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Practice Questions Flashcards

1
Q

What is introspection and which early school of psychologist relied on it most heavily?

A

Introspection is an examination of one’s own mental and emotional processes.

Used most by structuralism, which focuses study on the “structure” of mental processes as opposed to the explanation of underlying mechanisms.

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2
Q

What was the main difference between Functionalism and Structuralism?

A

Structuralism focuses more on the structure of mental processes and functionalism focuses more on the purpose of mental processes (how mental processes help individuals adapt to environment)

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3
Q

What did Gestalt psychologists study?

A

We have inborn tendencies that cause us to perceive things as broad “perceptual” units rather than individual sensations.

Emphasized that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

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4
Q

According to behaviorist theorists, what are the various reinforcement principles, and what impact does each have on behavior?

A

Central idea to behaviorism is that the consequence of a certain behavior serves to either increase or decrease likelihood of individual to repeat behavior.

Reinforcing causes the behavior to repeat (not punishment!!)
Positive Reinforcement- brings desired outcome
Negative Reinforcement- avoid undesirable outcome

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5
Q

What did humanistic theorist Abraham Maslow suggest is the ultimate goal of human beings?

A

To achieve self-actualization- to find and fulfill one’s potential

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6
Q

What are cognitions?

A

The mental action of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses

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7
Q

What was the main idea of evolutionary psychologist?

A

Suggests that the behaviors and mental processes that are effective for survival are passed down and eventually becomes important part of each individual’s makeup.

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8
Q

What is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning?

A

Inductive is bottom up processing

Deductive is top down processing

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9
Q

What is the difference between a hypothesis and a theory?

A

Hypothesis can be tested and is formed before any research has been done.

A theory is backed by research

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10
Q

What is the hypothetic-deductive method?

A

Where the researcher starts with a hypothesis and tests it to validate/invalidate the theory

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11
Q

What are the 4 goals of psychology?

A

Describe, explain, predict, control

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12
Q

What is the main difference between psychology and pseudo psychology?

A

Pseudopsychology is not based on the scientific method

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13
Q

Which variable is manipulated by the experimenter?

A

IV

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14
Q

What are the three descriptive methods used in psychology?

A

Case studies, naturalistic observation, survey

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15
Q

Which research method allows researchers to say that one variable causes another?

A

Experimental

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16
Q

What 2 information does a correlation coefficient give about the relationship between variables?

A

Positive/negative
Strong/weak

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17
Q

What do the mean and standard deviation tell you about the scores of a group?

A

mean- average

standard deviation- how much the scores varies from each other

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18
Q

What steps are required by the IRB for ethical practices?

A
  • obtain informed consent. researcher must give as much info as possible about the purpose, procedures, and risks so participants can make an informed decision about whether or not to participate.
  • protect participants from discomfort and harm
  • protect confidentiality
  • provide complete debriefing. supply full info to participants at the end of study
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19
Q

How do quantitative theories of development differ from qualitative theories of development?

A

Quantitative is more focused on the stages and qualitative takes into account of the different times.

Qualitative shows why people go through similar stages of development even in different environments. Quantitative accounts for the differencing of these developmental milestones

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20
Q

What is the difference between a critical period and a sensitive period?

A

In critical period, there is only one window where the organism must be exposed to a specific environmental stimuli to develop specific behaviors. Development is impaired if this stimuli does not occur.

In sensitive periods, the environmental stimuli is important but individuals can still recover partially from the deprivation.

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21
Q

What is the main advantage of using a longitudinal design instead of a cross-sectional design?

A

Longitudinal designs allow the researcher to attribute the changes in individuals as a function of time.

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22
Q

What are the possible phenotype outcomes from a heterozygous genotype?

A
  1. dominant trait shows
  2. mixture of the traits
  3. co-dominance: shows a combination of the traits.
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23
Q

How did Chess and Thomas categorize the temperaments of babies in their studies, and what were the major attributes of each temperament category?

A

Easy- playful. open to novelty

Difficult- irritable, likely to have intensively negative responses to changes

Slow to warm up- less active and responsive. tend to withdraw in face of change.

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24
Q

What are key things that identify behavior as temperamentally based?

A

if the behavior is stable across situation and time

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25
What are the three stages of prenatal development? What happens at each stage?
Germinal Stage- egg moves to fallopian tube to be fertilized. then implants in uterus. placenta forms. Embryonic Stage- zygote is implanted and grows rapidly. grows body structure and major organs Fetal Stage- continues to grow. Basic structures undergo big changes.
26
What is the role of myelination in the development of the brain? (in infancy)
Myelination speeds up the firing of the neurons. Associated with movement, reflexes, sensory responses, and certain low-level learning
27
What is the Strange Situation?
Experiment where the mother leaves a baby in a room with a stranger and the researcher observes how the baby responds.
28
What are major parenting styles, and what are the major child outcome associated with each style?
Authoritative- gives reasonable demands and enough support. confident, mature, bright children Authoritarian- unreasonable demand and strict rules. child with low self esteem and aggressive Permissive- overly indulging and spoiling. impulsive, disobedient, and overly dependent children Uninvolved- little time spent with the child, emotionally detached. child who are anxious, poor communication, and antisocial
29
In what areas of the brain is myelination concentrated during childhood, and how does myelination of these areas affect the child's cognitive function?
Concentrated in the associated areas Allows for more sophisticated planning and problem-solving abilities
30
What are the crucial differences between Piaget's view of cognitive development and Vygotsky's view of cognitive development?
Piaget is more focused on how children's private experiments and reflections shape their thinking. Vygotsky is more interested in how social interaction with parents might drive development of children.
31
If a child arrives at puberty significantly earlier or later than his peer group, how much that affect his adjustment?
Experience more problems adjusting.
32
Formal Operations
Able to think abstractly
33
Describe what Erikson believed was the major dilemma and risk for adolescence
Identity vs. Role confusion. Find a place in society and adopt a satisfying identity. Of else they may be confusion about adult roles.
34
What is the difference between the wear-and-tear theory of aging and the free-radical theory of aging?
Wear and tear states that we age because our body wears out through usage. Free radical theory states that build up of free radical causes a destabilization in cell structures which causes us to age.
35
Describe and define Erikson's major crises of adult development
Early adulthood (20-30) Intimacy vs isolation. Look for relationships. isolated if failed to find them. Middle (30-65) Generativity vs Stagnation. try to help the younger generation. if not, may be self absorbed Late (65+) Integrity vs Despair. reflect on life. feel despair if not satisfied.
36
How do externalizing behavior differ from internalizing behavior?
behavior that bothers others and cause external conflict (hitting, screaming) behavior that cause internal psychological distress (anxiety, depression, withdrawal)
37
Why is resilience important to developmental psychopathology?
resilience- ability to recover from serious effects of negative circumstances. it's important to understand what goes right and what goes wrong.
38
What is the difference between equifinality and multi finality?
Equifinality is belief that different individuals can start off differently and end in same place. Multifinality is belief that individuals can start in same place and end up in different paths
39
Describe how studies of people with brain damage and EEGs have contributed to our knowledge of the brain and nervous system
discovered localization of brain function used EEGs to learn about brain activities in different state (awake/asleep) as well as certain behavior
40
What are the main advantages of neuroimaging methods over earlier neuroscience research methods
PET enable the detection of uptake of certain molecules. allows us to identify which brain area is activated fMRI detects blood flow, indicator of changes in activity of neurons.
41
What are the main functions of the two types of cells in the nervous system?
Neurons- sending and receiving neurotransmitters Glia- support, connect, protect neurons
42
What happens in the axon of a neuron during an action potential?
NA channels open and the NA+ ions flood the inside of the axon and make it positive. thenNA channels close and K channels open and K+ ions flow out. Moves along the nodes of Ranvier
43
When the action potential reaches the axon terminal, what happens?
releases neurotransmitter into the synapse, which diffuses across the synapse and binds to the receptors on the dendrites of the postsynaptic neuron.
44
How does a postsynaptic neuron receive and respond to messages from other neurons
when the neurotransmitter binds to the receptor, it stimulates an electrical event (excitatory or inhibitory)
45
What are the two parts of the central nervous system? What are their functions
Brain- Spinal Cord- controls sensory and motor information
46
What happens when the sympathetic nervous system is operating? How does it compare to the operating of the parasympathetic nervous system?
Sympathetic activated the "fight-or-flight" response. Ex. divert energy from digestion to legs. Parasympathetic is responsible for controlling the basic functions that are used when we are not in danger. "rest and digest"
47
How do the brain and spinal cord work together?
Spinal cord receives information throughout the body and sends it to the brain
48
What neuron types are important for simple reflexes?
sensory neuron interneuron motor neuron
49
What determines how much disability will result from a spinal cord injury?
The higher up the spinal cord injury is (closer to the brain) the larger proportion of the body is paralyzed
50
Which part of the brain is essential to basic functioning, such as breathing?
Brain stem/ medulla
51
Describe the role of brain in regulating hormones throughout the body
The hypothalamus works with the pituitary gland to control the endocrine system. Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal: in response to stress. Hypothalamus produces hormone that activates the anterior pituitary to release another hormone into bloodstream. The adrenal gland releases cortisol, which turns off hypothalamus.
52
Which part of the brain has been linked to fear responses
Amygdala
53
Which behavior is most closely linked to the hippocampus
short term memory production spatial learning
54
Which if the senses is linked to the occipital, temporal, and parietal lobes
occipital- sight temporal- hearing parietal- touch
55
What are the primary functions of Broca's area and Weirnicke's area. Where are they located?
Broca's- frontal lobe. produces speech Weirnicke's- temporal lobe. understand speech
56
What mental functions are associated with the frontal lobe?
planning voluntary movements
57
How do the two hemispheres of the brain communicate? How are the functions distributed between them?
communicate through the corpus callosum left controls the right side of body. primarily responsible for speech and abstract thinking right controls the left side of body. primarily responsible for image processing, spatial thinking, and movement
58
On which side do most people have their language-related area? What about left-handed?
Most people have it on their left side. Left handed people have it on their right side
59
What goes wrong in the nervous system to cause multiple sclerosis, ALS, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease?
multiple sclerosis- loss of myelin ALS- degeneration of motor neuron in spinal cord Parkinson's- death of dopaminergic neuron Huntington's- death of neurons in striatum
60
What is sensory transduction?
process of converting environmental stimuli to neural impulses
61
What are absolute and difference thresholds?
Absolute threshold is the smallest amount of stimuli needed to detect it. Difference threshold is the smallest difference in stimuli needed to detect the difference.
62
Compare and contrast bottom-up and top-down processing
bottom up is mostly used for new things. It involves transfusing environmental stimuli in to neural impulses that move into more complex brain regions. Top down involves using cognitive processes like memory and expectation to perceive something.
63
What five tasters have specific receptors
salty, sweet, sour, spicy, umami
64
Which parts of the brain are involved in sensing and perceiving odors?
cerebral cortex amygdala reward circuits in brain insula
65
How are smell and taste involved with migraines and epileptic seizures?
Specific odors or taste can initiate migraine
66
List the different types of tactile receptors in the skin and the primary functions of each.
free nerve endings- detect touch, pressure, pain, and temperature Meissner's corpuscles- transduce info bout sensitive touch Merkel's discs- transduce info about light to medium touch Ruffini's end organ- heavy pressure and movement of joints Pacinian corpuscles- respond to vibration and heavy pressure
67
Compare and contrast slow and fast pain pathways
Fast pain pathways are for sharp and acute pain and uses myelinated axons to trigger our withdraw reflex. Slow pain pathways are for long lasting and boring pain like emotional pain. The input communicate with brain region to process the emotion.
68
Why do children enjoy getting tickled?
Tickling activates the somatosensory pathways in uneven, uncontrollable , and unexpected ways. Our sensory systems are most responsive to stimuli that are unexpected and surprising
69
What are some possible explanations for individual differences in pain sensitivity
Ethnicity- Japanese have lower pain tolerance than Caucasian Physical- women have more pain receptors Differences in activated brain circuitry Gate control theory of pain- suggests that certain patterns of neural activity can close "gate" to keep pain information from traveling to parts of the brain where it is perceived.
70
What happens in the ear to transduce sound waves into neural signals
1. sound wave enters ear and deflect tympanic membrane 2. vibration of tympanic membrane strike the ossicles (hammer, anvil, and stirrup). Stirrup hits oval window 3. vibration of oval window creates waves in cochlea fluid which deflects the basilar membrane. this movement bends hair cells. 4. Hair cells communicate with auditory nerves, which sends neural impulses to the brain
71
What is a tonotopic map
representation in the auditory cortex of different frequencies. aka. waves of different frequencies are projected to specific parts of auditory cortex
72
What are sensitive periods, and how are they important for hearing?
tonotopic map is organized during sensitive period
73
What is tinnitus?
ringing in the ear
74
What are rods and cones
Rods- detecting light Cones- detecting color
75
What are two theories of color vision and how do they work together?
Trichromatic Theory- eye holds three kinds of sensory for color, each for a different wave length (RGB) Opponent process Theory- color perception depends on action of three opposites blue - yellow red - green black - white can be used to explain color blindness. 1. cones have trouble responding to red and green wavelengths 2. thalamus does not receive enough input to inhibit either red or green
76
What do the "what" and "where" pathways in the brain do?
"what"- identifies the object. (occipital to temporal) "where"- where the object is in space. (occipital to parietal) visual agnosia- damage to what pathway. cannot recognize object. Prosopagnosia (cannot recognize face) hemi-neglect- completely ignore one side of visual field. damage to where pathway. cannot pour water in cup
77
What are the two major depth perception cues, and what is the difference between them?
Binocular- needs two eyes. (retinal disparity, convergance) Monocular- only needs one eye to perceive (interposition, elevation, texture gradient, linear perspective, shading, familiar size)
78
What is strabismus, how is it treated, and what can happen if not treated properly?
Strabismus- do not naturally develop coordination between two eye. Wear eye patch and see from the stronger eye. if not treated by age 6, will eventually lead to loss of visual abilities in weaker eye. (amblyopia)
79
What is learning?
lasting changes caused by experience
80
What happens in synapse during habituation? What happens during sensitization?
Habituation- neural activity decreases because neurotransmitter in synapse gets depleted Sensitization- interneurons work to enhance and intensify the weakened sensory neuron input to the synapse of the sensory and motor nerves
81
You take your dog in the car when going to the vet. After several visits, Rover cowers and whimpers whenever he sees the car. Identify the US, UR, CS, and CR in this example of conditioned fear.
US is going to vet UR is cowering and whimpering CS is the car CR us cowering and whimpering when seeing the car
82
What is conditioned taste aversion? How does it happen?
Learning an association between between a food and an illness. Previous neutral stimulus (odor/taste) elicits a negative reaction (nausea)
83
What are positive reinforcements and negative reinforcement? What are the effects of each behavior?
Positive reinforcement- giving something pleasant to encourage behavior Negative reinforcement- removing something unpleasant to encourage behavior Both increases the behavior
84
What is learned helplessness?
Repeated exposure to inescapable punishment eventually produced a failure to make escape attempts
85
What is spatial navigation learning? Why is it hard to explain using operant conditioning?
Learning involving forming associations among stimuli relating to space. Rats subconsciously conducts spatial learning, even without motivation. The motivation merely allows it to learn faster.
86
What is observational learning/ What does it demonstrate when it happens?
Learning from watching behavior of others Observation leads to modeling and mimicry in behavior
87
What has research shown about media violence and aggressive behavior in child viewers?
Strong correlation
88
Which would be better for helping you learn psychology facts: massed or spaced practice? Why?
Spaced practice because semantic learning occurs. More likely to remember the material
89
What kinds of learning benefit from focused attention?
Associative learning, semantic, episodic
90
Which brain regions are associated with reward and punishment?
Reward- midbrain dopamine system.
91
Name and describe a process referred in the quotation "Cells that fire together, wire together"
Cels that fire a the same time repeatedly tend to become associated so that one will facilitate the other.
92
What kinds of learning can happen before we are born?
Non associative learning (habituation and sensitization)
93
What is stereotype threat, and what effect does it have on learning?
Awareness of negative stereotype that affects oneself. It often leads to impairment in performance
94
What are dyslexia and dyscalculia?
Dyslexia is learning disability that involves difficulties in learning to read not caused by general intelligence Dyscalculia is inability to readily process information about mathematics

Psy 101 (12 decks)

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