Psych/Soc

Question 1

What is shadowing?

Answer 1

Speech shadowing is an experimental technique in which subjects repeat speech immediately after hearing it (usually through earphones)

Question 2

What is the mean and standard deviation of the Wechsler Scale of Intelligence?

Answer 2

Mean = 100
SD = 15

Question 3

What is the 68, 95, 99 rule of statistics?

Answer 3

68% of values fall within +/- one standard deviation of the mean. About 95% of the values fall within +/- two standard deviations from the mean. Almost all of the values — about 99.7% — fall within +/- three standard deviations from the mean.

Question 4

What type of synapses have gap junctions?

Answer 4

Electrical synapses – no neurotransmitter required

Question 5

What is the difference between electrical synapses and chemical?

Answer 5

Electrical synapses are connected together through gap junctions (no cleft). They are faster than chemical synapses but they lack gain (the signal is either the same or smaller because it doesn’t integrate like chemical). Electrical synapses don’t use chemical messengers.

Question 6

What are examples of agents of socialization?

Answer 6

Popular culture, school, family, religion – teach the norms and values of society

Question 7

What is the difference between a proximal stimulus and distal stimulus?

Answer 7

Proximal stimulus is the stimulation that actually occurs when your sensory receptors are activated… the neural activity.

Distal stimulus is the actual stimulus or object in the real world that you end up sensing and then perceiving, which results in the proximal stimulus.

Question 8

What is the operational span?

Answer 8

The max number of words that can be recalled

Question 9

What is operational span testing?

Answer 9

Test to see the general capacity of working memory tasks

Question 10

Does retention function increase or decrease with age?

Answer 10

decrease – ability to retain info decreases

Question 11

What is psychophysical discrimination testing?

Answer 11

Investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they produce and discriminate between the two.

Question 12

What is methods of limits?

Answer 12

This test our perception of stimuli in relation to their true physical properties.

In the ascending method of limits, some property of the stimulus starts out at a level so low that the stimulus could not be detected, then this level is gradually increased until the participant reports that they are aware of it. The descending is the opposite.

Question 13

What is partial vs whole report technique?

Answer 13

Partial: When in sensory memory testing they flash a square with 9 numbers total and ask the subject to recall only one row they are able to do it perfectly.

Whole: recall the entire square

Question 14

What is repression vs suppression?

Answer 14

Repression: unconscious forgetting

Suppression: conscious forgetting

Question 15

Stages of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

Answer 15

Pre-conventional: obedience/punishment, self interest
Conventional: law and order, social approval
Post-conventional: universal ethics, morals

Question 16

What is an operational definition?

Answer 16

Any variable a researcher wants to measure must be operationally defined such that the researcher knows what the variable should look like, how it could be described qualitatively/quantitatively, how it could be measured, etc. And in order to determine these things, conditions must be set so that the variable can actually be observed. You want to know what someone’s like when they’re motivated, what drives them to do something to get something, you have to take away something they’re motivated to get

Question 17

What is proactive interference vs retroactive?

Answer 17

PORN

Proactive: Old info interfering with new info
Retroactive: New info interfering with old info

Question 18

What is statistical adjustment?

Answer 18

Controlling for variables that could affect the relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable of a study. Taking into account confounding variables.

Question 19

What is the sensitive/critical period?

Answer 19

A point in early development that can have a significant influence on physiological or behavioral functioning in later life.

Question 20

What is the difference between drive and incentive theory of motivation?

Answer 20

Drive has to do with an internal motive and Incentive has to do with an external motive

Question 21

What is the push versus pull theory of motivation?

Answer 21

the drive theory pushes in direction based on internal stimuli/tension; incentive theory pulls in direction based on external stimuli

Question 22

CT vs MRI vs fMRI vs PET vs EEG

Answer 22

EEG: measure electrical activity in the brain
PET: localization of brain activity using
combination of radioactive tracers and molecules, measures decay
CT: computerized image using compilation of x-rays, cheap, fast, shows brain structures and if bleed is occuring
MRI: structural imaging, very detailed
fMRI: measure blood flow, shows which tissue is active

Question 23

Stage 1 sleep

Answer 23

Usually occurs BETWEEN SLEEP AND WAKEFULNESS, and sometimes between periods of deeper sleep and periods of REM. The brain transitions from alpha waves to theta waves. Sudden twitches and hypnic jerks may be associated sleep onset. Some people may also experience hypnagogic hallucinations during this stage

Question 24

Stage 2 sleep

Answer 24

Theta activity is observed and sleepers become gradually harder to awaken; the alpha waves of the previous stage are interrupted by abrupt activity called sleep spindles and K-complexes.

Question 25

Sleep spindle

Answer 25

a burst of oscillatory brain activity visible on an EEG that occurs during stage 2 sleep

Question 26

Stage 3 sleep

Answer 26

Slow-wave, deep sleep. Consisting of delta activity, it is thought to be the most restful form of sleep in which the sleeper is less responsive to the environment. This is the stage in which night terrors, nocturnal enuresis, and sleepwalking occur

Question 27

REM sleep

Answer 27

Most muscles are paralyzed, and heart rate, breathing and body temperature become unregulated, and the sleeper may experience vivid dreams. Although exhibiting high-frequency EEG waves similar to a waking state, the sleeper is harder to arouse than at any other sleep stage

Question 28

Activation-synthesis theory

Answer 28

physiological processes happening in the brain create dreams

Question 29

Piaget's stages of cognitive development

Answer 29

Sensorimotor (ages: 0-2 years): Involves learning to perceive the world using senses. During this stage they learn object permanence. Preoperational Stage (ages: 2-7 years): symbolic thinking (images, words), egocentric Concrete Operational Stage (ages: 7-11 years): During this period of time the child learns the principle of conservation, logical thinking Formal Operational Stage (ages 12- adulthood): During this period of time people learn how to reason based on morals, how to form hypotheses, and other forms of abstract reasoning.

Question 30

Nucleus accumbens

Answer 30

part of the reward system, involved in addiction, in basal forebrain

Question 31

When does stranger anxiety develop?

Answer 31

7-8 months

Question 32

When does separation anxiety develop?

Answer 32

1 year

Question 33

What is the role of acetylcholine in CNS and PNS?

Answer 33

CNS-attention and arousal | PNS- transmit nerve impulses to muscles

Question 34

What is common factor "g"?

Answer 34

general intelligence, the existence of a broad mental capacity that influences performance on cognitive ability measures

Question 35

Counterbalance technique

Answer 35

It's a way of controlling for order effects in a repeated measure design. Basically, participants are presented with the same variables in a different order in order to control for 'the order' being a potential confounding variable.

Question 36

What is negative vs positive priming?

Answer 36

Priming is a key player in implicit memory; priming occurs when exposure to a stimulus influences the response to another stimulus. Positive priming speeds up the reaction to the stimulus, while negative priming slows down the reaction to the stimulus.

Question 37

Implicit vs explicit memory

Answer 37

Implicit (procedural) memory refers to the ability to subconsciously use previous experiences to aid in future tasks. Implicit memory takes no effort, such as remembering how to drive a car. Explicit memory on the other hand, takes conscious effort

Question 38

Unidirectional vs reciprocal relationship

Answer 38

Unidirectional: one variable as a cause and another as the effect - x causes y but y does not cause x Reciprocal means that the cause can act to further cause itself again. Like depression—stressor causes depression, and then that depression causes further stressors. x causes y and y causes x.

Question 39

Difference threshold

Answer 39

The difference threshold is the smallest difference in stimulation that can be detected 50 percent of the time. The difference threshold is sometimes called the just noticeable difference (jnd), and it depends on the strength of the stimulus.

Question 40

Signal detection theory

Answer 40

Used to predict when and how a signal will be recognized amidst other sensory information. There are four possible outcomes: hit, miss, false positive, accurate rejection

Question 41

The generalized other

Answer 41

rest of society

Question 42

Me vs I

Answer 42

Me: society's (the generalized other's) expectations I: what we ourselves want to do, goes against what society would want

Question 43

Sanctions - formal vs informal

Answer 43

Sanctions are a reaction of approval or disapproval to the behavior or actions of others. formal - reward or punishment given by a formal organization or regulatory agency, such as school business, or government informal - a spontaneous expression of approval or disapproval given by an individual or a group