PSY101 Midterm

[Methods] What is psychology?

The scientific study of mind and behavior.

[Methods] What is a theory?

A broad explanation of a phenomenon that can generate testable hypotheses.

[Methods] What is a hypothesis?

A specific, testable prediction, often derived from a theory.

[Methods] Why does a supported prediction not prove a theory?

The predicted outcome may have occurred for another reason, support is not conclusive proof.

[Methods] What does it mean to operationalize a concept?

Specify the concrete procedure used to manipulate or measure it.

[Methods] Operationalize liking for a group.

Use a defined rating scale of enjoyment of the discussion or liking for members.

[Methods] What is the main limitation of a case study?

An unusual individual may not represent the broader population, causal control is limited.

[Methods] What can a survey reveal well?

Relationships among measured variables across participants.

[Methods] Does a large sample eliminate sampling bias?

No. Many people can still be selected in an unrepresentative way.

[Methods] Give the three explanations of a correlation between A and B.

A causes B, B causes A, a third variable C influences both.

[Methods] Why might liking and harsh initiation correlate without suffering causing liking?

Prior liking could increase willingness to suffer, or prestige could influence both.

[Methods] What is an independent variable?

A factor the researcher systematically manipulates in an experiment.

[Methods] What is a dependent variable?

The outcome measured to assess an effect of the manipulation.

[Methods] What is a dependent measure?

The specific measurement used to assess the DV, such as a liking rating scale.

[Methods] What is random assignment for?

Reducing systematic preexisting differences between experimental conditions, on average.

[Methods] Random assignment versus random sampling?

Assignment allocates participants to conditions, sampling selects people into the study.

[Methods] What is a confound?

An alternative influence that varies with the IV and could explain the outcome.

[Methods] What does holding extraneous variables constant accomplish?

It reduces alternative explanations for differences in the DV.

[Methods] Does an experiment need a no-treatment group?

Not necessarily. Two controlled levels of an IV can supply the needed comparison.

[Methods] What were the IV and DV in the lecture's Aronson and Mills study?

IV: initiation embarrassment/effort. DV: liking for the group/discussion.

[Methods] What pattern supported the Aronson and Mills hypothesis?

Higher liking after the more embarrassing/high-effort initiation.

[Methods] Why was comparing existing eating clubs not enough to establish causation?

Clubs and their members could differ in many ways besides initiation harshness.

[Methods] What is observer bias?

Expectations influencing how observations are made, scored, or interpreted.

[Methods] How does double-blinding help?

Keeping participants and relevant experimenters/assessors unaware of condition reduces expectancy and observer effects.

[Methods] What does a negative correlation mean?

As one variable increases, the other tends to decrease, negative does not mean bad.

[Neurons] What makes up the CNS?

The brain and spinal cord.

[Neurons] What do sensory neurons do?

Carry information from sensory input toward the CNS.

[Neurons] What do motor neurons do?

Carry signals contributing to action, especially muscle activity.

[Neurons] What do interneurons do?

Connect and process signals among other neurons within the CNS.

[Neurons] What do dendrites typically do?

Receive inputs from other neurons.

[Neurons] What is the soma?

The cell body, containing the nucleus and supporting cellular maintenance and integration.

[Neurons] What does an axon do?

Conducts an action potential toward output terminals.

[Neurons] What are terminal buttons?

Axon endings that release neurotransmitter at synapses.

[Neurons] What is myelin's function?

Insulates axons and increases efficiency and speed of conduction.

[Neurons] What are nodes of Ranvier?

Gaps between myelin segments involved in rapid conduction along a myelinated axon.

[Neurons] What are glial cells?

Cells that support neural functioning, some form myelin.

[Neurons] What is the electrical state of a resting neuron?

Its inside is negative relative to the outside.

[Neurons] What is depolarization?

A reduction of the membrane's usual negative-inside polarization, during an action potential it briefly becomes positive inside.

[Neurons] What ion movement produces the action-potential rising phase emphasized in class?

Sodium ions (Na+) enter through opened channels.

[Neurons] What helps repolarize the membrane?

Sodium-channel inactivation and outward potassium movement help restore a negative interior.

[Neurons] What is a threshold?

The level of activation needed to initiate an action potential.

[Neurons] What does all-or-none mean?

A neuron produces a full action potential if threshold is reached, or does not produce that action potential below threshold.

[Neurons] Does stronger stimulation create a proportionally taller action potential?

No. Intensity can be represented by firing rate and which neurons are active.

[Neurons] Excitatory versus inhibitory input?

Excitatory input increases firing likelihood, inhibitory input decreases it.

[Neurons] Does neurotransmitter binding guarantee a new action potential?

No. The neuron integrates excitatory and inhibitory input and must reach threshold.

[Neurons] What is a refractory period?

A short recovery interval when the neuron cannot fire again or needs stronger stimulation, depending on the stage.

[Neurons] What is a synaptic cleft?

The small gap between sending and receiving cells at a chemical synapse.

[Neurons] What crosses a typical chemical synaptic gap?

Neurotransmitter molecules, not whole vesicles or an action potential swimming across.

[Neurons] What do synaptic vesicles contain?

Neurotransmitters that can be released from the axon terminal.

[Neurons] What does the key-and-lock analogy describe?

A neurotransmitter binds suitable receptor sites rather than acting at any arbitrary site.

[Neurons] Name three ways neurotransmitter action ends.

Reuptake, enzymatic breakdown, and diffusion away.

[Neurons] What is reuptake?

Transport of released neurotransmitter back into the sending neuron.

[Neurons] What is the immediate effect of blocking reuptake?

The transmitter can remain available in the synapse longer.

[Neurons] Why can demyelination disrupt movement?

Signals are conducted less efficiently, impairing communication supporting coordinated movement.

[Brain] What functions of acetylcholine are emphasized?

Muscle action, learning, and memory.

[Brain] What is the lecture's botulinum-toxin mechanism example?

Interference with ACh release at neuromuscular junctions reduces muscle contraction.

[Brain] What functions of serotonin are emphasized?

Mood, sleep, and appetite.

[Brain] What does Prozac illustrate in the slides?

Serotonin reuptake blockade, prolonging availability in the synapse.

[Brain] What functions of dopamine are emphasized?

Reward/motivation and pleasure-related processing, plus movement.

[Brain] What does cocaine illustrate in the dopamine slides?

Blocking dopamine reuptake.

[Brain] What is the dopamine/Parkinson's connection in class?

Reduced dopamine is linked to motor symptoms, L-DOPA supports dopamine production.

[Brain] What is GABA's main role?

Major inhibitory signaling that limits excessive excitation.

[Brain] What do Valium and Xanax illustrate?

Enhancement of GABA-mediated inhibition.

[Brain] What do endorphins do?

Reduce pain perception and contribute to positive feelings.

[Brain] Why avoid saying each disorder is caused by one missing transmitter?

Transmitters have multiple roles and complex behaviors/disorders involve circuits and many influences.

[Brain] What does EEG measure?

Electrical activity recorded using scalp electrodes.

[Brain] What does fMRI measure?

Blood-oxygenation changes related indirectly to neural activity.

[Brain] EEG versus fMRI: when versus where?

EEG is strong for timing, fMRI is strong for localization but has a slower indirect signal.

[Brain] What can lesion cases suggest?

How damage to a region relates to impaired functions, while recognizing complex damage and individual differences.

[Brain] What does the medulla regulate?

Basic functions such as breathing and heart rate.

[Brain] What is the pons in this lecture's anatomy?

A brainstem component named in the hindbrain discussion, a relay structure.

[Brain] What does the cerebellum support?

Movement coordination, balance, and learned motor/procedural skills.

[Brain] What does the thalamus do?

Relays major sensory input toward cortex, smell is the classic exception.

[Brain] What does the hypothalamus regulate?

Internal needs and bodily states such as hunger, thirst, temperature, and sexual behavior.

[Brain] Thalamus versus hypothalamus?

Sensory relay versus regulation of internal bodily needs.

[Brain] What does the amygdala contribute to?

Emotional significance, especially fear-related processing and learning.

[Brain] What does the hippocampus contribute to?

Formation of new memories and spatial processing.

[Brain] What is the takeaway from Clive Wearing?

Severe memory impairment after damage illustrates the importance of hippocampal systems for new memories.

[Brain] Is the hippocampus the sole storage site for every memory?

No. The key lecture role is new-memory formation and spatial processing.

[Brain] What is plasticity?

Experience- or injury-related change in neural organization/function.

[Brain] What does the frontal lobe support?

Planning, executive control, personality/behavior regulation, and movement.

[Brain] What does the parietal lobe support?

Touch and sensory integration, plus spatial relations.

[Brain] What does the temporal lobe support?

Hearing, memory, language, and object-recognition processing.

[Brain] What does the occipital lobe support?

Vision, including primary visual cortex.

[Brain] What does the Phineas Gage case illustrate?

A relationship between frontal systems and personality/behavioral regulation.

[Brain] What functions are labeled for the basal ganglia in the brain figure?

Movement and reward.

[Hemispheres] What is the corpus callosum?

A large fiber bundle supporting communication between the cerebral hemispheres.

[Hemispheres] What does contralateral mean?

Many functions link a hemisphere chiefly with the opposite side of the body.

[Hemispheres] What is wrong with analytic-left/creative-right personality stereotypes?

Both hemispheres contribute broadly, real relative specialization does not divide people into those personality types.

[Hemispheres] What is Broca's area's classic association?

Speech production, usually left frontal cortex, damage can cause effortful, nonfluent speech.

[Hemispheres] What did the Tan case illustrate?

Severely limited spoken output associated with left frontal damage.

[Hemispheres] What is Wernicke's area's classic association?

Language comprehension and meaningful language, typically in left posterior temporal systems.

[Hemispheres] Fluent but poorly meaningful speech with impaired comprehension suggests which classic pattern?

Wernicke's aphasia.

[Hemispheres] Which hemisphere initially receives left visual-field input?

The right hemisphere.

[Hemispheres] Which hemisphere initially receives right visual-field input?

The left hemisphere.

[Hemispheres] Why is left visual field different from left eye?

Each eye receives information from both visual fields, the field relative to fixation determines initial hemispheric routing.

[Hemispheres] In the standard split-brain task, can a left-field object usually be named?

Not through typical left-dominant speech, because it initially reaches the right hemisphere without normal callosal transfer.

[Hemispheres] Which hand can typically select a left-field object in the split-brain task?

The left hand, chiefly controlled by the right hemisphere.

[Hemispheres] Why can a right-field object usually be named by a split-brain participant?

It initially reaches the left hemisphere, where language is typically dominant.

[Hemispheres] Why does failing to name a left-field object not prove it was unprocessed?

The right hemisphere may use the information to guide left-hand selection.