Evolution of Psychology
What is psychology?
It is the scientific study of the mind and behavior.
Izzy is preparing for her upcoming exam by taking practice quizzes online. Each time she takes a quiz, she is presented with 10 randomly chosen questions, and every time she receives a grade of 80%. These results suggest that the quiz is:
reliable
Which of these is the correct sequence for information traveling within a single neuron?
dendrites, cell body, axon
Sensory receptors communicate with the brain through the process of:
Genes can be expressed or not expressed depending on the ____
environment
The idea that all knowledge is attained through experience was referred to as _____ by the philosopher John Locke.
philosophical empiricism
If an observation is _____, then we can draw accurate inferences from it.
Valid
What is the synapse?
The junction between nerve cells.
The human sensory systems are designed to detect changes in stimulation, rather than to detect constancies. This is easily demonstrated by the process of:
When you feel threatened, your ____ nervous system prepares you to either fight or run away.
sympathetic
What are social psychologists focused on?
How others influence our beliefs, feelings, and behaviors in different settings.
Dr. Cuarenta is studying the effects of a new medication on social phobia. Participants who report that they are anxious when speaking in public are recruited for this study and then given a placebo or active medication. Their behavior during a practice presentation is then coded. Which of these is an example of an operational definition?
A. the individuals who agree to participate in the study
B. whether participants receive placebo or drug
C. participants’ self-reported anxiety during speaking
D. the speaker’s behavior during the presentation
E. the diagnosis of social phobia
C. participants’ self-reported anxiety during speaking
Research has shown that when certain groups of animals observe another engaging in a particular behavior, some of the same neurons also become active in the observer animal. This is due to the action of what type of neuron?
mirror neurons
According to Weber's law, a person would be more likely to detect the difference between (explain why):
A. a 4-pound package and a 4-pound 1-ounce package.
B. an 8-pound baby and an 8-pound 2-ounce baby.
C. a 2-ounce envelope and a 4-ounce envelope.
D. a large cake made with 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract and a large cake made with 1½ tablespoons of vanilla extract.
C. a 2-ounce envelope and a 4-ounce envelope
Reason: According to Weber's law, for every sense domain, the change in a stimulus that is just noticeable is a constant proportion of the standard stimulus, over a broad range of intensities.
Jamal can recognize his friend, even though she has changed her hair color. This is due to:
Perceptual constancy
What was Paul Broca's contribution to neuroscience?
He had the crucial insight that damage to a specific part of the brain impaired a specific mental function, clearly demonstrating that the brain and mind are closely linked.
A psychology professor surveys his students about their behavior texting in class, and finds that students who send more texts during class performed worse on the most recent exam. Can he conclude that texting led to poorer student performance? Why or why not?
He cannot because correlation is not causation.
What is contralateral control?
It refers to the fact that each hemisphere in the brain controls the functions of the opposite side of the body.
Dr. Harrison is interested in how people combine elements of visual perception rather than seeing elements as separate. She is interested in studying the:
binding problem
Levin and Simons (1998) conducted a clever study in which a researcher (questioner) asked participants for directions on a college campus. During the conversation, a door was moved between the researcher and the participants, at which time the questioner changed to a different person. These researchers were studying:
change blindness.
What is the primacy effect and what is an example of it (hint: we did this in class)?
Early information about a person changes the interpretation of later information, which is why first impressions matter so much.
The presentation order of adjectives:
envious, stubborn, critical, impulsive, industrious, intelligent
VS.
intelligent, industrious, impulsive, critical, stubborn, envious
...influenced whether someone is viewed as "likeable" or "not likeable".
What is the difference between random assignment and random sampling?
Random assignment: procedure that lets chance assign participants to the experimental or control group.
-All participants are assigned to a condition.
Random sampling: a technique for selecting participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample.
-Sample is representative of population, but it is a subset.
In a research study, participants were asked if abortion is murder. After reporting their beliefs, they were asked to read an article that argued that abortion is murder. While all participants read the article, none of them changed their original view or belief. This is an example of how we:
tend to see only what we want to see.
Ahmad is focused on taking a test, and as such he doesn't notice that his classmate came to class 10 minutes late, wearing pajamas and slippers. Ahmad may have demonstrated:
inattentional blindness
Psychologists studying infant memory want to determine at what age babies can remember specific events. An experimenter uses several puppets to demonstrate a series of actions while the infant watches. After a delay, the experimenter records how many of the actions the child imitates when playing with the puppets. What is the dependent variable?
the number of imitated actions