Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology Key Terms

Question 1

Psychology:

Answer 1

The scientific study of thought and behavior.

Question 2

Metacognitive thinking:

Answer 2

The process that includes the ability first to think and then to reflect on one’s own thinking: THINKING ABOUT YOUR THINKING

Question 3

Cognitive psychology (aka experimental psychology):

Answer 3

The study of how we perceive information, how we learn and remember, how we acquire and use language, and how we solve problems.

Question 4

Developmental psychology:

Answer 4

The study of how thought and behavior changes and shows stability across the life span.

Question 5

Behavioral neuroscience:

Answer 5

Studies the links among the brain, mind, and behavior.

Question 6

Biological psychology:

Answer 6

Researches connections between bodily systems and chemicals and their relationship to behavior and thought.

Question 7

Personality psychology:

Answer 7

Studies what makes people unique, as well as the consistencies in people’s behavior across time and situations.

Question 8

Social psychology:

Answer 8

Studies how the real or imagined presence of others influences thought, feeling, and behavior.

Question 9

Cross-cultural psychology:

Answer 9

The study of how thought and behavior varies and is similar across different cultures around the world.

Question 10

Clinical psychology:

Answer 10

Studies the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and ways to promote psychological health.

Question 11

Counseling psychology:

Answer 11

Studies the treatment and assessment of less severe psychological disorders in relatively healthy people; counseling psychologists may assist patients with career and vocational interests.

Question 12

Health psychologists:

Answer 12

Studies the role of psychological factors in physical health and illness.

Question 13

Educational psychology:

Answer 13

Draws on several other areas of psychology to study how students learn, the effectiveness of particular teaching techniques, the dynamics of school populations, and the psychology of teaching; can also study certain populations of students

Question 14

Industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology:

Answer 14

Industrial side: involves matching employees to their jobs and uses psychological principles and methods to select employees and evaluate job performance.

Organizational side: studies how work environments and management styles influence worker motivation, satisfaction, and productivity.

Question 15

Sports psychology:

Answer 15

Studies the psychological factors that affect performance and participation in sports and exercise.

Question 16

Community psychology:

Answer 16

Studies how individuals are connected to and part of their communities.

Question 17

Forensic psychology:

Answer 17

A blend of psychology, law, and criminal justice; evaluates the state of mind and mental capacity of those involved in a case.

Question 18

Shamans:

Answer 18

Medicine men or women who treated the possessed by driving demons with elaborate rituals, such as exorcisms, incantations, prayers, and sometimes trephination.

Question 19

Asylums:

Answer 19

Facilities for the mentally ill; first asylums were essentially storage houses for the mentally ill and other social castaways to live in inhumane conditions.

Question 20

Moral treatment:

Answer 20

A 19th-century approach to treating the mentally ill with dignity in a caring environment.

Question 21

Psychoanalysis:

Answer 21

Sigmund Freud; assumes that the unconscious mind is the most powerful force behind thought and behavior; childhood experiences are a powerful force in the development of our adult personality.

Question 22

Cognitive-behavioral therapy:

Answer 22

Focuses on changing a person’s maladaptive thought and behavior patterns by discussing and rewarding more appropriate ways of thinking and behaving.

Question 23

DSM-5:

Answer 23

“Diagnostic and Statistical Manual - 5;” includes diagnoses for more than 250 psychological disorders

Question 24

Empiricism:

Answer 24

The view that knowledge and thoughts come from experience and observations.

Question 25

Tabula rosa:

Answer 25

John Locke; the mind begins as a “blank slate,” onto which experience writes the contents of the mind.

Question 26

Psychophysics:

Answer 26

The study of how people experience physical stimuli such as light, sound waves, and touch.

Question 27

Behaviorism:

Answer 27

Argues that if you want to understand behavior you should only focus on behavior, not hypothetical and unobservable internal states such as thoughts, feelings, drives, or motives.

Question 28

Humanistic-positive psychology:

Answer 28

Assumes that people strive toward meaning, growth, well-being, happiness, and psychological health; positive emotions and happiness foster psychological health and pro-social behavior.

Question 29

Cognitive (perspective):

Answer 29

Assumes what we do is shaped by how we think and perceive the world.

Question 30

Sociocultural/Cross-Cultural:

Answer 30

Argues that the immediate (micro; family, friends) and larger (macro; regional and national) environments influence the thought, behavior, and personality of individuals within a culture.

Question 31

Neuropsychological-Behavioral Genetic:

Answer 31

Behavior, thoughts, feelings, and personality are influenced by differences in basic genetic, epigenetic, and neurological systems between individuals.

Question 32

Evolutionary (perspective):

Answer 32

Human thought, behavior, and personality have been shaped by forces of evolution over millions of years; this perspective emphasizes that what we think, feel, and do is always an interaction between nature and nurture.

Question 33

Nature-nurture debate:

Answer 33

Nature-only: who we are comes from inborn tendencies and genetically based traits.

Nurture-only: we are all essentially the same at birth and that the accumulation of experiences makes us who we are.

Question 34

Nature through nurture:

Answer 34

The position that the environment constantly interacts with biology to shape who we are and what we do.

Question 35

Evolution:

Answer 35

The change over time in frequency with which specific genes occur within a breeding species.

Question 36

Natural selection:

Answer 36

A feedback process whereby nature favors one design over another, depending on whether it has an impact on reproduction.

Question 37

Sexual selection:

Answer 37

Operates when members of the opposite sex find certain traits attractive or appealing and therefore over long periods of time these traits become more common in the population.

Question 38

Adaptations:

Answer 38

Inherited solutions to ancestral problems that have been selected for because they contribute in some way to reproductive success.

Question 39

Evolutionary psychology:

Answer 39

The branch of psychology that studies human behavior by asking what adaptive problems it may have solved for our early ancestors.

Question 40

Assumption:

Answer 40

A starting point for our thinking and reasoning that is often taken for granted.

Question 41

Critical thinking:

Answer 41

A process by which one analyzes, evaluations, and forms ideas.