General Psychology Exam

according to our textbook, list in order the 7 steps of the scientific method

1. pose a specfic research question 2. educate yourself about what known 3. form a hypothesis 4. design a study 5. conduct the study 6. analyze the data 7. report the results

why do scientist use inferential methods to determine in their results are statically significant

They want to know if their findings were just by chance

describe the plasticity of the brain

a property of the brain that allows it to change as a result of an experiemence or injury

understand how hindsight bias exists

after knowing the outcome change your stance to fix the narrative in our favor

know what comprises the peripheral nervous system

all nerve cells in the body that are not part of the central nervous system

describe the focus of the biopsychosocial research mode

an apporach to sychological science that intergrates biological factors, psychological process, and social contextual influences in shaping human mental life and behavior.

in considering the relative contributions og genes and enviorment, most scientist would agree that

both interact

which are os psychology studies, assesses, and treats individuals with psychological disorders

clinical psychology

name the tool that was very important to the rise of the cognitive approach in psychology

computer modeling

know which area psychology studies the processes of attention, memory, and perception

conative psychology

what is it called when writing a paper on a topic, a person only includes findings that support their own beliefs and ignore contradictory findings

confirmation bias

know which group in an experiment receives no treatment

control group

name the type of study that allows the researcher to establsih casue between an indpendent variable and a dependent variable

correlational studies

name the sequence that reflects the order in which a siginal travels through neurons

decrities, cell body, axon, terminal buttons

list, according to our textbook, the three primary goals of psychological science

description, prediction, and explantation

if a psychologists goal is to describe behavior or mental processes, they will most likely conduct what kind of study

descriptive research study

which sytem influences thoughts, behaviors, and actions via hormones

endocrine system

what type of study do researchers manipulate a variable to see how it affects behavior

experiement

the idea that the mind came into existence over the course of human devlopment is a viewpoint of what school of thought

functionalism

in considering a human charatistic, know what provides the option, and what determines which option is taken.

genetic inheritence

what change did john stuart mill advocate for in the field of psychology?

he said ppsychology should be a science of observation and of experimentation

according to our text, how do hypotheisis relate to theories?

hypotheisis are specific preditious to test a theory

name the variable that a researcher manipulates in an experiement

independent variable

in order to begin research project with human participants, a researcher must get approval from where

insutional review boards

if you list a set of scores from the lowest value to the highest and then take the middle value, you are chosing the_________.

median

what is a study of studies called?

metanalysis

which type of study do researchers examine the extent to which variables are naturally related in the real world while making no attempt to influence the relation among the variables

naturalistic observation

understand how neurons communicate with each other

neurotransmitters cross the synatic gap and bond with sheters post synatic neuron

what does pehnotype refer to

observeable physical characteristics which reults from genetics and environemntal influences

know which systems speed up our heart when we are nervous and which sytem calms it down

parasympathic slows it down sympathic speeds up

which area of the brain is believed to be reasonable for distinguishing the complexity and organization of humans from other animals

pre frontal cortex located in frontal lobe

what do researchers typically do to maximize the likelihood that experimental and control groups are similar before any treatment begins

random assignments

describe the process of replication and why it is done

repition of a research study to confirm the results when they are the same conclusion. confidence increases the findings

Define p-hacking

running many different statsical analyzes unit one is statiscally significant

what does the humangenome refer to

scientists have made progess understanding basic genetic code, or blueprint, for the body.

describe knonckout mouse

subjects whose particular genes have been rendered inactive by being removed from the genome.

how may critical thinking best be defined

systematically questioning and evaluating information using well supported evidence.

know which lobe of the cerbral cortex recieves auditory information

temporal lobe

what is the area of our brain called the recieves information from our sensory recoptors and then relays it to the cortex

thalamus

what is the contemporary view of psychological science in regards to the nature/nurture debate

the argument concerning weather or not psychological characteristics are biologically innat or acquired through education, experience, or cult.

define the mean

the average score

define neurons

the basic units of the neurons system cells that recieve, integrate, and transmit information to the nervous system

what is the central nervous system composed of

the brain and the spinal cord

know what struture of the brain that the medulla, oblongata, pns, and retucular formation belong to.

the brain stem

describe the process of cell division

the chromes dup and divide with identical chromosones

What is action potential?

the electrical siginal that passes along the axon and subsequelty causes the realse of chemicals from the terminal buttons

Define psychological science

the study, through research, of mind, brain, and behavior

what is an important goal of your psychology textbook

to educate you about the methods of psychology

know what the term nature in the nature/nurture debate refers to in relation to factors affecting human development

what you get genetically

one parent has all x chromosome, and the others gives

x and y