PSYC 110 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Memory, Psychology, Classical Conditioning
12 Oct 2018
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PSYC 110
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
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Prehistoric Records
From the start of human existence, we’ve had enormous potential. Already forward
thinking: of the afterlife, why we exist.
Greece 500 BC: Method of Loci
Oratory--completely done from memory. First descriptions of the Method of Loci
mnemonic device. Hold over words: “Topic” (place) “In the first place” (reference to
memory palace)
Simonides--originator of the Method of Loci, AKA the memory palace; legend
Elaborate encoding: intense encoding at a deep level.
Middle Ages: Christian Monk
Integral part of the educational system (elaborate encoding)
Method of loci, heavily used to remember scriptures and religious texts
Use of rhymes used heavily, as well as emphasis on bizarre imagery
Essentially: elaborate encoding = ways of learning/memorization.
Roots of Psych
Physiology: The branch of biology that studies the functions and parts of living
organisms
In the 1600s, physiologists begin to study the workings of the brain and its relation to
behavior.
By the 1700s, physiologists find that specific bodily functions can be traced to specific
brain areas.
Some early ideas, such as phrenology, didn’t survive
Psych: A Discipline Is Founded
WUNDT!
Uses scientific methods to study psychological processes
Writes first psych textbook (1874)
The Science of Psych
Wundt promotes the belief that experimental methods should be used to study mental
processes
Functionalism: focuses on how behaviors function to allow people and animals to adapt
to their environment
Humanistic Psych: positive potential of human beings is assumed, emphasis on
self-determination
Cognitive psych: the scientific study of how perception, thought, memory, and reasoning
are processed.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Psychometrics
Human brain has 100 billion neurons
No known limits to amount of info that can be stored in it
Estimated to out-process our best man-made supercomputers by 100x
Still not known about all it can do
Evolution has shaped our brains into taken shortcuts
One shortcut is the tendency to connect even unrelated things
Intuition vs Scientific Method
Psychological Research Designs: Experimental
-Most direct and conclusive way to test a hypothesis
Independent variable (Happy pill; gets manipulated)->Dependent Variable (Mood questionnaire;
stays the same across the study)->Result (Drug positively affects mood)
Two main forms: within-subjects design; same subject will be given multiple
manipulations/conditions across time. Usually multiple subjects, but can be a single subject
Between-groups design: manipulations differ across groups; ALWAYS more than a single subj
Psychological Research Designs: Correlational
-Much less conclusive than experimental design, but still useful.
NO manipulation of variables, rather it is the observation of already existing variables.
CORRELATION DOESN’T INFER CAUSATION
Psychological Research Designs: Descriptive
-Purpose is to describe behaviors without assessing relationships
Psychological Research Settings
-Lab Setting
Great deal of control over variables
Sacrifices naturalistic setting/behavior
-Field Setting
Less Control
More naturalistic observation of behavior
Either setting can use self-report or observational data collection
How do we use stats?
Two Categories: Descriptive and Inferential
We use stats both to describe data as basis for inferences
Descriptive Stats
Mathematical methods used to organize and summarize or describe data
-Measure of Central Tendency-
Standard Deviation: the square root of the sum of the squared deviations from the mean divided
by the scores in the distribution.
A theoretical distribution that is symmetrical with the mean, median, and mode all falling at the
exact middle of the distribution
Sometimes called a bell curve or a standard normal curve/distribution
Inferential Stats
Math methods used to draw conclusions about a population based on a sample of data
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
From the start of human existence, we"ve had enormous potential. Already forward thinking: of the afterlife, why we exist. First descriptions of the method of loci mnemonic device. Hold over words: topic (place) in the first place (reference to memory palace) Simonides--originator of the method of loci, aka the memory palace; legend. Elaborate encoding: intense encoding at a deep level. Integral part of the educational system (elaborate encoding) Method of loci, heavily used to remember scriptures and religious texts. Use of rhymes used heavily, as well as emphasis on bizarre imagery. Physiology: the branch of biology that studies the functions and parts of living organisms. In the 1600s, physiologists begin to study the workings of the brain and its relation to behavior. By the 1700s, physiologists find that specific bodily functions can be traced to specific brain areas. Some early ideas, such as phrenology, didn"t survive. Wundt promotes the belief that experimental methods should be used to study mental processes.
