Practice Questions Flashcards
What is introspection and which early school of psychologist relied on it most heavily?
Introspection is an examination of one’s own mental and emotional processes.
Used most by structuralism, which focuses study on the “structure” of mental processes as opposed to the explanation of underlying mechanisms.
What was the main difference between Functionalism and Structuralism?
Structuralism focuses more on the structure of mental processes and functionalism focuses more on the purpose of mental processes (how mental processes help individuals adapt to environment)
What did Gestalt psychologists study?
We have inborn tendencies that cause us to perceive things as broad “perceptual” units rather than individual sensations.
Emphasized that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
According to behaviorist theorists, what are the various reinforcement principles, and what impact does each have on behavior?
Central idea to behaviorism is that the consequence of a certain behavior serves to either increase or decrease likelihood of individual to repeat behavior.
Reinforcing causes the behavior to repeat (not punishment!!)
Positive Reinforcement- brings desired outcome
Negative Reinforcement- avoid undesirable outcome
What did humanistic theorist Abraham Maslow suggest is the ultimate goal of human beings?
To achieve self-actualization- to find and fulfill one’s potential
What are cognitions?
The mental action of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses
What was the main idea of evolutionary psychologist?
Suggests that the behaviors and mental processes that are effective for survival are passed down and eventually becomes important part of each individual’s makeup.
What is the difference between inductive and deductive reasoning?
Inductive is bottom up processing
Deductive is top down processing
What is the difference between a hypothesis and a theory?
Hypothesis can be tested and is formed before any research has been done.
A theory is backed by research
What is the hypothetic-deductive method?
Where the researcher starts with a hypothesis and tests it to validate/invalidate the theory
What are the 4 goals of psychology?
Describe, explain, predict, control
What is the main difference between psychology and pseudo psychology?
Pseudopsychology is not based on the scientific method
Which variable is manipulated by the experimenter?
IV
What are the three descriptive methods used in psychology?
Case studies, naturalistic observation, survey
Which research method allows researchers to say that one variable causes another?
Experimental
What 2 information does a correlation coefficient give about the relationship between variables?
Positive/negative
Strong/weak
What do the mean and standard deviation tell you about the scores of a group?
mean- average
standard deviation- how much the scores varies from each other
What steps are required by the IRB for ethical practices?
- obtain informed consent. researcher must give as much info as possible about the purpose, procedures, and risks so participants can make an informed decision about whether or not to participate.
- protect participants from discomfort and harm
- protect confidentiality
- provide complete debriefing. supply full info to participants at the end of study
How do quantitative theories of development differ from qualitative theories of development?
Quantitative is more focused on the stages and qualitative takes into account of the different times.
Qualitative shows why people go through similar stages of development even in different environments. Quantitative accounts for the differencing of these developmental milestones
What is the difference between a critical period and a sensitive period?
In critical period, there is only one window where the organism must be exposed to a specific environmental stimuli to develop specific behaviors. Development is impaired if this stimuli does not occur.
In sensitive periods, the environmental stimuli is important but individuals can still recover partially from the deprivation.
What is the main advantage of using a longitudinal design instead of a cross-sectional design?
Longitudinal designs allow the researcher to attribute the changes in individuals as a function of time.
What are the possible phenotype outcomes from a heterozygous genotype?
- dominant trait shows
- mixture of the traits
- co-dominance: shows a combination of the traits.
How did Chess and Thomas categorize the temperaments of babies in their studies, and what were the major attributes of each temperament category?
Easy- playful. open to novelty
Difficult- irritable, likely to have intensively negative responses to changes
Slow to warm up- less active and responsive. tend to withdraw in face of change.
What are key things that identify behavior as temperamentally based?
if the behavior is stable across situation and time
What are the three stages of prenatal development? What happens at each stage?
Germinal Stage- egg moves to fallopian tube to be fertilized. then implants in uterus. placenta forms.
Embryonic Stage- zygote is implanted and grows rapidly. grows body structure and major organs
Fetal Stage- continues to grow. Basic structures undergo big changes.
What is the role of myelination in the development of the brain? (in infancy)
Myelination speeds up the firing of the neurons.
Associated with movement, reflexes, sensory responses, and certain low-level learning
What is the Strange Situation?
Experiment where the mother leaves a baby in a room with a stranger and the researcher observes how the baby responds.
What are major parenting styles, and what are the major child outcome associated with each style?
Authoritative- gives reasonable demands and enough support. confident, mature, bright children
Authoritarian- unreasonable demand and strict rules. child with low self esteem and aggressive
Permissive- overly indulging and spoiling. impulsive, disobedient, and overly dependent children
Uninvolved- little time spent with the child, emotionally detached. child who are anxious, poor communication, and antisocial
In what areas of the brain is myelination concentrated during childhood, and how does myelination of these areas affect the child’s cognitive function?
Concentrated in the associated areas
Allows for more sophisticated planning and problem-solving abilities
What are the crucial differences between Piaget’s view of cognitive development and Vygotsky’s view of cognitive development?
Piaget is more focused on how children’s private experiments and reflections shape their thinking. Vygotsky is more interested in how social interaction with parents might drive development of children.
If a child arrives at puberty significantly earlier or later than his peer group, how much that affect his adjustment?
Experience more problems adjusting.
Formal Operations
Able to think abstractly
Describe what Erikson believed was the major dilemma and risk for adolescence
Identity vs. Role confusion.
Find a place in society and adopt a satisfying identity. Of else they may be confusion about adult roles.
What is the difference between the wear-and-tear theory of aging and the free-radical theory of aging?
Wear and tear states that we age because our body wears out through usage.
Free radical theory states that build up of free radical causes a destabilization in cell structures which causes us to age.
Describe and define Erikson’s major crises of adult development
Early adulthood (20-30) Intimacy vs isolation. Look for relationships. isolated if failed to find them.
Middle (30-65) Generativity vs Stagnation. try to help the younger generation. if not, may be self absorbed
Late (65+) Integrity vs Despair. reflect on life. feel despair if not satisfied.
How do externalizing behavior differ from internalizing behavior?
behavior that bothers others and cause external conflict (hitting, screaming)
behavior that cause internal psychological distress (anxiety, depression, withdrawal)
Why is resilience important to developmental psychopathology?
resilience- ability to recover from serious effects of negative circumstances.
it’s important to understand what goes right and what goes wrong.