General Psychology Quiz 1 - University of Florida

What are the 6 "levels of analysis” in psychology

1. Molecular 2. Neurochemical 3. Neurological/physiological 4. Mental 5. Behavioral 6. Social

What are the 5 factors that distinguish psychology from other sciences

1. "Multiply determined" behavior

2. Interdependence of behavioral influences

3. Individual differences

4. Social influence (reciprocal determinism)

5. Culture

What is reciprocal determinism

A feedback loop of your behavior both influencing and being influenced by your surrounding environment

What are the cognitive biases in science

1. Confirmation bias

2. Tunnel Vision

3. Belief perseverance

4. Naive realism

What is confirmation bias

A preconceived notion that results in applying different standards to incoming evidence that doesn’t “confirm” that notion

What is tunnel vision

Being blind to everything except what the researcher considers to be “true”

What is belief perserverance

Maintaining initial beliefs even when presented with contradictory evidence, can be overcome with long-term exposure to clear and consistent evidence

What is naive realism

The idea that “seeing is believing” and that one’s own perception of the world is objective and everyone else is biased

What are the key indicators of possible pseudoscience

1. Ad hoc immunizing hypotheses

2. Lack of self-correction

3. Over reliance on anecdotes

4. Absence of connectivity

5. Exaggerated claims

6. Lack of peer review

7. Psychobabble

8. Claims of “proof”

What are Ad Hoc immunizing hypotheses

An indicator of possible pseudoscience, a technique that allows a presenting party to always have a way to explain away null results (eg: vibes were wrong, you don’t “believe” enough)

What is a lack of connectivity in pseudoscience

A warning sign when results come out with no connection to past studies or peer reviewed content. “Out of the blue” findings

What is psychobabble

A technique in pseudoscience that employs technical jargon to intentionally misguide consumers into a false level of credibility

Why are claims of proof indicative of pseudoscience?

You can never absolutely prove something to be true, only that evidence fails to support or supports a hypothesis

Why might someone fall for pseudoscientific claims?

Terror management theory and patternicity

What is terror management theory

A coping mechanism in response to our fear of mortality, often weaponized by those making pseudoscientific claims

What is patternicity

The tendency of humans to find patterns in meaningless data, leading to conspiracy theories and reasoning to for believing in pseudoscience

What is the difference between pseudoscience and metaphysical claims

Pseudoscience claims to be scientific and utilizing scientific methods incorrectly and manipulatively, while metaphysical claims - a branch of philosophy - never pretend to be scientific, they deal with questions about existence and reality that are inherently beyond empirical testing.

What are the 6 principles of scientific thinking

1. Ruling out rival hypotheses

2. Differentiating correlation and causation

3. Falsifiability

4. Replicability

5. Generalizability

6. Identifying extraordinary evidence for extraordinary claims

What are the 5 theoretical frameworks that shaped psychology

Structuralism, Functionalism, Behavioralism, Cognitivism, and Psychoanalysis

What is structuralism?

aimed to look at and identify the basic structures of psychology and map consciousness

Who founded structuralism

E.B. Titchener

Why did structuralism fail?

Infighting and disagreements over subjective reports and “imageless thought”

What is functionalism

Wanted to understand the adaptive purposes of characteristics like thought or behavior

Who founded functionalism

William James who was inspired by Charles Darwin

what is behaviorism?

Focuses on discovering the principles of learning through looking at observable behaviors. No subjective reports of the consciousness.

Who founded behaviorism

John B. Watson

Cognitivism. what is it?

Believe that thinking does affect behavior, interpretations of rewards and punishments is important

Psychoanalysis

Internal and subconscious psychological processes that are driven by sexuality and aggression, emphasis on childhood experience as a root for psychological conflicts

Who founded psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud

Who founded cognitivism

Jean Piaget

Basic Research vs. Applied Research

How the mind works and using basic research to solve real-life problems

Intuitive thinking is which system

System 1

What is intuitive thinking

Quick and reflexive gut feeling, can be important survival instincts but can also prompt heuristics

What system is analytical thinking

System 2

What is analytical thinking

Slow and requires more mental effort, but capable of overriding conclusions from intuitive thinking

What is important when applying the scientific method to studying psychology

random selection, reliability vs. validity, and replicability

Types of variables

Independent, dependent, confounding

Random selection

Participants selected randomly to be most representative of a population

What are the 5 types of research design

Naturalistic observation, case study, correlational design, questionnaires, experimental design

Naturalistic observation

Observing peoples behavior without interference or manipulation. High external validity because it directly translates to real world, but low internal validity because of a lack of control over variables.

Case studies

Follows a single person or small group over an extended period of time. Good for existence proofs but not for testing hypothesis because of a lack of generalizability and that a plural of an anecdote does not equate to a fact

Questionnaires (Surveys and Self-reports)

Cheap, efficient, and easy to administer. Can be prone to participant bias like social desirability and malingering.

What is a rating data questionnaire

Someone other than subject to rate subject in a questionnaire, avoids personal bias but can have halo and horns effect

What is halo effect and horns effect

A positive/negative judgement about a single aspect of a person that overtakes their character

Correlational designs

To what extent two variables are related. Scatterplot and correlation coefficient. CORRELATION VS. CAUSATION, only experimental studies can infer causation.

Experimental Designs

Characterized by random assignment and independent variables. Random participants are in either experimental or control groups, IV manipulated, DV is those results. only research design to be able to prove causation

CT (Computed tomography)

MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging)

PET (positron emission technology)

FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

MEG

EEG (Electroencephalograph).

A: dendrite, B: node, C: Myelin sheath, D: Action potential, E: Neuron, F: Axon, G: Axon terminals, H: Soma (cell body), I: Nucleus, J: Synapse

What is the soma

The soma is the cell body of a neuron

What are dendrites

They are the structures that receive information from other neurons

What is the axon

The tail-like extension that sends messages to neighboring neurons via action potential

What are axon terminals

Knob-like structures at the end of the axon that contain synaptic vessels and hold neurotransmitters

Name the steps of intraneuron activity

Resting potential, threshold of excitation, action potential, and the absolute refractory period

A: resting potential

B: threshold of excitation

C: Action potential

D: absolute refractory period

What is a synapse

The interface between two neurons, aka the point of info exchange

What is a synaptic cleft

The gap between cells that is crossed by neurotransmitters during an action potential

What is reuptake

Stops neurotransmission and reabsorbs the unused neurotransmitters

What are the two types of glial cells

Astrocytes and Oligodendrocytes

What are the major functions of an astrocyte

Neuron message transmission, the blood-brain barrier the brain’s “security system”

What are the functions of an oligodendrocyte

To promote new connections, heal cell damage, and produce myelin sheath

What is the basic function of Acetylcholine

The learning neurotransmitter

What is the basic function of GABA

The calming neurotransmitter

What this the basic function of dopamine

The pleasure neurotransmitter

What is the basic function of endorphins

The euphoria neurotransmitter

Basic function of serotonin

The mood neurotransmitter

What is neural plasticity

The nervous system’s ability to change over time

Types of neural plasticity

Growth of dendrites/axons, synaptogenesis (new connections, and synaptic pruning (eliminating connections), myelination, potentiation (increase in strength of common neural pathways), and neurogenesis.

A: frontal lobe

B: parietal lobe

c: temporal lobe

D: occipital lobe

E: cerebellum

Functions of the frontal lobe

Decision making, personality, self-awareness (prefrontal), speech production (Brock’s), and the motor control cortex

Functions of the Cerebellum

Balance and coordination, learning motor skills

Functions of the temporal lobe

Auditory cortex, language comprehension (Wernicke’s), and object recognition

Functions of the parietal lobe

Somatosensory cortex (pain, pressure, temperature), and spatial awareness

Functions of the occipital lobe

Vision (color differentiation, form, motion, and depth perception)

1. midbrain

2. Pons

3. Medulla

What is the CNS

Central nervous system; brain and spinal cord

What is the PNS

The peripheral nervous system; Somatic and Autonomic nervous system

What is the Somatic nervous system

Intentional action via musculature like stabilization, movement of joints, and posture