Introduction

Question 1

Empiricism

Answer 1

Scientific approach that attempts to answer questions concerning the relationship between the mind and the body

Question 2

Rationalism

Answer 2

Approach used by ancient Greek philosophers, utilizing reason and logic to help explain human actions

Question 3

Parsimony

Answer 3

Accepting the simplest testable solution that accounts for all available evidence

Question 4

Psychophysics

Answer 4

Measures the relationship between energy in a stimulus and our sensation of the changes in stimulus magnitude

Question 5

Structuralism

Answer 5

Belief that human experience is built up of elemental sensations
- introspection came from this view

Question 6

Introspection

Answer 6

Examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes

Question 7

Functionalism

Answer 7

This belief- influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection- emphasizes the purpose of processes

Question 8

Steps in the Scientific Method

Answer 8

1. Formulate hypothesis
2. Design a study
3. Collect the data
4. Analyze data and obtain results
5. Draw conclusions from the results (use conclusions to develop new hypotheses)

Question 9

Operational Definition

Answer 9

A way to describe a concept in an observable or measurable way. Must be clear and objective

Question 10

Naturalistic Observation

Answer 10

Involves collecting data in natural surroundings rather than in a controlled laboratory situation. The aim is to observe the phenomena without influencing it

Question 11

Case Study

Answer 11

Method of observation that involves intensively examining individual participants, that is often used to study clinical cases

Question 12

Survey

Answer 12

A standardized set of questions

Question 13

Correlational Study

Answer 13

A statistic that describes the relationship between two variables

Question 14

Experiment

Answer 14

Can allow you to infer a causal relationship between two variables

Question 15

Ethical Considerations when Designing a Study

Answer 15

• safety of participants
• benefits must outweigh risks
• informed consent must be obtained
• a lack of coercion
• privacy

Question 16

Possible Flaws in Studies

Answer 16

• bias
• confounding variables
• info gathered may not answer the hypothesis posed

Question 17

Nature or Nativism

Answer 17

You were born with it

Question 18

Nurture or Empiricism

Answer 18

You gained it through experience

Question 19

Genes

Answer 19

Regions of chromosomes that encode particular proteins

Question 20

Alleles

Answer 20

The combination of two genes at a given locus. There are two kinds of alleges- dominant and recessive

Question 21

Genotype

Answer 21

The genetic makeup of a trait

Question 22

Phenotype

Answer 22

How a trait is expressed

Question 23

Polymeric Disorders

Answer 23

Disorders as the result of more than one gene’s action

Question 24

Epigenetics

Answer 24

The study of heritable changes that occur without a change in the DNA sequence

Question 25

Heritability

Answer 25

A statistic that ranges from 0-1 and represents the degree to hitch the trait is a result of genetics

Question 26

Developmental Psychology

Answer 26

Concerned with the environmental variance component, that is the prenatal and postnatal environmental influences that affect individuals during their lifetimes

Question 27

Evolutionary Psychology

Answer 27

Concerned with the design of human nature, all human behavioural characteristics that are the product of natural selection in ancestral environments

Question 28

Parental Investment Theory

Answer 28

Consists of the energy, time, resources and opportunity cost associated with having children

Question 29

Mating Opportunity Cost

Answer 29

The effort and costs incurred in securing and reserving mating opportunities

Question 30

Selection Pressure

Answer 30

The sex with the higher potential reproductive rate is under greater selection pressure to compete, for access to members of the other sex. The sex with the greater investment are pickier about their mates

Question 31

Polygyny

Answer 31

When males have multiple female partners. Explains why males are greater in size- due to inter-male competition for females

Question 32

Epigamy

Answer 32

When female preferences cause males to evolve particular characteristics

Question 33

Alternative Strategies

Answer 33

refer to different mating approaches adopted by genetically different males

Question 34

Conditional Strategies

Answer 34

Individuals that are genetically the same adopt different behavioural tactics

Question 35

Inclusive Fitness

Answer 35

Defined as the sum of an individuals personal reproductive success and his or her influence upon the reproductive success of relatives, weighted according to their relatedness to the individual

Question 36

Reciprocal Altruism

Answer 36

The cooperation of two or more non-relatives, characterized by a payoff matrix in which the gain obtained from cooperation is greater than the sum of the gain obtained by each party without cooperation

Question 37

Game Theory

Answer 37

Describes a social exchange matrix in which the payoffs and the costs of cooperation are pitted against the benefits and costs of defection in an ongoing social exchange

Question 38

Nativists

Answer 38

Proposed by Rene Descartes stating that all behaviours are reflexive

Question 39

Empiricists

Answer 39

Humans are born with no knowledge of behaviour, they learn through experience

Question 40

Classical Conditioning

Answer 40

A form of learning that involves an association between two stimuli

Question 41

Delay Conditioning

Answer 41

The conditioned stimulus precedes the unconditioned stimulus

Question 42

Backward Conditioning

Answer 42

The unconditioned stimulus precedes the conditioned stimulus

Question 43

Simultaneous Conditioning

Answer 43

The conditioned and unconditioned stimulus are presented at the same time

Question 44

Trace Conditioning

Answer 44

The conditioned stimulus is presented, taken away, and then the unconditioned stimulus is presented