Hoofdstuk 1

Question 1

The principle question of psychology:

Answer 1

1. Why do people feel, think and behave the way they do?
2. Are we the result of our genes, or of our experiences?
3. How important are our goals vs. our past in determining what we do?
4. Is there a separation between mind and body?

Question 2

Psychology

Answer 2

The science of behaviour and the mind.

Question 3

Behaviour

Answer 3

The observable actions of a person or animal.

Question 4

Mind

Answer 4

An individual’s sensations, perceptions, memories, thoughts, dreams, motives, emotions and other subjective experiences. All of the unconscious knowledge and operating rules that are built into or stored in the brain and that provide the foundation for organizing behaviour and conscious experiences.

Question 5

Science

Answer 5

All attempts to answer questions through the systematic collection and logical analysis of objectively observable data.

Question 6

Dualism

Answer 6

The church maintained that each human being consists of two distinct but intimately conjoined entities: a material body and an immaterial soul.

Question 7

Materialism

Answer 7

The spirit or soul is meaningless, nothing exists but matter and energy.

Question 8

French psychologist Francois Magendie demonstrated that nerves entering the spinal cord contain two separate pathways:

Answer 8

• One for carrying messages into the central nervous system from the skin’s sensory receptors.
• One for carrying messages out to operate muscles.

Question 9

Reflexology

Answer 9

Every human action, can in theory be understood as a reflex.

Question 10

Empiricism

Answer 10

The idea that human knowledge and thought derive ultimately from sensory experience. Came about in England.

Question 11

Association by contiguity

Answer 11

If a person experiences two environmental events at the same time, or one right after the other, those two events will become associated in the person’s mind such that the thought of one event will tend to elicit the other.

Question 12

Nativism

Answer 12

The view that the most basic forms of human knowledge and the basic operating characteristics of the mind – that is, are inborn and do not have to be from experience. The opposite of empiricism. It is derived from Germany.

Question 13

A priori knowledge

Answer 13

Is built into the human brain and does not have to be learned.

Question 14

A posteriori knowledge

Answer 14

One gains from experience in the environment.

Question 15

Level of analyse

Answer 15

Refers to the level, or type, of causal process that is studied.

Question 16

The nine levels where a person’s behaviour or mental experience can be examined:

Answer 16

1. Neural -> The brain as cause.
2. Physiological -> Internal chemical functions as cause.
3. Genetic -> Genes as cause.
4. Evolutionary -> Natural selection as cause.
5. Learning -> Individual’s prior experiences with the environment as cause.
6. Cognitive -> individual’s knowledge or beliefs as cause.
7. Social -> The influence of other people as cause.
8. Cultural -> The culture in which the person develops as cause.
9. Developmental -> Age-related changes as cause.

Question 17

The two clusters:

Answer 17

1. Biological -> Neural, physiological, genetic and evolutionary.
2. Effects of experience -> Learning, cognitive, social, cultural, developmental.

Question 18

Sexual jealousy

Answer 18

The set of emotions and behaviours that result when a person believes that their relationship with a (potential) sexual partner is threatened by the partner’s involvement with another person.

Question 19

Behavioural neuroscience

Answer 19

The research specialty that centers on the nervous system.

Question 20

Biopsychology

Answer 20

Study the ways hormones and drugs act on the brain to alter behaviour and experience.

Question 21

Behavioural genetics

Answer 21

The research specialty that attempts to explain psychological differences among individuals in terms of differences in their genes.

Question 22

Evolutionary psychology

Answer 22

The research specialty concerned with natural selection.

Question 23

Learning psychology (behavioural psychology)

Answer 23

The psychological specialty that is most directly and exclusively concerned with explaining behaviour in terms of learning.

Question 24

Cognition

Answer 24

Information in the brain.

Question 25

Cognitive psychology

Answer 25

The specialty focussing on cognition.

Question 26

Social psychology

Answer 26

The specialty focussing on others.

Question 27

Social pressure

Answer 27

Influences of conformity to social norms, obedience to authority, or living up to others’ expectations.

Question 28

Cultural psychology

Answer 28

The psychological specialty that explains mental experiences and behaviour in terms of the culture in which the person is developed.

Question 29

Developmental psychology

Answer 29

The specialty that documents and describes the typical age differences that occur in the ways that people feel, think, and act.

Question 30

Sensory psychology

Answer 30

The study of basic abilities to sense the environment.

Question 31

Perceptual psychology

Answer 31

The study of how people and animals make sense of or interpret the input they receive through their senses.

Question 32

The two major specialties that are devoted to the task of understanding individual differences among people:

Answer 32

1. Personality psychology 2. Abnormal psychology

Question 33

Personality psychology

Answer 33

Concerned with normal differences in people’s general ways of thinking, feeling and behaving -> personality traits.

Question 34

Abnormal psychology

Answer 34

Concerned with variations in psychological traits that are sufficiently extreme and disruptive to people’s lives as to be classified as mental disorders.

Question 35

Clinical psychology

Answer 35

The specialty that is concerned with helping people who have mental disorders or less serious psychological problems.

Question 36

The main settings in which psychologists work, and the kinds of services they perform in those settings:

Answer 36

- Academic departments in universities and colleges - Clinical settings - Elementary and secondary schools - Business and government

Question 37

Academic departments in universities and colleges

Answer 37

Academic psychologists are employed to conduct basic results.

Question 38

Clinical settings

Answer 38

Clinical and counseling psychologists work with clients who have psychological problems or disorders, in independent practice or in hospitals, mental health centers, clinics, and counseling or guidance centers.

Question 39

Elementary and secondary schools

Answer 39

School psychologists administer psychological tests, supervise programs for children who have special needs, and may help teachers develop more effective classroom techniques.

Question 40

Business and government

Answer 40

Psychologists are hired by businesses and government agencies for such varied purposes as conducting research, screening candidates for employment, helping to design more pleasant and efficient work environments, and counselling personnel who have work-related problems.