Exam Review

Methods and History

1. Know all the various types of variables present in an experiment.
2. How is correlation depicted? Can you draw a scattergram?
3. What are percentiles? What does it mean to obtain a percentile rank of 60 on a test?
4. What are the features of the experimental method?
5. What does significance means in experimental psychology?
6. What is variance and its relationship to Standard Deviation?

Biological Bases

1. What is the difference between a habit, an instinct and an adaptation?
2. What is the difference between habituation, accommodation and natural selection?
3. What are circadian rhythms and how long are they?
4. If obesity was linked to a brain tumor, where would the tumor be located?
5. When do we need double blind control?
6. Know the different parts of the brain and their functions?
7. Which method of brain imaging is the best?
8. What is the function of the parasympathetic divisions of the nervous system?
9. What happens when a neuron is stimulated?
10. Understand dominant and recessive genes and their impact on inherited traits.
11. How is the human brain different to other animals?
12. Why were split brain operations performed?
13. What produces a natural “high"?

Learning

1. What criticisms have been directed at Skinnerian psychology?
2. Define learning from a psychological perspective.
3. Explain how Pavlov would explain how a NS is capable of evoking a response.
4. Describe how consequences influence behaviour.
5. Explain how observational learning works and give everyday examples.
6. In what situations should punishment be used?
7. What are the various steps in conditioning?
8. What is the difference between shaping, positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement?
9. What did we learn from Garcia?



Cognition

1. What is the first step in the memory process?
2. What are the different types of amnesia and forgetting?
3. What is the serial position effect?
4. What are the differences between semantic, flashbulb, procedural and episodic memory?
5. What is the main idea of cognitive theorists?
6. What did Noam Chomsky say about language development?
7. Describe the operation of working (short-term) memory. Identify the following in your description: chunking, primacy and regency effects.
8. Describe the operation of long-term memory and provide examples of episodic, semantic and procedural memories.
9. Explain the process of retrieval and the role of interference in the process.
10. Describe the process of concept formation.
11. Provide examples of how algorithms, heuristics and insight are used on problem solving.
12. Identify the obstacles that inhibit problem solving and decision making.

Altered States

1. Sum up our present knowledge about hypnotism.
2. What drugs are ‘uppers’ and ‘downers’?
3. Outline various dream theories.
4. What are the physiological and psychological effects of drugs?
5. Explain the concepts of dependence and withdrawal.
6. Can expectations influence the effects of alcohol?

Sense and Perception

1. Know the anatomy of all sense organs and their functions.
2. What problems would a person with one eye have in perceiving depth?
3. What are the gustatory receptors?
4. What did we learn from dichotic listening experiment?
5. What is the most sensitive part of the body when it comes to the number of sensory neurons?
6. Why do we sometimes see flashing lights as one light moving? What is this effect called?
7. Why do cats have better night visions than humans?
8. What is adaptation?
9. What is selective attention?
10. What is figure/ground discrimination?

Motivations and Emotions

1. What have we learnt about facial expressions?
2. What is drive reduction theory in motivation?
3. What are approach-approach conflicts?
4. Be able to chart the correct order of experiences in all the theories of emotions?
5. Explain how the concepts of homeostasis and adaptation level can be applied to understanding motivated behaviour.
6. Explain expectancy-value theory.
7. Compare and contrast emotions such as anger, happiness and fear.
8. Explain the relationship between levels of arousal and performance.
9. What is the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation?

Development Psychology

1. Explain the following: conservation of mass, reversibility, object permanence and metacognition.
2. Know all the stages proposed by Freud, Erikson and Piaget.
3. What is the difference between sex-role stereotyping, sex role confusion, gender constancy, androgyny and sex role identify?
4. What are the differences between crystallized and fluid intelligence?
5. What are the five stages in facing death according to Kubler-Rossthe grief process?
6. Describe how social roles change over time.
7. Give examples of critical periods in development.
8. Give examples of continuity and discontinuity development.
9. What is maturation?
10. What did we learn from Mary Ainsworth?
11. What is temperament?
12. How would a psychologist determine whether a child has developed a sense of self?

Personality

1. Define Personality.
2. Explain the main ideas associated with psychoanalytic, cognitive-behavioral, humanist can trait approaches to personality.
3. Diagram Freud’s structure of personality.
4. Describe the influence of external stimuli, modeling and the situation context on behaviors.
5. Explore the significance of self-perception and needs on an individual’s thoughts, feelings and actions.
6. Explain the dimensions of emotional stability and extraversion.
7. Compare and contrast the reliable and validly of objective and projective assessment techniques.
8. What is the role of the ego?
9. What is a type A and type B personality?
Testing
1. What are projective tests and what are they used for?
2. What are achievement tests?
3. What is factor analysis and what is its purpose?
4. What did we learn from Binet?
5. What is reliability and validity?

Abnormality and Therapy

1. What are the symptoms of the major psychological disorders?
2. What is the contemporary definition of abnormal behavior?
3. List criteria that distinguish disordered from normal behavior.
4. Describe the major explanation for the origins of abnormality.
5. Discuss the stigma associated with abnormal behaviors.
6. What are the consequences of labeling?
7. Identify and describe the major treatment orientations.
8. Identify criteria that could be used to evaluate successful treatments.
9. What is the basic purpose of the DSM-IV-TR?
10. What is token economy and who would use it?
11. What is the best treatment for phobias?
12. What is the most confrontational style of therapy?

Social Psychology

1. What are group norms?
2. Who are we most likely to be attracted to?
3. What is cognitive dissonance theory?
4. In Milligram’s experiment, when were people unlikely to deliver electric shocks?
5. Explain the difference between internal and external attributions.
6. How does actor-observer bias and the fundamental attribution error influence social judgments?
7. Describe situations where bias occurs and offer strategies for promoting tolerance.
8. Explain the role of stereotypes and prejudice as they relate to attitudes and behavior.
9. Provide an example of the bystander effect.
10. Discuss conflict and the processes involved in its resolution.
11. Explain groupthink and group polarization.
12. Explain the phenomena of conformity, obedience, altruism and aggression.
13. What is the social psychologist interested in?
14. What factors explain the bystander effect?

Misc.

1. What is Hans Selye’s general adaptation syndrome theory?
2. What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

Free Response Review Questions

Question 1. (8 marks)
Outline the nature-nurture debate in psychology.
How has this debate helped in understanding the following:

Gender roles
· Schizophrenia
· Language development
· Phobias
· Brain development
· Intelligence
· Diathesis stress model

Questions 2 (8 marks)
How have stage theorists explained the following?
· Moral development
· Physical maturation
· Cognitive development
· Personality development

Question 3 (10 marks)
Much of human processing is below the level of conscious awareness:
Explain with reference to the following:
· Insight
· Use of heuristics
· Dreams
· Perception
· Motivated forgetting


Question 4 (10 marks)
Psychology aims to provide practical advice on a range of human issues
What advice does psychology offer on the following issues?
· Using Punishment to reduce unwanted behaviors
· Reducing Stress
· Maintaining Mental health
· Improving your memory
· Encouraging pro-social behavior

Question 5 (8 marks)
What insights have been provided by evolutionary psychology on the following?
· Attraction
· Eating and obesity
· Phobias
· In-group and Out-group


Question 6 (8 marks)
Culture has an important influence on human behavior producing both similarities and differences. Explain with reference to the following:
· Parenting styles
· Gestures
· Emotional expressions
· Depression
· Facial expressions

Question 7 (9 marks)
Humans like to think that they are logical and rational beings:
With reference to the following, how has this belief being challenged?
· FAE
· Optical illusions
· Proactive and Retroactive interference
· Belief perseverance
· Overconfidence
· Heuristics
· Groupthink
· Just-world phenomenon
· Learned helplessness


Questions 8 (12 marks)
Humans need to interact with the environment to develop:
Explain with reference to the following:
· Language development
· Critical periods
· Brain plasticity
· Bottom-up and top-down processing
· Intellectual development
· Unconditional positive regard


Question 9 (10 marks)
How would the different psychological perspectives help someone suffering from a psychological disorder?
· Psychodynamic
· Cognitive
· Humanistic
· Learning
· Biological

Question 10 (12 marks)
As social animals, we need to be with others. However being with other can have both positive and negative outcomes. Explain with reference to the following:

· Deindividuation
· Bystander affect
· Social loafing
· Social facilitation
· Conformity
· Obedience

Quesiton 11 (12 marks)
We are well suited to survive in a highly complex environment? Discuss with reference to the following
· Selective attention
· General adaptation syndrome
· Automatic and effortful processing
· Parallel processing
· Fight or flight response
· Schemas

Question 12 (9 marks)
Design an experiment to determine whether listening to different types of music improves academic performance. Identify and explain the importance of each of the following:
· Hypothesis
· Target Population
· Random Sample
· Random Assignment
· IV and DV
· Controls
· Biases
· Use of Statistics

Question 13 (7 marks)
Psychology has developed a range of data gathering instruments other than the experiment. Briefly explain how each of the following collects data for investigation:
· Case study
· Survey
· Interview
· Observation
· Longitudinal study
· Cross sectional study
· Correlation study

Questions 14 (14 marks)
Psychology has a number of challenges to face in that there are competing theories about important aspects of human behavior. Briefly outline the ongoing debate concerning the following issues:
· The benefits of labeling
· The role of cognition and arousal in emotions
· The person-situation controversy
· The usefulness of therapy
· Perceptions of sounds
· Perception of color
· Absolute thresholds and signal detection theory

Unit 12 Chapter 15 Test Review

1. Review definitions of abnormal behaviour.
2. Are definitions of abnormality universal or culturally dependent?
3. How would the psychoanalytical perspective explain phobias?
4. What might explain the disorganised thoughts of people suffering from schizophrenia?
5. What have studies of prenatal development contributed to our understanding of the causes of schizophrenia?
6. What evidence supports the bio-psycho-social perspective on the causes of abnormal behaviour? (Hint: compare rates of schizophrenia and anorexia nervosa)
7. How did our early ancestors explain abnormal behaviour?
8. What type of disorders are women most vulnerable to?
9. Though labels have their drawbacks, what are their benefits to mental health professionals?
10. What did Spanos say about dissociative indentity disorders.
11. During the different phases of bipolar disorder what neurotransmitters are evident?
12. How can fears be generalised?
13. How would an evolutionary psychologist use the incidence and nature of fears and phobias to support his perspective?
14. What is the current standing of the medical model?
15. How do the psychoanalytical and learning perspectives explain anxiety disorders?
16. What is a widely accepted definition of disordered behaviour?
17. What is a major criticism of the DSM?
18. Review the major symptons of the disorders covered in the chapter.
19. How would social-cognitive psychologists and the psychoanalytical perspective explain depression?
20. What is the most widely accepted possible cause of schizophrenia?