General Psychology: Fall 2011Exam 1 - Study guideSeptember 21, 2011Prologue and Chapter 1 (Psychology as a Science)1. What is psychology?2. Explain the biopsychosocial approach to studying psychology?3. What is the difference between basic research and applied research?4. What is a theory?5. Be familiar with the steps involved in the scientific method.6. Know the three main methods used to observe and describe behavior.7. What is a correlation?8. What is an illusionary correlation?9. What is random assignment and random sampling?10. What is the difference between an independent variable and a dependent variable?11. Be able to list the three measures of central tendency and be able to define what the meanis.12. Define statistical significance.13. What are ethics?14. What information should be included on an informed consent form?15. What were the two major ethical issues regarding the Stanford Prison experiment? Chapter 2 (Biology of the Mind)1. What is the definition of a neuron?2. Know the three types of neurons and what they do.3. Know the parts of a neuron and what role they are responsible for in neural communication.4. What are neurotransmitters and why is it important for us to study them in psychology?5. What are the two components of the nervous system?6. What two parts of the body make up the central nervous system?7. What are the two components of the peripheral nervous system?8. What is the main function of the somatic nervous system?9. What are the two components of the autonomic nervous system and describe their functions.10. Why is it important to study the brain in a psychology course?11. What does the incident with Phineas Gage teach us about brain injuries?12. Understand the lower-level brain structures and what they are generally responsible for:a. Brainstemb. Reticular Formationc. Cerebellumd. Limbic System – Thalamus, Hypothalamus, Hippocampus, Amygdala13. What is the primary function of the cerebral cortex?14. Know the 4 regions (lobes) of the cerebral cortex and the primary function of each: Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, Temporal.General Psychology: Fall 201115. What modern techniques are used to study the brain?Chapter 3 (Sleep and Consciousness)1. What is the definition of consciousness?2. Understand the concept of dual processing.3. Understand that humans experience different biological cycles:a. Know what these different cycles are (circadian, menstrual, etc.)4. Know the first 4 stages of sleep and what occurs during each stage of sleep.5. What happens during the 5th stage of sleep (aka REM sleep)? 6. Why is sleep important?7. What are the side effects of sleep deprivation?8. What are sleep disorders?a. Know what each disorder is and what the primary symptom of each is.9. What are psychoactive drugs?10. What are the long term effects of drug abuse?11. What are depressants and stimulants and know an example of each and the side effects.12. What is a hallucinogen? What are the side effects of hallucinogens?AnswersChapter 11. It is the study of mental processes and behavior2. It is a scientific approach of studying behavior3. Basic Research is meant for increasing the scientific knowledge base, whereas Applied Research solves practical problems. Basic Applied Biological Clinical/CounselingDevelopmental PsychiatryCognitive Industrial/OrganizationSocial4. A Theory is a set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events 5. Steps of the Scientific Method a. Formulating a Hypothesisb. Designing a study c. Collecting evidenced. Interpret and report the evidence6. Three Main methods used to observe and describe behavior a. Case Studyi. One person- can be misleading; only describes one person’s behaviorb. Surveyi. In depth, but self-report.c. Naturalistic observationi. Only observe, no manipulationGeneral Psychology: Fall 20117. A Correlation is a measure of how variables relate to each other 8. An Illusionary Correlation is the perception of a relationship where none existsa. Ex. Getting children wet causes people to get sick.b. Ex. Librarians are quiet9. Random Assignment is specified to a particular group (treatment vs. control). Random Sampling means “who is in the study.”10. Independent variable - (manipulate) studying for an exama. Ex . Location Dependent Variable- (a measure) Ex. Grades11. Central Tendency’s a. Mode b. Mean - mathematical averagec. Median 12. Statistical Significance a. Def.- statement of likelihood that the result occurred by chancei. Psychologists usually accept a 5% Probability (or lower)13. Ethics is the righteousness or wrongness of a certain action, as defined by morality.14. What a Consent Form Must Include: a. What they’ll (the participants) be asked to dob. Risksc. Benefitsd. Your rights as a Participant 15. Two major ethical issues regarding the Stanford Prison experiment: a. Participants were not allowed to leave when they wanted tob. They suffered trauma following the conclusion of the experiment Chapter 21. N eurons are the basic building blocks of the nervous system.2. Three Types of Neurons: a. Sensory - control our senses (incoming)b. Motor - control our motor actions (outgoing)c. Inter-neurons (Majority)- neurons in Central Nervous System (CNS) that communicate information between neurons3. Parts of a Neuron and their roles in communication: a. Dendrites - receive info from other neurons and sensory receptors b. Axon - carries info to the other neurons, muscles, and glandsc. Myelin Sheath - this insulates the neurons. The thicker this Myelin Sheath, the faster information travels through the axonsd. Nodes of Ranvier - are gaps in the myelin sheath 4. A Neurotransmitter are endogenous chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse. They are important to study because without these neurotransmitters information would not get from one part of our body, to the other. 5. Two Components of the Nervous System a. Central nervous System (CNS)General Psychology: Fall 2011i. Brainii. Spinal Cord- the bridge between our brain and peripheral nerves. Has spinal reflexesb. Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)i. Transmits info to and from the CNS6. The Central Nervous System is made up of the Brain and Spinal Cord.7. The Peripheral Nervous System is made up of two major components:a. Somatic Nervous System : b. Autonomic Nervous
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