PSYCHOLOGY 1100 EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE
Definition of Psychology
Scientific Investigation of mental processes and behavior
Descriptive Research
Studying events in nature; accurate, but doesn't explain causes.
ex: case studies, survey research, correlation studies, naturalistic observation
Experimental Research
Studying events that occur in a controlled or contrived setting.
ex: experimental studies, quasi-experimental studies, within/longitudinal designs,
between/across subject designs
Clinical Psychology
Nature and treatment of psychological disorders with a mental health focus
Can not prescribe drugs in most U.S. States
ex: can you detect autism?
Counseling Psychology
Studying stress based on family, job, stress management, etc.
Psychiatrist
Specializes in treating brain disfunction
Has MD
Can prescribe drugs
Neurologist
Treats disorders with actual brain damage
ex: Stroke, Alzheimer's disease
Has MD
Can prescribe drugs
Behavioral Neuroscience
Examine physical substrate (brain) and "emergent" properties of the nervous system
ex: Examining how brain areas are involved in memory, how does the auditory system
process sound, how and why do people become addicted to medication?
Case Studies
Intensive description and analysis of a single individual
Henry Molaison
1953 - bilateral medical temporal lobe resection, including hippocampus for treatment
for intractable epilepsy
, Lost short-term memory (extreme amnesia) bc hippocampus was resected
Functional Localization
Different parts of the brain support different functions
ex: vision, hearing, facial recognition
Case Study Advantages
Rich description, describes patterns that happen in the real world, provide novel clues
about certain conditions
Case Study Disadvantages
Generalizability is decreased by small sample size, can not establish cause, potential
researcher bias, how to replicate
Generalizability
How well do the findings relate to the larger/general/different population?
Developmental Psychology
How thought, feeling, and behavior develop
ex: Is there a critical time for children to learn certain behaviors? Do nutrition, parental
care, formal education influence cognitive development
Experimental Research Advantages
Demonstrate causality, can be repeated, maximizes control over variables
Experimental Research Disadvantages
Behavior is constrained to laboratory or artificial set of experiences, may be
"experimental artifact", not real world scenario
Direct/Indirect Gaze Study
Cues for social study: Ability to identify others
IV: direct vs averted gaze
DV: looking time (s)
Results: infants spent more time looking at familiar faces over new faces; infants did not
distinguish familiar vs. new when gaze was averted
Conclusions: Infants looked longer (preferred?) images with direct gaze; Infants can
differentiate (remember?) a familiar face after brief exposure.
Confounding Variable
Something experimenter couldn't/didn't control
Fix: Randomization or larger test pool
Social Psychology
Influence of others on thoughts, feelings and behavior
ex: How does presence of others influence actions?
Cognitive Psychology
How the MIND processes, stores, remembers, and uses information
ex: Are there limits to attention spans? How do we learn to read? Are there limits to
what we can remember? Does sleep, or lack there of, influence memory?
ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE
Definition of Psychology
Scientific Investigation of mental processes and behavior
Descriptive Research
Studying events in nature; accurate, but doesn't explain causes.
ex: case studies, survey research, correlation studies, naturalistic observation
Experimental Research
Studying events that occur in a controlled or contrived setting.
ex: experimental studies, quasi-experimental studies, within/longitudinal designs,
between/across subject designs
Clinical Psychology
Nature and treatment of psychological disorders with a mental health focus
Can not prescribe drugs in most U.S. States
ex: can you detect autism?
Counseling Psychology
Studying stress based on family, job, stress management, etc.
Psychiatrist
Specializes in treating brain disfunction
Has MD
Can prescribe drugs
Neurologist
Treats disorders with actual brain damage
ex: Stroke, Alzheimer's disease
Has MD
Can prescribe drugs
Behavioral Neuroscience
Examine physical substrate (brain) and "emergent" properties of the nervous system
ex: Examining how brain areas are involved in memory, how does the auditory system
process sound, how and why do people become addicted to medication?
Case Studies
Intensive description and analysis of a single individual
Henry Molaison
1953 - bilateral medical temporal lobe resection, including hippocampus for treatment
for intractable epilepsy
, Lost short-term memory (extreme amnesia) bc hippocampus was resected
Functional Localization
Different parts of the brain support different functions
ex: vision, hearing, facial recognition
Case Study Advantages
Rich description, describes patterns that happen in the real world, provide novel clues
about certain conditions
Case Study Disadvantages
Generalizability is decreased by small sample size, can not establish cause, potential
researcher bias, how to replicate
Generalizability
How well do the findings relate to the larger/general/different population?
Developmental Psychology
How thought, feeling, and behavior develop
ex: Is there a critical time for children to learn certain behaviors? Do nutrition, parental
care, formal education influence cognitive development
Experimental Research Advantages
Demonstrate causality, can be repeated, maximizes control over variables
Experimental Research Disadvantages
Behavior is constrained to laboratory or artificial set of experiences, may be
"experimental artifact", not real world scenario
Direct/Indirect Gaze Study
Cues for social study: Ability to identify others
IV: direct vs averted gaze
DV: looking time (s)
Results: infants spent more time looking at familiar faces over new faces; infants did not
distinguish familiar vs. new when gaze was averted
Conclusions: Infants looked longer (preferred?) images with direct gaze; Infants can
differentiate (remember?) a familiar face after brief exposure.
Confounding Variable
Something experimenter couldn't/didn't control
Fix: Randomization or larger test pool
Social Psychology
Influence of others on thoughts, feelings and behavior
ex: How does presence of others influence actions?
Cognitive Psychology
How the MIND processes, stores, remembers, and uses information
ex: Are there limits to attention spans? How do we learn to read? Are there limits to
what we can remember? Does sleep, or lack there of, influence memory?
