Important Psych People

Question 1

Mary Whiton Calkins (1)

Answer 1

First woman to become president of the American Psychological Association. Studied under observation of William James.

Question 2

Charles Darwin (1,3)

Answer 2

An English naturalist best known for his contributions to science. Founded the evolutionary process of natural selection.

Question 3

Dorothea Dix (1,13)

Answer 3

An American advocate who helped create dozens of new institutions for the mentally ill across the US.

Question 4

Sigmund Freud (1)

Answer 4

Founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology with a focus on the unconscious

Question 5

G. Stanley Hall (1)

Answer 5

First president of the APA

Question 6

William James (1,5,8)

Answer 6

First American psychologist. Harvard professor who wrote the first psych textbook. One of the founders of Functionalism and believed that consciousness was a stream and helped humans to adapt to their environments. Also contributor to the James-Lang theory of emotion.

Question 7

Ivan Pavlov (1,6)

Answer 7

The study of conditioning. Famous for dog saliva experiments

Question 8

Jean Piaget (1,9)

Answer 8

Developmental psychologist who pioneered theories of cognitive development of children

Question 9

Carl Rogers (1)

Answer 9

With Maslow was one of the founders of Humanistic Psychology focused on human growth

Question 10

B.F. Skinner (1)

Answer 10

• Expanded the basic ideas of behaviorism to include the idea of reinforcement and punishment- environmental stimuli that either encourage or discourage a response.
• helped establish and popularize the operant conditioning model of learning.
• skinners intellectual influence lasted for decades.

Question 11

Margaret Floy Washburn (1)

Answer 11

First woman to earn a Ph.D. In psychology (1894).

Known for her experimental work involving animal behavior and sensation/ perception processes.

Question 12

John B. Watson (1,6)

Answer 12

• declared that psychology must limit itself to observable phenomena, not unobservable concepts like the unconscious mind, if it is to be considered a science.
• wanted to establish behaviorism as the dominant paradigm of psychology.
• behaviorist maintain that psychologists should only look at behavior and cause of behavior- stimuli ( environmental events) and responses ( physical reactions )- and not concern themselves with describing elements of consciousness.

Question 13

Wilhelm Wundt (1)

Answer 13

He was the first person ever to call himself a psychologist. He is widely regarded as the “father of experimental psychology and he noted psychology as a science apart from philosophy and biology

Question 14

Paul Broca(3)

Answer 14

Researched Broca’s area, a region of the frontal lobe that is named after him. Broca’s area is involved with language.

Question 15

Michael Gazzaniga (3)

Answer 15

Worked with split brained patients and studied how their brains work. He looked into what bodily functions are controlled by each half of the brain. He has looked at what split brained patients are able to do as a result of their condition.

Question 16

Roger Sperry (3)

Answer 16

Known for research with split brain patients. Studied the “left” brain “right brain.

Question 17

Carl Wernicke (3)

Answer 17

Discovered a specific area of the left temporal lobe, the Wernicke’s area, is responsible for the comprehension of speech.

Question 18

Gustav Fechner and Ernst Weber (4)

Answer 18

Fechner studied absolute threshold and Weber described the principle of difference threshold in Weber’s Law

Question 19

David Hubel and Torsten Weisel

Answer 19

• Hubel: proved neurons in occipital lobe’s visual cortex receive info from ganglion cells in retina AND the brain divides visual scene into sub dimensions and processes separately (color, movement, etc.)
• Weisel: worked w/ Hubel, put animals in goggles that diffused light and pattern (blind to shape)

Question 20

Sigmund Freud (4 dreams)

Answer 20

Believed dreams were indicators of unconscious desires and wish fulfillment. Trained psychoanalysts could interpret the latent (hidden) content of dreams. Published a best selling book “Interpretation of Dreams”

Question 21

Ernest Hilgard (4)

Answer 21

Theorized that hypnosis induces a special state or dissociation (divided consciousness)

Question 22

Albert Bandura (6 learning)

Answer 22

Developed Social-Learning Theory. Believed children learned through observation and modeling. Conducted the Bobo Doll experiment.

Question 23

John Garcia (6)

Answer 23

Studied taste aversion in rats; led to knowledge that sickness and taste preferences can be conditioned

Question 24

Robert Rescorla (6)

Answer 24

Showed an animal can learn predictability of an event. If a shock follows a tone, the animal learns that the shock will follow the tone, creating fear in the animal at the sound of the tone. The animal develops expectancy.

Question 25

B.F. Skinner (6 learning)

Answer 25

Pioneer of operant conditioning: everything we do is determined by rewards and punishment. He also created the Skinner box.

Question 26

Edward Thorndike (6)

Answer 26

Proposed the Law of Effect. Experiment where he placed a cat in a puzzle box, kept putting the cat in the same box, and the cat eventually learned to escape quicker m

Question 27

Edward C. Tolman (6)

Answer 27

was an American psychologist and a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Through Tolman’s theories and works, he founded what is now a branch of psychology known as purposive behaviorism.

Question 28

Noam Chomsky (7)

Answer 28

Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science.

Question 29

Hermann Ebbinghaus (7)

Answer 29

Hermann Ebbinghaus was a German psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory, and is known for his discovery of the forgetting curve and the spacing effect.

Question 30

Wolfgang Kohler (7)

Answer 30

Insight learning is perhaps the greatest contribution Wolfgang Kohler made to psychology. Building off the influence of gestalt psychology, Kohler discovered that learning can occur when we gain insight into an entire situation, as opposed to focusing only on an individual part

Question 31

Elizabeth Loftus (7)

Answer 31

She has conducted extensive research on the malleability of human memory. Loftus is best known for her ground-breaking work on the misinformation effect and eyewitness memory, and the creation and nature of false memories, including recovered memories of childhood sexual abuse.

Question 32

George A. Miller (7)

Answer 32

He was an American psychologist who was one of the founders of cognitive psychology and of cognitive neuroscience. He also made significant contributions to psycholinguistics and the study of human communication. One of his most famous discoveries was that human short-term memory is generally limited to holding seven pieces of information, plus or minus two

Question 33

Alfred Kinsey (8)

Answer 33

author of “Sexual Behavior in the Human Male” and “Sexual Behavior in the Human Female”. Also studied birth control and sexuality.

Question 34

Abraham Maslow (8, Motivation)

Answer 34

Believed motivation follows a hierarchy of needs. Physiological needs ->Safety needs -> Love and belonging -> Self-Esteem -> Self-Actualization

Question 35

Stanley Schacter (8)

Answer 35

Known for the Two-Factor Theory of Emotion. Schachter proposed that human emotions contain two factors or parts: physical arousal and a cognitive label.

Question 36

Hans Selye (8)

Answer 36

Stress theorist who created the model of General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Question 37

Mary Ainsworth (9)

Answer 37

Developmental psychologist known for her work in early emotional attachment with the Strange Situation Design (relationship between caregiver and child) as well as her work in the development of attachment theory.

Question 38

Diana Baumrind (9)

Answer 38

Diana Blumberg Baumrind was a clinical and developmental psychologist known for her research on parenting styles.
Her theory of parenting styles had three main types (permissive, authoritative, and authoritarian)

Question 39

Erik Erikson (9)

Answer 39

Erik Homburger Erikson was a German-American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst known for his theory on psychological development of human beings.
Identity vs. Role Confusion (in adolescents)

Question 40

Sigmund Freud (9 development stages)

Answer 40

Believed children develop in psychosexual stages that focus on erogenous zones of pleasure. Stages are: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital.

Question 41

Carol Gilligan (9)

Answer 41

Field: cognition
Contributions: maintained that Köhlberg’s work was developed by only observing boys and overlooked potential differences between the habitual moral judgments of boys and girls; girls focus more on relationships than laws and principles

Question 42

Harry Harlow (9)

Answer 42

Field: development
Contributions: realized that touch is preferred in development
Studies: Rhesus monkeys, studied attachment of infant monkeys (wire mothers versus cloth mothers)

Question 43

Lawrence Kohlberg (9)

Answer 43

Moral development; presented boys moral dilemmas and studied their responses and reasoning processes in making moral decisions. Most famous moral dilemma is “Heinz” who has an ill wife and cannot afford the medication. Should he steal the medication and why?

Question 44

Konrad Lorenz (9)

Answer 44

Austrian zoologist who studied animal behavior. He focused on the principle of imprinting, when a bird forms bond with the first moving thing it sees after hatching.

Question 45

Lev Vygotsky (9)

Answer 45

A Soviet psychologist who developed the concept of “zone of proximal development” in response to the continuity vs discontinuity debate; specified that a child’s zone of proximal development is the range of tasks the child can perform independently and those tasks the child needs assistance with.

Question 46

Alfred Adler (10)

Answer 46

Australian psychologist who believed that people were motivated by the fear of failure (inferiority) and the desire to achieve (superiority); also known for his work about the importance of birth order in shaping personality

Question 47

Albert Bandura (10, personality)

Answer 47

Social Learning Theorist who also proposed personality developed through social interactions and also the development of self-efficacy (an individual’s belief in their ability to accomplish certain goals)

Question 48

Paul Costa and Robert McCrae (10)

Answer 48

Identified robust or big five factors of personality traits

Question 49

Sigmund Freud (10, personality)

Answer 49

Believed personality was largely determined in childhood and is influenced by unconscious forces and conflicts that occurred during the psychosexual stages.

Question 50

Carl Jung (10)

Answer 50

1875-1961 new-Freudian, analytic psychology, contributions people had conscious and unconscious awareness, archetypes, collective unconscious, libido is all types of energy, not just sexual, studies:Dream studies/ interpretation

Question 51

Abraham Malsow (10, personality)

Answer 51

Humanist who believed personality is driven by our desire to maximize our potential and growth toward self-actualization and self-transcendence.

Question 52

Carl Rogers (10, personality)

Answer 52

Humanist who believed personality was driven by personal growth and barriers to growth include discrepancies between your true-self, ideal-self, and self-image.

Question 53

Alfred Binet (11)

Answer 53

Noted differences in academic capabilities of students, devised a test to measure intelligence (mental age)
French psychologist who pioneered the modern intelligence testing movement which began assessing intellectual abilities. The Stanford-Binet IQ test

Question 54

Francis Galton (11)

Answer 54

He also created the statistical concept of correlation and widely promoted regression toward the mean. He was the first to apply statistical methods to the study of human differences and inheritance of intelligence. He was a pioneer in eugenics, coining the term itself and the phrase “nature versus nurture”.

Question 55

Howard Gardner (11)

Answer 55

Developmental psychologist who purposed the theory of multiple intelligences—human intelligence broken down into 8 modalities rather than intelligence as a general ability.

Question 56

Charles Spearman (11)

Answer 56

Developed a two-factor theory of intelligence using factor analysis. He developed the concept of the G factor of general intelligence.

Question 57

Robert Sternberg (11)

Answer 57

Created what is now the most widely used individual intelligence test, the Weschler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), with a version for school age children (the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children [WISC]), and another for preschool children.

Question 58

Louis Terman(11)

Answer 58

Former Stanford University professor who adapted Binet’s original intelligence test to suit American children (Stanford-Binet), believed that tests revealed innate knowledge. He also worked with eugenics.

Question 59

David Wechsler (11)

Answer 59

Researcher who believed our intelligence is best classified into three areas (Triarchic Theory) that predict real-world success: analytical, creative, and practical.

Question 60

Aaron Beck (13)

Answer 60

the father of cognitive therapy, and his pioneering theories are widely used in the treatment of clinical depression and various anxiety disorders

Question 61

Albert Ellis (13)

Answer 61

developed Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy

Question 62

Sigmund Freud (13, therapy)

Answer 62

Founder of psychoanalytic therapy where talking to a trained therapist you can get insight into the unconscious forces that originate in childhood that are the source of your psychological problems. Key technique is free association.

Question 63

Mary Cover Jones (13)

Answer 63

pioneer of behavior therapy and desensitization

Question 64

Carl Rogers (13, therapy)

Answer 64

Founder of client-centered therapy. Focus on openness, acceptance, and empathy to foster unconditional positive regard.

Question 65

B.F. Skinner (13, therapy)

Answer 65

Skinner’s operant conditioning techniques are used in certain therapy options like behavior modification and token economies.

Question 66

Joseph Wolpe (13)

Answer 66

Pioneer of exposure therapy. He was less interested in individuals past life. He focused on the changing behavior

Question 67

Solomon Asch (14)

Answer 67

His work follows a common theme of Gestalt psychology. Conformity experiments, in which he demonstrated the influence of group pressure on opinions.

Question 68

Leon Festinger (14)

Answer 68

Leon Festinger was an American social psychologist, perhaps best known for cognitive dissonance and social comparison theory.

Question 69

Stanley Milgram (14)

Answer 69

American social psychologist known for his obedience experiments at Yale. His experiments showed that most people were obedient to superiors even when that meant breaking their own morals.

Question 70

Phillip Zimbardo (14)

Answer 70

Conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment to examine whether people would conform to the social roles of a prison guard or a prisoner. Suppose to last 2 weeks, ended after six days.