Psych - Midterm Review

What are the sensory receptors for touch?

mechanoreceptors

What are the sensory receptors for taste?

gustatory cells

What is the process by which all sensory information is converted into electrical/chemical messages so they van be processed in the brain?

neurotransmission

Where is all sensory information except small processed before traveling to the specific lobes?

Thalamus

Why is Selective Attention, Absolute Threshold, Difference Threshold, Signal Detection Theory, and Priming so important to Sensation and Perception?

Selective Attention: allows one to focus on certain specific sensory information, while ignoring other sensory input

Absolute Threshold: the minimum amount of energy for a stimulus to be registered as a sensation is known as the absolute threshold

Difference Threshold: minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience this as a just noticeable difference.

Signal Detection Theory: theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint signal amid background noise

Priming: the idea that exposure to one stimulus may influence a response to a subsequent stimulus, without conscious guidance or intention.

Homeostasis, which is the goal of drive reduction, is defined as

a tendency to motivation a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

Prior to many structured experiments, psychologist and scientists gather information through "naturalistic observation." Which of the following represents naturalistic observation?

Researching watch and record how elementary school children interact on the playground

A journalism student is writing an article about her schools new phone policy. She wants to interview a random sample of students. Which is the best example of a random sample?

Pulling the names of five students from a hat including the names of all students

A test with normally distributed results was returned to a class of 100 students. Later, the teacher realized an error was made and added 10 points to each student's score. Which of the following must have change?

The mode

If a students percentile rank on a standardized test is "68," then that means the student

Scored as well or better than 68 percent of students

Which of the following is used to examine results in correlation studies?

Scatterplot

The difference between the Independent Variable and the Dependent Variable is

Which one is controlled and which one represents the outcome

What part of the brain controls the sense of sight?

occipital lobe

What part of the brain controls the sense of hearing?

auditory cortex

What part of the brain controls the sense of touch?

parietal lobe

What are the sensory receptors for sight?

rods and cones

What are the sensory receptors for sound?

hair cells

At a party with dozens of people talking and music playing, humans still have the ability to focus and hear the conversation they are having. This is an example of...

Selective attention

What are the specific differences between Bottom

up and Top

Bottom

down: we allow the stimulus itself shape our perception without any preconceived ideas.

Top

down: we use our background knowledge and expectations to interpret what we see.

The philosopher

psychologist William James founded the Functionalist school of psychology. His belief was that thinking

Two opposing approaches/perspectives that dominated from early 1900s through the 1950s were...

psychoanalysis and behavioralism

What are the main ideas/concepts of the Evolutionary Approach, Psychoanalysis, Behavioralism, the Biological Approach, and Humanism

Evolutionary Approach: Study of behavior, thought, and feelings viewed through the lens of evolutionary biology

Psychoanalysis: Freuds theory that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts

Behavioralism: Studies behavior without reference to mental processes

The Biological Approach: Explains mental processes by focusing on nervous system

Humanism: Perspective emphasizes looking at whole individuals and stresses concepts such as: free will, self

efficancy, etc...

In recents years, and through combining multiple approaches, psychology now focuses on these three main "Level of Analysis"

Biopsychosocial

Biological, psychological, social

Researchers found that individuals with lower income levels report getting fewer hours of total sleep. Based on that finding, they concluded income and sleep levels are:

income and sleep levels are positively correlated

Positive and negative environmental stimuli that motivative behavior are called

incentives

An aroused or activated state that is often triggered by physiological need is called a

drive

Like evolutionary psychology, instinct theory most clearly assumed that behavior is influenced by

genetic predispositions

Motivation is defined by psychologists as

a need or desire that energizes and directs behavior

The idea that one should be alerted but not overly aroused to perform best on a test is most closely related to which of the following

Yerkes

According to Optimal Arousal Theory, what task would you perform best with lower levels of arousal?

when you have more challenging tasks

How are internal locus, external locus and learned helplessness connected to motivation

to human behavior and thought processes?

External locus: believes that their behavior is guided by fate, luck, or other external circumstances

Learned helplessness: often occurs in response to stressful situations or traumatic experiences in which a person feels they have limited control over the outcome