1. A student describes to her uncle what she learned in psychology class. “Some guy taught a bunch of dogs to drool when he rang a bell?” the uncle says. “What is the point of that?” In your own words, explain what classical conditioning is. Then explain what effects the principles of classical conditioning could have on people (or animals) today.
2. An extended family is eating a holiday dinner when one family member brings up a funny incident that happened at the same family’s holiday the year before. “That’s not how I remember it!” another family member says. “No, she’s right. That’s exactly what happened!” someone else says. Is someone in the family lying? Explain how what you learned in this unit might help the entire family understand what is happening here. Use the word malleable or malleability in your response, and explain the word’s meaning.
3. Psychology students often must memorize this definition of psychology: the science of describing, explaining, predicting, and controlling behavior. Come up with a strategy that will help you remember this definition. Use a technique you learned in the unit. For instance, you might create an acrostic or acronym for the letters DEPCB. Or you might use rhyming, chunking, or visualization, or you might combine two or more of these techniques.
4. Two patients are in a hospital. One has retrograde amnesia and the other has anterograde amnesia. Explain one similarity and one difference between the two types of amnesias. Then predict how these two patients will interact with each other.
5. A psychology student has a five-year-old sister. He knows he has to take care of this sister on Tuesday and Thursday nights while his mother works late. However, he would really like his sister to play quietly while he finishes his homework. Define the Law of Effect in your own words. Then suggest how the student can use the Law of Effect to encourage his sister to play quietly and not disturb him too much.
