Intro to Psych Exam 2

What is the difference between gender and sex?

Sex is your biological status (chromosomes), and Gender is your culture’s definition of what it means to be male/female (socially constructed). 

What is one’s gender identity?

Our personal sense of being male or female 

What does it mean to say that someone is transgender?

Their gender identity differs from the rules assigned to your birth sex. 

What is the difference between a transgender person and a transsexual person?

Transgender people prefer to live as the opposite GENDER, transsexual people prefer to live as the opposite SEX. 

Sex drive is regulated by what 2 things?

Hormones (estrogen and testosterone) and the hypothalamus 

List the 4 stages of Masters and Johnson’s Human Sexual Response Cycle.

excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution

What is an orgasm?

an explosive discharge of tension

During resolution, the final stage of the Human Sexual Response Cycle, men experience a refractory period.  What does this mean?

renewed arousal is not possible

What is out most significant sex organ?

brain

List 3 negative side effects of overexposure to porn.

You could build up a tolerance, devalue your partner, and increase your acceptance of the “rape myth” 

What is sexual orientation?

Our enduring attraction towards members of a certain sex

Sexual orientation is not as black and white as we used to believe. Briefly explain.

sexual orientation is on a spectrum. It is not whether you are attracted to one sex or the other, but how much you are attracted to one sex or the other.

“My mom has a friend who used to be straight, but then she turned gay.”  How could you enlighten this person?

Women have more erotic plasticity – they can move along the spectrum. 

What is the official stance of the APA regarding sexual orientation? 

Sexual orientation is not a choice, nor can it be changed.

What is the difference between sensation and perception?

Sensation is the process of receiving stimulus energies from the world/environment. Perception is the process of interpreting sensory information. So, sensation is gathering information, perception is processing information. 

What is an absolute threshold?

The minimum amount of stimulation necessary to detect the stimulus 50% of the time. 

What is subliminal stimulation?

Stimulation that occurs below the absolute threshold for conscious awareness 

How powerful are the effects of subliminal stimulation?

Subliminal stimulation is not really powerful, it can only affect our moods through priming. 

What is a difference threshold?

The minimum amount of CHANGE necessary to detect the CHANGE 50% of the time. 

What is transduction?

The process by which stimulus energies are translated into neural messages (by receptor cells). 

What is the stimulus energy for vision?

light waves

What are the steps (in order) of transduction for vision?

1) light enters the eye through the cornea (protects eye and bends to focus) 

2) Then passes through the pupil (small adjustable opening, surrounded by the iris (colored muscle that adjusts light intake) 

3) light then passes through the lens (bend to focus) 

4) light is then projected onto the retina (a tissue on the back of the eye containing the receptor cells) 

5) receptor cells fire and send a signal to the brain (thalamus) along the optic nerve 

What is the iris?

Colored muscle that adjusts light intake 

What are the receptor cells for vision?  Where are they?

rods and cones; on the retina

Why do nocturnal animals see better than us in the dark, but can’t see color?

They have more rods than cones.

What is the stimulus energy for hearing?

sound waves

In the outer ear, sound waves are funneled through the _____, travel along the _____ _____, then bump up against the _____ _____.

Pinna; auditory canal; tympanic membrane (eardrum) 

what is the tympanic membrane?

eardrum

How does sound get transmitted through the middle ear?

The vibrations of the ear drum set in motion 3 tiny bones. 

In the inner ear, the movement of the oval window causes what?

The fluid in the cochlea moves 

When the fluid in the cochlea is set in motion, it causes what to happen?

It causes the hair cells to move, causing them to fire. 

What are the receptor cells for hearing?

hair cells

What are the 4 distinct skin senses?

pressure, warmth, cold, and pain

Since pain is primarily in the brain, what are 2 ways (besides drugs) we can reduce pain?

counterstimulation and hypnosis

what is the stimulus energy for taste?

chemical particles

What are the 5 taste sensations?

sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami

Why are farts not funny?

You inhale particles of whatever or whoever it is that you are smelling. 

Where does olfactory information go first in the brain?  What are the implications of this?

It goes to the limbic system, meaning the sense of smell is the strongest linked to memory. 

What is the definition of learning (from class)?

A relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience 

What is conditioning?

the process of learning associations in steps

What is the name of the Russian physiologist who discovered classical conditioning?

Pavlov

What is classical conditioning?

a type of learning in which animals learn an association between stimuli 

What is the formula for classical conditioning?

US = UR 

CS + US = UR 

CS = CR 

What is extinction?

The ceasing of a response due to the weakening  or breaking of an association

look over and understand story problems

:D

We are biologically prepared to learn some things very quickly – after, perhaps, just one association.  What are those things (there are 2 of them)?

conditioned taste aversion and fear

_____ conducted a very famous study on the acquisition of fear, called the Little _____ study

Watson; Albert

52. What was the US in Watson’s study with Little Albert?  What was the CS?  What was the CR? 

US (gong) = UR (fear) 

CS (rat) + US (gong) = UR (fear) 

CS (rat) = CR (fear) 

In the study on fear conditioning discussed in class, the baby’s fear generalized.  What does that mean?

When the conditioned response occurs to stimulus similar to conditioned stimulus 

What is operant conditioning?

The type of learning in which a behavior is association with its consequence 

In what 2 ways is operant conditioning different from classical conditioning?

Association is between behavior and consequence, not stimuli; response is a choice – you are operating on the environment, not just reacting 

There are 2 types of consequences in operant conditioning.  _____ increase behaviors and _____ decrease behaviors.

reinforcers; punishers

What is the formula for operant conditioning?

Stimulus -> response -> consequence 

­­_____ used "puzzle boxes” to study how cats learned.

Thorndike

What does the Law of Effect state?

The consequence of effect of a behavior determines whether or not it happens again 

Who designed the operant chamber?

Skinner

What is an operant chamber?

Soundproof box used to study conditioning

What is shaping?

Reinforcing a desired behavior

How can shaping make tantrums worse?

The parent stops reinforcing the original tantrum, the kid tries harder (mega tantrum), the parent caves. This teaches the child that if they try hard enough, they get what they want. 

What are positive reinforcers? Give an example.

Giving something to increase behavior (food, attention, money) 

What are negative reinforcers?  Give an example.

Taking something away to increase behavior (no chores, ungrounding, less bedtime/curfew) 

What are primary reinforcers?  Give an example.

Things we naturally like (primal) (food, water, attention, toys) 

What are secondary reinforcers?  Give an example.

Things we learn to like because they are associated with primary reinforcers (conditioned reinforcers) (money) 

What is observational learning?

Learning by observing and imitating others (aka modeling) 

What are mirror neurons?

Frontal lobe neurons that fire when we watch someone doing something, as if we are doing it 

How do mirror neurons allow us to be empathetic?

We feel what others are feeling because we mimic their faces 

_____ used a _____ doll to study how children learn aggressive behavior through observational learning.

Bandura; Bobo

What are the 3 processes of memory?

encoding, storage, retrival

_____ is the process of putting information into memory.

encoding

_____ studied memory by memorizing lists of nonsense syllables.

Ebbinghaus

What does the spacing effect have to do with how you should study for exams?

We remember information better if our studying is spaced out overtime. 

_____ practice can produce speedy short-term learning and feelings of confidence.  _____ practice produces better long-term recall.

Massed; distributed 

When encoding verbal information, we usually encode its _____, rather than the sounds or words themselves.  This is why it is so helpful to elaborate on the information.

meaning

If we had to remember a list of words, why would it be easier for us to remember words like “desk” or “lamp” rather than “justice” or “freedom”?

we remember things better if we can picture them.

Given what we know about how memory works, why is it such a good idea to have class notes organized into an outline?

We are better at encoding information that is organized. 

What is chunking?  Give one real life example of chunking.

Organizing information into smaller, more manageable units. 

According to the conceptualization of memory storage discussed in class, what are the 3 compartments of memory storage?

Sensory memory, Working memory, Long-term memory. 

_____ memory is where information from the world, in its original sensory form, is held for only an instant

Sensory

_____ memory is where information is that we are currently paying attention to, thinking about, or working with.  It only holds about 7 +/- 2 items for only about 15sec (unless we keep thinking about it).

working

_____ memory is the compartment of memory storage that is essentially limitless in its capacity or duration.

Long-term. 

What is explicit memory?

“Declarative” it can be easily put into words; Requires conscious attention for recall. 

What is episodic memory?

Memory for personal episodes (autobiographical) 

What is semantic memory?

Memory for facts about the world. 

What is implicit memory?

“Non declarative” It cannot be easily put into words; Does not require conscious attention for recall. 

What is procedural memory?

how to do stuff

How are explicit memory and implicit memory neurologically different?

Explicit memory goes through the hippocampus, while implicit memory goes through the cerebellum.

Where in the brain are memories actually stored?

no one place

How does the connectionist model represent memory?

It views human memory as a spider web; networks of nodes of knowledge.

According to the connectionist model of memory, memories arise from what?

 Activation of one node causes the activation of another, nearby node. This is called spreading activation. 

During learning, there is an increase in the efficiency of neural communication.  This increase in synaptic efficiency that occurs during learning is called _____ _____ _____

Long Term Potentiation

In what 2 ways does neural communication become more efficient during LTP?

1) The receiving neuron becomes more sensitive (more likely to fire) 2) More neurotransmitters are released. 

Neurologically speaking, should emotional memories be remembered better or worse?  Why?

When the amygdala is active, it boosts activity in the hippocampus, meaning emotional memories are remembered best. 

_____ memories are memories of emotionally significant events that are unusually vivid and accurate.  An example would be our ability to remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when we heard about 9/11

flashbulb

What are cues?

Anything that helps us remember

Give 2 examples of cues.

words, letters, smells, and sounds

What is priming?

The activation of particular associations in memory (what cues do) 

How do cognitive psychologists explain déjà vu?

There are context clues from multiple memories, your brain tries to put it together in to a whole memory. 

What is state-dependent learning?

We remember things better if we are in the same mental state as when we learned it 

How could forgetting actually help survival?

Forgetting makes retrieval more efficient