1. Brain
1.1. Neurons
1.1.1. they can talk to each other
1.1.1.1. axon of one neuron will communicate with dendrites of another neuron
1.1.1.2. a gap between the axon terminal of one neuron and dendrites of another
1.1.1.2.1. a synapse
1.1.1.3. when a neuron fires, the axon releases neurotransmitters that affect dendrites and other neurons
1.1.1.3.1. exictatory (greater likelihood of firing)
1.1.1.3.2. inhibitory (less likelihood of firing)
1.1.2. structure
1.1.2.1. dendrites receive signals from other neurons
1.1.2.1.1. excitatory +
1.1.2.1.2. inhibiory -
1.1.2.2. then they get to the cell of the body which sums up these +s and -s
1.1.2.3. when they reach a certain amount of pluses, they fire
1.1.2.4. firing takes places through the axon
1.1.2.4.1. myelin sheath surrounds the axon
1.1.3. neurons sum up and transmit information
1.1.4. there are 100 billion neurons
1.1.5. they connect to 1000s other neurons
1.1.6. types of neurons
1.1.6.1. sensory
1.1.6.1.1. information from the external world
1.1.6.2. motor
1.1.6.2.1. go from the brain to your motor control
1.1.6.3. interneurons
1.1.6.3.1. connect different neurons
1.1.7. neurotransmitters
1.1.7.1. different transmitters = different effect on neurons
1.1.7.1.1. medications to affect neurotransmitters
1.2. they are "all or nothing" - fire or don't fire at all
1.2.1. code for intensity in different way
1.2.1.1. in terms of how many neurons fire
1.2.1.2. through impulse frequency (fire,fire,fire)
1.3. Parts of the brain
1.3.1. cerebral cortex
1.3.1.1. outer layer
1.3.1.2. 2 feet sq.
1.3.1.3. functions: reasoning, language, complex perception
1.3.1.4. two halves:
1.3.1.4.1. frontal lobe
1.3.1.4.2. parietal lobe
1.3.1.4.3. occipital lobe
1.3.1.4.4. temporal lobe
1.3.1.5. maps
1.3.1.5.1. two things close together here and on the body
1.3.1.5.2. occipital lobe: map of vision
1.3.1.5.3. temporal lobe: map for sound
1.3.1.5.4. size of the brain areas correspond to where there's more motor or sensory function
1.4. "Two brains"
1.4.1. lateralisation
1.4.1.1. left
1.4.1.1.1. written language
1.4.1.1.2. spoken language
1.4.1.1.3. number skills
1.4.1.1.4. reasoning skills
1.4.1.1.5. logic skills
1.4.1.2. right
1.4.1.2.1. insight
1.4.1.2.2. imagination
1.4.1.2.3. music
1.4.1.2.4. art awareness
1.4.1.2.5. 3D forms
1.4.2. the sides are in coordinator, but deal with world differently
1.4.2.1. the right brain sees the left side of the world and vice versa
1.4.2.2. constant communication
1.4.2.2.1. corpus callosum
1.5. The Hard Problem of Consciousness
1.5.1. subjective experiences
1.5.1.1. are they also products of brain activities?
1.5.1.2. Thomas Huxley
1.5.1.2.1. "How is it that anything so remarkable as a state of consciousness, which comes about as a result of irritating nervous tissue, is just as unaccountable as the appearance of the Jinni when Alladin rubbed his lamp"
2. Sigmund Freud
2.1. psychodynamic approach
2.1.1. unconscious motivation
2.1.2. unconscious dynamics
2.1.3. Psychoanalytic Divisions of the Mind
2.1.3.1. Id
2.1.3.1.1. present at birth
2.1.3.1.2. instinctual, animalistic
2.1.3.1.3. doesn't distinguish fantasy from reality
2.1.3.1.4. operates according to the pleasure principle (I want satisfaction and I want it now)
2.1.3.2. Ego
2.1.3.2.1. develops out of the id in infancy
2.1.3.2.2. understands reality and logic
2.1.3.2.3. mediator between id and superego
2.1.3.2.4. works on reality principle - tries to satisfy or suppress your desires
2.1.3.2.5. the ego is you (your conscious self)
2.1.3.3. Superego
2.1.3.3.1. internalisation of society's moral standards
2.1.3.3.2. responsible for guilt
2.1.3.3.3. moral conscience
2.1.3.3.4. prohibitions set early in development grounded on prejudices and beliefs of the society where you were raised
2.1.4. Stage Theory
2.1.4.1. fixation
2.1.4.1.1. if you don't resolve issues by a certain stage, you can get stuck there
2.1.4.1.2. "an attempt to achieve pleasure as an adult in ways that are equivalent to how it was achieved in these stages"
2.1.4.2. Stages
2.1.4.2.1. 1. Anal stage (1-3 years)
2.1.4.2.2. 2. Phallic stage (3-5 years)
2.1.4.2.3. 3. Latency stage (5 years - puberty)
2.1.4.2.4. 4. Genital stage (puberty onwards)
2.1.5. Defence Mechanisms
2.1.5.1. types of mechanisms
2.1.5.1.1. displacement
2.1.5.1.2. sublimation
2.1.5.1.3. projection
2.1.5.1.4. rationalisation
2.1.5.1.5. regression
2.1.5.1.6. reaction formation
2.1.5.2. failure of defence mechanisms
2.1.5.2.1. hysteria
2.2. Criticism of Freud
2.2.1. Karl Popper
2.2.1.1. falsifiability
2.2.1.1.1. Freud's are only anecdotes
2.2.1.1.2. therapeutic environment has unfalsifiability to it
2.2.2. Electra / Oedipus Complex don't do well under empirical conditions nowadays
3. The astonishing hypothesis
3.1. Phineas Gage
3.1.1. extreme accident: javelin went through his head
3.1.2. recovered physically
3.1.3. his personality changed
3.1.3.1. now fitful, revengeful, profane
3.2. damage to the brain can change who we are
3.3. Francis Crick - Astonishing hypothesis
3.3.1. "You, your joys and your sorrows, your memories and your ambitions, your sense of personal identity and free will, are in fact no more than the behaviour of vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules."
3.3.1.1. we are material beings
4. Dualism
4.1. Rene Descartes
4.1.1. believed that animals were material things
4.1.2. but humans have duality
4.1.2.1. part material / part spiritual
4.1.2.2. two arguments
4.1.2.2.1. humans are capable of doing things no material entity ever could
4.1.2.2.2. we don't feel like bodies
4.2. common sense
4.2.1. we describe our body as if we possess it (my arm, my leg)
4.2.2. personal identity: people assume that their consciousness follows their body
4.2.2.1. but we assume that people can jump from one body to another (in fiction)
4.2.2.2. conception of our bodies as separate from conscience
4.2.2.2.1. the idea of demonic possession
4.2.2.2.2. the idea of gods or angels stems from the same
4.2.2.2.3. if so, we can survive the destruction of the body
4.3. materialism will seem wrong for dualists
4.4. psychologists now are confident dualism is mistaken
4.4.1. does not answer important questions
4.4.1.1. learning language or memory mechanisms can't be answered by talking about an immaterial realm
4.4.1.2. we know better now what physical things can do
4.4.1.2.1. computers playing chess/face recognition
4.4.1.2.2. we scan brains now
4.4.1.2.3. lots of evidence that brain is the root of life
5. Behaviourism
5.1. emphasis on learning
5.2. rejection of innateness
5.3. malleability
5.3.1. J.B. Watson
5.3.1.1. "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to make any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select - doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant, chief, and yes, even beggar man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and race of his ancestors."
5.3.2. anti-mentalism
5.3.2.1. emphasis on doing science = backlash against Freud
5.3.2.2. scientific observables only - stimulus, reponse, environment
5.3.3. no interesting differences between species
5.4. Habituation
5.4.1. a decline in tendency to respond to familiar stimuli due to repeated exposure
5.4.2. adaptive mechanism to get us to focus on new things
5.5. Classical conditioning
5.5.1. Ivan Pavlov
5.5.1.1. logic of classical conditioning
5.5.1.1.1. start with neutral stimulus (bell at first = no response)
5.5.1.1.2. unconditioned stimulus = unconditioned response (innate or learned in the past)
5.5.1.1.3. conditioning (learning) - put neutral and unconditioned stimulus together
5.5.1.1.4. over time, if repeated, neutral stimulus will become conditioned and will result in conditioned response
5.5.2. reinforced trials
5.5.2.1. conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus brought together
5.5.2.2. increase the connection
5.5.3. unreinforced trials
5.5.3.1. conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus (ring the bell but no food)
5.5.3.2. decreases the connection
5.5.3.3. no connection = "extinction"
5.5.4. optimal timing between conditioned stimulus and unconditioned stimulus
5.5.4.1. conditioned stimulus needs to come BEFORE unconditioned stimulus (immediately before)
5.6. operant conditioning
5.6.1. learning of association between action and rewards / punishments
5.6.2. Edward Thorndike theory:
5.6.2.1. trial and error improves the chances of positive outcome (cat experiment)
5.6.2.2. if an action brings reward, it's stamped into the mind
5.6.2.3. The Law of Effect
5.6.2.3.1. the tendency to perform an action increases if one is rewarded, weakened if not
5.6.3. B.F. Skinner
5.6.3.1. shaping = combining classical and operant conditioning
5.6.3.1.1. take a neutral thing (a poker chip)
5.6.3.1.2. associate it with positive unconditioned stimulus
5.6.3.1.3. soon it will have through classical conditioning rewarding qualitie
5.6.3.2. Schedules of reinforcement
5.6.3.2.1. fixed ratio reinforcement - reward after nth response
5.6.3.2.2. variable ratio reinforcement - reward on average in every n responses
5.6.3.2.3. fixed interval reinforcement - reward after every n seconds (or minutes/hours)
5.6.3.2.4. variable interval reinforcement (reward once in every n seconds (or minutes/hours)
5.6.3.3. Partial reinforcement effect
5.6.3.3.1. if you stop reinforcing, the behaviour goes away
5.6.3.3.2. if you reinforce every time, behaviour stops, too
5.6.3.3.3. if you do partial reinforcement, the behaviour sticks around for longer
5.6.3.4. Scientific assessment of Skinner
5.6.3.4.1. nobody believes this anymore