Chapter 1 Review

Question 1

Critical thinking is defined as thinking that does not

a. blindly accept arguments and conclusions.
b. examine assumptions.
c. believe there is a need to uncover hidden values.
d. assess the source or conclusions.

Answer 1

a. blindly accept arguments and conclusions.

Question 2

Which view of psychology believes that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without referring to mental processes?

a. functionalism
b. behaviorism
c. Freudian psychology
d. structuralism

Answer 2

b. behaviorism

Question 3

Which perspective is most relevant to understanding the links between brain chemistry and moods?

a. behavioral
b. cognitive
c. social-cultural
d. cognitive neuroscience

Answer 3

d. cognitive neuroscience

Question 4

Gregory, an industrial-organizational psychologist, is helping an employer determine the best applicants for his human resources department. He is engaged in

a. basic research.
b. applied research.
c. behavioral research.
d. cognitive research.

Answer 4

b. applied research.

Question 5

An explanation of human behavior provided by the neuroscience, cognitive, social-cultural, and psychology’s other perspectives is most clearly provided by

a. SQ3R.
b. behaviorism.
c. the psychodynamic perspective.
d. a biopsychosocial approach.

Answer 5

d. a biopsychosocial approach.

Question 6

Which of the following best describes cognitive psychology?

a. the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition
b. the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
c. the study of mental processes, such as those that occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems
d. the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

Answer 6

c. the study of mental processes, such as those that occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems

Question 7

The use of scientific methods to explore people’s satisfaction with the past, happiness with the present, and optimism about the future is most clearly characteristic of

a. behaviorism.
b. positive psychology.
c. cognitive neuroscience.
d. the biopsychosocial approach.

Answer 7

b. positive psychology.

Question 8

Samantha is working to convince the administrators, teachers, and other staff members at a public high school to change the school policy regarding sexual harassment among students. Samantha is likely a

a. community psychologist.
b. psychiatrist.
c. clinical psychologist.
d. counseling psychologist.

Answer 8

a. community psychologist.

Question 9

Psychological theories help to

a. organize scientific observations.
b. explain observed facts.
c. generate hypotheses.
d. do all of these things.

Answer 9

d. do all of these things.

Question 10

A correlation of +0.85 between children’s height and their popularity among their schoolmates indicates that

a. higher levels of popularity among peers are associated with greater physical height in children.
b. there is no relationship between children

’

s height and their popularity.
c. being unusually short or tall has a negative impact on children

’

s popularity.
d. children

’

s height has no causal impact on their popularity.

Answer 10

a. higher levels of popularity among peers are associated with greater physical height in children.

Question 11

In drug-treatment studies, double-blind procedures minimize outcome differences between experimental and control conditions that could be attributed to

a. replication.
b. operational definitions.
c. random sampling.
d. placebo effects.

Answer 11

d. placebo effects.

Question 12

In an experimental study of the extent to which mental alertness is inhibited by sleep deprivation, mental alertness would be the

a. control condition.
b. independent variable.
c. experimental condition.
d. dependent variable.

Answer 12

d. dependent variable.

Question 13

Ethical principles developed by psychologists urge investigators to

a. avoid the use of animals in experimental research.
b. minimize the use of the double-blind procedure with human research participants.
c. treat information about individual research participants confidentially.
d. avoid the use of financial incentives in any kind of research.

Answer 13

c. treat information about individual research participants confidentially.

Question 14

The scientific study of behavior without reference to mental processes was of special interest to

a. Jean Piaget.
b. William James.
c. Sigmund Freud.
d. John B. Watson.

Answer 14

d. John B. Watson.

Question 15

Which view of psychology emphasized the ways that the unconscious mind and childhood experienced affected behavior?

a. functionalism
b. behaviorism
c. Freudian psychology
d. structuralism

Answer 15

c. Freudian psychology

Question 16

A negative correlation between people’s work-related stress and their marital happiness would indicate that

a. work-related stress has a negative impact on marital happiness.
b. marital unhappiness promotes work-related stress.
c. higher levels of marital happiness are associated with lower levels of work-related stress.
d. marital happiness has no causal influence on work-related stress.

Answer 16

c. higher levels of marital happiness are associated with lower levels of work-related stress.

Question 17

To assess whether sense of humor is affected by environmental conditions, researchers exposed married participants to view films either outside in a garden or in an office setting. In this research, the independent variable consisted of

a. reactions to the comedy skit.
b. environmental conditions.
c. marital status.
d. sense of humor.

Answer 17

b. environmental conditions.

Question 18

The tendency to perceive meaningful patterns in random sequences of outcomes often leads us to underestimate the extent to which outcomes result from

a. a placebo effect.
b. psychic powers.
c. hidden values.
d. chance.

Answer 18

d. chance.

Question 19

Understanding why the fear of darkness may have contributed to the survival of our human ancestors is most relevant to the ________ perspective.

a. behavioral
b. cognitive
c. evolutionary
d. Psychodynamic

Answer 19

c. evolutionary

Question 20

After the horror of 9/11, many people said the American government should obviously have foreseen the likelihood of this form of terrorism. This perception most clearly illustrates

a. overconfidence.
b. hindsight bias.
c. random sampling.
d. naturalistic observation.

Answer 20

b. hindsight bias.