What is Psychology?

Question 1

Applied practice:

Answer 1

The actual application of discovered techniques to solve specific practical problems.

Question 2

Applied psychology:

Answer 2

The use of psychological principles to solve practical problems, typically by influencing behavior or changing the environment to match existing behavior.

Question 3

Applied research

Answer 3

Research done in an effort to discover a new or more effective way to solve a specific practical problem

Question 4

Basic research:

Answer 4

Work done by psychologists to understand the fundamental principles of behavior and mind.

Question 5

Behavior :

Answer 5

Any observable action, including words, gestures, responses, and more that can be repeated, measured, and are affected by a situation to produce or remove some outcome. Behavior can also refer to biological activity, including actions on the cellular level.

Question 6

Behaviorism:

Answer 6

An approach to psychology that suggests observable behavior should be the only topic of study, ignoring conscious experience.

Question 7

Biological determinism:

Answer 7

The view that all human behavior is controlled by genetic and biological influences.

Question 8

Clinical psychology:

Answer 8

A form of applied psychology that focuses on identifying, preventing, and relieving distress or dysfunction that is psychological in origin.

Question 9

Counseling psychologists:

Answer 9

Psychologists who focus on helping people deal with ongoing situations, or on the adjustment from one situation to another.

Question 10

Culture :

Answer 10

A shared set of beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and customs belonging to a specific group or community.

Question 11

Dualism:

Answer 11

The philosophical position that the mind and the body are entirely separate from one another.

Question 12

Eclectic approach:

Answer 12

An approach to clinical psychology that uses different therapeutic techniques based on their effectiveness for the current situation.

Question 13

Empiricism:

Answer 13

The view that knowledge arises directly from experience.

Question 14

Evolutionary psychology:

Answer 14

The study of psychology from an evolutionary perspective, it proposes that many mental processes have developed in response to natural selection to solve adaptive problems.

Question 15

Feminist psychology:

Answer 15

An approach to psychology that is critical of cultural influences on gender and gender differences in behavior.

Question 16

Functional explanations:

Answer 16

A kind of proximate explanation that seeks to identify a specific problem as the cause of a trait, behavior, or mental process.

Question 17

Functionalism:

Answer 17

An early movement in psychology whose proponents believed that an understanding of a behavior or process’ function was critical to understanding its operation.

Question 18

Humanistic psychology:

Answer 18

An approach to psychology that emphasizes the ability of humans to make their own choices and realize their own potential.

Question 19

Intersectional approach:

Answer 19

An approach to studying cultural influences that emphasizes examining how multiple social identities intersect at the level of the individual person to alter their experiences.

Question 20

Levels of explanation:

Answer 20

The acknowledgment that different explanations for a phenomenon can complement one another.

Question 21

Mind:

Answer 21

The contents of conscious experience, including sensations, perceptions, thoughts, and emotions.

Question 22

Nativism:

Answer 22

The view that some forms of knowledge are inborn, or innate.

Question 23

Natural selection:

Answer 23

The principle that traits which contribute to improvements in survival and reproduction are more likely to be passed down to later generations.

Question 24

Phrenology:

Answer 24

The pseudoscientific study of the shape of the human skull in an attempt to associate brain areas with specific characteristics, thoughts, or abilities.

Question 25

Positive psychology:

Answer 25

An outgrowth of humanistic psychology, positive psychology studies specific virtues of the human experience, including topics such as happiness, trust, charity, and gratitude.

Question 26

Process-oriented explanations:

Answer 26

A kind of proximate explanation that focuses on how a specific mental or physical process directly explains a trait or behavior.

Question 27

Proximate explanations:

Answer 27

Explanations that seek to describe an immediate cause of a trait, behavior, or mental process.

Question 28

Psychiatrist:

Answer 28

A medical doctor who is trained to assess and treat psychological disorders. Psychiatrists often prescribe and manage psychiatric medications.

Question 29

Psychoanalysis:

Answer 29

A form of psychotherapy coined by Sigmund Freud that seeks to help clients gain more insight into their unconscious thoughts, behaviors, and motivations.

Question 30

Psychology:

Answer 30

The scientific study of both behavior and mind.

Question 31

Structuralism :

Answer 31

The first movement in the history of psychology, which focused on breaking down immediate conscious experience (such as sensations and feelings) into their constituent parts.

Question 32

Systematic introspection:

Answer 32

One of the first strategies to make inferences about the contents of the mind, it was an effort to standardize the way that people reported their own experiences.

Question 33

Translational research:

Answer 33

Research that attempts to take basic findings and turn them into solutions for practical problems.

Question 34

Ultimate explanations:

Answer 34

Explanations that seek to describe the reasons why a trait, behavior, or mental process exists by appealing to its role in the process of evolution.