Chapters 1-3

Question 1

Why is psychology a science?

Answer 1

Psychology describes, predicts, and explores behaviour and mental processes using systematic empirical methods.

Question 2

What is the structuralism and functionalism school of thoughts?

Answer 2

Structuralism asks “what is the structure of mental experiences?”

Functionalism asks “what is the purpose (in an evolutionary sense) of mental experiences?” Why do these structures have to carry out these processes?

Functionalism is better than structuralism because conscious reflection can’t be applied to all subjects. Functionalism also fits with Darwin’s evolution theory.

Question 3

What is psychoanalysis?

Answer 3

This stream of psychology explores: “free association,” hypnosis and dreams.
Sigmund Freud believed that behaviour is governed by unconscious thoughts.

Question 4

What is behaviouralism?

Answer 4

A systematic method or approach to understanding changes in behaviour.

It is limited because it focuses solely on observable behaviours and discounts the importance of mental activity such as thinking, wishing, and hoping.

Question 5

What is cognitive psychology?

Answer 5

This stream of psychology sees the mind as a problem-solving system and believes that individual mental processes control behaviour. Focusses on memory and perception.

Question 6

What is anecdotal evidence?

Answer 6

“Evidence” based on personal experience

EX: lucid dreaming is backed by anecdotal evidence, honey lemon tea curing sickness is not backed by scientific evidence.

Question 7

What is falsifiability?

Answer 7

The capacity for research to be proven wrong.

Question 8

Why isn’t correlation equal to causation?

Answer 8

In correlational research, an association between two things desn’t imply a cause and effect relationship. To research causation you can do experimental research.

Question 9

What does Occam’s Razor say?

Answer 9

If two explanations account for something equally well, choose the simpler one.

Question 10

What are the steps of the scientific method?

Answer 10

1) observation of a phenomenon
2) formulate a hypothesis using a theory
3) testing through empirical research
4) drawing conclusions
5) evaluation

Question 11

What is an operational definition?

Answer 11

A working definition of what you’re measuring.

EX: A study about noise on tolerance for frustration. Operational definition says it will measure time spent working on an unsolvable puzzle.

Question 12

What are the 2 types of flaws in experimental design? Explain the flaws and the solution.

Answer 12

Experimenter expectancy effect: The researcher’s expectations can unintentionally project to the participants through subtle cues.

Demand characteristics: Subtle cues cause participants to try to “help” the researcher by behaving in a way they think is wanted.

SOLUTION – double-blind procedure: neither the participants nor the researchers know which treatment or intervention the participants are receiving

Question 13

What is correlational research?

Answer 13

An investigation the relationship between two variables (x and y) using a correlational coefficient (r = -1, 0, +1).

Question 14

What 2 things are necessary to perform an ethical investigation?

Answer 14

1. informed consent: tell participants what they are getting in to beforehand
2. debriefing: inform participants what the study was about and inform if deception was used
   (Make sure all experiments follow moral guidelines)

Question 15

When is it okay to use deception in an experiment?

Answer 15

a) when you couldn’t have performed study without it
b) when it doesn’t negatively affect the rights of the participant
c) when research doesn’t involve medical or therapeutic intervention

Question 16

What is reliability vs validity?

Answer 16

Reliability: consistency of measurements
Validity: extent to which a measure is measuring what you want it to

Question 17

What is generalizability and how can we overcome bias in our experiment samples?

Answer 17

Generalizability is the ability of the results to be representative of a population. Random selection ensures that every person in the population has an equal chance of being chosen to participate to eliminate a biased handpicked sample.

Question 18

Why are researchers interested in correlational research?

Answer 18

The variables are of interest are real-world events and it may be the ethical method in some cases.

Question 19

What are descriptive statistics?

Answer 19

Summarizing and organizing data to describe.

Question 20

What are inferential statistics?

Answer 20

Using laws of probability to interpret data and draw conclusions – seeing if results occur by chance or the IV working.

Question 21

What are the parts of a neuron?

Answer 21

Soma (cell body): contains the nucleus, organelles, and other structures that maintain the neuron’s structure and function

Axon: sends information to other neurons

Dendrite: receives information from other neurons

Myelin sheath: a fatty substance that acts as insulation, speeding up
transmission along the axon

Question 22

What is a synapse?

Answer 22

Where the axon meets the dendrites of another neuron. The arrival of an action potential at the axon terminal triggers
releases neurotransmitters – chemicals that transmit information from one neuron to another

Question 23

What are antagonist and agonist drugs and how do they impact neurotransmitter activity?

Answer 23

Antagonist: a drug that blocks neurotransmitter activity
poison curare paralyzes by blocking acetylcholine

Agonist: a drug that mimics neurotransmitter activity
L-DOPA acts like dopamine for Parkinson’s patients

Question 24

What is plasticity?

Answer 24

The nervous system’s ability to change

1. Synaptic pruning: the brain will removes neurons and synapses that it does not need
2. Potentiation: neurons become more excitable over time due to repeated stimulation.

Question 25

What are the 3 areas of the brain?

Answer 25

the brain can be divided into hindbrain, midbrain, and forebrain.

Question 26

What does the hindbrain include? The hindbrain is responsible for responsible for regulating vital functions.

Answer 26

medulla: regulates heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, reflexes such as sneezing, vomiting, coughing
pons: connects the cerebellum to the midbrain, helps with senses and movement of the face and mouth.
cerebellum: involved in sense of balance and learning motor skills

Question 27

What does the midbrain include? The midbrain receives auditory and visual input and helps helps coordinate reflexive movements.

Answer 27

brain stem: the junction where spinal cord meets brain

Question 28

What does the forebrain include?

Answer 28

cerebrum, thalamus and hypothalamus

Question 29

What brain structures are included in the limbic system and what are their functions?

Answer 29

Thalamus: receives sensory information from the body and relays it to the cerebral cortex for further processing
Hypothalamus: regulates and maintains constant internal body states,
Amygdala: processes emotional information
Hippocampus: plays a central role in forming memories.

Question 30

What is the cerebral cortex? How is it split and connected in 2 PARTS? What are its 4 REGIONS?

Answer 30

The cerebral cortex is responsible for higher brain functions (thinking, memory, problem solving).

Its four regions are the: frontal lobe, parietal lobe, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe.

The cortex is divided into left and right parts by the longitudinal fissure, which separates the two cerebral hemispheres that are joined beneath the cortex by the corpus callosum.

Question 31

What consists of the frontal lobe and what does the frontal lobe do?

Answer 31

Used when planning and coordinating movements, decision-making, planning and speech production. Involves motor cortex prefrontal cortex and Broca’s area.

Question 32

What consists of the parietal lobe and what does the parietal lobe do?

Answer 32

Processes sensory information across the body (touch, temperature, pain)
parietal lobe also involved in spatial awareness and number processing. Involves the somatosensory cortex.

Question 33

What consists of the occipital lobe and what does the occipital lobe do?

Answer 33

Processes visual information. Involves the visual cortex.

Question 34

What consists of the temporal lobe and what does the temporal lobe do?

Answer 34

Processes auditory information and speech comprehension. Involves auditory cortex and Wernicke’s Area.

Question 35

What causes a lesion and what does it tell us?

Answer 35

Causes: tumour, stroke, head injury, deliberate surgical removal (usually done on animals).
Because damage is usually local, lesions can tell us something about localization of function

Question 36

What is the difference between a neurotransmitter and a hormone?

Answer 36

Neurotransmitters are carried through nerves faster and have brief effects. Hormones travel through the bloodstream slower and have longer lasting effects.

Question 37

How does the endocrine system work in the “fight or flight” response?

Answer 37

Adrenal glands secrete:
• adrenaline to boost energy production in muscles
• cortisol to regulate blood pressure and cardiovascular function

Question 38

Behavioural genetics is a field that measures and estimates heritability. What is concordance?

Answer 38

The probability that a pair of individuals will both have a certain trait, given that one of the pair has the trait.

EX: fraternal twins share 50% of genes while identical twins - share 100% of genes. If a trait is inherited, we should see more concordance among identical twins than fraternal twins.