Summer Reading Test

Question 1

What is empiricism?

Answer 1

The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation

Question 2

What is structuralism?

Answer 2

The branch of psychology that focuses on the structure of the mind

Question 3

What is a functionalist?

Answer 3

Someone who believes in exploration in the function of and down-to-earth emotions, memories, willpower, habits and moment-to-moment streams of consciousness

Question 4

What is humanistic psychology?

Answer 4

The branch of psychology focusing on current environmental influences on our behavior

Question 5

What is today’s definition of psychology?

Answer 5

The science of behavior and mental processes

Question 6

What is the nature-nurture issue?

Answer 6

An issue with ancient roots about how much experience and biology contribute to the mind

Question 7

What is a biopsychosocial approach?

Answer 7

An approach to the study of psychology that considers the influence of biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors

Question 8

Who is Charles Darwin and what has he contributed to modern psychology?

Answer 8

He was a scientist in the 1800s and had that theory of evolution and natural selection

Question 9

What are levels of analysis?

Answer 9

The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon

Question 10

What is hindsight bias?

Answer 10

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one could have foreseen it

Question 11

What is a theory?

Answer 11

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Question 12

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 12

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
What is an operational definition? A statement of the procedures used to define research variables, for example human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures

Question 13

What is replication?

Answer 13

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

Question 14

What is a case study?

Answer 14

An observation technique in which one person in depth in hope of revealing universal principles

Question 15

What is the survey method?

Answer 15

A way to look at many cases in less depth, most commonly used to estimate and look at a larger pool of results

Question 16

What is a naturalistic observation?

Answer 16

A way to record behavior in natural environments, is describes, not explains

Question 17

What is correlation?

Answer 17

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

Question 18

What is a random sample?

Answer 18

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Question 19

What is illusory correlation?

Answer 19

the perception of a relationship where none exists

Question 20

What is a double blind procedure?

Answer 20

An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant(blind) about whether the research participants received the treatment or the placebo, commonly used in drug evaluation studies

Question 21

What is Standard Deviation?

Answer 21

A computed measure of how much scores vary around a mean score

Question 22

What is a normal curve?

Answer 22

A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data, most scores fall near the mean and fewer fall near the extremes

Question 23

What is culture?

Answer 23

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

Question 24

What is informed consent?

Answer 24

An ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

Question 25

What is debriefing?

Answer 25

The post experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants