Exam #1 Study Guide

Question 1

ABC Triad

Answer 1

Affect (how people feel inside), Behavior (what people do), Cognition (what people think about)

Question 2

What is the difference between applied research and basic research?

Answer 2

Applied research focuses on solving particular problems, while basic research focuses on a general understanding of basic principles.

Question 3

What is the difference between between-subjects design and within-subjects design?

Answer 3

Between-subjects design means participants are only exposed to one level of the independent variable, while within-subjects design means all participants are exposed to all levels of the independent variable

Question 4

Confederate

Answer 4

A person secretly working for the researcher

Question 5

Confounding Variables

Answer 5

Occurs when two of the effects of variables cannot be separated

Question 6

What is the difference between construct validity and convergent validity?

Answer 6

Construct validity refers to the degree to which a test designed to measure a construct is actually measuring that construct, while convergent validity refers to the degree to which the results correlate with similar other measures.

Question 7

What is the difference and what are the defining aspects of experimental approaches and correlational approaches?

Answer 7

Experimental approaches need control and random assignment, they are studies in which a researcher manipulates an IV and randomly assigns people to levels of it.
A correlational approach is a non-experimental method in which the researcher merely observes whether variables are associated or related

Question 8

Correlation Coefficient (r)

Answer 8

The statistical relationship or association between two variables

Question 9

Demand Characteristics

Answer 9

Any clues in a study that suggest to participants what the researchers hypothesis is

Question 10

Dr. Gian is conducting an experiment to determine if meditation before bed would cause people to get better sleep, what is his hypothesis, dependent variable, and independent variable?

Answer 10

Hypothesis: meditation helps sleep
DV: quality of sleep
IV: meditation before bed

Question 11

What are the five basic steps of the scientific method?

Answer 11

1. Stating a problem to study
2. Formulate a testable hypothesis
3. Design a study
4. Test the hypothesis against collected data
5. Report study results

Question 12

What is the difference between reliability and validity? Internal validity and external validity?

Answer 12

Reliability: the extent to which the a measure gives consistent results
Validity: refers to how much a measure measures what it purports to measure. Internal validity: the extent to which changes in the IV caused changes in the DV
External validity: how much a study’s findings can be generalized to other people and settings.

Question 13

What is a factorial experiment design, and what are it’s main effects and interaction effects?

Answer 13

Factorial design: when there is more than one independent variable
Main effects: effects of a single variable while ignoring the effects of other variables Interaction effects: the effects of more than one variable acting together on the DV.

Question 14

What is a field experiment? Quasi-experiment?

Answer 14

Field experiment: An experiment conducted in a real-world setting
Quasi-experiment: A study where the researcher can manipulate an IV but cannot randomly assign conditions.

Question 15

What is an operational definition? (be able to give an example)

Answer 15

Operational definition: A description of something in terms of operations (procedures, actions, processes) by which it could be measured or observed.
Example: activation of the sympathetic nervous system as a operational definition of anxiety

Question 16

What is the importance of random assignment?

Answer 16

It spreads out the effects of other variables that cannot be controlled, therefore improving internal validity; as well as helping to eliminate possible sources of bias

Question 17

What role does mutation play in reproduction and survival according to Darwin’s theory of evolution?

Answer 17

Mutation is new genes or combinations of genes, if the mutation is helpful, it will improve reproduction and survival and will therefore help a species to evolve

Question 18

Psyche

Answer 18

A broader term for mind, encompassing emotions, desires, perceptions, and all other psychological processes

Question 19

What is special about humans in comparison to other social animals?

Answer 19

Our capacity for culture sets humans apart from other animals, unlike other animals humans use culture everyday and we depend on it for our survival

Question 20

What was the main characteristic that related to brain size in various animals (social brain theory)?

Answer 20

Robin Dunbar found that bigger brains were mainly linked to having larger and more complex social groups

Question 21

What is an example of culture influencing development?

Answer 21

Professional athletes are more likely to be born in January, due to the cut of date they are usually the biggest fastest kids and are therefore more likely to succeed, persist, and get attention from coaches

Question 22

What is the duplex mind and what are its characteristics?

Answer 22

Duplex mind: the mind has two different processing systems (deliberate and automatic)
Automatic: Outside of consciousness, performs simple operations, operates always, even during sleep
Deliberate: Conscious mind (turns off during sleep), performs complex operations, sometimes may need to override automatic system

Question 23

What terms are used to describe each of the dual processes?

Answer 23

Automatic and deliberate

Question 24

How do the two processes of the duplex mind work together? (3 things)

Answer 24

• The automatic system’s operations make the conscious (deliberate) system possible.
• Conscious override- sometimes the deliberate system will suppress automatic urges, conscious override is vital for life in culture.
• The automatic system works to alarm the deliberate system when conscious, deliberate thought is needed.

Question 25

What was the word puzzle experiment? Explain the subconscious priming effect.

Answer 25

The word puzzle experiment was an experiment where participants where asked to form sentences from given words, different groups were exposed to different words and it was found that the words they were exposed to changed their behavior afterwards.
This demonstrates the unconscious priming effect- the activation of an idea in someone’s mind influences subsequent responses or behaviors

Question 26

What was the Asch study?

Answer 26

Participants where asked to determine which line fit best, when confederates gave an obviously wrong answer, participants went along with that answer more often than they did not. This demonstrates that people are highly effected by their social settings, to the point that they will give an obviously incorrect answer in order to conform to the people around them

Question 27

Name and describe the three parts of the self

Answer 27

Agent self: the part of the self involved in control, including control of the self, taking charge of situations, and decision making
Interpersonal self: the image of the self that is conveyed to others, self-presentation and reputation.
Self concept: beliefs about the self, self-awareness, self-esteem, and self-deception

Question 28

What is the interdependent self-construal? The independent self-construal?

Answer 28

Independent self-construal: a self-concept that emphasizes what makes the self different and sets it apart from others
Interdependent self-construal: a self-concept that emphasizes what connects the self to other people and groups

Question 29

What is the difference between private and public self-awareness?

Answer 29

Private self awareness: looking inward on the private aspects of the self, including emotions, thoughts, desires, and traits
Public self-awareness: looking outward on the public aspects of the self that others can see and evaluate

Question 30

How do standards and social comparison (upward and downward) influence behavior?

Answer 30

Standards: when people become aware that they fall short of some standard, it causes them to either, change in attempt to meet the standard, or escape the issue by avoiding/reducing self-awareness or changing their perception of the standard instead of changing the self
Upward comparison: May inspire people to do better, or it can be discouraging
Downward comparison: Makes people feel better about themselves
Social comparison can damage close relationships

Question 31

Automatic egotism

Answer 31

Response by the automatic system that “everything good is me, and everything not good isn’t me”

Question 32

When seeking greater self-awareness/self-knowledge, what are the consistency, appraisal, and self-enhancement motives?

Answer 32

Consistency motive: Looking for confirmation about current beliefs about the self, negative or positive
Appraisal motive: Looking for the truth about oneself, whatever it is
Self-enhancement motive: Looking to learn favorable or flattering things about the self

Question 33

What is the generalized other? The looking-glass self?

Answer 33

Generalized other: a combination of others’ views that informs the self on who they are
Looking-glass self: The idea that people learn about themselves by imagining how they appear to others, and developing an emotional response to it

Question 34

What is the endowment effect? The self-reference effect?

Answer 34

Endowment effect: Information relating to the self is processed more deeply and hence remembered better
Endowment effect: Items gain in value to the person who owns them/when closer to the self

Question 35

What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?

Answer 35

Intrinsic motivation comes from wanting to perform an activity for its own sake, while extrinsic motivation comes from wanting to perform a task because of something that results from it

Question 36

Over-justification effect

Answer 36

The tendency for intrinsic motivation to diminish for activities that have become associated with rewards

Question 37

Phenomenal/working self-concept

Answer 37

The image of the self that is currently active in the person’s thoughts

Question 38

Self-handicapping

Answer 38

Putting obstacles in the way of ones own performance so that anticipated or possible failure can be blamed on the obstacle instead of on lack of ability

Question 39

How was Bem’s self-perception theory different or new in 1965?

Answer 39

Self-perception theory states that people learn by observing their own behavior just like they do with other people, when they cannot infer their attitudes from normal routes of introspection. Bem’s introduction of this theory seemed radical at the time because it seemed to dismiss introspection and privileged access, but in truth it does not.

Question 40

What is self-regulation and why is it important?

Answer 40

Self-regulation: the processes people use to control and change their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
Self-regulation allows us to bring ourselves more in line with what other people, including our cultures, want and expect. As well as helping us to evaluate and manage our behavior in terms of reaching goals.

Question 41

Self-serving bias

Answer 41

A pattern in which people claim credit for success but deny blame for failure

Question 42

How do people use self-presentation to claim an identity?

Answer 42

When someone decides to change their identity, they also need to persuade others that they hold this identity. They will shift their behaviors and attitudes around other people (aka how they present themselves) in order to convey this identity to others.

Question 43

What the importance of one’s capacity to delay gratification?

Answer 43

The ability to make immediate sacrifices for later rewards is important for existing within human culture- many self-defeating behaviors emphasize the present over the future, being able to delay gratification is helpful in every aspect of human society (money, retirement, school, etc.).

Question 44

In what way does imagining yourself doing something effect the outcome?

Answer 44

It has been found that when someone imagines themselves putting in the work to gain a desired outcome, it’s more likely the desired outcome will occur.

Question 45

How do risk aversion, certainty effect, temporal discounting, and regret avoidance work?

Answer 45

These are all naturally occurring cognitive biases found to be present in people, they influence our everyday choices. .
Risk aversion: In decision making, the tendency for people to emphasize loses over gains.
Certainty effect: In decision making, the greater weight given to definite outcomes over probabilities
Temporal discounting: In decision making, the greater weight given to the present over the future
Regret avoidance/omission bias: People avoid making choices and taking actions that they fear they will regret later on.

Question 46

Explain the likely difference between incremental and entity theorists reactions to failure.

Answer 46

Incremental theorists are more likely to respond positively to failure because they see failure as an opportunity for growth; entity theorists are more likely to develop learned helplessness and retract from failure in anger or sadness.

Question 47

How do automatic and deliberate systems work with and against each other in goal achievement? (know the Zeigarnik effect)

Answer 47

The automatic system is great and executing plans but not so good at making them, while the deliberate system is inefficient at carrying out plans but excels at making them, both systems help in the pursuit of goals. Sometimes, the automatic system will causes someone to experience automatic intrusive thoughts about goals whose progress has been interrupted (the Zeigarnik effect); however, this also helps to provide initiative to resume progress.

Question 48

Learned helplessness

Answer 48

Belief that one’s actions will not bring about desired outcomes, leading one to give up and quit trying.

Question 49

What does reactance theory tell us about rules, signs, and parent commands that y reduce our choices?

Answer 49

Reactance theory: The idea that people are distressed by loss of freedom or options and seek to reclaim or reassert them.
This tends to make forbidden options more attractive, it may cause people to react aggressively, and is likely to cause someone to try to reclaim the lost option. This means that people will generally feel the urge to break rules given to them by parents, signs, or anything else seeking to control them.

Question 50

Explain self-regulation using the terms monitoring, capacity to change, and standards.

Answer 50

Self regulation is the self’s capacity to alter it’s own responses; its self-control. The process is usually one of comparing oneself to standards existing in the environment, and deciding to move towards these standards. Then, through self-monitoring, they will attempt to keep track of their behaviors and mentally compare them to the standards, during this stage ones willpower, or capacity to change, is activated. This is how much mental energy one is able to use in attempt to change.

Question 51

What are the status quo bias and the omission bias?

Answer 51

Status quo bias: The preference to keep things the way they are rather than change
Omission bias: The tendency to take whatever course of action does not require you to do anything (also called the default option).

Question 52

How does the planning fallacy affect me when planning home improvement projects?

Answer 52

Dr. Barch overestimates how quickly he will be able to complete his home improvement projects.

Question 53

Describe and explain a self-defeating behavior.

Answer 53

A self-defeating behavior is any act that causes someone to bring failure, suffering or misfortune on themselves. An example of this would be someone saying “I don’t smoke cigarettes so I won’t get cancer, even if I vape all day everyday.” Usually self-defeating behaviors demonstrate a tradeoff of now vs. later, or faulty knowledge about the world.

Question 54

List and explain the three psychological needs in self-determination theory

Answer 54

Competence: One must feel effective in dealing with their environment and activities
Autonomy: One must feel a good amount of control and freedom over their environment
Relatedness: One must feel a sense of belonging and feel like they have close, fulfilling relationships

Question 55

Understand cognitive evaluation and the internalization process in self-determination theory.

Answer 55

One’s cognitive evolution a situation will greatly effect their motivation. If someone is given an external reward they will most likely not have a lot of internal motivation, however if they internalize this external motivation, and evaluate the goal to be something they want to do for a personal reason (even if that’s just they understand it’s importance), they will experience greater motivation. It’s all about how someone appraises a goal, and whether they internalize that goal or not.

Question 56

Explain how social contexts affect our physical and psychological health according to self-determination theory.

Answer 56

Our social contexts, provide us or do not provide us with the needs outlined in SDT; if ones three needs are not met, they will experience psychological distress and this is conducive to ill-being and pathology.

Question 57

What evidence is there that self-regulation requires mental energy that can be depleted?

Answer 57

In laboratory settings, people who are asked to resist temptation struggle to resist additional temptation more so than people who did not resist initial temptation. This demonstrates that willpower is a type of energy that is used and depleted through use. (Ice cream and radishes study)