Office Hour: Thursdays 2-3pm Biological Aspects Kimberley A. Clow kclow2@uwo.ca http://instruct.uwo.ca/psychology/257e-570 Office Hour: Thursdays 2-3pm Office: S302

Outline Finish Cognition Lecture Talk About Papers Feelings Talk About Papers Mandatory Paper Optional Paper Options Start Biological Aspects Welcome to the Brain The Nervous Systems Neural Communication

What About Feelings? Constructs of Transition Anxiety Threat Guilt Aggression Hostility

Learned Helplessness

Models of Depression Aaron Beck

Irrational Beliefs Everyone I meet should like me I should be perfect at everything I do Because something once affected my life, it will always affect it It is unbearable and horrible when things are not the way I want them to be I must perform important tasks competently and perfectly If I don’t get what I want, it’s terrible I must have love or approval from all the significant people in my life

Distorted Thinking All or Nothing Thinking Overgeneralization Mental Filter Disqualifying the Positive Jumping to Conclusions Emotional Reasoning Personalization

Rational Emotive Therapy Emotions stem from our interpretations of events, not from the events themselves We create our problems Need to modify our interpretations If we don’t interpret things in a way that makes us feel bad, we won’t feel bad Albert Ellis

A-B-C Theory of Personality

Evaluation Strengths Weaknesses Brought cognition into the study of personality How we think How we perceive Emphasis on person’s own interpretation Weaknesses Important aspects of personality denied or neglected Difficulty predicting behaviour Many unanswered questions

Mandatory Paper Section 1 Summarize a Theory Demonstrate that you know this theory inside and out  you understand what you’re talking about, not just regurgitating the text Don’t just list facts  make it flow 2-4 pages Don’t need extra research  picking someone mentioned in class Use text and lecture material Can do more research if you want to, but not necessary

Section 2 Make up a questionnaire  approximately 10 items Can be any type of survey that you like Make sure it is relevant to your theory Make up questions that get at the heart of the theory Items that the theorist you are dealing with would believe are getting at the issues they think are ultimately important I’m looking for creativity and originality here, not scientific accuracy 1 page

Section 3 Due Dates Rationale for Questionnaire This is your chance to explain to me why you created each item and how it does in fact get at the key aspects of the theory Give a write up on each item you created explaining what you think that item gets at and why Make sure you relate it back to your theory! 1-3 pages Due Dates Mandatory paper is due IN CLASS April 8th Optional versions due IN CLASS March 25st

Optional Paper Write a Compare & Contrast Essay Pick 2 people from the course or 2 theoretical approaches from the course and write an essay that points out their major similarities and differences Again, want to show that you thoroughly understand these theories/people Make the essay flow, don’t just list facts Only need to use textbook and lecture material 10-15 pages Due IN CLASS March 25st

Remember! Papers start general and move to specific Start first paragraph more general but by the end of that paragraph, you should have moved on to your thesis statement Thesis statement is one sentence summing up what your entire paper (or Section 1) is about Tells me what topics to expect and in what order Make sure your paper has structure and flow Don’t just re-write the text or lecture info, tell it to me in a way that makes sense A paragraph contains 1 main point and is about 3-5 sentences long When you change points, change paragraphs

The Cortex

Hemisphere Lateralization

Gender Differences?

Messages from Brain Travel by Nervous System Spinal Cord Brain Nerves The Central Nervous System is the Communications Highway of the body

Somatic Nervous System Sensory Neurons input from body to Central Nervous System Motor Neurons output from Central Nervous System to control muscle movements Interneurons sensory-motor relay within Central Nervous System

Autonomic Nervous System

Neurons are the Messengers Information Processing Cells 100 billion neurons in the brain!

Neural Communication

Types of Neurotransmitters Source and Function Acetylcholine (ACH) Controls muscles; attention and memory Alzheimer’s Disease Dopamine Controls muscles; can cause hallucinations Schizophrenia Endorphins Suppresses pain Gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) Works against neurotransmitters, especially dopamine Norepinephrine Regulates mood; increases arousal and alertness Mood Disorders, Eating Disorders Serotonin Opposition to norepinephrine, suppresses activity, causes sleep Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, Eating Disorders

Brain Still in Control! Altering of neurotransmitters based on messages from brain Absence or overabundance can create whole new set of consequences