Chapter 1-5

Question 1

what is abnormal psychology?

Answer 1

interested in explaining how and why unusual behavior patterns develop by examining thoughts and emotion as well as underlying biology of mental illness

Question 2

what is applied research?

Answer 2

is done to discover a new or more effective way to solve some specific problem

Question 3

what is applied practice?

Answer 3

refers to the actual application techniques to the problems themselves

Question 4

functionalism

Answer 4

functionalismis like looking at the brain and asking “ why does it help us see things?”

all about understanding how the brain helps us with different tasks and figuring out why its good at doing what it does

Question 5

ultimate explanations

Answer 5

Attempts to address the reasons why a psychological phenomenon occurs by appealing to its role in the process of evolution

Question 6

Proximate Explanations

Answer 6

Attempt to describe an immediate cause of a psychological phenomenon.

Question 7

Functional explanations:

Answer 7

are proximate explanations that seek to identify a specific problem as the cause of a psychological phenomenon, such as a caregiver to provide food

Question 8

Process-oriented explanation

Answer 8

are proximate explanations that focus on how a specific mental or physical process explains a psychological phenomenon, such as how crying is the result of biological processes happening in our tear duct

Question 9

Ultimate and proximate explanations are complementary in nature

Answer 9

as they explain different aspects of the same phenomena

Question 10

Which influences would we most likely be studying if we tried to understand whether different groups of the same species of monkey had different rules regarding what was fair?

Answer 10

cultural influences

Cultural psychology investigates how different groups build a common understanding of the world; in this case, how these different groups of monkeys understand fairness

Question 11

Which influence would we most likely be studying if we tried to understand how a “sense of fairness” developed in humans compared to capuchin monkeys

Answer 11

evolutionary influence

Evolutionary influences on psychology would consider how fairness developed over the course of a species history, and potentially compare and contrast its development across species

Question 12

Which influence would we most likely be studying if we tried to understand the hormones and neurons in activating a “sense of fairness”

Answer 12

Biological influences
Evolutionary influences consider the history of a trait or behavior over the course of a species history while biological influences focus on an individual’s biological processes that produce a behavior

Question 13

Rationalism:

Answer 13

the view that reason and logical argument, but not experience, is most important for how we acquire knowledge

Question 14

Steps of the scientific method

Answer 14

identify the problem, gather information, generate a hypothesis, design and conduct experiments, analyze data and formulate conclusions, restart the process

Question 15

Descriptive methods:

Answer 15

Are any means to capture report, record, or otherwise describe a group
Usually interested in identifying “what is” without necessarily understanding “why it is”

Question 16

four popular methods to describe groups

Answer 16

Naturalistic observation
Participant observation
Case studies
Surveys

Question 17

Naturalistic observation:

Answer 17

Best described as the observation of behavior as it happens in a natural environment, without an attempt to manipulate or control the conditions of the observation

Question 18

Observations can be captured by either

Answer 18

Qualitatively
- Collecting opinions, notes, or general observations of behaviour
Quantitatively
- Any attempt to measure or count specific behaviours

Question 19

When is a case study the most useful?

Answer 19

When a participant has a rare condition

Question 20

Research ethics:

Answer 20

the set of principles that have been established for psychologists to follow when they carry out a research study

Question 21

what are the general ethical principles of psychologists?

Answer 21

beneficence and non-maleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, respect for peoples rights and dignity

Question 22

inclusion criterion

Answer 22

inclusion criteria are like the rules or conditions that decide who can participate in a particular group or study. They are the characteristics or requirements that someone must have to be included or considered for that specific group or research.

Question 23

Exclusion criteria:

Answer 23

Any attributes that would prevent participation because they cannot address the research question
Example: adults cannot be included as participants in child development study because they are not of the age range that is being studied

Question 24

Eligibility criteria

Answer 24

a set of characteristics shared by all participants that ensure that those participating will meaningfully help address the research question

Question 25

The Tuskegee researchers violated this ethical principle when they failed to provide medical treatment to participants

Answer 25

Beneficence and nonmaleficence

Question 26

Decisional impairment

Answer 26

refers to difficulties or limitations a person may experience in their ability to make effective and rational decisions. This could be due to cognitive factors, emotional influences, or other psychological factors that hinder the individual's capacity to make well-informed choices.

Question 27

Situational vulnerability

Answer 27

Refers to instances when the freedom of “choice” to participate in research is compromised as a result of undue influence from another source Examples: military personnel, prisoners who may feel coerced or obligated to participate in research

Question 28

Correlation

Answer 28

a measure that captures the direction and strength of a relationship between variables

Question 29

When two variables are positively correlated...

Answer 29

the variable changes in the same direction; one variable increases, the other variable also increases

Question 30

When variables are negatively correlated...

Answer 30

an increase in one variable leads to a decrease in one variable.

Question 31

Zero correlation indicates...

Answer 31

that there is no apparent relationship between variables

Question 32

Correlation coefficient

Answer 32

a numerical representation of the strength of a relationship between variables (denoted as R)

Question 33

The value of a correlation coefficient ranges from

Answer 33

-1 to +1

Question 34

Positive and negative signs indicate...

Answer 34

the direction of the relationship

Question 35

the absolute value of the correlation (regardless of the -/+ sign) is

Answer 35

the magnitude or strength of the correlation.

Question 36

As the coefficient gets stronger

Answer 36

the value approaches 1.0 (positive or negative)

Question 37

Directionality is unrelated to

Answer 37

strength

Question 38

In a perfect positive (r = +1.0) and negative (r = -1.0) correlation, all points fall on

Answer 38

a straight line. Thus, as the correlation gets stronger the coefficient gets closer to +1.0 or -1.0

Question 39

Correlations are not

Answer 39

causation

Question 40

Confounding variable

Answer 40

Another variable that may influence one or both variables that we are measuring, thereby influencing the correlation coefficient.

Question 41

Colder climates lead to an increase in colds, so as temperature increases, colds decrease...what kind of correlation is this?

Answer 41

Negative correlation

Question 42

As studying increases, grades become better... what kind of correlation is this?

Answer 42

Positive correlation

Question 43

As coffee consumption increases, the time it takes to complete an action (response time) decreases what kind of correlation is this?

Answer 43

Negative correlation

Question 44

IQ has no linear relation to student ID number, what kind of correlation?

Answer 44

Zero Correlation

Question 45

Correlation is

Answer 45

the direction and strength of a relation between two variables

Question 46

Operational definition

Answer 46

how a researcher decides to measure a variable

Question 47

An independent variable (IV)

Answer 47

is the variable that the experimenter will manipulate, and it must contain at least 2 levels.

Question 48

The independent variable always ...

Answer 48

comes first, before any measurement is taken

Question 49

The dependent variable, or outcome measure, is

Answer 49

the variable(s) the experimenter counts or measures.

Question 50

if the independent variable is the cause of change, then the dependent variable

Answer 50

is the effect.

Question 51

Since the effect depends on the cause, what is measured is always called the

Answer 51

dependent variable

Question 52

Extraneous variables are

Answer 52

variables that are not the focus of study, but may influence the outcome of research if not controlled.

Question 53

Imagine that we are interested in how maternal separation affects stress early in life. To explore this relationship, we separate young rat pups from their mothers for 15 minutes per day and measure corticosterone levels (a hormonal marker of stress) just before returning the pups back to their mother. What is the independent variable

Answer 53

Separating rat pups from their mothers

Question 54

Imagine that we are interested in how maternal separation affects stress early in life. To explore this relationship, we separate young rat pups from their mothers for 15 minutes per day and measure corticosterone levels (a hormonal marker of stress) just before returning the pups back to their mother. What is the dependent variable?

Answer 54

Corticosterone levels

Question 55

How well the experimenter can generalize to the population of interest is called

Answer 55

External validity

Question 56

Simple random sample

Answer 56

A type of sampling where every individual in the population has an equal chance of participating

Question 57

Stratified random sample

Answer 57

A more careful approach to random sampling and is particularly useful when there are two or more identifiable subgroups in the population Stratification divides the population first by subgroups and then randomly takes samples in proportion to the population of interest

Question 58

Non-random sample

Answer 58

Can take many forms Generally follows the rule that not all individuals are equally likely to participate

Question 59

Ideally, if a study concluded that eating ice cream caused violence, it would have to...

Answer 59

Randomly assign participants to groups eating more and less ice cream and compare rates of violence

Question 59

Convenience sample:

Answer 59

A group of individuals that are only selected because of pre-existing conditions, convenience, or easy access to participation

Question 60

Statistics allow researchers to

Answer 60

explain and describe data

Question 61

Which measure represents the most frequently observed score in a data set

Answer 61

Mode

Question 62

What is a measure of central tendency?

Answer 62

A single point to describe the center of data

Question 63

What is variability

Answer 63

A difference in the measure of the spread of data

Question 64

Three types of central tendency

Answer 64

The mean (average score) Median (middle score in an ordered set of data) Mode ( the most frequently occurring number in a data set)

Question 65

Nervous system

Answer 65

The main interpreter of both the event in your body and those in the outer world

Question 66

Brain and spinal cord

Answer 66

The ultimate problem solvers that send and receive information to and from all areas of your body, and The nervous system is a maze of complex cellular networks that relay and process information

Question 67

what does neural relate to?

Answer 67

Relate to the nerve or nervous system

Question 68

what are the two primary systems?

Answer 68

nervous system and endocrine system

Question 69

what are the two main types of cells in the nervous system?

Answer 69

gial and neurons

Question 70

Dendrite

Answer 70

Extensions of the cell body membrane that branch out to communicate with other neurons

Question 71

Axon

Answer 71

The part of the neuron's cell membrane that delivers messages to other neurons and body parts

Question 72

Axon hillock

Answer 72

the intersection between the soma and the axon. This is where the axon begins

Question 73

Axon terminal

Answer 73

This is the part of the axon that releases the neurotransmitter. Once the action potential gets to the axon terminal, this triggers the release of the neurotransmitter

Question 74

Nucleus

Answer 74

A membrane-bound structure found in the soma (body) of the neuron. It contains the nucleolus and chromosomes, necessary for the coded production of proteins within a cell

Question 75

Soma

Answer 75

The cell body of a neuron

Question 76

**** cells are cells in the nervous system that provide support function

Answer 76

Glia

Question 77

what are dendrites and what do they do?

Answer 77

dendrites are extensions of the membrane of the cell body, they receive chemical messages from many other neurons

Question 78

the chemical signal (called a neurotransmitter) influences ******* in the neuron

Answer 78

actions

Question 79

When a neurotransmitter binds to a receptor, it has the potential to

Answer 79

influence the behaviour of the cell

Question 80

neurons have a net charge at rest. this means when they are active they must have a positive charge, true or false?

Answer 80

true

Question 81

if potassium concentrations in the extracellular space are lowered what problem would this cause within the neuron?

Answer 81

it would cause trouble maintaining resting potential

Question 82

Neurons depolarize when they become electrically active. this is do to what?

Answer 82

Influx of sodium

Question 84

if potassium concentrations in the extracellular space are lowered, what problem would this cause within the neuron

Answer 84

trouble maintaining resting potential

Question 85

neurons depolarize when they become electrically active. this is due to what?

Answer 85

Influx of sodium

Question 86

a significant factor in creating the action potential is that the neuron has what?

Answer 86

channels that allow ions to come in or leave the neuron

Question 87

what do cells in your nervous system use to process information?

Answer 87

Electrical activity and chemicals