Chapter 1

Question 1

Psychology

Answer 1

is delined as the scintific study ol bchavior and mental processes. As a science, psychology uses scientific methods to observe, describe, and predict behavior.

Question 2

Behavior

Answer 2

everything that a person does that can be directly observed.

Question 3

Mental processes

Answer 3

are the thoughts, feelings, and motives that each of us experiences
privately but that cannot be observed directly.

Question 4

At the core of the scientific approach that psychologists use are four attitudes:

Answer 4

critical thinking, curiosity, skepticism, and objectivity

Question 5

Critical thinking

Answer 5

is the process of thinking deeply and actively, asking questions, and evaluating the evidence.
Scientists are critical thinkers.

Question 6

empirical method

Answer 6

is gaining knowledge through observation, collecting evidence, and logical reasoning.

Question 7

For thousands of years, people have been trying to answer the basic questions of human
behavior, such as:

Answer 7

a) How do we learn?
(b) What is memory?
(c) Why does one person grow and flourish while another struggles?

Question 8

Early philosophers, such as? debated the nature of thought
and behavior, including the possible link between the mind and the body.

Answer 8

Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle,

Question 9

Wilhelm Wundt.

Answer 9

German philosopher-physician, created the academic discipline of psychology.

Question 10

Psychology has
its roots

Answer 10

its roots not only in philosophy but also in biology and physiology.

Question 11

Structuralism

Answer 11

first studied by Wundt and his collaborators. They locused on the
basic elements or structures of mental processes. Introspection was the method used to
study these mental structures. Individuals were asked to think about what was occurring
mentally as events were taking place. While were looking inside the mind

Question 12

Functionalism,

Answer 12

William James’ approach to mental processes, was concerned with the
functions and purposes of the mind in individuals’ adaptation to the environment.
Functionalists were focusing on how humans interacted with the outside world.

Question 13

Charles Darwin’s

Answer 13

Functionalism fit well with another intellectual development’s,

Principle of natural selection, an evolutionary process in
which organisms that are best adapted to their environment will survive and, importantly,
produce offspring.

Question 14

The biological approach

Answer 14

emphasizes the study of the body, especially the brain and the
nervous system.

Neuroscience is the scientific study of the structure. function, development, genetics, and biochemistry of the nervous system. It emphasizes that the brain and nervous system are central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion.

Question 15

The behavioral approach.

Answer 15

The behavioral approach emphasizes the scientilic study ol’ observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants.

Question 16

John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner

Answer 16

were the first behaviorists.
Behaviorism dominated psychological research during the first half of the
twentieth century

Question 17

The psychodynamic approach s.

Answer 17

Emphasizes unconscious thought, the conflict between biological instinets and society’s demands, and early family experiences.

Question 18

Sigmund Freud

Answer 18

founder of the psychodynamic approach, theorized that early interactions with parents shape
an individual’s personality.
His theory was also the basis for the therapeutic technique that he called psychoanalysis, which involves an analyst unlocking a person’s unconscious conflicts by talking with the individual about his or her childhood memories, dreams, thoughts, and feelings.

Question 19

The humanistic approach

Answer 19

emphasizes a person’s positive qualities, capacity for positive
growth, and the freedom to choose any destiny.
Humanistic psychologists stress that people have the ability to control their lives and are not simply controlled by the environment.

Question 20

cognitive approach

Answer 20

cognitive approach emphasizes the mental processes involved
directing attention,
perceiving, remembering, thinking, and problem solving.

Question 21

The evolutionary approach

Answer 21

uses evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and
the concept of the survival of the fittest as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors

Question 22

The sociocultural approach

Answer 22

Emphasize the ways in which the social and cultural environments influence behavior.

Question 23

cross-cultural rescarch,

Answer 23

meaning research that compares individuals in various cultures to see how they differ on important psychological attributes.
Cross-cultural research is important for testing the assumption that findings for one culture also generalize to other cultural contexts, and as such it allows psychologists to test for the possibility that some characteristics are universal.

Question 24

These seven approaches to studying psychology

Answer 24

provide different views of behavior, and
therefore each may contribute uniquely valuable insights.
These broad approaches are reflected in the variety of specialties within which psychologists work (e.g., neuroscience, learning, and development)

Question 25

first step: scientific method

Answer 25

The first step in conducting scientific research is observing some phenomenon.

Question 26

variable

Answer 26

The phenomena that scientists study are called variables. A variable is anything that can change.

Question 27

theory

Answer 27

a broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain
observations.

A scientific theory must be falsifiahle, which means a scientist who
believes a theory is true must be able to generate ideas about research that would prove the theory wrong and test those ideas.

Question 28

The second step:scientific method

Answer 28

in conducting scientific research is stating a hypothesis, a testable prediction that derives logically from a theory.

Question 29

Third step:scientific method lol

Answer 29

is to test the hypothesis by collecting
and analyzing data (i.e., doing empirical research).
One of the key aspects of testing a hypothesis is data
analysis, which applies mathematical procedures to understand what the data means. Data is the information collected in a study

Question 30

operational definition

Answer 30

provides an objective definition of how a variable is going to be measured and
observed in a particular study.

Question 31

Drawing Conclusions

Answer 31

Based on the results of the data analysis, researchers can draw conclusions from their rescarch.
A rescarch finding is considered reliable when a study has been replicated again
and again and yields similar findings.

Question 32

Evaluating Conclusions

Answer 32

Evaluation never really ends. Conclusions become part of the research community, which continues to question them.
In sum, steps 3, 4, and 5 of the scientific method are part of an ongoing process.

Question 33

4. Types of Psychological Research
   A. Descriptive Research

Answer 33

Descriptive research is about describing some phenomenon.

Research allows the researcher to develop a sense for something but does not answer questions of causality.

Question 34

Descriptive research methods include

Answer 34

observation, surveys and interviews, and case studies.