psychology - exam revision Flashcards

1
Q

psychology

A

Psychology is the scientific study of thoughts, feelings and behaviours, which are all heavily influenced by biology, past experience and cultural aspects.

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2
Q

psychology vs psychiatry

A

psychiatrists - prescribe medication and have a training minimum of 9 years. They work with people with mental illnesses. It is a narrow field

psychologists - cannot prescribe medication, minimum of 6 years training. Broad field and work with people without mental illness to assist thoughts, feelings and behaviours.

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3
Q

scientific method steps

A
  1. identify the research topic
  2. create a hypothesis
  3. design the research
  4. collect the data
  5. analyse the data
  6. interpret and evaluate the results
  7. report the research and findings.
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4
Q

how is data collected for psychological research?

A
  • case study
  • observational study (observed without interference)
  • survey
  • longitudinal study (repeated observations over time)
  • experimental study
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5
Q

ethical considerations definition

A

precautions taken to protect the physical and psychological well-being of the participants.

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6
Q

ethical guidelines (7)

A
  • no lasting harm to participants
  • confidentiality
  • voluntary participation
  • informed consent
  • withdrawal rights
  • deception
  • debriefing
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7
Q

extraneous variable

A

like a controlled variable - any aspect of an experimental setting that must be held constant to prevent unplanned environmental variation.
all variables that aren’t the independent variable, that could affect the results of the experiment.

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8
Q

why do you need to control extraneous variables?

A

to prove that the independent variable and nothing else impacts upon the DV

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9
Q

what is a sample in relation to participants in an experiment

A

a selection of participants for research is known as sampling. a sample is a subset of a larger group (population) that has chosen to be studied.

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10
Q

convenience sampling

A

selection of the most accessible and convenient participants.

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11
Q

random sampling

A

everyone has an equal chance of being chosen, one person being chosen does not impact the chances of another.
e.g. name out of a hat, random number generator

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12
Q

stratified random sampling (#)

A

the population is divided into subgroups (age, sex, religion etc) and then randomly selected from the subgroup (strata) representative of the population
e.g. If a population comprises 70% boys and 30% girls, the stratified sample will comprise 70% boys and 30% girls

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13
Q

the purpose of an experiment

A

experiments are aiming to support, research, or refute a hypothesis, by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a factor is manipulated.

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14
Q

independent variable

A

the thing that will be changed in each experiment

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15
Q

dependent variable

A

the thing that is being measured in an experiment.

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16
Q

experimental vs control group

A

the control group is not influenced by the independent variable whilst the experimental group is exposed to the independent variable and is measured accordingly.

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17
Q

types of sampling

A

convenience sampling, random sampling, stratified random sampling.

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18
Q

role of sensory neurons

A

detect and send information from our sense organs to the CNS

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19
Q

role of motor neurons

A

helps us react/engage with the environment, sends information from the CNS to our muscles, organs, and glands.

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20
Q

role of interneurons

A

connects motor and sensory neurons. Found only in the CNS.

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21
Q

frontal lobe

A

thinking, personality, behaviour, initiative, planning, self-awareness, decision making speech, production, voluntary control of muscles

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22
Q

occipital lobe

A

visual information

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23
Q

temporal lobe

A

responsible for the hearing and understanding of speech

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24
Q

hippocampus

A

responsible for making new memories; it is also our direction finder or navigator.

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25
Q

corpus callosum

A

a thick band of nerve axons connecting the left and right hemispheres.

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26
Q

hypothalamus

A

responsible for regulating body temperature, appetite, thirst and hormones.

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27
Q

amygdala

A

associated with emotions of fear and anger. Plays a key role in our emotional responses

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28
Q

brain stem

A

regulates survival functions such as heartbeat, blood pressure, and breathing rates

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29
Q

cerebellum

A

responsible for coordination, balance, and movement.

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30
Q

pineal gland

A

controls our internal body clock. regulates our sleep-wake schedules and releases melatonin

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31
Q

parietal lobe

A

sensations from our skin: touch, pressure, temperature, muscle movement

32
Q

thalamus

A

sensory data arrives here and then is relayed to specific areas of the cortex

33
Q

cerebral cortex

A

covers the cerebrum. made up of neurons; responsible for conscious thought.

34
Q

functions of the left hemisphere

A
- moves voluntary muscles on the right side of the 
     body
- language
- analytical and logical thought
- judging time and rhythm
- mental arithmetic
- coordination of complex movements
35
Q

functions of the right hemisphere

A
  • voluntary muscles on the left side of the body
  • spatial orientation, understanding music
  • processing emotional response
  • recognition of visual patterns
  • identifying shapes
  • left vision and hearing.
36
Q

the difference between CNS and PNS

A

the CNS consists of the brain and spinal cord, whilst the PNS contains all other nerves outside the CNS. The PNS carries messages to the CNS where the CNS interprets and responds.

37
Q

How is a message passed between/within neurons?

A
  1. dendrites receive electrical impulse messages from neighbouring neurons.
  2. The soma determines if the message is strong enough to trigger an impulse down the axon
  3. If an impulse is triggered, electrical charge races along the axon towards the axon terminals
  4. messages are only sent in one direction to avoid confusion.
38
Q

neurotransmitter

A

the body’s natural chemical messengers that can alter the activity of neighbouring neurons. Some excite or trigger a message to be sent, while others slow or stop the activity.

39
Q

treatment of Alzheimer’s

A

there is no known treatment but some medicines can reduce the symptoms

  • cholinesterase inhibitors
  • memantine
  • changing lifestyle habits
40
Q

soma/cell body

A

determines whether the messages will be sent to other neurons.

41
Q

ways that a brain injury can be acquired

A
non-traumatic brain injury 
- anorexia, 
- infections
- stroke
- tumours
- metabolic disorders
- drug and alcohol abuse
traumatic brain injury
- assaults 
- falls
- accidents
- abuse
- surgery
42
Q

how do neurons communicate with each other?

A

communication occurs by sending a neurotransmitter across a synapse to the postsynaptic neuron. The neurotransmitter binds to receptor sites of postsynaptic neurons where the soma decides whether to send a message down the axon or not

43
Q

symptoms of Alzheimer’s

A
early symptoms
- minor memory problems
- having difficulty with the right word
- misplacing items
middle stage symptoms
- need help getting dressed, eating, washing etc. 
- worsened memory problems
- delusions and hallucinations may occur
later symptoms
- worsened symptoms of other stages
- may become violent and demanding
44
Q

causes of alzheimer’s

A

causes (unknown)

- thought to be caused by abnormal protein buildup in and around brain cells. Proteins are known as amyloid and tau.

45
Q

What happens during REM sleep

A
  • A period of sleep where your eyes move rapidly for short bursts of time.
  • Heart and breathing rate fluctuate, voluntary muscles are very relaxed
  • Brainwave activity is increased (similar to those of a person awake and thinking
46
Q

differences between NREM dreams and REM dreams

A

REM dreams tend to follow a storyline that can be mundane, dramatic, bizarre. REM dreams are most likely to be remembered and nightmares tend to occur in REM dreams. 90% of dreaming occurs in REM sleep.

NREM dreams are less frequent and more difficult to remember than REM dreams. NREM tend to be more similar to waking thought patterns. They are brief and tend to follow little to no storyline.

47
Q

how long does a cycle of NREM and REM last

A

90 minutes on average

48
Q

primary emotions

A

Plutchik states there are eight primary emotions

- joy, sadness, trust, fear, disgust, anger, surprise, anticipation.

49
Q

three components of an emotion

A
  1. subjective/cognitive experience (mental component)
  2. expressive behaviour (action component)
  3. psychological arousal (body component – sweating, heart rate etc.)
50
Q

differences between primary and secondary emotions according to Pluchik

A

Plutchik proposed that the range of emotions we experience are a result of blending primary emotions to create secondary emotions. Secondary emotions are not universal and therefore vary between individuals.

51
Q

a cluster

A

A group of movements, postures, and actions that reinforce a common point.

52
Q

physiological responses and behaviours a person would show when lying

A

eyes become unfocused, pupils narrow, sweating, increased heart rate.

53
Q

eyewitness testimony

A

testimony by an eyewitness, in regards to what they saw during the crime.

54
Q

role of a forensic psychologist

A

apply psychological knowledge, theory and skills to the understanding and functioning of legal and criminal justice systems

55
Q

factors that impact the accuracy of eyewitness memory

A

retrieval cues
–stimuli that assist our recall of memories.
leading questions
– The leading question has content or is phrased in a way to suggest what answer is desired.
weapons focus
– attention is focused on the weapon and not on the details of a crime
memory decay
– the inability to access or recover information that used to be stored in memory

56
Q

polygraph

A

measures physiological reactions in a suspect. It is unreliable as there is no evidence that that pattern of reactions is because of deception, or whether they are just nervous.

57
Q

different types of stalking

A

rejected stalker, erotomanic stalker, intimacy-seeking stalker, the predatory stalker, the incompetent stalker, the resentful stalker.

58
Q

effects of stalking on a person’s psychological wellbeing

A

feeling powerless, severe stress, depression, anxiety, panic attacks, nightmares, guilt, self-blame, anger, irritability, a desire to withdraw from others, and feeling suspicious and wary of others.

59
Q

describe one of the four types of serial killers.

A

mission-oriented = driven to kill in order to eliminate a certain sub-population

60
Q

serial killers vs mass murderers.

A

A mass murderer is someone who kills four or more victims in one location or incident. A serial killer is someone who has murdered on at least three occasions with an ‘emotional cooling-off period’ between each murder.

61
Q

context vs state-dependent cues

A

context-dependent cues: refers to those cues that are the environmental cues in the specific situation where the memory was formed. Police may take victims back to the scene of the crime to help access the memories formed in that context

state-dependent cues: cues that are associated with an individual’s internal physiological and/or psychological state at the time the memory was formed, which act as retrieval cues.

62
Q

three stages of memory

A
  1. ENCODING: the information must first be converted into a form that our brain can understand
  2. STORAGE: the information we process is stored in our memory
  3. RETRIEVAL: recalling information to use it
63
Q

what is reconstructed memory

A

Reconstructing a memory with new information. As time progresses, the memory becomes less accurate and reconstructed memory can be inaccurate as we may update our memory with new information which alters the memory.

64
Q

S.M.A.R.T goals

A

S: Specific - the more specific your description, the bigger chance you’ll get exactly that
M: Measurable - identify exactly what it is you will see, hear, and feel when you reach your goal, making it measurable
A: Achievement: investigating whether the goal is really acceptable to you
R: Relevant: why do you want to reach this goal? what is the objective?
T: Timely/Time based: Install deadlines for yourself and go after them.

65
Q

axon terminal

A

releases the neurotransmitters that relay signals across a synapse.

66
Q

myelin sheath

A

fatty covering that covers the axon and helps speed neural impulses by keeping impulses in.

67
Q

synapse

A

the site where communication occurs between neurons.

68
Q

axon

A

passes messages away from the cell body to the other neurons, muscles, or glands.

69
Q

dendrites

A

receive messages from other cells and passes it to the soma

70
Q

symptoms of Alzheimer’s

A
early symptoms
- minor memory problems
- having difficulty with the right word
- misplacing items
middle stage symptoms
- need help getting dressed, eating, washing etc. 
- worsened memory problems
- delusions and hallucinations may occur
later symptoms
- worsened symptoms of other stages
- may become violent and demanding
71
Q

rejected stalker

A

has experienced a relationship breakdown but refuses that it is over

72
Q

intimacy seeking stalker

A

lonely and tries to seek a close relationship in an inappropriate way. Stalking occurs for a very long time

73
Q

incompetent stalker

A

wants a friend/lover but lacks the social skills to develop a relationship. Uses inappropriate measures to keep in contact.

74
Q

predatory stalker

A

pursue desires for sexual gratification and control of others through stalker. Secretly follow the victim and maintain surveillance

75
Q

the erotomanic stalker

A
has erotomania (believes the other person is in love with them). 
They have a strong belief even though there may be very strong evidence that suggests otherwise.
76
Q

the resentful stalker

A

has become obsessed with their victim over some real/imaginary insult or injury. Stalks to ‘get even’