General Psychology Exam 1

Front 1

Define psychologist

Back 1

Professional with an academic degree and specialized training one or more areas of psychology.

Front 2

Can every psychologist do counseling?

Back 2

No. One must have specialized training with counseling.

Front 3

How is a psychiatrist different from a psychologist?

Back 3

A psychiatrist is a medical doctor that has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

Front 4

What is the difference between correlation and causation?

Back 4

Correlation is the link between two events but don't cause one another. Causation is one event causing a specific reaction or outcome in the other.

Front 5

Give an example of 2 things that are correlated, but one does not cause the other.

Back 5

Water and Death. Everyone that drinks water dies. These two events are correlated but drinking water does not cause death. Everyone eventually dies and everyone drinks water but it is not caused by drinking water.

Front 6

Two reasons people tend to obey an authority figure without question are (state what called and define them)

Back 6

Socialization - we are taught to do what we are told.
Agentic State - people abdicate responsibility by blaming the person who gave the order.

Front 7

What ethical issues did we discuss in relationship to the Milgram study?

Back 7

Deception and Long-term Psychological Harm.

Front 8

What are some potential biases in research, name and define.

Back 8

Expectancy Effect - researchers expectations influence their observations
Reactivity - People change their behavior because they are being observed

Front 9

How do we control for the placebo effect in studies? Which method is the most effective? Define it.

Back 9

Blind studies are how we control for placebo effect. The most effective is a double-blind study. This is when both the researcher and the participant do not know which is the control group and which is the experimental group.

Front 10

What are the pros and cons of a longitudinal studies?

Back 10

Pros - can follow same individuals over time
Cons - Takes longer, more expensive

Front 11

What are some ways researchers study development?

Back 11

Longitudinal studies, Cross-Sectional and Cross-Sequential

Front 12

What is the difference between a recessive and dominant gene?

Back 12

Dominant - more active in influencing trait
Recessive - only changes if two recessive genes are present.

Front 13

Define polygenic inheritance and give an example.

Back 13

Polygenic inheritance - many genes effect the outcome and some are seen very very often paired with each other. Two examples of this are Blonde hair and Blue eyes as well as Strawberry-Blonde hair.

Front 14

How is PKU an example of a gene-environment interaction?

Back 14

Someone does not automatically have the disorder, but the genes have the predisposition to it. However, the gene must be triggered by the environment to set off the disorder. With PKU, it occurs with eating meet while being pregnant to set off the child's PKU gene and develop PKU.

Front 15

How is sex determined?

Back 15

XY chromosomes for Male
XX chromosomes for Female
23rd pair of chromosomes is known as the sex gene.

Front 16

What happens that makes babies fraternal twins instead os identical twins?

Back 16

Identical - 1 egg 1 sperm - egg splits in half
Fraternal - 2 eggs 2 sperm - ovaries release two eggs in one cycle and are both fertilized by two different sperm

Front 17

What are three examples of chromosomal disorders? Define them and their characteristics and what causes them?

Back 17

Down syndrome - extra chromosome in 21st pair, mental retardation.

Kleinfelter's Syndrome - XXY in the 23rd pair, makes male with reduced masculinity and obesity and enlarged breasts.

Turners Syndrome - there is a missing chromosome in the 23rd pair which leaves a lone X chromosome. Prone to heart, kidney and thyroid problems, delayed social skills.

Front 18

How do you define reflexes?

Back 18

Involuntary actions

Front 19

What are some of the reflexes babies have in infancy? What do they mean?

Back 19

Rooting reflex - touch a baby's cheek and the baby will turn head and open mouth. Used for nursing

Sucking reflex - put something in baby's mouth and the baby will start sucking. This is also used for nursing.

Front 20

Explain the structure of the neuron in a few sentences. include the words, neuron, dendrites, soma and axon.

Back 20

The cell body is the soma. Within the soma is the neuron. On one end of the soma is located the axon which is covered with myelin sheath. On the other end of the soma are dendrites. The dendrites recieve the message, the message goes through the soma and through the axon which sends the message to dendrites of another neuron.

Front 21

Why are glial cells important?

Back 21

Glial cells are structure on which neurons develop and work. They hold neurons in place, remove waste products and dead neurons and deliver nutrients to neurons.

Front 22

What percent of the brain is made up of neurons?

Back 22

10 percent

Front 23

What percent of the brain is made of of glial cells?

Back 23

90 percent

Front 24

Name 2 types of glial cells and explain their purpose

Back 24

Oligodendrocytes - produce myelin sheath for the neurons in the brain and spinal cord.(CNS)

Schwann - produce myelin sheath for neurons in the rest of the body.(PNS)

Front 25

What is the myelin sheath? And what role does it play in multiple sclerosis?

Back 25

Myelin sheath is a fatty substance that covers axon that helps quicken the sending of messages. In multiple sclerosis, the myelin sheath is destroyed, which reduces neural functioning

Front 26

Define resting potential

Back 26

State of neuron when it is not firing a neural impulse. The channels for sodium are not open.

Front 27

Define action potential, why is it important?

Back 27

Release of neural impulse, inside becomes positive and outside becomes negative - ready to receive message

Front 28

What does it mean that neurons fire all-or-none fashion?

Back 28

Neurons cannot partially fire, they are like a light switch. They either reach the action potential to be able to fire, or do not fire at all.

Front 29

How do neurotransmitters communicate in the brain?

Back 29

Neurotransmitters are a chemical messenger that carries signals to the brain.

Front 30

Name 3 neurotransmitters, what are they related to?

Back 30

Serotonin-sleep, mood, appetite (low serotonin can lead to depression)

Dopamine - motivation, reward, reinforcement, addictive behavior

Norepinephine - sleep and alertness

Front 31

What is the central nervous system made up of?

Back 31

The brain and the spinal cord

Front 32

Why is spinal cord important?

Back 32

It connects the brain with sensory organs muscles and glands.

Front 33

How is the Peripheral Nervous System divided? What is it divided into?

Back 33

The PNS is divided into the Autonomic and Somatic nervous systems.

Somatic - controls sensory and voluntary muscles.
Sensory and Motor Pathways.

Autonomic - controls organs, glands and involuntary muscles
Sympathetic - fight or flight
Parasympathetic - eat drink and rest

Front 34

Define Endocrine System

Back 34

Endocrine system are made up of ductless glands the regulate growth, reproduction, metabolism, mood and some behavior.

Front 35

Explain what happened to Phineas Gage and what it let us know about the brain?

Back 35

Phineas Gage had a metal rod go through his skull. The area in which it entered and exited did not perform any major life functions such as breathing or walking and he was able to survive, however, it severely changed his behavior. This allowed us to realize that different parts of the brain control different things.

Front 36

Name 3 different ways we measure and study the brain.

Back 36

Electroenecphalogram(EEG)
Position Emission Tomography (PET)
Functional MRI (fMRI)