Psychology Exam Study Guide
Chapter 1 – The Science of Psychology
1. Seven contemporary approaches to psychology and their descriptions
a. Biologicali. Focus on brain and nervous system
ii. Neuroscience- structure, function, development, genetics, biochemistry of
Nervous system
b. Behavioral
i. Observable behavior responses and environmental determinants (learning)
ii. John B. Watson
iii. B. F. Skinner
c. Psychodynamic
i. Unconscious (sexual and aggressive) impulses
ii. Conflict between biological drives and society
iii. Childhood, early family experiences
iv. Sigmund Freud
d. Humanistic
i. Positive human qualities
ii. Capacity for human growth
iii. Freedom to choose any destiny
iv. Carl Rogers
v. Abraham Maslow
e. Cognitive
i. Mental processes involved in knowing how we…
1. Direct attention
2. Perceive, remember, think
3. Solve problems
f. Evolutionary
i. Adaptation
ii. Reproduction
iii. Natural selection
iv. Basis for explaining specific human behaviors
g. Sociocultural
i. Examination of ways in which social and cultural environment influence
behavior
ii. Comparisons of behavior across countries, ethnic and cultural groups
within countries
2. Structuralism vs. Functionalism – differences
a. Structuralism
i. Wilhelm Wundt
ii. Identify elements, or structures, of mental process
iii. Introspection
b. Functionalism
i. William James
ii. Identify purposes, or functions, of the mind
iii. Why is human thought adaptive?
iv. Natural flow of thought, or stream of consciousness
3. Contributions of Wilhelm Wundt to psychology as a science
a. Structuralism
b. 1st psychology lab (1879)
c. Father of modern psychology
4. Statistics
a. Measure of Central Tendency
i. Characterize the typical member of a group
ii. Give a best guess as to what an average response might be
iii. Mean, median, mode
b. Bell-Shaped Curve
i. Illustrates the distribution of scores
ii. Symmetrical curve- mean, median, mode are the same
iii. Skewed- lopsided distribution of data points
c. Statistical Significance
i. Confidence that we have that our results are accurate and not by chance
ii. Significance represented by p value
iii. P values range from 0.00 to 1.00
iv. Psychological research looks for p value of ≤0.05
v. Probability that results are due to chance is less than 5%
5. Research Methods
a. Correlational
i. Examining whether and how variables are related and change together
ii. Inferential statistics
iii. Correlational coefficient: -1.00≤ r ≤ 1.00
iv. Correlation ≠ causation
v. Third Variable Problem – some other variable accounts for relationship
between 2 variables
vi. Longitudinal Design
1. Obtaining measures of variables of interest in multiple waves over
time
2. Can suggest potential causal relationships
b. Experimental
i. Determining whether causal relationships exist between variables
ii. Random Assignment – formation of groups using chance
iii. Experiment and Causation
1. Random assignment helps establish causation
2. Independent: manipulated
3. Dependent: measured number
4. Control Group: baseline
5. Experimental Group: manipulated
iv. Validity
1. External- do experiment results apply, or generalize, to real world?
2. Internal- are changes in dependent variable due to independent
variables?
v. Bias
1. Demand characteristics (Experimentor)
2. Placebo effect (Participator)
3. Double-Blind Experiment
vi. Research Samples
1. Population
2. Sample
3. Random samples likely to be representative of a population, to
allow generalizing of research results
c. Case Studies
i. Type of descriptive research
ii. descriptive, exploratory or explanatory analysis of a person, group or
event
d. Natural Observation
6. Scientific Method
a. Observation
i. Choose a variable
1. Phenomenon studied by scientists
2. Anything that can change
ii. Develop a Theory
1. Idea to explain observations
2. Seeks to explain WHY something happened
b.
c.
d.
e.
3. Can be used to make predictions
Formulate Hypothesis
i. Educated guess from theory
ii. Prediction, can be tested
iii. If supported, can give credibility to theory
iv. If, then
Research
i. Establish operational definition (How?)
1. Objective description of variable
2. How will it be measured?
ii. Collect and Analyze Data
1. Number crunching
2. What do data mean?
Draw Conclusions
i. Is theory supported?
ii. Should theory be changed?
Evaluate Conclusions
i. Publication and review
ii. Ongoing research process
Chapter 2 – The Brain and Behavior
1. Parts of the Nervous System and their functions
NERVOUS SYSTEM
Central Nervous
System
brain
Peripheral
Nervous System
Spinal Cord
Autonomic Nervous
System (Involuntary)
Sympathetic
Nervous System
(Arousing)
a. Autonomic Nervous System
i. Sympathetic
1. Arouses (Fight – or – Flight)
ii. Parasympathetic
Somatic Nervous
System (Voluntary)
Parasympathetic
Nervous System
(Calming)
1. Calms (rest and digest)
2. Parts of the Neuron, their functions, and how neurons fire (action potential)
a. Neurons
i. Nerve cells
ii. Information processing and sending messages
b. Structure (pg. 49)
c. Neural Impulse
i. Resting potential- stable, negative charge of inactive neuron
ii. Action Potential1. Brief, positive, electrical charge
2. Abides by the all-or-nothing principle
3. Neurotransmitters – their functions; the type of drugs that control them; the
synapse
a. Synpses – space between neurons
b. Neurotransmitters
i. stored in synaptic vesicles (sacs) within terminal buttons
ii. chemical signals which allow electrical impulses to cross synaptic
gap
c. Acetylcholine
i. Stimulates firing of neurons
ii. Involved in action of muscles, learning, memory
iii. Alzheimer disease Ach deficiency
d. Gamma aminobutyric acid
i. Keeps many neurons from firing
ii. Anxiety: low levels of Gabba
e. Norepinephrine
i. Inhibits firing of neurons in CNS
ii. Excites heart muscles, intestines, urogenital tract
iii. Depression: too little npp
iv. Agitated, manic states: too much
f. Dopamine
i. Helps to control voluntary movement
ii. Affects sleep, mood, attention, learning, rewards
iii. Parkinson disease: low levels
iv. Schizophrenia: too much
g. Serotonin
i. Involved in regulation of sleep, mood, attention, learning
h. Endorphins
i. Natural opiates that mainly stimulate firing of neurons (natural
pain killers)
i. Oxytocin
i. Hormone and neurotransmitter
ii. Important role in experience of love and social bonding
4. Hormones/endocrine system vs. neurotransmitters/nervous system
a. The Endocrine System
i. Slow chemical communication system carried out by hormones
1. Pituitary- growth
2. Adrenals- mood and energy
3. Pancreas- digestion, metabolism
5. Brain Imaging and Recording Techniques
a. X-ray  two dimensional
b. CT (or CAT) scan three dimensional
c. PET scan metabolic changes
d. MRI brain structure
e. f MRI brain function
Chapter 5 – Learning
1. Classical Conditioning and its elements
a. Reflex – Automatic, without prior learning
i. Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
ii. Unconditioned response (UCR)
b. Learning – association, after pairing of stimuli
i. Conditioned stimulus (CS)
ii. Conditioned response (CR)
c. Acquisition – learning of connection between UCS and CS
i. Continguity: UCS and CS close in time
ii. Contingency: CS as a reliable indicator of UCS
d. Generalization – stimulus similar to CS elicits response similar to CR
e. Discrimination – process of learning to respond only to some stimuli
f. Extinction – weakening of CR when UCS is absent
g. Spontaneous Recovery – recurrence of CR after time delay, w/o further
conditioning
h. Pavlov’s dog studies
i. Explaining and eliminating fears
i. Watson and Raynor: Little Albert
ii. Counterconditioning
iii. Systematic desensitization
j. Explaining pleasant emotions
k. Aversive conditioning
2. Operant Conditioning and its elements
a. Thorndike’s Law of Effect
i. Positive outcomes strengthen behaviors
ii. Negative outcomes weaken
b. The Skinner Box
i. Controlled conditions to study operant
ii. Operant (lever press by rat)  consequence (food)
c. Shaping
i. Rewarding successive approx. of desired behaviors
3. Schedules of Reinforcement
a. Continuous
i. Behavior is reinforced every time it occurs
b. Partial (Intermittent)
i. Reinforcer follows behavior only a portion of the time
ii. Greater resistance to extinction
iii. Partial Reinforcement Schedules
1. Ratio (# of behaviors) vs. Interval (time elapsed)
2. Fixed (predictable) vs. variable (unpredictable)
iv. Ratio Schedules of Reinforcements
1. Fixed ratios – based on set #s of behaviors
2. Variable ratios – based on average number of behaviors
v. Interval Schedules of Reinforcements
1. Fixed interval – rewarding behavior after fixed amount of time
passes
2. Variable interval – rewarding after variable amount of time
passes
4. Positive/negative reinforcement; positive/negative punishment
a. Positive Reinforcement – adding something pleasant
b. Negative Reinforcement – taking away something unpleasant
c. Positive Punishment – adding of something unpleasant
d. Negative Punishment – removal of something pleasant
5. Observational Learning and its elements
a. Albert Bandura
b. Also called imitation or modeling
c. Bobo doll experiment
d. Attention, Retention, Motor Reproduction, Reinforcement or Incentive
Conditions
e. Vicarious reinforcement and vicarious punishment (not happening, watching,
learning from a distance)
Chapter 6 – Memory
1. Encoding; short term/working memory; long term memory; techniques to keep
information in short term/ working memory
a. Encoding – process by which info enters memory storage
i. Some other info enters automatically
ii. Other info require effort
b. Short-Term Memory
i. Limited capacity (7±2 items) memory system
ii. Information retained for up to 30 seconds without strategies to retain it
longer
c. Working Memory – Baddeley
i. Alternate approach to explain short term
ii. 3 part system to hold info temporarily
1. Phonological Loop – briefly stores speech info
2. Visuospatial Working – stores visual and spatial info
3. Central Executive – integrates info
d. Long Term Memory
i. Explicit Memory (Verbal)
1. Episodic (about yourself)
2. Semantic (facts)
ii. Implicit Memory
1. Procedural (tie your shoes), skills
2. Classical Conditioning (associations)
3. Priming (activate info already in storage)
e. Strategies to Retain Info
i. Chunking – grouping info that exceeds the 7±2 rule into smaller parts
ii. Rehearsal – conscious repetition of info
iii. Mnemonic Device – memory tool to make memorization easier
2. Recall/recognition; interference; serial position effect
a. Serial Position Effect
i. Tendency to recall items at the beginning and end of lists
ii. Primacy Effect: better recall for items at beginning
iii. Recency Effect: better recall for items at end
b. Recall – memory task to retrieve previously learned info
c. Recognition – memory task to indentify, or recognize, learned items
d. Interference
i. Forgetting because other info gets in way of remembering
ii. Proactive: material learned earlier disrupts retrieval of material learned
later
iii. Retroactive: material learned later disrupts retrieval of material learned
earlier
Chapter 10 – Personality
1. Personality perspectives (theories) and their definitions, details, elements, and
founders
a. Psychodynamic Perspective – emphasize that personality is primarily
unconscious or beyond awareness
i. Freud’s Psychoanalytical Theory
1. Sexual drive-Libido
a. Most important human motivator
b. Main determinant of personality
2. Hysteria
a. Physical symptoms that have no physical cause
b. Hysterical symptoms as OVERDETERMINED, or
having multitude of causes in unconscious
ii. Defense Mechanisms
iii. Psychosexual Stages
1. Erogenous Zones
2. Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital stage/period
b. Trait Perspectives – broad enduring dispositions that lead to characteristics
responses
i. Gordon Allport
1. Focus on healthy, well-adjusted individuals
2. Uniqueness of huge person and capacity to adapt
3. Traits
c. Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory
i. Reciprocal Determinism – interaction of behavior, environment and
person
ii. Emphasize:
1. Conscious awareness
2. Expectations
3. Beliefs
4. Goals
iii.
Behavior
Person &
Cognitive
Factors
Environment
iv. Personal Control – internal or external
v. Self-Efficacy – belief that one can master a situation & produce
positive charge
d. Biological
i. Hippocrates – personality based on bodily fluids
ii. Freud – connection between mind and body
iii. Allport – traits as “psychophysical”
iv. Murray – “no brain, no personality”
v. Genetics
1. Study of inherited underpinnings of behavioral
2. Twin Studies
3. Role of genetic factors, enormously complex
4. Genes & environments intertwined
5. Traits influenced by multiple genes
e. Humanistic Approach
i. Maslow
ii. Self-Actualizers
1. Motivated to develop full potential
2. At optimal level of existence
3. Capacity for ‘peak existence’
2. Tests of personality/psychological disorders, such as the MMPI and the Rorschach
Inkblot Test; how these tests are different
a. Personality Assessment
i. Self-Report Tests
1. Directly ask people whether different items describe their
personality traits
2. Social Desirability
3. MMPI
a. Most widely used and researched empirically-keyed
self-report personality test
b. Used to assess personality and predict outcomes
ii. Projective Tests
1. Present individuals with ambiguous stimulus
2. Ask them to describe it, or tell a story about it
3. Especially designed to elicit unconscious feelings and conflicts
4. Theoretically aligned with psychodynamic perspectives on
personality
iii. Rorschach Inkblot Test
1. Ten inkblots, when described, scored for indicating underlying
psychological characteristics
2. Reliability and validity criticized
Chapter 12 – Psychological Disorders
1. Categories and sub-categories of psychological disorders and the symptoms for each
– anxiety disorders, mood disorders including suicide, eating disorders,
schizophrenia, and personality disorders
a. Anxiety Disorders
i. Involve fears that are:
1. Uncontrollable
2. Disproportionate to actual danger
3. Disruptive to ordinary life
ii. Feature:
1. Motor tension
2. Hyperactivity
3. Apprehensive expectations and thoughts
iii. Generalized Anxiety Disorder
1. Persistent anxiety for ≥6 months
2. Unable to specify reasons for anxiety
iv. Panic Disorder
1. Recurrent, sudden onsets of intense terror, often occur w/o
warning & no specific cause
v. Phobic Disorder
1. Irrational, overwhelming, persistent fear of particular object or
situation
2. Social phobia – intense fear of being humiliated or
embarrassed in social situations
vi. Obsessive Compulsive Disorders
1. Obsessions – recurring, anxiety-provoking thoughts
2. Compulsions – repetitive, ritualistic behaviors
vii. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
1. Develops through exposure to traumatic event that overwhelms
abilities to cope
2. Symptoms:
a. Flashbacks
b. Excessive arousal
c. Reduced ability to feel emotions
d. Difficulties with memory and concentration
e. Feelings of apprehension
f. Impulsive outbursts of behavior
3. Can follow trauma immediately or delayed
4. Combat & war-related trauma
5. Sexual abuse and assault
6. Natural and unnatural disasters
b. Mood Disorders – primary disturbance of mood, or prolonged emotion that
colors emotional state
i. Can include cognitive, behavioral, and sometimes physical symptoms
c. Depressive Disorders
i. Girls more common than guys
ii. Major Depressive Disorder
1. Significant depressive episode and depressed characteristics for
at least 2 weeks
2. Most common
iii. Dysthymic Disorder
1. More chronic and fewer symptoms than MDD
iv. Bipolar Disorder
1. Extreme mood swings, including 1+ episodes of mania
2. Overexcited, unrealistically optimistic state
3. Multiple cycles of depression interspersed w/ mania
d. Suicide
i. Guys more common than girls
ii. Biological, Psychological, and Sociocultural Factors
e. Eating Disorders
i. Characterized by extreme disturbances in eating
ii. Anorexia Nervosa
1. Relentless pursuit of thinness through starvation
2. Weighing less than 85% of normal weight
3. Intense fear of gaining weight
4. Distorted body image
5. Physical changes, serious complications, and high mortality
rate
6. Denial, high-achieving perfectionism
iii. Bulimia Nervosa
1. Binge-and-purge eating pattern
2. Preoccupation with food
3. Strong fear of becoming overweight
4. Depression or anxiety
5. Difficult to detect
6. Complications and dental problems
7. Low self efficacy
iv. Binge-Eating Disorder
1. Recurrent episodes of eating large amounts of food
2. Lack of control over eating
3. Overweight or obese
4. Over-value their physical appearance, weight, and body shape
f. Dissociative Disorders
i. Dissociation – psychological states of disconnection from immediate
experience
ii. Involve sudden loss of memory or change of identity, under extreme
stress or shock
iii. Dissociative Amnesia
1. Inability to recall important events
2. Extreme memory loss caused by extensive psychological stress
iv. Dissociative Fugue
1. Amnesia, plus traveling away from home and start new identity
v. Dissociative Identity Disorder
1. AKA multiple personality disorder
2. Most dramatic, least common
3. 2+ distinct personalities
a. Each has own memories, behaviors, relationships
4. One personality dominates @ 1 time
5. Wall of amnesia divides
g. Schizophrenia
i. Characterized by highly disordered thought process (psychotic)
ii. Positive Symptoms- behaviors over the top
1. Hallucinations
2. Delusions
3. Thought Disorder (word salad, neologisms, referential
thinking)
4. Catatonia (movement)
iii. Negative Symptoms- behaviors below norm
1. Flat Affect (no emotion)
2. Cognitive
h. Personality Disorders
i. Chronic, maladaptive, cognitive-behavioral patterns integrate into
personality
ii. 10 total in the DSM-IV
iii. Antisocial Personality Disorder
1. Characterized by guiltlessness, law breaking, exploitation of
others, irresponsibility, deceit
2. Ex. Joker
3. Genetically heritable
4. Brain differences
5. Autonomic NS differences
6. Psychopaths
iv. Borderline Personality Disorder
1. Pervasive pattern of instability in…
a. Interpersonal relationships, self-image, emotions
2. Impulsivity beginning in teens
3. Splitting: seeing the world in black and white, nothing in
between
4. Ex. Fatal attraction
2. Statistics in regard to psychological disorders
a. Major Depression is the most commonly diagnosed psychological disorder
b. More women attempt suicide while more men complete the act
c. Anorexia nervosa has the highest mortality (death) rate among the eating
disorders AND among all psychological disorders
d. Dissociative disorders are the most rarely diagnosed psychological disorders
with dissociative identity disorder being the most rare and controversial
3. Americans with Disabilities Act
a. Makes it illegal to refuse work or promotion to a person having a
psychological disorder
4. Genetics and Twin Studies
a. Genetics
i. Branch of biology that deals w/ the hereditary & variation of organism
ii. Father Gregor Mendel and his pea plants
b. Twin Studies
Chapter 13 – Therapies
1. Classes and sub-classes of drug treatments – antianxiety medications, antidepressants,
and antipsychotic medications
a. Drug Therapy – revolutionized mental health care in the 20th century used in
anxiety, mood, and depression
i. Antianxiety Drugs (tranquilizers)
1. Bind to receptor sites of neurotransmitters that become
overactive during anxiety
2. Benzodiazepines
ii. Antidepressant Drugs
1. Regulate mood through effects of neurotransmitters
2. Tricyclics, monoamine oxidase inhibators (MAOI), selective
serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI)
3. Lithium
iii. Antipsychotic Drugs
1. Neuroleptics:
a. Block dopamine’s action in brain
b. Side Effects:
i. Dysphoria lack of pleasure
ii. Tardive Dyskinesia movement disorder
c. Atypical Antipsychotic Meds
i. Lower risks of side effects
ii. Block reuptake of serotonin
2. Biomedical procedures such as psychosurgery and electroconvulsive therapy
a. Electroconvulsive Therapy
i. Goal is to set off seizure in the brain
ii. Used primarily to treat severe depression
iii. Patient receives anesthesia and music relaxants
iv. Transcranial Magnetic Simulation
b. Psychosurgery
i. Irreversible removal or destruction of brain tissue to improve
adjustment
ii. Prefrontal Lobotomy – severing of fibers connecting frontal lobes w/
thalamus
3. Therapies and their components – psychoanalysis, Rogerian/Client-centered, REBT,
integrative, and family therapy
a. Psychoanalysis
i. Freud’s therapeutic technique for analyzing unconscious thoughts
ii. Goal is to bring unconscious conflicts into conscious awareness
iii. Free Association
1. Encouraging individuals to say aloud whatever comes to mind
2. Catharsis – release of emotional tension when relieving
emotionally charged or conflicting experiences
iv. Interpretation
1. Search for symbolic, hidden meaning
v. Dream Analysis
1. Interpreting dreams, which contain info about unconscious
thoughts, wishes, and conflicts
2. Manifest Content – conscious, remembered aspects of dream
3. Latent Content – unconscious, hidden aspects symbolized by
manifest content
vi. Transference
1. Inevitable and essential aspect of therapeutic relationship
2. Relating to analyst in ways that reproduce or relive important
relationships
vii. Resistance – unconscious defense strategies
b. Client-Centered Therapies (Rogers)
i. Warm, supportive atmosphere to improve self-concept and to
encourage insight
ii. Reflective speech used to mirror feelings
iii. Unconditional positive regard, empathy, genuineness
iv. Therapist’s role as non-directive
c. Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy
i. Emotional reactions to life events as product of irrational beliefs and
expectations
ii. Central false belief that feelings cannot be controlled
iii. Demands (“musterbating”) create dysfunctional, exaggerated beliefs
iv. Goal of eliminating self-defeating beliefs by rationally examining
them
v. Directive, persuasive, confrontational
d. Integrative Therapy - combination of techniques from different based on
therapists judgments
i. Dialectical Behavior Therapy
1. Used for borderline personality disorder
2. Includes variety of techniques
3. Linehan
e. Family Therapy
i. Techniques
1. Validation – understanding and acceptance of each family
member’s feelings and beliefs
2. Reframing – problems as family (not individual) problems
3. Structural Change – restructuring coalitions in family
4. Detriangulation – disentangle situations where scapegoating
occurs