Unit 1: Foundation and Research Methods

Question 1

What is psychology?

Answer 1

The study of behavior through understanding the brain and a person’s environment

Question 2

Phrenology

Answer 2

study of lumps on the head (original attempt at “psychology”)

Question 3

Who was Wilhelm Wundt?

Answer 3

Known as the “Father of Psychology” he opened the first psychology research lab in Germany

Question 4

Who was Sigmund Freud?

Answer 4

Known as the “Father of Psychoanalysis”, focused on “talk therapy” and offered controversial sexual notions for explaining behavior and desires

Question 5

Psychoanalysis

Answer 5

method of treating people with emotional problems connected with the exploring of the unconscious

Question 6

Biological Perspective

Answer 6

method of studying psychology through focusing on the brain and bodily functions to understand behavior

Question 7

Evolutionary Psychology Perspective

Answer 7

method of studying psychology through focusing on ancestral past alongside genetics brain to understand behavior

Question 8

Learning Perspective

Answer 8

method of studying psychology through focusing on understanding how and why we learn to understand behavior

Question 9

Behaviorists

Answer 9

people who believe behavior can be modified once they are understood

Question 10

Social-Cognitive Learning Theorists

Answer 10

They look at the environment, values and morals to understand how and what we learn and how it affects behavior

Question 11

Cognitive Perspective

Answer 11

method of studying psychology through focusing on understanding how and why we learn and use language, memory and intelligence

Question 12

Sociocultural Perspective

Answer 12

method of studying psychology through focusing on understanding cultural expectations in an effort to understand behavior

Question 13

Psychodynamic Perspective

Answer 13

method of studying psychology through focusing on understanding the unconscious (including dreams and hypnosis) to understand behavior

Question 14

Humanistic Perspective

Answer 14

method of studying psychology through focusing on understanding motivation and ambition to understand behavior

Question 15

Positive Psychology

Answer 15

focuses on optimism and being resilient in efforts to alter behavior

Question 16

Psychological practice

Answer 16

emphasizes getting scientific research or knowledge to help mental health issues

Question 17

Basic Pyschology

Answer 17

research and knowledge gained for one’s own sake

Question 18

Applied Psychology

Answer 18

applying and using the study of psychology to understand behavior

Question 19

Counseling Psychologists

Answer 19

general help of everyday life

Question 20

School Psychologists

Answer 20

offered in educational settings to work specifically with students, families and teachers

Question 21

Clinical Psychologists

Answer 21

have medical degrees that include being able to diagnose and treat mental disorders; can offer medication if applicable

Question 22

Psychotherapists

Answer 22

someone who works specifically with psychotherapy as a form of treatment

Question 23

Psychiatrists

Answer 23

similar to Clinical Psychologist in methods, but has a medical degree

Question 24

variable

Answer 24

part of an experiment that is changed to determine an end result

Question 25

hypothesis

Answer 25

an idea that is arrived at logically from a theory prior to being tested

Question 26

data

Answer 26

information that is gathered as evidence

Question 27

survey

Answer 27

consists of questions about a person that are self-reported; not an accurate way of getting information

Question 28

case study

Answer 28

conducted when a researcher takes an in depth look at a topic, person or a group; often involves tracking information and following participants over a period of time

Question 29

experiment

Answer 29

includes a researcher manipulating a variable to see if it influences a behavior or change in question

Question 30

random assignment

Answer 30

method to divide a study’s participant in randomly selected groups; attempts to limit bias

Question 31

independent variable

Answer 31

part of the experiment that is being manipulated or changed

Question 32

dependent variable

Answer 32

the end result that occurs due to the manipulation of the independent variable

Question 33

control group

Answer 33

group that is used for comparison, does not get manipulated and is instead used as a baseline

Question 34

naturalistic observation

Answer 34

when observation occurs in a natural setting

Question 35

directed observation

Answer 35

when observation occurs in a controlled setting

Question 36

standardized tests

Answer 36

consists of norms and standards that can be compared to; for example SAT’s, GRE’s, CMT’s

Question 37

Stanley Milgram

Answer 37

Yale Psychologist; conducted the “obedience experiment” (Shock Experiment)

Question 38

Philip Zimbardo

Answer 38

Stanford University Psychologist; conducts the “conformity” experiment (Stanford Prison Experiment)

Question 39

Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment

Answer 39

U.S. military sanctioned case study from 1932-1972 following a group of African Americans in Macon County, AL who may have received the syphilis virus