Scientific Method What is a theory What is a prediction What is empiricism Variables what is an independent variable Dependent variable Extraneous variable How can extraneous variables be controlled Correlational research Limitations of experimental research o Positive vs negative correlations o Major limitation of correlational research What is preferred correlational or experimental research Biopsychology Parts of a neuron and their functions When does a neuron react in an all or none manner vs a graded manner How a neuron fires How does a neuron transmit information about intense stimuli What are neurotransmitters o Possible problems with neurotransmitters o Examples of neurotransmitters and what each is associated with Brain imaging Split brain research o Mapping brain function EEG fMRI and PET o Mapping brain structure CAT and MRI o What functions are lateralized to each hemisphere o What happens when a person s corpus callosum is severed What are they able to do What are they not able to do Sensation and Perception Difference between sensation and perception Types of thresholds o Absolute threshold o Just noticeable difference Visual system o What is the retina What does it do o Optic disk blind spot o Light receptors rods and cones In what conditions does each work best How many of each in the eye Which one processes color How are they arranged distributed on the retina In what way does this distribution help us o What is a receptive field o Color processing 2 theories of color perception Trichromatic and Opponent Process What does each theory believe Learning What can the opponent process theory explain that the trichromatic theory cannot Pavlov s dog experiment Classical conditioning terminology UCS UCR CS CR spontaneous recovery stimulus generalization stimulus discrimination extinction higher order conditioning Types of classical conditioning pairings simultaneous trace and short delay pairing and which is most effective Watson s Little Albert study Operant conditioning terminology positive reinforcement negative reinforcement positive punishment negative punishment shaping extinction Escape vs avoidance escape behavior learned through negative reinforcement avoidance behavior learned through classical conditioning Mowrer s two process theory of phobias Rules of punishment Social Psychology What is an attitude Name describe the 3 components of an attitude cognitive affective behavioral Most important factor in attitude behavior consistency does the attitude object directly affect you Persuasion what factors are involved in changing someone s attitude Routes to persuasion central vs peripheral which is more effective in the long run Cognitive dissonance what is it How do we get rid of it o Festinger Carlsmith study Post decisional dissonance Effort justification What is an attribution o When do we make attributions o Internal vs external attributions o Fundamental attribution error Conformity Solomon Ash s line study Obedience Milgram s study o Understand the basics of how the study was run and what the results were o In what circumstances did the teacher refuse to go on with the shocking Cognitive Psychology 3 basic processes of memory and what is involved in each encoding storage retrieval Atkinson Shiffrin s Modal Model of Memory sensory memory short term memory and long term memory o How long do things last in sensory memory Short term Long term o What is the capacity of short term memory Long term o What is chunking Craik Tulving s Levels of Processing Theory what level of processing results in the best recall memory What is elaborative encoding How does this help memory What is encoding specificity Construction vs Reconstruction of memories How does misleading post event information affect memory Examples discussed in lecture about car accidents and people s memory of them Psychological tests measure how we differ from one another in various domains Intelligence and Psychological Testing Achievement vs aptitude tests What does it mean if a test is standardized Normed What is reliability Why is it important Types of validity o Construct validity o Content validity o Criterion validity Reliability and validity of the IQ test Cyril Burt what did he claim What was the problem with his research What is the evidence that IQ is inherited What is the evidence that IQ is influenced by the environment What is a reaction range Are ethnic differences in IQ due to biological differences Environmental differences Mental Illness Therapy Two ways to identify someone as mentally ill o Deviance Maladaptive and Personal Distress criteria o Look at the content context and consequences of the behavior What are common misconceptions of the mentally ill DSM IV a manual used to diagnose mental illness Rosenhan s study What happened in this study What was the researcher s conclusion Treatment methods o Treat the body medications e g antidepressants antipsychotics o Treat the mind Cognitive therapies insight therapy humanistic therapy o Treat the behavior through conditioning often systematic desensitization o Are the treatment methods equally effective Case studies commonly used to determine if treatment methods are effective o What are the problems with case studies Why are clinical outcome studies preferred over case studies Personality Freud o Components of personality and description of each id ego superego o Levels of consciousness and description of each o What are defense mechanisms Examples repression displacement identification o Psychosexual stage theory Typical ages for each stage Main experience focus of each stage What happens when a person gets fixated in each stage how does fixation influence their personality later in life o What are the problems with Freud s theory The Big 5 five main personality traits o Openness conscientiousness extroversion agreeableness and neuroticism can remember these by remembering OCEAN Two types of personality tests o Self report Single trait and multi trait inventories which is used clinically and which is used in research MMPI and CPI are examples of multi trait self report inventories What are the limitations drawbacks o Projective tests Patient projects their personality onto interpretations of ambiguous stimuli Rorschach inkblot test and the Thematic Apperception Test are examples of projective tests What are the limitations drawbacks Minnesota Twin Study o Compared twins on positive emotionality negative emotionality and constraint o
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