Exam Terms

Question 1

What is the main function of the nervous system?

Answer 1

To send various messages from different parts of the body to the brain and vice versa.

Question 2

What is a neuron?

Answer 2

A neuron is responsible for sending messages around the body to and from the brain.

Question 3

What is consciousness?

Answer 3

The awareness of thoughts and feelings in the brain, including memories and sensations.

Question 4

What is episodic memory?

Answer 4

Memory that deals with personal events in someone’s life, known as ‘episodes’ of your story.

Question 5

What is semantic memory?

Answer 5

Memory that deals with remembering processes, ideas, concepts, facts, etc.

Question 6

What is flashbulb memory?

Answer 6

Memories that are vivid and highly detailed snapshots of important or surprising news.

Question 7

What is priming?

Answer 7

An automatic or unconscious process that enhances the speed and accuracy of a response due to past experience.

Question 8

What is memory interference?

Answer 8

A concept where previously learned information obstructs the retention of current information.

Question 9

What is positive reinforcement?

Answer 9

When a behavior is followed by a desired stimulus.

Question 10

What is negative reinforcement?

Answer 10

When a behavior prevents or removes an undesired stimulus.

Question 11

What is positive punishment?

Answer 11

Occurs when a behavior is followed by an aversive stimulus, making the behavior less likely to happen again.

Question 12

What is negative punishment?

Answer 12

Occurs when a positive stimulus is removed following an unpleasant behavior.

Question 13

What is classical conditioning?

Answer 13

Learning that happens unconsciously.

Question 14

What is cognitive dissonance?

Answer 14

When our actions do not match our beliefs, leading to excuses to relieve discomfort.

Question 15

What is the nurture vs. nature debate?

Answer 15

The discussion on whether personality is influenced more by genetics or external factors.

Question 16

What is estrogen?

Answer 16

The female sex hormone.

Question 17

What is testosterone?

Answer 17

The male sex hormone.

Question 18

What is the zone of proximal development?

Answer 18

The space between what a learner can do independently and with guidance.

Question 19

What is conservation?

Answer 19

The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or container.

Question 20

What is scaffolding?

Answer 20

A theory focusing on a student’s ability to learn with help from a more informed individual.

Question 21

What is prenatal development?

Answer 21

The process that starts with fertilization and continues until birth.

Question 22

What is an embryo?

Answer 22

An unborn offspring developing from a zygote, occurring from the second to eighth week after fertilization.

Question 23

What is a zygote?

Answer 23

A fertilized cell formed after the union of male and female gametes.

Question 24

What is a fetus?

Answer 24

An unborn human offspring in the stages of prenatal development after the embryo stage.

Question 25

What is the difference between genotype and phenotype?

Answer 25

Genotype refers to inherited genes, while phenotype is how these genes are expressed.

Question 26

What are parenting styles?

Answer 26

The methods parents use to raise their children, including levels of strictness and moral values.

Question 27

What is authoritarian parenting?

Answer 27

A strict style focusing on discipline and obedience over bonding with the child.

Question 28

What is authoritative parenting?

Answer 28

A nurturing yet firm style that establishes boundaries while being loving.

Question 29

What is permissive parenting?

Answer 29

A loving style with little discipline, often allowing children to do as they please.

Question 30

What is uninvolved parenting?

Answer 30

A neglectful style that does not meet the basic wants and needs of the child.

Question 31

What are the five senses?

Answer 31

Touch, taste, smell, hearing, and sight.

Question 32

What is sensation?

Answer 32

The process of receiving information from the environment.

Question 33

What is perception?

Answer 33

The process of translating and organizing sensory information based on experiences.

Question 34

What is motivation?

Answer 34

The needs, desires, feelings, and ideas that direct behavior toward a goal.

Question 35

What is emotion?

Answer 35

An integrated response to a stimulus, including physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experiences.

Question 36

What is a display rule?

Answer 36

Informal norms about how to appropriately express emotions within a social group or culture.

Question 37

What is instinct theory?

Answer 37

The idea that people are motivated to behave in certain ways due to evolutionary programming.

Question 38

What is the Cannon-Bard theory?

Answer 38

The theory suggesting that physical and psychological experiences of emotion occur simultaneously.

Question 39

What is the James-Lange theory?

Answer 39

The theory that emotions result from physiological reactions to events.

Question 40

What is drive-reduction theory?

Answer 40

The idea that a physiological need creates an aroused tension state that motivates satisfaction.

Question 41

What is incentive theory?

Answer 41

The idea that we are motivated by positive or negative outside incentives.

Question 42

What is optimum-arousal theory?

Answer 42

The theory that human motivation aims to increase arousal.

Question 43

What is Maslow's hierarchy of needs?

Answer 43

A theory suggesting that people are motivated by a hierarchy of needs.

Question 44

What is intrinsic motivation?

Answer 44

Behavior driven by internal rewards such as autonomy, mastery, and purpose.

Question 45

What is extrinsic motivation?

Answer 45

Behavior driven by external rewards such as money, fame, grades, and praise.

Question 46

What is personality?

Answer 46

The combination of characteristics that shape a person's thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Question 47

Who is Sigmund Freud?

Answer 47

The Father of Psychoanalysis, credited with concepts like the unconscious, id, and ego.

Question 48

What is the unconscious according to Freud?

Answer 48

A reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.

Question 49

What is the id?

Answer 49

The part of personality made up of inborn biological urges seeking immediate gratification.

Question 50

What is the ego?

Answer 50

The conscious part of personality that mediates between the id, superego, and reality.

Question 51

What is the superego?

Answer 51

The part of personality that represents morals and conscience, considered morally correct.