Psychology

Final Exam Study Guide

Chapter 1

1.       What are the goals of psychology, and how is psychology a science?

2.       What do psychologists do, and what are their areas of specialization?

3.       How has the study of psychology developed over time?

4.       What are the seven main contemporary perspectives in psychology?

Chapter 2

1.       What steps do scientists follow in conducting scientific research?

2.       Why are proper sampling techniques important?

3.       What are the various methods of observation, and how is correlation used in analyzing results?

4.       What are the purposes and elements of experiments?

5.       How are ethical issues involved in psychological research?

Chapter 3

1.       How are messages transmitted by neurons, and what are the functions of the peripheral nervous system?

2.       What are the major structures of the brain, and what is the function of each structure?

3.       How do hormones secreted by the major glands of the endocrine system affect the body?

4.       What is the role of chromosomes and genes in heredity, and how do psychologists study the role of heredity in determining traits?

Chapter 4

1.       In what ways do sensation and perception contribute to an understanding of our environment?

2.       How does the eye enable vision?

3.       How does the ear perceive sound? 

4.       What are the chemical, skin, and body senses?

5.       What are the laws of sensory perception?

Chapter 5

1.       What is consciousness?

2.       What are the stages of sleep and what are several sleep problems?

3.       What are meditation, biofeedback, and hypnosis?

4.       In what ways do various types of drugs affect consciousness?

Chapter 6

1.       What are the principles of classical conditioning?

2.       How are the principles of operant conditioning applied?

3.       What are the cognitive factors in learning?

Chapter 7

1.       What are the three kinds of memory?

2.       How are the three stages of memory related to each other?

3.       In what ways can memory be improved?

Chapter 8

1.       What steps can be used to solve problems?

2.       How do deductive reasoning and inductive reasoning differ?

3.       What strategies can be made in decision making?

4.       What are the basic elements of language?

Chapter 9

1.       How is intelligence defined, and what are the various theories of intelligence?

2.       How do the various types of intelligence tests differ?

3.       What are the characteristics of mental retardation and of giftedness?

4.       How do heredity and environment influence intelligence?

Chapter 10

1.       What are the major theories of development?

2.       How do infants develop physically?

3.       What are some of the ways infants and children develop socially?

4.       What are the stages in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?  What are the stages in Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

5.       What is birth order?  What are the different theories of birth order and its influence on development?

Chapter 11

1.       How do males and females change physically during adolescence, and what are the psychological effects of these changes?  How do males and females change physically during adolescence, and what are the psychological effects of these changes?

2.       What role do parents and peers play in the lives of adolescents?

3.       What is identity formation, and what are the four categories of adolescent identity status?

4.       What are some of the challenges that adolescents face in today’s society?

Chapter 12

1.       What are the characteristics and issues of young adulthood?

2.       What are the changes that occur and the issues that are faced in middle adulthood?

3.       How do people’s lives change in late adulthood?

4.       What are attitudes and issues related to death and dying?

Chapter 17

1.       What are some of the main causes of stress?

2.       What are the factors that determine one’s responses to stress?

3.       What is the general adaptation syndrome, and how does stress affect the immune system?

4.       How can psychological factors contribute to headaches, heart disease, and cancer?

5.       In what ways can people cope with stress?

Chapter 18

1.       What is the basis for classifying psychological disorders?

2.       What are anxiety disorders?

3.       What are the four dissociative disorders?

4.       How do the two most common somatoform disorders differ?

5.       How do psychologists attempt to explain mood disorders?

6.       What are the subtypes of schizophrenia?

7.       How do personality disorders differ from other psychological disorders?

Chapter 19

1.       What is psychotherapy, and what are the advantages of each method of psychotherapy?

2.       What are the major techniques of psychoanalysis?

3.       What are the primary goals and methods of humanistic therapy?

4.       How do cognitive and behavior therapists try to help people?

5.       What are the three major biological treatments for psychological disorders?