Chapter 1

Question 1

Empirical Approach

Answer 1

An evidence-based method that draws on observation and experimentation.

Question 2

Putting a scientific attitude into practice requires what three things:

Answer 2

1. Curiosity.
2. Skepticism.
3. Humility.

Question 3

Critical Thinking

Answer 3

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions; rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Question 4

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 4

Established psychologies first laboratory and aimed to measure the fastest and simplest mental processes.

Question 5

Psychology’s First Schools of Thought:

Answer 5

1. Structuralism.
2. Functionalism.

Question 6

Structuralism:

Answer 6

An early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener - used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.

Question 7

Functionalism:

Answer 7

Explored how mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.
Promoted by James and influenced by Darwin.

Question 8

Mary Whiton Calkins:

Answer 8

First woman psychology PhD student at Harvard.
First female president of the APA.

Question 9

Margaret Floy Washburn:

Answer 9

First official female psychology PhD.

Question 10

Behaviorism:

Answer 10

The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.
Made by John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner.

Question 11

Freudian (Psychoanalytic) Psychology:

Answer 11

Emphasized the ways our unconscious mind and childhood experiences affect our behavior.

Question 12

Humanistic Psychology:

Answer 12

A historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential.
Led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

Question 13

Cognitive Psychology:

Answer 13

The study of mental processes, such as occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems.

Question 14

Cognitive Neuroscience:

Answer 14

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

Question 15

Definition of Psychology:

Answer 15

The science of:
1. Behavior
2. Mental Processes

Question 16

Nature-Nurture Debate:

Answer 16

The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors; today’s science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.

Question 17

Natural Selection:

Answer 17

The principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Question 18

Evolutionary Psychology:

Answer 18

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

Question 19

Behavior Genetics:

Answer 19

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Question 20

Culture:

Answer 20

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

Question 21

Positive Psychology:

Answer 21

The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

Question 22

Levels of Analysis:

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Biopsychosocial Approach:

Answer 23

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

Question 24

Basic Research:

Answer 24

Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

Question 25

Applied Research:

Answer 25

A scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

Question 26

Counseling Psychology:

Answer 26

A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.

Question 27

Clinical Psychology:

Answer 27

A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.

Question 28

Psychiatrists:

Answer 28

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological theory.

Question 29

Community Psychologists:

Answer 29

A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups.

Question 30

Three Roadblocks to Critical Thinking:

Answer 30

1. Hindsight bias. 2. Overconfidence. 3. Perceiving Order.

Question 31

Hindsight Bias:

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Overconfidence:

Answer 32

We tend to think that we know more than we do.

Question 33

Perceiving Order in Random Events:

Answer 33

Random sequences often don't look random - an unpredictable world is often unsettling, so we try to make sense of it by making connections between random events.

Question 34

Post-Truth:

Answer 34

A modern culture where people's emotions and personal beliefs often override their acceptance of objective facts.

Question 35

False News:

Answer 35

A lot of misinformation is fed to us intentionally.

Question 36

Repitition:

Answer 36

Statements become more believable to us when they're repeated.

Question 37

Availability of Powerful Examples:

Answer 37

Powerful images and stories are implanted in our memory, coloring our judgements.

Question 38

Group Identity and the Echo Chamber of the Like-Minded:

Answer 38

On social media, we tend to friend people who think as we do.

Question 39

Scientific Method:

Answer 39

A self-correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis.

Question 40

Theory:

Answer 40

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts behaviors or events. A good one produces hypotheses.

Question 41

Hypothesis:

Answer 41

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

Question 42

Operational Definition:

Answer 42

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study.

Question 43

Replication:

Answer 43

Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic findings can be reproduced.

Question 44

Meta-Analysis:

Answer 44

A statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion.

Question 45

A theory is useful if it:

Answer 45

1. Organizes observations. 2. Implies predictions. 3. Stimulates further research.

Question 46

Case Study:

Answer 46

A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studies in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Question 47

Naturalistic Observations:

Answer 47

A descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Question 48

Survey:

Answer 48

A descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group usually by questioning a representative, random sample.

Question 49

Correlation:

Answer 49

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and how well one predicts another. Goes from -1.00 to +1.00.

Question 50

Experiment:

Answer 50

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process.

Question 51

Experimental Group:

Answer 51

Exposed to the independent variable.

Question 52

Control Group:

Answer 52

Not exposed to the treatment, used as a comparison.

Question 53

Random Assignment:

Answer 53

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, minimizing preexisting differences between groups.

Question 54

Double-Blind Procedure:

Answer 54

An experimental procedure in which neither the researcher nor the participant knows if they've received a placebo.

Question 55

Placebo Effect:

Answer 55

Just thinking you are receiving a treatment can cause experimental results.

Question 56

Independent Variable:

Answer 56

The factor that is being manipulated and whose effect is being studied.

Question 57

Dependent Variable:

Answer 57

The outcome that is measured, may change when the variable is manipulated.

Question 58

Confounding Variable:

Answer 58

A factor other than those being studied that might affect results.

Question 59

Ethics Code Requries:

Answer 59

1. Informed consent. 2. Protecting participants from greater-than-usual harm. 3. Participants' confidentiality. 4. Fully debrief participants after experiment.