Introduction to Psychology (Exam 1) Question Solved.

What is Psychology? - correct answer The study of mind and behavior. What is Nativism (Nature)? - correct answer Nativism is the theory that knowledge is innate and inborn. Our biological endowment makes up who we are. What is Empiricism (Nurture)? - correct answer Empiricism is the idea that we gain knowledge through experience and surroundings. Our environment makes up who we are. Plato - correct answer He believes in the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate and inborn (nativism/nature). Aristotle - correct answer He believes in philosophical empiricism which states that knowledge is gained through experience. Wilhelm Wundt - correct answer He believes in the idea of structuralism. Structuralism is when you analyze the brain by breaking it down to its main components. William James - correct answer He believes in the idea of functionalism. Functionalism is when you see how someone functions or adapts to new aspects in their environment. John Watson - correct answer He believed that psychology and the mind was not able to be studied through scientific inquiry. Instead, he was a behaviorist who focused more so the actions of humans to explain their train of thought. B.F. Skinner - correct answer He was another behaviorist that believed in Pavlov's experiments and Watson's theories. He studied how behavior was learned according to circumstance. Sigmund Freud - correct answer He came up with psychoanalytic theory which is very much so used today. Psychoanalysis is the study of unconscious mind and how it affects a person's thoughts, feelings, and emotions. Behaviorism - correct answer an approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study objectively observable behavior Cognitive Psychology - correct answer the scientific study of mental processes including perception, thought, memory, and experience Evolutionary Psychology - correct answer a psychological approach that explains mind and behavior in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection (Influenced by Darwin, James, and EO Wilson) Humanistic Psychology - correct answer an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings Social Psychology - correct answer A subfield of psychology that studies the causes and consequences of interpersonal studies Cultural Psychology - correct answer Study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members Emergence of Cognitive Psychology - correct answer It became a thing when Max Wertheimer began to study illusions and errors when it came to the mind. He came up with the Gestalt theory that states that we rather perceive the "sum" over the "parts". Kurt Lewin believed that we saw the world as we saw it and not at all how it actually was. The invention of computers made most psychologists ignore this and see psychology objectively. Operational Definition - correct answer It is the description of a property in concrete, measurable terms. For example, you can operationally define happiness as the amount of times that someone smiles. Dependent variable - correct answer A variable whose value depends on another variable Independent variable - correct answer A variable who is manipulated for an experiment, but does not depend on another Reliability - correct answer It is the tendency for an instrument to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing. Power - correct answer An instrument's ability to detect change in the property. Validity - correct answer The goodness with which a concrete event defines a property Demand Characteristics - correct answer The aspects of an observational setting that caused people to behave as they think they should What is a correlation? - correct answer They are two variable that are said to be correlated when variation of one variable is synchronized with the variation in the value of another. However, correlation does not equate to causation. What is the third variable problem (confounding variable)? - correct answer It is the chance that two variable are only related because of each are causally related to a third one. What is observer bias? - correct answer Observer bias is expectations can influence observation and influence the perception of reality. What is a double blind experiment? - correct answer In order to avoid observer bias, scientists use a double blind to ensure that the observer and the person being observed are unaware of the experiment. Mean, Mode, Range? - correct answer Mean= Average of data set, Mode= most recurring value, Range= highest value - lowest value Experimental Group - correct answer The group who experience a stimulus Control Group - correct answer The group who does not experience a stimulus Case study - correct answer A method of gathering scientific knowledge through studying an individual. Nuremberg Code of 1947 - correct answer The code made after Nazi doctors would perform unethical experiments of people to protect individuals against unjust experimenting. Informed consent - correct answer Participants may not take part in a psychological study without a written agreement to participate in a study by an adult who has been informed of all risks of participation. No coercion - correct answer Each participant has the right to confirm or deny participation in a study without being forced or threatened Protection from Harm - correct answer Psychologists must take every possible precaution to protect their research participants from any harm. Risk-Benefit ratio - correct answer Participants may be asked to accept small forms of pain, such as low wattage shocks. However, they must NOT even be asked to endure more any pain. Psychologist should also demonstrate that social benefits can be made through the knowledge gained from the study. Deception - correct answer Psychologists may only use deception if it is justified by the study's scientific, educational, and applied value and that alternative procedures can not be used Debriefing - correct answer A verbal description of a study describing its nature and purpose if the participant is deceived Confidentiality - correct answer Psychologists are obligated to keep private and personal information obtained during a study confidential Neurons - correct answer They are cells in the nervous system that communicate with one another to perform information-processing tasks Name each part of a neuron and how it processes information? - correct answer The dendrites receive information and relays it to the cell body. A cell body coordinates the information and keeps the cell alive. The axon carries this information to other neurons, muscles, or glands. The myelin sheath is a fatty layer covering the axon to insulate it. It is composed of glial cells which is used to support the nervous system. Lastly, the action potential reaches the terminal button, or presynaptic gap to be released into it. This gap between this axon and the dendrites of another is called the synapse. Sensory Neurons - correct answer It receives information from the outside world and relays it to the spinal cord and brain Interneurons - correct answer It connects sensory and motor neuron Motor Neurons - correct answer It receives information from the spinal cord and relays it to the muscle to produce movement Mirror Neurons - correct answer Neurons that fire when someone you see is performing an action and you are able to empathize similarly to it. Synapse - correct answer It is the area in which axons are allowed to communicate with one another How does a neuron enter and leave a synapse? - correct answer It enters through a sodium-potassium pump. It can leave by either being taken up by the post-synaptic cell, it can be broken down by enzymes, through reuptake, and by auto receptors. Acetylcholine - correct answer It is involved with voluntary motor control. (Alzheimers) Dopamine - correct answer It is involved with motor behavior, pleasure, and emotional arousal. (Parkinson's disease & Schizophrenia) Glutamate - correct answer It is the major excitatory neurotransmitter which means that it enhances the transmission of information between neurons GABA - correct answer It is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter which means it is involved with stopping the firing of neurons Norepinephrine - correct answer It influences mood and arousal, vigilance, and awareness. Seratonin - correct answer It is involved with wakefulness, sleeping, eating, and regulation of sleep. Endorphins - correct answer They act as pain pathways and emotion centers of the brain (Runner's high) Peripheral Nervous System - correct answer It connects CNS to the body's organs and muscles Somatic & Autonomic Nervous System - correct answer PNS: Somatic is the set of nerves that convey information between voluntary muscles. Autonomic is the set of nerves that convey information between involuntary muscles. Autonomic Subdivisions - correct answer ANS: Sympathetic are the group of nerves that prepares the body for action in threatening situations. Parasympathetic helps the body return to normal settings. Central Nervous System - correct answer It is composed of the brain and the spinal cord Different Lobes of the Brain and their functions? - correct answer Frontal: movement, abstract thinking, planning, memory, and judgement Temporal: Responsible for hearing and language Parietal: Information about Touch Occipital Lobe: Responsible for visual information Other areas of the brain and their main functions? - correct answer Amygdala: It plays a role in emotional processes and memories, particularly fear Cerebellum: It controls fine motor skills and balance