Psych/Soci (Section Bank Questions)

Question 1

Where does linguistic processing take place?

Answer 1

left hemisphere

Question 2

Predictive validity

Answer 2

the extent to which a score on a scale or test predicts scores on some criterion measure

Question 3

Instinctual drift

Answer 3

the tendency of an animal, of any species, to revert to unconscious and automatic behavior that interferes with operant conditioning and the learned responses that come with it.

Question 4

Socialization vs social reproduction

Answer 4

socialization - the process of developing and
spreading norms, customs, and beliefs

social reproduction - the passing on of
social inequality, especially poverty, to other
generations

Question 5

Cultural transmission

Answer 5

the way a group of people or animals within a society or culture tend to learn and pass on information; learning styles are greatly influenced by how a culture socializes with its children and young people

Question 6

Proximal vs distal stimulus

Answer 6

• distal stimuli are objects and events out in the world about you.
• proximal stimuli are the patterns of stimuli from these objects and events that actually reach your senses (eyes, ears, etc.)

Question 7

Context effects

Answer 7

A context effect is an aspect of cognitive psychology that describes the influence of environmental factors on one’s perception of a stimulus. The impact of context effects is considered to be part of top-down design.

Question 8

Neuroimaging techniques

Answer 8

MRI - uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce a detailed image of the body’s soft tissue and bones

fMRI - blood flow; measures brain activity changes

CT - Detailed images of internal organs are obtained by this type of sophisticated X-ray device

PET - in which a radioactive sugar is injected and absorbed into the body, and its dispersion and uptake throughout the target tissue is imaged to assess metabolic processes

Question 9

Evolutionary perspective of human motivation

Answer 9

Same as “instinct theory”; people are driven to certain behaviors by evolutionarily programmed instincts

ex. more hunger in response to images of high calorie food

Question 10

Stranger anxiety

Answer 10

Fear of strangers that develops around 8 months of age

Question 11

Place theory

Answer 11

hearing of different pitches is accomplished by depolarization of different parts of cochlear membrane

Question 12

Fovea vs periphery

Answer 12

Fovea has high density of cones - good for daytime vision

Periphery has high density of rods - good for night vision bc more photosensitive

Question 13

Neuroleptics

Answer 13

first drugs to successfully treat schizo (+) symptoms but may exacerbate (-) symptoms

Question 14

Alzheimer’s disease specific deficits

Answer 14

Verbal fluency - a kind of psychological test in which participants have to produce as many words as possible from a category in a given time

Negative priming - an implicit memory effect in which prior exposure to a stimulus unfavorably influences the response to the same stimulus

Question 15

Dependent vs Independent stressors

Answer 15

Dependent - influenced by the person

Independent - out of someone’s control

Question 16

General adaptation syndrome

Answer 16

name for stress theory with alarm, resistance, exhaustion

Question 17

Unidirectional vs reciprocal relationship

Answer 17

unidirectional - one thing causes another thing

reciprocal - things influence each other

Question 18

parallel processing

Answer 18

unconscious processing of spatial, temporal, and frequency stimuli BUT not novel information

Question 19

Cross sectional design

Answer 19

a type of observational study that analyzes data collected from a population, or a representative subset, at a specific point in time—that is, cross-sectional data

Question 20

Ethnographic design

Answer 20

the most common ethnographic approach is participant observation as a part of field research. The ethnographer becomes immersed in the culture as an active participant and records extensive field notes.

Question 21

Exchange theory

Answer 21

refers to decision making as a result of a rational const-benefit analysis

Question 22

False memory

Answer 22

When a person confidently recalls inaccurate information

Question 23

Motivational states in operant conditioning

Answer 23

a subject’s motivational state is generally operationally defined by using negative punishment, i.e. depriving the subject of a desirable stimulus for a period of time, like not allowed to drink water for a certain amount of time, etc…

Question 24

Incentive theory of motivation

Answer 24

behavior is motivated by a desire for reinforcement or incentives

Question 25

Social vs cultural capital

Answer 25

Social capital includes economic resources that one gains from being part of a network of social relationships, including group membership.

Cultural capital includes non-economic resources that enable social mobility.

Question 26

Formal and informal sanctions

Answer 26

Sanctions are mechanisms of external social control (as opposed to forms of internal control, like cultural norms and values)

Sanctions can either be positive (rewards) or negative (punishment), and can arise from either formal or informal control.

The main difference is that formal sanctions are legally sanctioned whereas informal sanctions are not.

Question 27

Primary vs secondary reinforcers

Answer 27

Primary reinforcers are biological. Food, drink, and pleasure are the principal examples of primary reinforcers. But, most human reinforcers are secondary, or conditioned. Examples include money, grades in schools, and tokens.

Question 28

Mead’s I vs Me

Answer 28

the “me” is the socialized aspect of the person (sensor), and the “I” (ego) is the active aspect of the person

Question 29

Shadowing

Answer 29

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

Question 30

Fate of auditory input

Answer 30

left ear to right aud cortex