PSY1400: Introduction to Psychological Science

Study Guide for Exam #2

What the exam covers: The exam will cover assigned readings as well as class material. Most of the
exam will be overlapping information from the text and lecture. However, there will be questions that
come from lecture only (e.g., based on class demonstrations or videos) and questions that come from the
book only (e.g., material not covered in class). So, yes, all assigned readings are fair game to appear on the
exam.

Names and particular studies: You should know the names and studies that I went over in class. You
should also have general knowledge of the names and studies that are discussed in the book; and pay
particular attention to those I have listed below for you. I will use the names of the authors of studies to
help you remember the studies. You will never be asked WHO did a particular study, unless they are a
major figure in psychology. However, you should know the basic findings from the studies conducted, as
these typically go hand-in-hand with the theories and concepts we discuss in class.

What to know: For Exam #2, you should look over your lecture notes carefully. Know the point behind
the demonstrations we conducted and videos watched. In addition, read all of the assigned readings, paying
particular attention to the terms listed below. This guide should aid you in studying the readings assigned
for the exams. However, it is important to note that this guide is not at all exhaustive in terms of what you
should know.

TOPICS: Development, Sensation/Perception, & Learning

This test covers the following book chapters:

Wade, Chapter 12 (Development)
Wade, Chapter 5 (Sensation & Perception)
Wade, Chapter 7 (Learning)

Exam format: You can generally expect an exam with the following: multiple choice and short answer.
There may also be true/false, matching, fill-in-the-blank questions. Thus, you will be asked to recognize
AND recall information. I generally never asked true definition questions (e.g., the following is the
definition of the fundamental attribution error). Rather, I asked applied questions that show that you
understand what the theory/concept is and that you can apply it to a different situation (e.g., Which of the
following situations best represents the fundamental attribution error?)

You should familiarize yourself with all of these concepts. This does not mean that these are the only things you need to know.
Rather, this is a baseline for the most important concepts in the lectures. You need to have a generally good understanding of
what is in each chapter and be able to understand bigger-picture questions and questions that apply the theories/concepts to a
different setting as well.

Development Lecture
What do developmental psychologists study?
Pre-natal development
Teratogens
What are these? (examples?)
Post-natal development
Innate reflexes (e.g., Moro, Babinski, Rooting, Grasping, etc.)
What do each of these reflexes look like?
How do we study infants?
Preferential looking and habituation
Piaget: Schemas, Assimilation, Accommodation, and 4 Stages (Sensorimotor, Pre-Operational, Concrete Operational, and
Formal Operational)
 What is the difference between assimilation and accommodation?
What are the “milestones” achieved, according to Piaget, in each stage?*****
For example, if you were given a child’s behavior and asked what stage (of Piaget’s theory)
they would be in
Phenomenon in Piaget’s Stages: Object Permanence & A not B Effect, Conservation, Egocentrism
Criticisms of Piaget
Evidence that Piaget underestimated cognitive abilities in children
Impossible Events video
Theory of mind & False-beliefs paradigm
How do we test theory of mind? (e.g. Examples from class)
Social development
Why do children cling to their parents
Lorenz and imprinting
Harlow and monkey studies
What did these studies claim about attachment? (e.g. what factors contribute to a baby bonding with mother)
Ainsworth and Strange Situation & 3 attachment styles
How parents respond and influences on attachment
3 Parenting Styles
What are the different types, and examples (e.g. behaviors) of each style?
Long-term effects of attachment
How do the different attachment styles appear later in life (in adulthood?)
Gender development: gender identity, gender stability, gender constancy
Gender Roles and Stereotypes
How do we learn gender roles and stereotypes?
Gender Schema Theory
Parental Influences
Social Learning Theory
Societal influences
Stereotype threat
Kohlberg and Moral Development (Preconventional, Conventional, and Postconventional Stages)
How would you recognize/identify each stage of development? (examples of behavior/situations at each stage)
Erik Ericson’s Theory of Development
What are the different achievements (or crises) of each stage of development?
What may be an example of the different stages?
Aging
Key Issues of Developmental Psychology

Sensation and Perception Lecture

*Difference between sensation and perception
How do the senses work?
Stages/steps of sensation
What is transduction? (example of the process?)
Where does sensory information get relayed to in the brain?
Taste
Smell
Sensory Interaction—Mike and Ike Demo
Hearing—Virtual Haircut
Touch
Pain—Phantom Limb
Gate-Control Theory (of pain)
Vision
The simple eye
Feature Detection
Rods and Cones
 What are fovea? (What do they do?)
Color Vision Theories—Trichromatic and Opponent Process
Importance of afterimages
Signal Detection—subliminal priming videos, backmasking demonstration
Sensory Adaptation—sniffing smelly markers demo
How do we figure out what something is? Bottom Up or Top Down Processes
Gestalt Principles: Figure/Ground, Grouping Principles (proximity, similarity, closure, continuity, common movement,
common region, connectedness)*
Depth perception
Binocular Depth Cues
Monocular Depth Cues: Relative Size, Linear Perspective, Texture Gradients, Relative Height,
Phi Phenomenon
Perceptual Constancy
Constancy Illusions (shape, color, size)
Ponzo Illusion, Muller-Lyer Illusion, Size-Distance Problem
Why/how do these illusions happen?
Perceptual Sets
Human Factors

Learning Lecture
Classical Conditioning: UCS, UCR, NS, CS, CR
Pavlov
Acquisition/Extinction
Limitations of Classical Conditioning/Criticisms of Pavlov
Applications of Classical Conditioning
John Watson and Little Albert
Operant Conditioning
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
Skinner and the Skinner box
Positive and Negative Reinforcers
Positive and Negative Punishment
Know the difference between these forms of punishment
Reinforcement schedules: Continuous, Partial (Fixed or Variable/Interval and Ratio)
Know the differences between these kinds of schedules of reinforcement
Caveats with operant conditioning/Criticisms of Skinner
Two types of motivation
Intrinsic
Extrinsic
Observational Learning
Bandura and the Bobo Doll Study