Intro to Psychology (Psy 120)

Chapter 9 Non-human animals often perform impressive intellectual feats. Is human intelligence unique? Are there other explanations for complex animal behaviour? According to Noam Chomsky "When we study human language, we are approaching what some might call the 'human essence,' the qualities of mind that are, so far as we know, unique".  The human is the only species that is capable of language in the sense of verbal and signed expression of complex grammar. Although our cognitive ability is more developed than all other animals, it is correct that human intelligence is unique. We humans are the only species that possess the gene that helps with the tongue, lip, and vocal cord movements that enable human speech. With this in mind, that humans are further capable of higher cognitive function involved with language than any other animal, it does not mean that non-human animals are not capable of high cognitive function involved with communication.  Apes are...

Chapter 8 Some people claim that children’s memories of abuse are always accurate, while others claim that children cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. How can we avoid either-or thinking on such an emotional issue? Abuse is a very stressful and emotional topic regardless of the types of abuse received. Emotion and stress almost pave a way for memory. When someone is stressed their amygdala is provoked thus boosting the activity in the brain's memory-forming areas and significantly stressful events can form almost unforgettable memories. This suggests that memories serve to predict the future and alert us of potential danger. Very emotional events produce a quite narrowed memory, only focusing on high priority information and reducing the recollection of irrelevant details. "Flashbulb memories" suggest just that, it is a clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event.  In the debate of children's memories of alleged abuse, whether they'...

Chapter 7 People cling to superstitious rituals because they think they work. Could this be explained in terms of operant conditioning principles? Operant conditioning is a type of learning. There are multiple types of conditioning this chapter mentions. With operant conditioning it is when behavior becomes more likely to recur when the decision you've made is followed by reinforcement. If your behavior or decision is followed by punishment then it is less likely that you would behave or do whatever you did to be punished again. It is a pretty straight forward concept. To put into example this learning condition say a child were to clean their room without being asked, it is very likely that their parents would be proud and say "good job" or "that's awesome". Allowing the child to feel accomplished thus making it more likely that they will do it again. In contrast to that, say the child were to talk back to their parents when asked to clean their roo...