PSY 301 1st EditionExam 1 Study Guide1. What is hindsight bias?Hindsight bias is the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that you could haveforeseen it. The perfect example of this is 9/11, when after the event everybody had the impression that they knew that was going to happen.2. What is overconfidence?People tend to be more confident than right. Overconfidence is when people fall into this trap and tend to be certain that they are right even when they are wrong. For example, when someone is certain that the correct answer is the number 6 for a math problem, he or she believes so strongly that this is the correct answer and assumes that everybody else is wrong. 3. What is a hypothesis?A hypothesis is a statement in which one can test through an experiment. These statements involve an independent variable and a dependent variable with the intentionof testing whether or not the independent variable influences the dependent variable. 4. What is an operational definition?An operational definition is a statement of procedure that is used to define research variables. An example of an operational definition is IQ tests used to define intelligence.5. What is random sampling?Random sampling is when a certain amount of individuals are chosen randomly for an experiment for the purpose of representing a population. Random sampling is importantbecause this allows the resulting data to be fairer towards representing a population as awhole.6. What is naturalistic observation?Naturalistic observation is a way of observing behavior in a situation. This type of study shows correlational data where one can deduct a correlation between two variables. Naturalistic observation is unique in the way that experimenters simply observe and do not alter anything about the situation. An example of this is observing how children behave in a classroom setting before lunch and after lunch under a study of whether or not lunch makes students more hyper. 7. What kinds of studies fall in this category?Types of naturalistic observations include surveys, interviews, case studies, and watchingbehavior as it occurs.8. What are the reasons for doing a study that falls in the category of naturalistic observation?The reason why naturalistic observations are used is because sometimes it is impossible to collect data for a particular prediction. 9. What is a correlation?Correlation is when two variables are changing together but it is important to note that this does not mean causation. If two variables are changing together, then we can conclude that there is a correlation between the two variables. 10. Why does correlation not imply causation?Correlation does not imply causation because there may be a third factor that is causing both variables to change. Another reason why correlation does not imply causation is because of directionality, you can never know whether variable 1 changes variable 2 or vice versa.11. What are the characteristics of an experiment?An experiment involves an independent variable, a dependent variable, and a controlled group. The independent variable is the variable, which is being tested and is changed to see the outcome of the dependent variable. The dependent variable is the outcome of the independent variable and determines whether or not the independent variable is influencing it. Lastly, a control group is needed to ensure that no other factors are influencing the data.12. Why can experiments establish causation?Experiments can establish causation because the independent variable is changing whileeverything else is staying constant. No other factors are changing therefore if the dependent variable indicates a change, then we know it is because of the independent variable. Thus a relationship can be deduced between the independent and dependent variable.13. What is an independent variable?The independent variable is the variable that is changing throughout the experiment. The purpose of changing the independent variable is to see whether or not there is a relationship between the independent and dependent variable. 14. What is a dependent variable?The dependent variable is the variable that is used to indicate whether or not there is a relationship between the dependent and independent variable. This is the variable that changes in the case that there is a relationship between the two.15. What is a control group and when is one used?A control group is a group in which people are not exposed to the independent variable or the variable that is being tested in the experiment. Control groups are very important because they are used to show that no other factors are influencing the outcome of the experiment other than the independent variable. 16. What is a double-blind procedure and why is it used?The double blind procedure is when both the experimenters and the people involved in the experiment do not know what is being tested and it is used to avoid biased results. 17. What is a placebo effect? How can it be dealt with?The placebo effect is when someone believes that for example a vitamin will cure an ear infection and this actually helps the pain of the ear infection go away. Therefore as a more general definition, the placebo effect causes people to believe that something is true even when it is not. Results are essentially met by expectations. This can be avoided by the double blind procedure since nobody knows what is being tested.1. What are sensory neurons, motor neurons, and interneurons?- Sensory neurons are responsible for carrying information from receptor cells to the central nervous system. They enable us to feel, touch, smell, hear, taste, and see things.- Motor neurons are responsible for sending information from the central nervoussystem to muscles, glands, and organs. These neurons enable us to move and also enable our involuntary organs to move (like our heart).- Interneurons are responsible for the connections made between neurons within the central nervous system. These interneurons allow us to think.2. What are the parts of the neuron and what is the function of each part?- Axon: The long extension of a neuron that transmits messages to other neurons (they can be myelinated or unmyelinated)- Cell Body: Provides the life support of the neuron- Dendrites: Receives messages from other neurons (the branching extensions)3. What is a myelinated neuron and how does it change speed of transmission?A myelinated neuron is a neuron that has a
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