10/14/22

MIDTERM #1 – STUDY GUIDE

QUESTION FORMAT

• Multiple choice – 4 options

• Multiple components to some questions
• e.g., primary auditory cortex is located in the ________ lobes, while the
primary visual cortex is located in the ___________ lobes
• Organized by chapter
• 2 versions of the exam

FORMAT

• 56 questions in total
• Question #1 – exam version
• Chapter1 – 9 questions
• Chapter 2 – 12 questions
• Chapter 3 & 5 – 17 questions each

Text
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USING A SCANTRON

• BE ON TIME
• Make sure that you have a pencil or a black or blue ink ballpoint pen

• Make sure that you correctly fill in your name, ID number, and course code!!

• Make sure that you indicate the version of the exam you are completing in
question #1

CORRECT

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INCORRECT

CHAPTER 1:
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?

psych is a science because it follows the scientific method and it is

• Psychology as a science
• The mind-body problem
• The 4 primary goals of psychology
• Basic vs. Applied research
• Translational research
• Major movements in the history of psychology
Humanism/ positive psychology: focus on the positive; what makes people
• Modern approaches/influences
empirical in that it uses observation
dualism: cant understand the mind by observing the body
description, explanation, when, influence change
translational research uses basic research for application
History: what were they (structuralism, functionalism, behaviourism)
Structuralist: Wundt broke down processes into their small parts, used
introspection
Functionalist: studied the function of each parts, used introspection
Behaviourists: focused on observable behaviour
Cognitive revolution: renewed interest in mental processes
Psychoanalyst: Freud believed we’re driven by unconscious forces
thrive
Influences: culture and intersectionality, cognitive influences (brain is a
computer)

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CHAPTER 2:
METHODS

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6 step process
• The scientific method unethical studies and why they were unethical
• Research ethics with humans observation: describe behaviour
• 5 principles of the APA experimental: explain behaviour/ causation
correlation is not causation
• Observational research methods
validity: external (can be applied to other situations) and internal (changes
• Correlational research methods are not caused by confounding variables)
• Experimental research methods higher variance and s.d. means larger spread of data
• Independent vs. dependent variables calculate variance and s.d.
inferential statistics: used to make inferences based on sample data
• Validity
• Descriptive statistics
• Inferential statistics

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CHAPTER 3:
BIOLOGY AND NEUROSCIENCE

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• Cells of the nervous system

• Structure of the neuron
• The synapse
• Electrochemical signals
• Action potentials
• Neurotransmitters
• CNS vs. PNS
• Somatic & Autonomic
electrochemical transmission: action potential
Sympathetic and Parasympathetic know the main excitatory and inhibitory NT’s
Stimulus intensity is shown by AP’s firing rate (frequency)
and the amount of neuron’s that fire
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limbic system is responsible for emotions and memory
(hippocampus, amygdala, hipothalamus)
cerebrum is the largest part of the brain (contains the
cerebral cortex)
NT’s cause fast effects
hormones cause slow and lasting effects
HPA: interaction between the neuron and endocrine systems
Higher cortisol levels during stress
• Parts of the brain
• Hindbrain (medulla, pons, reticular formation, cerebellum)
• Forebrain (thalamus, limbic system)
• Cerebrum
• 2 hemispheres à corpus callosum
• 4 lobes

• The endocrine system

• HPA axis

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CHAPTER 5:
SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

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• Sensation vs. Perception

• Transduction
• Stimulus detection
• Top-down vs. bottom-up
• Figure-ground & principles of perceptual grouping
• Properties of waves
• Structure of the eye
• Sensory receptors for vision
• Depth perception
• Colour vision

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• Structure of the ear

• Sensory receptors for hearing
• Sound localization
• Theories of hearing
• Smell
• Taste
• Touch
• Two-point threshold
• Spatial orientation senses:
• Vestibular sense & Kinesthetic sense

17 sensation: info picked up by sensory receptors

perception: organization and interpretation by sense receptors
Transduction: stimulus is converted into electro-chemical signal
Gestault principles: figure ground and perceptual grouping (similarity, continuity, proximity, closure)
waves: light and sound (wavelength, amplitude)
lens focuses the image on the retina
binocular and monocular depth cues
sensory receptors of hearing: hair cells
smell goes directly to the olfactory bulbs (doesn’t synapse first on thalamus)
tastebuds: lifespan of 10 days