exam review mocks revision Flashcards
Describe the structure and function of a neuron?
- Neurons enable communication within the nervous system
- the cell body (soma) contains the genetic material
- branch-like dendrites extend from the cell body (often with dendritic spines)
- dendrites carry functional information towards the cell body
- dendrites can receive information from other neurons
- axons carry messages away from the cell body
- axons can be myelinated to increase speed of nerve transmission (saltatory conduction between
nodes of Ranvier) - terminal boutons are at the end of axons, these make synaptic connections with other cells * axon terminals contain neurotransmitters.
Econoligical validity
the extent to which behaviours observed and recorded in a study reflect the behaviours that actually occur in the real world
Explain one difference between Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
- fMRIs have poor temporal resolution whereas ERPs have good temporal resolution
- fMRIs have good spatial resolution whereas ERPs have poor spatial resolution
Explain one similarity between Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and ERPS
fMRIs and ERPs are both non-invasive and do not use radiation (risk free) * fMRIs and ERPs both measure brain activity linked to events/tasks.
Explain how Zapurpain might affect the process of synaptic transmission through
inhibition.
- Zapurpain mimics the effect of inhibitory neurotransmitters, stimulation of postsynaptic receptors by an
inhibitory neurotransmitter result in inhibition (hyperpolarisation) of the postsynaptic membrane - when an inhibitory neurotransmitter binds to the post-synaptic receptors it makes the post-synaptic cell
less likely to fire (IPSP) - Summation – if inhibitory inputs are higher than excitatory they can cancel out excitation and inhibit an
action potential occurring/Zapurpain would decrease the overall activity - Zapurpain would make the post-synaptic cell less likely to fire
reducing brain activity may lead to reduced pain.
dream analysis pscyodymanic eval
Another limitation is that key concepts are not directly observable and have to be inferred from indirect producers such as dream analysis problems of generalisability due to lack of evidence in particular and reliance on individual case studies
Explain one strength and one limitation of using this volterining sampling method in this study?
- one strength is that students will be happy and willing to participate so will be more likely to complete the daily sleep questionnaire
- one strength is that it is not a time-consuming method/minimal input from the researcher as the psychologist only puts up a poster at the university and waits for students to volunteer
- one limitation is that it would provide a biased sample as it would only include psychology students at one particular university which would not necessarily reflect the population as they are all of a similar age/academic level
one limitation is that the sample may be biased as the type of student who volunteers may have differing traits to the general population, for example they may be more extrovert.
Explain one reason why the researcher decided to include these additional questions
on the questionnaire?
students would be less likely to alter their ratings about their sleep quality, reducing demand characteristics (improving validity).
Outline one reason why it was appropriate to conduct a correlation rather than an
experiment in this case.
- it would be difficult to dictate the number of hours the students should sleep
it may be more ethical to conduct a correlation rather than restrict how many hours each student slept.
Explain why the researcher decided to use the 5% level of significance rather than the
1% level in this study.
the 5% level of significance is the conventional level of probability employed by psychologists/balances the risks of making a Type I and Type II error
What is meant by the term meta-analysis?
meta-analysis is the process where researchers collect and collate a wide range of previously conducted research on a specific area
Briefly explain why a directional hypothesis would be most suitable for this experiment.
There is past research indicating that the variables are similar have an effect on ea ch other (or similar).
Explain how the psychologist could have matched pupils on their typical recreational
screen time across the experimental conditions?
- the psychologist could use a questionnaire/interview/ask parents to report/pupils to self-report * examples of questions given/data obtained on average/daily recreational screen time use
- pupils with similar recreational screen time use would be paired
- one pupil from each pair would be (randomly) placed in Group A and the other in Group B.
