Psych Semester Final Review
Psychology Semester Final Review
Name:
Period:
SECTION 1
Research & Psychological Testing
Quick Refresher
- Correlation vs. Causation: Correlation means two things happen or change together (like hot weather and ice cream sales). It does not prove causation—that one thing directly makes the other happen.
- Reliability vs. Validity: Reliability means a test gives the same or steady results every time. Validity means a test actually measures what it is supposed to measure.
- Test Types: Aptitude tests predict what you could be good at in the future (like a music-talent test). Achievement tests check what you already learned (like a chapter test). Interest tests match your likes to jobs.
- Cultural Bias: Happens when test questions use slang, customs, or experiences from only one group, making the test unfair for other people.
Worked Example
Prompt: A digital scale measures a 10-pound weight as 12 pounds every time it is tested. Is the scale reliable, valid, or both?
Answer: Reliable but not valid. It gives steady, consistent results, but it does not measure the true weight.
Your Turn
1. A study shows that teens who drink more energy drinks also get lower grades. What does this tell us?
A) Energy drinks directly cause lower grades.
C) Grades are an aptitude test for energy drinks.
B) There is a correlation, not proven causation.
D) The study has high cultural bias.
2. Write Aptitude, Achievement, or Interest on the line next to each test.
a) A U.S. History midterm covering chapters 1–5:
b) A career quiz asking if you prefer working outdoors or in a lab:
c) A rhythm and pitch test that predicts who will do well in band class:
3. A basketball shooting test gives a player nearly the same score every time, but the test only measures how fast the player can run.
The test has high because the results are consistent, but low because it does not measure shooting ability.
4. A test uses words and traditions familiar to only one cultural group. Why might this be unfair to other students?
SECTION 2
Sleep, Consciousness & Biology
Quick Refresher
- Circadian Rhythms & Sleep Stages: Your circadian rhythm is your body's 24-hour internal clock that tells you when to sleep and wake up. Sleep moves through NREM sleep (light to deep physical rest with slow brain waves) and REM sleep (rapid eye movement, vivid dreams, an active brain, and relaxed muscles).
- Dreams & Altered States of Consciousness: Consciousness is your awareness of yourself and what is around you. Altered states of consciousness (like daydreaming, meditation, hypnosis, or sleep) change how you notice time, focus, or reality. Most dreams happen during REM sleep.
- Stimulants vs. Depressants: Stimulants (like caffeine and nicotine) speed up your brain and body, making your heart beat faster and keeping you awake. Depressants (like alcohol and sleep medicine) slow down your brain and body, making you sleepy and slowing your reaction time and balance.
Worked Example
Prompt: Maya drinks two cups of coffee at 9:00 PM and feels wide awake at midnight. What type of drug is caffeine, and what body clock did it disrupt?
Answer: Stimulant; it sped up her brain and body and disrupted her circadian rhythm.
Your Turn
5. Match each term to its meaning by writing the correct letter on the line.
1. Circadian rhythm
2. NREM sleep
3. REM sleep
4. Altered state
A. Deep physical rest with slow brain waves
B. 24-hour internal sleep-and-wake clock
C. Sleep stage with vivid dreams and eye movement
D. Change in awareness, like daydreaming or meditation
6. Which sentence best describes REM sleep?
A) Brain waves slow way down and no dreams happen.
B) The brain is active and vivid dreams happen while muscles stay relaxed.
C) It is a state of high alertness caused by a stimulant.
D) It only happens during short daytime naps.
7. Sort these four items into the correct boxes: Caffeine, Alcohol, Nicotine, Sleep medicine.
Stimulants (speed up brain & body)
Depressants (slow down brain & body)
8. How does a depressant change a person's reaction time and balance?
SECTION 3
Learning & Development
Quick Refresher
Reinforcement vs. Punishment: Reinforcement makes a behavior happen more; punishment makes it happen less. Positive means adding something; Negative means taking something away.
|
Reinforcement (Behavior Increases) |
Punishment (Behavior Decreases) |
| Positive |
|
|
| (Add) |
Positive Reinforcement (PR): Add something good (praise or a sticker). |
Positive Punishment (PP): Add something unpleasant (extra chores). |
| Negative |
|
|
| (Remove) |
Negative Reinforcement (NR): Remove something annoying (turn off a loud alarm). |
Negative Punishment (NP): Take away something good (lose phone time). |
- Assimilation vs. Accommodation: Assimilation puts new things into a group you already know—like calling a zebra a "horse." Accommodation changes your groups when you learn something new—like making a new group for "zebras."
- Cognitive & Moral Development: Cognitive development is how thinking grows from hands-on ideas in childhood to big-picture thinking in teens. Moral development (Kohlberg) is how choices about right and wrong grow from avoiding punishment, to following rules, to caring about fairness and ethics.
Worked Example
Prompt: A teen's parents take away her car keys for a week because she missed curfew. Which strategy is this?
Answer: Negative punishment—something good (car keys) is taken away to make missing curfew happen less.
Your Turn
9. Write PR (Positive Reinforcement), NR (Negative Reinforcement), PP (Positive Punishment), or NP (Negative Punishment) for each example.
a) A student buckles their seat belt to stop the car's annoying warning beep. The student now buckles up immediately every time:
b) Getting a gold sticker for turning in homework on time:
c) Losing video game time for fighting with your sibling:
d) Getting detention for arriving late to class:
10. A toddler sees a raccoon for the first time and calls it a "kitty" because it has fur and four legs. Which process is this?
A) Accommodation
C) Negative reinforcement
B) Assimilation
D) Moral reasoning
11. When the toddler learns that raccoons are wild animals and makes a new group for them so she stops calling them "kitties," she is using .
12. Two students decide not to cheat on a test. One says, "I don't want to get detention," and the other says, "Cheating isn't fair to everyone else." According to Kohlberg, how does their moral reasoning differ?
SECTION 4
Emotion, Memory & Thinking
Quick Refresher
- Emotion Theories: Suppose you see a snake and your body reacts. James-Lange says your body reacts first, then you feel the emotion ("My heart races, so I feel scared"). Cannon-Bard says your body reacts and you feel the emotion at the exact same time ("My heart races and I feel scared together"). Schachter-Singer says body arousal (physical changes like a fast heartbeat) plus a mental label (a thought explaining why, like "That snake is dangerous!") create the emotion.
- Memory Stages: Encoding puts new info into your brain; Storage holds it over time; Retrieval pulls it back out when you need it.
- Study Strategies: Spaced practice spreads studying out over several days. Retrieval practice tests your memory (using flashcards or practice quizzes) instead of just rereading.
Worked Example: You hear a loud crash, your heart pounds, and you feel scared at the exact same moment. Answer: Cannon-Bard theory—your body reaction and emotion happen together.
13. Match each emotion theory to its order by writing A, B, or C on the line.
1. James-Lange
2. Cannon-Bard
3. Schachter-Singer
A. Body arousal + mental label → Emotion
B. Body reaction → Emotion
C. Body reaction and emotion at the same time
14. Complete the sentence using encoding, storage, and retrieval.
Putting vocabulary words into your brain is , keeping them there until Friday is , and pulling them back out during the quiz is .
15. Which study plan uses both spaced practice and retrieval practice?
A) Rereading notes for 3 hours the night before.
C) Highlighting the textbook once on Sunday.
B) Quizzing with flashcards 15 min/day for 4 days.
D) Copying the study guide right before class.
SECTION 5
Mixed Application
Answer in a few words or one short sentence.
16. Jordan studies 20 minutes every night for a week using practice questions, while his friend crams for 2 hours the night before. Which two study strategies is Jordan using?
17. After drinking two caffeinated sodas late at night, Sam cannot fall asleep at his usual bedtime. Which type of drug did Sam drink, and which sleep clock did it disrupt?
18. A reading test gives a student nearly identical scores each time, but the questions mostly measure math skills instead of reading ability. Is the test reliable, valid, or both? Explain briefly.
19. Mia's dad stops nagging her when she cleans her room. Mia now cleans her room sooner to avoid being nagged. What type of reinforcement is this?
