LEARNING OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS
& KEY TERMS for the FINAL EXAMINATION
For the comprehensive Final Exam, students are responsible for the Learning Objective Questions and Key
Terms listed in this section. Learning Objective Questions and Key Terms not included in this list will not
be tested on the Final Exam.
Table of Contents
MODULE 1: DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
MODULE 2: PSYCHOLOGY & SCIENCE
MODULE 3: BRAIN’S BUILDING BLOCKS
MODULE 4: INCREDIBLE NERVOUS SYSTEM
MODULE 18: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
MODULE 19 & 20: OPERANT & COGNITIVE APPROACHES
MODULE 21: TYPES OF MEMORY
MODULE 22: REMEMBERING & FORGETTING
MODULE 7 & 8: INFANCY & CHILDHOOD
MODULE 9 & 10: ADOLESCENCE & ADULTHOOD
MODULE 33: FREUDIAN & HUMANISTIC THEORIES
MODULE 34: SOCIAL COGNITIVE & TRAIT THEORIES
MODULE 31 & 32: HEALTH, STRESS & COPING
MODULE 36: ASSESSMENT & ANXIETY DISORDERS
MODULE 37-39: MOOD DISORDERS & SCHIZOPHRENIA
MODULE 1: DISCOVERING PSYCHOLOGY
DEFINITION & GOALS
1. What is psychology?
psychology.
MODULE 2: PSYCHOLOGY & SCIENCE
ANSWERING QUESTIONS
1.What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of the following methods of scientific research – the survey, the
case study, and the experiment?
2 When should each of the three methods be used?
survey; case study; experiment.
SURVEYS
3 What kind of information can be obtained from surveys?
4 Why the surveys may be biased?
CASE STUDY
5 What kind of information can be obtained from a case study?
CULTURAL DIVERSITY: USE OF PLACEBOS
6 What is a placebo and what is a placebo effect ?
placebo; placebo effect.
CORRELATION
7 What is a correlation?
8 What is a correlation coefficient?
9 Why is correlation different from causation (cause effect
relationships)?
correlation; correlation coefficient.
DECISIONS ABOUT DOING RESEARCH
10 What are some advantages and disadvantages of using a naturalistic setting to conduct research?
11 What are some advantages and disadvantages of using a laboratory setting to conduct research?
naturalistic setting; laboratory setting.
SCIENTIFIC METHOD: EXPERIMENT
12 What is the main advantage of doing an experiment?
13 What are the seven rules in conducting an experiment?
14 What is the difference between the independent variable and the dependent variable?
15 How do the experimental and control groups differ?
16 What is the doubleblind
procedure?
hypothesis; independent variable; dependent variable; experimental group; control group;
doubleblind
procedure.
APPLICATION: RESEARCH CONCERNS
17 What are some ethical guidelines governing the use of human participants in research?
debriefing; deception.
MODULE 3: BRAIN’S BUILDING BLOCKS
INTRODUCTION
1 What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Alzheimer’s disease.
OVERVIEW: HUMAN BRAIN
2 What must occur in the brain for there to be some recovery from brain damage?
plasticity
3
NEURONS : STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION
3 What is a neuron, and what are its three parts?
4 What is a synapse?
neuron; cell body; dendrites; axon; synapse.
SENDING INFORMATION
5 What is the action potential?
action potential.
TRANSMITTERS
6 What are neurotransmitters, and what role do they play in the transmission of signals from one neuron to
another?
7 How do endorphins affect behavior?
neurotransmitter; receptors; endorphins.
CULTURAL DIVERSITY: PLANTS AND DRUGS
8 What is reuptake?
9 What are the effects of dopamine, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine on behavior as revealed from the studies
of the drugs of cocaine, curare, and mescaline?
reuptake; dopamine; acetylcholine; norepinephrine.
APPLICATION: EXPERIMENTAL TREATMENTS
10 What is the relationship between Parkinson’s disease and dopamine?
MODULE 4: INCREDIBLE NERVOUS SYSTEM
STUDYING THE LIVING BRAIN
1 What are some methods that researchers have used to learn about brain structure and function?
2 What is an electroencephalogram (EEG)
MRI (magnetic resonance imaging); functional MRI (fMRI); PET scan (positronemission
tomography);
EEG (electroencephalogram); CT (or CAT) scan (computerized axial tomography)
ORGANIZATION OF THE BRAIN
3 What is the peripheral nervous system?
4 What are the roles of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems?
5 What is the crucial function of the reticular formation (in the midbrain)?
6 What are the crucial functions handled by the medulla in the hindbrain?
7 What are the primary functions of the cerebellum?
peripheral nervous system; autonomic nervous system; sympathetic nervous system; parasympathetic nervous
system; reticular formation; medulla; cerebellum.
CONTROL CENTERS: FOUR LOBES
8 What is the cortex?
9 What are some of the main areas within the frontal lobes, and what are their functions?
Broca’s area)
cortex; frontal lobes; Broca's area.
LIMBIC SYSTEM: OLD BRAIN
10 What is the role of the limbic system?
11 What are some of the processes regulated by the hypothalamus?
limbic system; amygdala; hippocampus; hypothalamus.
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
12 What is the endocrine system, and what are some of the glands within it?
endocrine system; hormone; pituitary gland; adrenal glands.
APPLICATION:
13 What is the corpus callosum?
14 What are the basic functions of the left and right hemispheres?
hemispheres, corpus callosum.
MODULE 18: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
INTRODUCTION
1 What is leaning?
Learning.
THREE KINDS OF LEARNING
2 What is classical conditioning and who established this type of learning?
3 What is operant conditioning and who initially researched this type of learning?
4 What is cognitive or observational learning and whose research demonstrated this type of
learning?
classical conditioning; law of effect; operant conditioning; cognitive learning (or
observational learning).
PROCEDURE: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
5 How was classical conditioning accomplished in Pavlov’s work?
6 What are the steps in the classical conditioning procedure?
neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus,
conditioned response.
OTHER CONDITIOINING CONCEPTS
7 What is generalization in classical conditioning?
8 What is discrimination in classical conditioning?
9 What is extinction, and how is it accomplished in classical conditioning?
10 What is spontaneous recovery?
generalization, discrimination, extinction, spontaneous recovery.
5
RESEARCH FOCUS: CONDITIONING LITTLE ALBERT
11 How did Watson demonstrate that fear could be classically conditioned?
APPLICATION: CONDITIONED FEAR & NAUSEA
12 What types of responses can be acquired through classical conditioning and how can the
conditioned responses be unconditioned (or unlearned)?
MODULE 19 & 20: OPERANT & COGNITIVE APPROACHES
OPERANT CONDITIONING
1 How are responses acquired through operant conditioning?
2 How is shaping used to condition a response?
Skinner box, shaping.
REINFORCERS
3 What is reinforcement?
4 What is punishment?
5 What is the goal of both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement, and how is
the goal accomplished with each?
reinforcement, punishment, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement.
OTHER CONDITIONING CONCEPTS
6 How is extinction accomplished in operant conditioning?
extinction.
COGNITIVE LEARNING
7 What is observational learning (as a form of cognitive learning)?
8 What is Bandura’s social cognitive theory?
observational learning, modeling, model.
APPLICATION: BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
9 How are the principles of operant conditioning applied in behavior modification?
10 What are some disadvantages of punishment?
11 How can the effectiveness of punishment be increased and the undesirable effects of punishment be decreased?
behavior modification.
MODULE 21: TYPES OF MEMORY
INRODUCTION
11 What are the three processes of memory?
encoding; storing (storage); retrieving (retrieval).
SHORTTERM
MEMORY: WORKING
2 What are the characteristics of shortterm
memory?
shortterm
memory (STM); maintenance rehearsal.
LONGTERM
MEMORY: STORING
3 What are the characteristics of longterm
memory?
4 What are the subcategories of longterm
memory?
5 What is the primacyrecency
effect (or serial position effect)?
longterm
memory (LTM); declarative memory; semantic memory; episodic memory;
procedual or nondeclarative memory; primacy recency
effect (or serial position
effect); primacy effect; recency effect.
ENCODING: TRANSFERRING
6 What is elaborative rehearsal and how does it aid memory?
elaborative rehearsal.
APPLICATION: UNUSUAL MEMORIES
7 What is the nature of memory, pictures versus impressions?
MODULE 22: REMEMBERING & FORGETTING
INTRODUCTION
1 what are the differences between recall and recognition tasks?
recall; recognition.
REASONS FOR FORGETTING
2 What are some common causes of forgetting?
3 What is interference?
4 How can poor retrieval cues (retrieval failure) lead to forgetting, and how can one form
effective retrieval cues?
repression; motivated forgetting, amnesia; interference; retrieval cues; tip of the tongue
phenomenon.
BIOLOGICAL BASES OF MEMORY
5 What role does the hippocampus play in memory?
6 What is longterm
potentiation (LTP), and how does it affect the making of a longterm
memory?
Hippocampus; longterm
potentiation (LTP).
MNEMONICS: MEMORIZATION METHODS
7 What are some tips for improving memory?
overlearning* (see Addendum); massed practice (vs. spaced practice)
RESEARCH FOCUS: FALSE MEMORIES
8 How can distortion in memory and false memories occur?
reconstructive memory
MODULE7 & 8: INFANCY & CHILDHOOD
INTRODUCTION
1 What is developmental psychology?
developmental psychology.
PRENATAL INFLUENCES
2 What are the three periods (stages) of prenatal development?
3 What are some hazards to prenatal development, and during what time is their impact greatest?
prenatal period; germinal stage; embryonic stage; fetal stage; teratogens; fetal alcohol
syndrome (FAS).
EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
4 How did
monkeys? [see contact comfort in Addendum]
5 What are the two basic attachment patterns that Ainsworth identified in infants?
contact comfort*(see Addendum); attachment, secure attachment, insecure attachment.
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMEN
6 What occurs during Piaget's sensorimotor stage?
7 What cognitive limitations characterize a child's thinking during the preoperational stage?
8 What cognitive abilities do children acquire during the concrete operations stage? (p. 390)
9 What new capability characterizes the formal operations stage?
sensorimotor stage; object permanence; preoperational stage; egocentric thinking; conservation;
concrete operations stage; reversibility* (see Addendum); formal operations stage.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
10 What is Erikson's theory of psychosocial development?
11 What is the major source of tension for infants, according to Erikson?
12 What are the main developmental issues for Erikson's stages 2 through 4?
psychosocial stages; trust versus mistrust; autonomy versus shame and doubt;
initiative versus guilt; industry versus inferiority.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (GENDER DIFFERENCES)
13 What is gender identity?
14 How do children acquire gender roles?
15 What are the biological and psychological factors that contribute to gender identity and
gender role development?
gender identity; gender roles; social role theory; cognitive development theory; gender schemas.
MODULE 9 & 19: ADOLESCENCE & ADULTHOOD
INTRODUCTION
1 What is adolescence?
adolescence.
PUBERTY & SEXUAL BEHAVIOR
2 What are some problems that teenagers face when they become sexually active before they are emotionally
mature?
3 What is AIDS and how is AIDS transmitted
4 What happens to a person from the time of infection with HIV to the development of fullblown
AIDS?
sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)* (see Addendum); acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus)
COGNITIVE & EMOTIONAL CHANGES
5 What are Kohlberg's three levels of moral reasoning and what guides moral decisions at each level?
6 What are the three parenting styles identified by Baumrind, and which is most effective?
preconventional level; conventional level; postconventional level;
authoritarian parents; authoritative parents; permissive parents
PERSONALITY & SOCIAL CHANGES
7 How did Erikson explain the fifth psychosocial stage of development identity
versus role
confusion?
8 What is Erikson's psychosocial task for early adulthood?
9 What changes did Erikson believe are essential for healthy personality development in
middle age?
10 What is the key to a positive resolution of Erikson's eighth stage integrity
versus
despair?
identity versus role confusion; intimacy versus isolation; generativity versus stagnation;
integrity versus despair.
APPLICATION: SUICIDE
11 What are some of the risk factors and preventive measures for suicide?
MODULE 33: FREUDIAN & HUMANISTIC THEORIES
INTRODUCTION
1 How is personality defined?
personality.
FREUD’S PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
2 What are the two levels of consciousness?
psychoanalytic/psychodynamic theories; conscious; unconscious.
DIVISIONS OF THE MIND
3 What are the roles of the id, the ego, and the superego?
4 What is a defense mechanism?
5 What are some examples of defense mechanisms including repression?
id; pleasure principle; ego; reality principle; superego; defense mechanism; rationalization; denial;
repression; projection; reaction formation; displacement; regression* (see Addendum); sublimation;
DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
6 What are the psychosexual stages, and what is the effect of fixation during the first three
stages on the development of personality?
psychosexual stages; fixation; oral stage; anal stage; phallic stage; Oedipus complex;
latency stage; genital stage.
HUMANISTIC THEORIES
7 What are humanistic theories, and how do they view human nature?
8 How does Maslow's hierarchy of needs account for human motivation?
9 What is selfactualization?
10 According to
how does this relationship influence a person’s self concept?
11 According to
humanistic theories; hierarchy of needs; selfactualization
; real self; ideal self;
selfconcept
; unconditional positive regard.
APPLICATION: ASSESSMENT – PROJECTIVE TESTS
12 How do projective tests attempt to provide insight into personality, and what are two of
the most commonly used projective tests?
projective test; Rorschach Inkblot Test; Thematic Apperception Test (TAT).
MODULE 34: SOCIAL COGNITIVE & TRAIT THEORIES
SOCIAL/COGNITIVE THEORY
1 According to the social cognitive theorists, what are the three factors or components that
interact in shaping personality?
2 What is Albert Bandura's view of personality and describe his concept of selfefficacy?
reciprocal determinism* (see Addendum); selfefficacy.
TRAIT THEORY
3 What are the “Big Five” personality dimensions in the fivefactor
model?
trait; trait theory; fivefactor
model.
GENETIC INFLUENCES ON TRAITS
4 What is behavior genetics, and what has research in behavioral genetics revealed about the
influence of the genes and the environment on personality?
behavioral genetics; heritability.
APPLICATION: ASSESSMENT – OBJECTIVE TESTS
5 What is an objective personality test, and what is the MMPI2
designed to reveal?
objective personality tests;
MODULE 31& 32: HEALTH, STRESS & COPING
INTRODUCTION
1 What is stress?
stress.
PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES
2 What is the general adaptation syndrome?
3 What are the effects of psychological factors on the immune system?
general adaptation syndrome (GAS); alarm stage; resistance stage; exhaustion stage;
psychoneuroimmunology.
STRESSFUL EXPERIENCES
4 What roles do hassles and uplifts play in the stress of life?
5 What was the Social Readjustment Rating Scale designed to reveal?
6 What is posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?
7 How do approachapproach,
avoidanceavoidance,
and approachavoidance
conflicts differ?
hassles; uplifts; Social Readjustment Rating Scale; posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
approachapproach
conflict; avoidanceavoidance
conflict; approachavoidance
conflict.
PERSONALITY & SOCIAL FACTORS
8 How are hardiness, optimism, and social support associated with resistance to stress?
hardiness; optimism; social support.
KINDS OF COPING
9 What is the difference between problemfocused
coping and emotionfocused
coping?
problemfocused
coping; emotionfocused
coping.
APPLICATION: STRESS MANAGEMENT PROGRAMS
10 What are some effective strategies in stress management?
MODULE 36-39: ASSESSMENT & ANXIETY DISORDERS
DIAGNOSING MENTAL DISORDERS
1 What is the DSMIVTR?
2 What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the DSMIVTR
labels?
DSMIVTR.
ANXIETY DISORDERS
3 What are the symptoms of panic disorder?
4 What are the three types of phobias, and what are the probable causes of phobias?
5 What is obsessivecompulsive
disorder?
panic disorder; panic attack; phobia; social phobias; specific phobias; agoraphobia;
obsessivecompulsive
disorder (OCD); obsession; compulsion.
MODULES 36-39: MOOD DISORDER AND SCHIZOPHRENIA
MOOD DISORDERS
1 What are the symptoms of major depressive disorder?
2 What are the extremes of mood suffered in bipolar I disorder?
3 What are some of the biological and psychosocial risk factors for mood disorders?
mood disorder; major depressive disorder; bipolar disorder; manic episode; serotonin.
PERSONALITY DISORDERS
4 What characteristics are shared by most people with personality disorders?
5 What is antisocial personality disorder?
personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder.
SCHIZOPHRENIA
6 What are the five areas of disorder/disturbance or symptoms in schizophrenia, and what are
hallucinations and delusions?
7 What are the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia?
8 What are the three major subcategories of schizophrenia?
schizophrenia; hallucinations; delusions; positive symptoms; negative symptoms; paranoid
schizophrenia; disorganized schizophrenia; catatonic schizophrenia.
DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
9 What are some of the identifying symptoms of dissociative identity disorder?
dissociative identity disorder.
Addendum:
Supplementary list of definitions for the key terms
MODULE 2: PSYCHOLOGY & SCIENCE:
Population: The entire group of individuals of interest to the researcher in a particular study.
Sample: A set of individuals selected from a population that is studied in order to draw conclusions about
the population.
Representative Sample: A sample that reflects the makeup of the population of interest; it constitutes the
important subgroups in the same ratios as in the population.
MODULE 3: BRAIN’S BUILDING BLOCKS:
Plasticity: The brain’s ability to reorganize and change its structure and function, as evident in brain
reorganization following damage (especially in children and more limited in adults).
MODULE 4: INCREDIBLE NERVOUS SYSTEM:
CT (or CAT) scan (computerized axial tomography): A brainscanning
technique that produces threedimensional
computergenerated
images of the structure of the brain by combining a series of Xray
photographs from different angles. CT scan provides valuable information about the location and extent of
damage and abnormalities due to tumors and strokes.
MODULE 22: REMEMBERING & FORGETTING:
Motivated forgetting: People forget certain events because they are painful, unpleasant, or anxietyproducing.
Repression is one form of motivated forgetting.
Overlearning: A useful strategy in improving retention by continuing to study information after you think
that you already know it.
Massed practice (vs. spaced practice): Massed practice is cramming the material in a long study session.
Spaced (or distributed) practice is to learn the material over several short sessions. Spaced practice is better
than massed practice in retention of information.
Reconstructive memory: Memory is often not a faithful replication of an event; it involves a reconstructive
process where one pieces together a few highlights and actively shapes and builds on information as it is
encoded and retrieved, causing memory errors and distortions.
13
MODULE 7: INFANCY & CHILDHOOD:
Contact comfort (and
with infant monkeys who were reared by a pair of surrogate (artificially created) mother monkeys. Both
surrogate mother monkeys were wireframed
; one covered by soft terry cloth and one left uncovered. The
studies revealed that infant monkeys developed a strong attachment to the cloth mother. They spent almost
all
their time clinging to it. This was true even when the wire mother provided the
milk.
that it was contact comfort – comfort provided by the pleasurable touching sensation and body contact –
rather than the food that provided the foundation for attachment.
Reversibility: The ability to understand that actions that affect objects, if reversed in sequence, will return
the objects to their original state. According to Piaget’s theory, children are able to grasp this logical
principle in the concrete operations stage.
MODULE 9: ADOLESCENCE & ADULTHOOD:
Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs): Disorders caused by infectious organisms transmitted through
sexual activity. Some STDs (including chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis) are caused by bacteria and in
most cases can be cured with antibiotics. Other STDs (such as genital warts, genital herpes, and AIDS) are
caused by viral infections and are incurable.
MODULE 19: FREUDIAN & HUMANISTIC THEORIES:
Regression: Defense mechanism in which an individual faced with anxiety retreats to an earlier
developmental period. For example, a child who faces the anxious first days of school may regress to thumb
sucking behavior for comfort.
MODULE 20: SOCIAL COGNITIVE & TRAIT THEORIES:
Reciprocal determinism: Bandura coined the term reciprocal determinism to refer to the way cognitive
factors (or person), behaviors, and environmental factors interact to create personality