Psychology

Question 1

What is psychology?

Answer 1

Psychology is the study of the human brain and how it functions, processes emotions, and how personality differs from person to person.

Question 2

Behavioural psychology

Answer 2

The study of how people react to their environment. They believe all responses are the result of environmental factors.

Question 3

Developmental psychology

Answer 3

The study of how we change mentally with age. The study of human mental processes involved in memory, learning, and thinking.

Question 4

Cognitive psychology

Answer 4

The study of human mental processes involved in memory, learning, and thinking.

Question 5

Psychodynamic psychology

Answer 5

The process of study to uncover a person’s unconscious thoughts by discussing their feelings and experiences with a trained psychologist.

Question 6

Humanistic psychology

Answer 6

Evolved from patient relationship idea of theory. They believe clients should be involved in their own recovery.

Question 7

Psychoanalysis

Answer 7

Method of psychology to treat neurosis.
—> sometimes called the “talking cure”.

Question 8

Neurosis

Answer 8

Anxiety caused by a memory a person represses because they cannot deal with it in their own conscious mind.

Question 9

Repression

Answer 9

Memories of an issue/event that a person sends to their unconscious mind to forget.
—> These unconscious memories still influence a person’s thoughts and actions without awareness.

Question 10

Defense mechanism

Answer 10

Conscious mind’s way of dealing with a repressed memory.
—> Conscious mind distorts reality.

Question 11

Sigmund Freud’s iceberg

Answer 11

1. Conscious mind (above the water) - what we are aware of, what people see, thoughts and perceptions.
2. Preconscious mind (just below the water) - what we can recall, memories.
3. Unconscious mind (deep underwater) - what we aren’t aware of, hard to recall, fear, shame, selfish desires, aggression.

Question 12

Freud’s line between individual mind and behaviour

Answer 12

ID: part of unconscious mind, seeks pleasure. The “devil” on your shoulder.
Ego: part of the conscious mind. Reduces conflict between ID and superego. Peacemaker.
Superego: part of the preconscious mind. Follows morals. The “Angel” on your shoulder.

Question 13

Analytical psychology

Answer 13

Focused on balancing a person’s psyche to help them reach their potential.

Question 14

What happened between Freud and Jung

Answer 14

They were friends; however they broke apart due to their differences in opinion.
—> Jung did not like Freud’s importance on sexuality.

Question 15

Archetypes

Answer 15

The ancestral memories in our collective unconscious.
—> Important cultural symbols emerge from this archetypes.
—> Jung argued similar symbols around the world used in similar context is evidence of the collective unconscious.

Question 16

What are the differences between Jung and Freud’ thoeories?

Answer 16

Jung:
- Believed dreams were the unconscious mind’s symbols and that it was instinctive.
- Dreams allow unconscious to communicate with a conscious mind via symbols.
- Allows person to resolve conflict if analyzed.

Freud:
- Believed dreams represented a person’s sexual desires.
- Wish fulfillment.
—>Dream about waking life and what to do (fulfilling ID’s desires).

Question 17

Phineas Gage

Answer 17

Studied the relationship between the brain and behaviour.

Question 18

Why do we study cognitive psychology?

Answer 18

It helps us learn the thoughts and higher mental processes someone goes through like memory, decision making, problem solving, creativity, etc.

Question 19

Cognitive psychology basic premise:

Answer 19

Human behaviour cannot be understood without learning how people process information.

Question 20

Cerebrum

Answer 20

Right/left hemisphere (each side controls a side of the body).
—> Left hemisphere: communication, logic, language, decision making.
—> Right hemisphere: spatial awareness, visual memory, facial recognition, creativity.

Question 21

Corpus callosum

Answer 21

Connects the hemispheres of the brain.

Question 22

Hippocampus

Answer 22

Controls short and long-term memory.
—> Part of emotional system (correlation between memory and what you remember due to emotions).

Question 23

Frontal lobe

Answer 23

Speaking and thinking actions.

Question 24

Temporal lobe

Answer 24

Analyzing sound and what you hear.
—> Makes sense of speech.

Question 25

Amygdala

Answer 25

Regulates how emotions can affect memories.
—> Fight or flight response to fear.

Question 26

Nerve proliferation

Answer 26

Forms thousands of new connections in childhood.

Question 27

Pruning

Answer 27

Nerve cells that are used are strengthened, nerve cells that aren’t will die out.

Question 28

Hind brain

Answer 28

Develops first in teens.
—> Primal part of the brain.
—> Explains why teens make bad decisions, etc.

Question 29

Prefrontal cortex

Answer 29

Seat of reason, develops last in teens.
—> Adults use this more.

Question 30

What is the importance of white and grey matter.

Answer 30

White matter is responsible for communication between the neurons, while the grey matter is where the processing occurs.
—> Rapid white matter development and slower development of grey matter in the teen brain.
—> “Neural Darwinism” - use it or lose it, how a brain knows what to prune.

Question 31

Giedd’s study

Answer 31

Proved adolescent brain is far from mature.
—> He found there is a second wave of pruning that finishes in adolescence (Effects some of our highest mental functions).

Question 32

Cerebellum

Answer 32

Higher learning - doesn’t finish developing until mid 20s.

Question 33

Professor Stephen Gould

Answer 33

Admitted that I.Q. Tests were based on faulty assumptions.
—> Used for scientific racism, questions socially and culturally biased.

Question 34

Henry Goddard

Answer 34

Created the I.Q. test.

Question 35

Howard Gardner

Answer 35

Multiple intelligences (beyond academic).
—> Argued people have, of varying degrees, multiple intelligences (being good at art, sports, etc).
—> Academic intelligence is not the only thing that makes a person “smart”.

Question 36

How is intelligence defined?

Answer 36

Learn from experience.
—> The acquisition, retention, and use of knowledge is an important component of intelligence.

Recognize problems.
—> To put knowledge to use, people must be able to identify possible problems in the environment that need to be addressed.

Solve problems.
—> People must then be able to take what they have learned to come up with a useful solution to a problem they have noticed in the world around them.