PSYC 304 FINAL EXAM QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
What is neuroscience? - Answer -The scientific study of the nervous system.
Biopsychology is a field of neuroscience.
What is biopsychology? - Answer -Studying behaviour from a biological perspective
What is psychology? - Answer -The scientific study of behaviour
What is behaviour? Examples? - Answer -All activities of an organism and their
underlying processes.
E.g. learning, memory, motivation, perception, emotion
What played a key role in the development of the field of biopsychology? - Answer -
Hebb's book called "The Organization of Behaviour" in the 1900s
What was Hebb's theory? What was it based on? - Answer -Complex psychological
phenomena may be produced by brain activity.
His theory relied on biopsychological inquiry
What is biopsychological inquiry? - Answer -Experimenting, doing case studies, making
observations and logical arguments
What are the 6 fields of neuroscience related to biopsychology? - Answer -
Neuroanatomy
Neurochemistry
Neuroendocrinology
Neuropathology
Neuropharmacology
Neurophysiology
What is neuroanatomy? - Answer -Study of the structure of the nervous system
What is neurochemistry? - Answer -Study of the chemistry of neural activity
What is neuroendocrinology? - Answer -Study of how the nervous system and
endocrine system interact with each other
,What is neuropathology? - Answer -Study of disorders of the nervous system
What is neuropharmacology? - Answer -Study of how drugs affect neural activity
What is neurophysiology? - Answer -Study of the functions and activities of the nervous
system
What are 3 advantages of research with human subjects? - Answer -Can follow
instructions and report subjective experiences
Often cheaper
Human brains are ideal for understanding humans
What are 3 advantages of research with nonhuman subjects? - Answer -More simple
brain and behaviour
Comparative approach can be used
Can conduct research that would not be ethically possible on humans
Describe the evolutionary continuity of the brain - Answer -Nonhuman brains function
similarly to human brains.
Differences are mostly in size
What is the comparative approach? Example? - Answer -Comparing the behaviour of
species with different brain physiology
E.g. see how behaviour differs in a species with a cerebral cortex vs. without
What is an experiment? - Answer -A method used by scientists to study causation (find
out what causes what)
What are two common types of experimental design? - Answer -Between-subjects
design - different groups of subjects are tested under each condition
Within-subjects design - the same group of subjects is tested under each condition
What are the different types of variables? - Answer -Independent variable - The
difference between the conditions being compared
Dependent variable - the variable that is measured to assess the effect of the
independent variable
,Confounded variable - an unintentional difference between conditions that could have
affected the dependent variable (important to minimize confounded variables!)
What confounded variable was controlled for in the study of the Coolidge effect? -
Answer -Sexual fatigue of males
Why is it important to randomize assignment of subjects to conditions? - Answer -To
minimize potential confounded variables like experimenter bias
Ensure that participants in each group are the same and more representative of the
larger population
What are two common types of nonexperimental studies? - Answer -Quasiexperimental
studies
Case studies
What are quasiexperimental studies? Advantage & Disadvantage? - Answer -Studies
where subjects have already been exposed to conditions in the real world
Advantage - Used when conditions aren't ethical or feasible to give to participants
Disadvantage - Potential confounded variables (e.g. subjects not randomly assigned to
conditions)
What are case studies? - Answer -Studies that focus on a single subject
Advantage - in-depth
Disadvantage - Limited ability to generalize or apply findings to other cases
What is pure research? - Answer -Research for purpose of acquiring knowledge &
motivated by curiosity of researcher
What is applied research? - Answer -Research for purpose of directly benefiting
humans
What is translational research? - Answer -Research that translates findings of pure
research into useful applications
What is the advantage of pure research and what is its limitation? - Answer -Important
to gain basic understanding of principles before proceeding to application. But, often
gets less funding
What are the 6 major divisions of biopsychology? - Answer -Physiological psychology
, Psychopharmacology
Neuropsychology
Psychophysiology
Cognitive neuroscience
Comparative psychology
What is physiological psychology? - Answer -Study of the neural mechanisms of
behaviour by direct manipulation and recording of the brain
Uses nonhuman animals in experiments
Mostly pure research
What is psychopharmacology? - Answer -Study of the effects of drugs on behaviour
Mostly applied research
What is neuropsychology? - Answer -The study of psychological effects of brain
damage in human patients
Usually uses case studies and quasiexperimental studies
Focuses on the cerebral cortex (part of the brain most likely to be damaged by an
accident)
Most applied of the subdisciplines
What is psychophysiology? - Answer -Study of the relation between physiological
activity and psychological processes in human subjects
Typically uses EEGs to measure surface brain activity or other non-invasive methods
Some pure, some applied research
What is cognitive neuroscience? - Answer -Study of neural mechanisms of human
cognition (higher intellectual processes) using functional brain imaging
Youngest subdivision of biopsychology
What is comparative psychology? - Answer -Study of the evolution, genetics, and
adaptiveness of behaviour by comparing different species
What is neuroscience? - Answer -The scientific study of the nervous system.
Biopsychology is a field of neuroscience.
What is biopsychology? - Answer -Studying behaviour from a biological perspective
What is psychology? - Answer -The scientific study of behaviour
What is behaviour? Examples? - Answer -All activities of an organism and their
underlying processes.
E.g. learning, memory, motivation, perception, emotion
What played a key role in the development of the field of biopsychology? - Answer -
Hebb's book called "The Organization of Behaviour" in the 1900s
What was Hebb's theory? What was it based on? - Answer -Complex psychological
phenomena may be produced by brain activity.
His theory relied on biopsychological inquiry
What is biopsychological inquiry? - Answer -Experimenting, doing case studies, making
observations and logical arguments
What are the 6 fields of neuroscience related to biopsychology? - Answer -
Neuroanatomy
Neurochemistry
Neuroendocrinology
Neuropathology
Neuropharmacology
Neurophysiology
What is neuroanatomy? - Answer -Study of the structure of the nervous system
What is neurochemistry? - Answer -Study of the chemistry of neural activity
What is neuroendocrinology? - Answer -Study of how the nervous system and
endocrine system interact with each other
,What is neuropathology? - Answer -Study of disorders of the nervous system
What is neuropharmacology? - Answer -Study of how drugs affect neural activity
What is neurophysiology? - Answer -Study of the functions and activities of the nervous
system
What are 3 advantages of research with human subjects? - Answer -Can follow
instructions and report subjective experiences
Often cheaper
Human brains are ideal for understanding humans
What are 3 advantages of research with nonhuman subjects? - Answer -More simple
brain and behaviour
Comparative approach can be used
Can conduct research that would not be ethically possible on humans
Describe the evolutionary continuity of the brain - Answer -Nonhuman brains function
similarly to human brains.
Differences are mostly in size
What is the comparative approach? Example? - Answer -Comparing the behaviour of
species with different brain physiology
E.g. see how behaviour differs in a species with a cerebral cortex vs. without
What is an experiment? - Answer -A method used by scientists to study causation (find
out what causes what)
What are two common types of experimental design? - Answer -Between-subjects
design - different groups of subjects are tested under each condition
Within-subjects design - the same group of subjects is tested under each condition
What are the different types of variables? - Answer -Independent variable - The
difference between the conditions being compared
Dependent variable - the variable that is measured to assess the effect of the
independent variable
,Confounded variable - an unintentional difference between conditions that could have
affected the dependent variable (important to minimize confounded variables!)
What confounded variable was controlled for in the study of the Coolidge effect? -
Answer -Sexual fatigue of males
Why is it important to randomize assignment of subjects to conditions? - Answer -To
minimize potential confounded variables like experimenter bias
Ensure that participants in each group are the same and more representative of the
larger population
What are two common types of nonexperimental studies? - Answer -Quasiexperimental
studies
Case studies
What are quasiexperimental studies? Advantage & Disadvantage? - Answer -Studies
where subjects have already been exposed to conditions in the real world
Advantage - Used when conditions aren't ethical or feasible to give to participants
Disadvantage - Potential confounded variables (e.g. subjects not randomly assigned to
conditions)
What are case studies? - Answer -Studies that focus on a single subject
Advantage - in-depth
Disadvantage - Limited ability to generalize or apply findings to other cases
What is pure research? - Answer -Research for purpose of acquiring knowledge &
motivated by curiosity of researcher
What is applied research? - Answer -Research for purpose of directly benefiting
humans
What is translational research? - Answer -Research that translates findings of pure
research into useful applications
What is the advantage of pure research and what is its limitation? - Answer -Important
to gain basic understanding of principles before proceeding to application. But, often
gets less funding
What are the 6 major divisions of biopsychology? - Answer -Physiological psychology
, Psychopharmacology
Neuropsychology
Psychophysiology
Cognitive neuroscience
Comparative psychology
What is physiological psychology? - Answer -Study of the neural mechanisms of
behaviour by direct manipulation and recording of the brain
Uses nonhuman animals in experiments
Mostly pure research
What is psychopharmacology? - Answer -Study of the effects of drugs on behaviour
Mostly applied research
What is neuropsychology? - Answer -The study of psychological effects of brain
damage in human patients
Usually uses case studies and quasiexperimental studies
Focuses on the cerebral cortex (part of the brain most likely to be damaged by an
accident)
Most applied of the subdisciplines
What is psychophysiology? - Answer -Study of the relation between physiological
activity and psychological processes in human subjects
Typically uses EEGs to measure surface brain activity or other non-invasive methods
Some pure, some applied research
What is cognitive neuroscience? - Answer -Study of neural mechanisms of human
cognition (higher intellectual processes) using functional brain imaging
Youngest subdivision of biopsychology
What is comparative psychology? - Answer -Study of the evolution, genetics, and
adaptiveness of behaviour by comparing different species
