Study Guide for exam 1 Psych

Question 1

What is the definition of psychology?

Answer 1

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Question 2

What is critical thinking? How is I used in psychology?

Answer 2

The process of reflecting deeply and actively asking questions and evaluating the evidence. It helps psychologists reduce the likelihood that conclusions will be based unreliable personal beliefs, opinions and emotions

Question 3

What is the empirical method? How is it used in psychology?

Answer 3

Gaining knowledge through the observation of events, the collection of data, and logical reasoning. It is used by psychologists to think objectively and learn about the world.

Question 4

. What are the five major steps of the scientific method?

Answer 4

• Observing some phenomenon
• Formulating hypotheses and predictions
• Testing through empirical research
• Drawing conclusions
• Evaluating the theory

Question 5

What is a variable? In experiments, what is an independent variable (IV) and a dependent
variable (DV)?

Answer 5

• Anything that can change
• A variable where the variation doesn’t depend on another
• A variable whose value depends on another

Question 6

What is a theory? What is an hypothesis? How are theories and hypotheses related?

Answer 6

• A broad idea or set closely related ideas that attempt to explain observation and to make predictions about future observations
• An educated guess that derives logically from a theory, prediction that can be tested
• If more hypotheses related to a theory turn out to be true, the theory gains credibility

Question 7

What is an operational definition? How are operational definitions used in psychology?

Answer 7

• A definition that provides an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study
• They help eliminate the fuzziness that might creep into thinking about a problem

Question 8

What are the three basic types of research used in psychology?

Answer 8

• Descriptive
• Correlation
• Experimental

Question 9

What is descriptive research?

Answer 9

Research that determines the basic dimensions of a phenomenon, defining what is, how often it occurs and so on.It includes research such as observation, surveys/interviews and case studies

Question 10

What is each of the major techniques used in descriptive research: observation,
surveys/interviews, case studies?

Answer 10

Observations must be systematic, you must know who, when where and how you will make the observations. Surveys/ Interviews you can interview people directly, and surveys you can use rating scales. Case studies it has to be to one individual and not the general population.

Question 11

What can descriptive research tell us? What can it not tell us?

Answer 11

It can get a sense of a subject of interest, but it can’t answer the questions about how and why things are the way they are

Question 12

What is correlation research?

Answer 12

Research that examines the relations between variables with the purpose of determining whether and how two variables change together.

Question 13

What is a positive correlation and what is a negative correlation?

Answer 13

A positive correlation is a relationship in which two factors vary in the same direction.
A negative correlation is a relationship in which two factors vary in opposite directions.

Question 14

What can correlational research tell us? What can it not tell us?

Answer 14

They can tell you the relationship between two variables but not if those relationships are causal or not.

Question 15

Why can causal conclusions never be drawn from correlations?

Answer 15

Because there may or may not be a different factor that is causing the correlation

Question 16

What is an experiment?

Answer 16

A carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables that are believed to influence some other variable.

Question 17

Why can causal conclusions be drawn from an experiment?

Answer 17

Because by manipulating a variable you can tell if the two variables are linked or not.

Question 17

How are independent variables independent variables used in an experiment

Answer 17

Researchers manipulate the independent variable as they measure the Dependent variable to test for any effect of the manipulated variable

Question 18

What is an experimental group and a control group? how are they used in the experiment?

Answer 18

An experimental group the participants receive the drug or other treatment understudy that is those who are exposed to the change that the independent variable represents. A control group the participants are treated in every way like the experimental group except for a manipulated factor the independent variable

Question 19

What is a placebo and what is a placebo control group

Answer 19

A placebo is a harmless substance that has no psychological effect, the placebo control group allows researchers to determine whether changes in the experimental group are due to the active drug agent and not simply to participants’ expectations

Question 20

What is random assignment and why is it important in an experiment?

Answer 20

It gives every member an equal chance of being selected

Question 21

What are experimenter bias and research participant bias?

Answer 21

Experimenter bias is the influence of the experimenter’s expectations of the outcome of research. Research participant bias is in an experiment, the influence of participants’ expectations, and of their thoughts on how they should behave.

Question 22

What is a double-blind experiment?

Answer 22

An experimental design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group until the results are calculated

Question 23

What is the nervous system?

Answer 23

The bodys electrochemical communication circuitry

Question 24

What are afferent and efferent nerves?

Answer 24

Afferent- are sensory nerves that carry information to the brain and spinal cord.
Efferent- are motor nerves that carry information out of the brain and spinal cord.

Question 25

What are the central and peripheral nervous systems? What are the major functions of
each of these systems?

Answer 25

The central nervous system is made up of the brain and spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system is the network of nerves that connects the brain and spinal cord to the other parts of the body. The PNS brings information to and from the brain and spinal cord and carries out the commands of the CNS to execute various muscular and glandular activities.

Question 26

What are the somatic and the autonomic nervous systems? What are the major functions
of each of these systems?

Answer 26

The somatic nervous system is the body system consisting of the sensory nerves whose function is to convey information from the skin and muscles to the CNS about conditions such as pain temperature, and the motor nerves, whose function is to tell the muscles what to do. The autonomic nervous system is the body system that takes messages to and from the body’s internal organs, monitoring such processes as breathing, heart rate and digestion.

Question 27

What are the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems? What are the major
functions of each of these systems?

Answer 27

Sympathetic nervous system is the part of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body to mobilize it for action and thus is involved in the experience of stress. Parasympathetic nervous system is the part of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body.

Question 28

What is the fight-or-flight response?

Answer 28

The body’s reaction to a threat

Question 29

What are mirror neurons and why are they important?

Answer 29

Neurons that are activated when we perform an action and when we watch someone else perform that same action. It is important because they are the only neuron that respond to both doing and seeing.

Question 30

What is a neuron?

Answer 30

One of two types of cells in the nervous system, neurons are the nerve cells that handle the information processing function.

Question 31

What are the parts of a neuron? What is the function of each of these parts?

Answer 31

The cell body- which consists of genetic material including chromosomes
Dendrites- branches of neurons that receive information from other neurons
Axon- sends information away from the cell body to other neurons or cells

Question 32

What is the myelin sheath and why is it important?

Answer 32

Myelin sheath is a layer of fat cells that encases and insulates most axons. They spped up the transmission of nerve impulses.

Question 33

What is the resting state of a neuron?

Answer 33

When it isn’t transmitting information to ion channels

Question 34

What is social psychology?

Answer 34

The study of how people think about, influence, and relate to other people

Question 35

What is social cognition?

Answer 35

The area of social psychology that explores how people select interpret, remember and use social information

Question 36

What is person perception? What roles do physical attractiveness, stereotypes, selffulfilling
prophecy and first impressions play in person perception?

Answer 36

The process by which we use social stimuli to form impressions of others. These all have a very heavy effect in first impressions

Question 37

What is attribution theory?

Answer 37

The view that people are motivated to discover the underlying causes of behavior as a part of their effort to make sense of the behavior.

Question 38

What are the three dimensions along which attributions vary: internal/external causes,
stable/unstable causes, controllable/uncontrollable causes? How does each dimension
contribute to making an attribution?

Answer 38

Internal/ external causes internal attributes are causes inside and specific to the person such as his/ her traits and abilities.
Stable/instable causes whether the cause of behavior is relatively enduring and permanent or temporary influences attributions.
Controllable/ uncontrollable causes- we receive that people have power over some causes

Question 39

What is meant by the self in social psychology? What role does self-esteem play in the
nature of the self? How do positive illusions and the self-serving bias protect self-esteem?
What role does the self-objectification play?

Answer 39

We can think of the self as our schema. If you feel good about yourself you are more likely to do better things. They help you stroke your ego and focus on the positive. Self-objectification can lower the ability of one’s self.

Question 40

What are stereotype threat and social comparisons? What effects do they have?

Answer 40

Stereotype threat is when an individual’s fast acting, self fulfilling fear of being judged based on a negative stereotype about his or her group. A person who experiences stereotype threat is well aware of stereotypical expectations for him or her as a member of a group. Social comparison is the process by which individuals evaluate their thoughts, feelings, behaviors, and abilities in relation to others. Social comparison tells us what our distinctive characteristics are and aids us in building an identity.

Question 41

What is an attitude? What is the relationship between attitudes and behaviors?

Answer 41

Attitudes are our opinions and beliefs about people, objects and ideas how we feel about the world. Attitudes towards things affect what we do.

Question 42

What is cognitive dissonance? What effect does it have on attitudes and behaviors?

Answer 42

An individual’s psychological discomfort caused by two inconsistent thoughts. We feel uneasy when there is a inconsistency between what we believed and what we do

Question 43

How does self-perception theory contrast with cognitive dissonance theory?

Answer 43

The self-perception theory is about individuals make inferences about their attitudes by observing their behavior whereas the cognitive dissonance theory we are motivated toward consistency between attitudes and behavior and away from inconsistency.

Question 44

What is persuasion? What are the four major elements of persuasion: the communicator,
the medium, the target, and the message. What role does each one play in persuasion?

Answer 44

• Trying to change someone’s attitude
• The communicator- the person doing the persuading
• The medium- medium or technology used to get the message across
• The target- the audience or target of a message can play a role in message persuasiveness
• The message- the message itself in the persuading

Question 45

How does inoculation help someone resist persuasion?

Answer 45

Giving people a weak version of a persuasive message and allowing them time to argue against it can help individuals avoid persuasion

Question 46

What is conformity?

Answer 46

• A change in a person’s behavior to coincide more closely with a group standard.

Question 47

. What is meant by group influence? What are the effects of groups upon individuals in
the following processes: social contagion, individuation, social facilitation and social
loafing?

Answer 47

• Social contagion- imitative behavior involving the spread of actions, emotions, and ideas.
• Individuation- the reduction of personal identity and erosion of the sense of personal responsibility when one is part of a group.
• Social facilitation- improvement in an individual’s performance because of the presence of others.
• Social loafing- each person’s tendency to exert less effort in a group because of reduced accountability for individual effort.

Question 48

What is the effect of each of the following factors on group decision making: risky shift,
group polarization and group think?

Answer 48

• The tendency for a group decision to be riskier than the average decision made by the individual group.
• The solidification and further strengthening of an individual’s position as a consequence of a group discussion or interaction.
• The impaired group decision making that occurs when making the right decision is less important than maintain group harmony

Question 49

What are the effects of proximity and similarity on attraction?

Answer 49

You are more likely to be attracted to someone you see often, we like to associate more with those that are similar to us.

Question 50

What are romantic/passionate love and affectionate/companionate love? How are they
related?

Answer 50

• Romantic/ Passionate- Love with strong components of sexuality and infatuation, often dominant in the early part of a love relationship
• Affectionate/companionate- Love that occurs when individuals desire to have another person near and have a deep, caring affection for the person.

Question 51

What are the effects on a relationship of social exchange theory and the investment
model?

Answer 51

• The view of social relationships as involving an exchange of goods, the objective of which is to minimize costs and maximize benefits.

Question 52

. What is an action potential (you do not need to know any of the neurochemistry)? What is
the all-or-nothing principle?

Answer 52

• The brief wave of positive electrical charge that sweeps down the axon
• The principle that once the electrical impulse reaches a certain level of intensity it fires and moves all the way down the axon without losing any intensity.

Question 53

What is a synapse?

Answer 53

Tiny space between neurons; the gaps between neurons are referred to as synaptic gaps

Question 54

What are neurotransmitters? Where are they stored in a neuron and how are they
released?

Answer 54

• Chemical substances that are stored in very tiny sacs within the terminal buttons and involved in transmitting information across a synaptic gap to the next neuron.

Question 55

How do neurotransmitters transmit information across they synapse?

Answer 55

It fits into the space opening the receptor site, so that the neuron receives the signals coming from the previous neuron. (like a keyhole in a lock).

Question 56

What is a phenotype and a genotype?

Answer 56

Genotype- The complete set of an organisms genes.

Phenotype- set of characteristics of an individual resulting from interaction of its genotype with the environment.