Summary PYC1501 Study Notes.

PYC1501 Study Notes. PYC1501 - Basic Psychology. Emotional intelligence= the ability to manage our own emotions - Emotional intelligence provides the link between feelings, character and moral values - Combination of skills- empathy, self-control, self-awareness, sensitivity to feelings of others, persistence, and self-motivation - Using and expressing our emotions wisely and appropriately - Abilities of people with high emotional intelligence o Motivate themselves and keep trying in the face of frustrations o Control impulses and delay gratification o Regulate moods and do not allow emotions to interfere with their ability to think o Recognize emotions in others o Have hope - Absence of emotional intelligence results in: © 2015 Together We Pass. All rights reserved. o Withdrawal from others o Feeling anxious or depressed o Having attention or thinking problems o Being too nervous to concentrate o Socially unacceptable behavior (lying) o Stubborn and moody o Quick tempered Interpretation of Emotions Gender and emotions - Women seen as more emotional than men - Men inhibit their expression of emotions, direct anger outwards and tend to be more violent - Woman are primary care givers so they tend to be more skilled in noticing external expressed emotions - Women express emotions inwards thus tend to get depressed easier - Followers are more sensitive to emotions than leaders Cultural differences in emotional experience - Display rules- culture specific rules that govern how, when and why expressions of emotions are appropriate - Modeling and reinforcement learning Context of emotion - The context/circumstances in which an emotion is expressed - Need to understand or know context to be able to understand the emotion Human Nervous System The structure of the neuron Neuron - Aka nerve cell - Basic building block in the structure of the nervous system Parts of a neuron - All neurons have same 4 parts o Dendrites o Cell body (soma) o Axon © 2015 Together We Pass. All rights reserved. o Axon terminals Part of a neuron Description Function Dendrites Soma - Extensions of the cell body - Branch out into smaller branches - Allows neuron to connect to a large number of other neurons - Receives messages from other neurons - Center of the neuron - Contains the cell nucleus - Has extensions: dendrites and axon - Receives messages from other neurons through its dendrites and sometimes directly through itself Axon Axon Terminals - Extends from the soma from the axon hillock - Differ in diameter and length - Insulated with myelin sheath - Transmits impulses - Myelinated axons transmit impulses quicker than unmyelinated axons - Aka Telondendria - “Fingers” which end in small knobs called bouton terminals - Bouton terminals connect to a dendrite branch from a following neuron - Bouton terminals contain vesicles which are filled with neurotransmitters Synapse - Small gap between the bouton terminal and a dendrite, synaptic cleft - Bouton vesicles release their neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft - Neurotransmitters NB because they regulate the communication between neurons Types of neuron - Neurons classified according to the functions they perform o Sensory (afferent) neurons- carry information detected by the senses from the environment to the spinal cord and the brain o Motor (efferent) neurons- conduct messages from the spinal cord and brain to the muscles and glands - Axons grouped together into bundles o Nerve tract- a bundle of axons in the spinal cord or the brain o Nerve- a bundle of axons in parts of the body that are not inside the brain or spinal cord Impulse conduction in the neuron © 2015 Together We Pass. All rights reserved. - Impulse conduction- the process by which messages are relayed in neurons and from one neuron to the next - Impulse conduction made up of 2 main processes o Electrical- the nerve impulse begins in the first segment of the axon and travels down the axon to the terminals because of electric events at the cell membrane o Chemical- passage of the nerve impulse from one neuron to another is a chemical process. Chemical processes determine whether or not the impulse will be conducted across the synapse to the next neuron - The neuron is electrically charged - Potential difference- The difference between positive and negative poles - Neuron surrounded by fluid and filled with fluid - Membrane forms a barrier between the inside and the outside fluids - Ions are unevenly distributed on either side of the cell membrane, there is a potential difference, therefore the neuron is electrically charged Resting membrane potential - Resting membrane potential- an electrical charge brought about by difference between the positive and negative ions inside and outside the neuron - Negative inside and positive outside the neuron - Membrane contains mechanisms that allow some ions through and prohibits others - Resting membrane potential occurs when the neuron is in an inactive (resting) but polarized state - Neuron is ready to receive information in the form of electrical impulses and to conduct these impulses along its axon to the next neuron Action potential - The soma receives information from the synaptic connections between itself and other neurons - An axon potential is triggered only when the summed potential in the axon hillock reaches the threshold potential - When an action potential is triggered the membrane becomes permeable - Refractory period- membrane returns the sodium and potassium ions to their original states - Absolute refractory period- neuron does not respond to any stimulus, at this stage the axon cannot conduct an impulse Characteristics of impulse conduction - Impulse does not happen simultaneously everywhere along the axon - Impulse can be conducted in one direction only - Refractory period prevents the nervous system from overstimulation - As the intensity of a stimulus increases the frequency of impulses increases (more intense stimuli causes more frequent impulses) - Impulse conduction is all-or-nothing - Although the strength and speed of an impulse is constant in a particular neuron, it can vary with nerve fibers of different thickness © 2015 Together We Pass. All rights reserved. - The larger the nerve fiber, the stronger the impulse and the faster it is conducted - Impulses travel faster along axons that are myelinated because the impulse jumps from node to node instead of moving smoothly along the axon as in the case of un-myelinated axons - In myelinated axons, impulse conduction known as salutatory conduction - In un-myelinated axons, impulse conduction known as potential conduction Impulse conduction in the synapse - Conduction of a nerve impulse in a neuron is mainly electrical - Communication between different neurons is chemical Synapse - Synaptic cleft- a microscopically small gap between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendrite/soma of another - Membrane of axon terminal- presynaptic membrane - Membrane of dendrite or soma- postsynaptic membrane - Synapse= synaptic cleft + presynaptic membrane + postsynaptic membrane - When an action potential reaches the tips of the axon terminals, causes chemicals to be released into synaptic cleft which allow for contact - Chemicals are neurotransmitters - When neuron fires the action potential is conducted towards the axon terminals and this causes the vesicles to move closer and attach themselves to the presynaptic membrane - Point of attachment causes the membrane to open and neurotransmitters passes through the synaptic cleft - Neurotransmitters mix with fluid outside the cells and combine with receptors in the postsynaptic membrane (see fig.2) Postsynaptic potentials - Some neurons release neurotransmitters that excite the next neuron (stimulate an impulse to fire)- neurotransmitter can make the next neuron more likely to produce an action potential known as postsynaptic potential - Some neurons release neurotransmitters that inhibit the production of an action potential in the next neuron - After a neurotransmitter excites/inhibits a receptor in the next neuron, following can happen o Neurotransmitter could become reabsorbed by the axon that released it through re-uptake o Neurotransmitter could diffuse away or become broken up by enzymes o Neurotransmitter could bounce around for a while and then return to the postsynaptic receptor again - The longer the neurotransmitter stays in the synaptic cleft, the more likely it is to affect the neuron