PSY 314
Dr. A bbo tt
Study Questions for Quiz 1
Chapters 1, 2 & 3
Spring 2004
If you can answer the following questions correctly, you are in good shape for our first quiz.
1.
Aristotle held that plants, animals, and p eop le differ ac cord ing to the type of "psyche" o r soul they possess.
Name the type of soul be longing to each and the abilities it was said to confer on its owner.
2.
What three principles did Aristotle conclude are at work when we try to remember something?
3.
Aristotle proposed four types of cause, of which I me ntioned two: efficient and final. Describe both.
4.
According to R ene D escartes, in people the bo dy and the soul affect eac h other. W hat do we call this
philosophical position today?
5.
Descartes conc eived of the body (huma n or animal) as a physical me chanism that could produce automatic
respo nses. H ow d id he think such "reflexive" b ehavior oc curred? (Describe the mechanism.)
6.
How did Descartes think the soul produced the voluntary movements of the human body? What abilities
did he think the soul had? W hat "mental" faculties did Descartes leave to the brain? How did Desca rtes'
view provide for free will in people?
7.
What was Descartes' view of animals in comparison to humans?
8.
What is the definition of learning given in the book?
9.
Distinguish between the process of learning and the product of learning.
10.
W hat is the difference between studying the acquisition of learned behavior and the performance of learned
behavior? (Hint: are the factors affecting each necessarily the same?)
11.
W hat is meant by general principles of learning and what strategy has been followed in the field of learning
and behavior to discover those general principles?
12.
Name and describe the fou r major co mpo nents of a scientific theory.
13.
Name and describe five criteria by which scientific theories are judged.
14.
W hat is wrong with using anecdotes as evidence for a scientific theory? What problem o ften arises in the
reporting of case histories?
15.
W hat are the most salient characteristics of the behavioral approach to the investigation of learning?
16.
W hy are animal subjects used so frequently in behavioral research? What are the advantages and
disadvantages of using animals?
17.
W hy does the behavioral approach emphasize external events over those that occur internally when
attempting to understand and predict behavior?
18.
John Locke suggested that, for humans at least, all knowledge about the world must be acquired through
direct experience. He suggested that the mind at birth is like what? What is this philosophical position
called?
PSY 314
Study Questions for Quiz 1
Page 2
19.
The British associationists (beginning with Locke) developed several principles by which the mind comes
to be furnished with complex ideas, built up from simple ones through the process of association. Describe
the main principles thro ugh which asso ciations amo ng ideas were said to form and be strengthened .
20.
How d id Ebbinghaus go about studying the formation and maintenance of associations? Why did he resort
to memorizing "CVCs"?
21.
Describe Ebbinghaus's main findings: What were the effects of list length, number of repetitions, time
elapsed since memorization, contiguity (backward versus forward associations)?
22.
W hat cell in the body is specialized for carrying information (in the form of impulses) from one part of the
body to another?
23.
How is the intensity of stimulation encoded by the neuron? What happens at the synapse when a neural
impulse arrives there? What is a neurotransmitter? What two types of effect can occur following release of
neurotransmitter in the synapse?
24.
Charles Darwin proposed in The Origin of Species (1859) that all living organisms in existence today have
evolved fro m co mmon ancestors over an unimaginably long period of time. W hat are the three basic
principles of his theory of evolution?
25.
Ho w do es Darwin's theo ry of evo lution differ from the theo ry of evo lution proposed by Lamark? (H int:
think of giraffes!)
26.
How does Darwin's theory resolve the teleological problem of Aristotle's principle of final causation? That
is, how does it show that the properties of animals (e.g., the arctic hare's white fur) appear to exist in order
to serve a particular function (e.g., makes the hare difficult to detect by predators)?
27.
W hat are the implications of Darwin's theory of evolution concerning instinctive behavior? Concerning the
differences between humans and other animals? Do you think other animals may have conscious minds?
28.
The study o f animal behavior becam e the foc us of what field within biolo gy? H ow d id these biolo gists
approach their topic? W hat methods did they adopt? How d id Darwin's theory of evolution influence the
development of this field?
29.
Describe a simple negative-feedback (closed-loop) system. What are the advantages of this system over an
open-loop system?
30.
W hat is a reflex? D escribe a "sim ple" (open-loo p) reflex. Is the knee-jerk reflex a simple reflex in this
sense?
31.
Define what Loeb meant by a "tropism."
32.
W hat is a kinesis? Describe the mechanism by which bacteria like e. coli are able to find their way to a
sourc e of nutrient or away from something bad for them such as a source of excessive hea t.
33.
W hat is a taxis? H ow d oes it differ from a kinesis? Exp lain why m oths tend to fly into lights at night in
terms o f a taxis.
34.
The egg-retrieval behavior of the greylag goose illustrates certain points about the dangers of attributing
human thoughts to other animals, especially those with much smaller brains than we have. What is it called
when someone attributes human thoughts and feelings to other animals?
PSY 314
Study Questions for Quiz 1
Page 3
35.
W hat is a fixed action pattern? A releaser (sign) stimulus? A supernormal stimulus? A reaction
chain?
36.
Even insects a re cap able o f learning certain things und er the right conditions, and so me can eve n transm it
the information to other members of their species. What does the digger wasp learn?
37.
W hat is habituation? List and describe the general principles of hab ituation d escribed in yo ur text.
38.
In Kandel's study of aplysia, what physical change in aplysia’s nervous system was found to produce
habituation of its gill-withdrawal response?
39.
W hat is sensitization? How did Kandel demonstrate sensitization (in this case, in the form of
dishabituation) in aplysia?
40.
Describe Solomon and Corbit's (1974) Opponent-Process Theory of emotional responses. What is an "a"
process? A "b" process? How can this theory explain phenomena such as drug tolerance?