Foundations of psychology

Question 1

What are the main steps of introspection

Answer 1

1. stimulus
2. inspecting your thoughts
3. draw conclusions

Question 2

Define cognitive psychology

Answer 2

The study of mental processes such as attention, memory, problem solving and creativity

Question 3

Define epigenetics and what does it have to do with early psychology

Answer 3

Epigenetics describe the study of environmental influences on the expression of our genes. Early psychology was often associated with philosophy and questions about the mind/consciousness so debates about nature vs nurture were relevant.

Question 4

Define psychoanalytic theory

Answer 4

A personality theory that views the mind as a set of conflicting processes mostly hidden from awareness

Question 5

How did Broca’s work support materialism

Answer 5

Broca discovered that damaging specific parts of the brain could lead to the impairement of specfic functions. Eg. Louis ‘tan’

Question 6

How did freud view hysterical symptoms

Answer 6

He viewed them as related to past unresolved trauma that was pushed out of awareness and now manifested as physical symptoms

Question 7

How did functionalism viewed consciousness and what did it think about mental processes

Answer 7

It viewed consciousness as a flowing stream rather than multiple elements. For functionalism, mental processes were a direct product of natural selection since they thought that having a consciousness could benefit survival.

Question 8

How were the experiments conducted for structuralism

Answer 8

Using introspection, a method based on people’s self-report on their subjective experiences

Question 9

John B. Watson is famous for which experiment

Answer 9

Little Albert, who was the subject in his experiment that had the goal to see if fear could be taught. He would be let alone with a lab rat and when Litlle Albert would come in contact with it, the experimenters would ring a loud gong noise. Eventually, Little Albert started fearing the rat.

Question 10

What are the five dimensions known as the big five

Answer 10

conscientiousness
agreeableness
neuroticism
openness
extraversion

Question 11

What are the five stages in the pyramid of Maslow, in order of importance

Answer 11

1. physiological needs
2. safety needs
3. love and belonging
4. esteem
5. self-actualization

Question 12

What are the three composites of the mind according to freud

Answer 12

1. ID (0% awareness)
   - Present since birth
   - Pleasure/instincts
   - Based on a wanting/needs basis
   - The “devil” on your shoulder
2. Super-ego (25% awareness)
   - Moralistic
   - Opposite of ID
   - Develops around age 5
   - “Angel” on your shoulder
3. Ego (50% awareness)
   - Follows the reality principle
   - Triggers defense mechanisms
   - “You can’t have everything you want”
   - Middle point between ID and Super-ego

Question 13

What differentiates mind vs behaviour

Answer 13

Mind: constitutes the private inner mental processes of someone
Behaviour: observable actions

Question 14

What do social psychologists conduct research on

Answer 14

Variety of topics like the differences in how we perceive and explain our behaviour versus on we explain the behavior of others, prejudice, attraction and interpersonal conflicts

Question 15

What does cognitive neuroscience study

Answer 15

The biological processes underlying cognition. Eg. studies on autism

Question 16

What helped restablish coomunication lines between european psychologists and their american counterparts

Answer 16

The cognitive revolution

Question 17

What is classical conditioning and who’s associated with it

Answer 17

Associated with Ivan Pavlov, classical conditioning describes the learning process trough association. Eg. Pavlov’s dogs

Question 18

What is developmental psychology

Answer 18

Scientific study of development across a lifespan, focus on the physical maturation and others such as cognitive skills, moral and moral reasoning

Question 19

What is evolutionary psychology

Answer 19

The study of thought, behaviour and feeling as viewed through an evolutionary and biological perspective

Question 20

What is operant conditioning and who’s associated with it

Answer 20

Associated with B. F. Skinner, operant conditioning works with actions and consequences such as rewards and punishments for behavior.

Question 21

What is philosophical realism and which philosopher is associated with it

Answer 21

John Locke was associated with it, the belief was that the perceptions of the physical world are produced solely by sensory information

Question 22

What is the biopsychosocial model

Answer 22

An approach in health psychology that focuses on how health is affected by the interactions between biological, psychological and sociocultural factors.

Question 23

What led to The Cognitive Revolution

Answer 23

• Humans could not be compared to lab rats
• Complex behaviors remain difficult to explain
• Invention of the computer
• Better knowledge on cognitive research

Question 24

What psychology deal with psychological disorders

Answer 24

Clinical psychology

Question 25

What SOT did Hobbes follow and whom else also supported it

Answer 25

Hobbes followed materialism, the belief that all things stem from material interactions hence he viewed the mind as a product of the brain. Materialism received support from Pierre Paul Broca.

Question 26

What SOT emerged in the later 1950s and was in opposition to psychoanalytic theory, what did it think about people, behaviour, and what did it put emphasis on.

Answer 26

Humanism, which viewed people as free agents, behaviour as shaped by conscious thoughts and feelings rather than the unconscious (freud).
Humanism put emphasis on positive potential and self actualization.

Question 27

What SOT puts emphasis on the active role that the mind plays in perception

Answer 27

Gestalt psychology

Question 28

What SOT was Immanuel Kant associated with

Answer 28

Philosophical idealism, the belief that perceptions of the physical world are the brain’s interpretation of the info from sensory organs

Question 29

What was the aim of structuralism

Answer 29

To identify the basic elements that composed psychological experience

Question 30

What’s the name of the student of the father of experimental psychology

Answer 30

Titchener

Question 31

Which philosopher was associated with nativism and what does this school of thought entail

Answer 31

Plato, knowledge is innate

Question 32

Which school of thought did Descartes follow and did he think about the pineal gland in everyone’s brain

Answer 32

Descartes believed in dualism, the belief that a person is made out of two parts; spiritual and material. He believed the pineal gland must’ve been the uniting point of these two parts where they would interact.

Question 33

Which school of thought was Aristotle associated with and did it entail

Answer 33

Philosophical empiricism. all knowledge is acquired trough experience

Question 34

Which psychologist was pioneer in the patient-focused therapy where they believed in the patient’s conscious abilities

Answer 34

Carl Rogers

Question 35

Who created the first experimental psychology lab

Answer 35

Wilhem Wundt

Question 36

Who demonstrated that really young children did not have object permanence yet and what SOT did they belong to

Answer 36

Jean Piaget, developmental psychology

Question 37

Who stimulated a feminist revolution by presenting a critique of psychology as a science

Answer 37

Naomi Weisstein

Question 38

Who was a very influential figure during the cognitive revolution

Answer 38

Noam Chomsky, an american linguist dissatisfied with the influence behaviorism had on psychology. He believed that reincorporating mental functions would be necessary to contribute to understanding behavior

Question 39

Who was the first woman to be awarded a phd in psychology

Answer 39

Margaret Floy Washburn

Question 40

Who was the first african american to receive a phd in psychology

Answer 40

Francis Cecil Summer, he pointed out the language and cultural barriers in psychological testing that were creating unequal opportunities for children

Question 41

Who’s described as the father of american psychology and what SOT did he belong to

Answer 41

William James belonged to functionalism, that aimed to study he purpose of mental processes in adapting to the environment