Ch. 1

Question 1

*psychological science

Answer 1

the study, through research, of mind, brain, and behavior

Question 2

mind

Answer 2

mental activity; perceptual experiences, memories, thoughts, and feelings

Question 3

behavior

Answer 3

totality of observable human actions

Question 4

amiable skepticism

Answer 4

remaining open to ideas, but being wary when good evidence and sound reasoning do not support them

Question 5

*critical thinking

Answer 5

systematically questioning and evaluating information using supported evidence

Question 6

confirmation bias

Answer 6

bias of placing greater importance on evidence that supports their beliefs

Question 7

superstition

Answer 7

misconception of thinking that two events that happen at the same time must be related

Question 8

hindsight bias

Answer 8

bias where people backtrack reasoning of past events when they were wrong beforehand

Question 9

heuristics

Answer 9

simple rules people follow to make decisions

Question 10

availability heuristic

Answer 10

inaccurate judgements; occurs when thinks that come easy to mind guide our thinking

Question 11

Fremdschamen

Answer 11

cringe; experience embarrassment for other people who do not realize they are embarrassing themselves

Question 12

*culture

Answer 12

the beliefs, values, rules, and customs that exist within a group of people that share a common language and environment

Question 13

*nature/nurture debate

Answer 13

argument about whether psychological characteristics are biologically innate or acquired through experiences

Question 14

*mind/body problem

Answer 14

Are mind and body separate? Or is the mind the physical brain’s subjective experience?

Question 15

sensus communis (common sense)

Answer 15

(da Vinci) all sensory image arrive at one location in the brain

Question 16

dualism

Answer 16

(Descartes) mind and body are separate yet intertwined

Question 17

reaction time

Answer 17

(Wundt) assess how quickly people can respond to events, used to study psychological processes

Question 18

*introspection

Answer 18

(Wundt) systematic examination of mental experiences that require people to inspect and report on the content of their thoughts

Question 19

*structuralism

Answer 19

(Titchener) conscious experience can be broken down into its basic parts

Question 20

*stream of consciousness

Answer 20

(James) phrase used to describe each person’s continuous series of ever-changing thoughts

Question 21

*functionalism

Answer 21

(James) approach concerned with the adaptive purpose, or function, of behavior

Question 22

*evolutionary theory

Answer 22

(Darwin) views the history of a species in terms of characteristics, mental activity, and behavior, over time

Question 23

survival of the fittest

Answer 23

(Darwin) idea that those species who better adapt to their surroundings will survive and reproduce

Question 24

school of thought

Answer 24

different ways of thinking in the psychology field

Question 25

*unconscious

Answer 25

the place where mental processes operate below the level of conscious awareness

Question 26

*psychoanalysis

Answer 26

(Freud) attempts to bring the content of the unconscious into conscious awareness so that conflicts can be revealed

Question 27

*behaviorism

Answer 27

(Watson) emphasizes the role of environmental forces in producing observable behavior

Question 28

*Gestalt theory

Answer 28

whole of personal experience is different from the sum of its parts

Question 29

*humanistic psychology

Answer 29

focused on the basic goodness of people and how they become happier and more fufilled

Question 30

*cognitive neuroscience

Answer 30

the study of the neural mechanisms underlying thought, learning, perception, language, and memory

Question 31

brain imaging

Answer 31

studies mental activity

Question 32

human genome / genetic code

Answer 32

blueprint of the human body

Question 33

globalization

Answer 33

the flow of people, commodities, and financial instruments among all regions of the world

Question 34

biological level of analysis

Answer 34

deals with how the physical body contributes to mind and behavior

Question 35

individual level of analysis

Answer 35

focuses on individual differences in personality and in the mental processes that affect how people perceive and know the world

Question 36

social level of analysis

Answer 36

involves how group contests affect the way in which people interact and influence each other

Question 37

cultural level of analysis

Answer 37

explores how people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are similar or different across cultures

Question 38

ethnomusicology

Answer 38

cross-cultural study of music preferences