PSYCH291 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Memory, Heart Rate, Anxiety
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSYCH291
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
The Marshmallow Test: Walter Mischel
• how children develop self-control at a young age.
• is a child's ability to resist temptation related to their success later in life as an
adult?
predicting future outcomes...
• longer wait times associated with
fewer behavioural problems in class.
higher SAT scores
more activation in prefrontal cortex (in their mid 40’s!) (Part of the brain that is
involved in self-control.
Understanding the research process:
• critically examine a study’s design to ask questions like:
how well was self-control measured?
can the results be generalized? (the more diverse the sample is, the more it can
be generalized)
are there alternative explanations? (maybe kids who trusted authority were
more likely to wait)
You won’t have to
• Math �
• memorize specific details of experiments (its about the research process, not the
content) (Know details, not specifics)
Animal Learning Research
• can piper infer direction from eye gaze?
• two chairs. standing behind one. can piper infer eye gaze?
◦ no. she went there because he was there. Proximity is an alternate
explanation.
• how would you design a study to examine how piper can understand a request to
move somewhere based on eye gaze?
◦ would have to be far away from the cat or look at something further away.
Conclusions:
• psychological research is a gradual, incremental process.
• researchers (and consumers of research) should always be on the lookout for
comfounds/alternative explanations!
Research vs. Intuition
intuition can lead us astray..
• inaccurate self-knowledge about how we effectively learn
◦ people use only 10% of their brains, people have different learning styles -
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
these are proven false by research.
Is highlighting/re-reading effective?
• no. There is no evidence that highlighting improves learning.
How well can you draw a bike?
• you think you know what a bike looks like, but when you go to draw one - you have
gaps in your knowledge.
• This is an illusion of knowledge.
◦ overconfidence bias.
Benefits of “retrieval practice”
• retrieve the word pairs many times from memory vs. retrieve the word pairs once from
memory.
◦ those who had to retrieve them more times did better.
• DO PRACTICE QUIZZES
Attention decreases while studying..
• exercise break study
◦ control (no breaks) vs non-exercise (3x5 min, game) vs. exercise (3x5min,
HIIT)
◦ those who had exercise breaks, their attention stayed constant during study
period
◦ those who played a game had the worst attention
◦
• 25% of the exams will cover material that is unique to lectures.
• lectures are collaborative (just like research)
• retrieval practice!
Do nature walks reduce anxiety?
• a possible study design:
◦ UW students rate their anxiety on a scale from 0-4
◦ walk once around UW park
◦ rate anxiety again.
• results found that an average felt 3 anxious, and by the end rated their anxiety as a
1.
• would you be confident in the conclusion that nature walks reduce anxiety? are their
any alternate explanations?
◦ no. It could be the fact you’re getting away from the stressful task, not
necessarily needing a walk
◦ could be if its just fresh air.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
You won"t have to: math, memorize specific details of experiments (its about the research process, not the content) (know details, not specifics) Animal learning research: can piper infer direction from eye gaze, two chairs. standing behind one. can piper infer eye gaze? no. she went there because he was there. Conclusions: psychological research is a gradual, incremental process, researchers (and consumers of research) should always be on the lookout for comfounds/alternative explanations! Research vs. intuition intuition can lead us astray. : inaccurate self-knowledge about how we effectively learn people use only 10% of their brains, people have different learning styles - these are proven false by research. There is no evidence that highlighting improves learning. How well can you draw a bike: you think you know what a bike looks like, but when you go to draw one - you have gaps in your knowledge. overconfidence bias, this is an illusion of knowledge.
