotransmitter
chemical

• This triggers some changes which makes these vesicles move to the end of
the terminal

• Then fuse onto the wall of the terminal and release the neurotransmitter
content into the synapse

• On the next neuron, there are receptors, in which the neurotransmitter

COULD potentially bind to if they fit 'lock and key' concept HIGHLY
SPECIFIC

• The receptor may have an ion channel on it > electrical force can slightly
change the shape of the receptor

• Example of a very common receptor is the glutamate receptor

• Neurotransmitters can be inhibitory or excitatory

• There is a pump at the axon terminal that sucks the neurotransmitter back
up out of the cell and recycle - reuptake process and enzymetaic
destruction

§ Removing neurotransmitters from synapses and limit the time

course on which the neurotransmitter can be eIective

• Psychoactive drugs aIect functioning of neurons - they interact with

neurotransmitters and they work in the synapses

• A drug could mimic the neurotransmitter itself chemically, so the drug could bind to
the receptor that the neurotransmitter uses and can actually open the receptor
stimulate the receptor in the way neurotransmitter does
 • Some drugs on the other hand, look like the neurotransmitter, they bind but they
don’t stimulate - not close enough eIects of the real one

• Can influence the release, reuptake, enzymatic destruction or receptor binding of

neurotransmitters

• Some drugs can work by increasing the amount of neurotransmitter that gets
released every time there is an action potential

• Agonist or antagonist

How does caIeine work at the neuronal level and why does it stop us feeling sleepy?

• It blocks the adenosine receptor, due to the similarity of both structures.

• At higher concentrations, adenosine inhibits arousal, which causes sleepiness and

tiredness, thus when the receptors are blocked, this promotes alertness.

• antagonist
LECTURE 4: HOW WE STUDY THE BRAIN
LEARNING OUCTOMES

• What methods can be used to show that a specific part of the brain is necessary for a given function?

• What four methods can be used to obtain functional maps of the human brain?

• What is EEG? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

• What does fMRI measure? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

• What is MEG? What are its strengths and weaknesses?

• What four regions of the hypothalamus are involved in feeding? What does each area do?

Mapping the functional organization of the brain

o Selective lesions might be made - experiments on animals such as rats

o
• Example of a rat's brain

TRANSCRANIAL MAGENTIC STIMULATION (TMS)

o Interfering with a specific function of the brain

o N0n-invasive brain stimulation technique that uses a magnetic pulse to induce a small
electrical current in the underlying brain tissue

• This electrical current can depolarize neurons >> generation of actions

potentials
 o
o Electrical current changes magnetic field

o Magnetic pulse > passes through the skull into the brain

o Electrical current cannot pass through the skull easily in comparison to the magnetic
field

o Stimulates neurons > temporarily disrupts activity of neurons > momentarily

interference with behavior

• Can provide insights into the role of that region in various cognitive and
behavioral functions

o Applications: treat a variety of condiitons

• Depression

• Anxiety

• Chronic pain

• OCD

• **** keep in mind that TMS is used to stimulate brain activity and not measure it

SINGLE CELL RECORDING / electrical stimulation

• Recording of a population of neurons and observing the activity when an animal is

engaging in a specific activity

• Can be done on humans - done while undergoing brain surgery

• Thinking of an activity / action > using a robotic arm to undergo the action

• Optogenetics and fiber-photometry (Ca++ imaging)

o Recording and stimulating

o Record activity of specific neurons > what neurotransmitters are they using

o You can stimulate or inhibit the neurons

• Microinjection into specific region of brain

 o You can inject a drug

o What is the eUect when this specific drug is introduced to this part of the brain

Electrodes in the brain Microinjection

• Electrodes can be implanted directly • A fine needle can be used to inject drugs or
into the brain to deliver electrical other substances into specific regions of the
currents to specific regions. brain.

• This can be used to stimulate • Allows researchers to study the

neurons and study their eUects of these substances on
functions or to treat neuronal activity and behaviour
neurological disorders.
• Microinjections can provide more localised
• Electrodes can also be used to record eUects compared to systemic administration
the electrical activity of neurons of drugs, which can aUect the entire body

• This technique is used to study

brain function, diagnose
neurological disorders, and
monitor the eUects of
treatments.

FUNCTIONAL IMAGING OF THE HUMAN BRAIN

• Measuring which brain areas become active when:

o Cannot create cause and eUect link between the area and behavior

ELECTROCEPHALOGRAPHY (EEG)

• Measuring the electrical field emanating form the brain

• Brain is producing electrical field > passes through skull > can be
measured from surface of the head

• Create an idea of which part of the brain is creating the electrical

impulses

• Electrodes plates against scaled record electrical field from brain

•
 • On the surface , it is less spatial resolution - not good for seeing exactly
where activity occurred

Poor spatial resolution limits its ability to pinpoint the exact location of brain activity

• Bec electrical signals from diUerent brain regions can overlap and interfere with each
other

High temporal resolution > ideal for investigating rapid cognitive processes

• It can detect changes in brain activity on a millisecond scale (~20ms )

• Neurons produce small electrical currents when they fire

§ The collective electrical field from the brain is strong enough to be detected
outside the skull

§ Electrodes are placed on the scalp to measure these electrical signals

• Electrode placement can vary depending on the research question

• EEG is commonly used to diagnose conditions such as epilepsy, sleep disorders and
brain tumors

FUCNTIONAL MAGENTICI RESONSNCE IMAGING

• Measures changes in O2 in blood in all diUerent areas of the brain

§ DiUerences in the magnetic properties of O2 rich and O2 depleted blood:

"BOLD" response

• When a brain region becomes more active, it requires more

oxygen, leading to an increase in blood flow and a change in the
BOLD signal
 • Where the O2 concentration is changing > bold signal

• As you specific part of your brain is active > oxygen is concentrated in that area

• Structural scans of the head of MRI and fMRI

§ Where was the activity? Measuring blood flow?

§ E.g. listening to speech > temporal lobe would be bold

§ Has good spatial resolution when combined with high quality anatomical
MRI

• It can accurately localize brain activity to specific regions

§ Temporarily smeared response - doesn’t happen within milliseconds

§ But BOLD response lags behind actual brain activity and temporal
resolution not so high

• Challenging to study rapid neural events

MAGNETOENCEPHALOGRAPHY (MEG)

• Measure magnetic fields emitted from the brain as a result of the electrical
activity in neurons

• 3D reconstruction of electrical activity to create functional map of brain

response

• When the brain is active > Producing magnetic field > producing electrical field

§ Very tiny electrical field, therefore MEG is very large

§ Magnetic field passes through skull and scalp without being distorted
(unlike electric field)

§ Good temporal and spatial resolution

§ Non invasive

§ Looking at brain of sensitive population e.g. babies

§ It is incredibly expensive to manufacture

§ They are extremely sensitive - you need to magnetically isolate the area

• Electrical field isolated room to prevent presence of magnetic

field

•
• Equipment is hugely expensive
Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI)

• 3D photograph - of any tissues not only the brain tissue > scan organs

• Created detailed imaged

• Works by measuring the alignment and relaxation of hydrogen atoms (protons) in water
molecules

• DiUerent tissues in the body have varying water content >> allowing MRI to
diUerentiate between diUerent structures and identify abnormalities

• Produced strong magnetic field > hydrogen ions and water align along axis of rotation >
radiation that the scanner picks

• Measuring concertation of water in diUerent parts of the tissue

• Corpus callosum has much less concentration of water > unmyelinated

• Detailed images of tissues

• Non-invasive

THE REGULATION OF FEEDING

• Hunger and satiety triggered by contents of stomach and substances circulating in

blood (Sugar, fats, hormones)

• hypothalamus is most involved in hunger and satiety

•
•
 •
Lateral hypothalamus LH

• Lateral - towards the outside of the body

• It was found in rats that if this area of the hypothalamus was damaged, there was a
DRAMATIC change in their eating behavior

• Reduction of eating > loss of appetite

• How does it regulate feeding?

• Controlling release of insulin

• Regulating attention

• Influencing state > disliking food

Ventromedial hypothalamus VMH

• Medial - close to the midline

• If it gets damaged > opposite consequence to the destruction of LH

• It was found that when this part was damaged in rats, this lead to overeating >
obesity

• Rats with damage to VMH do not lack satiety

• Meals are normal sized

• They just eat more frequently

• Reasons for overeating

• Increase gut motility (stomach empties sooner > cue to eat)

• Rats release excessive insulin > food quickly turns into fat > gain of weight

• High insulin > low blood glucose > increase of appetite

Paraventricular nucleus

• Makes us stop eating at the end of the meal

• Rats with damaged PVN eat bugger meals > important in satiety
All are acting under the influence of a FOURTH area : arcuate nucleus

• Contains 2 types of neurons

1. Promote feeding via LH

a. Excites neurons in the lateral hypothalamus > reduces hunger > induces eating

b. After hours of fasting > activity of the neuron stats to increase

c. Stimulates the LH to the point where the animal feels hungry > eating

2. Suppresses feeding (via VMH and PVN)

a. Fasting/feeding

b. As the animal starts to eat, they start to increase their activity

c. The neurons keep firing even after the animal is finished and even while the
animal is fasting

d. The linger the animal is fasting, the activity gets weaker

ARCUATE NUCLEUS

• They contain small pores, leads to the leakage of the BBB

• They are sensitive to the hormones and any substances that are related to eating

• When the stomach is empty for a while> ghrelin (hormone) is released

• Sugars from the food that is being eaten > signals the pancreas to stop producing insulin

• Insulin concentrations are high after a meal

• Leptin > not responsive to feeding

o Produced by fat cells

o Responding to time of the day

o Leptin concentrations are lowest in the middle of the day

o Triggers the fasting period during night, that’s why while asleep, we don’t feel
hunger
LECTURE 5: SLEEP AND REWARD
Learning outcomes

• List some of the known impacts of sleep deprivation (less than 7 hours pe night)?

• What areas of the brain are responsible for keeping us aroused? What neurotransmitters are involved?

• What system controls our circadian cycle? What causes jetlag?

• What is “sleep pressure” and what is responsible for it?

• What happens if you skip a night’s sleep?

• What area and neurotransmitter is implicated in the onset of sleep?

• What happens to EEG activity during sleep? What areas of brain are responsible for this?

• What are the characteristics of REM sleep? What causes it? How does it change within a night and across the lifespan? What
reduces REM sleep?

• What is the brains primary reward pathway? How was it discovered? What neurotransmitter is involved? What behavioural
disorder might involve this pathway.

• All animals sleep

o But the amount varies enormously across species (e.g. giraUes and
elephants sleep for 4 hours while bats sleep up to 19 hours a day)

• What determines how many hours? Factors:

o Diet - how calory dense it is

• E.g. Predators eat and sleep for a very long time

o Habitat

o Social network

o Metabolic rate

o Brain complexity

• Sleeping = represents a cost

o It is a period when you are vulnerable (hence why most animals sleep at
night)

o When it is dark > less likely to hunt for food or be preyed upon

o Important for many cognitive functions

• Aquatic mammals and birds > can sleep with half their brain at a time

o They need to surface periodically

o One hemisphere is awake while hemisphere is asleep, so it can guide

them around
SLEEP AND HEALTH

• Sleep is important for many brain functions

o E.g. attention, speed, mood, memory

• Eating and obesity (and diabetes)

o EUects on ghrelin and leptin (released by fat cells when you are asleep at
night)

o Chronic sleep > overeating > aUects responsiveness to insulin > possibly
diabetes

• Activity in sympathetic nervous system impacts on the body

o Heart health, 24% increase in heart attacks on day after daylight savings
starts

WHAT KEEPS US AWAKE

• Noradrenaline neurons in Locus Coeruleus

o They send axons forward, reaching the cortex

o Noradrenaline : neurotransmitter, contributes to arousal and attentional

focus - alertness

• Serotonin neurons in Raphe Nuclei

o Hormone that influences mood, sleep wake and appetite

• Acetylcholine neurons in Pons

o Hormone involved in arousal, learning and memroy

•
"Decerebration"

o Cut made from the brain stem > animal shown profound and almost continuous
sleep

o Disconnecting the forebrain from the brain stem

• Demonstrates the critical role of the brainstem in maintain wakefulness

• Neurons are active while awake and quite during sleep

• Electrical stimulation of these neurons can awake a sleeping animals

• EUects of stimulant > production noradrenaline and serotonin > cause

hyper alertness mood

o Amphetamine and ecstasy

• Enhance arousal, likely by increasing the activity of these

neurotransmitters

WHAT SENDS US TO SLEEP

• Pre optic area - anterior hypothalamus >> crucial role in initiating sleep

•
• Destruction of pre-optic area can cause insomnia

• Stimulation of the pre-optic area can induce sleep

• The neurons in the area contain GABA > inhibitory

o Turning of the alertness mechanisms in the brainstem // suppresses the

activity of other neurons

• Adenosine

o Pre-optic area is the part of the brain that is directly responsible for us to
fall asleep

o While we are awake, the levels of adenosine accumulate

• While we are asleep, the brain can eliminate adenosine

 o Builds up in brain while we are awake - during the day

o Being awake for longer increases amount of adenosine

o Accumulation of adenosine > causes the sleep we feel > sleep pressure

• The longer we stay awake, the more adenosine accumulates

• The neurons in the pre-optic nucleus have receptors on them

§ Adenosine stimulates sleep centers, such as the pre-

optic area >> promoting sleepiness

• Adenosine receptors and adenosine that is building up in your

brain is increasingly binding to those receptors and activating
those receptors and engaging that preoptic sleep mechanism

• So, one of the things that is making your preoptic area active and
sending to sleep is the build up of adenosine during the day

o Adenosine inhibits the activity of arousal centers in the brain, particular

those involve acetylcholine in the pins

• Reduced alertness and a sense of tiredness

• CaUeine

o Stimulant eUect - keeping you awake

o Blocks adenosine receptors

o Binds to adenosine receptor and doesn’t activate > preventing

adenosine from binding

• Inactivation of receptors , hence why you don’t feel tired when

you drink coUee >> reducing feeling of sleepiness

• Melatonin

o Released from pineal gland , peak levels are during midnight

o The release is controlled by suprachiasmatic nucleus

 • It is located close to the pineal gland , in the hypothalamus

• Signals the release of melatonin

• It has pacemakers / clock mechanism that determines its activity

Melatonin release into your blood is a cue for many parts of the physiological processes in your
body that its nighttime

• The circadian rhythms in your body are under the control of melatonin

• Increases in the evening and decreasing during the day

• Experiments in caves : the internal clock is slightly longer than 24 hours

§ Experiments showed that they would still get tired at night and energized
during the day

§ They would continue to have experiences of daytime where they would

feel alert and awake during the day and then get tired and sleepy at night

• Circadian clock is synchronized with the 24 hour clock

§ The graph illustrates the circadian rhythm of melatonin, showing how its
levels fluctuate throughout the day

• Also shows how melatonin levels can vary with age and gender

§ Melatonin levels rise significantly at night >> promoting sleepiness

• Jetlag : following the time place of origin - in the wrong cycle

§ Superchiasmatic nucleus is still running on the time clock of where you

left - it takes days for it reset

o As you get older, the ability to release melatonin diminishes - hence the lack of
sleep in older people
SLEEP CYCLES

•
• EEG like scanner

o EEG measures the electrical activity of the brain using electrodes placed
on the scalp >> commonly used to study sleep patterns and diagnose
sleep disorders

• DiUerent neurons in diUerent areas are firing at diUerent states

• As you become tired and drowsy, these brain waves slow down

• Activity gets slowed and the wave forms gets larger

• From having very high frequency, rapid small fluctuations in overall electrical
activity > when you are in deep sleep, you get large but small fluctuations (delta
waves)

Brain activity during wakefulness Brain activity during sleep

Our brains exhibit electrical activity that Sleep is characterized by a shift In

is characterized by high frequency and a brain activity to slower, slower
"noisy appearance" >>>> indicative of rhythmic patterns.
intense mental activity
"Sleep wave sleep"

• This is due to the thalamus

o The role of thalamus in orchestrating the synchronized neuronal activity

that characterizes slow wave sleep

o The neurons in the cortex particularly, firing become synchronized

 • Hence the slow the fluctuations

o Role of reciprocal connections between thalamus and cortex in

orchestrating synchronized neuronal activity

• Bidirectional communication between the two regions

REM sleep (rapid eye movement)

• During REM, electrical activity in the brain becomes desynchronized

• Pattern similar to the brain wavs observed when we are awake

• During these periods, the eyes dart back and forth

o Rapid eye movement sleep

• And If woken during REM > we typically report we were dreaming very vividly

• Amount of REM sleep increases during the night, but decreases across life span

o Fetus has a lot of REM! 50% for newborn, decreasing to 20% in adults

• Alcohol reduces REM sleep - including in utero

• REM sleep is important for development

• REM sleep is caused by neurons in Pons that contain acetylcholine and

stimulate neurons in the thalamus, which project to the visual cortex (where you
start having your visual experiences)

o Lateral geniculate

• The main visual pathway in the brain

o The visual information comes from the lateral geniculate nucleus of the
back of the thalamus is sent on to the visual cortex

• Visual cortex is when you start having your visual experiences

o When you are in REM sleep, the cholinergic neurons in. the ponds wake
up fire and start to cause the neurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus to
fire so they are now firing and starting to cause the neurons in the LGN to
fire

• Sending signals to the visual cortex

o Hallucinating? It is because the visual cortex is now receiving input that

normally would be coming from the eyes

• Visual regions at the back of the brain are particularly active >>
contributing to the vivid visual experiences often associated with
dreams
 o It is going to be random activity; the visual cortex is now getting activity
that it thinks it is the input, and it is trying to make sense of the visual
input

• Using fMRI - it is possible to see what happens to the brain during

REM sleep and another thing is that number of areas become
active during REM sleep

• Limbic system becomes active during REM sleep, that’s why

dreams have very high emotional content

• Some areas get suppressed during REM sleep

§ Particularly the parts of the frontal lobes (e.g. prefrontal

cortex) that are responsible for logical reasoning and self-
control - this is why dreams can be extremely bizarre
during REM sleep even though you would think the
dreams are completely normal

§ This suppression contributes to the decreased logical

reasoning and self-control often observed in dreams

o Areas of prefrontal cortex - suppressed that’s why while dreaming you

are unable to control what to do and how to act

DURING REM SLEEP, WE ARE PARALYSED

• ACh neurons in pons stimulate neurons in medulla, which ultimately inhibit

motor neurons in the spinal cord > paralysis

• Destruction of these neurons in medulla causes animal to become very active

during REM sleep (no longer paralyzed)

• Paralysis protects us during REM sleep - preventing us from acting out our
dreams

NEURAL MECHANISM OF REWARD

• Motivational construct that allows us and determines what we do

 o So when we do something and at least to some positive outcomes,
reward is basically refers to the fact that we will more likely perform that
same action next time

• Concept of reward

o Motivation to engage behavior

o Animal (Including humans) will act to receive some reward

Electrical self-stimulation of the brain:

• Olds and Milner accidentally implanted an electrode into the medial forebrain
bundle (mfb)

o A bundle of noradrenaline and dopamine fibers travelling from brainstem

to forebrain

o If you stimulate mfb - a pathway of axons travelling from the brainstem to

the forebrain

• Stimulating those produced a powerful reward in their rats

• A rat had an electrode in the brain, they realized that the rat was
very keep to get the electrical stimulation in its brain - they didn’t
realize its in the mfb

• Mfb - bundle that contains noradrenaline and dopamine and they

are travelling from the midbrain to the forebrain

§ Serves as a key reward pathway in the brain

• Olds and Milner went on to show that rats with electrode in mfb would readily
learn to perform many acts in order to receive electrical stimulation

o If allowed, rats would do nothing else but press bad

• They would prefer to starve or even tolerate shocks through floor

in order to continue self-stimulation

• DOPAMINE axons in mfb make great contribution to rewarding eUect of

electrical stimulation

o EUects greatly reduced by destruction of dopamine fibers

o Many addictive drugs directly boost release of dopamine in mfb

• Overreliance on rewards, particularly those associated with substances like

drugs >>>> addiction

o The rats' willingness to prioritize self-stimulation over other needs

demonstrates the addictive nature of this reward system

• Other drugs indirectly increase dopamine release

o Plus, rats will work in order to receive injections of amphetamines or

opiates into nucleus acumens
 • Addictive drugs tend to work on this pathway e.g. amphetamines or opiates,
cocaine etc., > strong agonists of dopamine

o They increase the release of axon terminals from axon terminals > they
have a strong rewarding eUect by driving this pathway, increasing the
activity in this pathway

LECTURE 6: LATERLIZATION OF FUNCTION AND SPLIT

BRAINS
Learning outcomes

• What is lateralisation? What function is the most strikingly lateralised? Which hemisphere is dominant for this
function?

• What is the dichotic listening task? What does it show about lateralisation of language?

• What is aphasia? What causes it?

• What are the two forms of aphasia? How do they di:er? What neurological damage causes each type?

• What has happened to a “split-brain” patient?

• What did Roger Sperry show in his split-brain patients?

• What can the right hemisphere do?

• Where is the hippocampus?

• Damage to the hippocampus causes what syndrome?

• Who was HM? Why was he interesting?

• What did Brenda Milner show about the functions of the hippocampus through her studies with HM?

• What is Wernicke-Korsako:’s syndrome? What causes it? What area of the brain is a:ected?

• What neurological changes accompany Alzheimer’s disease?

HEMISPHERIC LATERLISATON: DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HEMISPHERES

• Some functions are performed by one hemisphere better than the other

• Each only deals with half of the world

• On the diIerent sides of the body - right controls left side of the body and left
controls the right side of the body

o Right hemispheres receives sensory input from left; and controls motor
response on left side of body

o Left hemispheres receives sensory input from right; and controls motor
response on right side of body

• Everything we feel on the right side of the body + all the sensory information is being
sent to the left hemisphere

• Right hemisphere controls the left side movements of the body and vice verse
HEMISPHEREIC "DOMINANCE"

• Refers to one side of the hemisphere being "dominant" (better function) than the
other side

• 90% are right handed - left hemisphere is better controlling the right handed

o Hand-preference indicates superiority of one hemisphere for manual

control

o Animals also show hand preference

o Our left hemisphere more areas are better at controlling our right hand than
the corresponding areas in the right hemisphere

o Size of the cortex devoted just to controlling each hand - it is slightly larger
for your dominant hand

• Animals show handiness - rats show preference on which hand they tend to prefer to
use

o In humans it is biased - right handiness is more prevalent

• Several "higher" functions are lateralized - one side is more important

• Of all cognitive or behavioral functions; language is the most lateralized

o In the majority of left handers

o Left hemisphere controls what we are saying

o Both right handers and left handers both have lateralized language to the lef
hemisphere

o For most of us, the left hemisphere controls speech and is better at
comprehensions.

• Left hemisphere >>> language functions, including speech production and

comprehension

• Right hemisphere >> nonverbal communication e.g. facial expression and body
language

• Brain is a plastic organ, it can adapt and reorganize itself >> plasticity

o In cases of brain injury, other areas of the brain may take over some
language functions

LATERLAISATION OF LANGUAGE

EVIDENCE

• Aphasia after a stroke - it is a consequence of a stroke in the left hemisphere

o Aphasia - a language disorder that aIects the production or comprehension

of speech
 • Suggests that language functions are concentrated in the left hemisphere

• It is very rare for somebody to have a stroke in the right hemisphere

o It is very common to have aphasia after having a stroke in the left

hemisphere

o Stroke : a blood clot gets lodged into a blood vessel and it blocks the blood
vessel

• In the brain - a stroke could block a blood vessel which means the
loss of blood supply to some territory of the brain that would be
supplied by that blood vessel

• Brain imaging (fMRI)> confirms conclusion

o fMRI show increased activities in specific areas of the left hemisphere

during language tasks

• Broca's area (speech production) and Wernicke's area (Language

comprehension)

o When is the left hemisphere active?

• When the person is thinking of talking or if they are listening to

speech

• Dichotic listening task: people understand a word faster if present to right ear

o the listener wears headphones and hears two voices, one in each ear
speaking simultaneously. And the task for the subject is to try and follow
what's being said or pick out who's saying real words and who's saying,
words that don't exist, some sort of task where you have to listen to these
two voices in each ear and basically people are better at it when they're
hearing a voice in their right ear than a voice in their left ear.

• that's because most of what you hear with your right ear first goes to
the left hemisphere + processed in the left hemisphere

• Some can be processed in your right hemisphere, but when

information goes through your right ear, it is processed in the left
hemisphere (language content is better)

• Suggests that auditory information from the right ear is processed

more quickly in the left hemisphere > dominant for language

o Task: try to follow what's being said - listening to two voices from each ear

o If you are hearing something from left ear, it is going to the left hemisphere -
it would be better understood and comprehended

SPEECH AREAS

• Broca's area
o Lower posterior region of left frontal lobe

o
o Very important for producing speech

• Someone with a destructed Broca's area > diIiculty speaking

• "expressive aphasia" or "non fluent aphasia"

• But generally can understand speech

• Can utter words but find it diIicult to construct sentences

• Generally have good comprehension of language, although they may

struggle with complex sentences

o Patient Tan

• His name was patient Tan because it was the only thing he was able
to say

• Broca examined the patient's brain and discovered that it had a large
amount of brain damage due to a stroke

• It was om the left side and in the frontal lobe > it was concluded that
this damage had caused the man speech failure

o Not just a motor problem / problem with articulation

• They cant generate their own speech, however they are able to
create their own tunes or sing a song

• They struggle with writing but not drawing - it is not only about the
vocal apparatus but also about the production of language even in
the form of writing

• Deaf signers can lose ability to sign > after having a stroke in Broca's
area
 § They can still understand sign language but have trouble
communicating with sign language themselves >> emphasis
on the role of this region in language production

• Wernicke's Area

o Number of patients had a form of aphasia that it was a comprehension

problem

o Posterior region of left temporal lobe

o
o Austrian Neurologist, Wernicke, noticed that a number of patients had a
form of aphasia where their main problem was comprehension of speech

• In most cases, the damage was caused to the temporal lobe

o They can produce speech

• However they cant understand whats being said to them

o They have diIiculty reading

o DiIiculty understanding spoken and written language

o Damage to this area causes problems with comprehension speech

"receptive aphasia"

o Produce fluent but meaningless speech "fluent speech"

• Lack of meaning and coherence in their speech

 o People with Wernicke's aphasia are unaware of what the issue - they are
unaware of their defiict

• While somebody with Broca's aphasia is very acutely aware of their

problem

§ Frustration due to wanting to speak but unable to do so

THE SPLIT BRAIN

• Lateralization of function not normally evident because info shared between

hemispheres by corpus callosum

• The diIerences between left and right hemispheres don’t normally have an impact
on us as they share information between them easily

o Through large band of axons travelling between the left and right hemisphere
- corpus callosum

• But some patients with intractable epilepsy had surgery to cut the corpus callosum
> split brain patients

o If you can disconnect both hemispheres from one another, you can stop the
electical activity from both hemispheres > treating epilepsy

o It is called "callosotomy"

• Patients who in the past had surgery to separate the two

hemispheres from each to cut through the corpus callosum

• It was performed to treat very severe epilepsy

§ Epilepsy is a disease where the brain has electrical storms -

they usually start in a specific part of the brain and most
often it is the temporal lobes that seem to be the usual
location

§ Common cause of brain, a scar tissue in the brain can be a

trigger for where these electrical storms begin

§ Since the brain is very interconnected with itself, one

electrical storm begin, it could spread very easily and it
would start to reverberate around the brain > seaizure > loss
of consciousness usually

§ Nowadays, epilepsy can be treated with medications that

can reduce the frequency of these electrical storms

§ Some people don’t respond well to medications > brain

surgery, if the doctor is able to identify he locu so of the
trigger, then the surgeoun might attempt to remove that part
of the brain

§ Callosotomy was also done

 • Worked well bit there were diIicult consequences for the person
who had the surgery

• Disconnected two hemispheres from one another can stop these

electrical storms between both hemispheres

• no communication between

• 'Disconnection syndrome' - the two hemispheres operate

independently

• Split brain patients can still walk, talk, suIer little or no impairments
of intelligence or emotion

§ It was reported that some disquieting diIerence between

what left and right hands did

§ Two independent brains working on their own

• Roger Sperry - studied split brain

§ Found that patient could name an object put in his/her right hand, but not if
object put in left hand

§ Valuable work of his on the importance of corpus callosum in integrating

information between them

FUNCTION IN NRIGHT HEMISPHERES

o Right brain better at producing and interpreting emotion in general e.g. facial
expression

• Can also comprehend simple language, especially when it comes to

emotional and contextual, cues

o Each hemisphere had its own spatial awareness

o He would sit the patient down at a table and Sperry would sit on the opposite side of
the table

o There was a curtain between them so that the patient would have their hands
underneath the curtain in front of Sperry - patient couldn’t see their own hands

o Sperry would put an object on one of the patient's hands and would ask the patient
to feel the object + tell him what that object was

o Whenever he would put the object into the right hand, the patient would tell him very
accurately what it was

o Whenever he put the object into the patient's left hand, the patient couldn’t tell him
what it was

• Left hemisphere was able to tell Sperry what that object was and plus it has
the vocal apparatuses

• Right hemisphere was mute - it would tell Sperry what was being felt
o This is not only for touch, could be seeing as well

o Sperry would flash up two pictures or two words on each side of the screen > short
enough so the patient wouldn’t be able to move their eyes

o if the eyes were focusing on the center of the screen, then anything on the left side of
the screen was actually going to be seen by the patient's right hemisphere, and only
by the right hemisphere.

• Visual information is divided when it passes from eyes to the brain

o
o Within each eye, the visual information is split into two, so half of what your eye sees
- half of the retina , where the light lands

• Where the cells respond to light and send signals to the brain

• Half of the retina sends its signals to the left hemisphere and of the retina in
each eye sends its signals to the right hemispheres
 • Each hemisphere sees half of the world in front of you

• Right hemisphere is as good as understanding complex sentences - gets confused

easily

• Right hemisphere is better at picking up things - emotional content from the tone of
voice, facial expressions and body language e.g. sarcasm

• While the left hemisphere would treat the information literally

THE HIPPOCAMPUS

• Lying in the core of the temporal lobe

 •
• Has a role in memory

MEMORY AND THE HIPPOCAMPUS

• Henry Molaison

o Had a brain surgery in 1950s where his hippcampus was removed > memory
impraiment for the rest of his life
o
o Section of his brain - the holes that are there are where the hippocampus
should hahev

o He had a bike accident as a young boy > concussion

o As he grew older, he started developing seizures, having epilepsy and he got

progressively worse as he get older

o The treatment recommended was brain surgery

o Removed a bit of the amygdala as well

o It worked in terms of treating his epilepsy, however he spent the rest of his
life with a very severse case of amnesia

• He was unable to learn anything new from the moment he got the
surgery till he died

o Brenda Milner - studied HM for years

• She is the founder of the discipline of neuropsychology - studying

people with brain diseases or brain injuries

o he discovered was that his memories for his past prior to his surgery were
fine. He could remember stuI from his childhood from his adolescence
from his early adulthood > anterograde amnesia

o Hippocampus is not storing memories > if it was that means HM would have
lost all his memories prior to the surgery

• However it is important for forming memories

o Hippocampus is involved in the way we convert STM to LTM

 • HM was able to follow the topic of conversations for a short amount
of time and then he would quickly forget

• The information that is being processed through the hippocampus > DECLARATIVE
MEMORY

o Patients like HM show normal procedural learning even though they cant
recall having done task before > performed by cerebellum

o Task that was given to HM by Milner

• Mirror drawing tasks: a piece of a paper in front of them and they

have to trace a star that’s drawn on the paper but they cant see

WERNICKE - KORSAKOFF'S SYNDROME

• Neurological disorder primarily caused by severe thiamine deficiency, often

associated with chronic alcoholism

• Damage to specific brain regions, particularly the thalamus and mammillary

bodies

• Amnesia is not only due to damage bit also diseases

• It is not a consequence of alcohol itself, rather, it is because alcohol competes with

vitamin B absorption > WERNICKE

• Encephalopathy - neurological dysfunction characterized by confusion and

problems with walking, disordered eye movements > ending up in the hospital

• If it is left untreated > KORSAKOFF'S - amnesia

• Deficiency in B1 vitamin ends up causing irreversible damage to the mammillary

bodies - in the hypothalamus , major output of the hippocampus as well

•
• Profound anterograde amnesia

• Also show some retrograde amnesia

• Another characteristic

o Confabulation - making stuI up NOT LYING

 o Somebody with Wernicke-KorsakoI's syndrome don’t know what they are
saying

• They don’t have memories of their past as well

Brain regions aIected:

• Thalamus: crucial for relating sensory information and regulating consciousness to

the thalamus can lead to cognitive impairments, including memory loss and
confusion

• Mamillary bodies: play a role in memory formation and retrieval > damage to the
structure contributes to severe memory problems associated with the disorder

ALZHEMIER'S DISEASE

• Progressive degenerative disease

• Early stages - first signs are memory impairments , particularly forgetting stuI that’s
happened recently

• Getting autobiographical memories that might have happened last week or

yesterday

• The temporal lobes and the hippocampus are most aIected by the disease

• The further you go on with the disease, you would start losing factual knowledge

• Also aIecting procedural skills such as walking or feeding yourself

• Right side is someone with advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease

• You can see large ventricles on the left brain (healthy brain)

• As the disease progresses, the brain shrinks , so the ventricles just expand to fill the
void

• Cortex is shrinking as well

 •

• Abnormal neural tissue present in brain: especially prevalent in cortex and

hippocampus

• There are some specific proteins that seem to be accumulating to toxic levels in the
brain

• Senile plaques / amyloid plaques > grave site of a neuron

• Beta amyloid is toxic and kills neurons

• Neurofibrillary tangles - neurons that have been choked by the accumulation of a

diIerent protein called tau

• Tau: helps stabilize internal skeleton of nerve cells in the brain

MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS

LECTURE 1: MENTAL HEALTH IN AUSTRALIA
LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Mental Health in Australia – diversity in complexity and needs,

2. Know what positionality is, and how to describe it as a psychology student,

3. Develop an understanding of the knowledge systems from where psychology was derived,

4. Know why the APS Apology 2016 was carried out, and the background to this symbolic gesture,

5. Know of the Human Rights and Self-Determination background for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,

6. Know of the importance of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples - for the field of psychology.

Positionality - allows you to be able to share your worldviews in whatever field you are in

o Protects you and protects the people or helps the people in the room understand who you are
talking to// where is that information coming from and also protects what the information you
might be talking about
MENTAL HEALTH IN AUSTRALIA

• 1 in 5 Australians aged 16-85 (22%) experienced mental health concerns (or 4.3 million)

• 17% Australians have experienced an Anxiety disorder

• 1 in 7 children and adolescents between 4 and 17 years of age have experienced a mental illness

FIRST NATIONS

• An estimated 24% of first nations people have reported a mental illness

• An estimated 31% of first nations people reporter high or very high psychological distress in past
4 weeks

• People with a diBerent ability experience higher psychological distress than those without a
disability

• We could go through an event as a population and we could observe the eBects collectively

• Sometime we don’t see the true fall out until 1 to 2 years later

• Multifactorial:

o Pandemic

• Inability to access support resources

• Deterioration of mental health due to the lack of resources

• Loss of people (family members, friends etc. )

• DiBiculty of socializing

o Natural disasters

o Financial distress

• Flooding occurring in NSW then rebuilding

o Ongoing colonization

• Higher prevalence of racism and prejudice

• Mental health conditions - second factor causing diseases across Australians - ahead of CV
diseases and muscular skeletal disorders

Mental health services needs in Australia

• Federal government and state Government allocate funding to support mental health needs in
Australia

• There are a number of mental health policies strategies

• Demand outstrips supply (not enough mental health services to support need – inclusive of
professions, Medicare subsidised services, other services such as housing etc.)

o There is social determinants of health that can also contribute to mental health
concerns

• The cost to address mental health needs are high

 • There is the added diBiculty of access, remote, demand and complexity of mental health
concerns.

• To become a clinical psychologist - could take up to 8 years

PSYCHOLOGY DISCIPLINE

• Lack of talking Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander paradigm of wellbeing in University

• some of the concepts would be culturally unsafe, and would not have relevance for some
families and communities that it was known of

o Emphasis on the need for non-indigenous psychologists to be culturally aware and

sensitive when working with indigenous communities

o They should strive to create a safe and welcoming environment where Indigenous clients
feel comfortable and understood

• Some of the concepts learnt for Aboriginal people would have been culturally safe and not have
any relevance

o Hence creating a new 'aboriginal psychology' (not take over)

• Not many people still know about Australia's history

WHAT DOES DECONLIZATION MEAN?

• Came out in the 1930s

• Western knowledge system of mental health as well as non- Western.; they are as important

o Holding all knowledge systems with value

• Decolonization doesn’t mean getting rid of or taking away, it means adding more knowledge

• Australia needs to decolonize its mental health system and empower more indigenous
psychologists

• APS (Australian Psychology Society) Apology - 2016

o Health professionals mistreated Aboriginals

• Some of the things that were used by mainstream or Western psychologists

were actually quite harmful and changes trajectory of lives for aboriginal people
- the work was being done on mainstream or Western view only

• Didn’t take into consideration an indigenous person's needs to be able to grow

or improve their mental health and wellbeing

o Apology for the use of diagnostic systems that do not honor cultural belief system and
world views

o Conducting research that has benefitted the careers of researchers rather than
improved the lives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants

o Developing and applying treatments that have ignored Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander approaches to healing

• Dismissing the importance of culture in understanding and promoting social

and emotional wellbeing
 o SUMMARY OF APOLOGY

• Listening more and talking less

• Following more and steering less

• Advocating more and complying less

• Including more and ignoring less

• Collaborating more and commanding less

TRANSFORMATIVE SYSTEM CHANGE NEEDS TO OCCUR

• Indigenous knowledge are equally heard, taught and valued

• Decolonizing our education systems

o Extra information to the curriculum >> to be better practitioners

o To keep people safe

• Need to increase numbers of ATSI psychologists

Human rights and self determination

• Indigenous people have the right to access health rights and access care that recognizes their
worldviews

• Declaration emphasizes the right of Indigenous people to determine and develop priories and
strategies for exercising their right to development, particularly in areas like health and social
programs

• It is crucial for psychologists to acknowledge and incorporate indigenous perspectives in their

work

Indigenous psychology

American psychological association indigenous taskforce

"indigenous psychology is an intellectual movement across the globe, based on the following factors:

• A reaction against the colonization of Wester psychology

 • The need for non-western cultured to solve their local problems through indigenous practices
and applications

• The need for a non-Western culture to recognize itself in the constructs and practices for
psychology

• The need to use indigenous philosophies and concepts to generate theories of global discourse

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ right to exercise sovereignty with respect to
Indigenous ways of being (ontology), knowing (epistemology), and doing (axiology).

• Indigenous Standpoint Theory (IST) seeks to understand how power functions in the construction
and representation of knowledge, and how it has privileged or oppressed Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander voices.

• IST challenges the oppressive hegemony of Western epistemology with the aim to transform
power so that Indigenous knowledges are given epistemological equivalence

WELLNESS FROM AN INDIGENOUS STANDPOINT

• There is a diBerence in how aboriginal people see well-being compared to mainstream or

Western ways of understanding mental health

• Holistic

• Not only physical but also psychological

LECTURE 2: MENTAL HEALTH AND CULTURA SAFETY

LEARNING OUCTOMES

• Understand what decolonisation in psychology means and describe this.

• Understand what cultural safety, cultural awareness and cultural competency is

• Be able to describe, identify and understand the social and emotional wellbeing framework

• Introduction to reflexivity. Develop the understanding and practice of reflexivity

DECOLONISATION

• It is not to take away existing structures and knowledge systems that already exist - it is to
add and compliment

o Putting other knowledge systems at the same table

• Obligation to practice in a way that it is culturally safe

• Acknowledge, address and combat racism and discrimination + support people who have
been impacted by racism and discrimination on a side job

• Australia needs to decolonise its mental health system and empower more indigenous
psychologists

• Raise our voices against systems

Cultural safety or awareness ?

• Cultural awareness

o Having knowledge on how to exist in this specific culture + the aspects of that
specific culture

o Understanding cultural boundaries

• Cultural responsiveness

• Cultural competency

o Growing skills

• Cultural safety

o Not judged by me

o Judged by the recipient of the care

o Ongoing commitment to education, learning and training

• Critical reflection of health practitioner knowledge, skills, attitudes,

practicing behavior and power diIerentials in delivering safe, accessible and
responsive healthcare free of racism

o It is determined by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and

communities

o Ongoing critical reflection of health practitioner knowledge, skills, attitudes and

practicing behaviors and power diIerentials in delivering safe, accessible and
responsive healthcare free of racism

HOW TO ENSURE CULTURALLY SAFE AND RESOURCEFUL PRACTICE, HEALTHY PRACTIONERS

MUST:

• Acknowledge colonization and systematic racism, social, cultural, behavioral and economic
factors which impact individual and community health

• The concept of mental health comes more from an illness or clinical perspective and its
focus is more on the individual and their levels of functioning in their environment

• If any of the connections are compromised -- other will suIer

• Impact of racism directly on physical health as well as psychological health

• Social and emotional wellbeing concept is boarded than this and recognizes the importance
of connection to land, culture, spirituality, ancestry, family and community and how these
aIect the individual

• Acknowledge and address individual racism, their own biases, assumptions, stereotypes
and prejudices and provide care that is holistic, free of bias and racism.

• Recognize the importance of self-determined decision-making, partnership and

collaboration in healthcare which is driven by the individual, family and community.
 • Foster a safe working environment through leadership to support the rights and dignity of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and colleagues.

SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING MODEL

• Its dotted lines rather than solid lines because they don’t completely join up - this is
because they can sometimes blend into other domains

• If you are connected to community, you are also connected to your family

• Helps us better explain wellbeing from an indigenous perspective

• If connections are strong = wellbeing is strong

• Helpful to look at connections and relational

• Talks about other ways to heal and recover that doesn’t include a psychologist, psychiatrist
or a doctor >> make space, incorporate or understand traditional healing within this model

• Talks about the impact of racism and discrimination

• The social and emotional wellbeing concept is broader than this and recognises the
importance of connection to land, culture, spirituality, ancestry, family, and community, and
how these aIect the individual.

• Social and emotional wellbeing problems cover a broad range of problems that can result
from unresolved grief and loss, trauma and abuse, dislocation, racism and discrimination,
and social disadvantage.

CONCEPT OF MENTAL HEALTH

• Comes more from an illness or clinical perspective and its focus is more on the individual
and their level of functioning in their environment

• Having another knowledge about well-being can also be helpful

REFLEXIVIYY >> GROWTH

• Being self-aware and critically examining one's own biases, assumptions and power
dynamics in relation to indigenous communities

o Acknowledging power imbalances

o Challenging stereotypes

o Centering indigenous voices

o Self-reflection

• Regularly examining one's own cultural identity, privilege, and potential

biases.

o Building relationships

LECTURE 3: MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS

Learning outcomes

1. Be able to describe key issues in language and stigma in mental health conditions

2. Understand and be able to describe why the empirical method is needed to explore mental health condition description, causation, and treatment

3. Understand and be able to explain key diMerences between “normal” and “abnormal” behaviour.

4. Be able to identify and apply the 3D’s (deviates, distress, dysfunction) of psychopathology. Be able to recognise the limitations of the 3D’s.

5. Understand and be able to describe and explain the key features of diMerent mental health professionals in Australia, including their qualification
pathways and treatment approach

6. Understand the pathways to being a registered and clinical psychologist in Australia

• Language matters

• "Psychopathology"

• What is "Abnormal" behavior , what is "Normal"

• Models of mental ill-health

• Mental health practitioners

MENTAL HEALTH CONDDITIONS IN AUSTRALUA

• Over two in five (43.7% or 8.6 million people) had experienced a mental disorder at some
time in their life

• One in five people (21.4% or 4.2 million people) had a mental disorder some time in the past
12 months

o This refers to people who have had enough struggles such that they would meet
criteria for a disorder that they might need, may therapy or medication

WHAT IS PSYCHOPATHOLOGY?

• Psychology

o Scientific study of behavior, emotion and cognition

 o We study these elements to understand and explain why we behave, think and feel
the way we do

• Abnormal psychology

o Scientific study of abnormal behavior, emotion, cognition

• Psychopathology

o Psyche-mind

o Pathology - illness or disease

o Study of mental illness - including classification, causes, development, treatment,

outcomes

Empirical method when understanding psychopathology

• When we try to understand mental health concerns - including "abnormal" or "pathological"

thinking, behaviors and emotions, we use the empirical (scientific) method

o Despite some people thinking that psychology isnt a science - we still adhere to the
scientific method

• Empirical method used at diIerent levels

• It is really important that we think about the scientific method when we think about:

o Description

• Classification

• Diagnosis - that comes straight from scientific method

o Causation (bio-psycho-social model)

• Biological

§ Genetics, family history

• Psychological

§ Behavior patterns

• Social

§ Environment

o Treatment

• EIectiveness

§ It is unethical to use treatments that were clearly not working for a

lot people across time

§ So we have to apply the scientific method in order to derive what

treatments work best
DESCRIPTION : classification and diagnosis

• To define MHC - need to tell what is normal / healthy vs abnormal / unhealthy = could be
diIicult

o Unlike physical illnesses with clear markers (e.g., blood glucose levels), the line
between mental health and illness is often blurred. This makes it diIicult to
definitively say what is "normal" or "abnormal" behaviour

• Physical illness : health vs illness more easily distinguishable

o Once an abnormality is suspected, it needs to be categorized and distinguished

from other conditions

o This is similar to how physical symptoms are classified (e.g., vomiting could be due
to pregnancy, alcohol poisoning, or a stomach bug).

• Mental illness : line between health/illness often blurred

• Once illness/abnormality is determined - needs to be classified and diIerentiated

o For example, someone vomiting > sick > pregnant? Drunk? Gastro?

• Early medicine - "the fevers" - description of a symptom, not illness

o Early medical practices often focused on describing symptoms rather than

pinpointing the underlying illness

• Psychopathology - the presentations of symptoms, diagnosis is cluster of symptoms

• MHCs are not as concrete as many physical illnesses

o Unlike physical illnesses with clear, objective criteria (e.g., a broken bone), mental
health conditions often involve more subjective and conceptual elements. This
makes it challenging to draw definitive boundaries around them.

CAUSATION

• Causation of MHC = extremely complex

• Interaction of biology, individual psychological factors, upbringing, social environment

o Nature vs nurture - no more debate

o Genetics interact with your society, family etc.

• Bounce oI each other

• Important area to study : causative models

TREAMENT

• Empirical method is critical in understanding then treating MHCs

o It relies on evidence and observation, which is crucial for both understanding and
treating MHCs
 • Need rigorous testing of treatments

• Placebo eIect, treatment 1 vs treatment 2

• It is important to use a treatment that been gone through rigorous testing , or maybe has
been through a randomized controlled trial

o Research cannot just be based on anecdotal evidence or personal beliefs

o CBT against acceptance and commitment therapy for example

o This involves using control groups to compare eIectiveness of a new treatment

against a placebo or an existing tretament

• This helps to determine whether the new treatment is actually making a

diIerence

WHAT IS 'ABNORMAL' ?

o Clues to help us understand "normal" vs "abnormal"

o Mental illness is subjective - varies greatly across cultures, times, theoretical approaches

o The 3D's

• Deviates

§ Deviates from statistical norm (unusual/unexpected/rare)

• Behavior is considered abnormal if it is statistically rare or unusual /

not typical

• E.g. fetishism

§ Often 1st in deciding between "normality" and "abnormality"

• Do lots of people experience this

§ Positive exceptions or statistical rarities

• E.g. Professional athlete

§ What is normal is culturally and time bound

• E.g. "hysterical" women with "pathological independence"

Illustrates how historical views of mental health were influenced by societal norms and gender roles

• E.g. What is normal in Australia may not be normal in a diIerent culture

§ Cannot use rarity as only factor for determining abnormality - there are other criteria such as
distress, impairment and violation of social norms must also be considered

• Distress

§ Behaviour or thought pattern is considered abnormal if it causes significant distress

to the individual experiencing it or to those around them.
 § Often integral part of many mental health conditions e.g. anxiety disorders and
depressive disorders

§ Anxiety/depression - distress is often clear

§ There is normal distress that is bound to happen - not all distress is indicative of
mental health condition

§ It is normal to have distressed reactions to any severe events

• E.g. loss of a family member

§ However, distress is not always necessary

• E.g. bipolar manic episode - they may feel elated and energized with
experiencing distress

§ How much distress is abnormal?

• Dysfunction

§ Causes dysfunction in person's ability to carry out important life goal

• Dysfunction is based on social expectations

• What does the society consider as 'successful'

§ Definition of "dysfunction" depends on definition of FUNCTON in society

• 'dysfunction' is influenced by societal expectations and normal - what is

considered dysnfunctional in one culture may not be considered
dysfunctional in another >>> considering culture context when evaluatiing
behaviour

§ Some disorders don’t necessarily involve dysfunction as you would expect

• E.g. Some people with personality disorders with psychopathic tendencies

but they have a high 'rank' in society

Psychological abnormality exists on a continuum with normality

 • Presence of psychopathology (mental health condition) is not as readily definable as
physical illness

• Definitions of psychopathology reflect cultural values and social norms

• Mental health conditions are included in the latest version of DSM or ICD-10

o ICD-10 is more international version

• Disorders could get removed or added

o Reflective of time

• DSM-5 - doesn’t apply to everybody across cultures

WHAT CAUSES PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

• Biological

o Causes: internal physical problems (=biological dysfunction)

o Treatment: diet, exercise, rest, medication

• Psychological

o Causes: beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, thoughts

o Treatments: "talking therapy" - psychotherapy

• Sociocultural

o Causes: poverty, prejudice, cultural norms, experiences

o Treatment: social work - fix social ills: help relationships

MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS

• What is the diIerence between psychiatrist and a psychologist?

• Psychiatrist

o Fully qualified medical doctor

o Specialist training and qualifications in the diagnosis, treatment and orevention of

mental illness

o Specialized knowledge of neurobiological changes / causes of mental disorders

o Can prescribe medication

o Treatment takes the biomedical approach - some take the psychological approach
as well

o From moderate to severe cases

o Path:

• Medical degree
 • 4-6 years (depending on whether you are coming into the degree as a university
undergraduate or graduate

• Internship

• 1 year of hospital rotations/placement

• Residency

• 1 year of specialised hospital rotations/placements

• Vocational Training

§ 5 years to complete a Fellowship of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of
Psychiatrists (FRANZCP)

• Clinical psychologist

o Specialist training and qualification in psychological assessment treatment

formulation and prevention of behavioural, mental and emotional health issues

o Cannot prescribe medication - certain places you can

o Training in psychological testing

• Eg testing for autism, ADHD, IQ testing, memory testing

• Therapy takes a bio-psycho-social approach

§ Unlike the biomedical approach which takes a narrower path

o Aims to enable patients/clients to:

• Building insight and understanding into their patterns

• Develop skills and strategies to cope and function better, to prevent ongoing
problems / improve quality of life (without the use of medication)

• Understanding the patterns and knowing how to intervene

§ Could be by changing the process and the pattern that’s been

happening and figure out ways to intervene

• Changing thoughts + behaviors = changing how you feel

o Path

• Undergraduate Psychology Degree (~3-4 years)

• Honours Psychology Degree (1 year)

• Master of Clinical Psychology (~ 2 years)

> Registered Psychologist

• Clinical Psychology Registrar practicing under supervision (~1-2 years)

> Clinical Psychologist

 • Registered psychologist

o Some do only UG training and supervised training

o Others a mix of UG + PG + supervised training

o Some but not all will have psychological testing as a skills set

o In general, treats people with or without diagnosed serious mental disorder

o Assist people with a range of mental health issues such as:

• Depression, anxiety and stress, Relationship diIiculties , Other emotional

problems

SOCIAL WORKERS - more in the US than the in AUS

1. Work in direct services (e.g., healthcare, welfare, housing etc.)

• Helping people cope with problems related to social cultural issues including but not
limited to poverty, legal issues or human rights

o They may provide support, resources and advocacy to help people cope with these
challenges

2. Work in the clinical field (more similar to psychologists)

• Diagnose and treat mental, behavioral or emotional health issues

• Focus: environment and cultural factors (sociological approach) rather than psychological
or personal characteristics (i.e. Family Therapy)

• Help clients develop practical plans to improve personal well-being and make referrals for
services

Qualifications & Training

• Bachelor of Social work (4 years)

• Masters of Social Work (2 years + other 3 year Bachelor degree)

COUNSELLOR

• Assist people to gain understanding of themselves and make changes in their lives:

o May simply provide a non-judgmental ‘listening ear’

o May work in a particular area (e.g. marriage/family/school counsellors)

• Qualifications & Training:

o Level of training is wide and varied

o Ranging from weekend correspondence course to Bachelor degree

o The term ‘counsellor’ can be used without any particular qualification - not legally
protected

• To register as fully qualified:

Bachelor of Counselling (3 years)

Graduate Diploma in Counselling (2 years) + previous Bachelor degree

RESTRICTED VS UNRESTRICTED TITLES

• "psychologist" is legally protected in Australia. Only individuals who are registered with the
Psychology Board of Australia can use this title. - RESTRICTED

o Registration ensures that psychologists meet specific educational and professional

standards, safeguarding the public from unqualified individuals.

• Counsellor, Therapist, Psychotherapist, Life Coach, Spiritual Advisor - These titles are not
legally restricted and can be used by individuals with varying levels of qualifications and
training.

o The qualifications of individuals using these titles can diIer widely, ranging from
formal university degrees to self-taught practices.

LECTURE 4: MODELS OF MENTAL ILLNESS /

CLASSIFICATION AND DIAGNOSIS
Learning outcomes

1. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of the biomedical model of mental illness

2. Be able to identify the benefits and limitations of the biomedical model of mental illness

3. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of the psychoanalytic model of mental illness, including key concepts,
the causes of maladjustment, historical significance of the approach and approach to treatment.

4. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of the humanistic model of mental illness, including key concepts, the
causes of maladjustment, historical significance of the approach and approach to treatment.

5. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of the behavioural model of mental illness, including key concepts, the
causes of maladjustment, and approach to treatment.

6. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of the cognitive-behavioural model of mental illness, including key
concepts, the causes of maladjustment, and approach to treatment.

7. Understand and describe the benefits, limitations, similarities, and diEerences of each of the psychological models of mental
illness

8. Understand and describe the key features of the DSM approach to diagnosis and classification of mental illness

9. Understand and describe the benefits, limitations, similarities, and diEerences of the DSM approaches to diagnosis and
classification of mental illness

BIOLOGICAL / MEDICAL MODELS

• Most dominant model in psychiatry - the underlying model of DSM-5

Key assumptions of mental disorders

• Can be diagnosed similar to physical illness

• Can be explained in terms of a biological disease process

Mental disorders treated by targeting biological deficiencies

• Medication
 • Electroconvulsive

CRITICISIMS AND LIMITATIONS

• Need to avoid extreme reductionism

o Complexity of psychological phenomenon are impossible to explain at the

neural / molecular level

o the belief that complex phenomena can be explained by examining simpler,

foundational elements or causes

• Psychosocial factors rather than some deficiency

• The idea of epigenetics

• Over extrapolation for animal research

• Presuming causation from treatment eIicacy

• Medical model may not be applicable to psychological illness

o Clear boundary between physical health and illness

o Clear boundaries between diIerent physical illnesses

PSYCHOLOGICAL MODELS

PSYCHOANALYTIC

• Most dominant theory in the 1st half of the 20th century

• Freud (1856-1939): described personality as:

o Id(wants/desires; pleasure principle)

• The irrational and emotional part of the mind

• Pleasure principle: the need of an immediate gratification of Id's

urges (raw biological desires)

o Ego (reality principle, satisfy but realistic)

• The rational and decision making part of the mind

• Reality principle: the force that delays the gratification of the Id's
needs until the appropriate conditions are present

o Superego (moral principle; moral self)

• Id and superego = constant conflict

• Ego tries to work out and problem solve how to meet both needs

• Maladjustment

o Unresolved conflicts > anxiety > excessive use of defense mechanisms >
symptoms / suIering

o Example : disliking dad (Oedipus complex)

 o We all have defense mechanisms to help us from knowing what is
happening in the unconscious

o Same process explains normal and anormal behavior/emotions

o Freud didn’t believe in normality

• Treatment

o Building insight into unconscious processes

o Develop awareness of the unresolved conflicts

o Develop awareness of the defense mechanisms

• Significance

o Revolutionized the concept of mental illness

o Made no clear dividing line between abnormal and normal

o Had a strong influence in the early stages of the DSM

• Limitations

o Lacks evidence

o Not open to empirical evaluation

o Unfalsifiable

HUMANISTIC MODEL

• 1960s and 1970s - reaction to the negativity of the psychoanalytic model

• Human beings have all the potential in themselves --> need help to unlock it > self
actualized

• It focuses on individual potential

o It emphasizes the inherent potential of every human being to achieve

personal growth and self-fulfillment

• Believe in innate goodness

o The model believes that humans are inherently good and it is the
environment and experiences that shape their behavior and choices

• To unlock human potential

o Advocated for creating environments that provide empathy, acceptance and

support

• Allowing individuals to explore and develop their true selves without

fear of judgment
 • Self-actualization - experience of life to the full

o Trust your ow feelings, independent, appreciate the wonders of life, aware of

society's rules but don’t accept without questioning

MALADJUSTMENT

• Self actualization has been thwarted

• Environment imposes conditions of worth

• Own experience, emotions, needs are blocked

TREATMENT

• Empathy, unconditional positive regard

• See themselves in more clarity

LIMITATIONS

• These form elements of therapy, but not suIicient

• DiIicult to research

• When is self actualization is achieved?

BEHAVIOURAL MODEL

• Reaction to psychoanalysis being unfalsifiable

• Behavior is observable and measurable

• Classical conditioning (Pavlov)

• US-UR (attack fear)

• CS-CR (location of attack - fear in location)

• Operant conditioning (Skinner)

• Reinforcement and punishment

• Learnt associations along the way or reinforced or punished to behave in a specific

way (whether it is an unhealth or healthy way )

• Suggests explanations for both normal and abnormal behavior

• Adjustment/maladjustment from your learned history

• Treatment: many applications e.g. exposure

CRITIQIUES

• Overemphasis on behavioral aspects, excluding cognitive and emotional elements

• Observational / vicarious learning /modeling : BANDURA

• Showering learning without own experience

• Reintroduced the importance of cognitions

 • Mental representation

COGNTITIVE- BEHAVIOURAL MODEL

• Current dominant psychological model

• Thoughts - feelings - behavior

• What we think >> how we feel >> what we do

Maladjustment

• Negative core believe (Aaron beck)

• Long held, core beliefs/understanding of world that a person holds >

influences interactions with and interpretation of the world

• Interpretations of experiences are consistent with our core beliefs

• Come from early life experience

• Set blueprint for how you interact/interpret the world

•
• Automatic negative thoughts

§ Core beliefs, so quick may not notice them

§ Quick to bias/ influence situation, can be negative irrational

•
§ Thoughts to feelings arrow should be highlights as thoughts don’t
just influence feelings, they create them more like

• Cognitive distortions/biases

§ First noted by Beck in 1960s

§ Misinterpret situation based on faulty assumptions or beliefs

 § DiIerent cognitive distortions

• Selection attention

• Catastrophizing

• Personalizing

§ recognizing+ challenging these distortions forms a central part of

CBT

• TREATMENT

§ Psychoeducation

• Understanding automatic thoughts

• Noticing / catching automatic thoughts

§ Cognitive restricting

• Challenging content of negative automatic thoughts

• This can be done in many ways e.g. disputing

§ Behavioral experiments

• Testing some of the core beliefs - are they true?

§ Exposure

• If you are afraid of something, rather than avoiding it > facing

the situation

SUMMARY

Psychoanalytic:

• Cause: repression of unresolved conflict

• Treatment: insight

Humanistic:

• Cause: Thwarted self-actualization

• Treatment: empathy, unconditional positive regard; self discovers to

achieve your full potential

Behavioral:

• Cause: Learned associations (Stimuli >> response)

• Treatment: learn new associations

Cognitive-behavioral:

• Cause: negative core beliefs, biased thinking, learned associations

• Treatment: cognitive restructuring, exposure, behavioral experiments

 • CLASSIFICATION AND DIAGNOSIS

• Classification systems

• Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (DSM)

• International classification of diseases and health related problems (ICD)

• Not identical

Pros and cons of classification systems + diagnosis

DSM

• Defines psychopathology - diIerent diagnosis throughout

• Reflects the biological /medical model of mental illness

• Most agreed upon definitions

• Strongly influenced by psychoanalytic theory

• DSM-I (1952) AND DSM-II (1968)

• Problematic reliability

• Inter-rater reliability

• Can we agree on the diagnosis

• How much depression / self deprecation is needed? How often?

• What if guilt is not present? What qualifies as a 'loss'?

• Problematic validity

• Is this really what "depression" is

• Based on unproven theories about cause:

• Depression as a defence from unacceptable unconscious

ambivalent feelings
Major depression disorder

• A single or recurrent depressive episode

• 5 or more is needed (including 1 or twice) in a 2-week period

• An episode

• Depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day

• Markedly diminished pleasure / interest in activities

• Significant weight loss or gain

• Insomnia or hypersomnia nearly everyday

• Psychomotor agitation or retardation nearly everyday

• Fatigue/loss of energy nearly everyday

• Feelings of worthlessness, excessive guilt nearly everyday

• Diminished ability to concentrate nearly everyday

• Recurrent thoughts of death, suicide, suicide attempts

DSM-5 (2013)

• Research planning process began in 1999

• Originally planned for publication in 2011

• Acknowledged limitations of categorical system

• We look a severity not just the presence of the symptoms or disorders

•
• There are critics who call for something more trans-diagnostic

• Trying to look at people through just lens of more like symptoms rather than
just fitting into categories

• Call for a bolder move towards a dimensional understanding of mental

disorders
LECTURE 5: ANXIETY DISORDERS
LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Understand and be able to explain key physical, cognitive, and behavioural elements of anxiety

2. Be able to diMerentiate normal anxiety from anxiety as a mental health condition

3. Understand and be able to explain key diMerences between DSM-IV and DSM-5 anxiety and related disorders

4. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of Panic Attacks, including features, associated thought processes, and its place as a
specifier within DSM-5 diagnoses

5. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of Panic Disorder, including diagnostic features, prevalence, and course

6. Understand and be able to describe Clark (1988) Cognitive Model of Panic Disorder

7. Understand and be able to describe key treatment elements for Panic Disorder

ANXIETY

• The experience of anxiety is the same in normal anxiety and abnormal

o DiIerence is the severity

• Activated in response to perceived threat

o Anxiety is a natural feeling that occurs when there is threat

• Experience of anxiety arises from the activation of these 3 interrelated systems

o Physical

o Cognitive

o Behavioral

PHYSICAL

Fight/flight response: mediated by SNS

• Mobilize physical resources to deal with that threat

o Heart rate ad BP increases

o Stress hormones and diIerent neurotransmitters are releases

o Muscles tense up e.g. clinching fists

• Body prepares us to fight or run away

o Saliva production reduces - dry mouth

o We start to cool down the body (sweating)

o Our digestion slows down as blood flows away form our stomach and to our
muscles - upset stomach

COGNITIVE

• What we pay attention to and how we interpret it (of the situation / object / person)

o People can perceive same situations diIerently

o Perception of threat
 o Attentional shift towards the threat

o Hypervigilance to source f threatening information

i. DiIiculty concentrating on other tasks

o Anxiety as helpful

• In ambitious situations e.g. rustle in the bushes

o Anxiety as unhelpful

• Test anxiety

YERKES-DODSON LAW

•
• This graph can help individuals manage stress and anxiety to optimize performance

o E.g. techniques like relaxation and mindfulness can help to regulate arousal levels

• The optimal level of arousal varies depending on the complexity of the task. For simple
tasks, higher arousal levels can be beneficial

o For complex tasks, lower levels of arousal may be more optimal.

• The optimal levels of arousal

o Some individuals may perform best in high-arousal situations, while others may
prefer lower arousal levels.

• As arousal increases, performance improves due to increased attention and focus.

• At low levels of arousal, performance is weak due to a lack of motivation and attention.

NORMAL AND PATHOLOGICAL ANXIETY

NORMAL

• Evolutionary
 o Important for our survival

o Though, it could be harmful

o Individual diIerences

• Genetics: sensitivity/ temperament

§ Intensity of fear experienced varies

• Learned

§ Things feared across individuals

§ Anxiety could be modelled

§ Experienced that lead to drawbacks

ABNORMAL / PATHOLOGICAL

• Abnormal is not qualitatively diIerent from normal anxiety

o Similar physical, cognitive and behavioral

• The occurrence is either

o Inappropriate: in the absence of objective threat

o Excessive: more intense than the objective level of threat

• Results in the interference with functioning

o Characterized by overestimation of threat

• Likelihood: perceived probability of a negative outcome

• Cost: perceived cost of negative outcomes

§ Often based on past experiences and observation

o We underestimate how we cope sometimes

• DSM classification of anxiety

 • CHANGES FROM DSM-4 TO DSM-5

•
PANIC DISORDER AND PANIC ATTACK

PANIC ATTACK

• Most anxiety disorders come with panic attacks

• It is not a diagnosis

• 1/3 of all people have experience a panic attack

o Discrete period of intense fear or discomfort that appears abruptly and peaks
usually within 10 mins

o Classic symptoms of autonomic arousal

• Sweating, pounding heart, shaking, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness

o Fear of dying, losing control, going mad, intense dread

o EXPECTED (CUED) e.g. upcoming exam

o UNEXOECTED (UNCUED/SPONATNEOUS)

PANIC DISORDER

• Spontaneous panic attack

• Recurrent unexpected panic attacks - no trigger

• At least one of the attacks has been followed by 1 month or more of one or both of the
following

o Persistent concern/worry about having another attack

o A significant maladaptive change in behavior related to attack

• Panic related behaviors include

o Avoidance

• Of situations where panic is likely

 • Of activities that produce panic like sensations

§ This could be linked to associations e.g. locations or activities

• Escape

§ "safety behaviors" including distraction, anxiety medication, mobile

phones, bottled water, significant others

• However, they could add to the proof that there is something

to be afraid of

o Experience of panic is associated with catastrophic cognitions

• Eg " I will die" > your brain prepares for that or it tries to get you out of the
situation

o Approx 5% of Australians have has panic disorder in the lifetime; about 3-4% in any
12 month period

o More common in females

o Onset in early adulthood

o Usually interlinked with something else

• Depression

• Agoraphobia

§ Fear of avoidance of situations or events associated with panic

o Treatment seeking many years after onset

• Often confused as attribute this to medical factors

• Some cannot leave house

• Cognitive theory of PD - Clark 1988

o High sensitivity to bodily experiences such as hot cup of coIee

o
o Occur because people misinterpret just normal, everyday bodily sensations

• Increased sensitivity to bodily sensations (e.g., racing heart, sweating).

 • Misinterpretation of normal bodily responses as signs of serious threat
(e.g., heart attack, loss of control).

• Triggering intense fear leads to a panic attack with physical symptoms

(e.g., rapid heart rate, shortness of breath).

• Feedback loop: panic attack heightens bodily sensations, reinforcing fear.

• Chronic anxiety develops from repeated panic attacks.

• Heightened vigilance toward bodily sensations perpetuates the cycle.

• TREATMENT

o Cognitive behavioral therapy: psychoeducation; exposure and interoceptive

exposure

• Graded exercises that induce the physical sensations of a panic attack

• Repeated and suIicient duration

• Experiencing those feelings and sensations and sitting there with them

• Challenge beliefs about physical sensations and extinguish conditioned

anxiety

§ Visualizing as well on the location of where you had the panic attack

LECTURE 6: ANXIETY DISORDERS 2

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of Specific Phobias, including diagnostic features, causes, prevalence, and course.

2. Be able to diMerentiate normal fears from specific phobia as a mental health condition

3. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of Generalised Anxiety Disorder, including diagnostic features, associated thought
processes, prevalence, and course.

4. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, including diagnostic features, and associated thought
processes

5. Understand and be able to describe the diMerences within and between obsessions and compulsions in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

6. Understand and be able to explain key elements of treatment for anxiety disorders

DSM CLASSIFICIATION OF AXIETY

• DSM 5 : anxiety disorder

o Specific phobia

o Generalized anxiety disorder

• DSM 5: obsessive-compulsive and related disorders

o OCD
DSM-5 SPECICIF PHOBIAS

• A marked and consistent fear reaction to the presence of anticipation of a specific

object or situation

• Anxiety experience is out of proportion to the actual threat

• Persistent, lasting 6 months or more

o It has to be very relevant in our lives

• The fear/anxiety/ avoidance causes clinically significant distress or impairment in

social, occupational or other important areas of functioning

• Not better explained by another disorders

o Subtypes

• Animals

• Natural environment

• Blood, injection

• Situational e.g. planes

§ They could be evolutionary wired, they diIer from a culture

to a culture, could depend on the geography as well

•
CAUSES

• Classical conditioning

• Having a bad learnt experience >> phobia

• Conditioning is not suIicient / necessary as a cause

• Some stimuli are more likely to become phobic than others

• Perhaps we are evolutionary primed to be afraid of certain things

• E.g. height > maybe it is good to be afraid of height

• Phobic fears: significant threat to survival during evolution

PREVALNCE

• Common children and more intense in adults

• 7-9% of adults

• More common in females (2:1)

• Particular anima, environment, situational (blood, injection equal across

genders)

DEVELOPMNET AND COURSE

• Sometimes develops following traumatic event, observing trauma, information

transmission

• Whether it happens to you or you see someone else going through an

experience

• But some cannot recall specific reason for phobia - often develops in childhood

• Childhood adolescence

• Can develop in adulthood

GENERALISED ANXIETY DISORDER

• Excessive and uncontrollable worry

• About a wide range of events or activities (no single trigger)

o See a lot of potential range of events or activities

• People talk about wanting to stop the worry but they are unable to

• Associated with 3 or more

• Restlessness, fatigue, diIiculty concentrating, muscle tension, sleep

disturbance , irritability, migraines

o Not the classic autonomic arousal symptoms of anxiety

• Constant stream of consciousness, thoughts - overthinking

• Things that coud go wrong

• Constant "what if?" thoughts

• Meta worry - worry about your worry

• At least 6 months duration for diagnosis

FOCUS OF WORRY

• Professional worries (underperformance, job insecurity)

 • Finances

• Personal health/safety and health/safety of family members

• Impact of world event

• Minor matters - for example later to an appointment

• Focus of worry ay shift from one concern to another

• Often changes throughout lifespan but doesn’t change in terms of how

excessive it is or how much your brain wants to jump

MAGNITUDE OF WORRY

• How likely will the bad thing happen? How bad will it be when it happen?

• Intensity/duration/ frequency of worry is out of proportion to the actual likelihood or

impact of the anticipated event

CONTROL OF WORRY

• Limited control over worry

• Process of catastrophizing thoughts can occur automatically - quickly escalates

• E.g. stuck in traIic >> lose job>> lose house >> homeless

• DiIicult to keep worrisome thoughts from interfering with attention to tasks at hand

Associated with:

• High trait anxiety

• Interpret ambiguous situations as threatening more than the average person

• Higher intolerance of uncertainty//

• Need to be 100% certain that negative outcome will not occur

• Reduced ability to tolerate distress

• Worry = maintenance / safety behavior

• Need to reduce possibility of distress

Reduced problem-solving confidence

Maintenance : worry is necessary

• Positive reinforcement - perfectionism

o Being afraid of making mistakes e.g. always need to be one time

o It could be impossible

PREVALANCE AND COURSE

• Prevalence rates - 6.1%

• Age of onset : 31-39 years (anxious temperament in youth

 • Higher prevalence of females with GAD

• Clinical course

• Most people with GAD do not seek help from mental health professionals

• Of those that do delays > 10 years

• Chronic course - unlikely to improve without treatment

• Fluctuates in severity over time

OBSERSSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER

• Body dysmorphic disorder

• Hoarding disorder

• Trichotllomania (hair pulling disorder)

• Excoriation (Skin picking) disorder

• Fear signals from the brain

Obsessions

• Repeated, intsrusive, irrational thoughst or impusles, which cause severe anxiety or

distress

• Attempts made to ignore or suppress or neutralise the obssession

• Continuum

o Normal: positive and negative intrusions

o OCD: intrusions = unacceptable > anxiety

• Bad person, might happen

• Thoughts about harming someone > judgement of oneself

§ They have their own interpretation about these thoughts

• Thought-action fusion: thoughts are more than "just thoughts" they

are actions or could be actions

• If you attribute to these thoughs being thoughts, they might slip out
and die

• However. If you attribute them to being a threat, they tend to stick

around and the brain notices them more

• 4 common obsessions have been identified

 •
COMPULSIONS

• Repetitive/ritualized behaviors or mental acts to neutralize obsessions/reduce

anxiety

• The mental acts however could out of hand

• Repetitive behavior can be overt or covert

• May not be connected in a realistic way with what they are designed to neutralize or
prevent, and/or are clearly excessive

Common compulsions in OCD

• Can have one without the other (O+C is most common_

• Can have symptoms in more than one dimension

• O+C might be connected

Contamination obsessions > cleaning compulsions

Doubt obsessions > checking compulsions

• O+C might NOT be connected

Forbidden/taboo obsessions > mental compulsions like counting

Harm obsessions > ordering and arranging

• Obsessions are unwanted, not pleasurable, not voluntary

Intrusive and cause distress

• Compulsions are not done for pleasure

• But may experience relief from anxiety/distress

 • Often associated with:

• Intolerance of uncertanity

• Need to be 100% certain that negative outcome will not occur

• Inflated responsibiliy

• "something bad will happen AND it will be my fault"

• Thought-action fusion

• "Thinking about is as bad as doing it"

• "thinking something makes it more likely it will happen"

• Magical ideation

• "If I don’t step on the cracks, I will pass the exam"

TREATMENT OF ANXIETY DISORDERS

• CBT

• Aim to reduce threat appraisals

• Reducing having an overworking radar

• Likelihood of perceived harm

o How likely is it that the even will happen

• Cost of perceived harm

o How bad would it be if it did happen

• Psychoeducation

• Cognitive techniques

• Behavioral techniques

o EXPOSURE IS AN ESSENTIAL INGREIENT

Psychoeducation

o Persona's specific triggers, responses and impact on their life

o Explanation of anxiety in general

• Every time you are afraid of something > growth of anxiety

o The role of avoidance

o Teach relaxation techniques to address fight and flight response

o Anxiety worsens with avoidance

• Cognitive techniques

o Cognitive restructuring and thought challenging

o Recognize automatic thoughts > anxiety level - thought-diaries

o Socratic questioning

• Behavioral techniques

o Exposure therapy - graded exposure

o Development and progression through fear hierarchy

o Coupled with relaxation techniques

• Deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation or meditation

o Considerable evidence > exposure therapy treatment gains

o Therapy as in imaging scarious > brain notices the imagination

 •
• Extinguishing the fear and the anxiety you have - if the client is comfortable

• You must go through so many steps

• Anxiety exacerbation and maintenance as a result of space or

avoidance

•
• The eventual reduction in anxiety during prolonged exposure (without avoidance)
over 20 to 6o minute period

•
• Going through that anxiety curve is critical because your brain learn how to handle it

• "not as bad as I thought it would be"

BEHAVIOURAL TECHNIQUES ALSO AFFECT COGNIITION

 • Exposure to feared stimuli/situation > reduces judgments of probability of harm (not
as likely)

• Exposure of feared outcomes (e.g. negative social evaluation) > reduces judgments
of cost of harms (not as bad)

BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS

• Treat the symptoms not the cause - with the medications

• Can be used in combination with psychological treatments - gold standard

treatment if anxiety is too severe

• EIects in short term, however;

LECTURE 7: DEPRESSIVE DISORDERS

LEARNING OUTCOMES

1. Understand and be able to explain key diMerences between DSM-IV and DSM-5 mood disorders

2. Be able to diMerentiate normal sadness from depressive disorders as a mental health condition

3. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of a Major Depressive Episode and Major Depressive Disorder, including diagnostic features,
prevalence, and course.

4. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of a Persistent Depressive Disorder, including diagnostic features, prevalence, and course.

5. Understand and be able to describe the diMerences between Major Depressive Disorder and Persistent Depressive Disorder

6. Understand and be able to explain biological and psychological theories of depression

7. Understand and be able to explain biological and psychological treatments of depression

8. Understand and be able to explain the risk of depression among gender diverse youth

MOOD DISORDERS

• It is characterized by a disturbance in mood

• Continuum: extremes of normal mood

• Mood disorders are episodic

o Average number of times in a lifetime = 4

• Discrete in nature episodes

o Increases risk with each episode (16%)

• Increase risk of having another one

 o Make sure to get help even if its mild depression - before it blows out

• Diagnosis relies on the presence of specific mood episodes

•
• Unipolar - one episode (extreme sad side)

• Bipolar - characterized by extremes on both ends, very low and very high feelings as well

o Could be months or years in between episodes

• Not spending much time in the middle zone

• They don’t happen regularly - they could be weeks or months between episodes

DSM-IV MOOD DISORDERS

DSM - 5
MDD AND PDD

o Common features:

• Presence of sad, empty, irritable mood with somatic and cognitive changes aIecting
function

o Sadness - human experience

• It is milder ad temporary and is an almost universal experience

• Feeling blue, sad, discouraged, apathetic, passive, lacking joy

• Feelings experienced by many

• Common after negative experience - death, illness, relationship breakdown,

lost/missed experiences

• Feelings usually fade, become accustomed to new "normal"

• Sadness vs clinical depression

o Frequence, intensity, and duration of depressive symptoms out of proportion to

person's life situation > depressive disorder

o Responses to significant loss may include feelings of sadness, insomnia, poor

appetite: may resemble depressive episode

• Responses may be understandable or considered appropriate to the loss

• But also don’t want to underdiagnose depression in someone who faced

significant loss

• Clinicians need to use clinical judgment based on individuals history and

personal + cultural context

MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DSORDER

• At least 5 or more sympotoms during 2-week period

 •
• Leads to significant distress or dysfunction in their lives (3D's)

o Inability to get basics done or meet goals

• Not attributed to substance use or other medical condition

Dsm-5 major depressive episode / disorder

• DSM-5 MAJOR DEPRESSIVE EPISODE

o 5 or more symptoms during 2-week period

o AIective symptoms: depressed mood, anhedonia

o Cognitive symptoms: indecisiveness, lack of concentration

o Somatic (physical) symptoms: fatigue, sleep or appetite change

o Motivation symptoms: loss of interest, lack of drive

• DSM-5 MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISRDER

o Single or recurrent depressive episode, not accounted for by other disorder (e.g.
bipolar disorder, schizophrenia etc.)

o There has not been a manic, hypomanic or mixed episode

o Recurrent episodes are common

PREVALENCE AND COURSE

• 5-25% (depending on age, gender)

• One in 7 Australians will experience depression in their lifetime

• Depression has the third highest burden of all diseases in Australia

• Depression is the number one cause of non-fatal disability in Australia

• Onset often after puberty, peaking in 20s (But can be late in life)

• Females are twice as likely to have unipolar mood disorder compared to males

o This seems to be the case for so many disorders - some theories suggests it could
be because giving birth or maybe social standing

• Comorbidity with anxiety and substance abuse

• Course variable - remission from symptoms, number, and length of episodes

PERSISTENT DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

• Depressed for most of the day, for more days than not, for at least 2 years > for diagnosis

• Presence of two (or more) of the following:

o Poor appetite or overeating

o Insomnia or hypersomnia

o Low energy or fatigue

o Low self-esteem

o Poor concentration or diIiculty making decisions

o Feelings of hopelessness

• Individuals has never been without these for more than 2 months at a time

• Criteria for a major depressive disorder may be continuously present for 2 years

• No manic episodes or a hypomanic episode

• Not better explained by other psychotic disorder or substance abuse to medical condition

• The symptoms are not attributable to the psychological aIect

PREVALNCE AND COURSE OF PDD

• 1-2%

• Early onset - childhood, adolescence, early adulthood

• Chronic course

• May be milder than MDD but still causing distress/dysfunction

 • Lacking symptoms free periods

THEORIES AND TREATMEMTS

Biological theories

o Genetic vulnerability

• Heritability: 35-60 percent

• Identical > fraternal > siblings

• Heredity creates a vulnerability to mood disorders

o Neurochemistry

• Low levels of Noradrenalin and/ or serotonin

• No good evidence for causal mechanism

o Neuroendocrine system

• Excess cortisol in response to stress

• Increased stress is strongly related to mood disorders

o Vulnerability stress models:

• Biological vulnerability + stress > depression

• Biological treatments

o Drug treatments

• Selective serotonergic reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)

• Less side eIects but very eIective

• Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, etc.

• EIective in 70-80%

o Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

• Involves applying brief electrical current to the brain

• Uncertain how/why ECT works

• Can be eIective for severe depression (80%)

o Relapse in common with biological treatments

• Therefore likely to be treating the symptoms9 not the cause

Psychological theories

o Diathesis stress models

• Cognitive vulnerability + stress > depression

 • Fundamental beliefs > automatic thoughts (could be very dark, pessimistic negative)

• Could be background in your childhood

o Schema theories (Beck, 1976)

• He noticed that people that were depressed in his practice seem to all sort of think
quite negatively have these automatic thoughts that interpreted situations in a pretty
negative way

• Schema = stable memory structures that guide an individual's information

processing style

• Pre-existing negative schemas

• Developed during childhood; activated by stress

• Result in information processing bias (e.g. attentional biases)

• Negative thoughts become dominant

• Create a distorted view of self, world and future

o Ruminative response styles (Nolen-Hoeksema,1991)

• Thinking again and again of specific things

Viscous cycle of depression

COGNITIVE BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY

• Aim: modify dysfunctional cognitions and related behaviors

• Identify negative thinking patterns - their origins?

o Psychoeducation

o Behavioral activation

• To do things before they got depressed

 • Anything they found pleasant

o Cognitive restructuring

• Changing their thoughts

• Changing thoughts and changing behavioral

• Cognitive

o Address cognitive errors

o Aims to develop more realistic view

o Removing the lens of negative schemas

o Not positive thinking

• Behavioral

o Behavioral experiments

• Testing beliefs

• Gathering evidence to: disconfirm negative beliefs // support more realistic /

interpretations

o Behavioral activation

• Increase reinforcing/positive events (things to look forward to)

• Identifying goals and values

• So they can do activities that align with their values

• Building upward spiral of motivation and energy through pleasure/mastery

• Activity scheduling

o Outcomes of CBT are comparable to drug therapy

• Lower relapse rates than biological treatments

• There are people who unable to tolerate medications

• Meta analysis: 29 vs 60% (Gloaguen et al , 1998)

 •
• Comes from the individual - what they are imposing

• Translate into an activity that they can achieve

• Anticipatory joy

• Looking forward joyful events in the future

• Lots of data to support it

LECTURE 8: EATING DISORDERS

Learning outcomes

1. Understand and be able to explain key diMerences between DSM-IV and DSM-5 Feeding and Eating Disorders

2. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of Anorexia Nervosa, including diagnostic features, associated features, severity, subtypes,
prevalence, and course.

3. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of Bulimia Nervosa, including diagnostic features, associated features, prevalence, and
course.

4. Be able to describe, identify, and apply the key features of Binge Eating Disorder, including diagnostic features, prevalence, and course.

5. Understand and be able to explain the similarities and diMerences between Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder

6. Understand and be able to explain biological, psychological, and sociocultural theories of causation in eating disorders

7. Understand and be able to explain biological and psychological treatments of eating disorders
DSM-IV EATING DISORDERS

• DSM-IV classified eating disorder into three categories

o Anorexia nervosa

o Bulimia nervosa

o EDNOS

• Subclinical AN or BN

• 'Binge eating disorder'

• 'Purging disorder'

• 'night eating syndrome'

• 'grazing'

• DSM-5 Feeding and eating disorders

• Pica

o Eating food that’s not nutritious

• Rumination Disorder

• Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder

• Anorexia nervosa

• Bulimia nervosa

• Binge-Eating disorder

• Other specified feeding or eating disorder

• Unspecified feeding or eating disorder

PREVALENCE

• ~ 25,000 Australians are currently living with Anorexia nervosa

• ~100,000 Australians are currently living with Bulimia nervosa

• 500,000 Australians are currently living with Binge eating disorder

• 350,000 Australians are currently living with other forms of eating disorders

DSM-5 Anorexia Nervosa

• Restriction of energy intake, leading to a significantly low body weight in the context of
age, sex, developmental trajectory and physical health
• Intense fear of gaining weight or of becoming fat, or persistent behavior that interferes
with weight gain, even though at a significantly low weight.

• Disturbance in the way in which one’s body weight or shape is experienced , undue
influence of body weight or shape on self-evaluation, or persistent lack of recognition of
the seriousness of the current low body weight. (Body image disturbance)

• Severity

o Mild (BMI > / =17)

o Moderate (BMI 16-16.99)

o Severe (BMI 15-15.99)

o Extremely (BMI <15)

o The level of severity may be increased to reflect clinical symptoms, the degree
of functional disability and the degree of functional disability and the need for
supervision

• Subtypes

o Restricting type

• During the last 3 months, the individual has not engaged in recurrent
episodes of binge eating or purging behaviour.

• This subtype describes presentations in which weight loss is

accomplished primarily through dieting, fasting, and/or excessive
exercise.

o Binge-eating/purging type

• During the last 3 months, the individual has engaged in recurrent

episodes of binge eating or purging behaviour (i.e., self-induced
vomiting or the misuse of laxatives, diuretics, or enemas).

• Associated features

o Psychological problems

• Depressed mood, irritability, anger, social withdrawal, preoccupation

with food, poor concentration

• Often associated with 'starvation syndrome' (Minnesota Semi

Starvation Experiment, Keys et al., 1950)

§ Experiment on what would happen if healthy people are

malnourished then they had very tough emotional experiences,
even deluisios, some psychosis and depression

• Comorbid: Mood disorder, anxiety disorders (SAD) , Substance use

disorders, Personality disorders (OCPD)

o Physical problems

• Low body temperature, brittle hair/nails, hair growth

• Osteoporosis (brittle bones)

 • Metabolic disturbances, heart failure

• Malnutrition, anaemia, immune system suppression

• Epidemiology

o Prevalence

• ABects 0.5-1.0% of females

• 90% of individuals with AN are female

• Rates are increasing in Australia

o Age of onset

• Typically begins in mid-late adolescence – appears to be getting

younger

o Course

• Chronic, Slow recovery (takes up to 10 years for most)

• Treatment seeking challenges

• 20% remain chronically ill

• Recovery- depends on the definition

• About 50% go on to develop BN

o Highest mortality rate of all psychiatric disorders

DSM-5 BULIMIA NERVOSA

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both

of the following:

o Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g. within any 2-hour period), an amount of
food that is definitely larger than most people would eat during a similar period
of time and under similar circumstances.

o A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g. a feeling that one
cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).

• Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behaviours in order to prevent weight gain (e.g.,

self-induced vomiting; laxative abuse; diuretics; fasting; excessive exercise)

• At least once a week for 3 months

• Self-evaluation unduly influenced by body shape and weight

• Does not occur during a period of AN

'Binge' eating + compensatory behaviours

• Recurrent episodes of binge eating (Criterion A)

 o Eating in a discrete period of time an amount of food that is definitely larger that
most people would eat during a similar period of time and under similar
circumstances.

o A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode

• Recurrent inappropriate compensatory behaviour in order to prevent weight gain:

(Criterion B)

o Purging type: self-induced vomiting, laxative abuse

o Non-purging: fasting, excessive exercising

• Body Image disturbance (Criterion D)

o Undue influence of body weight/shape on self evaluation

• Associated features

o Psychological problems

• Comorbid mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance abuse,

personality

disorders (BPD)

o Physical problems

• Associated with binges (e.g. stomach problems)

• Most are associated with compensatory behaviors

§ Vomiting: stomach acid > loss of dental enamel, scarring/ulceration of

oesophegus

• Laxatives > loss of normal bowel function, dehydration, electrolyte imbalance

• Epidemiology

o Prevalence

• ABects 1-3% of females; becoming more recognized in males

• 90% of individuals with BN are female

• Males – purging less frequent, excessive exercise as compensatory

behaviour more common

o Onset

• Adolescence to early adulthood

o Course

• Long term outcome is better than for AN

• 10% still aBected after 10years

BINGE EATING DISORDER (new to DSM V)

 • Recurrent episodes of binge eating. An episode of binge eating is characterized by both
of the following:

o Eating, in a discrete period of time (e.g., within any 2-hour period), an amount of
food that is definitely larger than what most people would eat in a similar period
of time under similar circumstances.

o A sense of lack of control over eating during the episode (e.g., a feeling that one
cannot stop eating or control what or how much one is eating).

• The binge-eating episodes are associated with three (or more) of the following:

o Eating much more rapidly than normal.

o Eating until feeling uncomfortably full.

o Eating large amounts of food when not feeling physically hungry.

o Eating alone because of feeling embarrassed by how much one is eating.

o Feeling disgusted with oneself, depressed, or very guilty afterward.

• Marked distress regarding binge eating is present.

• The binge eating occurs, on average, at least once a week for 3 months.

• The binge eating is not associated with the recurrent use of inappropriate compensatory
behavior as in bulimia nervosa and does not occur exclusively during the course of
bulimia nervosa or anorexia nervosa

Epidemiology

• Newer disorder (new in DSM-5) = less is known

• Prevalence

o ABects 2.5% % (2:1 female to male)

• Onset

o Adolescence to early adulthood

• Course

o Remission rates higher for BED than AN/BN

• Associated with higher rates of obesity and --> high blood pressure, high cholesterol,
type ll diabetes, heart disease
 •
• Binge eating is more common among females than males across all age groups

• The prevalence of binge eating generally decreases with age

THEORIES OF CAUSATION

Biological theories

• Genetic factors

o Family and twin studies: moderate heritability for AN and bn

o Also higher depression, personality disorders, substance use in families of a

persons with ED

• Neurotransmitter disturbances

o Serotonin involved in appetite regulation

o Mixed findings regarding direction of causation

Psychological theories

• AN & BN have many features in common:

o Tendency to base self worth on weight/shape

o Intense fear of gaining weight

o Desire to attain unrealistic levels of thinness

• Transdiagnostic model (Fairburn et al, 2003)

o Core low self esteem

o Perfectionism

o Distress tolerance

o Interpersonal diBiculties
 o
o Events and associated mood change

o High degree of overlap for causes and symptoms

Psycho-social causes

• Family factors

• Higher parental criticism, control and conflict

• Lower parental empathy and support

• Comments on eating behaviors

• Causation/ Correlation?

• Peer factors: peer group with ED, social approval

• Socio-cultural factors

o Appears to have emerged in the latter have of the 20th century, coinciding with a
growing cultural emphasis on thinness

• "Thin ideal"

o Internalization = hypothesized to result in body dissatisfaction, negative aBect,

low self esteem, disturbed eating behaviors and even eating disorders (Groesz
et al, 2002)

CULTURAL INFLUENCES

• BMI trends between 1950-2018 of Miss universe winners vs Average American Women
 •
• An increase in BMI of miss universe winners reflects shift in societal beauty standards

• Suggests fuller figure is now considered more desirable in the context of beauty
pageants

• This could be due to multiple influences such as changing fashion trends, cultural norms
and media representations

PSYCHO-SOCIAL CAUSES

• The idealisation of thinness is seen as a contributing factor to the normative body

dissatisfaction females experience in Western culture (Polivy & Herman, 2002)

• Body dissatisfaction is single strongest predictor of eating disorder symptomotology

(Phelps et al, 1999)

• Eating disorders are more prevalent in subcultures where thin-ideal is amplified (Stice,
1994)

• Eating disorders more prevalent in occupations / vocations where there is a strong thin-
ideal (e.g. modelling, ballet)

TREATMENT

• Biological

o Medical management

• use of medical interventions, such as medications, to address the

underlying biological causes of the disorder

o Re-feeding

• gradually increasing food intake under medical supervision to restore a

healthy weight.
 • his is a delicate process that requires careful monitoring to avoid
complications.

o Dietician

o Inpatient/ outpatients depending on severity

• Inpatient treatment involves staying in a hospital or specialized facility

for 24-hour care, while outpatient treatment involves regular visits to a
healthcare provider for treatment and monitoring.

• Psychological

o Cognitive behavioural techniques (Adult)

o CBT-E (Fairburn, 2008); 4 stages (20-40 sessions)

o
o Maudsley family-based therapy (Child-Adolescents)

• Parental involvement/responsibility in home setting

• 2/3 are fully weight stored; 75-90% at 5 year follow up

HUMAN MENTAL ABILITIES

LECTURE 1
HOW DO WE DEFINE INTELLIGENCE

• Constructs, latent and manifest variables

• Implicit theories of intelligence

• Explicit theories of intelligence

LEARNING OUCTOMES

• Understand what a construct is and how we might measure it

• Describe the diIerence between latent and manifest variables

• Describe the diIerence between implicit and explicit theories of intelligence

How to measure what you cant see?

• We cant directly observe behaviors, instead we indirectly measure them

• We may make claims that are not accurate > the claims have detrimental eIects on
people

• Have to be done in a responsible way > how?

o Understand it first

WHAT IS INTELLIGENCE?

• DiIicult to define - could be too narrow, too broad

o Depends on context and also depends on diIerent people

o Tests on IQ can predict real outcomes like academic success and other
types of success

• “Intelligence is a word with so many meanings that finally it has none” - Charles
Spearman (1927)

• “Intelligence is what intelligence tests test” - Boring (1951)

o Circular logic

o
• What we measure within an intelligence test - associated with intelligent behaviors

o Even if we don’t have clear theoretical explanation on intelligence

• Marshmallow test and delaying gratification > associated with the future

• Indicator of later success

WHAT DOES INTELLIGENT BEHAVIOUR LOOK LIKE?

CONSTRUCT = A THEORITICAL (HYPOTHETICAL ENTITY)

• Constructed by humans (mainly researchers overtime

– It cannot be directly observed

– It’s something we infer from observing behavior

– It’s a tool to help us make sense of observable behavior

• Help us to look at a cluster of behaviors and give it a label (?)

§ E.g. someone who has loss of interest in things they used to enjoy, lack of
sleep, appetite etc. > depression

– We sometimes call it a latent variable (underlying disposition)

• Disposition - attitude of feeling

• Latent variables can be seen manifested in behaviors

– Cannot be directly discovered, it is constructed

– Basis for predicting future behavior

HOW TO MEASURE WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE

Two variables

• Latent variables

• Underlying

• Manifest variables

• Observable behaviors and can be measured

• You can quantify them e.g. how quickly you solve a task

• Can be used to infer an underlying construct

• E.g. counting how many times you smile > happiness

• On the surface

Test > observable behavior

E.g. Reaction time > how quickly you solve a task

• Devise the test to operationalize the construct - taking something from a theory into
a something that you can measure

• Reaction time reflects "processing speed"

• Number of items remembered reflects "working memory capacity"

• The tests operationalize the construct - when we create the test, it is important to
ensure that the tests capture the construct well
 • Firstly, it is important that the tests accurately and reliably measure the
behavior and the bigger picture

• Question; is what the tests measuring a valid reflection of the

construct itself

•
• Theory and measurement are inextricably linked

• You need a good theory to develop a good measure

• But you also need a good test to accurately measure what you want
to measure

• Leads back to inform the theory

• There needs to be a fine-grained measure to pick the small

diIerences between people

THEORIES OF INTELLIGENCE

IMPLICIT THEORY OF INTELLIGENCE

• Underlying beliefs individuals hold about the nature of intelligence > often
unconscious and can influence behavior and motivation

• Carol Dweck theory on "fixed" (entity) and "growth" (incremental) mindsets

• Fixed: intelligence is seen as a trait that cannot be changed

• Growth: intelligence is viewed as malleable and changeable and can be

developed through eIort and learning

• Beliefs that we hold our information definitions

• Study : Blackwell, Trzesniewski and Dweck (2007)

• Looking at the learning trajectories of 7th graders who were asked early on about
their belief in their own intelligence whether they thought it was fixed or that it could
be improved

• Researchers tracked their grades over the two-year period to observe any changes
and trends

• findings
 • Students who had the belief that the intelligence is malleable (incremental
theory) showed an upward trajectory in grades over the two years period

• While students who had the belief that intelligence is fixed (entity theory)
predicted a flat trajectory in their grades

• This study demonstrates that teaching students an incremental theory of

intelligence can significantly improve their academic performance and motivation ;
more eIort and a positive attitude to failure

• Study: Sternberg (1981)

• Asked experts and general population:

• "what behaviors show..

• Intelligence / unintelligence?

• Academic intelligence

• Everyday intelligence

• After collecting the responses; they came up with three factors that were
clustered into groups

Verbal intelligence

• Good vocabulary, converse easily on lots of subjects

Problem solving

• Makes good decision, poses problem in optimal way, plans

+ evaluation and ability to analyze

Practical intelligence

• Sizes up situation well determines how to achieve goals,

display an interest in the world at large

• Skill to handle everyday tasks and navigate diIerent

environments eIectively

• Responses indicated that people believe that intelligence relates to success

and cognitively demanding tasks

EXPLICIT THEORY OF INTELLIEGNCE

• Use data collected from people performing tasks that require intelligent cognition

• Formal models developed by researchers based on empirical evidence and

systematic observations

• This theory aims to define, measure and understand the nature of intelligence
through scientific methods

o Theories don’t always cover all of intelligence. Instead they define the scope
of the psychological construct they deal with
 • Either whole domain (intelligence)

• Specific subsets (e.g. verbal performance)

§ Can be measured by listing synonyms for example

Explicit theories are tested against data

Theories are supported by (mostly indirect) evidence

– Internal consistency of the measure (i.e., within-measure)

• How well do the items on a particular measure correlate together

§ How will they measure what you are trying to measure

– Correlate with other behaviour measures

Theory can be challenged because...

– Doesn't fit task data - theory is wrong and needs changing

– Measure is not good

• tasks are too narrow, or lack ecological validity

E.g. focusing on academic achievement and forgetting the other factors of intelligence

• tasks are too broad

o Influence by way too many things

o EIects of diIerent types of tests , the context, mood of the test takers

o Speed of processing - verbal tests can be timed

• Falsely assuming or saying that the person is doing poorly on the test

o No one theory can account for everything

LECTURE 2
LEARNING OUTCOMES

Explain how Binet’s scale worked and describe his goals and stipulations

Describe the contributions of H.H Goddard and L. Terman

Calculate mental age, ratio IQ and deviation IQ

HISTORY OF INTELLIGENCE TESTING

ALFRED BINET

• Interested in everyday reasoning

• Develop techniques for identifying those children whose lack of success in normal
classrooms suggested the need for some form of special education

• Used a series of reasoning tasks related to everyday problems of life but involving
basic reasoning processes

• Learned skills like reading were not tested explicitly

o Separate nature from education

o He wanted to help cognitively delayed people academically

BINET'S SCALE

• Age level assigned to each reasoning task

o Mental age - the age assigned to the most diIicult task that you could
complete

• E.g. if you were 5 years old and you were able to solve tasks that
were appropriate for 7 but not above, you had a mental age of 7
years old

o The youngest age at which a child of normal intelligence should be able to

complete the task

o Determined by the age at which of "normal" children in the standardization

sample passed the task

GOAL:

• Not interested to measure intelligence

• Didn’t interest in the construct - just have a test to capture the observable
behavior and identify kids to help them

• He wanted to identify and educate

o To identify students who needed remedial education (e.g. to help and

improve) to catch up to their peers

• Intelligence of individuals can be argumentized by good educated; it is not a fixed

and inborn quantity

• His worry: some people might use this test to label people and don’t attempt at any
intervention to help them get better
BINET'S STIPULATIONS

Stipulation: a condition or requirment that is specified or demanded as a par of an agreement

• The scores are a practical device

o They do not buttress any theory of intellect (theory came much later)

o They do not define anything innate

o We may not designate what they measure as "intelligence" or any other

latent variable

• The scale is rough

o It is an empirical guide to identifying mildly-retarded and learning disabled

children

o It is not a device for ranking normal children

• Low scores shall not be used to mark children as innately incapable

o Emphasis should be placed upon improvement through special training

• IMPORTANT

• When you develop a psychological test of any time - it is a responsibility to

make there are clear guidelines

• How will the test be used?

• Who is the test meant for?

• What the test is meant to be measuring?

• How the test and its test scores will be interpreted.

GODDARD USED BINET'S TEST TO PREVENT IMMIGRATION AND PROPAGATION OF "MORONS"

• And to stop crime

Testing of new immigrants at Ellis Island by women trained in the detection of feeblemindedness

• “Feebleminded were degenerate beings responsible for many, if not most, social
problems and that their
numbers were being incremented by undesirable "new" immigrants (Gelb, 1986)”

•
• Binet refused to define his scores as intelligence, Goddard regarded the scores as
measures of single, innate entity
LEWIS TERMAN (1916)

• Revised and published Binet's test as the Stanford-Binet - mark the beginning of
intelligence test

• Developed and publicized intelligence testing as "measurement"

• Became the standard against which others were validates - used for army, schools,
etc. >> 1st standard intelligence test - the golden standard

• Binet's test was introduced as a way to identify kids with special needs and not to
label people and now it become a test measure people's intelligence and label them
>> raising question on validity (not original intention )

• Even then there was a concern that people with low intelligence will be considered
as congenitally and hopelessly inferior

• “The danger of the intelligence test is that in a wholesale system of education, the
less sophisticated or the
more prejudiced will stop when they have classified and forget that their duty is to
educate.” -- Walter
Lippman 1922

HOW DO WE MEAUSRE INTELLIGENC? IQ - intelligence quotient

• Psychometrics: the statistical study of psychological tests, human abilities and

personality traits

• The psychometric approach to intelligence tries to identify and measure the abilities
that underlie individual
diIerences in performance. In essence, it tries to provide a measurement-based
map of the mind.

• Factor analysis: a statistical technique that reduces a large number of measures to

a smaller number of clusters, or factors, with each cluster containing variables that
correlate highly with one an- other but less highly with variables in other clusters
(eg. organising PMAs into more general cognitive abilities)

• Introduced in the Stanford-Binet test

• Mental age is based on the age level at which the majority of "normal" children in the
standardization sample passed the test

• If you passed a test that the majority of 12-year olds passed, but not a test
that 13 year olds passed, you would be assigned a mental age of 12,
regardless of your chronological age

• Problematic - a mentally handicapped 18-year old and a 7-year old may bot have a
mental age of 9, but is their intelligence the same?
 • RATIO IQ

• Proposed by William Stern (1912), adopted by Terman

• Was the original measure used in Stanford Binet - now uses deviation IQ

PROBLEMS WITH RATIO IQ

• Ratio IQ only works if mental age increases proportionally with chronological age -
that’s not the case however

• DiIiculty to make comparisons of intellectual performance across age levels

• E.g. Who's smarter, a 13 year old with a mental age of 15 or an 8 year old with a
mental age of 10?

• DiIerent context for diIerent age group

• DiIicult to apply to adults

o What would be an "age-level" typical task for a 43 year old? But a 40 years
cant

o What does it mean if a 50 year old has a mental age of 25? => lower than
expected level
(IQ=50) but intellectual ability stop growing so it is quite well for a 50 years
DEVIATION SCORES : RELATIVE TO OTHERS LIKE YOU

• Z score: how far away from the mean

• Has a mean of 0

• If you score 8 (raw score) then you’ve scored at or above 96% of the population -
96th percentile of 3 SD higher than the average 5

• Once we know how many people obtain each score, we can rank people according
to their score to find where you fit on the distribution

• E.g. if you have a score of 5, you have done better than 60% of the cohort - in
60th percentile

• Standard deviation is the statistical method by which we can see the average
distance of a score from the mean

o Standard deviation is 1

o
DiIerent age groups have diIerent raw

scores => raw scores don’t tell how intelligence a person is

COMPARING RAW SCORES ACROSS GROUPS

NORMAL DISTRIBUTION BELL CURVE

• - Z(zscores) = X(rawscore)-M (mean) / SD ( standard deviation)

• Mean: 100

• SD: 15

DEVIATION IQ

- IQ Scores means the same thing

regardless of the comparison group
- IQ = 100 means you are
average.
- (100 was set as the average to be consistent with the ratio IQ which was familiar to psychologists)

All other scores, those < 100 and > 100, reflect how far your score deviates from the average

o IQ of 70 means you are two standard deviations below the average

o IQ of 115 means you are one standard deviation above the average

o Gives the appearance of stability in IQ - but compared to peers it IQ score can be

more or less the same but the raw score can diIers (better or worse)
LECTURE 3
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Gain exposure to some common tests and understand the principles of psychological assessment
Understand how to differentiate between a single underlying factor and multiple abilities

STANDFORD-BINET (IV EDITION)

• 15 subsets in four areas of cognitive ability

• Mean = 100 , SD=16

Materials:
• Four booklets of printed cards, blocks, form board, beads, large picture of a unisex,
multiethnic doll, record booklet, guide
• Strict instructions
o Differences in the scores
o No hints - whether verbally or physically (e.g. facial expressions) - this is part
of the training
Examiner highly trained:
• Recommendations on seating, precise wording, mode of query (clinical psychologist,
neuropsychologist)
o Differences in the scores
o No hints - whether verbally or physically (e.g. facial expressions) - this is part
of the training
Clinicians:
• Not only standardized tests but also a clinical observation (for clinical setting >>
influence the interpretation of the test). Will indicate features of an individual's work
methods, problem solving approach, and other qualitative aspects:
o Attention
o Persistence
o Unusual approach to problem
• Multiple separate tests, each in increasing order of difficulty
• To avoid boredom, tests intermixed
• Testing Time 30 - 90 mins
• Special-purpose batteries available for certain populations (e.g., blind, motor
impaired, deaf, etc)
• Guidelines for translators etc also provided
• Time consuming and expensive
GENERAL TEST PROCESS
• Start by giving a vocabulary test - on of chronological age
o Serves as a routing test to determine entry level for all other test
• Establish a basal and ceiling level for each task
o Usually start at a point suggested by examinee's age
o Basal level = four items passed in a row
o Ceiling level = three or more out of four consecutive items are failed (indicates
the test to be discontinued)
• Scoring
o Most tests have simple items (practice items) that are not included in score
• Want to minimize the effect of learning so make sure know what they
have to do by using a practice
o Each item response is recording verbatim (recording what you say)
o Items are either passed for failed according to strict guidelines
o Five "free response" tests which must be handled carefully
• Very difficult to score
• Raw scores
o Item number of highest test administered minus total number of attempted
items failed
o This score is later converted to a scaled score

VERBAL REASONING
Entry level based on age:
• Vocabulary
o Entry level for other tests are based on Age and performance on vocabulary test
o Synonyms: The child is asked to identify words that have similar meanings to a
given word.
o Antonyms: The child is asked to identify words that have opposite meanings to a
given word.
o Definitions: The child is asked to provide definitions for unfamiliar words.
• Picture vocabulary
o Picture Matching: The child is shown a picture and asked to match it to a similar
picture from a set of choices.
o Picture Sequencing: The child is shown a series of pictures out of order and
asked to arrange them in the correct sequence.
o Picture Interpretation: The child is shown a picture and asked to describe what
is happening or to answer questions about the picture.

• Oral vocabulary
o Picture Vocabulary: The child is shown a picture and asked to name the object or
concept depicted.
o Sentence Completion: The child is presented with a sentence with a missing
word and asked to choose the correct word to complete the sentence.
o Word Associations: The child is given a word and asked to name related words
or concepts.
o Usually the first test to determine the recommendatory for other test
• Age and performance on this test determines entry levels of other test
 •

ABSTRACT/VISUAL REASONING
• Pattern analysis
o Results can be influenced by time pressure
• The test ensures that it can accurately measure a child's ability to
identify and solve patten within a reasonable timeframe
Tasks include:
Matrices Analogies Classification
The child is presented with a The child is presented with a pair The child is presented with a set of
series of matrices with missing of related items (e.g., a cat and a items and asked to identify the item that
elements and asked to identify kitten) and asked to identify doesn't belong based on the patterns
the missing element based on another pair of items that have a observed in the other items.
the patterns observed in the similar relationship (e.g., a dog
other elements. and a puppy).
o The test includes both EASY and HARD pattern activities to assess a child's abstract
and visual reasoning skills at different levels of complexity
• Easy pattern activities (entry levels A-C)
• Simple patterns that are easy to identify, such as repeating shapes or colours.
• A small number of elements in each pattern.
• A limited number of possible choices for the missing element.
• Hard pattern activities (entry levels D-E)
• More complex patterns that require a higher level of abstract thinking.
• A larger number of elements in each pattern.
• A wider range of possible choices for the missing element.
o Inferred abilities and influences: Visual analysis, spatial and planning ability, visual-
motor coordination, time pressure and manual dexterity.
o If they duplicate pattern in time limit >> pass
o Time limit= 30 seconds , Time limit = 45 seconds

• Copying
o Child is presented with a simple geometric design and asked to copy it as
accurately as possible onto a blank sheet of paper
o Participants see a drawing and is instructed to copy the drawing - the child
must carefully listen to and follow the instructions given by the examiner
 • The child must use a pencil to draw the design
• The child must strive to copy the design as accurately as possible,
paying attention to the size, shape and orientation and angles

o What is assessed?
• Fine motor skills: The ability to manipulate small objects, such as a
pencil, with precision.
• Visual perception: The ability to accurately perceive and interpret visual
information, such as shapes, lines, and patterns.
• Attention to detail: The ability to focus on the small details of a task and
maintain accuracy.
o Inferred abilities and influences: Visual analysis, spatial and planning ability,
visual-motor coordination, time pressure and manual dexterity.
SHORT TERM MEMORY - Memory for objects
• Common objects presented one at a time in prescribed sequence y examiner
• Examinee then required to choose previously presented pictures in order of
presentation from larger array of pictures
• Even if examinee points to correct objects, if not in correct order >> FAIL
o Must get correct objects in the correct order.
• Inferred abilities and influences: Visual memory and perception, chunking, verbal
labelling/memory strategies, influenced by attention

Stanford - Binet 5th edition (SB5) classification :

1. Very Superior: IQ scores of 145 and above. This indicates exceptional intellectual ability and
performance.
2. Superior: IQ scores of 130-144. This indicates above-average intellectual ability and
performance.
3. Above Average: IQ scores of 116-129. This indicates good intellectual ability and performance.
4. Average: IQ scores of 85-115. This indicates typical intellectual ability and performance.
5. Below Average: IQ scores of 70-84. This indicates below-average intellectual ability and
performance.
6. Intellectual Disability: IQ scores below 70. This indicates significantly below-average
intellectual ability and may require additional support.

• In USA, people with IQ lower than 70 are spared / ineligible from death penalty >> there is
no mental capacity to under fully understand the consequences of their actions
+ people's intelligence improves overtime >> recalibrate

• GROUP TESTING: RAVENS PROGRESSIVE MATRICES

oconsidered the market test of Gf (fluid intelligence) => it involves novel
stimuli, reasoning ability , the education of correlates and relations
o Quick and efficient way to be administered
o Purpose:
• Non-verbal intelligence test designed to measure a person's abstract
reasoning and problem-solving abilities
• Often used in educational and occupational setting to assess
cognitive abilities
o How is it used
• Involves administering the test to a large group of individual's at the
same time
• Can be more efficient and cost-effective than individual testing,
especially in educational setting
• However, it may not provide the same level of individual attention and
flexibility as individual testing
THEORY DEVELOPMENT
• Correlations - factor analysis
• Theory of fluid (Gf) and Crystallized intelligence (Gc)
• Extended Gf-Gc theory
STEP 4: HOW IS IT STRUCTURED - IS INTELLIGENCE ONE THING OR MULTIPLE?
• Single factor? Multiple? Each score separate

• Examining correlation patterns

o We try to infer the invisible structure by seeing how the individual parts (i.e.,
scores) move together (i.e., correlate). (pattern of scores, relationship
between tests)
o - If they rise and fall together (i.e., are correlated), this suggests they are
linked. - Different tests may depend on single ability
o - If rise and fall independently (i.e., not correlated), this suggests they are not
linked - Different tests may depend on different abilities
• Correlation
o Positive: as scores on one variable increase, scores on other tend to increase
o Negative: As scores on one variable increase, scores on other tend to decrease
o Zero: no systematic relationship between scores on two variables

Factor analysis of intelligence

• Spearman (1904, 1927) looked at how test scores correlated with each other
 o Tried to find udnerlying factors that epxlain the patter of correlations
• Observation 1
• All mental abilities correlate with each other to some extent There is something
common underlying all the tests –
positive manifold (all mental abilities tests correlated)
General intelligence factor? - Spearman’s g

• Observation 2
• There seem to be multiple clusters of stronger correlations
that are only weakly related to each other
• Whatever factor is ‘causing’ the correlations between tests 1-3,
it is different to the factor that is ‘causing’ the correlations between tests 4-6

• Conclusion, what are the implications?

• There is something common underlying all the tests – positive manifold

• There are separate factors underlying performance on tests 1-3 vs. on tests 4-6
• Almost all cognitive tasks are positively related
• Some underlying construct underlies you performance on all these tests

Single factor: Spearman's general factor ('g')

• 'g' represents a general intelligence factor that underlies performance on various cognitive
tasks
• Spearman proposed that this factor is a common element shared by all intellectual
abilities
• According to Spearman, individuals with high 'g' scores tend to excel in a wide
range of cognitive tasks, such as verbal reasoning, numerical ability and spatial
reasoning
• Conversely, individuals with low 'g' scores tend to struggle in these areas
 • The concept of 'g' has been influential in the field of intelligence research suggesting that a
single underlying factor may explain individual differences in cognitive abilities
• More recent research has challenged this view, proposing that multiple factors
may contribute to intelligence
Argument for g factor: some tests are strongly correlated whilst others
are weak => Spearman said that some tests are just better constructed than others

Diagram representing hierarchical model of cognitive abilities:

• Diagram identified several cognitive abilities, including vocabulary, verbal comprehension,

general knowledge, abstract reasoning, matrices and series completion
• These abilities are organized in a hierarchical structure, 'verbal meaning' and reasoning' at
the top
• Suggests that these two abilities may be more fundamental and influence
performance on other cognitive tasks
• General factor 'g', which represents a common underlying factor that contributes to
performance on all of the cognitive abilities. This is consistent with Spearman's theory of
general intelligence.
• Suggests that while 'g' is important, specific factors (e.g., verbal meaning, reasoning) also
play a role in cognitive performance. This is consistent with the hierarchical model of
intelligence, which acknowledges both general and specific factors.

Thurstone's primary mental abilities (PMA)

• This theory proposed that intelligence is not a single general factor (like Spearman's 'g'),
rather a group of distinct primary mental abilities
• These abilities are relatively independent of each other, meaning that a person can be
strong in one ability without necessarily being strong in others.

Primary mental abilities

LECTURE 4
LEARNING OUTCOMES

• Describe the diMerence between fluid and crystallized intelligence

• Describe evidence that these are diMerent types of intelligence

• Describe how to separate true score from error

• Explain how reliability is measured and describe diMerent types of reliability

• Explain how validity is measured and describe diMerent aspects of validity

THEORY DEVELOPMENT

• Single factor 'g' (Charles Spearman, 1927)

o Positive manifold - evidence for 'g'

o Good predictor of performance in real life

• Related to mental speed? (how quick and eUicient)

• Related to working memory capacity (holding multiple thoughts)

• Related to "good quality" brain (better processing)

• Primary mental abilities - Thurstone, 1938

o 7 separate areas of mental ability revealed on tests

• Verbal comprehension

• Inductive reasoning

• Numerical fluency / number facility

• Word fluency

• Spatial ability / space

• Memory
 • Perceptual speed

• Relative levels diUer among individuals

• DiUerent individuals have diUerent strengths and weaknesses

• They can be impaired in isolation after a brain damage

• If one ability is damaged, the other abilities would be intact

• This suggests that these abilities are localized to specific areas of the
brain and can be aUected independently

• E.g. a stroke that damages a particular region of the brain might

impair verbal comprehension without significantly aUecting other
primary mental abilities.

• Hierarchical models of intelligence

Gf-Gc theory - Raymond Cattell (1941)

• One of the most common theories in current use

• General fluid Intelligence Gf

• the ability to grasp relations between things; deal with novelty

• non-verbal abilities, inductive and deductive reasoning

• culture-free (???!! in theory, but not in practice – assessment?)

• the ability to think abstractly, reason logically, and solve problems

independently, often in novel situations.
• Novel problem-solving: The ability to solve problems that you haven't
encountered before.

• Pattern recognition: The ability to identify patterns and relationships between

diUerent pieces of information.

• Reasoning: The ability to think logically and draw conclusions from evidence.

• Abstract thinking: The ability to understand and manipulate concepts that

aren't tied to specific experiences.

• It is believed to be influenced by genetic factors and to be independent of

education and experience

• Tends to be peak in early adulthood and declines with age

• General crystallized intelligence Gc

• Acquired knowledge and skills

• Requires exposure to culture, formal and informal education

• May require some investment of fluid intelligence

• the ability to apply knowledge and skills acquired through experience and
education.

• Vocabulary: A broad and deep knowledge of words and their meanings.

 • General knowledge: A wide range of factual information about the world.

• Comprehension: The ability to understand and interpret information.

• Application of knowledge: The ability to use acquired knowledge to solve

problems and make decisions.

• It is believed that is influenced by both genetic factors and environmental

factors , with education and experience playing a signifcianct role

• It tends to increase throughout life, as individuals accumulate

knowledge and skills

Performance on a single task can (and is likely to) require both

• Interaction between Gc and Gf

Despite both of them being diUerent conceptually, Gc and Gf correlate to varying extents

• Strongest evidence that they are diUerent constructs

• => Show diUerent developmental trends

=> Fluid rises to young adulthood, then falls oU in old age
=> Crystallized rises and plateaus, roughly speaking

Fluid intelligence generally peaks in early adulthood and then gradually declines with age. This
decline is thought to be due to changes in the brain, such as reduced neural plasticity and
decreased eUiciency of cognitive processes.
Crystallized intelligence, on the other hand, tends to increase or plateau with age. This is
because individuals accumulate knowledge and experience over time, which can enhance their
problem-solving skills and ability to apply their knowledge to new situations.

HIERARCHICAL MODELS OF INTELLIGENCE

Step 5: HOW DO WE ASSESS OUR TEST

• Accuracy and validity

Psychological assessment

• Good psychological assessment depends on

• How well we can measure the ability or trait of interest

• Is our test accurate? - reliability (how much can we trust the test)

• Is our test measuring what we think it's measuring? - validity (does it measure
intelligence or other things?

• Whether the test is used in a valid way (e.g. , in the population for which it was
developed) - Validity (was it used in an appropriate way, initial intention)

• We assume that the traits or states that we want to measure exist, they can be
quantified, and they can be measured
RELIABILITY

• Refers to consistency of measurement

• Could also refer to the dependability of the of a measurement or a result

• it refers to the extent to which a measurement or result can be replicated

under similar conditions.

• If a test measures a consistent trait in a person, then it should consistently

produce the same answer. => It should not really be aUected by random
fluctuations

• If a test is reliable, it should be able to distinguish between people who diUer on

the construct.
=> Because any variation (change, diUerence) in performance is due to true
diUerences in that ability, not random error

Classical test theory

Any observed score (X) has two components:

1. The True Score (T) - (the real level of ability) – and

2. some Error (E) component (random variance)

Observed score True Score Error

• The actual • The idea • Errors in

measurement measurement measurement

• Consisted of true • What we strive for • RANDOM

score and error
• CONSTANT for an • Unrelated to the
• The score that is individual true score
actually obtained on
• the individual's • Cannot be
a test. It is the sum
"real" or "true" eliminated
of the true score and
ability or trait. It is completely
the error.
the score that would
• It can be positive or
be obtained if there
negative and can
were no
vary from one
measurement error.
testing occasion to
another.
Sources of error

• Test Construction

Eg., choice of items/stimuli; content of the test

• Test Administration

Eg., variability in examiner (friendly, hostile) ; variability in examinee (slept well the day before/
having a bad day)

• Errors in Scoring

Eg., failure to use ‘rubric’ consistently (some are more generous, some are stricter)

• Interpretation Subjectivity

Eg., evaluation of response; (diUerent interpretation of the answers)

Estimating the true score (X )

• We don’t know the True score

• We try to estimate it from taking multiple measurments

• Repeating the measurements indefeinite times

• The long term mean = the True Score

• Long term mean of error = 0 >>> all the errors cancel out

• The average of a sample of observation will approximate the True Score

A RELIABLE TEST CONSISTENTLY HITS THE BULL'S EYE

Reliable => consistent with the score (our darts consistently hit close to the bullseye, you're a
reliable shooter. Your throws are accurate and consistent.)

Unreliable => all over the place (your darts are scattered all over the target, you're an unreliable
shooter. Your throws are inconsistent and inaccurate.)

HOW DO WE ESTIMATE RELIABILITY

• Test- Retest reliability

• Same group of people are measured twice on same test => the reliability of a
test can be estimated as the correlation between repeated administrations of
the same test

• -n theory, changes in X (observed score) from time 1 to time 2 are due to

measurement error => Reflects stability of the measurement process over time
(not necessarily precision in the measurement of the true score)

• We assume that the True score doesn’t change - but is that true?

• Problems

• Picture completion WAIS

• A set of colour pictures of common objects and settings, each of

which is
missing an important part that the examinee must identify

o Carry over eUects:

• Remember original responses (particularly when retest interval is short)

=> can over-estimate reliability (2nd time is lot more easier - remember
from the 1st time)

o Change to true score amount

• Maturation (kids vs. adults) - eg spelling ability might improve

over time; reasoning gets more sophisticated
 • When these change occur systematically (i.e. in a
predictable way for most individuals)

• Reactivity - if change is not systematic (diUerent for diUerent

people) >> low test-retest reliability

• For example, some individuals may become anxious or

nervous when taking a test, which can aUect their
performance. If this reactivity is inconsistent across
individuals, it can make it diUicult to obtain reliable test
scores over time.

• Equivalent (alternative) forms

• Measure the same phenomenon using two diUerent forms of the test

o Correlation between Form 1 and Form 2 is the reliability of the test

• Or compare two halves of the test (split-half correlation)

• Internal consistency - Cronbach's alpha

• If every possible split half correlation was computed, their average is called
Cronbach's

o It reflects the extent to which all items measure the same thing

Systematic (non-random) Error variance

Examples:

– If a set of scales consistently gives readings 1 kg too light.

– If an assessor consistently gives an extra (unwarranted) mark on an assignment

– Systematic error will not decrease the estimated reliability

– But it will reduce the validity of the test – we are not measuring what we think we are
measuring
Still hit the bull’s eye

• Systematic error will not decrease the estimated reliability but random errors do

• But it will reduce the validity of the test (a lot) – we are not measuring what we
think we are measuring

• Classical test theory assume all errors are random error => systematic error kept
in the estimation of the true ability => can’t distinguish between true variance
and systematic variance => reduce validity

VALIDITY

TWO ASPECTS OF VALDITY:

• Is our test measuring what we think it is measuring?

• E.g. does it actually measure intelligence

• Is the test used appropriately, for its intended use?

• E.g. if the test was developed for adults, is it being used to test children

Content validity

• Coverage of the "domain"

• Does the test assess behaviour that is representative of the domain of

behaviour that we want to measure

• Typically discussed in educational and achievement testing

situation but also relevant in other areas

• it assesses whether the items on the test are a representative sample of

the content or knowledge area being tested.

To have high content validity, a test must:

• Cover the entire range of content: It should include items that represent all the
important aspects of the domain being measured.
 • Be relevant to the domain: The items should be directly related to the
knowledge or skills being assessed.

• Be appropriate in di,iculty: The items should be neither too easy nor too
diUicult for the intended test-takers.

• Define the boundaries and structure of domain

• Boundary: what is the considered part of the domain and what is not

• Structure: test content reflects the structure of the domain

Construct validity

a measure of how well a test or assessment instrument measures the underlying theoretical
construct it is intended to measure. In other words, it assesses whether the test is actually
measuring the specific trait or characteristic that it is supposed to be measuring.

Convergent validity Discriminant validity

Is the construct related to other Is the construct independent of other,

theoretically similar constructs/tests? unrelated, psychological constructs?

➢ Expect high correlation with similar ➢ Expect low correlation with unrelated
constructs/tests constructs

The test should correlate with other The test should not correlate with
measures of the same construct. For measures of unrelated constructs. For
example, a test of intelligence should example, a test of intelligence should
correlate with other intelligence tests. not correlate with a measure of
personality.
• it measures how well the
test aligns with other • it measures how well the
established tests that test diUerentiates
measure the same thing. between the construct of
interest and other,
irrelevant constructs.
 • Reliability: Does the test give consistent results?

• Validity: Does the test measure what it's meant to measure?

• You can have reliability without validity

LECTURE 5: INTELLIGENCE DETERMINED BY

GENETIC OR ENVRIONMENTAL FACTORS
LEARNING OUTCOMES

Define a heritability estimate and outline how it is calculated.

Describe the evidence that IQ is substantially heritable.
Explain why researchers may use monozygotic (identical) twins to determine the heritability of mental abilities.
Identify potential confounding factors that influence the interpretability of twin studies.

Sir Francis Galton: "Hereditary genius" (1869)

• Analysis of genealogical trees of 145 eminent person; judges, politicians, scientists,

poets, authors, artists, clerics

• Findings:

o Prominent people have prominent relative

• The closer the kinship the more likely the relative is also prominent

• Conclusion:

o "genius and feeble-mindedness runs in families"

o
 • He argued that one could use artificial selection to increase intelligence among humans

"that selection was needed as the less-intelligent people were reproducing more than the
intelligent people, and this was causing the human race to become weaker”

Heredity vs environment

• How can we study the relative roles of heredity and the environment in determining
psychological characteristics?

• 3 basic designs

o Family resemblance studies

o Adoption studies

o Twin studies

• Family resemblance studies

Main assumption:

• If a trait is aUected by genetic factors, individuals that are more similar genetically
should be more similar with respect to the trait

• E.g. the height of two siblings should be more similar than the height of two
cousins

Problems

• Genetic relatedness is usually closely linked to environmental similarity

• Families tend to olive together or near each other >> similar environments

• At best, family resemblance studies provide us with information about the combined
eUects of genetic and environmental influences

§ Need designs to disentangle genes and environment

• Adoption and twin studies

1. Genetically similar people raised in diUerent environments

• E.g. biological parents and children adopted out; twins separated at birth

• Similarity can be (more likely) attributed to genetic factors

2. Genetically unrelated people raised in the same environment

• E.g. adoptive parents and children

• Similarity can be attributed to shared environment

 • Compare to the normal family situation (natural parents and children, who share
both genes and environment)

• We use correlations in intelligence scores as our measure of similarity

Concept of genetic resemblance

Monozygotic twins - genetically identically

Dizygotic twins - share about 50% of their genes

CONCEPT OF SHARED VS NON SHARED ENVRIONEMNT

Sources of variability in Twin Studies

• Genes shared environment (reared together)

• Non-shared environments (reared apart; or reared together, bit other environmental

factors

• DZ twins

• If correlation is lower than for MZ, can attribute to genetic influence

•
• MZ twins

• If correlation is lower than MZ reared together, can attribute that to envrionemnt

BOUCHARD & McGUE (1981)

Aim: to investigate the heritability of IQ in monozygotic and dizygotic twins reared together and
apart

• To determine the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to IQ

• To compare the IQ scores of twin raised in similar and diUerent environments

Method:
 • Twin Study: The study involved a large sample of twins, including both monozygotic and
dizygotic twins raised together and apart.

• IQ Testing: Participants were administered standardized IQ tests to measure their

cognitive abilities.

• Data Analysis: The researchers analysed the correlation between IQ scores of twins to
estimate the heritability of IQ.

Findings:

• The study found a strong genetic influence on IQ, especially in MZ twins reared apart

• While genetic factors play a significant role, environmental factors also contribute to IQ
variation, particularly in DZ twins and twins reared apart

• The environment shared by twins reared together had a limited impact on IQ

• The unique experiences of individuals, even within the same family, can influence IQ

•
 •

• The bars show that concordance rates are highest for MZ twins reared together and
decrease as genetic relatedness and environmental similarity diminish

HERITABILITY (H)

• Conceptual definition

•
• Variation not attributable to genetic diUerences is cause by diUerences in the
environment experienced by the members of the specified population

• Genotype

• Underlying Genetic factors (Gv)

• Phenotype

• Expression of underlying Genetic factors (Gv)

• Can be influenced by Environment (Ev)

• Also interaction between G and E + residual variation

Heritability estimates

• Heritability (H) - the proportion of phenotypic variance (Pv) that is due to genetic
influences (Gv)

• H ~ Gv/Pv
 • The value of H is always between 0 and 1 - it is a proportion

• Whatever remains of the obtained heritability reflects phenotypic variance that

is attributable to environmental and residual eUects

• Thus, 1-H represents combined eUects of environmental and residual factors

• H is best estimated by the correlation between MZ twins reared apart

• Gv is constant in MZ twins

• Ev Is (assumed to be) maximally diUerent, becayse they are apart

• Can also look at other siblings reared apart, or birth parents and adopted children

• These individuals share one- half of genetic variance (on average)

• There is 100% environmental variance (diUerent environments

• The heritability of a particular trait is NOT absolute - it is a statistics for a given

population at a given time

• H depends on

• The genetic variability of the population

• The degree of variation in its environment

1. Change variability in the environment

• Reduce variability: e.g., uniform schooling

• Result: Increase the relative contribution of genetic influences; behaviors will appear to
be more heritable

2. Change variability in genetic contribution

• Reduce variability in genes: (eugenics?)

• Result: Environment will have a more significant contribution

PROBLEMBS WITH HERITABILITY ESTIMATES

• Calculating H assumes that genetic and environmental are independent - is this

tenable?
 1. Genotype - environment correlations and interaction

• Genetic predispositions may lead to certain environments

e.g. artistically gifted children are likely to have artistic parents

who will provide them not only with genetic make-up but also

with an enriched environment

• Cannot conclude that the environment is independent of genes

2. Heritability sees to vary with SES (socioeconomic status

• High SES - MZ correlations are higher than DZ correlations

• Enriched environment enhances the realization of genetic potential

• Low SES - MZ correlations are like DZ correlations

• Impoverished environment suppresses realization of genetic potential

3. Age of comparison

• Correlations change from childhood to adulthood as experiences lead to

increased realization of similar genetic potential

• So, H could change depending on the age at which it is estimated

4. Selective placement of Adoption

• Children tend to be adopted out to higher SES, higher intelligence, motivated

parents

• Main point: it is not random assignment

• This could restrict the range and lower correlations between adoptive
parents and children - which inflates heritability estimates

MAIN CONCEPTUAL POINTS ON HERITABILITY

1. ‘H’ can change

• If a trait has high heritability, it means that it is NOT greatly aUected by EXISTING
environmental diUerences experienced in that population

• High heritability says nothing about the consequences of new environmental

manipulations
 2. ‘H’ is a population statistic -

• it tells us about average probabilities, but it does not say anything about individual
cases

3. ‘H’ is based on the assumption that we can distinguish between

• observed data (phenotype - P)

• latent causes which can be genetic (G) and environmental (E)

In practice, this is almost impossible

LECTURE 6: GROUP DIFFERENCES IN

INTELLIGENCE – FLYNN EFFECT
LEARNING OUTCOMES

§ Describe group diMerences in IQ

§ Outline the propositions put forward in The Bell Curve and evaluate these premises

§ Describe stereotype threat as it relates to IQ tests

§ Describe the Flynn eMect and its causes

GENDER DIFFERENCES

• Normal distribution of scores

 • The female distribution curve peaks slightly higher on the verbal abilities axis >>
females may have slightly higher verbal abilities

• Males have higher spatial abilities than females

•
• OVERALL IQ >> no diIerence between genders

TRENDS OVER TIME

• The general trend is a decline in gender diIerences over the pasty 50 years

o Evidence for environmental explanations of these diIerences

RACIAL DIFFERENCES in IQ

• White Americans score about 1sd higher on average

• Cant make any inferences about individuals in those groups as the two distributions
overlap significantly
 • However, it shows that individuals in "White distribution" tend to have higher scores
than those in Black distribution

• The racial diIerences in IQ are real (measured) and their existence is not overly
contentious or disputed (although some disagree)

Asian American > White American> Black American

• What's contentious is why they are diIerences

o While the existence of racial diIerent in IQ is generally acknowledged

(though not universally accepted_, the underlying reasons for these
diIerences are stillxfgh heavily debated and controversial

o There is no agreement on why they exist

WHY COULD THE DIFFERENCE BE??

• Genetics

o Twin studies show that intelligence is at least partly inherited

o But heritability estimates us at most about variation within a group rather

than between groups

• Environment

o Twin studies show that intelligence is at least partly due to environment

o Flynn eIect argues for environmental contribution

• Relative impact of each a^ects the extent intelligence is seen as determined at

birth
o Thus it can be a controversial issue
o But diIerences only on average, hard to predict individual

THE BELL CURVE

Herrnstein & Murray (1994) argue that racial diIerences on IQ test are inherent. (due to genetic
factors)

• Suggested this follows from substantial inheritability of intelligence

• Claimed even after accounting for environment, 10-point diIerence

Argued that this should be taken into account in school and social policy

• E.g. suggest that aIirmative action would be destructive

o They suggested that aIirmative action programs, which aim to address

racial disparities in education and employment, are counterproductive and
may actually harm individuals from disadvantaged groups.
 • Propose eliminating welfare policies that encourage poor women to have babies

o They argued that this would perpetuate cycles of poverty and low
intelligence

• Theme of Herrnstein and Murray's proposal

o In general; American society has been "dumbed down" as people with lower
intelligence reproduce more, or as a result of migration

o Devoting resources to help the underprivileged means gifted students have

not been able to reach their potential

o Resources should be shifted from supporting disadvantaged programs

• Where there is a predominance of ethnic minorities

o To programs that support high intelligence

• Where there is a prominence of White and Asian people

IN RESPONSE

Jensen (‘g’ theorist):

• Argued that if environments were equalized, the 15-point IQ gap would only be
reduced by about 5points, so it’s still a real diIerence

o Suggests that he believed genetics factors play a significant role in

determining intelligences between diIerent races

Flynn (Philosopher):

• While not agreeing with Jensen, he said:

“The truth can’t be racist, nor can anyone be held suspect for telling the truth as they see it, UNLESS
their assessment of the evidence falls below the minimum level expected from a scholar”

• The truth cannot be racist; he argued that individuals should not be held
responsible for stating their beliefs honestly, unless their analysis of the
evidence is flawed

• He implied that while it's important to be open to diIerent perspectives, it's also
crucial to evaluate those perspectives based on the quality of the evidence and the
rigor of the analysis.

Gould (Zoologist & Paleontologist):

• “Disturbing as I find the anachronism of The Bell Curve, I am even more distressed
by its pervasive disingenuousness. The authors omit facts, misuse statistical
methods, and seem unwilling to admit the consequences of their own words.”

• He believed The Bell Curve was biased and promoted harmful stereotypes. He
implied that the authors were more interested in promoting their own agenda than in
presenting a fair and accurate assessment of the evidence.
 • Jensen's argument emphasizes the potential role of genetic factors

• Flynn and Gould raise concerns about the quality of the evidence and the potential
consequences of such claims.

THE BELL CURVE PREMISES

§ There has to be a meaningful single number that can be given to intelligence

o IQ tests, while useful for measuring certain cognitive abilities, do not

capture the full range of human intelligence.

• They may not accurately assess creative thinking, emotional

intelligence, or practical skills.

o Intelligence is a complex construct that encompasses various cognitive

abilities, such as verbal skills, logical reasoning, problem-solving, and
spatial awareness >> overly simplistic

§ You have to be able to rank people in a single linear fashion and this rank needs to
predict social outcomes

o People vary widely in their cognitive strengths and weaknesses. A linear

ranking system may not adequately capture these individual di^erences
and may overlook unique talents or abilities.

o Not a perfect predictor of social outcomes. Other factors, such as

socioeconomic status, cultural background, and opportunities, also
play significant roles, not only IQ

§ IQ has to be highly heritable

• Very mixed evidence; might not translate to other populations

• Research on the heritability of intelligence may not be easily

generalized to diIerent populations or cultural contexts.

• influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. While genetic factors

may contribute to individual diIerences, environmental factors, such as
education, nutrition, and early childhood experiences, also play a crucial
role.

§ IQ has to be eIectively unchangeable

• Even if something is entirely genetically determined, it doesn’t mean it cant

be changed.

• The brain is capable of change and growth throughout life. This

means that intelligence can be influenced by experiences and
interventions, even in adulthood.

• Flynn eIect + stereotype threat

IQ and bias

• American Psychological Association (APA) task force investigated claims in "The Bell
Curve"

Concluded that IQ tests are NOT demonstrably biased against social, economic, ethnic or racial
groups

BUT there is a diIerence between concept of bias versus fairness

• Bias as a statistical concept – ie. Do IQ tests systematically underestimate the

intelligence of certain groups?

• Fairness is a social issue

The content of an IQ test may be more familiar to some cultures compared to others

Mindsets: Beliefs and Attitudes

Steinberg (1996) examined attitudes of Philadelphia adolescents towards school

• Dominant attitudes of White peer group was that conspicuous eIort was frowned
on, but so was poor achievement

• This suggests a cultural expectation that academic success should be

achieved eIortlessly.

• African-Americans claimed high achievement was valuable but were not threatened
by poor achievement, so studying was not seen as important

• This may indicate a more relaxed attitude towards academic performance,

where success is not seen as a measure of self-worth. As a result, studying
was not perceived as essential.

• Asian-Americans (particularly immigrants) believed in the importance of high

achievement but expected that it required sustained eIort.

• This suggests a cultural emphasis on hard work and perseverance.

Helms (2002) found negative correlation between identification with Black culture and
achievement.

• This implies that individuals who strongly identified with Black culture were less
likely to achieve academically.

• Potential explanations

• Stereotype Threat: Individuals who identify strongly with a group that is

stereotyped as academically disadvantaged may experience stereotype
threat, which can negatively impact performance.

• Cultural Values: DiIerent cultural values and beliefs may influence

attitudes towards education and achievement.
 • Socioeconomic Factors: Socioeconomic disparities within and between
racial groups can also aIect educational outcomes.

This has generated a lot of debate.

STEREOTYPE THREAT

Steele & Aronson (1995) gave IQ type test to white and black US Stanford University students.

• Told:

• Test was diagnostic of intellectual ability.

• Laboratory tool for studying problem solving.

• Race diIerence only when told diagnostic of intellectual ability.

• Similar eIects for priming gender in maths tests (Dar-Nimrod & Heine, 2006)

• Gender diIerences - Women performed worse on math tests when they were told
that the test was designed to measure gender diIerences in math ability.

Participants:

• White and Black Stanford University students were given an IQ-type test.

Variables:

• Diagnostic:

• The test was presented as a diagnostic tool for measuring intellectual ability

• Problem-solving

• The test was presented as a laboratory tool for studying problem-solving

skill

Findings:

• Racial di^erence:
 • DiIerence in test scored emerged emerged only when the test was framed
as a diagnostic of intellectual ability.

• There was no significant diIerence when the test was framed as a problem-
solving task.

• Stereotype threat:

• researchers concluded that the racial diIerence observed when the test
was framed as diagnostic was due to stereotype threat.

• This is the phenomenon where individuals from a stigmatized group may

underperform on a task due to the fear of confirming negative stereotypes
about their group.

THE FLYNN EFFECT

• Flynn (1987) showed increases of 5 to 25 points on IQ tests in a generation over 14

countries

• E.g. France, Norway, NZ, Canada, East and West Germany , Japan

• Flynn (1999) showed that from 1918 to 1995 Americans gained almost 25 IQ points
(in terms of raw scores)

• But SAT (achievement) scores have fallen

• NB. Increases are in raw scores. May not be immediately obvious due to revised
norms:

➢ mean is always recalibrated to 100

 • a steady upward trend, indicating that the increase in scores is not just limited to the
top performers but is observed across the entire distribution.

• Shaded area - middle 40% of scores appears to be widening over time

• range of scores within each birth cohort is increasing, indicating greater

variation in cognitive abilities.

• Depicting norms for the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) test, a nonverbal
intelligence test

• Administered to British individuals born between 1867 and 1977. The data is
based on Flynn's (1999) analysis.

• Individuals born in later years tended to score higher on the RPM test than those
born earlier, even when adjusted for age.

• This suggests a significant increase in cognitive abilities over time.

• The Flynn EIect highlights generational diIerences in intelligence, with younger

generations outperforming older ones.

• Flynn eIect and educational policies

• it suggests that standardized tests may need to be adjusted to account for

generational diIerences in cognitive abilities.

A CONSISTENT FINDING

• Trahan et al (2014) conducted meta-analysis of 285 studies across diIerent

countries and tests

• Estimated an overall rise of 2.31 IQ points per decade, though 2.93 since 1972.

• Some evidence from Scandinavian studies of no further increase

• Found no eIects of ability level, age or sample type

• A focus of paper was raise implications of change of classifications for lower cut-
oIs

o E.g. access to disability resources; culpability for death penalty § Raising bar for cut oI for getting
out of death penalty

WHY THE CHANGE?

• What might be driving the Flynn eIect, the observed increase in IQ scores over
generations

§ Evolution/ genetic selection

 • Some argue that the Flynn EIect could be due to genetic changes occurring
over a relatively short period (1-2 generations).

• This explanation is generally rejected by experts, as genetic changes

typically occur over much longer timeframes.

§ Environment

• Improved schooling

• One common hypothesis is that improved education and schooling

are contributing to the Flynn EIect.

• While schooling likely plays a role, many of the observed changes in

IQ scores are in tests of fluid intelligence, which are less directly
influenced by education.

• Better nutrition

• While nutrition is important, poorer populations experienced the most

significant nutritional improvements but did not show the largest gains in IQ
scores.

• Familiarity with Tests:

• While familiarity may play a small role, it's unlikely to account for the
magnitude of the Flynn EIect.

• Changes in Child-Rearing:

• Altered child-rearing practices, such as increased emphasis on cognitive

stimulation, could be contributing to the trend.

FLYNN'S EXPLANATION

Flynn (1987) observed that IQ tests measure abstract problem- solving ability, with little practical
importance.

• Less directly related to practical skills or everyday life.

Flynn (2007) suggested that through “modernization”, a much larger proportion of people have
become accustomed to dealing with abstract concepts.

• This refers to the increasing exposure of individuals to abstract concepts and

problem-solving tasks in modern society.

E.g., 'What do a dog and a rabbit have in common?'

• Today might say they are both mammals (an abstract answer)

• A century ago might have said that humans catch rabbits with dogs (a concrete answer).
Wearing “scientific spectacles”

• suggesting that individuals in modern societies are more likely to think in abstract
and scientific terms.

• Flynn's hypothesis suggests that the concept of intelligence itself may be evolving,
with a greater emphasis on abstract reasoning and problem-solving.

• Flynn's explanation also highlights the role of cultural factors in shaping cognitive
abilities and the interpretation of intelligence tests.

PERCEPTION
LECTURE 1
LEARNING OUTCOMES

• To explain why perception is a problem, and some of the deeper questions about what makes it a problem.

• To understand the diMerent chemical senses and how they work (to the extent that it’s understood)

• To understand the basic functioning of the senses of the body, and how this information is organized in the brain.

• To understand the processes required for vision; the problem of image formation, the problem of transduction, and the
perception of color

• To understand the diMerent functions of the ear, and how these functions are carried out by the diMerent components of the
ear.

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

• Sensation

o Refers to how your senses transform physical properties of the

environment and body into electrical signals relayed to the brain (also
called 'transduction')

• Your brain contains a bunch of neurons and all the brain is doing
is either firing or not firing these neurons

o Starts with taking some type of physical energy or chemical and

transforming that into electrical impulses

o Any of eye, tongue and nose take light energy and transform it into
diUerent types of electrical impulses based on photons

• Perception

o The process of organizing, selecting and interpreting these signals

 o Brain is better at perception; half of the brain is dedicated to only doing
vision

o Senses are the primary connection to the world

• E.g. cameras sense they don’t perceive

o They have diNerent sensors and only three diNerent colors

o The little sensors in there. - records that each position in an image -

diNerent wavelengths of light

• This face was used a lot in image processing

• Individual pixels and each pixel has diUerent color; red gun, blue gun or green
gun

• Interpreting sensory input; there is a face and you can tell the identity of that
person

• Certain structure in this image that allows us to say "it is a face"

• There is a characteristic about faces that we can identify without any

awareness

SIX SENSES (FOR HUMANS)

• Vision - receptors that respond to light

• Hearing - receptors In ears respond to sound and vibrations

• Somatosensory- the awareness of the body

 o Some sort of forces that distinguish the diUerent events of whether for
example the arm is up or not

• Taste - receptors on tongue respond to chemicals

• Smell - receptors in the nose respond to chemicals

• Vestibular - inner ear senses gravity and movement

Perception is the apprehension of the world by means of our senses

o Everything we are aware of including our bodies >> from our senses

o Connection to what we think it is real >> based on sensory inputs

• It is linked to our world, both outer and inner

• It determines what we believe is real and what exists

TWO DEEP QUESTIONS

• The problem of 'qualia'

• Every experience we have is the consequence of certain neurons firing in

our brain

• How is it that some neurons illicit visual experience and some others
illicit auditory experiences

• The fallibility of the senses (errors and illusions)

• Another problem we face all the time when we worry about our
connections to the world is that we are subject to illusions that
sometimes we can demonstrate that the input is not what we experience
about the world

THE PROBLEM OF 'QUALIA'

• All of our diUerent senses transform their physical input into the same
‘currency’: electrical impulses in the brain. Why do we experience one set of
electrical impulses as sight, and others as sounds, Flavors, smells, touch, pain,
or a sense of balance?
 • How does the brain know what is causing the stimulation it receives? And what
can happen if it gets this ‘wrong’ or ‘mixed up’?

• Problem: how does the brain know the cause of the neurons firing?

• When I hear a sound wave for example, it means my brain knows

what caused the electrical impulses

• Some individuals don’t keep senses separate , e.g. vision separate from hearing

GRAPHEME-COLOR SYNETHESIA

They see each letter as having a particular they have - their brain ties each letter to a particular
color

• Varies across individuals

Associating colors with personalities - associations

• People who experience synaesthesia are rare individuals; when they hear
something they might also have a taste (or any other sensation) associated with
it

• Not always a positive thing - can be overwhelming

THE PROBLEM OF ILLUSIONS

• Café wall illusion

• They are perfectly parallel - not slanted and tilter

• Color of mortar matters a lot

All of our knowledge of the world (and ourselves) is mediated by our senses. If our senses can
make errors, then how do we

know what’s real?

Perception is not just the 'registration' of what exists in the world

• An active process of organizing information into meaningful (useful)

representations of the world

• Trying to make sense of the input we are receiving

• Unaware of the brain inference process

EVERYTIME we make an eye movement, the brain thinks it is detecting a movement > world
moves across the retina

• In this picture, nothing is actually moving

• You see the world though retinal veins - like looking through a mesh

• Anything if fixated on the retina - fades

SEGMENTATION AND GROUPING

• Our brain can select key features to recover complex information about objects

• Our brain does its best to make sense of the sensory information it receives

• Your brain has to take into account the fact that when things are in front of other
things, they block your view of them

• Making inferences without our awareness

ILLUSORY FIGURES

• Brain constructs a cube from just the corners

 •
•

IMPORTANCE OF ILLUSIONS

• Illusions demonstrate the active processes the brain deploys to interpret images

• They provide insight into contexts where the visual system goes beyond the
information in the input

• Reveals the general rules the visual system uses to extract information about the
physical world

• Perception isn't PASSIVE

• All of our evolutionary systems >> needed for evolutionary success

LECTURE 2: CHEMICAL SENSING

Dimensionality problem

• The challenge our senses face in processing the vast and complex chemical
environment we inhabit

• Live In a sea composed of diUerent chemicals >>> not possibel to have reecptos
to detect each one of tehm

• Must collapse these in wo a few biologically relevant dimesnion (have 5 for taste
and about 400 for smell)

• It is diUicult to have some sort of receptors that could distinguish all of the
diUerent chemicals
 • Chemicals senses do not have a single property

• Taste and smell are the most highly developed of all the senses at birth

o Taste is actually the lowest dimensional thing we have in our senses

• Taste becomes synonymous with preference

TASTE : the anatomy and physiology

• Papillae - gives the tongue its bumpy appearance

• DiUerent structures in the tongue >> diUerent functions

• Four types of receptors

• Filiform: no taste function, located at the anterior portion of tongue (tip).

DiUerent shapes in diUerent species (e.g., cats). Draws in food and acts as an
abrasive (most numerous)

• Just help to grind food

• Fungiform (resemble tiny mushrooms), visible to eye on anterior portion of

tongue. Huge variation between people

• Foliate: sides of the tongue; look like folds, taste buds buried in the folds

• (Circum)vallate: large visible structures like an inverted V on back of tongue.

Look like islands surrounded by moats

• Got taste buds on the rood of the mouth where the soft and hard palates meet
Papillae

TASTE - chemical molecules make direct contact with chemoreceptors on our tongue

• Huge dimensionality reduction into just five categories of taste

5 primary taste sensations:

• Sweet: identify energy rich nutrients

• Drawn to sweet taste due to energy intake - carbohydrates generally (rice, bread
etc)

• Salty: maintain electrolyte balance

• Drawing water into bloodstream for balance

• Right amount of water intake >> balance

• Sour: acidity (dangerous at high levels, rotten food)

• E.g. fermentation - full of bacteria

• In higher concentrations could be dangerous

• Bitter: potential poison (huge class)

• Could kill you

• We are most sensitive to

• Umami (savory): detection of amino acids (MSG and aspartate)

• Sensing of glutamine

• MSG is glutamate - every cell in the body produces glutamate

 • If you put MSG on your tongue >> sour taste

These categories aren’t intrinsic properties of the chemicals, it’s about

their biological utility.

• They are biologically useful mappings of diUerent classes of chemicals that are
useful for our survival

INNATE PREFRENCE FOR SWEETENES

• Babies are most sensitive to sweet

• Breast milk - incredibly sweet

• DiUerent biological utilities

•
• Our taste sensations decline as we age however, what changes the most are our
taste preferences

We are not equally sensitive to di,erent tastes

Detection thresholds:

• Sweetness: one part glucose in 200

• Saltiness: in one part NaCl in 400

• Sourness: in one part HCl in 130,000

 • Bitterness: in one part Quinine in 2,000,000

Model that suggests that diUerent parts of the tongue were sensitive to these four diUerent basic
sensations

>>>> WRONG!!!!

• Wherever you have taste buds, you have responses to all the diUerent taste
sensations
TWO MODELS

How do you have taste buds that respond to these di,erent dimensions

• Labelled line model

• Brain keeps track of the source

• Each taste receptor cell is uniquely tuned to respond to a specific taste,

sending a dedicated signal to the brain >> distinct taste perception

• We have individual receptors in each taste bud which some are labelled
for bitter, sweet, umami etc

• Cross fiber model

Each taste receptor - some distribution of sensitivity

• Related this to problem of qualia

• Sensing bitterness >> excited neuron and sends a signal to the brain

• Came from this taste bud >> it is a taste

o If it comes from a specific fibre, whether salty, bitter and

Supertaster

• Very sensitive to bitterness

• Some humans are genetically prone to have more fungiform taste receptors
around the tip and sides of their tongue

o More common among Asians and Africans

• Chemical in coUee that some people don’t taste the bitterness

• Unlike to consume coUee and fatty foods

• Identified using 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP)

• Indiviuals who possess an unusually high sensitivity to taste, particularly bitter

flavours

o Higher density of taste buds on their tongues>>> more intense

perception of tastes

o This high sensityivity can influence food preferences and dietary choices

Supertasters - individuals who are highly sensitive to bitter tastes

• Can perceive bitter flavors at much lower concentrations than others

• Associated with strongest sensations (including strongest pain, loudest

sound, brightest light) + PROP bitterness - a bitter compound used to
test taste sensitive

Medium tasters - sensitivity to bitter tastes

• experiencing sensations that are less intense than supertasters but

more noticeable than nontasters.

Nontasters - individuals who are relatively insensitive to bitter tastes.

• may not perceive bitter flavors at all or only at very high concentrations.

• associated with the weakest sensations, including the quietest sound,

dimmest light, and no sensation of PROP bitterness
 • Male and Females

(Females have more Super-Tasters and fewer Non-

Tasters)

• Caucasian and Asian Australians

(Asian Australians have more Super-Tasters and fewer

Non-Tasters)

• Asian Resident in Australia, and in Country of Origin

(Similarity between Asians in and out of Australia, suggest

Distributions are relatively Culture Free)

• Miracle fruit - binds to taste buds

o At low pH, miraculin binds proteins and activates sweet receptors

SPICY FOOD

• Not a taste

• Chillis > doesn’t stimulate taste receptors, stimulate pain receptors

• Pain and temp form chemosensory irritation signaled by the trigeminal

nerve

• Type of irritation

• Causing phsyical pain but we learn to like it

• Tolerance to spice food changes

SMELL

• What happens when we smell something?

• It enters your nose and dissolves in the mucosa (the mucus lining in the
nose) and then it is detected by receptors

• Distance sense - olfaction provides information about chemicals suspended in

the air around us

• When we smell anything (e.g. poop, that means the substances are in our nose)

• Dogs could detect/smell cancer cells

• Pick up a smell in 1 part per trillion

• Much bigger olfactory bulb, much bigger nose

• Much larger sample of air >> much more surface area

• Mucus dissolve the odor molecules

• Dogs have up to 300 million nerve cells to detect odors; we have about 5
million

• Current estimate is that we can smell a trillion diUerent types of odors.

More than 100 diUerent volatile odors in cheddar cheese

• Baby recognizes mother’s smell within a few weeks, and will suck more if he/she
smells own mom rather than a stranger

• A molecule is a particular shape and it we might have receptors that would have
a particular shaped binding site

• If the molecule fit into that binding site >> a signal

• Problem: it doesn’t seem to work because some molecules could have very
similar shapes and can smell extremely diUerent and vice versa
SHAPE PATTER THEORY OF OLFACTION

WINE AND ODOR IDENTIFICATION

• Huge learning eUects in wine tasting

• Cork wine à musty smell

• “tip of the nose” phenomenon à smells like something you know but you can’t
think what

ADAPTATION

• We cannot escape the smell of ourselves, so we are always in some state of

olfactory adaption

• Smokers are usually unaware of smoke on themselves until they quit smoking

• This may make us more senstive to smells that are not our own (e.g. produced by
potential mates)
 • Sense of smell increase in childhood and early adulthood but decreases starting
in middle age

• Need more concentrated odour to detect it

• Once detected, it will be judged as less intense

• Also the process of odour adaption (makes us no longer smell strong

odours after a while) occurs sooner and lasts longer for older adults.

TASTE + SMELL + TEMPERATURE = FLAVOUR

• It is hard to eliminate your sense of smell entirely because there is two ways you
can get air through your nasal passages

• One: closing your mouth and inhaling

• Two: keeping your mouth closed and breathing out

LECTURE 3: SOMATOSENSORY SYSTEM
TOUCH AND PROPROCEPTION - The importance of touch

SOMATIC SENSORY SYSTEM

Two major subsystems

Detection of mechanical stimuli

• (light touch, vibration, pressure and cutaneous tension)

• Identify shapes and texture of objects, to monitor the internal and external forces acting
on the body at any moment

o There are receptors in the hand that tell us how much force is being applied

o DiUerent kind of neurons signal diUerent types of touch experience

Detection of pain and temperature

• Detect potentially harmful circumstances

• There are people that are born without any capacity to detect pain >> problem

MECHANOSENSORY PROCESSING

Detection of external stimuli: cutaneous and subcutaneous mechanoreceptors at the body

surface

Proprioceptors: receptors located in muscles, joints and other deep structures monitor
mechanical forces generated by the Musco skeletal system

• How are we able to detect if our arms are carrying heavy weights? The loads on the
muscles
 • When we touch an object, we don’t just experience the things that are occurring on the
hand, we also experience properties of the object itself

ALL RECEPTORS WORK IN SAME GENERAL WAY

• Stimuli applied to the skin deform or otherwise change the nerve endings, which in turns
aUect the ionic permeability of the receptors cell membrane

o This induces a depolarizing current in the nerve ending which triggers action
potentials (sensory transduction)

• DiUerent types of receptors can be identified because they have diUerent nerve endings
> anatomically and look diUerently

DAUNTING DIVERSITY

• Free nerve ending

o Conductive velocity can last between 2 and 20 m/s

o Pain receptors tend to be free nerve ending

o Simplest type of sensory receptors

o Respond to a variety of stimuli, including pain, temperature and crude touch

o Found throughout the skin and other tissues

• Meissner's corpuscles
 o Receptors encapsulated and are highly sensitive to light touch and low
frequency vibrations

o They are abundant un the fingertips and other areas with high tactile sensitive

• Pacinian corpuscles

o Large, encapsulated receptors that respond to deep pressure and high

frequency vibrations

o Found in the deep layers of the skin and in other tissues

• Merkel's disks

o Slowly adapting receptors that are sensitive to light touch and pressure

o Found in the epidermis and hair follicles

• RuUini endings

o Slowly adapting receptors that are sensitive to skin stretch

o Found in the deep layers of the skin and in joint capsules

• Muscle spindles

o These receptors are located within muscles and responsible for detecting
changes in muscle length

o Play a crucial role in proprioception or the sense of body position and movement

• Golgi tendon organs

o These receptors are located at the junction between muscles and tendons and
are sensitive to muscle tension

o hey help regulate muscle force and prevent excessive muscle contraction.

• Joint receptors

o These receptors are located within joint capsules and are sensitive to joint
position and movement.

o They contribute to our sense of proprioception.

THIS VARIETY OF RECEPTORS CAN BE DIVIDED INTO THREE GROUPS BASED ON

FUNCTION:

• Mechanoreceptors

• Nociceptors
 • Thermoceptors

o The perceptual quality of the a stimulus (what and where it is) depends on the receptors
that respond and where they project

• Depends on which neuron is responding

o The quantity or strength depends on the number of action potentials generated

• How intense the experience is

TWO GENERAL TYPES OF TOUCH FIBRES:

• Rapidly adapting

o Information about change or dynamical quality of stimuli

o They are highly sensitive to onset and oUset of a stimulus - providing information
about the dynamic qualities of touch, such as vibration, movement and texture
changes

o E.g. Meissner's corpuscles, pacinian corpuscles

• Slowly adapting

o Information about shape, edges, rough texture, persisting features

o Qualities of the object

o Less sensitive to changes in stimuli and continue to signal the brain even when
the stimulus remains constant

o E.g. merkel's disks, ruUini endings

MECHANORECEPTORS SKIN
 o

• Hair follicle receptors - sensitive to light touch, particularly when hair is displaced, play
a crucial role in detecting gentle touch and airflow.

• Pacinian corpuscle - large, encapsulated receptors located deep within the dermis,
highly sensitive to vibration and rapid changes in pressure,

• RuUini endings - elongated, spindle shaped, sensitive to skin stretch and contribute to
our sense of proprioception, which is the awareness of the position and movement of
our body parts. Located deep in the skin and in ligaments and tendons

• Merkel disks - slowly adapting receptors located in the epidermis, play a crucial role in
fine tactile discrimination.

• Free nerve endings - unspecialized nerve endings that respond to a variety of stimuli,
including pain, temperature, and crude touch. Found throughout the skin and other
tissues.

DYNAMIC SENSITIVITY IN SKIN SENSES

Tactile Afterimages

• Opponent-like after-eUects: texture contrast after-eUects (after touching something

rough,

a medium rough surface feels smoother); can be observed for temperature as well.

• This can be similar to staring at a colour for a long time, we can see an afterimage of the
complementary colour

Tactile adaptation

• Importance of movement in perceiving spatial patterns in the skin; stabilized (i.e., non-
moving) objects on the skin are less salient than when the skin is first perturbed

• Importance of movement: Our skin senses are more sensitive to changes in stimuli.

• When an object is placed on the skin and remains stationary, its sensation
gradually fades. This is because our sensory receptors adapt to the constant
stimulus.

• Enhanced perception with movement: o perceive spatial patterns and details on the
skin, we often use active touch, exploring the surface with our fingers.

• This movement helps to continuously stimulate the receptors, preventing

adaptation and enhancing our perception.

Active versus Passive Touch

• The tactile system has evolved to perceive best when it is exploring

• Active touch: When we actively explore objects with our hands, we gain a richer and
more detailed understanding of their properties.

• Because we can control the movement and pressure applied to the object,
allowing us to gather more information.

• Passive touch: when an object is placed on our skin passively, we rely on the sensory
receptors to detect and process the information

• Less detailed and less accurate perception.

CONSEQUENCE OF NOT HAVING EITHER CLASS NOT WORKING LOCALLY:

• Local anaesthesia: the absence of the sensation is attributed to the world, not the body.

• The response of these fibres provide information about the external world, not the self

• E.g. drinking from glass after dental work, brain tells you the glass isn’t there in numb
part, not that there is something
wrong with you

NOCICEPTORS AND THERMOCEPTORS: PAIN AND TEMPERATURE

Nociceptors - specialised nerve endings that detect harmful stimuli such as extreme heat, cold,
or tissue damage.
 • his sensation of pain serves as a warning system, prompting us to withdraw from
harmful situations.

• often categorized based on the properties of their associated axons:

• Aδ Fibers: These are myelinated fibers that conduct action potentials relatively
quickly (20 m/s). They are responsible for the initial, sharp sensation of pain.

• C Fibers: These are unmyelinated fibers that conduct action potentials more
slowly (2 m/s). They are responsible for the dull, aching pain that persists after
the initial sharp pain.

Two waves of pain:

First pain = fast pain

Second pain = slow pain

Three classes of nociceptors in skin

1. Aδ mechanosensitive nociceptors: These receptors respond to strong mechanical stimuli,

such as pricks or cuts.

2. Aδ mechanothermal nociceptors: These receptors respond to both mechanical and

thermal stimuli, such as intense heat or cold.

3. Polymodal nociceptors (C fibers): These receptors respond to a variety of stimuli, including

mechanical, thermal, and chemical irritants. They are responsible for the slower, burning
sensation of pain.

Receptive fields of nociceptors are all quite large; poor localization of where pain arises

• Nociceptors have large areas of skin they monitor, making it diUicult to pinpoint the
exact location of the pain
 • This is why pain can sometimes feel diUuse or hard to localise

CAPSAICIN

• primary compound responsible for the heat sensation in chili peppers.

• It activates a specific subset of C-fibres, which are polymodal nociceptors that respond
to various stimuli including heat, pain, and chemical irritants.

• it is believed to be a defence mechanism against herbivores.

• Receptors for capsaicin are present in all mammals but not birds - used for 'squirrel
proof' bird food

• Repeated application of capsaicin can lead to a reduction in the release of certain

neurotransmitters >> potential analgesic for various types of pain

• Tolerance goes up the more chilli is eaten

HYPERALGESIA

• Condition characterized by increased sensitivity to pain. >>> which tend to adapt to

constant stimuli, pain sensitivity can actually increase over time.

• Chronic pain:

• Nervous system becomes more responsive to pain signals >> heightened pain
perception >> can impact a person's quality of life

• Chronic pain can also have a significant psychological component

REFERRED PAIN
 • Visceral pain

• Pain origination from internal organs e.g. heart, lungs, kidneys or digestive tract

• Cutaneous pain

• Pain originating from the skin or other superficial tissues.

• Both visceral and cutaneous pain signals often travel through the same spinal cord
pathways.

• The brain may not be able to accurately distinguish between the two types of signals,
especially if the visceral pain signals are weak or ambiguous.

Thermoceptors - sensory receptors that detect changes in temp. Found in the skin and other
tissues throughout the body

• Skin works to maintain a constant internal body temperature (homeostasis)

• Physiological zero

• Refers to the baseline temperature of the skin, which is around 32°C (89.6°F).
Our perception of temperature is relative to this baseline.

• Sensation of cold: when the skin temp drops below physiological zero

• Sensation of warmth: when the skin temperature rises above physiological zero
 •

PROPRIOCEPTORS: RECEPTORS FOR SELF

• Receptors that provide information about the position and movement of our body parts
in space

• They play a crucial role in maintaining balance, posture, and coordinated movement.

•
• Muscle spindles: provide information about muscle length

• When a muscle stretches, the muscle spindle is activated, sending

signals to the spinal cord and brain about the degree of stretch.

• This information is essential for maintaining muscle tone and

coordinating movements.
•

• Golgi tendon organ: Detect changes in muscle tension.

• When a muscle contracts strongly, the Golgi tendon organ is activated, sending
signals to the spinal cord and brain about the level of muscle tension.

• This information helps to prevent excessive muscle contraction and potential

injury.

• Joint receptors: provide information about the positions and tensions on the joints
(contain four diUerent kinds of receptors)

• Provide essential information about the position and movement of our joints,
contributing to our sense of body awareness.
 • This sensory input helps the brain and spinal cord coordinate movements and
maintain balance.

ORGANISATION OF THE SOMATIC SENSORY SYSTEM

• Receptors on any part of our body are classified into two group; mechanoreceptors and,
pain and temp receptors

• They remain segregated and somehow they terminate in diUerent parts of the brain

• The neurons that happen to be active somehow know what kind of receptors are
initiating

PRIMARY SOMATOSENSORY CORTEX

• Organised in a somatotopic manner >> specific areas of the cortex correspond to

specific body parts

• Importance; body awareness, pain perception and fine motor control

TWO-POINT THRESHOLDS
 • DiUerent body parts have varying degrees of sensitivity

• Fingertips have higher sensitivity due to smaller receptive fields

• Understanding tactile perception helps

• Minimal separation between two points needed to perceive them as separate

• Sensitivity to pressure at diUerent sites of the body

• Minimal separation between two-points needed to perceive them as separate

•
• Sensitivity to pressure at diUerent sites on the body

• Areas with a higher density of pressure receptors, such as the fingertips, are
more sensitive to pressure changes.

SOMATOSENSORY AND MOTOR HOMUNCULI

• Sensory homunculus:

• Represents the somatosensory cortex, which receives sensory input from the
body.

• Motor homunculus:

• Represents the motor cortex, which controls voluntary muscle movements.

• Like the sensory homunculus, the size of each body part reflects the degree of
fine motor control associated with that area.

• Areas of the body with high sensitivity or fine motor control, such as the fingers and lips,
have a disproportionately large representation in the cortex.

• Adjacent areas of the body are represented by adjacent areas in the cortex, maintaining
a spatial relationship.

• Precise control of movement and accurate interpretation of sensory information.

 • Size of each body part is proportional to the amount of cortical space it occupies in the
somatosensory cortex

These maps aren’t fixed: cortical remapping

o Merzenich, Kass and other’s work on neural plasticity

• Research show ow the brain can reorganize itself in response to experience,

such as learning a new skill or recovering from injury.

o Phantom limbs may appear on face and stump

• After amputation, individuals may continue to experience sensations in the

missing limb.

LECTURE 4 AND 5: THE EAR

LEARNING OUTCOME: to understand the basic functioning of the senses of the body, and how this information is organized in the brain.

STUDY QUESTIONS

What are the 3 general parts of the ear?

What is the vestibular sense organ, and how does it work?

What is the vestibular ocular reflex? What is the perceptual eMect if it either overcompensates or undercompensates for head movements?

What is sound, and how it is transmitted into the inner ear?

What are the diMerent dimensions of sound, and what does each mean in terms of the perception of sound?

Why is decibels measured on a log scale?

Why do musical instruments that play the same note sound diMerent?

What are the diMerent functions of the 3 parts of the ear?

What is the function of the middle ear?

How does the inner ear convert sound into electrical impulses?

How are diMerent frequencies of sound detected in the cochlea?

What is phase locking of neural responses? What frequencies are encoded this way?

• Cochlea - involved in helping processing sound waves and diIerent frequencies

• Then converting the sound waves (physical kind of energy) into electrical impulse which is
sent to the brain to interpret the sound

THE VESTIBULAR SYSTEM

• Assists with the control of gaze and posture

• The inner ear contains sensory structures with receptor cells that detect gravitational forces,
including angular and linear accelerations in space

• 9ml

• Can detect diIerent types of acceleration

• Vestibular system is primarily housed within the labyrinth

• Sense organs
 o The labyrinth of each ear house five sensory organs which provide input to the
vestibular system

• In each of semicircular canals and otoliths > fluid is present

• Semicircular canals and otolith provide your brain with crucial information about your body's
movement and orientation in space >> maintaining balance and coordinate movement

• Semicircular canals (angular)

o Three tiny, fluid filled tubes arranged in diIerent planes

o They detect rotational movements of the head, such as when you turn your head to
look side to side or nod up and down

o When you turn your head, the fluid in the semicircular canals moves in the opposite
direction of your head's movement

o When rotating, the fluid initially resists the movement and lags behind as it wants to
stay still, so it flows in the opposite direction of your head's rotation

§ When shaking our heads side to side, the horizontal semicircular canal is
primarily being activated

• This movement of fluid bends tiny hair cells within the canals, which send
signals to your brain about the direction and speed of your head's rotation

• This mechanism helps your brain maintain balance and coordinate your eye
movements with our head movements

§ Example: when you turn your head to look at something, the fluid
movement in the semicircular canals signals your brain to move
your eyes in the opposite direction - keeping your gaze stable

• Otoliths >> detect linear motions

WHAT IS ACCELRATION?

• A change in your state of motion. Velocity and accelerations are vectors; they have a length
and a direction
 • Direction of the vector tells us the direction of the arrow pointing 8

• Bending a vestibular hair-cell receptor in its preferred direction excites the neuron >> more
action potentials

o Hair cells bend in the opposite direction

• Bending the same cell in the opposite direction inhibits the neuron

• If you keep moving at a constant speed and constant direction, the fluid in the vestibular
system is at rest

• Neurons in the vestibular system have a baseline level of activity >> they fire periodically
even when there is no stimulation

• Its just not the firing of a neuron that indicates stimulation, it is also the change in activity
relative to its baseline that matters

• Hair cells convert mechanical stimulation into electrical signals, which are then transmitted
to the brain via the vestibular nerve

Cupula - gelatinous structure within the semicircular canals that, when deflected by fluid
movement, stimulates hair cells and sends signals to the brain about rotational head
movements.

SPINNING

• Participating in the playground game can lead to dizziness, nausea and the illusion of
continued spinning, even after everyone has fallen down
 • This related to the eIect of fluid flowing in the semicircular canals, which bends the cupula
and underlying hair cells

• You cannot voluntarily move your eyes smoothly

• When you spin, the fluid inside the semicircular canals lags behind due to inertia (tendency
of an object to resist changes in its motion)

• Causes the fluid to flow in the opposite direction of your spin

• As the fluid flows, the cupula bends >> stimulating hair cells which send signals to
the brain about the direction and speed of rotation

• When you stop spinning, the fluid in the semicircular canals takes some time to come to
rest.

• Lingering sensation of spinning >> this is because the hair cells are still being
stimulated by the moving fluid

EFFECT OF HEAD MOVEMENTS

• When moving ourselves, we generate large, rapid and complex head movements

• This has considerable consequences on the motion of objects in our visual field

• We need information about head movement to make precise and rapid compensatory eye
movements to stabilize the images of objects on the retina, even during dynamic
movements

• The vestibuloocular reflex (VOR)

• Reflex that helps stabilize vision when our head is moving

• Involves the coordination between the vestibular system (inner ear) and eye muscles

SOUND AND HEARING

Functional schematic of the ear for hearing

 • Pinna and eardrum

• They are responsible for capturing sound waves and directing them towards the
middle ear. The pinna also helps in sound localization.

• Middle ear

• It amplifies sound waves and protects the inner ear from excessive loud noises.

• Inner ear

• It converts sound waves into electrical signals that the brain can interpret as sound.

SOUND AS WAVE

• Sound waves need a medium (like air, water or solids) to travel through

• In space, there is no medium; sound cant travel

• The speed of sound varies depending on the medium, with solids typically being the fastest

• Sound waves are longitudinal waves: the particles in the medium vibrate parallel to the
direction of wave propagation
 • Sound waves have a set of compression and refractions

• Creates regions of high pressure (compression) and low pressure (refraction). These
regions alternate >> forming wave pattern

• When you clap your hands together, you force air molecules to come together >>
creating a region of high pressure (compression)

• As the hands move apart, the air molecules spread out, creating a region of low
pressure (rarefaction).

• vibrations are essential for sound wave generation. The clapping action
causes vibrations in the air molecules, leading to the formation of sound
waves.

• Speakers - when they go forward - compressing and when they go backward - they
are refracting

• Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) - 1 Hz = 1 cycle per second

• We hear sound waves only within a particular set; 20 Hz (slow frequency) - 20000 Hz ( rapid
frequency)

•
• All of those complex waves are composed to do things called sine waves

• Pressure variations

• Peaks = compressions

• Troughs = refractions

SOUND AND PERCEPTION

• 3 things are needed to characterize a sine wave:

• Amplitude - gives rise to the percept of loudness

 • Frequency - gives rise to the percept of pitch

• Purity - gives rise to the percept of timbre (or 'color'), capacity to distinguish diIerent
sound in music

• Amplitude and frequency - determine the type of noise e.g. high frequency noise can
be percieved as shrill while low-frequency noise can be perceived as a rumble.

LOUDNESS AND DECIBELS

• Our perception of loudness is not linear with physical intensity

• Decibel scale is designed to reflect this non-linear relationship between physical

intensity and perceived loudness.

• The decibel scale is log scale that better reflects our perception of loudness

• Small increases in decibels can lead to significant increases in sound intensity.

 • if we increase the physical intensity of a sound in equal steps (e.g., doubling the intensity
each time), we might expect a linear increase in perceived loudness.

• Graph is showing is that each spot is now intersecting these dotted lines

• When we say traIic is 70 dB, this is implicitly measured with reference to an agreed
upon reference sound level, referred to as: I0

• I0 was chosen to be close to the minimum detectable sound level for humans at a
particular frequency

• 0 dB is defined to be this sound level (i.e., threshold)

• Measured on a log10 scale, so a value of x dB means it is 10x/10 times greater than

the threshold for hearing

• Standard traIic is therefore 107 times louder than threshold

EQUAL LOUDNESS CURVES AS A FUNCTION OF FREQUENCY

• Each curve on the graph represents a specific loudness level and frequencies

• Sounds that fall on the same curve are perceived as equally loud, even though they
may have diIerent physical intensities.

• The shape of the curves shows that our sensitivity to sound decreases at both low and high
frequencies.

• The shape of the curves shows that our sensitivity to sound decreases at both low
and high frequencies.

• Sound pressure level - diIerent sound intensities

• This graph shows that we are not equally sensitive to all frequencies - 4000 Hz is the
frequency we are most sensitive to

• Loudness > frequency dependency

MAP OF THE RANGE IN AMPLITUDE AND FREQUENECY WE HEAR

• DiIerent instruments produce the same fundamental frequency for a given pitch.

• The unique timbre (or tone color) of each instrument is determined by the relative
amplitudes of its overtones.

• Overtones are higher frequency harmonics that accompany the fundamental frequency.

THE MIDDLE EAR

• Function: impedance (resistance) matching

• For transduction to occur, the air pressure in the middle eat needs to be the same as the
atmospheric pressure outside the eardrum

• Role of the Eustachian tube

• The middle eat transmits the eardrum's vibrations to the oval window, which transmits them
through the fluid-filled cochlea
• Ossicles - consists of the three smallest bones in the human body: Malleus, Incus and
Stapes

• Perilymphatic fluid filling the cochlea is denser than air >> oIers more resistance

• Greater mechanical energy is required to transmits sound waves through the denser fluid
filling the cochlea

• As the air-fluid boundary, most f the incoming sound is reflected rather than transmitted (30
dB decline in sound level)

• The oval window is 20 times smaller than the eardrum

• Patterns of pressure in a fluid - sets up pressure waves that move back and forth

• When it hits your eardrums, it sets up vibrations

• When a compression hits your ear drums, it pushes back in

• When the wave goes down, there is a rare fraction, the drum comes back out

• The pressure variations that are striking the eardrum are causing it to vibrate in the
way the sound wave is pushing air around

•
• The cochlea is filled with fluid - why is the eardrum simply not connected to the fluid to
transmit sound vibrations?

• Impedance mismatch between air and fluid - air has a much lower impedance than
fluid >> when sound waves travel from (through eardrum) to fluid, much of the
energy is lost due to reflection

• When we are underwater, sound waves have diIiculty traveling from air to our ears
>> diIicult to hear

• To overcome this, the middle ear amplifies the sound pressure

• It takes a low pressure wave over a large area (eardrum) and forces it into a high
pressure over a smaller area (round window) >> increases in pressure helps to
transfer more sound energy into the cochlea
 • Tensor tympani muscle - plays a protective role, when exposed to loud sounds; this muscle
contracts >> reduces amount of sound energy transmitted to the inner ear and protects it
from damage.

• Eustachian tube - connect into your middle ear; equalise air pressure in the middle ear with
the outside environment, preventing the eardrum from bulging inward or outward due to
pressure diIerences

• When we ascend at higher altitudes, atmospheric pressure decreases >>

Eustachian tube allows air to enter the middle ear >> preventing discomfort or
hearing impairment by equalizing air pressure

• Yawning and swallowing help open the eustachian tube > facilitating the
equalization process

TWO WAYS TO REPRESENT SOUND

1. The time domain

• Plotting sound as a time signal highlights the envelope and at a finer scale, the complex
oscillations in acoustic energy
•
• The envelope indicates sound dynamics (volume changes) and energy levels. In this case,
also shows speech syllables

• Which frequencies are present in this complex wave?

2. The frequency domain

•
• All sound is composed of all these waveforms
DEMO: FILTERING WHITE NOISE

• White noise is the ultimate 'broadband' sound

• It contains all frequencies at approximately equal amplitude

•
• Every frequency has the same amplitude

• Noise - no relationship between the frequencies, each one is independent

• Masking - when one sound can make it harder to hear another sound

• E.g. for babies, steady sound of white noise mask other disruptive sounds >> hard to
detect >> helps babies sleep more peacefully

• Low-pass filtered white noise:

• Removing particular frequencies

• Low path - allow low frequencies to pass through the filter

• High frequencies? They get blocked/ filtered out

• High frequencies are being attenuated in the graph

MUSICAL SOUNDS : ONLY SOME FREQUENCIES ARE PRESENT WHEN PLAYING A MUSICAL NOTE
AND NOT JUST ONE FREQUENCUY FOR A SINGLE NOTE

• Instruments whether they are stringed, wind or others rely on vibrations to produce sound

• When something vibrates >> creates sound waves that we perceive as music

• Physical properties of the vibrating object (such as length, tension and material)
determine the specific frequencies it produces

• Particular frequency is described as 'fundament; >> determines whet the frequency is and
what pitch we will experience

• Instruments all generate the same component frequencies when played at a given pitch

• They diIer in the relative amplitudes of these component frequencies they produce

• The amplitude of the upper harmonics (or overtones) contribute to timbre: the "quality" of
notes (oboe vs clarinet vs flue)

• The pitch of an instrument is mainly conveyed by the fundamental (or lowest) frequency,
and timbre by the relative amplitudes of overtones

• When an instrument plays a note, it produces a fundamental frequency >> lowest

frequency in the sound

• Instrument also produces higher frequencies called "overtones" or "harmonics" >>

integer multiples of the fundamental frequency

• The combination of these overtones gives each instrument its unique timbre of tonal quality
- diIerent combinations of overtones are produced by diIerent instruments

• Waveform of a musical note is complex >> reflects presence of multiple frequencies

• Fundamental frequency is often the strongest component, but the overtones

contribute to the overall sound.
THE PERCEPTION OF PITCH IS ORGANISED LIKE A HELIX

• It wrap around to the same note and octave higher over the range of audible frequencies

• This is about how your brain organizes frequencies, it is not about the physics

• When the frequency of a sound double, we perceive it as an octave higher

• You will hear the same not but one octave higher

• Ration between the frequencies of two notes that are an octave apart is 2:1

"PITCH" OF DIFFERENT FREQUENCIES IS ALSO LOGARITHMIC (NOTE DOUBLING OF FREQUENCIES

SEPARATED BY AN OCTAVE), WHICH HAVE A RATIO OF 2:1
THE COCHLEA, UNROLLED

• The stapes (one of the smallest bones) attached to the oval window; when sound waves
reach the ear, that causes the staes to vibrate, pushing in and out

• As the stapes push in, the fluid within the cochlea is incompressible: needs somewhere to
go

• Cross section of cochlea:

• Movement of the basilar membrane causes the hair cells to move against the tectorial
membra e>> causes cilia to bend

• When the cilia bend, the hair cells release neurotransmitter onto synapises with audtory
nerve fibres that send signals to the brain

• How does the basilar membrane wiggle in response to sound?

• First idea: suggests that sound waves caise the entire basilar membrane within the
cohclea to vibrate in unison

• DiIerent frequencies would stimulate diIerent parts of the membrane

• Second idea (correct) : that diIerent frequencies stimulate specific locations along
the basilar membrane.
TWO EXMAPLES OF TRAVELLING WAVES

NEURAL CODING OF SOUND

• The output of the cochlea is transmitted to the brain through the auditory nerve

• Another important response property:

• For low frequencies, auditory nerve spikes are phase locked to the stimulus:

•
• Phase locking: For low-frequency sounds, the neuron tends to fire at
specific phases of the sound wave, usually at the peak. This means that the
timing of the neuron's firing is synchronized with the phase of the sound
wave.
 • Group of neurons can work together to encode frequency information. If
multiple neurons fire at slightly diIerent phases, they can collectively
represent a wider range of frequencies.

• THERE ARE TW CUTES TO THE FREQUENCIES IN A SOUND

• The place of excitation in the cochlea

• The frequency of firing

• Both are probably used, but the exact way in which they are combined is
unknown

MAPS OF TONES IN THE BRAIN: TONOTOPY

• TONOTOPIC MAPS - diIerent frequencies along the Basilar membrane are adjacent to each
in cortex

• Lower frequencies are mapped din a very systematic way

LECTURE 6: THE VISION

What is light, and what makes it strange in terms of how waves normally behave?

What is the general problem of image formation? Why isn’t this a problem for pinhole cameras, but it is for eyes like ours that have
much larger holes that lets light in?

Why is myopia increasing at such an alarming rate?

What is the duplicity theory of vision?

What are the diEerent mechanisms of light adaptation?

How are rods and cones distributed on the retina? Why do we have to look to the side to see a faint star in the night sky?

What are two perceptual consequences of our eyes being organized backwards, where the receptors are farthest from the incoming
light?

Why can we use just three coloured lights to generate all of our diEerent experiences of colour?
THE INFORMATION FOR VISION: LIGHT (ELECTROMAGENTIC RADIATION)

• Waves do not typically move in straight lines: waves bend around corners (sounded),
obstacles (ocean waves), etc.

• Light is strange; if the dimensions of obstacles or apertures are much larger than the
wavelength of the light, then light can be treated as rays that move in straight lines

• Visible light = the predominant part of the spectrum that makes it through our atmosphere

• Only thing varying is wavelength

• Rainbow - continuous change of wavelength

• Light goes through empty space

o Unlike sound waves, which requires a medium (like air or water)

o Light exhibits wave like properties, such as interference and diIraction

o Light can also behave like particles (photons) - can be localised and interact with
matter as individual particles

• Wave-particle duality : quantum objects can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like
behaviour

SURFACE REFLECTANCE

• Light bounces oI (reflect), refract and absorb by surfaces > INFORMATION FROM LIGHT
 •
• For matte materials (left), light rays are scattered in various directions when they hit the
surface >> reflecting in multiple directions >> diIuse

• Mirror like material / shiny, light rays are reflected in a single direction; surface is smooth and
flat >> light reflecting in a consistent direction >> specular

THREE STAGES

• Sample optical structure

• Transduce light energy into electrical impulses

o We have to take in this physical energy (the EM radiation) and convert it into
electrical impulses - presence of receptors that can do so.

• Transmit this information to the brain for interpretation

1. SAMPLING OPTICAL STRUCTURE

• The ambient optic array

 • The light returned from objects creates a set of nested rays of light. DiIerent evolutionary
strategies has emerged to sample that optical structure

TYPES OF EYES

• Compound eyes work as they have little tubes that point in diIerent directions in space to
only collect the rays that are coming in a particular direction

Concave mirrors
 • E.g. satellite dishes, scallop eyes

o The curved shape allows them to gather and focus incoming radiation + collect the
incoming radiation >> increases sensitivity to the energy that is there

o Numerous light rays pass through the concave mirror, bouncing oI its surface and
converging at a specific point.

Compound eyes

• Made up of many tiny light sensitive units called ommatidia >> each unit captures light from
a specific direction

o The arrangement of ommatidia allows the insect to see a wide field of view (but
lower resolution)

• They are only taking in information from a particular direction in the world

• Most common eyes for insects

Single chambered eyes: image formation

• All image formation works by the same general principle

• "painting" with light: One region ('point') of the world mapping into one receptor

• Every time light strikes an object (tree), light becomes scatted in all diIerent directions

o One of those direction will be the direction that connects that position on the top of
the tree and the pinhole on the camera

• Pinhole camera: camera that has a small hole that allows a limited amount
of light to pass through

o Light rays from a specific point on the tree can pass through the pinhole and create
an inverted image on the opposite side

o The light rats trave in straight lines from the object to the pinhole and then onto the
image plane

• The top of the object becomes the bottom of the image and vice versa >> straight line path of
light rays

• Inversion occurs for any point on the object >> leading to a complete inverted image

• For a clear image to form, each point in the world (the object) must correspond to exactly
one point on the image plane

o Crucial for preventing blurring and overlapping of information

 o

• Convex lens of single chambered eye

o Diverging light reflect from all diIerent directions of an object in the world have to
converge into a single point to form an image

o
o DiIerent parts of a lens bend light rays by diIerent amounts >> due to curved shape
of the lens and the way it refracts (bends) light

• Focal plane varies as a function of lens curvature and object distance

o our lends bends; we can change how flat or curved it Is to adjust where the focal plane is

o If we have something close and we have a fixed lens >> the focal plane will be at the back as
seen in figure 1

o Meanwhile if we move further away, the focal plane changes position

o Myopia - refractive error of the eye where distant objects appear blurry while close objects
are seen clearly // eyeball is long

o Hyperopia is the complete opposite

• Global increase in myopia

o Both genetic and environmental factors

o People became more book and phone oriented as spending more time looking at a
close proximity
 • This leads to changes in the focal plane as it adjusts and this occurs during
the course of development

•
ACCOMODATION

• Cornea performs most of the initial focusing of the incoming image

• Lens changes shapes to focus objects at diIerent distances

• Depth of field: not all depths can be simulatenously in focus

o Range of distances in a scene that appear acceptaby sharp in an image

• Far accommodation

• Lens beomes "flatter" to focus light from a distant object on the retine

• Near objects become focused behind the retina >> resulting in blutting of the image
 •
• Near accommodation

• Lens becomes "rounder" to focus light from a near object on the retina

• Light from far objects become focused in front of the retina (i.e. blurred at the retina)

•
• The only you can have both far and near things blurred is if you are fixating something is
relatively close

• It is possible to have a blur both in the foreground and the background

• Your brain uses this blur information to try and make inferences about the size of the
objects

• Our brain interprets this blur as a sign that we're looking at something from very
close distance

• Since the objects in the image appear sharp and detailed, our brain concludes that
they must be very small to fit so many in the scene >> illusion that the scene is a
miniature model rather than a real world scene

2. SAMPLING THE IMAGES (TRANSDUCTION)

• Photoreceptors:

• How do you design a visual system that can respond to the high illumination levels
that occur during daytime and the low light levels that occur at night?
 • "duplicity theory" - uses two diIerent classes of photosensitive receptors
that operate in diIerent luminance regimes:

§ Scotopic vision: low light, rod dominated

§ Photopic vision: High light levels, cone dominated

Four types of photoreceptors: one rod, three cones

• Photoreceptor, response, sensitivity, relative absorption

• Dash line >> rod (496 nm)

• You can only see color with high level light intensities and you can only see them with cones

• Your sensitivity to your rods is much higher than your sensitivty to your cones
RETINAL DISTRIBUTION OF RODS AND CONES

• Rods: cones - (20:1)

• 120 million rods versus 6 million cones

• 1 million optic nerve fibers

• Rods, night vision (scotopic vision)

• Cones, daylight vision (photopic vision)

• There is a very tiny area in the middle of our vision that has high spatial resolution and our
capacity to experience detail dropss oI as you go farther and farther out

•
• Photoreceptors in our eyes are located behind layer of blood vessels and neurons

• This means that the image we perceive is actually inverted, as the light has to pass
through these structure before reaching the photoreceptors
TRICHROMATIC THEORY (Young 1802 , Helmholtz 1850)

• DiIerent color experiences are due to the activation of just 3 receptor types - typically these
colors and green, red and blue

• With these 3 colors, we are stimulating three types of photoreceptors in diIerent

proportions

• The observation that mixing just three light wavelengths can create all the colors we see led
to this discovery

• Why do objects appear colored? Two theories:

• Trichromacy

• Opponent processes
 •

• Trichromacy

• When light hits an object, it reflects certain wavelengths and absorbs others

• The combination of signals from these three types of cones determines the color we
perceive

• Opponent processes (Hering)

• Suggests that color perception is based on opposing pairs of colors: red-green, blue-
yellow and black-white

§ This theory explains why we can't perceive certain colour combinations, like
reddish-green or bluish-yellow.

COLOUR VISION DEFICIENCIES

• People who suIer red-green deficiency (anomalous trichromats) have trouble perceiving the
number in this configurations

• This type of deficiency is more prevalent in males because it is linked to a genetic deficiency
carried on X-chromosome (mother side)

•
• Most common: Anomalous trichromat
• Overlap of Long and Medium cones is very high (two types on center and right)