Psych 101 Exam 1 Study Guide

PSYCH 101 EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE

Chapters 1-4

Chapter-1 Outline

MODULE 1.1 FOUNDATIONS OF MODERN PSYCHOLOGY

1. Origins of Psychology
2. Roots in ancient philosophy
3. Socrates—“know thyself”
4. Plato—rely on thought and reason
5. Aristotle—rely on experience, observation
6. Confucius—concerned with the nature of the human
7. Influences on modern psychology (nineteenth-century German physiologists)
8. Fechner—psychophysics
9. Helmholtz—perceiving color
10. Wilhelm Wundt—1879—transition from philosophy to science
11. Founder of modern psychology
12. First true psychological laboratory
13. Leipzig, Germany
14. Major Early Schools of Psychology
15. Structuralism
16. Introspection
17. Components or building blocks of the mind
18. Functionalism
19. William James—United States
20. The mind adapts us to our environment
21. Understand the mind by understanding how it functions
22. Behaviorism
23. John Watson—early 1900s
24. Study only overt behavior
25. Experience, environment mold us
26. B. F. Skinner—operant conditioning—consequences are crucial to learning
27. Reinforcer—pleasant consequence; increases behavior
28. Punishment—unpleasant consequence; decreases behavior
29. Gestalt psychology
30. Max Wertheimer—contemporary of Watson
31. Unified, organized patterns
32. “Whole is greater than the sum of the parts”
33. Sigmund Freud and psychoanalysis
34. Austrian physician (early 1900s)
35. Focus on the unconscious
36. Sexual and aggressive impulses motivate
37. Importance of early childhood experience
38. Dynamic conflict between unconscious desires and acceptable behavior
39. Psychoanalysis developed—“talk therapy”
40. Contemporary Perspectives in Psychology
41. Behavioral perspective
42. Modeled after school of behaviorism
43. Observable behavior; emphasis on experience and learning
44. Broader variation: social-cognitive theory
45. Environment and cognitive factors
46. Values, goals, and expectations important
47. Social cognitive theory: psychology should include study of mental processes, not only behavior itself
48. Behavior therapy—applying learning principles to treat psychological problems
49. Psychodynamic perspective
50. Neo-Freudians include emphasis on self-awareness and choices
51. Focus remains on unconscious drives and early childhood experience
52. Criticized because scientific study difficult
53. Humanistic perspective
54. Known as “third force” in psychology (besides psychodynamic and behavioral)
55. Each human has unique abilities and potential
56. Free will, personal choice: crucial aspects of this perspective
57. Physiological perspective
58. Biological processes influence behavior
59. Nervous system (especially brain) and body chemicals at root of human functioning
60. Heredity an important consideration
61. Subfield: Evolutionary psychology
62. Study non-human species as well as humans
63. Genetic programming creates behavioral tendencies, predispositions
64. Cognitive perspective
65. Cognitiomeans knowledge
66. Study of mental processes; acquiring knowledge of ourselves and the world
67. How we learn, think, reason, remember, and use language
68. Criticized by behaviorists as beyond scientific study
69. Sociocultural perspective
70. Behavior and attitudes are influenced by culture
71. Social and economic experiences have impact
72. Ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, and disability are considered
73. Increasing diversity of contemporary society
74. Whites no longer such a majority
75. “Race” not a very useful concept
76. Blurring racial boundaries
77. Good research includes sociocultural aspects—can’t generalize from limited samples
78. Summary of contemporary perspectives
79. No one perspective is the “correct” one
80. Each focuses on different aspects of behavior and functioning
81. None is complete; each has something unique to offer
82. Positive psychology—a growing movement
83. Emphasis on human virtues and strengths

MODULE 1.2 PSYCHOLOGISTS: WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO

1. Types of Research
2. Basic—expanding our knowledge
3. Applied—research for a specific objective
4. Traditional Major Specialty Areas of Psychology
5. Experimental psychologists—use the experimental research method (to establish cause and effect) for study of behavior and mental processes
6. Comparative—study animals and their behavior
7. Physiological—study biological processes related to behavior
8. Clinical psychologists—study individuals with psychological disorders
9. Counseling psychologists—treat individuals with less severe psychological disorders
10. School psychologists—work directly with children to aid in their school experience
11. Educational psychologists—research and/or apply learning and instructional advances
12. Developmental psychologists—study human growth and changes over the entire lifespan
13. Personality psychologists—study unique personal characteristics and behaviors
14. Social psychologists—focus on the individual as a member of a group
15. Environmental psychologists—study the relationship between people’s behavior and their physical environment
16. Industrial/Organizational (I/O) psychologists—research and/or apply ways to improve the work setting
17. Health psychologists—study the relationship between psychological factors and physical well-being
18. Consumer psychologists—investigate people’s purchases and reactions to advertising
19. Emerging Specialty Areas in Psychology
20. Neuropsychologists—study the brain specifically for its relationship to behavior
21. Geropsychologists—investigate the psychological impact of aging
22. Forensic psychologists—work with individuals involved in the legal system
23. Sport psychologists—study competition and ways to maximize athletic performance
24. Professional Psychology: Becoming More Diverse
25. Early psychologists (nineteenthcentury)
26. White male, European background
27. Women and minorities faced many barriers
28. Ph.D. not awarded to women, though doctoral work may be completed
29. 1920: first Ph.D. awarded to African-American
30. Current demographics among psychologists
31. Women now majority of recipients of psychology degrees
32. Ethnic minorities in psychology slowly increasing

MODULE 1.3 RESEARCH METHODS IN PSYCHOLOGY

1. Objectives of Science
2. Description—clear, accurate and objective information; based on observation
3. Explanation—tying information together to make sense of it (such as with theories)
4. Prediction—understanding and expectation regarding future events
5. Control—managing events and circumstances for human well-being
6. The Scientific Method
7. Develop a research question
8. Frame the research question in the form of a testable hypothesis
9. Gather evidence to test the hypothesis
10. Draw conclusions regarding the outcome
11. Research Methods
12. Case study—thorough, careful study of one or a few individuals
13. Advantage: detailed and extensive information
14. Disadvantage: not necessarily representative of others
15. Survey
16. Information from a sample to reveal features of a population
17. Interviews or questionnaires most often used
18. To generalize accurately, sample must be representative
19. A few thousand people may sufficiently represent U.S. trends
20. Advantage: broad range of information if done correctly
21. Disadvantage: may be biases in responses
22. Naturalistic observation
23. Studying humans (or animals) in familiar, everyday environment
24. Researcher observing must be inconspicuous
25. Advantage: greatest likelihood of genuine, authentic behavior
26. Disadvantage: least amount of control over events that will take place
27. Correlational—relationship between two variables, represented mathematically
28. Advantage: helpful for prediction, suggests further study
29. Disadvantage: does not establish causality, though may be (wrongly) interpreted as such
30. Correlation coefficients range from -1.00 to +1.00
31. The farther the value is from 0, the stronger the relationship
32. Experimental
33. Can truly establish cause and effect
34. Involves independent and dependent variables
35. Control group helps establish causality
36. Random assignment helps assure no pre-existing differences
37. Advantages and disadvantages
38. Advantage: learn why an effect actually happens
39. Disadvantage: expectations (e.g., placebo effect) may influence results
40. Ethical Principles in Psychological Research
41. Ethical standards protect research participants
42. Review committees at institutions verify ethical procedures
43. Some basic ethical guidelines for research
44. Informed consent
45. Research participant knows what will happen in study
46. Willingly agrees, based on explanation given, to be part of study
47. Aware can withdraw from study at any time
48. Confidentiality—keep records on clients and research participants private
49. Animal research—protect animal from harm unless no other research alternative
50. Ethics review panel must give permission
51. Benefits from such research must be substantial
52. Exploring Psychology: Anatomy of a Research Study: Shooter Bias
53. Question: Will race or ethnicity of a target figure affect a police officer's decision to shoot a suspect?
54. Procedure: Experimental method
55. Pictures of targets flashed on a screen; participants had to decide which ones were armed and shoot only those
56. Results: Officers were quicker to shoot armed African American targets than armed Whites, and they were more likely to mistakenly shoot unarmed African Americans than unarmed Whites

MODULE 1.4 APPLICATION: BECOMING A CRITICAL THINKERLEARNING OBJECTIVE

1. Background Factors in Critical Thinking
2. How do we determine what is really the truth?
3. Critical thinking—adopting a questioning attitude, willingness to challenge conventional thinking of the day
4. Base beliefs on reasons, not on “gut feelings”
5. Features of Critical Thinking
6. Question everything
7. Do not blindly accept claims
8. Keep an open mind, weigh the evidence
9. Look for clarification of terms
10. Avoid oversimplifying
11. Avoid overgeneralizing
12. Maintain distinction between correlation and causality
13. Consider assumptions on which claims are based
14. Carefully examine all sources for timeliness, credibility
15. Question evidence—is it sound, rational, objective?
16. As a precaution, think of other ways the findings might be interpreted besides the one presented
17. Thinking Critically About Online Information
18. Anyone can create or post to Internet sites
19. Not all information is accurate; retain critical thinking approach
20. Best sources still scientific journals, credible and respected agencies and organizations

1. The Structure of the Neuron
2. Basic building block of the nervous system
3. Cells specialized for rapidly communicating information
4. Neuron parts and functions
5. Dendrites—receive information from adjoining neurons (or sensory receptors)
6. Soma (cell body)—receives and stores information within the cell
7. Nucleus—governs and directs action of the cell
8. Axon—transmits neural impulse down length of cell
9. Terminal buttons—branching at end of axon; contain neurotransmitters
10. Types of neurons
11. Sensory neurons—bring information from outside world to your brain
12. Motor neurons—transmit responses from brain to muscles and glands
13. Interneurons
14. Connect neurons to other neurons
15. Join sensory and motor neurons in spinal cord
16. Synapses—chemical (neurotransmitter) connections between all neurons
17. Glial Cells
18. Most numerous cells within the nervous system
19. “Glue” to help hold neurons together
20. Assist and support activity of neurons
21. Form myelin sheath
22. Fatty, protective covering on many neuron axons
23. Forms over time, usually by age of 12
24. Nodes of Ranvier (gaps in myelin sheath)—neural impulse may jump from node to node
25. Multiple sclerosis (MS)—destruction of myelin sheath
26. How Neurons Communicate
27. Ions involved: sodium, potassium, and chloride
28. Resting potential—neuron not activated; cell has slightly negative charge
29. Depolarization—stimulation leads sodium to enter cell; electrical charge now changed from negative to positive
30. Action potential—neuron fires down length of axon; called a neural impulse
31. Neurotransmitters
32. Synapse is tiny gap between one neuron and the next
33. At synapse, the impulse changes from electrical to chemical
34. Neurotransmitters are these chemical messengers across synapse
35. Chemicals from adjacent neurons may either excite or inhibit cell firing
36. Some important neurotransmitters
37. Acetylcholine—for muscle contractions, and learning and memory
38. Dopamine—related to muscle activity, also involved in emotional functioning
39. Glutamate—keeps central nervous system aroused
40. Serotonin—regulates emotion, satiety, and sleep
41. Endorphins—body’s natural painkillers; similar chemically to narcotic drugs

1. Central Nervous System
2. Consists of brain and spinal cord
3. Spinal cord is a column of nerves about as thick as one’s thumb, encased in the spine
4. Transmits information between brain and peripheral nervous system
5. Spinal reflexes are the quickest possible response to stimuli, bypassing the brain and involving only two or three neurons
6. Peripheral nervous system—components of nervous system other than brain and spinal cord
7. Peripheral Nervous System:
8. Somatic nervous system
9. Comprised of sensory and motor neurons
10. Links communication between central nervous system and sense organs, muscles
11. Autonomic nervous system—two further divisions
12. Sympathetic nervous system
13. Prepares body to meet physical demands or stress
14. Increases heart rate, breathing, blood sugar
15. Parasympathetic nervous system
16. Slows bodily activity, conserves energy
17. Fosters bodily processes, such as digestion

1. The Brain
2. Hindbrain—lowest part of brain
3. Evolutionarily the “oldest”
4. Medulla—breathing, heart rate, swallowing
5. Pons—conducts information; influences wakefulness and sleep
6. Cerebellum—controls balance and coordination
7. Midbrain—above the hindbrain
8. Connects hindbrain with forebrain
9. Reticular formation
10. Neural network that connects to thalamus
11. Involved in attention, alertness and arousal
12. Filters out irrelevant information
13. Forebrain—largest part of the brain, located at top and front
14. Thalamus—relay station, routes information to appropriate brain area
15. Basal ganglia—control movement and coordination
16. Hypothalamus
17. Under the thalamus; size of a pea
18. Regulates hunger, thirst, body temperature
19. Involved in reproduction, emotional states
20. Directs activity of the endocrine system
21. Limbic system—memory and emotional processing
22. Amygdala—aggression, rage and fear
23. Hippocampus—important role in formation of memories
24. Cerebral cortex
25. Part of the forebrain
26. Thin outer layer of cerebrum
27. Two cerebral hemispheres (connected by corpus callosum)
28. Each hemisphere—four lobes
29. Occipital lobes—vision
30. Parietal lobes
31. Includes somatosensory cortex
32. Touch, pressure, pain, temperature
33. Area proportional to sensitivity of skin tissue
34. Frontal lobes
35. “Executive center”
36. Accesses stored memories
37. Used to solve problems, reason, carry out coordinated activities
38. Involved in emotional states
39. Motor cortex—voluntary movement
40. Temporal lobes—hearing
41. Consists largely of association areas—higher mental functions

1. Methods of Studying the Brain
2. Recording and imaging techniques
3. EEG (electroencephalograph)—records electrical activity in the brain
4. CT (computed tomography) scan—measures reflection of an X-ray beam passing through body
5. PET (positron emission tomography) scan—radioactive isotope reveals more active parts of brain
6. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)—gives picture of body’s soft matter; disrupted atoms give signals as they realign
7. Experimental methods
8. Lesioning
9. Part of experimental animal’s brain is destroyed
10. Researcher investigates effects of the brain tissue loss
11. Electrical recording—electrodes in neurons/brain tissue reveal changes
12. Electrical stimulation—observe results of mild electric current passed through brain

1. The Brain at Work: Lateralization and Integration
2. Lateralization
3. Division of functions between left and right hemispheres
4. Left brain: language, logical analysis, mathematical computations
5. Broca’s area: production of speech
6. Wernicke’s area: understanding meaning in language
7. Aphasia: loss or impairment in language communication
8. Right brain: spatial relations, recognizing faces, emotional expression
9. Integration: Both hemispheres share work in performing most tasks
10. Handedness—hand dominance related to hemispheric specialization
11. Left-handers may not follow typical pattern
12. Genetic factors seem to play a role
13. Prenatal hormones may also influence
14. Twice as many males as females left-handed
15. Brain Damage and Psychological Functioning
16. Head trauma—laceration or concussion
17. Stroke
18. Flow of blood to brain is blocked
19. Cerebral hemorrhage—bleeding into the brain
20. Brain plasticity—healthy part of brain may take over lost function
21. Exploring Psychology: Research on Split-Brain Patients: Does the Left Hand Know What the Right Hand is Doing?
22. Corpus callosum may be severed as a treatment for severe epilepsy
23. Patient holds a familiar object in the left hand—can use it but not name it
24. The left hand connects to the right hemisphere, which lacks language capabilities
25. Perception studies—researchers flash pictures to either left or right visual field
26. Patients can only describe the picture if flashed to the right visual field (which connects to the left hemisphere)
27. Split-brain patients appear quite normal in everyday behavior

1. The Endocrine System
2. A grouping of glands
3. Glands release secretions called hormones
4. Regulates bodily processes such as growth, reproduction, and metabolism
5. Maintains homeostasis—an internally balanced state
6. Important Glands
7. Hypothalamus—secretes releasing factors that act on pituitary gland
8. Pituitary gland
9. “Master gland”—influences hormone activity of other glands
10. Also promotes physical growth via GH (growth hormone)
11. Pancreas
12. Produces the hormone insulin
13. Regulates amount of glucose in the blood
14. Pineal gland
15. Secretes melatonin
16. Regulates sleep-wake cycles
17. Adrenal glands
18. Lie above the kidneys
19. Adrenal cortex
20. Secretes hormones that promote muscle development
21. Stimulates liver to release sugar in times of stress
22. Adrenal medulla—releases epinephrine and norepinephrine to deal with stress
23. Gonads—sex glands
24. Ovaries in women
25. Produce egg cells for reproduction
26. Secrete female hormones estrogen and progesterone
27. Testes in men
28. Produce sperm
29. Secrete male sex hormone testosterone
30. Hormones and Behavior
31. Testosterone is linked to aggressive behavior
32. Thyroid hormones—influence metabolism; related to behavior
33. PMS—hormone sensitivity appears to play a role

1. Memory and Cognitive Research
2. Specific brain circuits may relate to specific memories
3. Personality Research
4. Different patterns of brain activity in people who are more or less extraverted or neurotic
5. Personnel Selection
6. Scans may indicate suitability for particular types of tasks
7. Diagnosing Psychological Disorders
8. Scans may be used to detect signs of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and ADHD

1. Sensation
2. Process by which we receive, transform, and process stimuli presented to sensory organs
3. Sensory receptors—in sensory organs
4. Detect stimuli from the outside world
5. Very sensitive to certain types of stimuli
6. Form of light, sound, odors, etc.
7. Psychophysics—how we experience such stimuli
8. Absolute and Difference Thresholds
9. Absolute threshold
10. Smallest amount of stimulus reliably detected
11. Variation in sensitivity among individuals
12. Difference threshold
13. Just-noticeable difference (jnd)
14. Weber’s law—must change stimulus by a constant proportion for change to be detected
15. Constants are given for various senses
16. Signal Detection
17. Signals are stimuli such as sounds or tastes
18. Detection depends on
19. Intensity of signal
20. Background factors
21. Attention and motivation of receiver
22. Physical condition of organism
23. Sensory Adaptation—becoming less sensitive to unchanging stimuli