Test 1--second take Flashcards
What is psychology?
The scientific study of the brain and behaviour.
Who was William James?
A major figure of functionalism who was heavily influenced by Charles Darwin.
Who was John Watson?
A major figure of behaviourism.
Who was Freud?
A major figure of psychoanalysis who focused on internal processes of which we’re unaware.
Who was Wilhelm Wundt?
A major figure of structuralism.
What is behaviourism?
A branch of psychology that focused on uncovering the general laws of learning by looking outside the organism.
What is structuralism?
A branch of psychology that aimed to identify most basic elements of psychological experience.
What is functionalism?
A branch of psychology that aims to understand the adaptive purposes of psych characteristics.
What is the humanistic approach?
A branch of psychology that emphasises the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth.
What is clinical psychology?
Psychology that deals with medical issues in a clinical setting. Can not prescribe medication except in NM and LA.
What is psychiatry?
Psychology that deals with working with people experiencing temporary or self-contained problems.
What is the hindsight bias?
The “I knew it all along” bias.
After detailed study of a gunshot wound victim, a psychologist concludes that the brain region destroyed is likely to be important for memory functions. Which type of research did the psychologist use to deduce this?
case study
In an experiment to determine the effects of exercise on motivation, exercise is the:
independent variable
In order to determine the effects of a new drug on memory, one group of people is given a pill that contains the drug. A second group is given a sugar pill that does not contain the drug. This second group constitutes the:
control group
A psychologist studies the play behaviour of third-grade children by watching groups during recess at school. Which type of research is being used?
naturalistic observation
Illusory correlation refers to:
the perception of a correlation where there is none
In a test of the effects of air pollution, groups of students performed a reaction-time task in a polluted or an unpolluted room. To what condition were students in the unpolluted room exposed?
control
A professor constructs a questionnaire to determine how students at the university feel about nuclear disarmament. Which of the following techniques should be used in order to survey a random sample of the student body?
From an alphabetical listing of all students, every tenth (or fifteenth e.g.) student should be asked to complete the questionnaire.
If eating saturated fat and the likelihood of contracting cancer are positively correlated, which of the following is true?
People who are prone to develop cancer prefer foods containing saturated fat.
What is a case study?
A study of an individual over an extended period of time.
What is a survey?
A question assessment of a handful of individuals of a population.
What is naturalistic observation?
A study where the researcher engages in careful observation of behaviour without intervening directly with the subjects; it does not explain behaviour but only describes it.
What is correlation?
How two variables are related.
What is positive correlation?
As one variable increases, so does the other.
What is negative correlation?
As one variable increases, the other decreases.
What is the correlation coefficient?
The measure of the direction (positive or negative) and extent (range of a correlation coefficient is from -1 to +1) of the relationship between two sets of scores.
What is illusory correlation?
Perception of a statistical association where none exists.
What is an experiment study?
A study in which one variable is manipulated and the other is not. Can use one group of subjects who serve as their own control group.
What is the double-blind procedure?
A study in which neither the participants or the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment.
What is an independent variable?
The characteristic of a psychology experiment that is manipulated or changed.
What is a dependent variable?
What the experimenter measures to see whether manipulation had an effect.
Definition of mode:
The score that occurs most frequently in a distribution.
Definition of median:
The score that falls exactly in the centre of a distribution of scores.
Definition of mean:
The arithmetic average of the scores in a distribution.
What is statistical significance?
The probability of some result from a statistical test occurring by chance.
The axons of certain neurons are covered by a layer of fatty tissue that helps speed neural transmission. This tissue is:
the myelin sheath
Heartbeat, digestion, and other self-regulating bodily functions are governed by the:
autonomic nervous system
Voluntary movements such as writing with a pencil, are directed by the:
somatic nervous system
Which is the correct sequence in the transmission of a neural impulse?
dendrite –> cell body –> axon –> synapse
Which of the following is/are governed by the simplest neural pathways?
reflexes
Melissa has just completed running a marathon. She is so elated that she feels little fatigue or discomfort. Her lack of pain is probably the result of the release of:
endorphins
The effect of a drug that is an agonist is to:
mimic a particular neurotransmitter
Following Jayshree’s near-fatal car accident, her physician noticed that the pupillary reflex of her eyes was abnormal. This may indicate that Jayshree’s _____ was damaged in the accident.
autonomic nervous system
Your brother has been taking prescription medicine and experiencing a number of unpleasant side effects, including unusually rapid heartbeat and excessive perspiration. It is likely that the medicine is exaggerating activity in the:
sympathetic nervous system
Thought there is no single “control centre” for emotions, their regulation is primarily attributed to the brain region known as the:
limbic system
Damage to _____ will usually cause a person to lose the ability to comprehend language.
Wernicke’s area
Following a head injury, a person has ongoing difficulties staying awake. Most likely, the damage occurred to the:
reticular formation
The visual cortex is located in the:
occipital lobe
Jessica experienced difficulty keeping her balance after receiving a blow to the back of her head. It is likely that she injured her:
cerebellum
The nerve fibers that enable communication between the right and left cerebral hemispheres and that have been severed in split-brain patients form a structure called the:
corpus callosum
Following a nail gun wound to his head, Jack became more uninhibited, irritable, dishonest, and profane. It is likely that his personality change was the result of injury to his:
frontal lobe
A split-brain patient has a picture of a knife flashed to her left hemisphere and that of a fork to her right hemisphere. She will be able to:
identify the fork using her left hand
Dr. Frankenstein made a mistake during neurosurgery on his monster. After the operation, the monster “saw” with his ears and “heard” with his eyes. It is likely that Dr. Frankenstein “rewired” neural connections in the monster’s:
thalamus