Lesson 3 & 4

Question 1

The Mozart effect

Answer 1

A study that suggested enhancement in intelligence/ improvement in spatial reasoning task after listening to classical music. In order to determine if a study is valid it needs to be replicated with the same result in the replicated study, however the MOZART EFFECT (1993) study findings have not been replicated, and where they have been replicated, the effect has been very small. instead the Mozart effect appears to have short term arousal e.g uplifting vs relaxing music that increases performance on mentally challenging tasks.

Question 2

Neurogenesis

Answer 2

Studies have suggested that the adult hippocampus grows approx. 700 new neurons every day ( jarrett, 2015)

Question 3

Left hemisphere

Answer 3

Reasoning, logic, math, verbal processing

Question 4

Right hemisphere

Answer 4

Art, creativity, emotion

Question 5

Lateralisation

Answer 5

tendency of some neural functions and or cognitive processes to be specialised to one hemisphere or the other

Question 6

Of Two Minds

Answer 6

experiment with split brain patient who had undergone surgery to cut the ‘corpus callosum’ ( the main bundle of neuronal fibres connecting the two sides of the brain). because the left hemisphere is dominant for verbal reasoning, the patient is able to answer when a word was flashed briefly, however since the right hemisphere is unable to share information with the left hemisphere, the patient is unable to saw the word seen but can draw it.

Question 7

Polygraphs

Answer 7

also known as lie detector tests, assessing three indicators of autonomic arousal( heart rate/bp, respiration and skin conductivity/ GSR and is based on the premise that our physiological responses change when we are lying.

Question 8

Control question test ( CQT )

Answer 8

compares autonomic responses to “relevant” questions ( e.g Did you shoot your neighbour) to “control” questions ( e.g Have you ever betrayed someone who trusted you? ). a person telling the truth is assumed to fear control questions more than relevant questions. it has a weak scientific basis, therefore not very reliable.

Question 9

Graphology

Answer 9

Handwriting analysis used to determine personality traits from writing style.

Question 10

Barnum/Forer statements

Answer 10

vague and often contradictory, true for most people and often describe desirable qualities that almost anyone can relate to.

Question 11

Barnum/Forer effect

Answer 11

a phenomenon that occurs when individuals believe that personality descriptions apply specifically to them more than other people despite the fact that the description is actually filled with information that applies to everyone.