Biological Psychology
What is the role of neurotransmitters in neuronal communication?
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that transmit signals between neurons, allowing for communication in the nervous system.
What is the capacity of working memory, according to George A. Miller?
According to George A. Miller, working memory has a capacity of approximately 7 (plus or minus 2) chunks of information.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
Contempt, critiscism, defensivenss and stonewalling
The shared set of beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and arts that characterise a group of people or society
Culture
This disorder can develop following exposure to an extremely stressful or traumatic event.
Post Traumatic stress disorder
This part of the prefrontal cortex normally helps regulate the amygdala through top-down control.
The ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)
What is the difference between short-term memory and long-term memory?
Short-term memory has limited capacity and holds information for a brief period, while long-term memory has unlimited capacity and stores information for an extended period.
What is the model that Hazan and Shaver is based on?
Internal working model
This sociocultural principle describes the process of looking to other members of a group to determine how we are supposed to behave.
Social comparison.
What are the three broad categories can be used to remember the main PTSD symptoms.
arousal, avoidance and re-experiencing?
Explain the concept of plasticity in the brain.
Plasticity refers to the brain's ability to change and reorganize itself in response to experience, learning, and injury.
What is a Schema
Mental framework organizes pre-stored knowledge, beliefs, and expectations about the world, allowing individuals to simplify reality and process incoming sensory information via top-down processing.
WHat were the ages of the participants in Johnston et al
18-35
What is Individualism vs. Collectivism
Measures the degree to which individuals are integrated into primary groups and defines whether a society prioritizes individual autonomy or group harmony and interdependence.
Reduced vmPFC activity could mean a person cannot effectively do this to stressful or threatening stimuli, leaving arousal elevated.
Cognitive reappraisal
What is synaptic pruning?
elimination of extra unused/weak neurons when you stop using them
Describe the concept of cognitive dissonance.
Cognitive dissonance is the psychological discomfort that arises when there is a contradiction between beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors. Individuals are motivated to reduce this discomfort by changing their beliefs or behaviors.
Define attachment and name the different attachment styles.
Attachment refers to the emotional bond formed between an infant and their primary caregiver. The different attachment styles are secure, insecure-avoidant, and insecure-resistant/ambivalent.
Define in group bias
when someone places a higher emphasis on their own group and more negatice emphasis on the out group
Urry et al. found a negative correlation between activity in these two brain regions during cognitive reappraisal.
vmPFC and amygdala
This small, almond-shaped subcortical structure drives System 1’s immediate emotional reactions and rapid threat detection.
What is the amygdala?
Define the fundamental attribution error and provide an example.
The fundamental attribution error is the tendency to overemphasize internal characteristics (personality traits) and underestimate situational factors when explaining the behavior of others. An example is attributing someone's tardiness to laziness rather than considering the possibility of unexpected traffic.
Name a cause for attraction - one from each approach
BIOLOGICAL- Neurotransmitter and Hormones COGNITIVE - Similarity-Attraction Mode, Internal Working Model, Self -esteem, The Halo effect SOCIOCULTURAL - Mere exposure theory, Culture
Describe the process of social identity
social categorisation
social Identification
Social Comparison postiveness
(Describe each)
Explain how three biological factors could produce PTSD symptoms
1. A hyper-responsive amygdala can increase the stress response and emotional arousal
2. Prolonged stress/cortisol may contribute to hippocampal damage and impaired memory consolidation
3. Genetic born with a smaller hippocampus
4. reduced vmPFC activity means less top-down inhibition of the amygdala and poorer cognitive reappraisal, allowing heightened arousal to persist