PSY290H1 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Neuron, Cerebral Cortex, Thalamus
PSY290H1
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
September 6 2018
IV: what you manipulate
DV: what you measure
B/w subjects design: having 2 groups and comparing them
w/in subjects design: taking an individual and putting them through different treatments
Any diff in DV is supposed to be due to the IV if an experiment is performed correctly.
Jose Delgado example: He inserted stimulator into the brain of a bull just to activate that
part of the brain with a remote control. When he pushed the button the bull stopped.
Why?
Pain? Movement ability inhibited? Vision altered?
He interpreted it as he tapped into the “anger center” of the bull.
But in reality it was planted in a motor region. The bull is going straight, but when
the button is pushed it stops and turns right.
Egas Moniz example for PF lobotomy: Becky (chimpanzee) gets upset when she made
errors during a food rewarded tasks (bc she didn’t get food)
After bilateral lesions to pf lobes, she no longer became upset.
It’s difficult to conclude what’s happening with only this info.
Based upon a subject, pf lobotomy was popularized and evolved.
• Prefrontal lobotomy by drilling holes
• Transorbital lobotomy
Problems:
Moniz’s surgery was based on a single chimpanzee
After the surgery, no one outside of their own doctors judged the outcomes.
(Today lobotomies aren’t done often bc of possible side effects.)
Both Moniz and Delgado have jumped to conclusions with vague information and they
saw what they wanted to see.
Is something psychological or physiological? It’s essentially the same.
Cartesian (Descartes) dualism is the basis of how ppl think of this separation:
• Physical matter can be studied scientifically
• But the human mind (consciousness, soul, self, spirit) is different, and this
controls human behaviour, but has no physical substance.
But there is evidence that challenge this type of thinking:
Psychological changes happen from damage to brain.
o “The man who fell out of bed”: He woke up with a leg next to him thinking
it was a prank, then he landed on the ground.
o He had asomatognosia: he couldn’t identify his body as his own. This
happens bc of damage to the right parietal lobe.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
o This shows change in awareness due to brain damage.
Psychological changes happen from stimulation of brain.
• FFA: facial perception. By stimulating it, the surgeon could manipulate perception
of face.
Some behaviours we thought were uniquely human can be demonstrated in non human
species.
• Evidence of self awareness in chimpanzees
o Developing a sense of self: touch their own (painted) eyebrows when
looking in the mirror.
We have influences of both nature(genes) and nurture(ALL environmental factors since
birth).
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
B/w subjects design: having 2 groups and comparing them w/in subjects design: taking an individual and putting them through different treatments. Any diff in dv is supposed to be due to the iv if an experiment is performed correctly. Jose delgado example: he inserted stimulator into the brain of a bull just to activate that part of the brain with a remote control. When he pushed the button the bull stopped. He interpreted it as he tapped into the anger center of the bull. But in reality it was planted in a motor region. The bull is going straight, but when the button is pushed it stops and turns right. Egas moniz example for pf lobotomy: becky (chimpanzee) gets upset when she made errors during a food rewarded tasks (bc she didn"t get food) After bilateral lesions to pf lobes, she no longer became upset. It"s difficult to conclude what"s happening with only this info.
