Psychological Science

Question 1

How do we call the biological processes within the brain?

Answer 1

Mental activity

Question 2

Observable actions =

Answer 2

Behavior

Question 3

Describe amiable scepticism.

Answer 3

• being open
• being wary of new “scientific findings”
• carefully weighing facts

Question 4

Describe confirmation bias.

Answer 4

Ignoring new evidence that does not support their beliefs, selective memory, selective sampling of information (facebook groups)

Question 5

Biased thinking: Why do we sometimes see relationships that do not exist?

Answer 5

We desire to find predictability in the world.

Question 6

Explain and give another term for “after-the-fact explanation”.

Answer 6

Hindsight bias. Coming up with explanations for why something happened, interpreting and reinterpreting old evidence to make sense of the outcome.

Question 7

Mental shortcuts.

Answer 7

Heuristics.

Question 8

What is usually the cause of people not being able/failing to see their own weaknesses?

Answer 8

Lack of skill in that particular thing.

Question 9

What concerns the nature/nurture debate and what is the situation nowadays?

Answer 9

Arguments concerning if psychological characteristics are biologically innate of acquired via experience/education…
Psychology today focuses on both nature and nurture influencing each other in shaping mind, brain and behavior.

Question 10

Describe the mind/body problem.

Answer 10

A fundamental psychological issue: Are mind and body separate or is mind simply brains subjective experience - resulting from the biological processes within the brain?
Today: Mind arises from mental activity.

Question 11

Explain dualism.

Answer 11

Idea claiming mind and body are two separate entities,

Question 12

Who is the author of the book “A system of logic” and of the quote “Psychology should leave the realms of philosophy and of speculations and become a science of observation and of experiment.”

Answer 12

John Stuart Mill (1843)

Question 13

Who was the first one in 1879 to establish the first psychology laboratory and the founder of modern experimental psychology?

Answer 13

Wilhelm Wundt.

Question 14

What did Wundt use to study psychological processes?

Answer 14

Reaction time, later introspection.

Question 15

Who was Edward Titchener?

Answer 15

Founder of structuralism, Wundts student.

Question 16

What is the main idea of structuralism?

Answer 16

Conscious experience can be broken down into its basic elements (by introspection).

Question 17

What is unreliable about introspection?

Answer 17

It is subjective.

Question 18

Who first came up with the idea of functionalism?

Answer 18

William James.

Question 19

Explain functionalism.

Answer 19

An approach to psychology concerned with the adaptive purpose or function of mind and behavior.

Question 20

According to James, what is the stream of consciousness?

Answer 20

Ever-changing, continuous series of thoughts. (It cannot be frozen in time, therefore the structuralists techniques were sterile and artificial)

Question 21

Explain the term “natural selection”.

Answer 21

The survival of the fittest.

Question 22

What are adaptations?

Answer 22

The characteristics, skills that increase the chances of reproduction or survival and are therefore likely to be passed along to future generations.

Question 23

Explain the term unconsciousness.

Answer 23

The place where mental processes operate below the level of conscious awareness.

Question 24

Who came up with the psychoanalytic theory?

Answer 24

Sigmund Freud.

Question 25

What is psychoanalysis?

Answer 25

A method that attempts to bring the contents of the unconscious into conscious awareness so that inner conflicts can be revealed. (dreams, free association)

Question 26

Is Freuds theory of psychoanalysis reliable?

Answer 26

It is impossible to prove and impossible to dismiss, so nope.

Question 27

Explain the idea behind behaviorism.

Answer 27

This approach emphasized environmental effects on observable behavior. The study of environmental stimuli/triggers in a particular situation to then predict responses. (Watson, Skinner)

Question 28

what is the main idea of the Gestalt movement?

Answer 28

The whole is different from the sum of its parts.

Question 29

Who were the psychologists behind the Gestalt movement?

Answer 29

Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler

Question 30

Which school of thought represents the idea that “people are free to choose”?

Answer 30

Humanistic psychology.

Question 31

Humanists?

Answer 31

Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers.

Question 32

What is the idea of cognitivism?

Answer 32

That mental functions are important for understanding behavior. (animals could learn by observation, without reward – there must be some kind of mind process)

Question 33

What are the latest developments in psychology? (biological)

Answer 33

• progress in understanding brain chemistry
• developments in neuroscience
• advances in decoding the human genome

Question 34

What is the human genome?

Answer 34

The basic genetic code for the human body.

Question 35

What are the four levels of analysis in psychological science? + examples

Answer 35

• biological (brain systems, neurochemistry, genetics)
• individual (individual differences, perception, behavior)
• cultural (thoughts, actions, behaviors - in different cultural groups)
• social (interpersonal behavior, social cognition)