PSYC 309 Final Exam Study Guide Fall 2024 PDF

**Final Exam Study Guide** ========================== **General Information** [Location]: Blackboard - The final will appear in the "Final Exam" folder when it is available. [Availability]: **12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Monday, December 16th** - *Important: You may begin the exam at any ti...

**Final Exam Study Guide** ========================== **General Information** [Location]: Blackboard - The final will appear in the "Final Exam" folder when it is available. [Availability]: **12:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. Monday, December 16th** - *Important: You may begin the exam at any time during this window. However, once you open the exam you must complete it within the time limit (see below). Once you begin, you will **[not]** be able to pause and resume later. [Your exam must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. so plan accordingly].\ * [Time limit]: 1.5 hours\*\* - *Although the exam is timed, you will not be kicked out of the exam when the time limit is up; the timer is there to help you keep pace. However, the final was designed so that most students could complete it within a 1.5-hour time frame.* - *\*\*Note: Students who receive additional time through their SDS accommodations will be granted additional time through BB's settings.\ * *[Expectations:]* - *Some of the concepts learned in class may be defined differently elsewhere. Your answers should reflect the definitions of concepts that you learned in this class.* - *Students are to complete this exam independently and in one sitting.* **Material Covered** - All readings listed in the syllabus - All lecture materials, lecture activities, and assignments - Online materials (e.g., additional resources, readings, **videos**, etc. posted to BB) *Note*. Use the information from online sources, **assignments**, **lecture activities**, BB **quizzes**, etc. to supplement your understanding of the concepts presented in readings and lecture. **Additional Hints** - Know your facts, but also understand the concepts -- don't just memorize. You may need to apply the concepts you've learned to a new example or scenario. - Read questions carefully to make sure you understand what is being asked. - Take your time, but try to move through the questions at a quick and steady pace. - Don't get stuck on a question. If you have trouble, move on and come back later. Just don't forget to circle back to it later on. **\ ** **Content Information** This course has six core learning objectives. Areas to focus your studying on are listed under the course learning objectives below. 1. Describe psychology including its definition, history, methods, ethical principles, and diversity in research and application, and differentiate between its various subfields in terms of their methods and types of questions addressed. - Definition of psychology - Empiricism - Subfields of psychology (i.e., "breadth of psychology"; know names & definitions) - APA Ethics Code -- 5 general principles - The Belmont report- principles and purpose - Ethics & participant treatment (e.g., ending participation, using deception in research, consent, organizations that review research studies etc.) 2. Demonstrate developing skills in information literacy, APA-style writing, and quantitative reasoning. - How to find and identify credible sources - Peer Review - Identify variable type (e.g., independent/dependent, extraneous/confounding, nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio) - Mean, median, & mode -- what are they/purpose; calculate given a sample dataset - Read/interpret correlation matrix s(incl. identifying statistically significant correlations, direction, strength) - Positive & negative correlations - Statistical significance (probability level that findings were due to chance; *p*-values) - Definition of a confidence interval - Inferential vs. descriptive statistics -- definition & purpose/application of each - BA/BS similarities and differences (i.e., reasons for pursuing each; career goals/interests) - Course sequence needed to take a 400-level class - Graduation requirements - Graduate programs in Psychology (e.g., differences/similarities, admission criteria, variation by degrees, etc.); career aspirations and degree types - High impact practices, opportunities (e.g., specializations/concentrations and certificates) offered by the Psychology department, and/or special interest groups that may help 1) foster a student's growth and development in the field and 2) strengthen their graduate school applications. - UMBC campus resources to help with class choices, academic development, career/professional advice, etc. - Similarities/differences between resumes and CVs - Interview preparation/how to answer common interview questions - Ways that intuition can be biased (the availability heuristic, confirmation bias, etc.) - Similarities & differences between science and pseudoscience - The scientific method (steps discussed in class -- i.e., the order steps "occur") What is needed to test a causal claim (i.e. what is needed in an experiment to determine causality) - Random assignment; control - Hypotheses & theories -- purpose of each - External validity (& generalizability) - Internal validity (& constructs; "relationship" w/ external validity &/or reliability) - Reliability (definitions; relationship w/ internal validity & external validity/generalizability, interrater, test-retest reliability) - The 4 big validities discussed in Morling (Construct, Internal, External, Statistical) - Identify specific constructs, IV/DV, & hypotheses based on an example study description - Research designs (5 discussed in class; characteristics & purposes of each - e.g., experimental vs. quasi-experimental, etc.) - Research designs & whether or not a cause-and-effect relationship can be inferred - The "third variable problem" - Extraneous vs. confounding variables (what they are, and some methods for dealing w/ confounds) - How to cite a source using APA style (e.g., information needed for in-text citation with & without a direct quote, from primary and secondary sources, writing a Reference page) - Components of an APA style empirical paper (name of sections and what's included in each), types of journal articles - Components of APA style (avoiding anthropomorphism, clarity, conciseness, continuity, tone, and verb tense - The difference between Resumes and CVs; how to write each - Writing cover letters and personal statements