Chapter 1

Question 1

Identify the three key concepts in the definition of psychology.

Answer 1

1. Scientific (collect & evaluate information)
2. Behavior (things we do that can be observed)
3. Mental Processes (our private internal experiences)

Question 2

________ rely on nonscientific or deliberately fraudulent methods to explain personality.

Answer 2

Pseudopsychologists

Question 3

Briefly explain the four goals of psychology

Answer 3

1. Describe (What is their nature?)
2. Explain (Why do they occur?)
3. Predict (When will they occur?)
4. Change (How can we change them?)

Psychologists four goals are to answer four basic questions about behavior and mental processes.

Question 4

You dread going to the grocery store because you got lost there when you were a child. This illustrates psychologies goal of ________ behavior.

Answer 4

Explained behavior. (explains “why”)

Question 5

The goal of ____(1)____ is to tell “what” occurred, whereas the goal of ____(2)____ is to tell “when”

Answer 5

1. Description

2. Prediction

Question 6

The ________ school of psychology sought to identify the basic building blocks of the mind.

Answer 6

Wundt School of Psychology

Question 7

__________ investigated the function of mental processes in adapting to the environment

Answer 7

William James - a functionalist

Question 8

What is structuralism?

Answer 8

Deals with the structure of mental life.

Structuralism seeks to identify elements of thought through introspection and then to determine how these elements combine to form the whole of experience.

Structuralism failed when different observers introspected and then disagreed on their experiences, no scientific method existed to settled the dispute.

Question 9

Why are Freudian slips considered important to psychoanalysis?

Answer 9

Freudian slips supposedly revealed a person’s true unconscious desires and conflict.

He also believed many psychological problems are caused by conflicts between “acceptable” behavior and “unacceptable,” unconscious sexual or aggressive motives.

To deal with these unconscious conflicts, Freud developed a form of psychotherapy, or “talk therapy,” called psychoanalysis.

Question 10

Which of the following terms do not belong together? A. structuralism, observable behavior; B. behaviorism stimulus-response; C. psychoanalytic unconscious conflict; D. humanism, free will

Answer 10

A. Structuralism, observable behavior

Structuralism: deals with the structures of mental life.

Structuralists sought to identify the elements of thought through introspection and then to determine how their elements combine to form the whole of experience.

Functionalism: Studies how the mind functions to adapt human and nonhuman animals to their environment.

Helped expand the scope of psychology to include research on the emotions and observable behaviors, initiated the psychological testing movement, and changed the course of modern education and Industry.

Question 11

What is the biopsychosocial model?

Answer 11

The biopsychosocial model views biological processes (genetics, brain functions, neurotransmitters, evolution), psychological factors (learning, thinking, emotion, personality, motivation), and social forces (family, culture, ethnicity, social class, politics), as interrelated influences that interact with the previously described seven major perspective

Question 12

What are the seven major perspective?

Answer 12

Behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, biological, evolutionary, sociocultural, psychodynamic.

Question 13

What is psychodynamic psychology’s main emphasis?

Answer 13

Unconscious drives, motives, conflicts, and childhood experiences

Question 14

What is behavioral psychology’s main emphasis?

Answer 14

Objective, observable, environmental influences on overt behavior

Question 15

What is humanistic psychology’s main emphasis?

Answer 15

Free will, self-actualization, and human nature as naturally positive and growth-seeking

Question 16

What is cognitive psychology’s main emphasis?

Answer 16

Thinking, perceiving, problem-solving, memory, language, and information processing

Question 17

What is biological psychology’s main emphasis?

Answer 17

Genetics and biological processes in the brain and other parts of the nervous system

Question 18

What is evolutionary psychology’s main emphasis?

Answer 18

Natural selection, adaption, and evolution of behavior and mental processes

Question 19

What is sociocultural psychology’s main emphasis?

Answer 19

Social interaction and the cultural determinants of behavior and mental processes

Question 20

What is Psychology?

Answer 20

Psyche - Mind
Logos - Word

•Psychology – scientific study of behavior and mental processes (empirically based)

Question 21

APA – Ethical Principles of psychologists and Code of Conduct

Answer 21

–Informed consent
–Voluntary participation
–Restricted use of deception and debriefing
–Confidentiality
–Alternative activities

Question 22

Basic vs. Applied Research

Answer 22

–Description, explanation, and prediction

–Change

Question 23

•Scientific Method

Answer 23

–Replication
–Meta-analysis
–Theory

Question 24

Experimental Method

Answer 24

Controlled scientific procedure that involves manipulation of variables to determine cause and effect

–Features:
•Experimental group – receives treatment
•Control group – no treatment
•Independent Variable – variable that is manipulated to determine its causal effect on the dependent variable
•Dependent Variable – variable that is measured; it is affect by the independent variable
•Confounding Variables – nuisance variables that may affect the outcome of the study and lead to erroneous conclusions

Question 25

Types of Experimental method Bias

Answer 25

–Experimenter Bias – researcher influences research results in the expected direction
–Single-blind study – only researcher knows who is experimental or control group
–Double-blind study – both researcher and participants are unaware of who is in which group

Question 26

Random participant Assignment

Answer 26

using chance to assign participants to experimental or control conditions

Question 27

What is Descriptive Research?

Answer 27

–Observing and recording behavior and mental processes without producing causal explanations
–Naturalistic observation, surveys, and case studies

Question 28

Correlational Research?

Answer 28

–Variables are observed or measured to identify relationships between them
–Correlation does not imply causation

Question 29

Biological research?

Answer 29

–Autopsy
–Brain lesioning
–Brain injuries
–Dissection, ablation, observation
–Electroencephalogram EEG
–Electrical stimulation
–Brain imaging

Question 30

What is Bx an abbreviation for?

Answer 30

Behavioral