WGU psychology c180 – Questions with Detailed
Answers
What is the independent variable - -the cause of change
-What is the dependent variable - -the effect
-What is the main difference between a correlation and an experiment - -correlation
discovers relationship among variables and predicts future events. Experiment provides
more definitive conclusion from causal relationship.
-How is a sample different from a population - -smaller subset of population
-List 2 issues in conducting ethical research in psychology - -Prevent harm and free choice.
-Hypothalamus - -pleasurable activities associated with eating, drinking, and sexual
behavior
-Thalamus - -relay station for all senses except smell
-Hippocampus - -associated with converting short-term memories into long-term
memories
-Cerebellum - -balance and body posture
-Corpus Callosum - -Connective tissue that links the two brain hemispheres
-Pituitary Gland - -Master gland within the endocrine system
-Pancreas - -produces insulin
-Parietal lobe - -sensation and spatial awareness
-Occipital lobe - -vision
-Frontal lobe - -thinking, personality
-Temporal lobe - -hearing
-List 2 types of neurotransmitters - -dopamine, serotonin
-axon - -long fiber that transmits information away from cell body to other neurons
, -dendrite - -treelike fiber that collects information from other cells and sends to soma
-myelin sheath - -insulates axon to increase speed of neural messages
-Where does the myelin sheath grow and what is its purpose - -Grows around the axons.
Purpose is to insulate.
-Harold goes to check out an empty house. He hears a noise and thinks it could be a stray
cat - -Which behavior is the sensation? hears a noise. Which behavior is the perception? he
thinks its a stray cat
-Provide a real world example of subliminal messaging - -The amazon logo. The arrow
points from a to z which is that they sell everything and anything.
-Provide a real world example of top-down perception - -Walking into the kitchen and
smelling smoke.
-Provide a real world example of absolute threshold - -Hearing clock's minute hand tick
tock at night. any senses.
-Provide a real world example of inattentional blindness - -choosing to tune out to focus
on one thing.
-Non-REM 1 - -theta waves. Some loss of muscle tone. Jerking movements
-Non-REM 2 - -sleep spindles. 50% of total sleep
-Non-REM 3 - -delta waves. slow wave. deepest of sleep. Occurs at beginning of sleep.
Sleep walking, bed wetting, talking and nightmares occur.
-REM - -20-25% of sleep. vivid dreams, body does not move and movements occur in
dreams. too much can have neg impact on mood and leave you tired. affects cognitive
capacity.
-Provide an example of drug tolerance - -A person taking so much pain medication that
they require more pain medication to get same effect.
-Contrast hypnosis and meditation - -Hypnosis is to facilitate increased suggestibility and
dissociated experiences and facilitated by someone else. Meditation alters consciousness
and attention by relaxation, deep breathing and concentrated focus facilitated by yourself
-List the 3 stages of prenatal development and indicate how long each one lasts - -1)
zygote- 1-2 weeks 2) embryonic- 3-8 weeks 3) fetal- 9-birth
-List and briefly describe Piaget's 4 stages of cognitive development; include the age range
for each - -1) sensorimotor- child experiences senses of seeing, hearing, touching and
Answers
What is the independent variable - -the cause of change
-What is the dependent variable - -the effect
-What is the main difference between a correlation and an experiment - -correlation
discovers relationship among variables and predicts future events. Experiment provides
more definitive conclusion from causal relationship.
-How is a sample different from a population - -smaller subset of population
-List 2 issues in conducting ethical research in psychology - -Prevent harm and free choice.
-Hypothalamus - -pleasurable activities associated with eating, drinking, and sexual
behavior
-Thalamus - -relay station for all senses except smell
-Hippocampus - -associated with converting short-term memories into long-term
memories
-Cerebellum - -balance and body posture
-Corpus Callosum - -Connective tissue that links the two brain hemispheres
-Pituitary Gland - -Master gland within the endocrine system
-Pancreas - -produces insulin
-Parietal lobe - -sensation and spatial awareness
-Occipital lobe - -vision
-Frontal lobe - -thinking, personality
-Temporal lobe - -hearing
-List 2 types of neurotransmitters - -dopamine, serotonin
-axon - -long fiber that transmits information away from cell body to other neurons
, -dendrite - -treelike fiber that collects information from other cells and sends to soma
-myelin sheath - -insulates axon to increase speed of neural messages
-Where does the myelin sheath grow and what is its purpose - -Grows around the axons.
Purpose is to insulate.
-Harold goes to check out an empty house. He hears a noise and thinks it could be a stray
cat - -Which behavior is the sensation? hears a noise. Which behavior is the perception? he
thinks its a stray cat
-Provide a real world example of subliminal messaging - -The amazon logo. The arrow
points from a to z which is that they sell everything and anything.
-Provide a real world example of top-down perception - -Walking into the kitchen and
smelling smoke.
-Provide a real world example of absolute threshold - -Hearing clock's minute hand tick
tock at night. any senses.
-Provide a real world example of inattentional blindness - -choosing to tune out to focus
on one thing.
-Non-REM 1 - -theta waves. Some loss of muscle tone. Jerking movements
-Non-REM 2 - -sleep spindles. 50% of total sleep
-Non-REM 3 - -delta waves. slow wave. deepest of sleep. Occurs at beginning of sleep.
Sleep walking, bed wetting, talking and nightmares occur.
-REM - -20-25% of sleep. vivid dreams, body does not move and movements occur in
dreams. too much can have neg impact on mood and leave you tired. affects cognitive
capacity.
-Provide an example of drug tolerance - -A person taking so much pain medication that
they require more pain medication to get same effect.
-Contrast hypnosis and meditation - -Hypnosis is to facilitate increased suggestibility and
dissociated experiences and facilitated by someone else. Meditation alters consciousness
and attention by relaxation, deep breathing and concentrated focus facilitated by yourself
-List the 3 stages of prenatal development and indicate how long each one lasts - -1)
zygote- 1-2 weeks 2) embryonic- 3-8 weeks 3) fetal- 9-birth
-List and briefly describe Piaget's 4 stages of cognitive development; include the age range
for each - -1) sensorimotor- child experiences senses of seeing, hearing, touching and
