The Nervous System
What is the main role of the spinal reflex?
To enable an automatic, unconscious response to a sensory stimulus without requiring brain involvement.
What is the unconditioned response in Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiment?
Salivation in response to food
What is a psychological construct?
An abstract concept that cannot be directly measured but can be inferred through behaviour or self-report
What is the purpose of random allocation in an experiment?
To ensure each participant has an equal chance of being in any condition, reducing participant-related confounding variables.
What is the name of the internal biological process that regulates the sleep–wake cycle over a 24-hour period?
The Circadian Rhythm
Which division of the autonomic nervous system is dominant during rest and recovery?
The parasympathetic nervous system.
What brain structure is primarily responsible for the consolidation of explicit memories?
The hippocampus
Which neurotransmitter imbalance is associated with increased neural activity in the amygdala for individuals with a phobia?
Low levels of GABA
Identify one advantage and one limitation of using self-report data.
Advantage – provides insight into personal experiences; Limitation – may be biased or inaccurate due to social desirability.
During which stage of sleep do most vivid dreams occur, and what type of brain waves are present?
During REM (rapid eye movement) sleep; brain activity is dominated by beta-like waves similar to those seen during wakefulness.
What is the key neurotransmitter involved in the initiation of voluntary movement?
Dopamine.
Name the three phases of operant conditioning
Antecedent, behaviour, consequence
What is the key difference between stress, phobia, and anxiety?
Stress is a response to a known stressor, anxiety is a general state of tension without a clear cause, and a phobia is an intense, irrational fear of a specific object or situation
What is a key characteristic of a double-blind procedure?
Neither participants nor researchers know who receives the experimental or control condition, reducing experimenter and participant bias.
How does the proportion of REM and NREM sleep typically change across the lifespan?
Infants spend more time in REM sleep, while the proportion of REM decreases and NREM (particularly stage 3 and 4) also reduces with age.
In the context of stress, what is the primary function of cortisol?
To increase glucose availability to muscles for energy during prolonged stress.
What is long-term potentiation (LTP), and how does it contribute to learning?
Long-term potentiation is the long-lasting strengthening of synaptic connections through repeated activation, making neurons more likely to fire together in the future. It is considered a neural mechanism that underpins learning and memory formation.
Name the three categories of interventions for phobias within the biopsychosocial model.
Biological (e.g., benzodiazepines, exercise), psychological (e.g., CBT), and social (e.g., support networks, psychoeducation).
What does the term “operationalising variables” mean?
Defining variables in measurable, observable terms for empirical testing.
Explain one difference between partial sleep deprivation and total sleep deprivation.
Partial sleep deprivation is having less sleep than needed over one or more nights, while total sleep deprivation is having no sleep at all during a 24-hour period or longer.
Explain the difference between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system responses to a threat.
The sympathetic system activates the fight–flight–freeze response (increased heart rate, dilated pupils), while the parasympathetic system restores the body to homeostasis after the threat passes.
Explain the difference between context-dependent and state-dependent cues.
Context-dependent cues are external environmental factors that aid memory retrieval, while state-dependent cues are internal physiological or emotional states present during learning and recall.
Explain how systematic desensitisation reduces phobic anxiety.
It involves gradual exposure to the fear stimulus while applying relaxation techniques, replacing the conditioned fear response with relaxation
Explain the ethical principle of “beneficence” in psychological research.
Researchers must ensure the potential benefits of a study outweigh the risks to participants’ wellbeing.
Describe the effects of sleep deprivation on cognition, concentration, and mood.
Cognitively, it impairs attention, memory, and decision-making; concentration declines, leading to slower reaction times; mood becomes more irritable and negative due to decreased emotional regulation