Intro to psychology week 1

Dr. Ebrahim studies the changes in peer relationships among children through the elementary and middle-school years. Dr. Ebrahim is a ________ psychologist

1developmental

Which of the following subfields of psychology is correctly defined?

Behavioral neuroscience examines the relationship between the nervous system and behavior.

When asked to define "popularity," Brianna offers, "It's when everyone likes you." Chrissy suggests, "It's basically the number of friends you have." In the context of the descriptions provided, which of the following is a true statement?

Chrissy's description of popularity is an operational definition.

Which of the following subfields of psychology is correctly described?

Clinical neuropsychology focuses on the origin of psychological disorders in biological factors.

Examines how people understand and think about the world.

Cognitive

Identify a true statement about cognitive psychology.

Cognitive psychology is a subspecialty under experimental psychology.

Which of the following subfields of psychology is correctly matched with its sample topic?

Cognitive psychology: the influence of an event on people's thinking

How do clinical psychologists and counseling psychologists differ?

Counseling psychologists deal with problems that are more specific than the problems with which clinical psychologists deal.

________ is designed to systematically investigate a person, group, or patterns of behavior.

Descriptive research

________ is the idea that people's behavior is produced primarily by factors outside of their willful control.

Determinism

Dr. Chen studies how people grow and change during late adolescence and young adulthood. Dr. Doherty focuses on several traits that distinguish one person from another. Which of the following is likely to be true in the context of this scenario?

Dr. Chen is likely to be a developmental psychologist, whereas Dr. Doherty is likely to be a personality psychologist

Dr. Greenway argues that psychology should focus on individual actions and conduct that can be observed and measured. Dr. Cech is a strong proponent of the idea that psychology should study how people think about and understand the world. Which of the following options correctly identifies their respective perspectives?

Dr. Greenway adheres to the behavioral perspective, and Dr. Cech adheres to the cognitive perspective.

Dr. Lin and Dr. Marino study obesity. Dr. Lin relates the likelihood of obesity to the levels of the trait of neuroticism—the tendency to experience upsetting emotions. Dr. Marino relates obesity to the frequency with which individuals eat alone; with family members; or in the presence of larger groups of friends, acquaintances, or strangers. In the scenario, which of the following statements is most likely to be true?

Dr. Marino is a social psychologist

Which of the following scenarios describes the last step in the scientific method?

Federico is publishing his research findings in a peer-reviewed journal.

________ is an early approach to psychology that concentrated on what the mind does and the role of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environments.

Functionalism

Contends that people can control their behavior and that they naturally try to reach their full potential.

Humanistic

________ is a procedure used to study the structure of the mind in which subjects are asked to describe in detail what they are experiencing when they are exposed to a stimulus.

Introspection

Which of the following led psychologists to challenge the structuralism perspective?

Introspection was not a truly scientific technique.

Identify a true statement about functionalism.

It focused on the role behavior plays in allowing people to adapt to their environments.

Which of the following correctly defines personality psychology?

It focuses on the consistency in people's behavior over time and the traits that differentiate one person from another.

Which of the following statements defines developmental psychology?

It studies how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death.

Identify the statement that correctly describes social psychology.

It studies how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others.

Which of the following female psychologists is correctly matched with her achievement?

Margaret Floy Washburn: the first woman to receive a doctorate in psychology

Which of the following descriptive research methods is correctly matched with its description?

Naturalistic observation: Behavior is investigated in the environment in which it typically occurs, without intervention by the researcher.

Which of the following descriptive research methods is correctly matched with its respective advantage?

Naturalistic observation: examines behavior in the real world

Views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning.

Neuroscience

Believes behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious forces over which a person has little control.

Psychodynamic

Why is the term "experimental psychologist" considered somewhat misleading?

Psychologists in every subfield use experimental methods.

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Psychology is defined as

How is the diversity of psychology limited in the United States?

Racial and ethnic minorities are underrepresented among psychologists.

________ is defined as a systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery of new knowledge.

Research

Which of the following guidelines is true of the use of nonhuman animals in experiments?

Researchers must minimize discomfort, illness, and pain for the animals.

________ are broad explanations and predictions concerning observations of interest.

Theories

In the context of theories, which of the following is a true statement?

Theories provide a framework to understand the relationships among a set of otherwise unorganized facts.

Which of the following is one of the reasons that college students are so often used as participants in psychological research?

They are generally readily available to researchers

Which of the following is an example of a question being answered using the scientific method?

When asked if violent video games have any impact on a gamer, Dr. Farnworth replies that there is substantial empirical evidence to suggest a change in the gamer's physiology.

The formal beginning of psychology is associated with

Wilhelm Wundt.

Research in which existing data, such as census documents, college records, and newspaper clippings, are examined to test a hypothesis is known as

archival research.

In the context of correlational research involving two variables, a positive correlation indicates that

as the value of one variable increases, one can predict that the value of the other will also increase.

Experimental research requires that the responses of ________ group(s) be compared.

at least two

Evolutionary psychology is the study of how

behavior is influenced by ancestral genetic inheritance.

Focuses on observable behavior

behavioral

Penny is a recovering drug addict. Her treatment program emphasizes the influence of her environment—people, places, and things—on the use of drugs. Her program reflects the ________ perspective of psychology.

behavioral

Dr. Alvarez studies how the degeneration of certain components of nerve cells in the brain might contribute to the development of multiple sclerosis. Dr. Alvarez's work best exemplifies the ________ subfield of psychology.

behavioral neuroscience

Dr. Hart investigates how depressive disorders are related to the levels of serotonin in the brain. Dr. Hart's research falls within the field of

clinical neuropsychology

Which of the following is one of the three newer branches of psychology's family tree?

clinical neuropsychology

The purpose of random assignment to conditions is to

ensure there is an equal chance that participant characteristics will be distributed across the various groups.

Which of the following branches of psychology studies the processes of sensing, perceiving, learning, and thinking about the world?

experimental psychology

Which of the following approaches to psychology proposed that "the whole is different than the sum of the parts"?

gestalt psychology

Which of the following perspectives is correctly matched with its description?

gestalt psychology: emphasizes the organization of perception

Enterprise City has been hit hard by a recent economic downturn. Local psychologists are holding a public workshop to help the citizens cope with the adversity. Dr. Kurutz is outlining strategies to help adults who have been laid off avoid overeating and the use of drugs or alcohol. Dr. Kurutz is most likely a ________ psychologist

health

Which branch of psychology explores the relationship between psychological factors and physical ailments or diseases?

health psychology

In the context of the psychology of emotion, William James would be most interested in

how behavior aids an individual's adaptation to the environment.

Dr. Petrovic tries to help his clients see how their behavior reflects the choices they make. He is most likely a ________ psychologist

humanistic

Individual differences are to universal principles as the ________ perspective is to the ________ perspective.

humanistic; neuroscience

Before participating in an experiment, participants must sign a document affirming that they have been told the basic outlines of the study and are aware of what their participation will involve and what risks the experiment may hold. The document also gets participants to confirm that their participation is purely voluntary and that they may terminate it at any time. To which ethical principle of research does this refer?

informed consent

Which of the following sequences best reflects the order of events in an experiment?

informed consent → experiment → debriefing

Evelyn, a psychology graduate, watches parent-child interactions in a park. She simply records what she sees and does not introduce any change in the scenario. The research method she uses is known as

naturalistic observation.

Dr. O'Connor is telling his participants before he begins an experiment that their participation is completely voluntary and that they can stop participating in the experiment at any time. Dr. O'Connor is

obtaining informed consent.

A ________ is a false treatment, such as a pill, "drug," or other substance, without any significant chemical properties or active ingredient.

placebo

A hypothesis is best defined as a

prediction, stemming from a theory, stated in a way that allows it to be tested.

When a researcher debriefs her participants, she

provides a detailed explanation of the study.

Noreen asserts that human behavior is motivated by inner forces about which individuals have little awareness or control. This viewpoint is most consistent with the ________ perspective of psychology.

psychodynamic

________ focuses on higher mental processes, including thinking, memory, reasoning, problem solving, judging, decision making, and language.

psychology Cognitive psychology

Research that is conducted, sometimes using other procedures, settings, and groups of participants, to increase confidence in prior findings is known as

replication

In comparison with a PsyD (doctor of psychology), a PhD (doctor of philosophy)

requires a dissertation based on an original investigation.

The approach through which psychologists systematically acquire knowledge and understanding about behavior and other phenomena of interest is called the

scientific method.

Experimental group is to control group what ________ is to ________.

special treatment; no treatment

Dr. Leleux asserts that psychologists should attempt to identify the fundamental attributes of mental experience. Dr. Leleux is most likely following a perspective in psychology known as

structuralism

Dr. Estevez prepares a set of questions to ask college students about their drinking behavior and their attitudes toward alcohol. Dr. Estevez is conducting

survey research.

Correlational research is research in which

the relationship between two sets of variables is examined to determine whether they are associated.

Why are control groups included in experiments?

to rule out the idea that something other than experimental manipulation produced the observed results in an experiment

To guard against participant expectations biasing the results of an experiment, the experimenter may

try to disguise the true purpose of the experiment.

Psychologists ________ to describe, predict, and explain human behavior and mental processes, as well as help to change and improve the lives of people and the world in which they live.

use scientific methods

Behaviors, events, or other characteristics that can change, or vary, in some way are referred to as

variables