Scientific Method, Learning, and Mindsets
What is the name for the tendency of organisms to attempt to maintain a balanced or constant internal state via reducing their needs?
Homeostasis
What is the term for a time within an organism’s lifespan in which it is more susceptible to environmental influences or stimulation than at other times during its life?
Critical Period
(or Sensitive Period)
What is the term for an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting?
Personality.
What is the term for the type of relationship in which there is an unequal power/status dynamic?
Vertical relationship
What theory of psychological discomfort arising from holding two or more inconsistent attitudes was described by Festinger in 1957?
Cognitive Dissonance.
How can you attempt to change a behavior through operant conditioning?
Respond to the behavior with a Reward/Reinforcement (for a behavior that you want to encourage) or a punishment (for a behavior that you want to discourage).
The cases of Genie Wiley and other “feral children” have provided the most information about the critical periods for what cognitive process?
Language development
Give at least 3 of the observable cognitive decline factors observed in aging adults.
Any 3 of the following:
Problem solving
Logical thinking
Executive functions (e.g., inhibition, multitasking)
More forgetful, slower to process and react to information
What are the three points of Sternberg’s “Triangular Model of Love”?
Intimacy, passion, and commitment.
What form of social influence was studied by Stanley Milgrim‘s mock electric shock experiment?
Obedience
Briefly describe how you could investigate the possible relationship between car color and likelihood of getting pulled over for speeding using The Scientific Method.
Any reasonable answer that includes making an observation, asking a question, forming a hypothesis, and conducting an experiment that could either support or refute the hypothesis based on its results.
What types of questions are twin studies particularly helpful in answering?
Questions about
Nature versus Nurture.
What are the “Big Five” Personality factors under the Five Factor model?
Openness, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
What was the topic researched by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth?
Childhood attachment theory.
What is described by the psychological concept of affordances?
The range of possibilities that one perceives can be done with an object (related to creativity; contrasts with functional fixedness)
Describe one typical difference in learning between young children and adults.
Adults:
Closed-minded knowledge-driven learning.
No Scaffolding.
Fixed mindset.
Unforgiving environment.
No serious commitment to learning.
Learn at most one new skill at a time.
Children:
Open-minded input-driven learning.
Scaffolding.
Growth mindset.
Forgiving environment.
Serious commitment to learning.
Learn many new skills simultaneously.
Describe the difference between Fluid Intelligence and Crystallized Intelligence.
Fluid Intelligence describes the ability to draw novel links between information and to effectively solve problems; while Crystallized Intelligence describes acquired knowledge and the ability to retrieve it.
Give at least three of the neurobiological changes observed in the brains of aging adults.
Any 3 of the following:
Shrinking dendritic fields
Shrinking brain volume
Declining coherence in neural activity
Declining effectiveness of neurotransmitter systems
Decreased likelihood of inducing neuroplasticity
What was demonstrated by Harlow’s Monkey Experiment (with the Terry Cloth and Wire Monkeys)?
That the infant-mother bond is not only determined by physiological needs.
Define the Hawthorne effect.
When individuals demonstrate an increase in performance due to the act of being watched or observed by researchers or supervisors.
Name one problem that cognitive biases help us to address.
Four possible answers:
Information overload
Lack of meaning
The need to act quickly
How to know what needs to be remembered for later
What is the Flynn Effect?
The long-term increase in average scores on standardized intelligence tests over time.
Describe the Yerkes-Dodson Law.
The idea that an individual‘s performance is highest when their stress level is medium.
What are self-conscious emotions?
Emotions that relate to our sense of self and our consciousness of others’ reactions to us.
Describe at least three differences between Individualistic and Collectivistic cultures.
Individualistic:
Achievement-oriented.
Focus on individual autonomy.
Dispositional perspective.
Independent.
Analytic thinking style.
Collectivistic:
Relationship-oriented.
Focus on group autonomy.
Situational perspective.
Interdependent.
Holistic thinking style.