Exam I

Question 1

Define Psychology

Answer 1

science of behavior & mental processes

Question 2

What are the four major research perspectives?

Answer 2

biological, cognitive, behavioral, sociocultural

Question 3

Explain the cognitive research perspective.

Answer 3

how mental processes (perception, memory, problem solving) work & impact behavior

Question 4

Explain the behavioral perspective.

Answer 4

emphasizes conditioning of our behavior by environmental events; more emphasis on explaining observable behavior than understanding mental processes

Question 5

Explain the biological perspective.

Answer 5

physiological hardware, esp. brain & nervous system, viewed as major determiner of behavior & mental processes

Question 6

Explain the sociocultural perspective.

Answer 6

how other people & the cultural context impact our behavior & mental processes

Question 7

What is hindsight bias?

Answer 7

I knew-it-along phenomenon. The tendency, after learning about an outcome, to be overconfident in the ability to have predicted it.

Question 8

What are the research method types?

Answer 8

descriptive, correlational, experimental

Question 9

What is descriptive research?

Answer 9

observational techniques, case studies, surveys. Provides objective, detailed descriptions of behavior & mental processes

Question 10

What is naturalistic observation?

Answer 10

a descriptive research method in which the behavior of interest in observed in its natural setting & the researcher does not intervene

Question 11

What is participant observation?

Answer 11

descriptive research method, observer becomes part of group being observed.

Question 12

What is a case study?

Answer 12

researcher studies an individual in depth over an extended period of time

Question 13

What is survey research?

Answer 13

descriptive research method in which the researcher uses questionnaires & interviews to collect information about behavior, beliefs & attitudes of particular groups of people

Question 14

What is the population?

Answer 14

the entire group of people a researcher is studying.

Question 15

What is the sample?

Answer 15

the subset of a population that actually participates in a research study

Question 16

What is random sampling?

Answer 16

sample technique, obtains representative sample in a population by ensuring that each individual in a populations has an equal opportunity to be in the sample

Question 17

What is a correlational study?

Answer 17

a research study in which two variables are measured to determine is they are related (how well either one predicts the other)

Question 18

What is the variable?

Answer 18

any factor that can take on more than one value

Question 19

What is a correlation coefficient?

Answer 19

a statistic that tells the type & strength of a relationship between two variables. absolute value= 0.0-1.0 (-,+) represents strength

Question 20

What does a positive correlation mean?

Answer 20

direct relationship between two variables (0.0-1.0)

Question 21

What does a negative correlation mean?

Answer 21

an inverse relationship b/t two variables. -0.9-(-0.1)

Question 22

What is the mean, median and mode?

Answer 22

mean=average, median=middle score, mode=most frequent score

Question 23

What is the percentile rank?

Answer 23

the percentage of scores below a specific score in a distribution of scores.

Question 24

What is the axon of the neuron?

Answer 24

the long, singular fiber projecting out of the cell body whose function is to conduct the neural impulse from the cell body to the axon terminals triggering chemical communications w/ other neurons. covered in myelin sheath=insulating layer covering that allows for faster neural impulses.

Question 25

What are neurotransmitters?

Answer 25

naturally occurring chemical in the nervous system that specializes in transmitting info between neurons

Question 26

What is the CNS?

Answer 26

The Central Nervous System=brain, spinal cord.

Question 27

What is the PNS?

Answer 27

Peripheral nervous system=part of the nervous system that links to CNS w/ the body’s sensory receptors, muscles, glands (somatic: sensory input, outgoing commands from brain–>skeletal muscles, automatic nervous system & stomach. sympathetic: “fight or flight,” controls body when it is aroused. Parasympathetic: “rest & digest” controls body during rest state.

Question 28

What are neurons?

Answer 28

cells that transmit info w/in nervous system

Question 29

what is the frontal lobe of the brain?

Answer 29

area in ea. cerebral hemisphere in front of the central fissure & above the lateral fissure, motor cortex in this lobe (allows movement of dif. parts of the body)

Question 30

What is the parietal lobe?

Answer 30

the area in each cerebral hemisphere in back of the central fissure & above the lateral fissure. Includes the somatosensory cortex (allows us to sense pressure, temp & pain in dif. parts of our body as well as the position of our body parts)

Question 31

What is the occipital lobe?

Answer 31

the area in the lower back of each cerebral hemisphere. the primary visual cortex is in this lobe, where visual sensory info is initially processed.

Question 32

Describe the temporal lobe.

Answer 32

Includes primary auditory cortex where auditory sensory information is initially processed.

Question 33

What is REM?

Answer 33

Rapid eye movement. stage of sleep that is characterized by REMs and brain wave patterns that resemble those for an awake state and in which most dreaming occurs. sometimes called paradoxical sleep because the bodily muscles are immobilized but much of the brain is highly active.

Question 34

Define sensation and perception.

Answer 34

Sensation=gathering info w/ our senses. perception=interpreting info.

Question 35

What is the trichromatic theory?

Answer 35

it assumes there are three types of cones, each only activated by wavelength ranges of light corresponding roughly to blue, green, and red. all the various colors that we see are mixtures of various levels of activation of the three types of cones. all three activated=white

Question 36

What is the opponent-process theory?

Answer 36

it assumes there are three opponent-process cell systems=red-green, blue-yellow, black-white. they process color information after it has been processed by the cones. colors in ea. system oppose one another in that if one color is simulated, other is inhibited.

Question 37

What is bottom-up processing?

Answer 37

the process of incoming sensory information as it travels up from the sensory structures to the brain

Question 38

What is top-down processing?

Answer 38

the brain’s use of knowledge, beliefs and expectations to interpret sensory information

Question 39

What is the figure/ground principle?

Answer 39

The Gestalt perceptual organizational principle that the brain organizes sensory information into a figure or figures (the center of attention) and ground (less distinct background). vase & face photo.

Question 40

What is closure?

Answer 40

the gestalt perceptual organizational principle that the brain completes (closes) incomplete figures to form meaningful objects.

Question 41

What is subjective contour?

Answer 41

a line of shape that is perceived to be present but does not really exist. the brain creates it during perception.

Question 42

What is death perception?

Answer 42

our ability to perceive the distance of objects from us