exam 1 RETAKE

Question 1

in your own words, summerize the basis, goals and requriments of using the emperical approach for scientific questions

Answer 1

the emperical approach is the cornerstone of psychology; it relies on evidence obtained through observation and experimentation; attemps to explore and understand without being misled

Question 2

describe the traits of curiosity, skepticism, and humility, as they realted to adopting a scientific attitude, provide examples to illistrate these descriptions as neccesary

Answer 2

curiosity; does it work?
skepticism; how do you know?
humility; that was unexpected, lets explore futher

Question 3

briefly describe the differences between the 3 main levels of analysis discussed in class, and how does it relate to one another. provide an example of a research topic that would benefit from the incoorporation of all 3 levels of analysis

Answer 3

biological; genetic dispositons, genetic mutations, psychological; learned fears, emotional responses, social-cultural; presence of others, family, friends, peer expectatons

biopsychosocial model

Question 4

despite the varitey of professonal and research subfields in psychology, what do they tend to have in common?

Answer 4

psychologists; psychiatrists
* they all have a goal to observe and evaluate behavior and the mind that underlies those behaviors

Question 5

compare and contrast the categories of basic and applied research.

Answer 5

basic (pure) research is conduced for the purpose of aquiring knowlage; applied research is intended to bring some benefit to humankind. many research projects have elements of both approaches

Question 6

compare and contrast the 3 roadblocks to critical thinking

Answer 6

hindsight bias; I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon; for exmaple “opposites attract”, overconfidence; Tendency to think we know more than we do, Perceiving patterns in random events; Random sequence is unsettling; making sense creates calm

Question 7

what are the purpose of using emperical approach and psychologial science

Answer 7

the purpose of using emperical aprroach and psychologial science is to:
* Sift reality from over estimated intuition and illusion
* Avoid systematic errors or biases in thinking and judgments

Question 8

compare and contrast anedocial vs emperical evidence

Answer 8

anedocial evidence is impressions or opinions and often biased; emperical evidence is infomation based on experience, observation, or experiment and gaurds against bias

Question 9

decribe the primary purposes of each non-experimental (descriptive) approaches discussed

Answer 9

1. case studies: focuses on a single case
2. naturalistic observation: studies groups of subjects exposed to conditions in the real world
3. surverys and interveiws: self-report behavior or opinions of particular group
4. correlational studies: A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together (how well the factors predict each other)

correlation DOES NOT = causation

Question 10

compare and contrast a random sample to a representative sample. what is the goal of sampling, and which method of sampling is preferred

Answer 10

a random sample is a group randomly selected from a population; a representive sample is handpicked, or intentanlly selected

Best basis for generalizing is from a representative sample

Question 11

what does correlation suggest, and what does it not suggest?

Answer 11

Correlation suggests a possible cause-effect relationship but does not prove it.

Question 12

what are the primary features of experimental designs that distinguish them from non-experimental designs?

Answer 12

experimental designs have control over their variables, it’s a random assingment, while non-experimental designs don’t

Question 13

compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of studying humans vs. animals as participants in psychological studies.

Answer 13

humans can follow directions, animals have simpler brains and less eithical concerns

Question 14

define biological rhythms, and provide one example

Answer 14

regular fluctuations in living processes

examples: hormone levels, body temperature, etc.

Question 15

describe what a circadian rhythms is, provide an example of circadian rhythms, and indicate the primary environmental cue responsible for entraining circadian rhythms. what is the evolutionary advantage of maintaining circadian rhythms?

Answer 15

circadian rhythms: “about a day”; daily cortisol & melationin rythms. an example would be the sleep-wake cycle. the primary envriomental cue responsible is the light-dark cycle. evolutionary advantage: allows us to anticipate an event (sunrise)

Question 16

compare and contrast the three standard psychophysiological measures of sleep discussed in class

Answer 16

1. Electroencephalogram (EEG) = brain waves
2. Electrooculogram (EOG) = eye movements
3. Electromyogram (EMG) = muscle tension

Question 17

briefly distinguish between the three non-REM sleep stages. how do the non-REM stages compare and contrast with REM sleep?

Answer 17

NREM-1 (N1) sleep: Slow breathing and irregular brain waves; hallucinations; hypnagogic (hypnic) sensations; brief
NREM-2 (N2) sleep: Relaxed more deeply; 20 minutes; sleep spindles that aid memory processing
NREM-3 (N3) sleep: Deep sleep; 30 minutes; slow delta waves

Question 18

how do sleep stages evolve over the course of a nights’ sleep?

Answer 18

they occur every 90 minutes, and peopple cycle through distinct stages.

Question 19

what are the primary ways in which sleep stages differ throughout the lifespan?

Answer 19

infants and babies tend to get more time in rem and n-rem sleep than adults

Question 20

summarize the major influences affecting our sleep patterns and the primary functions of sleep

Answer 20

genetic influences; cultural influences, effects of presence or absence of light on the 24-hour biological clock

Question 21

how do sleep debts occur, and how long do they take to recover from fully? describe some of the major effects observed with consistent sleep loss.

Answer 21

sleep debts occur when someone does not get enough sleep for a consecutive amount of days. it can tale up to 2 weeks to recover and major effects are difficulty doing basic tasks

Question 22

summarize the major sleep disorders discussed in class.

Answer 22

• sleepwalking (1-15%): occurs during N3 sleep
• Sleeptalking (1-15%): occurs during any sleep stage
• Insomnia (10%): difficulty falling asleep and/or staying asleep
• Sleep apnea (5%): characterized by breathing cessation
• Night terrors (1%): characterized by high arousal and terrified experience; occur during N3 sleep
• Narcolepsy (0.05%): characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks

Question 23

what qualities characterize dreaming when awoken from REM sleep? summarize some of the main theories suggesting why we dream

Answer 23

awakenings from REM yield reports of story-like dreams with visual imagery, and we dream because of
* Freud’s wish fulfillment theory: to satisfy own wishes symbolically
* Information processing theory: to file away memories
* Physiological function theory: to develop and preserve neural pathways (via continued periodic stimulation incurred by dreaming)
* Activation-synthesis theory: to make sense of neural static
* Cognitive theory: to reflect cognitive development

Question 24

define memory and summarize how we can be certain of our ability to retain memories.

Answer 24

memory is the persistence of learning over time through the encoding, storage, and retrieval of information. we can be certian of our ability to retain memories by recalling information, recognizing it, relearning it more easily on a later attempt

Question 25

compare and contrast recall vs. recognition, and provide an example of each.

Answer 25

Recall: A measure of memory in which the person must retrieve information learned earlier
* Example: fill-in-the-blank questions

Recognition: A measure of memory in which the person identifies items previously learned; occurs very fast
* Example:multiple-choice questions

Question 26

what does the metric of “relearning” measure?

Answer 26

a measure of memory that assesses the amount of time saved when learning material again

Question 27

what is the purpose of using memory models, and what is the major memory model still followed
today?

Answer 27

1. information-processing model compares human memory to computer operations ;involves three processes: encoding, storage, and retrieval
2. Connectionism (information-processing model) focuses on multitrack, parallel processing—the processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; views memories as products of interconnected neural networks

Question 28

describe the three stages associated with the famous Atkinson-Shiffrin model of memory developed in 1968. what process is required to actively move memory between each stage?

Answer 28

sensory memory, the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information; short-term memory(activated memory that holds a few items briefly); and long-term memory, the relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system of knowledge, skills, and experiences, for later retrieval. working memory is required for each stage

Question 29

compare and contrast explicit and implicit memories. how is each type of memory encoded? provide an example of each kind.

Answer 29

• explicit memory (declarative memory): memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and “declare.”; implicit memory(nondeclarative memory): retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection

implict memory is like riding a bike, once you learn you can do it unconciously. explicit memory is like recalling details from a family vacation

Question 30

how is sensory memory related to the process of forming explicit memories?

Answer 30

Sensory memory feeds our active working memory, recording momentary images of scenes or echoes of sounds

Question 31

compare and contrast iconic and echoic memory

Answer 31

Iconic memory: Picture-image memory of visual stimuli lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
Echoic memory: Sound memory of auditory stimuli; can be recalled within 3 or 4 seconds

Question 32

describe the known capacity associated with short-term memory. what types of factors affect the capacity of working memory?

Answer 32

We can store 7 ± 2 bits of information. things that affect the capcity of working memory varies by age, distractions at the time of memory tasks, and the type of task

Question 33

describe and provide examples of the types of effortful processing strategies discussed in class.

Answer 33

Chunking: Organization of items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically ;Mnemonics: Memory aids, especially techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices; Hierarchies: Organization of items into a few broad categories that are divided and subdivided into narrower concepts and facts

Question 34

describe was is meant by the spacing effect, the testing effect, and the self-reference effect. how can these observations help us to study more effectively?

Answer 34

Distributed practice produces better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice. we study more effectvely by smart practice—occasional rehearsal with self-testing—makes for lasting memories

Question 35

compare and contrast anterograde and retrograde amnesia.

Answer 35

Anterograde amnesia: Inability to form new memories; Retrograde amnesia: Inability to retrieve information from one’s past

Question 36

at what point in the process of acquiring new information can it be forgotten?

Answer 36

we forget at any age, when we process information, we filter, alter, or lose most of it

Question 37

name and describe some factors contributing to encoding failures.

Answer 37

factors contributing to encoding failures are age and attention

Question 38

how does the course of forgetting change? describe the observation of storage decay

Answer 38

forgetting changes rapidly, then levels off.

Question 39

name and describe two factors contributing to retrieval failure.

Question 40

describe the process of reconsolidation and how it contributes to memory construction errors.

Answer 40

Reconsolidation is a process in which previously stored memories, when retrieved, are potentially altered before being stored again. this contributes to memory construction errors because of the misinfomation effect

Question 41

what is the misinformation effect?

Answer 41

orruption of a memory by introducing misleading information

Question 42

describe and provide an example of source amnesia (also referred to as source misattribution).

Answer 42

attributing to the wrong source an event we have experienced, heard about, read about, or imagined

example: deja vu

Question 43

describe a plan you could implement to improve learning strategies using empirical evidence, including the combination of a few realistic strategies.

Answer 43

reheasring, making meaningful material, sleep more, mneomics

Question 44

describe and provide an example of a prototype. What is the purpose of developing cognitive prototypes?

Answer 44

mental image or best example of a category; when something closely matches our prototype of a concept, we more readily recognize it as an example of the concept.

Question 45

describe some common problem solving strategies. how does insight compare to strategy-based solutions?

Answer 45

Trial and error; Algorithm: Methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem; Heuristic: Simple thinking strategy that often allows efficient judgments and problem solving

insight compares its a sudden realization of a problem’s solution

Question 46

describe and provide an example of the confirmation bias. how can confirmation bias lead to a state of fixation?

Answer 46

confirmation bias: Tendency to search for information that supports our existing beliefs and to ignore or distort contradictory evidence; this can lead to fixation because we’ll have a hard time adopting different beleifs

example: leads us to seek evidence for our ideas more eagerly than again

Question 47

provide some reasoning for why the representativeness heuristic and the availability heuristic may be beneficial and why they may be detrimental.

Answer 47

they are simular because they can estimate the likleiness of an event, but they can also lead us to ignore other relavent infomation and we can assume events are common

Question 48

in what ways can overconfidence be challenging vs. adaptive?

Answer 48

overconfidence can be challanging by overestimating accuracy of personal knowledge and judgments, overestimation, and closed-mindedness; can be adaptive by boosting self-confidence, make difficult decisions more easily, and seem competent

Question 49

describe how belief perseverance and framing can influence how we make decisions and judgments. how can intuition overcome these influences?

Answer 49

they can both alter what we belieive; intuttion can overcome this because smart people can make not-so-smart decisions