Psych Chapter 1

Question 1

Critical Thinking

Answer 1

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 2

Structuralism

Answer 2

Early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.

Question 3

Functionalism

Answer 3

Early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Question 4

“For a lot of bad ideas, science is society’s garbage disposal.” Describe what this tells us about the scientific attitude and what’s involved in critical thinking.

Answer 4

Many ideas and questions may be scrutinized scientifically, and the bad ones end up discarded as a result. Scientific thinking combines (1) curiosity about the world around us, (2) skepticism about unproven claims and ideas, and (3) humility about one’s own understanding. This process leads us to evaluate evidence, assess conclusions, and examine our own assumptions, which are essential parts of critical thinking.

Question 5

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 5

Established first psychology laboratory. Seeked to measure “atoms of the mind” - the fastest and simplest mental processes.

Question 6

What event defined the start of scientific psychology?

Answer 6

Scientific psychology began in Germany in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory.

Question 7

Aristotle

Answer 7

Theorized about learning and memory, motivation and emotion, perception and personality. Asked the right questions. Believed the source of our personality/seat of mental processes is our heart. Denied the existence of innate ideas.

Question 8

Empirical Approach

Answer 8

Testing a hypothesis with research based on observed and measured phenomena; conclusions are exclusively derived from concrete, verifiable evidence.

Question 9

Edward Bradford Titchener

Answer 9

Relied on self-report data. Encouraged introspection, training people to report their sensations and experience to stimuli.

Question 10

Why did introspection fail as a method for understanding how the mind works?

Answer 10

People’s self-reports varied, depending on the experience and the person’s intelligence and verbal ability.

Question 11

As introspection waned, so did…

Answer 11

structuralism.

Question 12

William James

Answer 12

Studied the functions of our thoughts and feelings. Believed that thinking developed because it was adaptive - it contributed to our ancestors’ survival.

Question 13

The school of ________ used introspection to define the mind’s makeup; ________ focused on how mental processes enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Answer 13

structuralism, functionalism

Question 14

Mary Whiton Calkins

Answer 14

Memory researcher and first APA female president in 1905.

Question 15

Margaret Floy Washburn

Answer 15

Second APA female president in 1921 and first woman to receive a psychology Ph.D. She wrote “The Animal Mind” (animal behavior research).

Question 16

John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner

Answer 16

Championed psychology as the scientific study of behavior. Famous “Little Albert” experiment.

Question 17

Behaviorism

Answer 17

“The scientific study of observable behavior.”
The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. (Most psychs today agree with 1 but not with 2.)

Question 18

B.F. Skinner

Answer 18

Behaviorist who rejected introspection and studied how consequences shape behavior.

Question 19

Classical conditioning

Answer 19

John B. Watson - a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired: a response which is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone. (dog drooling - Ivan Pavlov)

Question 20

Operant Conditioning

Answer 20

B.F. Skinner - a method of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

Question 21

Freudian Psychology

Answer 21

The theory that our unconscious thought processes and emotional responses to childhood experiences affect our behavior.

Question 22

Humanistic Psychology

Answer 22

(Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow)
Perspective that emphasized human growth potential. Focused on ways current environmental influences can nurture or limit our growth potential and the importance of having our needs for love and acceptance satisfied.

Question 23

Psychology

Answer 23

the science of behavior and mental processes

Question 24

From the 1920s through the 1960s, the two major forces in psychology were _______ and _______ psychology.

Answer 24

behaviorism, Freudian

Question 25

Cognitive Revolution 1960s

Answer 25

Explores how information is perceived, processed, and remembered and studies the cognitive roots of anxiety, depression, and other psychological disorders.

Question 26

Cognitive Neuroscience

Answer 26

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language); interdisciplinary field that studies the science of the brain and the science of the mind.

Question 27

Plato

Answer 27

Greek philosopher that assumed we inherit character and intelligence and that certain ideas are inborn.

Question 28

Nature-Nurture issue

Answer 28

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 29

Natural Selection

Answer 29

the principle that those chance inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Question 30

Charles Darwin

Answer 30

His 1859 "On the Origin of Species" he proposed the evolutionary process of natural selection.

Question 31

Evolutionary Psychology

Answer 31

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

Question 32

Behavior Genetics

Answer 32

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

Question 33

How did the cognitive revolution affect the field of psychology?

Answer 33

It recaptured the field's early interest in mental processes and made them legitimate topics for scientific study.

Question 34

Culture

Answer 34

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

Question 35

Cross-Cultural Psych

Answer 35

Culture shapes behavior, but the underlying processes are universal (the same).

Question 36

Martin Seligman

Answer 36

Researches human flourishing with the positive psychology approach.

Question 37

Positive Psychology

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Levels of Analysis

Answer 38

The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon. Each by itself is incomplete.

Question 39

Biopsychosocial Approach

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Biological Influences

Answer 40

Genetic predispositions Genetic mutations Natural selection of adaptive traits and behaviors passed down through generations Genes responding to the environment

Question 41

Psychological Influences

Answer 41

Learned fears and other learned expectations Emotional responses Cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations

Question 42

Social-Cultural Influences

Answer 42

Presence of others Cultural, societal, and family expectations Peer and other group influences Compelling models (such as in media)

Question 43

Neuroscience

Answer 43

How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences.

Question 44

Evolutionary

Answer 44

How the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes.

Question 45

Behavior Genetics

Answer 45

How our genes and our environment influence our individual differences.

Question 46

Psychodynamic

Answer 46

How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts.

Question 47

Behavioral

Answer 47

How we learn observable responses.

Question 48

Cognitive

Answer 48

How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information.

Question 49

Social-Cultural

Answer 49

How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures.

Question 50

Basic Research

Answer 50

Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

Question 51

Applied Research

Answer 51

Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

Question 52

Counseling Psychology

Answer 52

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 53

Clinical Psychology

Answer 53

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

Question 54

Psychiatry

Answer 54

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy.

Question 55

Community Psychology

Answer 55

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

Question 56

How do the scientific attitude's three main components relate to critical thunking?

Answer 56

The scientific attitude equips us to be curious, skeptical, and humble in scrutinizing competing ideas or our own observations. This attitude carries into everyday life as critical thinking, which puts ideas to the test by examining assumptions, appraising the source, discerning hidden biases, evaluating evidence, and assessing conclusions.

Question 57

Intuition

Answer 57

An effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with explicit, conscious reasoning.

Question 58

Hindsight Bias

Answer 58

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.)

Question 59

Theory

Answer 59

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.

Question 60

Hypothesis

Answer 60

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

Question 61

Operational Definition

Answer 61

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

Question 62

Replication

Answer 62

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

Question 63

What does a good theory do?

Answer 63

1. It organizes observed facts. 2. It implies hypotheses that offer testable predictions and, sometimes, practical applications. 3. It often stimulates further research.

Question 64

Why is replication important?

Answer 64

When other investigators are able to replicate an experiment with the same (or better) results, scientists can confirm the result and become more confident in its reliability.

Question 65

Case Studies

Answer 65

(In-depth analysis of individuals or groups) A descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

Question 66

Naturalistic Observations

Answer 66

(Recording individuals' behavior in their natural setting) A descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation.

Question 67

Surveys and Interviews

Answer 67

Self-reports in which people answer questions about their behavior or attitudes

Question 68

We cannot assume that case studies always reveal general principles that apply to all of us. Why not?

Answer 68

Case studies involve only one individual or group, so we can't know for sure whether the principles observed would apply to a larger population.

Question 69

Survey

Answer 69

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

Question 70

Population

Answer 70

All those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn.

Question 71

Random Sample

Answer 71

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Question 72

What is an unrepresentative sample and how do researchers avoid it?

Answer 72

An unrepresentative sample is a group that does not represent the population being studied. Random sampling helps researchers form a representative sample, because each member of the population has an equal chance of being included.

Question 73

Correlation

Answer 73

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

Question 74

Correlation Coefficient

Answer 74

A statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1.00 to +1.00). Helps us see to what extent two things relate.

Question 75

Experiment

Answer 75

A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors.

Question 76

Experimental Group

Answer 76

In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable.

Question 77

Control Group

Answer 77

In an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.

Question 78

Independent Variable

Answer 78

In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

Question 79

Confounding Variable

Answer 79

A factor other than the factor being studied that might produce an effect.

Question 80

Dependent Variable

Answer 80

In an experiment, the outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated.

Question 81

Informed Consent

Answer 81

Giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.

Question 82

Debriefing

Answer 82

The postexperimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants.

Question 83

Testing Effect

Answer 83

Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. Also referred to as a "retrieval practice effect" or "test-enhanced learning."

Question 84

SQ3R

Answer 84

A study method incorporating five steps: Survey Question Read Retrieve (Recite) Review

Question 85

The _______ _______ describes the enhanced memory that results from repeated retrieval rather than from simple rereading of new information.

Answer 85

Testing effect

Question 86

How does our everyday thinking sometimes lead us to a wrong conclusion?

Answer 86

Our everyday thinking can be perilous because of three phenomenon: hindsight bias, overconfidence, and a tendency to perceive order/seek a pattern in random events, leading us to overestimate our intuition.

Question 87

What are positive and negative correlations, and why do they enable prediction but not cause-effect explanation?

Answer 87

In a positive correlation, two factors increase or decrease together. In a negative correlation, one item increases as the other decreases. A correlation coefficient can describe the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables, from +1.00 (a perfect positive correlation) through zero (no correlation at all) to -1.00 (a perfect negative correlation). A correlation can indicate the possibility of a cause-effect relationship, but it does not prove the direction of the influence, or whether an underlying third factor may explain the correlation.

Question 88

What are the characteristics of experimentation that make it possible to isolate cause and effect?

Answer 88

To discover cause-effect relationships, psychologists conduct experiments, manipulating one or more factors of interest and controlling other factors. Using random assignment, they can minimize confounding variables, such as preexisting differences between the experimental group and the control group. Studies may use a double-blind procedure to avoid the placebo effect.

Question 89

Can laboratory experiments illuminate everyday life?

Answer 89

Researches intentionally create a controlled, artificial environment in the lab in order to test general theoretical principles. These general principles help explain everyday behaviors.

Question 90

Why do psychologists study animals?

Answer 90

Some psychologists are primarily interested in animal behavior while others want to better understand the physiological and psychological processes shared by humans and other species.

Question 91

What ethical guidelines safeguard human and animal research participants?

Answer 91

Animal protection legislation, laboratory regulation and inspection, and local ethics committees serve to protect animal and human welfare. Government agencies have established standards for animal care and housing. Professional associations and funding agencies also establish guidelines for protecting animals' well-being. The APA ethics code outlines standards for safeguarding human participants' well-being, including obtaining their informed consent and debriefing them later.

Question 92

How do human values influence psychology?

Answer 92

Psychologists' values influence their choice of research topics, their theories and observations, their labels for behavior, and their professional advice.

Question 93

How can critical thinking help you evaluate claims in the media?

Answer 93

Critical thinking examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Question 94

You wish to survey a group of people who truly represent the population. The best way to ensure this is to question a _______ sample of the population, in which each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Answer 94

Representative

Question 95

The laboratory environment is designed to ________.

Answer 95

re-create psychological forces under controlled conditions.