Exam Study Guide

QUIZ & EXAM STUDY GUIDE

PSYC 110 Principles of Psychology

The quizzes and final exam in Psyc 110 is open book, open notes. While some students are anticipating that these open book exams will easier than paper and pencil exams, these exams are typically just as challenging, if not more challenging than traditional tests.

The final exam for PSYC110 will consist of 65 multiple choice questions, including five essays. You will have 3 ½ hours to complete the exam. The weekly quizzes in this class are 10 multiple choice questions and one short essay each. You will have 30 minutes for each quiz.

For the final exam and the quizzes, you may use the eBook, lectures, and your notes.

The final exam is built on three levels of knowledge.

• Knowledge and Comprehension: This level deals with knowing and remembering facts, such as principles, methods and concepts. • Application and Analysis: This level deals with the use of abstract ideas, rules, or generalized methods and the understanding of relationships between elements or parts. • Synthesis and Evaluation: This level, which is the most difficult, deals with arranging and combining concepts to form a new whole. It also deals with the ability to judge the value of material based on given criteria.

What does this mean to you as a student? It means that you will have a variety of questions, some easy, some not so easy, and some that will be difficult. So, how should you study for this type of exam? First, review the lectures. Next, and I believe that this is the most important, create a system that allows you to “bookmark” important information in your text. Many of the most difficult questions are built on the understanding that you will have access to this information, and you need to have it readily available. In short, you will not have time search for the information you will need to answer the questions completely.

Review the study guide (but remember - there is no guarantee that absolutely everything on the final exam is in the study guide). Dig into the material and get comfortable with it – this will be time consuming, but will bring successful results. Time management on the final is critical so be sure to review the piece here on that.

Good luck to all!

Week 1 Psychological Research, Neurotransmitters, & Stress

Chapter 1:

• The Scientific Method • Experimental Research (Independent, Dependent variable, extraneous variable. experimental bias, control groups, experimental groups) • Experimental Safeguards (Researcher and Participant safeguards) • Non-Experimental Research (Direct Observation, Case Studies, Surveys, Correlational Studies) • Ethical Issues in Research

Possible Essay Questions:

A. A friend asks you to summarize what you learned in your psychology class. In addition to explaining topics, you tell your friend all about the scientific approach used by psychologists to develop information about human behavior.

B. You are the manager at a busy factory. You are interested in how the level of noise on the factory floor impacts production. List the 6 steps in the scientific method (5 points) and show how a psychologist would use each of them to improve the plant’s productivity. In step 3 be sure to specify how you conduct the experiment and what the dependent and independent variables would be.

Chapter 2

Neurotransmitters, Endorphins, Hormones

Chapter 3

• What is Stress? Types of Stressors (Hassles, Life Changes, Conflict, etc.), Results of stress (Biological, cognitive, emotional), Relationship between stress and illness • Types of Conflict • Type A and Type B personality • Coping with Stress, Emotion-Focused Forms of Coping, Problem-Focused Forms of Coping, Resources for Coping and Locus of Control, Active Coping Strategies, Hardiness

Possible Essay Questions:

A. Your supervisor asks you to develop a workshop for employees to help them deal with the stress that he expects they will experience when they are asked to work overtime for the next 3 months. You remember that you studied this topic in your psychology class and decide to provide an overview of stress, its effects and ways that you can cope. Be sure to cover all the types of stress in your workshop.
B. Work, family, social relationships and school are all pressures that you are feeling as an online student. Provide an overview of what stress is and how psychologists advise people to deal with stress. What specific strategies can you develop to handle all these pressures?

Week 2 Learning, Memory, & Intelligence

Chapter 6

• Classical Conditioning: UCS, UCR, CS, CR, Stimulus Generalization, Extinction, Spontaneous recovery, Classical Conditioning in Real Life (Prejudice, Phobias, etc.) • Operant Conditioning, Reinforcement (positive, Negative, Primary and secondary reinforces),Schedules of reinforcement, Shaping, Punishment, Premack Principle, Operant conditioning in Real Life • Cognitive-Social Learning Theory: Insight and latent learning, Bandura’s Social Learning model, Cognitive-Social learning in Real Life

Possible Essay Questions:

A. You just bring your new pet home and decide that you can teach the new dog some new tricks. Having studied both classical and operant conditioning recently, you develop a plan to teach your dog to run to the door whenever the bell rings and bark. How might the different theories be used to help your pet “learn” this new behavior?

B. The principles of classical conditioning, operant conditioning and cognitive social learning are involved in the acquisition of prejudice. Pick two of those three learning theories and describe how they play a role in the acquisition of a prejudice.

C. Imagine that you are a psychologist who wants to help a father increase his son’s compliance with mowing the backyard without being reminded. Develop a plan using the operant conditioning techniques of positive and negative reinforcement and positive and negative punishment. Your answer needs to demonstrate your understanding of the effects of reinforcement and punishment.

Chapter 7

• What is Memory? • 3-stage model of Memory • Encoding, Storage, Retrieval Model • Organization and Rehearsal processes • Types of Memory (Episodic, Semantic, procedural)

Possible Essay Question:

Your online courses are really taxing your ability to memorize the material for your classes. Using everything you learned about memory, discuss how you would improve your memory by using organization and rehearsal skills.

Chapter 8

• Fluid & Crystallized Intelligence • Gardner’s Multiple intelligences • Standardization, Reliability, & Validity • Wechsler Intelligence Test • Differences in Intelligence • Genetic & Environmental Influences on Intelligence • Stereotype Threat

Possible Essay Question:

You have transferred to a school system in which you child is in a minority ethnic group. The teacher says to you that your son is having trouble in her class and she wants to have him tested for learning disabilities. You want your child to get help if he truly needs it, but are concerned about the test being unfair. List and explain what three specific things do psychologists want to know about a test in order to consider it a “good” test? (10 points) Explain why a test would be useless without these.

Chapter 12

Emotional Intelligence

Week 3 The Psychology of Motivation & Leadership

Chapter 12

• What is Motivation? Sensation Seeking and Arousal, Achievement motivation, Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation • Theories of Motivation: Biological theories (instinct, Drive-reduction), Psychosocial theories (Incentive, Cognitive theories), Maslow’s model of motivation.

Possible Essay Questions:

A. At a place of employment there you supervise a group with varying levels of commitment to a job. Use Maslow's motivational theory to analyze and improve the situation.

B. While watching the Super Bowl, you notice that the emotional reactions of the players and fans span the gamut of emotional expression. This observation spurs you to research the topic of emotion and you write a brief essay about what you learned for your psychology class. Provide a summary of this topic to show your professor that you are “happy” to do this project.

Chapter 17 Leadership & Motivation

• Leadership and power • Traits of leaders • Charismatic and situational leadership • MacGregor’s Theory X and Y management styles • Leadership and Bases of power • Laissez-faire leaders • Gender differences in leadership styles • Goal setting theory • Equity Theory • Expectancy theory • Holland’s Job–fit theory

Possible Essay Question:

Identify the characteristics of a Theory X manager. Describe both an appropriate and an inappropriate situation in which to use this management style.

Week 4: Dreams & Altered States

Chapter 5

• What is Consciousness? • What are ASC’s (Altered States of Consciousness) • Dreams: Sleep and Dreams, Stages of Sleep (non-REM, REM), Theories of Sleep, Dreams and Theories of Dreams • Drug Abuse and Consciousness • Depressants, Stimulants, Narcotics, & Hallucinogens

Possible Essay Questions:

A. You wake up and remember a vivid dream that you had during the night. How might different psychological theories explain this dream?

B. Define drug abuse, drug addiction, psychological dependence and physical dependence. (10 points) Which is worse and why: drug abuse or drug addiction? Psychological dependence or physical dependence?

C. A friend says that they don’t believe that anyone can be hypnotized. You respond that you studied this in your psychology class and also include an explanation of other forms of altered states of consciousness.

Week 5: Communication & Personality

Chapter 13

• The five factor model (traits) • Freud o 3 levels of consciousness o Structure of personality o Defense mechanisms • Adler’s Individual Psychology • Jung’s version of the unconscious • Humanistic model (self-concept, self-esteem, self-actualization) • Social-cognitive theory (Reciprocal determinism, Rotter’s Locus of Control) • Biological theories

Possible Essay Questions From Week 5:

• List the “Big Five” traits in the five-factor model. Describe the characteristics found in a person with a high level of each of these factors. • List and give an example of 5 of Freud’s defense mechanisms. Explain how at times they can be helpful. Give three examples of them being applied in a healthy way.

Chapter 18

• The communication process • Empathic listening • Body language • Gender differences in communication • Barriers to communication • Improving communication • Effective feedback • Active listening • Persuasive communication • Paralanguage • Non-verbal communication

• Assertiveness • Causes of conflict • Benefits of conflict (positive conflict) • Conflict resolution

Potential Essay Questions From Week 5:

• List and explain the Barriers to Communication. Give an example of each. State a way that each can be minimized. • List and explain (with examples) the 6 methods of persuasion. • List and explain the 5 types of conflict resolution. Give an example of when each might be used.

Week 6: Mental Illness & Psychotherapy

Chapter 14

• Generalized anxiety disorder • Panic disorder • Phobias • Obsessive compulsive disorder • Causes of anxiety disorders

• Mood disorders (major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder) • Theories about their causes • Learned helplessness • Suicide

• Schizophrenia (types, symptoms and causes; types of delusions)

• Dissociative disorders (symptoms & causes) • Anti-social personality disorder (symptoms & causes) • Borderline personality disorder (symptoms & causes) • Co-morbidity and substance related disorders

Chapter 15

• Psychoanalysis (you don’t need to know Freud’s psychosexual theory) • Cognitive therapy (self-talk, cognitive restructuring, Ellis’ Rational Emotive therapy, Beck’s Cognitive-Behavior therapy - selective perception, overgeneralization, magnification, and all-or-nothing thinking) ) • Humanistic therapy (Empathy, unconditional positive regard, genuineness, active listening) • Group, family and marital therapy • Behavioral Therapy (Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, modeling, systematic desensitization, aversion therapy, shaping and reinforcement, punishment and extinction) • Biomedical therapy

Possible Essay Questions From Week 6:

• List the symptoms and causes of an anxiety disorder. What are the possible causes? Differentiate it from other anxiety disorders. How would a therapist treat a client with this disorder? • List the symptoms and causes of major depression. What are the possible causes? Differentiate it from bipolar disorder. How would a therapist treat a client with this disorder? • List the symptoms and causes of schizophrenia. What are the possible causes? Differentiate it from mood disorders and anxiety disorders. How would a therapist treat a client with this disorder?

Week 7: Social Psychology

Chapter 4

Perception: Selective attention, habituation, perceptual constancy,
Convergence, etc.

Chapter 16

• Attribution – fundamental attribution error, saliency bias, self-serving bias. • Attitude – 3 components, cognitive dissonance theory.

• Prejudice & Discrimination – sources, in-group favoritism, out-group homogeneity effect, ways of reducing prejudice & discrimination. • Interpersonal Attraction – 3 key factors, opposites attract, liking vs. loving, romantic love, companionate love. • Conformity & Obedience – normative social influence, norms, informational social influence, reference groups, conformity, obedience, Milgram’s experiment. • Group Processes – group membership, deindividuation, groupthink, group polarization.

Possible Essay Questions:

• What is selective attention and how does it operate? • Define habituation and give an example. • Explain the attribution errors. • Define cognitive dissonance theory and give an example. • Explain in-group and out-group favoritism. • Describe how a person’s behavior is influenced by informational social influence, reference groups, informational social influence and normative social influence. • Understand obedience as elaborated by Milgram. • Explain interpersonal attraction and the differences between liking, romantic love and companionate love. • Outline what norms are. Explain how they are established, maintained and changed in a society. Give an example. • Define conformity and identify the three major factors that contribute to this behavior. Explain the three factors using examples of conformity from your own life.