psych 1020h exam review

What are the major psychological perspectives?

Biological/neuroscience, behavioural, social, clinical, developmental, cognitive

What is the fundamental unit of psychology?

The response.

What is an observational/descriptive design?

A design that describes behavior without manipulating variables.

Strength of observational/descriptive designs?

Rich detail

Weakness of observational/descriptive designs?

No causal conclusions; possible bias; limited generalization.

What is a correlational design?

Measures the relationship between two variables without manipulation.

Strength of correlational designs?

Allows study of unethical/impossible-to-manipulate variables; predicts relationships.

Weakness of correlational designs?

Cannot determine causation; third variable problem.

What is an experimental design?

Researcher manipulates an IV and measures a DV with random assignment.

Strength of experimental designs?

Only method that establishes causation; high control.

Weakness of experimental designs?

May lack real-world validity; ethical/practical limits.

What does correlation measure?

Strength and direction of a linear relationship.

What does effect size r² represent?

Proportion of variance explained by the relationship.

Why does correlation not equal causation?

Directionality problem and third variable problem.

What is an independent variable?

The variable manipulated by the experimenter.

What is a dependent variable?

The variable measured as the outcome.

What is a confounding variable?

Uncontrolled third variable that affects both IV and DV.

What is sampling bias?

Non-representative sample causing inaccurate conclusions.

What is experimenter bias?

Researcher expectations influence results.

What is the placebo effect?

Behavior changes due to expectations

What is confirmation bias?

Tendency to notice information supporting beliefs.

What is hindsight bias?

Believing you “knew it all along.”

What are cognitive heuristic problems?

Mental shortcuts causing reasoning errors.

Who was Pavlov?

Discovered classical conditioning.

Who was Skinner?

Developed operant conditioning; Skinner box.

Who was Watson?

Behaviorist; classical conditioning of fear (Little Albert).

What is a stimulus?

Any event or object that elicits or influences a response.

What is a response?

Behavioral reaction to a stimulus.

What is classical conditioning?

Learning where a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a UCS.

What is operant conditioning?

Learning where behavior is shaped by consequences.

What is an unconditioned stimulus?

Stimulus that naturally evokes a response.

What is an unconditioned response?

Automatic response to the UCS.

What is a conditioned stimulus?

Previously neutral stimulus that now triggers a response.

What is a conditioned response?

Learned response to the CS.

What is positive reinforcement?

Adding something pleasant to increase behavior.

What is negative reinforcement?

Removing something unpleasant to increase behavior.

What is positive punishment?

Adding something aversive to decrease behavior.

What is negative punishment?

Removing something desirable to decrease behavior.

What is habituation or satiation?

Reduced responding because the reinforcer loses value.

What is conditioned inhibition?

CS signals the absence of the UCS.

What is superstitious conditioning?

Accidental reinforcement causes false associations.

What is continuous reinforcement?

Reward every response.

What is a fixed ratio schedule?

Reinforcement after a set number of responses.

What is a variable ratio schedule?

Reinforcement after a varying number of responses.

What is a fixed interval schedule?

Reinforcement after a fixed time interval.

What is a variable interval schedule?

Reinforcement after unpredictable time intervals.

Which schedule produces highest response rates?

Variable ratio.

What is ratio strain?

Break in behavior when ratio increases too fast.

What is conditioned taste aversion?

One-trial learning: taste paired with illness → long aversion.

What is extinction?

CR decreases when CS stops predicting the UCS.

What is spontaneous recovery?

Reappearance of an extinguished CR after rest.

What is stimulus generalization?

Responding to similar stimuli.

What is stimulus discrimination?

Responding only to a specific stimulus.

What is shaping?

Reinforcing successive steps toward a target behavior.

What is fading?

Gradually removing prompts.

How is generalization related to prejudice?

Negative experience generalized to an entire group.

What is discriminative responding?

Responding only when certain cues are present.

How does stress affect discrimination?

Stress impairs accurate discrimination.

What is experimental neurosis?

Anxiety from impossible or confusing discriminations.

Effects of sudden reinforcement withdrawal?

Agitation, stress, physiological distress

What are the two major LTM categories?

Declarative and non-declarative.

Types of declarative memory?

Episodic and semantic.

Types of non-declarative memory?

Priming

What is the hippocampus for?

Forming new declarative memories.

What was H.M.’s impairment?

Anterograde amnesia; intact procedural memory.

What is STM capacity?

About 7 ± 2 items.

Difference between anterograde and retrograde amnesia?

Anterograde = no new memories; Retrograde = loss of past memories.

Why is memory reconstructive?

Memories are rebuilt

Difference between proactive and retroactive interference?

Proactive = old disrupts new; Retroactive = new disrupts old.

PFC roles in memory?

Left = encoding; Right = retrieval.

Factors that promote false memories?

Suggestion

What is the fundamental unit of the nervous system?

The neuron.

Functions of the four lobes?

Occipital = vision; Temporal = hearing/memory; Parietal = touch/spatial; Frontal = planning.

Hemispheric differences?

Left = language; Right = spatial/emotional.

Function of cerebellum?

Coordination and motor learning.

Function of hippocampus?

Memory gateway; damage → anterograde amnesia.

Function of amygdala?

Emotion and fear; damage → reduced fear recognition.

Major neurotransmitters?

Serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine

What is the corpus callosum?

Connects hemispheres.

Function of thalamus?

Sensory relay.

Function of hypothalamus?

Homeostasis and hormones.

What is Charles Bonnet syndrome?

Visual hallucinations from sensory deprivation.

What is spatial neglect?

Right parietal damage causing left-side neglect.

What are four forms of physical energy?

Electromagnetic

Wavelength corresponds to?

Color.

Amplitude of light corresponds to?

Brightness.

Sound frequency corresponds to?

Pitch.

Where does auditory transduction occur?

Cochlea → organ of Corti.

Gestalt principles (grouping)?

Similarity

Proximity

Continuity

Closure

Figure/ground

Symmetry

Rods vs cones?

Rods = dim light; Cones = color/detail.

What is the IQ formula?

Mental age / chronological age × 100.

WAIS mean and SD?

Mean = 100; SD = 15.

What is Spearman’s g?

General intelligence factor.

Fluid vs crystallized intelligence?

Fluid = reasoning, handling novel problems; Crystallized = knowledge, using passed experiences

What is the Z-score formula?

(xi – mean) / SD.

What is the Flynn effect?

Rising IQ scores over generations.

What does the Stroop test measure?

Conflict between automatic and controlled processing.

What do split-brain studies show?

Hemispheres can act independently.

Broca’s vs Wernicke’s aphasia?

Broca = impaired production; Wernicke = impaired comprehension.

What controls circadian rhythms?

Suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN).