Psychology 101—Midterm #2, Fall 2005
Answers
to Short Answer Questions
1. a) A substance that can cause damage to the fetus
b) 8-16 weeks
b) Migration: neurons are moving from where they were
created to their final destinations. Can also
mention
that this is a stage of continued proliferation, but that's not as critical.
c) Alcohol: brain cells migrate further than they should.
d) Radiation: brain cells don't migrate as far as they should.
e) BONUS: glial cells
2. a) Icon or Iconic memory
b) 250 msec (or about ¼ sec)
c) Because the full-report technique: takes too long to say the letters--by the time a few letters are said
by the subject, the icon has already faded away.
3. a) Headphones: different information being presented to the subject in each ear. In one ear, a story is
presented and the subject has to shadow the story. In the other ear, other stimuli are being
presented.
This is enough of a description for full credit. They could certainly go on
to
describe
the expected results, etc., but not necessary for how the question is worded.
b) Self-relevant information (e.g., name)
4. a) suprachiasmatic nucleus
b) REM sleep decreases as the human infant grows to adulthood
c) REM sleep increases as you rise in the evolutionary ladder
5. a) Neurons that are active only during REM
b) In the pons ("brain stem" is not good enough given the added instruction to be specific)
c) Acetylcholine (ACh is OK)
c) Neurons that are active only during NREM
d) Locus coeruleus (or ceruleus)
6. Patient is blind in one visual field / present stimuli to that field and ask patient to report what he sees /
Patient reports seeing nothing / Patient asked to guess / patient guesses and is significantly better than
chance despite subjective experience of seeing nothing.
7. Buzzer (UCS) --> waking (UCR)
Pair Buzzer with something like wetness in bed (underwear, blanket that detects moisture)
Over time, Buzzer (UCS) is paired with bladder tension (CS)
So over time, bladder tension will cause waking (now is the CR).
8. a) Variable ratio reinforcement (I guess that ³partial reinforcement² is acceptable here)
b) Gambling / parents trying to get their child to sleep alone without crying but going in to soothe the
child
at different times after the child starts crying From the question wording, they donıt
actually
have to say anything more than parents trying to get their child to sleep alone
without
crying.
9. Late morning / noon / early afternoon