Chapter one

Question 0

In any type of psychology what five areas especially impact the work of a psychologist?

Answer 0

1. Human diversity
2. Age
3. Gender
4. Ethnicity
5. All other individual characteristics

Question 1

Psychology has specialty areas within the basic science of psychology itself. What are these specialty areas called?

Answer 1

Psychology “Subfields”

Question 2

What 3 tools does a psychologist use to work at perfecting their study of this science as they seek to conduct research and evaluate evidence along the way?

Answer 2

1. Critical thinking
2. Scientific methods
3. Ethical standards to guide them

Question 3

What is the definition of “psychology”?

Answer 3

Science seeking to understand behaviour and mental processes of people and applying that understanding to human nature.

Question 4

No matter the subfield, what methods do psychologists learn how to master in order to call themselves psychologists?

Answer 4

1. Study and predict

2. Improve or explain some aspects of human behaviour and mental processes

Question 5

Psychologists all over the world study the behaviour and mental processes of people in various cultures. What common issues are they seeking to investigate and research with the hope of discovering possible causes and possible cures within the science of psychology?

Answer 5

Study what can go wrong with people’s actions and what causes psychological disorders, problems in childhood development, even stress related illnesses.

Question 6

Some psychologists study what makes people happy and satisfied with their lives. What criteria do they see in these individuals which interests them and what is this psychology called?

Answer 6

These positive individuals seek to
-achieve at high levels in their lives.
-are creative
-want to help other people
-develop their overall “full potential” as a human being.
They focus on what makes life worth living and the
study of this aspect of psychology is called “positive psychology”.

Question 7

Who founded “structuralism” and are it’s goals and method?

Answer 7

Wilhelm Wundt. Goal to study conscious experience and its structure
Method used is Experiments; introspection

Question 8

Who founded the “Gestalt” psychology and what are it’s goals and method used to achieve goals?

Answer 8

Founded by Max Wertheimer. Goal is that it is used to describe the organization of mental processes (“the whole is different from the sum of its parts”) the method used is observation of sensory/perceptual phenomena. In Germany, Wundt explored the building blocks of consciousness.

Question 9

Who founded “Psychoanalysis” and what are it’s goals and what is it’s method?

Answer 9

Sigmund Freud is founder.
Goals are to explain personality and behaviour, to develop techniques for treating mental disorders.
Method used is study of individual cases.

Question 10

Who founded the school of thought called “Functionalism” and what are it’s goals and what method does it use to achieve it’s goals?

Answer 10

William James founded functionalism. Goal is to study how the mind works in allowing an organism to adapt to the environment method used is Naturalistic observation of animal and human behavior

Question 11

Who founded the school of thought called “Behaviorism” and what are it’s goals and what method does it use to achieve it’s goals? With the behavioural approach what do psychologists believe is the primary determination of human behaviour?

Answer 11

John B. Watson; B. F. Skinner are founders. Goal is to study only observable behavior and explain the behaviour via learning principles. The method used is by way of observation of the relationship between environmental stimuli and overt responses. Psychologists who take the behavioral approach consider behavior to be determined primarily by learning based on experiences with rewards and punishments.

Question 12

What do cognitive psychologists focus on? And how does the cognitive approach assume behaviour can be understood?

Answer 12

The basic psychological processes such as learning, memory, and perception.The cognitive approach assumes that behavior can be understood through analysis of the mental processes that underlie it.

Question 13

What do biological psychologists explore?

Answer 13

Biological psychologists explore the influence of brain chemistry and other physiological factors on behavior and mental processes.

Question 14

What do personality psychologists focus on?

Answer 14

Personality psychologists focus on characteristics that set people apart from one another.

Question 15

What do developmental psychologists focus their study on?

Answer 15

Developmental psychologists try to understand the development of behavior and mental processes over a lifetime.

Question 16

What do quantitative psychologists focus on?

Answer 16

Quantitative psychologists develop methods for statistical analysis of data.

Question 17

What do clinical or counselling psychologists provide to the community?

Answer 17

Clinical and counseling psychologists provide direct service to troubled people and conduct research on abnormal behavior.

Question 18

What do community psychologists study within the science of psychology?

Answer 18

Community psychologists work to prevent mental disorders and extend mental health services to those who need it.

Question 19

What do educational psychologists focus on as opposed to school psychologists?

Answer 19

Educational psychologists conduct and apply research on teaching and learning, whereas school psychologists specialize in assessing and alleviating children’s academic problems.

Question 20

What do social psychologists focus on within psychology?

Answer 20

Social psychologists examine questions regarding how people influence one another.

Question 21

What do industrial and organizational psychologists focus their training on within the field of science known as psychology?

Answer 21

Industrial and organizational psychologists conduct research on topics such as increasing the motivation of employees and helping companies select the best new workers.

Question 22

What do forensic psychologists do?

Answer 22

Forensic psychologists conduct and apply psychological research in legal settings.

Question 23

Explain how psychology subfields work with one another?

Answer 23

Psychology’s subfields often overlap, and psychologists often work in more than one subfield, sharing knowledge with colleagues in other subfields and contributing to knowledge in other disciplines.

Question 24

What are psychology’s roots and when and where did they first emerge?

Answer 24

Psychology’s roots are in philosophy, especially in empiricism. The modern science of psychology began to emerge in the late nineteenth century as scientists in Germany and North America established laboratories to conduct psychological research.

Question 25

Who used Darwin’s theory of evolution and what were they exploring?

Answer 25

James applied Darwin’s theory of evolution to the exploration of human behavior.

Question 26

In the early twentieth century Watson argued that to be truly scientific psychologists must focus on what? What did Watson then found and how is his school of thought relevant to our society today?

Answer 26

In the early twentieth century, Watson argued that to be truly scientific, psychologists should focus only on observable behavior. He founded behaviorism, which dominated psychology for decades. Today, consciousness—in the form of cognitive processes—is being studied intensively once again.

Question 27

Why don’t all psychologists explain behavior in the same way?

Answer 27

Psychologists differ in their approaches to psychology—that is, in the assumptions, questions, and methods they believe will be most helpful in their work.

Question 28

What do psychologists who adopt a biological approach to psychology examine?

Answer 28

Psychologists who adopt a biological approach examine how physiological factors shape behavior and mental processes.

Question 29

What approach to psychology did Darwin’s theory of evolution stimulate and what does this approach emphasize?

Answer 29

Darwin’s theory helped stimulate the evolutionary approach, which emphasizes the inherited, adaptive aspects of behavior and mental processes.

Question 30

How does the “psychodynamic approach”to psychology see and describe human behaviour and mental processes?

Answer 30

The psychodynamic approach sees behavior and mental processes as a struggle to resolve conflicts between impulses and the demands made by society to control those impulses.

Question 31

How does the humanistic approach to psychology view and explain human behaviour?

Answer 31

The humanistic approach views behavior as controlled by people’s decisions about their lives, based on their perceptions of the world.

Question 32

Psychologists increasingly take into account the influence of culture and other sociocultural factors such as ___________ and __________in shaping human behaviour and __________ ___________.

Answer 32

Psychologists increasingly take into account the influence of culture and other sociocultural factors such as gender and ethnicity in shaping human behavior and mental processes.

Question 33

What is the definition of critical thinking? What five questions are asked in this process for thinking to be critical?

Answer 33

Critical thinking is the process of assessing claims and making judgments on the basis of well-supported evidence. This process involves asking five questions:

1. What am I being asked to believe or accept?
2. Is evidence available to support the claim?
3. Can that evidence be interpreted another way? 4. What evidence would help to evaluate the alternatives?
4. What conclusions are most reasonable?