Chapter 1 and 2

Question 1

Psychological science

Answer 1

is the study, through research, of mind, brain, and behavior.
– The mind (mental activity: perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings)
– The brain (mental activity results from biological processes within the brain)
– Behavior (observable actions)

Question 2

Research

Answer 2

a scientific process that involves the careful collection of data.

Question 3

Critical Thinking

Answer 3

systematically questions and evaluates information using well‐supported evidence.

Question 4

Confirmation Bias

Answer 4

Ignoring evidence

Question 5

Self-Serving Bias

Answer 5

Failing to see own inadequacies

Question 6

Nature vs. Nurture

Answer 6

the arguments concerning whether psychological characteristics are biologically innate (i.e., nature) or acquired through environmental factors (i.e., nurture, such as education, experience, and culture).

Question 7

Mind/Body Problem

Answer 7

a fundamental psychological issue asking whether mind and body are separate and distinct or the mind is simply the physical brain’s subjective experience

Question 8

Reaction Time

Answer 8

to assess how quickly people can respond to events.

Question 9

Introspection

Answer 9

a systematic examination of subjective mental experiences that requires people to inspect and report on the content of their thoughts

Question 10

Structuralism

Answer 10

an approach to psychology based on the idea that conscious experience can be broken down into its basic underlying components. Used introspection to study consciousness.
- Edward Ticthner

Question 11

Functionalism

Answer 11

an approach to psychology concerned with the adaptive purpose, or function, of mind and behavior.
- William James

Question 12

Stream of Consciousness

Answer 12

a phrase coined by William James to describe each person’s continuous series of ever‐changing thoughts (“mind cannot be broken down)

Question 13

Evolution Theory

Answer 13

a theory presented by the naturalist Charles Darwin, which views the history of a species in terms of the inherited, adaptive value of physical characteristics, of mental activity, and of behavior.
- Charles Darwin

Question 14

Adaptations

Answer 14

In evolutionary theory the physical characteristics, skills, or abilities that increase the chances of reproduction or survival are likely to be passed along to future generations.

Question 15

Natural Selection

Answer 15

In evolutionary theory, the idea that those who inherit characteristics that help them adapt to their particular environments have a selective advantage over those who do not.

Question 16

Gestalt Theory

Answer 16

a theory based on the idea that the whole of personal experience is different from the sum of its constituent elements.
- Max Wertheimer

Question 17

Sigmund Freud

Answer 17

– Much of human behavior is determined by mental
processes operating below the level of awareness.
– Unconscious: the region where mental processes operate below the level of conscious awareness
- Used free association, in which the patient would talk about whatever he or she wanted to for as long as he or she wanted to

Question 18

John B. Watson

Answer 18

challenged psychology’s focus on conscious and unconscious mental processes.
– Developed behaviorism, a psychological approach that emphasizes the role of environmental forces and learning in producing observable behavior.

Question 19

B.F Skinner

Answer 19

• The most influential behaviorist.
• He argued that concepts of mental processes were of no scientific value in explaining behavior.
• … mental activities are another form of behavior

Question 20

George A. Miller

Answer 20

Studies showed that the simple laws of behaviorism could not explain all human activities (e.g., mental activities).
• In 1957 George A. Miller launched the cognitive revolution.
• Cognitive psychology: the study of mental functions, such as intelligence, thinking, language, memory, and decision making

Question 21

Cognitive Neuroscience

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Social Psychology

Answer 22

the study of how people influence other people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions

Question 23

Personality Psychology

Answer 23

the study of characteristic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in people and how they vary across social situations

Question 24

Neuroscience

Answer 24

• The study of working brain as it performs its vital psychological functions.
– Brain imaging methods, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
• Localization of function: Some brain areas are important for specific feelings, thoughts, and actions.
Many brain regions work together to produce behavior and mental activity.
– The Human Connectome Project was launched in 2010 as a major international research effort involving collaborators at a number of universities.

Question 25

The Human Genome

Answer 25

• The human genome: the basic genetic code, or blueprint, for the human body.
– For psychologists, this map represents the foundational knowledge for studying how specific genes affect thoughts, actions, feelings, and disorders.

Question 26

Theory

Answer 26

a model of interconnected ideas or concepts that explains what is observed (e.g., “depression is caused by negative self-concept”), makes predictions about future events, and is based on empirical evidence.

Question 27

Good Theories

Answer 27

How can we decide whether a theory is good?
– When we talk about a good theory, we do not mean that it is good because it is supported by research findings.
– One key feature of a good theory is that it should be falsifiable with testable hypotheses.
– Good theories also tend toward simplicity: The law of parsimony.

Question 28

Replication

Answer 28

repetition of a research study to confirm the results
– When the results from two or more studies are the same,
or at least support the same conclusion, confidence in the findings increases.

Question 29

Variable

Answer 29

phenomena of interest in research that can be measured, manipulated (changed) or both by researchers.
– E.g.,Inatreatmentresearch,thetreatment(e.g.,cognitive behavior therapy) and outcomes (e.g., depressive symptoms) measured are variables.

Question 30

Independent Variable

Answer 30

– A variable that get manipulated by the researcher

in an experimental study

Question 31

Dependent Variable

Answer 31

A variable that gets measured by the researcher (in an experimental study).

Question 32

Operational Definition

Answer 32

a definition that qualifies

(describes) and quantifies (measures) a variable so the variable can be understood objectively.

Question 33

Descriptive Research

Answer 33

research methods that involve observing behavior to describe that behavior objectively and systematically
• Three types of descriptive studies
1) Case study
2) Observation studies
3) Self-Report Methods/Interview

Question 34

Case Study

Answer 34

a descriptive research method that involves the intensive examination of a (unusual/unique) case/person or organization.

Question 35

Participation Observation

Answer 35

a type of descriptive study in which the researcher is involved in the situation
-The evolutionary psychologist and human behavioral ecologist Lawrence Sugiyama has conducted fieldwork in Ecuadorian Amazonia among the Shiwiar, Achuar, Shuar, and Zaparo peoples. Here, hunting with a bow and arrow, he is conducting a particularly active form of participant observation.

Question 36

Naturalistic Observation

Answer 36

a type of descriptive study in which the researcher is a passive observer, separated from the situation and making no attempt to change or alter ongoing behavior
- Using naturalistic observation, the primatologist Jane Goodall observes a family of chimpanzees. Animals are more likely to act naturally in their native habitats than in captivity.

Question 37

Reactivity

Answer 37

(Hawthorne effect) is the phenomenon that occurs in the observed, when knowledge that he/she is being observed alters his/her behavior.

Question 38

Observer Bias

Answer 38

systematic errors in observation that occur because of an observer’s expectations

Question 39

Experimenter Expectancy Effect

Answer 39

: actual change in the behavior of the people or nonhuman animals being observed that is due to the expectations of the observer
– Social psychologist Robert Rosenthal had college students train rats to run a maze (Rosenthal & Fode, 1963).

Question 40

Self Report and Interview Methods

Answer 40

methods of data collection in which people are asked to provide information about themselves, such as in self- report surveys or face-to- face interviews.

Question 41

Correlational Studies

Answer 41

a research method that describes and predicts whether and how variables are naturally related to each other in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alter them or assign causation between them.

Question 42

Zero Correlation

Answer 42

– a relationship between two variables in which one variable is not
predictably related to the other
– E.g., there is a zero correlation between body weight and intelligence.

Question 43

Positive Correlation

Answer 43

– a relationship between two variables in which both variables either
increase or decrease together
– Positive in this case does not mean “good.”
• E.g., ↑ anxiety, ↑depression

Question 44

Negative Correlation

Answer 44

– a relationship between two variables in which one variable increases
when the other decreases
– Negative in this case does not mean “bad.”
• E.g., ↑ anxiety, ↓ perceived quality of life