Unit 4

Question 0

Algorithms:

Answer 0

A systematic procedure (step-by-step) that is guaranteed to furnish the correct answer to a problem if it is followed correctly.

Question 1

What is cognitive psychology?

Answer 1

A branch of psychology concerned with the study of higher mental processes such as thinking, knowing, and deciding.

Question 2

Heuristics:

Answer 2

Educated guesses or rules of thumb for solving problems that are not guaranteed to yield the correct answer.

Question 3

How do heuristics and algorithms relate to problem-solving?

Answer 3

By determining & executing how to proceed from a given state to a goal states using either of the two methods.

Question 4

What is functional fixedness?

Answer 4

The inability to see new uses for familiar objects.

Question 5

Functional fixedness and Maier’s two-string problem:

Answer 5

Two-strings hanging from ceiling, there is a chair and a pair of pliers? How do you tie the strings? Because we are used to assuming that we will use the chair to make ourselves tall enough to tie the strings together (functional fixedness) we don’t consider the possibility of tying one string to the pliers, swinging it like a pendulum, and then tying the other end to the other side of the pliers.

Question 6

What is the set effect?

Answer 6

Bias towards the use of certain problem-solving approaches because of past experience.

Question 7

What is confirmation bias?

Answer 7

Tendency to look for evidence that will confirm what one currently believes rather than looking for evidence that could disconfirm one’s beliefs.

Question 8

Availability heuristics & examples:

Answer 8

Heuristic in which the probability of an even is determined by how readily it comes to mind.
Example: You just hear about a plane crash and it affects your decision on whether to fly vs drive to Florida. i.e. Flying is actually safer than driving.

Question 9

What is framing?

Answer 9

The idea that the same information, problem, or options can be structured & presented in different ways.
The Framing Effect can interfere with logical reasoning because it sounds more positive to hear: “Chances of winning is 1 in 1 million” instead of “Chances of losing are 99,999 in 1 million”

Question 10

What is hindsight bias?

Answer 10

The tendency to falsely believe, through revision of older memories to include newer information, that one could have correctly predicted the outcome of an event.
The “I knew it all along” phenomenon.

Question 11

Water jug problem:

Answer 11

We get into the habit of using one equation to solve a problem, and even though it may work for awhile, we may find that there are other equations you can use to efficiently solve the same problem.

Question 12

The framing effect:

Answer 12

Condom’s 90% effective vs. 10% defective example: We focus on the way it is phrased versus the content. Although it may say the same thing, we go with what we would rather hear.

Question 13

What is validity?

Answer 13

The degree to which a psychological test measures what its developers intended it to measure.

Question 14

How does validity relate to intelligence testing?

Answer 14

A psychological test can be reliable but it is of little value unless it is also valid. On the other hand, an unreliable test cannot be valid. (Example of deciding to measure anxiety level by having people write down the names of the 7 Dwarves. The written reports may be reliable, but they have nothing to do with anxiety. Thus: reliability does not guarantee validity.)

Question 15

Who is Alfred Binet & what was his role in intelligence testing?

Answer 15

A French psychologist that examined whether a child displayed the mental ability of a typical child of that chronological age.

Chronological= child’s actual age(in yrs) at time of test.
Mental age= child’s age as far as his/her abilities at time of test (as compared to other children of same chronological age)
AND THEN he compared the two!

Question 16

What is mental age?

Answer 16

Binet proposed the concept of mental age. Mental age = child’s age as far as his/her abilities at time of test (as compared to other children of same chronological age) Mental age concept couldn’t apply to adults

Question 17

How was a person’s intelligence quotient (IQ) determined originally? What was the problem with this method of determining intelligence?

Answer 17

Mental Age (MA) divided by Chronological Age (CA) times 100 would equal the intelligence quotient (IQ). Thus, (MA/CA) x 100 = IQ

The problem with this testing was that it could only be applied to adults. This is because adult intellectual abilities don’t change from day to day like children. Time-limits on some items handicapped a # of adults.

Question 18

What is cognitive dissonance?

Answer 18

Unpleasant mental experience of tension resulting from two conflicting thoughts or behaviors.

Question 19

What is justification of effort and how is it related to cognitive dissonance?

Answer 19

It is people’s tendency to attribute a greater value (greater than the objective value) to an outcome they had to put effort into acquiring or achieving.
When someone competes against someone and loses, if they are sore losers, they complain that although they lost, the effort they put in should be worth more than the effort the winner put in to justify their loss.

Question 20

What is doublespeak and what are some examples?

Answer 20

Describes language that is purposely designed to make the bad seem good, to turn a negative into a positive, or to avoid or shift responsibility.

Question 21

Hyde’s “wudgemaker” description and gender competence.

Answer 21

Hyde proposed a study, describing a “wudgemaker” using differing pronouns. Children who heard “he” in their story only added a woman in their story 17% of the time and understood that he referred exclusively to men. They also rated women as less competent than men in the job of a wudgemaker. This showed the use of a single word can have significant influence on children’s ideas. Using the word HE of words like “chairman” when gender is not relevant to the intend meaning conveys the inaccurate notion that gender is a relevant dimension.

Question 22

Who was Terman’s termites?

Answer 22

A group of 1,500 gifted children that Lewis Terman tracked over a lifetime.

Question 23

What were the five outcomes associated with Terman’s Termites?

Answer 23

1) They were healthier.
2) They had more hobbies.
3) They read more books.
4) They were better adjusted as adults.
5) They were better achievers and learned more easily.

Question 24

What is savant syndrome?

Answer 24

A condition in which those with an intellectual disability demonstrates an exceptional ability in a specific area such as art, calculation, or memory, or music.

Question 25

How did the purpose of intelligence testing change when it was brought from France to America?

Answer 25

(France) Original purpose was to identify slow learners in order to bring them up to the average for the rest of their age level.
(America) Changed to it’s typical use today to rank children based on intelligence and to detect a presumed intelligence as a natural ability.

Question 26

What is the g factor approach (Spearman’s model) and how does it contrast overall with other approaches to intelligence?

Answer 26

The view of intelligence as a single overall ability. Spearman believed there were two types of intelligence g for general intelligence and s representing a number of specific abilities.
g = cuts across specific kinds of items and accounts for similar levels of performance on a variety of items.
s = related to the particular task and thus is responsible for the fact that each person does better on some tasks than others.
It would provide an inadequate account of a person’s ability.

Question 27

What is eugenics and how did it impact individuals with low intelligence score?

Answer 27

It was the idea that only smart people could reproduce and it would create a more knowledgable future of people. Those who believed intelligence was determined by heredity proposed that the general intelligence of the nation could increase if only intelligent people were allowed to have children. This was not fair for immigrants and people with other disparities.

Question 28

How were intelligence tests misused and how did it impact European immigrants?

Answer 28

IQ scores were used to prevent European immigrants from entering the U.S. These were administered in crowded conditions and required U.S. knowledge.

Question 29

Identify the 3 types of child temperament:

Answer 29

1. Easy children
2. Slow-to-warm-up children
3. Difficult children

Question 30

Easy children:

Answer 30

Behaved in consistent ways, had a positive approach to new situations, and were highly adaptable to change. Predominantly positive mood.

Question 31

Slow-to-warm-up children:

Answer 31

Displayed a combination of intense, negative responses to new stimuli with slow adaptability even after repeated contact.

Question 32

Difficult children:

Answer 32

Did not behave in consistent ways, were non-adaptable, and usually were characterized by an intense negative mood.

Question 33

According to Freud’s theory of personality what are the 3 psychic energies?

Answer 33

Id
Ego
Superego

Question 34

Id:

Answer 34

Life and death instincts; the only completely UNCONSCIOUS energy.

Question 35

Ego:

Answer 35

Logical and rational system in charge of maintaining balance between the demands of Id and Superego.

Question 36

Superego:

Answer 36

Conscience and sense of morality; rules of parents and society in general.

Question 37

According to Freud, what are the 5 stages of development?

Answer 37

1st: Oral (Putting toys in mouth)
2nd: Anal (Potty training)
3rd: Phallic (Penis envy for women, and men being excited about having a penis) (Oedipus complex. Kill dad to f*ck mom)
4th: Latency (Burying the urge to have sex. Don’t piss off dad so he doesn’t rip off your penis.)
5th: Genital (Adolescents direct their sexual urges onto opposite sex peers with the primary focus of pleasure.)

Question 38

Erikson’s psychosocial crisis:

Answer 38

Developmental problems or obstacle that is created when a psychological need conflicts with the demands of society.

Question 39

Psychosocial crisis covered how much life?

Answer 39

Trust vs. Mistrust: birth to 1.5 years

Generativity vs. stagnation: 40-65 years old.

Question 40

What is cognitive schema?

Answer 40

Integrated mental network of knowledge, beliefs, and expectations concerning a particular topic. Framework for thinking about objects, events, and ideas.

Question 41

Assimilation:

Answer 41

Absorbing new information into existing cognitive structures. (Toddler absorbing the fact that although dogs may appear different, they are still classified as a dog.)

Question 42

Accommodation:

Answer 42

Modifying and creating cognitive structures in response to new information. (Toddler grasping that although a horse looks like a dog, it’s not a dog, it’s a horse)

Question 43

First stage of Piaget’s cognitive stages:

Answer 43

Sensorimotor: Object permanence is the major achievement. Includes: realization that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight.

Question 44

Second stage of Piaget’s cognitive stages:

Answer 44

Pre-operational: The emergence of symbolism is an important milestone. (Toddler can take paper airplane and think of it as an actual airplane.) Centration is found here.

Question 45

Centration:

Answer 45

Pre-operational child’s tendency to focus on only one dimension at a time. (Little girl with the quarters and the spacing. She can only focus on the larger space between the quarters and not on the quantity of quarters in each line.)

Question 46

Third stage of Piaget’s cognitive stages:

Answer 46

Concrete operational: The ability to concentrate on more than one dimension is important for this stage. (Young girl understands that if you pour liquid of equal amounts into different containers that there is still the same amount of liquid.) Understands reversibility and conservation.

Question 47

Conservation:

Answer 47

Understanding that given quantity remains the same if it is rearranged or changed in appearance as long as nothing is added or taken away.

Question 48

Fourth & final stage of Piaget’s cognitive stages:

Answer 48

Formal operational: Abstract reasoning skills (The ability to think in terms of possibilities to concrete reality. These are ideas and non-tangible things that can be grasped.

Question 49

Kubler-Ross 5 basic stages of reacting to impending death.

Answer 49

1) Denial
2) Anger
3) Bargaining (for more time)
4) Depression
5) Acceptance