AP Psychology Chapter 1 Test

How did Darwin's theory of evolution influence psychology?

Darwin's theory prompted some prominent early psychologists to compare the intelligence of different species.

Identify a question that a psychologist studying psychophysics would try to answer?

How come when a light becomes twice as light physically, it does not seem twice as bright?

Give some examples of cross-cultural issues in psychology, along with studies that examine these issues.

How people of one culture fare in another country exposed to a different culture. A study of Japanese students who studied abroad recorded their experiences.

Who established the first psychological laboratory, and for what purpose? What types of studies were conducted there?

Wilhelm Wundt set up the first psychological laboratory for exclusively psychological research. He studied the sense organs, cultural differences in behavior, the components of experience/mind, and if a person can shift from one stimulus to another.

Describe the functionalist approach to psychology. Who established it? What were some of the questions this approach attempted to answer?

William James established functionalism which focused attention on how the mind guides useful behavior rather than on the contents of the mind. How can people strengthen good habits? Can someone attend to more than one item at a time. How do people recognize that they have seen something before? How does an intention lead to action?

Describe the following fields of applied psychology: Forensic Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, ergonomics, and school psychology.

Forensic psychology is the study of the criminal justice system, where they provide advice and consultation to the police, lawyers, and courts. Industrial/Organizational psychologists study people at work and their environment. An ergonomist attempts to facilitate the operation of machinery so ordinary people can operate it. A school psychologist is a specialist in the psychological condition of students.

Briefly describe some of the history of intelligence measurements in humans. What did Galton contribute to this enterprise?

In humans intelligence was hard to measure; experiments generally did not lead to objective data. Galton loved to measure almost everything. He conducted experiments to see if eminent men had sons who would also become famous, based off of heredity. He also tried to measure intelligence using simple sensory and motor tasks.

What are the career prospects for someone who chooses to study psychology? How has the composition of psychologists (in terms of gender and ethnicity) changed through the years?

People with a bachelors degree in psych enter a wide variety of careers or continue their education in professional schools. Those with a doctorate have additional possibilities depending on their area of specialization. Over the years more wmen have entered and different types of people, diff ethnicities, have entered into the "psych" workforce.

What was the role of women in the early years of psychology? Name some prominent women and describe their contributions.

Psychology was open to women in the early 1900s but was very limited. Harvard refused to give Mary Calkins a Ph.D. Mary Calkins, a memory researcher, was a top student in Psychology at Harvard College. She served as the president of the American Psychologist Association. Margaret Washburn, another important women in the early days of psychology.

Describe Freud's influence on the development of modern clinical psychology.

Sigmund Freud's theories revolutionized and popularized psychotherapy by analyzing his patient's thoughts and dreams to the current behavior back to childhood experiences. His theories have also given way to other approaches to therapy.

What factors led to the rise of behaviorism? Who is considered the founder of this school? Describe the behaviorist approach to psychology.

Since most psychologists felt that questions about the mind were too unanswerable they addressed questions about observable behavior. They defined psychology as the study of behavior, not behavior and experiences. John B. Watson was the founder of the behaviorist approach to psychology. The behaviorist approach is a field of psychology that concentrates on observable and measurable behavior, not mental processes.

Describe the types of studies conducted by the behaviorists and explain why they conducted these types of studies.

The types of studies that were conducted by behaviorists were on animals because they have simpler, and more understandable behavior. They also wanted to discover an underlying principle in all animal behavior.

What was Titchener's contribution to Psychology?Describe the school of psychology established.

Titchener contributed the approach of structuralism, an attempt to describe the structures that compose the mind, particularly sensations. His approach had no way of determining the accuracy of the patient's statements so it was discouraged later on as most psychologists want definite answers.

Describe some of the features that characterize the study of psychology today.

Today psychologists study a wide variety of topics. Cognitive psychology has replaced behaviorist approaches to learning as the dominant field of experimental psychology.