HPS111-T1-Topic 1-The Science of Psychology-2016

Question 1

Define psychology and indicate what levels of behaviours it incorporates.

Answer 1

Psychology is the study of mind and behaviour. It incorporates biological, Psychological, and environmental levels.

Question 2

List and describe the central goals of psychology.

Answer 2

Description, Explanation, control, and application.

Question 3

Psychology is an empirical science based on

Answer 3

Testing and observation.

Question 4

Describe how nature and nurture are inextricably entwined.

Answer 4

It incorporates biological/genetic (nature) with environmental/social (nurture).

Question 5

Understand that the mind is adaptive.

Answer 5

The mind is adaptive in two ways; 1) As we learn new things new neural pathways grow. 2) In brain injured people, parts of the brain can adapt to do what the damaged part can no longer do.

Question 6

Describe the various ways that psychological science crosses levels of analysis.

Answer 6

Behaviour can be examined at biological, psychological, and environmental/social levels.

Question 7

At the biological level of analysis we can

Answer 7

Study behaviour and it’s causes in terms of brain functioning, hormones and genetic factors shaped over the course of evolution.

Question 8

At the psychological level of analysis we might look to

Answer 8

The cognitive perspective and analyse how thought, memory, and planning influence behaviour. Borrowing from the psychodynamic and humanistic perspectives, we can examine how motives and personality traits influence behaviour.

Question 9

At the environmental level of analysis the

Answer 9

Behavioural and sociocultural perspectives lead us to examine how stimuli in the physical and social environment shape our behaviour, thoughts and feelings.

Question 10

Explain the multiple influences on how we think, feel and act.

Answer 10

Biological, psychological and environmental/social.

Question 11

Discuss psychology’s philosophical and scientific roots.

Answer 11

Early philosophers held the belief that the mind is a spiritual entity not subject to physical laws that govern the body.

Question 12

Descartes proposed that

Answer 12

Descartes proposed that the mind and body interact through the brain’s tiny pineal gland.

Question 13

Monism held that

Answer 13

Monism held that the mind is not a separate entity. Monism helped set the stage for psychology because it implied that the mind could be studied by measuring physical processes.

Question 14

British Empiricism held that

Answer 14

British empiricism held that all ideas and knowledge is gained through the senses.

Question 15

Describe the psychodynamic perspective, highlighting Freud’s psychoanalytic theory.

Answer 15

The psychodynamic perspective dominated thinking about personality, mental disorders and psychotherapy. Modern psychodynamic theories continue to explore how unconscious and conscious aspects of personality influence behaviour.

Question 16

Describe the behavioural perspective.

Answer 16

Behaviourism is a school of thought that emphasises environmental control of behaviour through learning.

Question 17

Watson argued that

Answer 17

Watson argued that the subject matter of psychology was observable behaviour.

Question 18

Skinner believed that

Answer 18

Skinner believed that the real causes of behaviour reside in the ‘outer world’. ‘A person does not act on the world, the world acts upon him’.

Question 19

According to Thorndike’s law of effect

Answer 19

According to Thorndike’s law of effect, responses followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to recur, and those followed by unsatisfying consequences become less likely to occur.

Question 20

Pavlov revealed how

Answer 20

Pavlov revealed how learning occurs when events are associated with one another.

Question 21

Describe the humanistic perspective.

Answer 21

Humanism emphasises free will, personal-growth and the attempt to find meaning in one’s experience.

Question 22

Maslow called ‘belongingness’ a

Answer 22

Basic human need for social acceptance and companionship.

Question 23

Rogers identified

Answer 23

Key aspects of psychotherapy that led to constructive changes in clients.

Question 24

Describe the cognitive perspective

Answer 24

The cognitive perspective is a view that emphasises humans as information processors and problem solvers, and that focusses on the mental processes that influence behaviour.

Question 25

Gestalt laws of perceptual organisation is

Answer 25

The notion that people group and interpret stimuli in accordance with similarity, proximity, closure and continuity.

Question 26

Cognitive neuroscience is an area of psychology that

Answer 26

Cognitive neuroscience is an area of psychology that intersects the subfields of cognitive psychology and physiological psychology and examines brain processes that underlie mental activity.

Question 27

Applied research is designed to

Answer 27

Solve or examine specific, practical problems.

Question 28

Basic research is designed to

Answer 28

Obtain knowledge for its own sake.

Question 29

Behaviour genetics is the study of

Answer 29

The role of genetic inheritance in behaviour.

Question 30

Behavioural neuroscience is a

Answer 30

Subfield of psychology that examines brain processes and other physiological functions that underlie our behaviour, sensory experiences, emotions and thoughts.

Question 31

The behavioural perspective is

Answer 31

A view that emphasises how the environment and learning experiences shape and control behaviour.

Question 32

Biopsychology or behavioural neuroscience is

Answer 32

A subfield of psychology that focuses on the biological underpinnings of behaviour, thought and emotion.

Question 33

British Empiricism is

Answer 33

A 17th century school of philosophy championed by Locke, according to which all the contents of the mind are gained experientially through the senses.

Question 34

Clinical psychology is

Answer 34

A subfield of psychology that focuses on the study and treatment of mental disorders.

Question 35

Cognitive behaviourism is

Answer 35

A behavioural approach that incorporates cognitive concepts, suggesting that the environment influences our behaviour by affecting our thoughts and giving us information.

Question 36

Cognitive Neuroscience is

Answer 36

An area of psychology that intersects the subfields of cognitive psychology and physiological psychology and examines brain processes that underlie mental activity.