Psychology Unit 1 & 2 Test

Question 1

Define Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior in a given context.

Question 2

What is the purpose of psychology in society?

Answer 2

Psychology helps to describe behavior and mental processes accurately. It helps to predict future behavior based on research. Through psychology we can influence behavior in beneficial ways.

Question 3

List and describe the different phenomena that are considered a “skew” in our logic as we do psychological research.

Answer 3

Experimenter bias- outcome that is a result of the preconceived ideas of the researcher
Hawthorne Effect- just the fact you know you are in an experiment can cause change
Order Effects- order of conditions having an affect on the participants’ behavior
Placebo Effect- beneficial effect produced by a placebo drug or treatment due to the patient’s belief in that treatment

Question 4

What is the difference between applied research and basic research?

Answer 4

Applied research has clear and practical applications which you can use. Basic research explores questions that you may be curious about, but not intended to be immediately used.

Question 5

What is the difference between a dependent and an independent variable?

Answer 5

The independent variable is the variable that is being manipulated in the experiment. The dependent variable is whatever is being measured in the experiment.

Question 6

Pick 3 of the confounding variables and explain how they work using an example to describe them.

Answer 6

Placebo Effect- if participants take a pill they are told will improve something, they are more likely to see that effect because that is what they expect
Order Effects- performance in the 2nd round of a race may be better because they know what to do
Experimenter Bias- if the participants notice subtle cues from experimenter’s gestures/face expression and the outcome changes

Question 7

What are the rules you must follow for human experimentation?

Answer 7

There must be no coercion (has to be voluntary), informed consent, anonymity, no significant risk, and must debrief.

Question 8

What are the rules you must follow for animal experiments?

Answer 8

There must be a clear purpose, animals must be treated in a humane way, animals must be acquired legally, and least amount of suffering possible.

Question 9

List and describe the four types of conditioning.

Answer 9

Positive reinforcement- present a positive stimulus after a desired behavior (add, avoid)
Positive punishment- present a negative consequence after an undesired behavior (add)
Negative reinforcement- take away an aversive stimulus when a behavior is exhibited (remove)
Negative punishment- remove a desired stimulus after an undesirable behavior (remove)

Question 10

Who is considered the father of Behaviorism?

Answer 10

John B. Watson.

Question 11

Who were the psychologists who applied conditioning to human behavior?

Answer 11

B.F. Skinner.

Question 12

What is the difference between nature and nurture?

Answer 12

Nature refers to the innate biological factors (genetics), while nurture is the upbringing/life experiences of a person.

Question 13

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

Answer 13

Sensation is the detection of physical energy emitted or reflected by physical objects while perception is the process by which the brain organizes and interprets sensory information.

Question 14

List the five senses and describe them.

Answer 14

Vision- ability of the eyes to perceive images of visible light
Hearing- perception of sound, which is detected as vibrations within the ears
Smell- works very closely with sense of taste, chemicals and minerals are perceived by the olfactory receptors
Touch- perceived by activation in skin receptors
Taste- ability to detect minerals and dangerous substances in food (five basic tastes- sweet, salty, sour, bitter, umami)

Question 15

What is the purpose of a sense receptor?

Answer 15

To convert physical energy in the environment or body to electrical energy that can be transmitted as nerve impulses to the brain.

Question 16

What is synesthesia?

Answer 16

A condition in which stimulation of one sense also evokes another (the occipital lobe is damaged if you have synesthesia).

Question 17

What is Top-Down perception?

Answer 17

Processes that are re-involved in identifying a stimulus by using the knowledge we already possess about the situation. This knowledge is based on past experiences and allows us to form expectations about what we ought to perceive.

Question 18

What is Bottum-Up processing?

Answer 18

Processes that are involved in identifying a stimulus by analyzing the information available in the external stimulus. Information processing that begins at the receptor level and continues to higher brain centers.

Question 19

What is absolute threshold?

Answer 19

The smallest quantity of physical energy that can be reliably detected by an observer.

Question 20

What are some of the benefits of sleep?

Answer 20

Sleep prevents you from forgetting information learned throughout the day, cleans out short-term memory, emotions get reset, and regulates the prefrontal cortex (not enough sleep = more emotional and less rational).

Question 21

Explain the different visual concepts.

Answer 21

Proximity- we see objects close to each other as more related than objects that are far apart ===
Similarity- we see elements that share characteristics as more related than those that don’t
Continuity- we see elements on a line or curve as more related than those that are not on a line or curve
Closure- we see a complex arrangement and look for a single recognizable pattern

Question 22

What is the Gestalt principle?

Answer 22

Describes the brain’s organization of sensory building blocks into meaningful units and patterns.