Final Exam Study Guide

Chapter 1: Scientific Thinking

Know the terms nave realism, confirmation bias, hindsight bias

Naive realism- the belief that we see the world precisely as it is seeing is believing
Confirmation bias- seeking out evidence that supports our beliefs- deny evidence that
contradicts them
Hindsight bias- I knew it all along Overestimating how well we could have successfully
forecasted known outcomes

Know apophenia vs. pareidolia

Apophenia-perceiving meaningful connections among unrelated phenomena
Pareidolia-seeing meaningful images in meaningless visual stimuli

Know theory vs. hypothesis

Scientific theory- an explanation for a large number of findings in the natural and
psychological world
Hypothesis- testable prediction

Know the scientific thinking principles

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Ruling out rival hypotheses-more than one cause for something

Correlation is not causation
Falsifiability- possibility that it could be shown false by an observation or experiment
Replicability- can it be replicated?
Extraordinary claims= extraordinary evidence
Occums razor- the simplest answer is conclusion

Chapter 2: Research Methods

Know the basics of an experiment: IV vs. DV; control group vs. experimental group

Independent Variable- variable that the experimenter manipulates

Dependent Variable- variable that the experimenter measures
Control Group- does not receive manipulation of the IV
Experimental Group- receives the manipulation of the IV

Know the difference between external and internal validity

External- the extent to which we can generalize our findings to real-world situations
(naturalistic observations)

Internal-the extent to which we can draw cause and effect inferences (experimental
designs)

Know the basics of correlation (positive vs. negative)

Positive- both variables move in the same direction (can be a downward slope)
Negative- variables move in different directions

Know basic vs. applied research

Basic- examines how the mind works
Applied- examines how we can use basic research to solve real-world problems

Chapter 3: Biology

Know the difference between Brocas and Wernickes Aphasia

Broca-broken words (prefrontal cortex

Wernickes Aphasia-word salad (temporal lobe)
gibberish

Know the neurotransmitters

Dopamine- rewarding experiences

pleasurable
Serotonine- mood/sleep/ learning
increase serotonin, increase mood
GABA-inhibitory
slows down neurons
Glutamate-excitatory
rapidly excites neurons
enhances learning and memory
Norepinephrine-brain arousal
alertness
long-term memory
Know the division of the nervous system (sympathetic, parasympathetic, autonomic,
somatic)
Somatic- carries messages from the central nervous system to muscles throughout

the

body
controls movement
voluntary actions & movements
Autonomic- controls emotions and internal states
involuntary actions

Sympathetic- fight or flight responses (within autonomic)

o creating anxiety response
Parasympathetic- controls digestion, rest (no threat)

Chapter 4: Sensation and Perception

Know the terms sensation, perception, and transduction

Sensation- detection of physical energy by our sense organs
Perception- interpretation of raw sensory inputs
Transduction-nervous system converts external stimulus into electrical signals

within
neurons

Know the Gestalt principles

1.
2.
3.
4.

Proximity- items close together tend to look like they go together

Similarity- items that are similar look like they go together
Closure- when only part of the image is present, brain will fill in the rest
Figure-ground- what is figure/what is background

Chapter 6: Learning

Know the very basics of the schedules of reinforcement

Fixed Ratio- Provide reinforcement after a regular number of responses

Fixed Interval- Provide reinforcement for producing the response at least once after
a specified amount of time has passed
Variable Ratio- Response is reinforced after an unpredictable number of responses
(Yield the highest rate of response)
Variable Interval- Response is reinforced after an unpredictable amount of time has
passed

Within classical conditioning, know about acquisition, extinction, and spontaneous

recovery
Acquisition- gradually learn or acquire the conditioned response
Extinction- CR decreases or disappears when CS is repeatedly presented without
the UCS
Spontaneous recovery- seemingly extinct CR reappears if we present the CS again

Be able to identify the UCS, UCR, CS, and CR

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)-A stimulus that elicits a response without
conditioning (during conditioning)
Ex: food
Unconditioned Response (UCR)-Automatic response elicited by the unconditioned
stimulus (during conditioning)

Ex: Salvation
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)-A neutral stimulus that when paired with an UCS elicits
a similar response (after conditioning)
Ex: Bell
Conditioned Response (CR)-A response that is learned by pairing the originally
neutral CS with the UCS (after conditioning)
Ex: Salvation

Know negative/positive reinforcement/punishment

Negative- taking something away
Positive- presenting something
Punishment- trying to decrease behavior
Reinforcement- trying to increase behavior

Chapter 7: Memory

Know the terms encoding, storage, and retrieval

Encoding- getting info into the memory bank

Storage- keeping info in memory
Retrieval- reactivation or reconstruction of experiences
Know the difference between decay and interference
Decay- memory fading over time
Interference- loss of memory from incoming info

Know the difference between proactive and retroactive interference

Proactive- old information interferes with new information
Retroactive- new information interferes with old information

Know the difference between elaborative and maintenance rehearsal and chunking
Elaborative rehearsal- linking new information with previously known information
Maintenance rehearsal- repeating info in original form over and over again (parrot)
Chunking- putting info into meaningful groups (CIAFBI vs. IBFACI)

Know the primacy vs. recency effect

Primacy- tendency to remember things at the beginning of a list
Recency- tendency to remember things at the end of a list

Know recall, recognition, and relearning

Recall- generating previously learned information on your own (short answer)
Recognition- selecting from an array of choices (multiple choice)

Relearning-relearn info much more quickly

Know distributed vs. massed practice

Massed- seen constantly over a short amount of time (cramming)

Distributed- studying broken up into several short sessions.
over a period of time & much better

Chapter 9: Intelligence

Know the two types of general intelligence (Crystallized vs. Fluid)

Crystallized- knowledge and abilities gained by experiences.

increases in adulthood
Fluid- natural ability to solve problems
uninfluenced by experiences
decreases with age

Know Sternbergs triarchic theory of intelligence

1. Analytical- book smarts/ logical reasoning/school

2. Practical- street smarts/ real world smarts
3. Creative- writing, art, and music

Know the eugenics movement

effort to improve a populations genetic stock by encouraging people with good

genes to reproduce & discouraging people with bad genes from reproducing
IQ testing became a means of identifying adults who were intellectually inferior
forced sterilization (mostly immigrants)
Know the original purpose of intelligence testing

Identify children in need of special education assistance

Chapter 10: Development

Know the terms egocentrism, assimilation, and accommodation

Egocentrism- a childs lack of ability to see a situation from another persons point

of
view
Assimilation- new experiences fit into current schemas (does not change belief)
Accommodation- new knowledge alters schemas (changes current belief)

Know Piagets stages and the main characteristics of each

Sensorimotor (birth to 2 years)

lack of mental representation
no object permanence (not in visual sight & out of mind)
Thats why peekaboo is fun!
Preoperational (2-7 years)
symbolic behavior
o playing house
language, drawings, objects
mental representation
o pretend & imagination
object permanence
Egocentrism- the world revolves around me
o what you see is what everyone sees
cannot do mental transformations
o ex. conservation experiments
Concrete Operational (7-11 years)
can perform mental transformations
successful in conservation tasks
can also categorize
Formal Operational (adolescence)
sophisticated thinking
can reason in hypothetical situtions
logic
o if~then & either~or
abstract questions
o what happens when we die
Know Kohlbergs levels of morality

1. Preconventional- punishment/ reward

2. Conventional- societal values
3. Post-conventional- internal moral values

Know Lorenzs gosling studies

Young geese follow the first large moving object after hatching (imprinting)
Critical Period- specific window of time during which an event must occur
Sensitive Period- developmental windows in creatures with a greater range of
behaviors

Know the three different stages of prenatal development

Prenatal stage- human body acquires basic form and structure

Germinal stage- zygote divides and doubles, forming a blastocyst (ball of identical
cells that havent formed into any specific body yet)
o in middle of second week, cells begin to assume different functions and
blastocyst becomes an embryo
Embryonic stage- 2nd to 8th week major organs take shape
-heart, lungs, brain, limbs, facial features

Know the basics of the rate and order of motor development

-Order: sitting, crawling, standing, cruising, walking, running
-The rate it occurs is variable
-always in the same order, but the time at which it happens varies

Know the parenting styles

Authoritarian- discipline & no affection
Uninvolved- no discipline & little attention
Authoritative- discipline & lots of attention
Permissive- no discipline & lots of attention

Chapter 12: Social

Know diffusion of responsibility vs. pluralistic ignorance

Diffusion of responsibility- many people means somebody else will take care of it
spread out responsibility to multiple people
Pluralistic ignorance- many people are passing, so maybe nothing is wrong
looking at a group and taking signs from them to see if its an emergency
Know the terms groupthink, deindividuation, social loafing, social facilitation, and
social disruption
Social facilitation- this happens when the more presence of others enhances our
performance.
Ex: when you run with someone you run faster.
Social disruption- this is when you choke and you are nervous around a large

crowd

Deindividuation- Diminished individuality: you think you go unnoticed and become

one with a group.
Ex: vols fan.
Group think- An emphasis on group unanimity at the expense of critical thinking
Just go along with the group or youre out.
Social loafing- exerting less effort to achieve a goal when they work in a group than
when they work alone
when people slack off in groups
to decrease social loafing everyone must believe they are identifiable

Know cognitive dissonance theory

Cognitive dissonance theory- we alter our attitudes because of unpleasant mental
experience of tension resulting from two or more conflicting thoughts or beliefs

Know Milgrams study

Scientist would ask you to shock someone if they got the question wrong- most
would
shock till pain
good people can do bad things & rational people can behave irrationally
power of authority figures is greater than almost anyone had imagined

Chapter 15: Disorders

Know Major Depressive Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, the types of

schizophrenia, social/specific phobia, agoraphobia, OCD, paranoid personality
disorder, and psychopathic personality disorder
Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD):
-Continual feelings of worry, anxiety, physical tension, and irritability across many
areas of life functioning
-Feel irritable, trouble sleeping, body tension a fatigue
-Worry about small things such as a meeting at work or party they are going
to.
-More likely to be female
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD):
-Chronic or recurrent state in which a person experiences a lingering depressed
mood and diminished interest in pleasurable activities
-Symptoms: weight loss and sleep difficulties, fatigue, loss of energy, feeling
worthless, difficulty concentrating, suicidal ideation, Negative view of the future
-Usually 5-6 episodes
-Complex interplay of biological psychological, and social influences
-Life event such as loss
-Can cause interpersonal problems, cause lack of social support
-Cognitive model- depression is caused by negative beliefs and expectations
-Personalization- if someone doesnt smile back then think they hate you.
-Over generalization- if one thing bad happens then everything is falling apart
-People with depression attribute failure internally and have global, stable
attributions. (internally- if something goes wrong its your fault)
-Low levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine
Psychopathic:
-mainly male

-condition marked by superficial charm, dishonesty, manipulativeness, selfcenteredness, and risk taking
-not usually violent & they know what they are doing wrong
Phobias (specific vs. social):
Specific phobia- intense fear of objects, places, or situations that is greatly out
of proportion to their actual threat. Ex: thunderstorms, elevators, bridges
Social phobia- marked fear of public appearance in which embarrassment
seems likely. Ex: speaking, performing, swallowing
Types of schizophrenia:
Paranoid Schizophrenia- have delusions- strongly held, fixed beliefs with no
basis of reality
Disorganized Schizophrenia- disorganized speech and behavior, along with
inappropriate affects such as giggling at the wrong time.
Catatonic Schizophrenia- allow limbs to move in odd positions and stay there
for hours. Extremely excited, malnutrition, exhaustion, and self inflicted injuries,
refuse to speak or move (mutism), and repeat phrases over and over (echolalia).
Paranoid personality disorder:
-People with paranoid personality disorder are generally characterized by having
a long-standing pattern of pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others.
-they may always believe that other peoples motives are suspect or even
malevolent.
-do not trust people
Agoraphobia-extreme or irrational fear of crowded spaces or enclosed public places

OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder):

condition marked by repeated and lengthy (at least one hour per day) immersion in
obsessions, compulsions or both.
obsessions are persistent ideas, thoughts or impulses that are unwanted and
inappropriate and cause marked distress.
compulsions are repetitive behaviors or mental acts that they undertake to reduce or
prevent distress or relieve shame and guilt.
Know the biology of bipolar disorder
o
o
o
o

Genetic
Increased activity in the amygdala
Decrease activity in the prefrontal
Can be triggered by something happening to you

Know the myths/realities of suicide

MDD and bipolar disorder are at higher risk for suicide than most disorders
11th leading cause of death in the United States
3rd leading cause of death for children, adolescent, and young adults

30,000 people commit suicide in US each year

Prediction is difficult due to lack of research and low base rates
Only 100 of 1% complete the suicide
Estimated 8 to 25 attempts for each completed suicide
Talking to persons with depression about suicide makes them more likely to obtain
help
Many or most people who commit suicide tell others
As a severe depression lifts, the risk actually increases, in part because individuals
have more energy to attempt the act.
Most stem from severe depression and helplessness.
Talking about suicide is associated with a greater risk.

READING: Make sure you have read and understood the key findings from Myth #5 in your
textbook
Myth #5 Men and Women Communicate in Completely Different Ways
Do women talk more than men?
- No, women and men each speak about 16,000 words every day.
Do women disclose much more about themselves than men?
- Women are only SLIGHTLY more self disclosing than men.
Do men interrupt others much more often than women?
- Yes but only slightly although when women are charge they tend to interrupt more,
take more turns, and talk longer than men
Are women much more perceptive of nonverbal cues than men?
- A qualified yes, but again there are varying studies showing women have a greater
perception than men and studies showing there is only a slight difference in perception.
Conclusion:
Men and women communicate in slightly different ways. Basically they are more
alike than different.