Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology
 

1. Define psychology. What is the task of Psychology?
2. Elaborate on three ways psychology has been characterized.
3. Descartes has been described in class as a dualist and an interactionist. Define these terms.
4. What is the difference between rationalism and empiricism.
5. Are there any problems with introspection as a form of data collection?
6. What is behaviorism and what are its main tenets.

Chapter 2: The ways and means of Psychology
 

1. Define the following terms: empirical observations, hypothesis, theory
2. Can you describe the relationship between these 3?
3. Compare the following methods of data collection in terms of their purpose, advantages, and limitations:

a. naturalistic observation
b. survey method
c. correlational studies
d. case history method
e. the experimental method
 
4. Define and give examples of the independent and dependent variables in experimental research.
5. What is the purpose of control groups and blind studies?
6. Discuss the concepts of sampling and representativeness.
7. What is a random sample  Why would we use this procedure?
8. Define descriptive statistics?
9. What is a frequency distribution, and what is a histogram.
10. Describe the usual measures of central tendency.
11. Describe ways to measure variability.
12. Describe a number of methods to convert scores so as to be able to compare them.
13. What are correlations.
14. What is the line of best fit?
15. What is meant by the statement "correlation is not equivalent to causation"?

Chapter 3: Evolution heredity and behavior
 

1. What are the main premises and features of evolutionary theory.
2. Define: the struggle for survival, natural selection of behavior producing mechanisms, biological determinism, and phylogeny is continuous.
3. Describe Meiosis and Mitosis
4. Define the following terms:gamete, zygote, homozygous , heterozygous,, dominant, recessive, partial dominance, co-dominance, alleles, genotype, phenotype, penetrance, polygenic.
5. Discuss sex determination and sex linked characteristics
6. Discuss mutations giving examples.
7. Discuss concordance research
8. What are the basic premises of sociobiology.
9. Account for the following behaviors from the point of view of evolutionary psychology (sociobiology): altruism, incest taboos, the “double

Chapter 4: Biology of Behavior
 

1. Describe the structure of the neuron by drawing and labelling a sketch.
2. Describe the electrical activity of a neuron at rest, and the changes that occur when a neuron fires explaining how an action potential is produced.
3. What factors affect an axons conducting speed.
4. What are the possible effects of stimulus intensity.
5. Describe the process of synaptic transmission and the role of neurotransmitter substances.
6. Demonstrate your familiarity with the following neurotransmitter substances: dopamine, norepinepherine, serotonin, acetylcholine and endorphins. In what behaviors are these neurotransmitters involved and what drugs affect these neurotransmitters.
7. Describe the behavioral effects of various psychoactive drugs and their mechanisms where known.
8. In what 3 general ways do drugs alter synaptic transmission.
9. Draw and label a diagram of the anatomy of the brain including cortical structures (lobes), motor/sensory areas; brain stem.
10. Describe the functions of the structures of the brainstem, the thalamus, hypothalamus and cerebellum.
11. Discuss the functions of the structures of the limbic system.
12. Describe the functions of the structures of the neocortex.
13. What type of brain lesions produce what type of deficits?
14. What is meant by the peripheral nervous system.
15. Compare the autonomic and somatic nervous systems including a discussion of the sympathetic and parasympathic nervous systems.
16. Explain the meaning of lateralization.
17. What are the effects of a split-brain operation? What does this tell us about the difference between the cerebral hemispheres.

Chapter 5: Learning and Behavior
 

1. Define learning, including mention of what must be excluded from our definition and why.
2. Describe the two most fundamental forms of learning that result from experience.
3. Describe the basic paradigm of classical conditioning - be able to specify UCS, CS, UCR, CR in an original example. How can conditioning strength be measured.
4. Describe the various time relationshipsthat are poassible between the CR and UCR.
5. Describe extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization, discrimination.
6. Describe Thorndike's experiment and his law of effect.
7. Describe the processes of operant conditioning and six schedules of reinforcement associated with Skinnerian conditioning.
8. What are token economies and their benefits and drawbacks.
9. Describe in detail three types of aversive conditioning.
10. Why is it difficult to extinguish avoidance behavior.
11. Describe some methods by which we can extinguish avoidance behavior.
12. What is learned helplessness. What are its consequences.
13. What is meant by biological constraints on learning. Provide evidence in support of this.
14. What is the misbehavior of organisms.
15. Describe insight learning.

Chapter 13: Motivation
 

1. Define motivation.
2. Specify the five aspects of behavior with which motivation is concerned.
3. Discuss fully the concept of homeostasis.
4. What is meant by the term drives?
5. Review evidence that not all motivated behavior is drive reducing. What are the implications of this?
6. What are nonregulatory drives.
7. What are the various internal factors that act to signal hunger or lack of hunger.
8. Discuss a number of external factors that influence hunger.
9. Describe a number of ways in which obese differ from nonobese subjects, referring to specific experimental evidence.
10. Describe various theories of obesity and cite evidence relevant to each.
11. Describe brain mechanisms involved in the male or female sex drive.
12. What are the effects of prenatal stress on sexual development.
13. Distinguish between various behaviors  which, on the surface sem to be agression.
14. What are the main sources of agression.
15. Define emotion
16. Describe major emotions and their characteristics
17. What is the evolutionary perspective on emotions?
18. How can emotions be measured?
19. Contrast the James-Lange and the Cannon theory of emotion.
20.  

1. Define sensation?
2. Define the term "stimulus," indicating differences between distal and proximal stimuli.
3. What is the process of transduction?
4. What is meant by the absolute threshold?
5. How is the absolute threshold affected by various factors?
6. Describe in detail three methods of determining the absolute threshold with emphasis on the signal detection method?
7. What are difference thresholds?
8. How was Weber's law derived from data on just-noticeable differences. How did Fechner arrive at a law relating sensory magnitude to the logarithm of stimulus magnitude?
9. Explain the nature of sensory coding (intensity, quality)?
10. Describe the structure of the eye?
11. Describe how the receptors in the retina convert light energy into neural action potentials?
12. Distinguish between rods and cones in terms of their distribution in the retina, sensitivity to different wavelengths, and adaptation to light and dark.
13. Explain how subtractive and additive color mixing affect the perception of color. Give examples.
14. Discuss the opponent-process and trichomatic theories of color vision, and the evidence supporting these theories or presenting difficulties to them?
15. What are the physical qualities of soundwaves and into what psychological dimensions are they translated. What are the units by which these are measured?
16. Describe the functions of the structures of the ear.
17. Describe how sound frequency is coded by the basilar membrane (inside the cochlea) and why this explains the masking of high-pitched tones by low-pitched tones. Discuss other factors that influence the experience of sound?
18. Describe the following senses: skin senses (touch, temperature, pain); the chemical senses (smell, taste), and the role of pheremones.

Chapter7: Perception
 

1. Discuss the binocular cues for depth perception.
2. Discuss the monocular cues for depth perception. (Can you describe motion parallax clearly?)
3. Review evidence supporting innate abilities in neonates, and infants generally.
4. Review the basis of movement perception referring also to illusions of movement and induced movement.
5. Why are things perceived as stable.
6. Review the Gestalt principles of perceptual grouping, referring to a general rule that could underly these principles.
7. Discuss bottom up (data driven), top down (conceptually driven) and bidirectional approaches to pattern recognition.
8. Why do we sometime "see" impossible figures?
9. What is the difference between lightness and brightness, and what is lightness constancy and its cause.

Chapter 8: Memory
 

1. Draw a model of the stage memory system referring to specific processes that are said to be involved at various stages including encoding, rehearsal, displacement, decay.
2. Demonstrate your familiarity with the following terms and/or processes: explicit memory, implicit memory, retrieval processes. Why must we be cautious regarding conclusions that memory has "failed."
3. Draw and label the free recall serial portion curve.
4. What is the duplex theory.
5. Is there empirical support for this theory? Describe it.
6. What is meant by the magic number 7? Are there strategies to increase capacity?
7. Describe evidence casting doubt on the assumption that if an item is in STM and rehearsed often enough it will get in to LTM. Alternatively, what are the processes by which information gets in to LTM. Elaborate on (i) depth of processing, (ii) chunking, (iii) mnemonics, (iv) elaborative rehearsal.
8. What is meant by "working memory."
9. What is the repetition priming effect and what is its effect on retrieval.
10. Describe the decay account of forgetting.
11. Describe the interference account of forgetting.
12. Describe forgetting due to changes in retrieval cues.
13. What are flashbulb memories.
14. Elaborate on the differences between reproductive memory and reconstructive memory (which uses schemas).
15. How useful is hypnosis to access memories.