Introduction to Psychology Exam Review

These flashcards cover key concepts from the psychology curriculum that are essential for exam preparation.

Naive Realism

The idea that what we see is exactly what the world is like.

Pluralism of an Anecdote

Generalizing results from one or a few people and applying it to a whole population

Confirmation bias

Tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one’s existing belief / ignore counterfactual evidence

Hindsight bias

Tendency to believe after learning an outcome that we could’ve predicted it

Overconfidence

Tendency to think you know more than you do

Illusory Correlation

The tendency to perceive patterns in random events

Operational Definition

Spelling out what is being tested; also used to describe procedures (operations) used in a study

Case Study:

Detailed, in depth investigation of a single individual, group or event

Pros: Examines one individual, provides fruitful ideas

Cons: Cannot be used to generalize

Naturalistic Observation

Records behavior in a natural environment, without interference or

manipulation of variables

Pros: provides rich, authentic data in natural settings

Cons: lacks experimental control, no cause-effect relationships can be established.

Correlational Study

Investigates the relationship between two or more variables without

manipulation

Pros: Allows for the examination of relationships of two or more variables

Cons: Cannot establish causation and may be susceptible to influence of other variables

Experimental Study

Use of controlled methods to investigate cause and effect relationships

Pros: High control over variables, precise manipulation and observation

Cons: Expensive and time consuming, possibly can be unethical

Psuedo-Experimental Study

Experimental design where participants cannot be randomly assigned

Pros: allows for studying effects in real-world settings while still maintaining some control over variables.

Cons: limited ability to infer causation, potential for selection bias due to non-random assignment.

What designs/studies are qualitative (descriptive?)

Case Study and Naturalistic Observation.

What designs/studies are quantitative?

Correlational, Experimental and Pseudo-Experimental

What are the correlational relationships between two variables?

Positive Correlation (increasing/decreasing together), Negative Correlation (one increases while the other decreases), and No correlation (no consistent relationship).

How do we plot correlations?

Scatterplot. The line of best fit represents the correlation.

What are the 3 measures of central tendency?

Mean - Add all scores and divide by number of scores

Median - Middle score in an ordered set

Mode - Most frequently occurring score in a set.

What are the 3 types of distributions?

Normal Distribution - Symmetrical bell curve
Positive Skew Distribution - Asymmetrical with right tail longer than the left tail Negative Skew Distribution - Asymmetrical with left tail longer than the right tail.

Pre-Registration

The practice of posting hypotheses, research and analysis plans online ahead of time, keeping people honest and from unintentionally fudging results

Publicly accessible data

Posting data and analysis instruction to allow for reproduction of experiments

Replicability

P-Values are more often reliable when added together. Reproducing results and publishing them whether significant or not is important.

Neural plasticity

The brain's ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life, influenced by experience and learning.

Types of plasticity

Growing of dendrites, axons

Synaptogenesis (new connections between neurons)

Pruning of dead or unused neurons

Myelination (Encasing of axons in the fatty substance of myelin)

What are the basic parts of a neuron?

Soma - Neuron cell body

Dendrites - Branch off from soma, receive signals from other neurons

Axon - Long skinny part, conducts electricity

Myelin sheath - Surrounds the axon, speeds up transmissions (looks like beads on necklace)

Terminal branches - End of axon, receives signals from the axon and transmits them to other neurons

Synapses - Junction between two cells

Glial cells (glia) - Protect, nourish and support neurons

What are neurotransmitters, where are they stored?

Chemical signals between cells, stored in vesicles at the axon terminals.

What is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter?

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which calms down the nervous system and reduces neuronal excitability.

What is a major excitatory neurontransmitter?

Glutamate, which promotes neuronal activation and enhances communication between neurons.

What neurotransmitter is responsible for how we process rewards?

Dopamine

Neurotransmitter agonists

Molecules that increase a neurotransmitter’s actions

Neurotransmitter antagonists

Molecules that inhibit a neurotransmitter's actions.

What are the 3 major types of neurons?

Sensory neurons (Carry messages from the body’s tissues/sensory receptors inward to the spinal cord and brain)

Motor neurons (Carry instructions from the central nervous system out to muscles)

Interneurons (Connect sensory and motor neurons within the spinal cord and brain)

Major divisions of the nervous system and what types of neurons they use

Central nervous system using interneurons

Peripheral nervous system uses sensory and motor neurons

Basic symptoms of sympathetic nervous system

include increased heart rate, dilated pupils, and heightened alertness.

Basic symptoms of parasympathetic nervous system

include decreased heart rate, constricted pupils, and improved digestion.

Parts of the brainstem

Medulla, at base, controlling heart rate, breathing, parts of autonomic nervous system

Pons, above medulla, coordinate movement

Thalamus, at top of brainstem, directing sensory message to cortex

Reticulular formation, network of neurons regulating wakefulness and arousal.

Cerebellum, located at the back, responsible for balance and coordination.

Major parts of their limbic system and their responsibilities

Amygdala, responsible for processing and expressing emotions

Hypothalamus, regulating bodily functions such as hunger, thirst, temperature, and circadian rhythms

Hippocampus, important for memory formation and learning

Part of your cortex responsible for judgement and self-regulation.

Frontal lobe

What part of your cortex is responsible for auditory information processing

Temporal lobe

What is Wavelength?

Refers to the distance between successive peaks of a wave. Greater distance between peaks means redder colors. Shorter means bluer.

What is amplitude?

Height of waves, greater amplitude increases intensity/brightness, lesser increases dullness.

What is habituation?

Diminished sensitivity to a stimulus after repeated exposure.

Sensitization

An increased response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, often resulting in heightened awareness.

What are cones?

Sensitive to color and bright light; responsible for color vision in well-lit conditions.

What are rods?

Photoreceptor cells in the retina responsible for vision in low light conditions.

How do optic nerves from eyes connect to your visual cortex?

They run to opposite sides, right to left, left to right.

What happens when vision fails due to rapid change in lighting?

The eyes may struggle to adjust, causing temporary vision loss or blurriness as they adapt between light levels.

What causes sensorineural hearing loss?

Damage to the inner ear or auditory nerve, often due to loud noise exposure, aging, or trauma.

What causes conductive hearing loss?

Caused by problems in the outer or middle ear, preventing sound from being conducted to the inner ear. This can result from ear infections, fluid buildup, or physical blockages.

What do the different tastes help us detect?

Salty - Sodium

Bitter - Poison

Sweet - Energy Source

Sour - Potentially toxic

Umami - Protein Source

What is the vestibular sense? Where is it calibrated?

The sensory system that contributes to balance and spatial orientation by detecting changes in head position and movement. It is calibrated in the inner ear, specifically through structures known as the semicircular canals and otolith organs.

What is the kinesthetic sense? Where is it calibrated?

Also known as proprioception, is the sensory system that provides feedback about body position and movement. It is calibrated through receptors located in muscles, tendons, and joints.

What studies do we use to separate environmental and genetic influences?

Twin studies, Separated twin studies, and Biological versus adoptive family studies.

What do adopted children studies tell us about genetic influence?

Adopted children are more similar to genetic relatives than adoptive.

What is natural selection?

Genetic variation in population creates traits that better enable an organism to survive, reproduce, and pass on traits, which become more and more prevalent?

What are the types of norms?

Descriptive norms, describing things that happen without judgement

Injunctive norms (Prescriptive/Proscriptive), describing what should/shouldn’t happen according to societal standards

What are the four parenting styles?

Authoritative - A parenting style characterized by high responsiveness and high demands, which fosters independence and self-regulation in children.

Authoritarian - This style is strict, valuing obedience, and often employing harsh discipline without much warmth.

Permissive - Making few demands and setting few limits

Uninvolved - A style where parents are detached, showing little interest in their child's activities or emotional needs.

What is developmental psychology?

The branch of psychology that studies the psychological growth and development of individuals throughout their lifespan, focusing on changes in behavior, cognition, and emotions.

What is temperament, and how does it persist or change across the lifespan?

Refers to the innate traits that influence how one thinks, behaves, and reacts emotionally. It tends to be relatively stable throughout a person's life, although environmental factors and experiences can lead to some changes.

What are the stages of cognitive development in Piaget’s theory, and what are the landmark skills attributed to them?

Sensorimotor (0-2 years), learning object permanence, reflexes, and cause/effect

Preoperational (2-7 years), learning symbolic thinking, early language, egocentricism

Concrete operational (7-11 years), learning logical reasoning, seriation, deductive reasoning

Formal operational (12+ years), learning abstract thinking, systematic problem solving, and hypothetical reasoning.

What is attachment and what are the four major attachment styles?

Deep emotional bond between an infant and a caregiver, which influences social and emotional development. The four major attachment styles are secure, anxious-ambivalent, anxious-avoidant, and disorganized.

Acetylcholine

This neurotransmitter is involved in alertness and muscle movement.

What is like a lock and key

This simile illustrates how neurotransmitters fit into the receptors on dendrites.

Sodium and potassium

Name two major ions involved in an action potential.

What is the somatic nervous system

It's the division of the peripheral nervous system that is responsible for voluntary movements.

What is the somatic nervous system

Divisions of this part of your peripheral nervous system are responsible for fight or flight and rest and digest responses.

What is the temporal cortex (temporal lobe)

This part of the cortex is important for the processing of auditory information.

What is the pre-frontal cortex

The associative areas in this part of the brain are important to our ability to plan, judge, and self-regulate.

What is a low pitched, loud sound.

It is the type of sound that would be produced by a low frequency, high amplitude soundwave.

What is behavioral genetics

It is the field of study where we attempt to determine roughly how much of a behavior is due to genetic versus environmental influence

What is theory of mind.

It is the landmark skill where children become able to sense that people possess unique points of views (that is, that someone can think or observe something that others can't)

What do we know from cross-cultural research on attachment styles?

Secure attachment is most common, but there are cultural variations in the expression and prevalence of different attachment styles. Avoidant attachment is more prevalent in individualistic cultures, while anxious attachment may be more common in collectivist cultures.

What is emerging adulthood?

A developmental stage that typically occurs from ages 18 to 25, characterized by exploration, identity formation, and the transition to adulthood. This period encompasses significant life changes, including education, work, and relationships.

What is classical conditioning?

A learning process that involves pairing a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response. It was famously demonstrated by Ivan Pavlov in his experiments with dogs.

Neutral Stimulus

Doesn’t trigger unconditioned response

Unconditioned stimulus

Naturally triggers unconditioned response

Unconditioned response

The natural reaction triggered by an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned stimulus

A previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, triggers a conditioned response.

Conditioned response

The learned reaction to a conditioned stimulus, established through conditioning. Formerly the neutral stimulus

What is extinction?

Occurs when a conditioned response is weakened or eliminated after repeated presentations of the conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus.

What is spontaneous recovery?

The reappearance of a conditioned response after a period of rest following extinction, demonstrating that the response is not completely forgotten.

How does exposure therapy work?

Involves gradually exposing a patient to the feared object or context without any danger to help them overcome their anxiety. This process helps to extinguish the conditioned response associated with the fear.

What is operant conditioning?

A learning process through which the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment. It involves rewards or consequences to influence behavior.

What is a reinforcer?

An object or event that increases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated, as it provides a positive outcome.

What is a punishment?

A consequence applied after a behavior that decreases the likelihood of that behavior being repeated, often by introducing an adverse outcome.

What is a primary reinforcement?

A stimulus that is naturally reinforcing because it satisfies a biological need, such as food or water.

What is a secondary reinforcement?

A stimulus that acquires its reinforcing properties through association with primary reinforcers, such as money or praise.

What kind of schedules can reinforcements come on?

Reinforcements can come on fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, or variable-interval schedules, influencing the timing and frequency of reinforcement.

What are the three R’s of testing memory?

Recall, recognition, and relearning.

What is sensory memory?

The initial stage of memory perception, where sensory information is briefly retained in its raw form, typically lasting only a few seconds.

What is working short term memory?

A limited capacity storage system that temporarily holds and manipulates information for cognitive tasks, such as reasoning and comprehension.

What is an example of forgetting that stems from encoding versus retrieval failure?

An example is not remembering a name you've just heard because it wasn't properly encoded, versus knowing the name but being unable to retrieve it later.

What are the strategies used to encode memory long term?

Chunking, Mnemonics, Hierarchies and elaborate rehearsal techniques are common strategies for enhancing long-term memory encoding.

What strategies can help with revival?

Priming, Context-dependent, state dependent memory, and the use of retrieval cues are strategies that can enhance memory revival.

What is the availability heuristic?

A mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to mind when evaluating a specific topic, concept, method, or decision. It can lead to biased judgments based on recent or vivid experiences.

Representation heuristic

A cognitive shortcut used to simplify decision-making by comparing present situations to a prototype or typical example, often leading to inaccuracies and biases.

Anchoring and adjustment heuristic

is a cognitive bias that describes the tendency to rely on the first piece of information encountered (the "anchor") when making decisions, and then adjusting from that anchor to reach a conclusion. This can lead to skewed judgments based on the initial reference point.

Affect heuristic

A mental shortcut that relies on emotional responses to influence decision-making, leading individuals to rely on their feelings as a way to evaluate risks and benefits.

What is drive reduction theory? What drives does it refer to?

A behavioral theory that suggests that motivation arises from biological needs. It refers to drives such as hunger, thirst, and the need for warmth, which prompt behavior aimed at reducing these basic needs.

What is a set point?

Refers to the hypothesized weight range that the body strives to maintain, regulated by biological factors. It indicates that when body weight deviates from this range, biological processes are activated to restore it.

What is the basal metabolic rate?

The number of calories the body requires to maintain basic physiological functions at rest, such as breathing and circulation, without accounting for additional activities.