PART 1: BYU AP Psychology

Flashcards generated from lecture notes for exam preparation.

How do I achieve random sampling when interviewing people about attitudes toward global terrorism?

Ensuring that my sampling of subjects included the same probability that each person in the population could be chosen.

In an experiment studying the effects of a new drug on memory, what constitutes the control group?

The group given a sugar pill that does not contain the drug.

When is a difference between two groups considered "statistically significant"?

The difference is not likely to be due to chance variation.

What major factor separates the experimental method from correlational studies?

The experimental method seeks to discover cause-effect relationships.

In any experiment, the cause is called the , while the effect or result is called the .

Independent variable; dependent variable.

What procedure ensures that experimental and control groups do not differ in any way that might affect the experiment’s results?

Random assignment.

What is wrong with Martina’s research strategy: She has five friends each drink three 8-ounce cups of coffee and then measures their reaction time on a learning task?

There is no control condition.

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 conditions were students in the unpolluted room exposed?

Controlled.

When considering a normal distribution of scores, what percentage of scores is equal to or below the mean?

50 percent.

What is the median of the following distribution of scores: 10, 7, 5, 11, 8, 6, 9?

8

What is the mean of the following distribution of scores: 2, 3, 7, 6, 1, 4, 9, 5, 8, 2?

4.7

What is the mode of the following distribution of scores: 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 14?

4

A lopsided set of scores that includes a number of extreme or unusual values is said to be .

Skewed

When the mean of a distribution of scores or measures is higher than the median, the distribution will be .

Positively skewed.

Which measure of central tendency is most affected by a few extreme scores?

Mean.

If a student scored higher than 75 percent of the other students taking the same test scored, you know that he or she obtained a percentile rank of on the test he or she took.

Seventy-five.

The punter on a football team wants to determine how consistent his punting distances have been during the past season. He should compute the .

The standard deviation.

When you see a graphed cluster of dots depicting the values and relationship of two different variables, you are seeing a visual description of relatedness called a .

Scatter-plot or scatter-gram

The philosophical views of John Locke are most closely associated with , while the views of René Descartes are associated with .

Nurture; nature.

Which seventeenth-century philosopher believed that the mind is blank at birth and that most knowledge comes through sensory experience?

Locke.

Which seventeenth-century philosopher believed that some ideas are innate?

Descartes.

Match the names with the view: Which argue for nature/heredity/genes and nurture/learning/environment.

Plato and Descartes argue for nature/heredity/genes; Aristotle and Locke argue for nurture/learning/environment.

When a study finds that children who were hugged more from birth to kindergarten do better in academics and social adjustment when going to school, the position of __ is being supported most.

Nurture.

The first psychology laboratory was established by _ in the year _.

Wundt; 1879.

The first woman to receive a PhD in psychology was __.

Margaret Floy Washburn.

The first woman president of the American Psychological Association was __.

Mary Whiton Calkins.

Analyzing different strategies and approaches used in studying learning, memorizing, therapy, perception, loving, or any human process is exciting and intriguing. This “thinking about our thinking” is called .

Metacognition.

Match the terms with the psychological approach: eclectic, behavioristic, psychoanalytic, cognitive, and humanistic.

Eclectic: a combination of portions of two or more approaches; behavioristic: Watson, Pavlov, Little Albert, classical conditioning, Skinner, operant conditioning; psychoanalytic: Freud; subconscious; determinism; anxiety; defense mechanisms; neo-Freudians: Erikson, Horney, Adler, Jung; cognitive: Ellis, Glasser, belief, conscious choice; humanistic: Maslow, Rogers, individual choice, free will, self actualization, genuineness, unconditional positive regard

Match the terms with the approach: behavioristic, cognitive, psychoanalytic, and humanistic

Behavioristic: objective, based purely on observable actions; cognitive: thought, interpretations, rethinking; psychoanalytic: subconscious motivation, conflict; humanistic: positive, hierarchy of needs

Well-done surveys measure attitudes in a representative subset, or __, of an entire group, or a(n) __.

Random sample; population.

Which of the following research strategies would be best for determining whether alcohol impairs memory?

Experiment.

Which type of research strategy would allow you to determine whether students’ college grades accurately predict later income?

Correlation.

A double-blind procedure would be critical for which of the following?

Assessing the treatment designed to reduce schizophrenic symptoms.

A friend majoring in anthropology is critical of psychological research because it often ignores the influence of culture. What would you tell your friend regarding this critique?

Even when specific thoughts and actions vary across cultures, the underlying processes are much the same.

Match the professional role with the psychologist’s focus: basic research, clinical practice, and applied research.

Basic research: research studies and findings; clinical practice: most therapists; applied research: companies hiring a psychologist to help with morale or productivity

In an experiment to determine the effects of exercise on motivation, exercise is the .

Independent variable.

In an experiment to determine the effects of attention on memory, memory is the .

Dependent variable.

Recently, in the U.S. and Britain, women are receiving college degrees than men.

More.

Which of the following perspectives describes the process of natural selection, which preserves traits that enhance an organism’s ability to adapt?

Evolutionary perspective.

Which is the correct sequence in the transmission of a simple reflex?

Sensory neuron—interneuron—motor neuron.

Which is the correct sequence in the transmission of a neural impulse?

Dendrite—cell body—axon—synapse.

A strong stimulus can a neuron fires.

Increase the speed of the impulse

A neuron will generate action potentials more often when it .

Receives more excitatory than inhibitory inputs

During an action potential, the electrical state of the axon becomes .

Depolarized as positively charged atoms are admitted

In a resting state, the axon is .

Polarized, with mostly positively charged ions outside and negatively charged ions inside

The axons of certain neurons are covered by a layer of fatty tissue that helps speed neural transmission. This tissue is the .

Myelin sheath.

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.

Which of the following are governed by the simplest neural pathways?

Reflexes.

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.

The visual cortex is located in the .

Occipital lobe.

Which of the following is typically controlled by the right hemisphere?

Perceptual tasks.

Though there is no single “control center” for emotions, their regulation is primarily attributed to the brain region known as the .

Limbic system.

Following a gunshot wound to his head, Jack became more uninhibited, irritable, and profane. It is likely that his personality change was the result of injury to his .

Frontal lobe.

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.

A bodybuilder friend suddenly seems to have grown several inches in height. You suspect that your friend’s growth spurt has occurred because he has been using drugs that affect the .

Pituitary gland.

Which lobe of the brain is mostly involved with vision?

Occipital lobe.

Beginning at the front of the brain and working backward then down and around, which of the following is the correct order of the cortical regions?

Frontal lobe; parietal lobe; occipital lobe; temporal lobe.

Which of the following is typically controlled by the left hemisphere?

Arithmetic reasoning.

The brain research technique that involves monitoring the brain’s usage of glucose is called (in abbreviated form) the .

PET scan.

The technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer images of structures within the brain is called .

MRI.

Which of the following is not a correct description of a brain research technique?

Using a PET scan to examine the brain’s structure.

Based on research, which of the following seems true about the specialized functions of the right and left hemispheres?

Most complex activities emerge from the integrated activity of both hemispheres.

Dr. Johnson briefly flashed a picture of a key in the right visual field of a split brain patient. The patient could probably .

Verbally report that a key was seen.

Anton is applying for a technician’s job with a neurosurgeon. Trying to impress his potential employer with his knowledge of the brain, he says, “After my father’s stroke I knew immediately that the blood clot had affected his left cerebral hemisphere because he no longer recognized a picture of his friend.” Should Anton be hired?

No. The right hemisphere, not the left, specializes in picture recognition.

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.

If Dr. Rogers wishes to conduct an experiment on the effects of stimulating the reward centers of a rat’s brain, he should insert an electrode into the .

Hypothalamus.

The developmental theorist who suggested that securely attached children develop an attitude of basic trust is .

Erikson.

An elderly person who can look back on life with satisfaction and reminisce with a sense of completion has attained Erikson’s stage of .

Integrity.

Piaget held that egocentrism is characteristic of the .

Preoperational stage.

In Piaget’s stage of concrete operational intelligence, the child acquires an understanding of the principle of .

Conservation.

A person’s general ability to think abstractly and solve new problems is called intelligence. This ability and generally with age.

Fluid; decreases.

When the egg is fertilized, it is called a(n) .

Zygote.

Which is the correct order of stages of prenatal development?

Zygote, embryo, fetus.

When a(n) is about ten days old, it becomes a(n) .

Zygote; embryo.

In just over two months after conception, the transforms into a(n) .

Embryo; fetus.

Each cell of the human body has a total of .

46 chromosomes.

If chromosomes are the “books” of heredity, the “words" are the _ and the “letters” are the __.

Genes; DNA.

The purpose of the rooting reflex is to direct the mother toward the child.

False

The rooting reflex continues throughout maturational growth.

False

When conception occurs, the egg's surface softens to allow other sperm to penetrate the coating.

False

The rooting reflex is a(n) response.

Inborn

The rooting reflex occurs when a .

Newborn’s cheek is touched

In preconventional morality, the person

Obeys to avoid punishment or to gain concrete rewards

Of the following, the best way to separate the effects of genes and environment in research is to study .

Identical twins raised in different environments

A pair of adopted children or identical twins reared in the same home is most likely to have similar .

Temperaments

If a Bb brown-eyed dad and a Bb brown-eyed mom have a child, the child will have a chance of having brown eyes.

75%

Which lobe of the brain is mostly involved with vision?

Occipital lobe

What is the primary function of the myelin sheath?

To speed up neural transmission

What is the term for the basic unit of the nervous system?

Neuron

Which part of the brain regulates balance and coordination?

Cerebellum

What is the main function of the frontal lobe?

Decision making and voluntary movement

What is the role of the hippocampus in the brain?

Memory formation

Which hemisphere of the brain is generally responsible for language?

Left hemisphere

Which system controls voluntary movements?

Somatic nervous system

What structure connects the two hemispheres of the brain?

Corpus callosum

Which part of the brainstem controls heartbeat and breathing?

Medulla

What is a synapse?

The gap between neurons where neurotransmitters are released

Which gland is known as the “master gland” of the endocrine system?

Pituitary gland

Which brain imaging technique uses magnetic fields to produce images?

MRI