Psych-Soc

Question 1

Cross-sectional studies

Answer 1

o look at a current population and provide a snapshot of the way things are in that population at the present moment.
 For example, researchers studying developmental psychology might select groups of people who are different ages but investigate them at one point in time.

Question 2

Retrospective studies

Answer 2

look into the past and repurpose existing data on a population to analyze what has already happened.
 For example, to look at the relationship between serial killers and child abuse, the investigators will identify convicted serial killers, and find out which of them have a past history of being abused as children.
o These studies are usually very inexpensive to conduct but are vulnerable to statistical problems because it can be tough to identify confounding variables.

Question 3

Qualitative studies

Answer 3

o look at the experiences of people in a non-numerical way and are most useful for answering questions about why and how people behave in certain ways.
 Recent reports have suggested that child marriage among Syrians may be increasing as a result of displacement and conflict. This study sought to gather qualitative data about the factors that promote child marriage practices among Syrian refugees in Al Marj area in the Bekaa valley, Lebanon, where the majority of Syrian refugees have settled in Lebanon.

Question 4

• Instinctual behaviors

Answer 4

o genetically encoded and inherited
o Expressed in response to specific environmental stimuli
o Not learned but rather inherited
 A dog salivates whenever it sees food.
 Sea Turtles spontaneously hatching from their eggs
 A caterpillar spontaneously creating its cocoon

Question 5

• Adaptive traits

Answer 5

o Traits which promote the reproductive success of an organism
o E.g., Nocturnal traits for snakes- help them find food
o Linked with reproductive success
o What’s adaptive depends on environmental circumstances

Question 6

• Temperament

Answer 6

o How an individual responds behaviorally and emotionally to stimuli from the world that surrounds them
 Forms foundations of personality
 Biologically-based

Question 7

• Environmental factors

Answer 7

o Non-genetic influences
 Stress
 Exposure to Endocrine-disrupting compounds (e.g., BPA)
 Observation of those around us

Question 8

• Heritability

Answer 8

o The degree of variation in a trait due to variation in the genotype
 i.e., how much is a trait determined by genes alone
 Heritability of 1: all variation of trait can be explained by genes alone
 Heritability of 0: all variation of trait can be explained by environmental factors or chance alone
 Twin Studies
 Adoptive studies
 Most psychological trait heribility: 0.3-0.6- due to mix of biology and environment
 Schizophrenia- have a heritability of 0.8

Question 9

• Monozygotic Twins (identical

Answer 9

o share 100% of genome

Question 10

• Dizygotic twins (fraternal):

Answer 10

o share 50% of genome; non-identical

Question 11

• Concordance:

Answer 11

o the presence of the same trait in both members of a pair of twins
o For example, twins are concordant when both have or both lack a given trait

Question 12

• Gene expression

Answer 12

o Another way environment influences behavior

o Genes transcribed more or less depending on needs of organism or in response to environmental stimuli

Question 13

• Promotors:

Answer 13

o initiate expression of certain genes

Question 14

• Regulatory genes:

Answer 14

o code for proteins that affect gene expression

o Variations in promotors and regulatory genes affects gene expression

Question 15

• Epigenetics

Answer 15

o Changes to the genome that don’t involve changing the actual nucleotide content
o Most important- methylation
 Silences DNA, adds methyl groups to cytosine
 Important component of development
 Occurs in response to environmental stimuli like stress and exercise as well
 Can be inherited

Question 16

• Methylation:

Answer 16

o DNA methylation is a type of epigenetic modification, which occurs in response to environmental stimuli like stress or intense physical activity.
o Genes that become methylated are no longer expressed at normal levels.

Question 17

• Pregnancy

Answer 17

o Prenatal- before birth- period of development
o Lasts 37-41 weeks
 Three Trimesters:
• 1st- Major structures of Fetus formed
• 2nd- Fetus Grows
• 3rd- Getting swole and finalizing preparations for outside world

Question 18

• Placenta

Answer 18

o Highly vascular tissue that brings fetal and maternal circulation in close proximity to exchange nutrients, gases, and waste products
o Umbilical cord connects fetus to placenta
o Enables TWO-way communication between fetus and mothers
 Allows Environmental influences

Question 19

• Palmar grasp reflex:

Answer 19

o Baby will grab onto hand that lightly strokes the baby’s palm

Question 20

• Rooting:

Answer 20

o Baby searches for an object that brushes against its mouth or cheek

Question 21

• Sucking Reflex

Answer 21

o Baby will start making sucking motions that grazes the top of its mouth

Question 22

• Moro Reflex

Answer 22

o Startle reflex in response to sudden movement or loud sounds in which a baby cries

Question 23

• Babinski Reflex:

Answer 23

o Big toe extends up and other toes fan out in response to plantar surface of foot being stroked

Question 24

• Walking occurs at around

Answer 24

1 year of age

Question 25

• 0-12 Mo. Milestones

Answer 25

o	Motor
	Baby stands with assistance
	Crawls
	holds toys
	Holds small objects
o	Social
	Focuses on primary caregiver
	Stranger Anxiety
	Peek-a-boo

	Object permanence
•	Objects exist even if they can’t see them.
o	Linguistic
	Laughing
	Babbling
	Simple words like “mama”

Question 26

• 12-24 Mo. Milestones

Answer 26

o	Physical independence
	Walking
	Climbing
	Drawing
	Throwing
	Stacking
	Terrible Twos
	Sense of Self
	Boundaries
	Dramatic increase in language, particularly pronouns

Question 27

• 3+ year-old milestones

Answer 27

o Toilet training
o More complicated motor/social tasks
• Drawing recognizable objects
• Manipulating behaviors
• Social behaviors like taking turns and gender recognition
o Linguistic
• Further language development
o Dramatic increase in active vocabulary- words child uses
o Dramatic increase in passive vocabulary- words child understands
• Considerable variations occur in milestones of children
• Critical Period:
o Time when experiences “imprint” with life-long effects
 Language
 critical periods during which the individual is particularly sensitive to specific environmental stimuli.
 If the stimuli are not present, specific skills may not develop normally
 Humans have a hard-wired ability to learn language, but the actual language we learn depends on our environment
 We have to get environmental input to learn how to speak
 Period of early childhood is critical for language development
 Traumatic or stressful events in early life- long-lasting effects

Question 28

• Critical Period:

Answer 28

 Language
 critical periods during which the individual is particularly sensitive to specific environmental stimuli.
 If the stimuli are not present, specific skills may not develop normally
 Humans have a hard-wired ability to learn language, but the actual language we learn depends on our environment
 We have to get environmental input to learn how to speak
 Period of early childhood is critical for language development
 Traumatic or stressful events in early life- long-lasting effects

Question 29

• Adolescence

Answer 29

o	13-19 years
o	Very broad
	Cognitive
	Social 
	Behavioral 
o	Puberty
	Biological changes during adolescence 
	Females:
•	Menarchy
o	Onset of menstruation
o	Occurs at age 12
•	Puberty starts at around 10,11 years
•	Puberty ends around 15-17 years of age
•	Although the timing of the onset of puberty does vary across cultural and ethnic groups, the sequence of changes does not. 
•	Affected by obesity and hormone exposure
•	Sequence of changes has no variability
	Males:
•	First ejaculation in men
	Secondary Sex Characteristics
•	Pubic Hair, Body Hair
•	Females- Wide hips, breasts
•	Males- Facial Hair, Adams Apple
•	Sex hormones
o	Males- Testosterone
o	Females- estradiol

Question 30

o Prefrontal cortex

Answer 30

 Part of brain involved in rational decision-making
 Developed until age 25
 Neuronal axons become myelinated

Question 31

• Aging

Answer 31

o Extremely complex
o Degradation of telomeres
 Loss of telomeres limits how often cells can die
o Gradual physical decline
 People become more frail and susceptible to disease
o Cognitive Decline
 Exception- Crystallized Intelligence

Question 32

• Crystallized Intelligence:

Answer 32

o Knowledge accumulated over time
 Why older people are considered wise
 Knowledge that older people retain throughout their lifespan