Socrative Prep Questions

Psych 100 Socrative Prep Questions

Each week, you’ll be given the chance to earn up to 5 points by answering questions in class via the Socrative app Links to an external site. (FREE student edition found at Socrative.com).  Here are the actual questions that will be asked. All you need to do is find answers in the chapter before coming to class (room name provided in class)! Hopefully, this will serve as motivation to get students to read the chapter (i.e, prepare) prior to coming to class.

Ch 1: Introduction & What is Psychology, History, Careers, etc..

  • Psychology is the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes (read more about why).
  • What makes Psychology a science, just like biology or chemistry?
  • Who was the “father” of psychology (hint: Sigmund Freud was not a psychologist, so he wasn’t the “father” of the discipline)?
  • Before psychology became an academic discipline, “matters of the mind” were undertaken by those in the field of: Philosophy!
  • What is the difference between a psychologist and psychiatrist? Hint: Compare their degrees!

Ch. 2 Research Methods:

  • A hypothesis is a proposed explanation or testable prediction, different from a theory
  • What is a theory?
  • Why is research so important, especially to psychologists?
  • What is meant by "empirical" with respect to science?
  • Why was the famous "D.A.R.E." program deemed to be an unreliable way to teach kids to avoid drugs?
  • Which method did Sigmund Freud employ/use?
  • Why would a researcher use a case study?
  • Know the difference between "cross-sectional" and "longitudinal" research?
  • What is meant by "correlational" research and how is it different than doing an "experiment"?
  • What is an independent variable? A dependent variable?
  • Why does correlation not lead to understanding causation?

Ch 3: Biopsychology

  1. What branch of psychology studies the links between behavior and biology?
  2. Which two structures makes up your central nervous system?
  3. How many pairs of chromosomes do humans have?
  4. What is another term for a nerve cell? Hint: It is the “basic building block of our nervous system”
  5. Which structure of a neuron receives signals from other neurons?
  6. Which structure of a neuron sends signals to other neurons?

Ch. 4: States of Consciousness:

  1. Your body runs on a 24 hr biological clock, which is called your:
  2. When you experience a chronic deficiency in sleep, you experience:
  3. Growth hormone is secreted by the __________, especially when we sleep.
  4. What is the hormone secreted by the pineal gland that plays a role in regulating biological rhythms and immune system (i.e, when secreted, it helps you feel sleepy)?
  5. What's the difference between NREM and REM sleep?
  6. Insomnia is a sleep disorder that includes symptoms of: (there’s 2)
  7. The body’s biological clock is located in which brain structure?
  8. What is another word for ‘sleepwalking”?
  9. When someone stops breathing during the night, it is a sleep disorder called:

Ch 6: Learning:

  1. Who was the Russian physician who earned Russia’s first nobel price and accidently stumbled upon “classical conditioning” with his research dogs?
  2. Anything that when presented after a response that has the effect of strengthening a behavior is called (positive reinforcement).
  3. Learning by watching others (Bandura) is called:
  4. When an infant sucks on a nipple, this is called a ___________, which typically occurs very early on in our development.
  5. The two forms of associative learning are:
  6. The process of acquiring, through experience, new and relatively enduring information or behaviors is called: L…….
  7. Which famous Johns Hopkin’s psychologist performed classical conditioning experiments on a child named “Little Albert”?
  8. Which famous psychologist coined the term “operant” conditioning by using his “Skinner box” to demonstrate the power or reinforcement?

Ch 8: Memory

  1. Learning that we “save over time”, or The persistence of “learning over time” is called:
  2. What happens when we “encode”? information?
  3. The storage capacity of long term memory is:
  4. The three functions of memory include: E…, S…, and R.
  5. The exceptionally clear and vivid recollection of a dramatic or powerful  memory in your life such as 9-11 is called a: _____ memory.
  6. Memory aids that help you organize information for encoding are called: (it has a funny spelling and starts with an M).
  7. What types of long term memories are formed without conscious memory, or “implicitly”?
  8. What happens during “working memory”?
  9. Who was the famous “patient HM” who had most of his hippocampus removed in order to stop his severe seizures?
  10. The hippocampus is associated with which type of long term memories? Hint: It’s very "explicit" and not very "implicit"!

Ch. 9: Lifespan Development

1. What are the "3 domains" we study in Lifespan Development by using the normative approach?

2. What is meant by "temperament"? How would a child's temperament influence parenting?

3.  What are some of the effects of "nature"? What about "nurture"? How do these interact with one another? Which group of people do psychologists follow for decades to discover the influence of nature on nurture and vice versa?

4. Know who Erik Erikson was, and his stage theory of psychosocial development. Be able to recognize each of the 8 "stages of man".

5. Know who Jean Piaget was, and his theory of cognitive development. What's the difference between a child in the "sensorimotor" vs "pre-operational" stage of development? What about the "concrete" vs. "formal" operational stages? 

6. What is meant by "accommodation"? "Assimilation" and "Schema"? "Object Permanence'?

7.   What is the difference between "monzygotic" and "dizygotic" twins? 

8. Stages of PRENATAL development: Zygote/Germinal stage(timing and what systems change); Embryo (timing and related systems) and the Fetal stage's timing and related systems.

9. What is a "teratogen"? Be able to provide at least 3 different examples.

10. What did Harry Harlow and Mary Ainsworth do to expand our understanding of "attachment"? What is the "strange situation" test? 

Ch 14: Stress, Lifestyle & Health

  1. Stressors fall into 3 main types: Life Changes, Daily Hassels and Catastrophes
  2. The emergency response triggered by your sympathetic nervous system is called the:
  3. During an encounter judged as stressful, cortisol is released by the: ___ glands
  4. According to the stress theory by Hans Selye, humans go through a 3 stage stress response called: GAS!
  5. Things like missing your bus, being late, getting stuck in traffic, bad grades are all considered: (what type of ‘stressor”)?
  6. The system in your body that fights off diseases is called the _____ system. What happens when it over-responds such as with rheumatoid arthritis? 
  7. The white blood cells that attack foreign invaders to the body are called: ?
  8. The risk for heart disease is especially high in people with which mental illness?
  9. The most lethal dimension of Type A behavior pattern seems to be “hostility”.
  10. What does PNI stand for (psycho-neuro-immunology), and, what do it’s researchers study?
  11. What are psycho-physiological illnesses?
  12. What is the term for "good stress"?

Ch 12 Social Psych

  1. What is the “FAE” or Fundamental Attribution Error?
  2. What is the definition of “social psychology”?
  3. What are the differences between "situationism" and "dispositionism"?
  4. What is the "actor/observer bias? Self-serving bias?
  5. Who conducted the Stanford Prison experiment demonstrating the power of role playing?
  6. Who conducted the famous Yale “shock” study demonstrating the power of conformity and obedience?
  7. What is the difference between an "individualistic" and "collectivistic" society?
  8. When we adjust our behavior or thinking to coincide with a group standard, we are engaging in: Conformity!
  9. Assuming that a woman with long, blonde hair is stupid is an example of making a "stereotype"!
  10. Any unfair or negative attitude toward a group and its members is called: D.......

Ch 15: Psychological Disorders

  1. Patterns of inner experience and behavior are thought to reflect the presence of a psychological disorder if they:
  2. When a person alternates between periods of depression and then overexcited, and in a euphoric state of mania, this is called:
  3. One of the most devastating disorders is ________, which causes hallucinations and delusional thinking, and is linked to biological and genetic factors.
  4. The disorder in which a person has unpredictable, minutes long episodes of intense dread, sometimes even chest pain, choking, and other frightening sensations is:
  5. The manual used in the US to classify mental health disorders is called the_____ and is published by the __________.
  6. Panic Disorder and Phobias are classified as which type of disorder?
  7. When someone has recurrent, uncontrollable thoughts, and the only way to quell them is by engaging in repetitive behaviors, they probably suffer from:
  8. Psychological disorders are conditions characterized by abnormal thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. 

  9. Patterns of inner experience and behavior are thought to reflect the presence of a psychological disorder if they ________.

  10. What is an example of a "specific" phobia?