Chapter 1 Psychology Study Guide
Mary decided to measure intelligence in a group of children. She chose to do this using a specific IQ test. She was choosing
An operational definition for intelligence.
_________ cultural psychologist would be interested in investigating the similarities and differences in psychological functioning in various cultures and ethnic groups.
Cross
A psychologist has identified a question of interest for a scientific research study. Which of the following would be part of the process of formulating an explanation?
Develop a hypothesis
The approach to psychology that focuses on the organization of perception and thinking in a "whole" sense
Gestalt
A health psychologist, clinical psychologist, and a counseling psychologist would all be most interested in which of the following?
How frequent depression has prevented someone from carrying out their normal activities
Who established the first laboratory in Leipzig, Germany devoted to psychological research?
Wilhelm Wundt did it in 1879. This is considered the birthplace of experimental psychology
Behavioral neuroscientists study the ______ basis of behavior.
biological
The subfield of psychology that deals with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological disorders is called _____ psychology.
clinical
Differences between the United States and other industrialized nations in the use of spanking during childhood would be of most interest to a(n)
cross-cultural psychologist
When conducting a naturalistic observation, it is important that the researchers _____.
not change the situation that they're observing
The subfields of psychology are related to each other because they share a common goal, which is
understanding behavior
Behaviors, events or other characteristics that can change or vary in a study are called
variables
In an experiment, the _______variable is manipulated by the experimenter.
independent
The systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery of new knowledge is known as
research
Which of the following would be areas of most interest to a health psychologist?
-How long-term stress affects physical health -How to promote positive health behaviors
Which of the following statements about women in the field of psychology are true?
-Women psychologists outnumber male psychologists by more than 2 to 1. -Seventy-five percent of psychology graduate students are female.
The change that an experimenter deliberately produces in an experiment is the experimental
manipulation
The idea that behavior is mostly the result of factors outside of a person's willful control is known as
Determinism
__________psychology studies how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death.
Developmental Psychology
Which of the following is an example of archival research?
A study examining ethnic differences in neighborhoods using census data.
Which of the following is an example of survey research?
A study in which people complete a questionnaire about how they feel about people of different ethnic groups.
Which of the following is an example of correlational research?
A study in which the researcher looks for a relationship between people's neighborhood demographics and their level of prejudice.
Which of the following is an example of a case study?
A study of one person to determine how experience has affected their behavior today toward people of different ethnic groups.
In using the scientific method, psychologists start by identifying questions of interest. Such questions generally stem from which of the following?
Curiosity, creativity, or insight Prior research findings Behavior and phenomenon requiring explanation
______ research is designed to systematically investigate a person, group, or patterns of behavior.
Descriptive
Which of the following are steps in the scientific method?
Develop hypotheses Identify a question Communicate findings Test hypotheses through research
________psychology is the study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others.
Social psychology
The formal beginning of psychology as a scientific discipline is generally considered to have occurred when
Wilhelm Wundt established the first experimental laboratory devoted to psychological phenomena.
When using naturalistic observation, we can sample typical behavior in a situation
but lose control of other factors
Which subfield of psychology focuses primarily on educational, social, and career adjustment problems?
counseling psychology
If someone is using theories to develop hypotheses and then testing those hypotheses, that person is using the
scientific method
The process of systematically acquiring knowledge and understanding through the use of theories and testing hypotheses is called the
scientific method
______ focused on uncovering the fundamental mental components of mental states and activities, ______ focused on the purpose of mental activity and the role of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environments.
structuralism and functionalism
In ______ research, a sample of people complete questionnaires about their thoughts, feelings, and/or behavior.
survey
Free will is the idea that behavior is a reflection of
choices made by the individual
Which of these are potential pitfalls to survey research?
-People may not want to admit to behaviors or attitudes that are socially unacceptable. -If the sample doesn't represent the larger population, then the data won't be accurate.
A focus on external behavior rather than the internal workings of the mind is favored by the _______perspective.
Behavior
Which of the following are types of descriptive research?
Case studies Archival research Naturalistic observation Survey research
Which of the following would be interested in stress and fears that prevent people from carrying out their normal activities?
Clinical psychologist Health psychologist Counseling psychologist
_________psychology is a subspecialtiy of experimental psychology that focuses on higher mental processes, including thinking, memory, decision making, and language.
Cognitive Psychology
________psychology is the branch of psychology that studies the processes of sensing, perceiving, learning, and thinking about the world.
Experimental Psychology
True or False: An experimental manipulation should be viewed by itself, in insolation.
False
Which of the following is true of the neuroscience perspective?
It emphasizes that the brain is central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion.
Which of the following is a benefit of archival research?
It is relatively inexpensive.
Which of the following are likely trends in the future of psychology?
More focus on issues of diversity Greater adherence to strict ethical and moral guidelines Increased influence on issues of public interest
Match the psychological perspective to the proper description.
Neuroscience - Views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning Cognitive - Examines how people understand and think about the world Behavioral - Focuses on observable behavior Humanistic - Contends that people can control their behavior and that they naturally try to reach their full potential. Psychodynamic - Believes behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious forces over which a person has little control
Select the five major perspectives in the field psychology today.
Neuroscience, cognitive, Behavioral, Humanistic, Psychodynamic
Human aggression, liking and loving, persuasion, and conformity are all topics that would be of most interest to a ______ psychologist.
Social
Which of the following is a mental process?
Perceiving a threat
______psychology studies the traits that differentiate one person from another.
Personality Psychology
Which of the following is true about the key issues in the field of psychology?
Psychologists all agree on what the key issues of the field are.
The origins of the psychodynamic perspective are linked to
Sigmund Freud
The perspective that focuses on uncovering the fundamental mental components of perception, consciousness, and other mental states is called
Structuralism
Which perspective focuses on uncovering the fundamental mental components of perception, consciousness, thinking, emotions, and other kinds of mental states?
Structuralism
Which of the following would be studied by a personality psychologist?
The consistency in people's behavior across their lives The traits that differentiate one person from another
Which of the following are drawbacks of archival research?
The information could be incomplete. The data may not be in a form that allows a hypothesis to be fully tested. Records with the existing information may not exist.
A psychologist taking the psychodynamic perspective to study how people change during college would be most interested in which of the following?
The unconscious motives that led the student to attend college in the first place.
Which of the following are true of surveys?
They can spur additional research. They are often used to create public policy.
Which of the following are included in cognitive psychology?
Thinking Problem solving Language Judging Decision making
True or False : Psychologists in every speciality area use experimental techniques.
True
Hermann Ebbinghaus and Max ______ led the gestalt movement.
Wertheimer
To help in identifying the subfields of psychology, which of the following would be the best question to ask?
What type of behavior does it address?
As part of her doctoral work, Alice is planning to use data that has been previously collected on groups of individuals to see if there is a relationship between poverty and alcoholism. Which of the following best describes Alice's research?
archival
Research that uses existing data is called
archival research
Which perspective is being practiced when a psychologist focuses on the activities a person is engaging in, and not the thoughts or feelings the person has?
behavioral
What subfield of psychology focuses on how the brain and the nervous system determine behavior?
behavioral neuroscience
A crucial disadvantage to correlational research is that it
cannot demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships.
Dr. Agarwal is conducting an in-depth study of a patient who has exhibited some very unusual neurological symptoms. What kind of research is this?
case study
What term describes an in-depth intensive investigation of an individual or small group of people?
case study
Susan is going to conduct archival research for a study. Which of the following would be a source of her information?
census data
Experiments involve _____ one variable and observing the effect on another variable.
changing
Which of these research methods allows the researcher to determine cause and effect?
experiment
Which type of research involves manipulating one variable in order to see how it affects another variable?
experimental
The first step in designing an experiment is to
develop one or more hypotheses to test.
A baby taking her first step or saying her first word are universal milestones that would be studied in ______ psychology.
developmental
Researchers rule out the possibility that something other than the experimental manipulation produced the results observed in the experiment by
employing experimental and control groups in an experiment.
Which subfield of psychology includes both psychological factors and physical diseases?
health
Which subfield of psychology includes both psychological factors and physical diseases?
health psychology
_________are predictions that can be tested.
hypotheses
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 is called
introspection
Which procedure was favored by structuralists over functionalists?
introspection
Wundt and others used a technique called ______, which involved describing in their own words and in as much detail as possible what they were experiencing.
introspection
A psychologist who is studying how heredity influences behavior most likely will be using the ______ perspective.
neuroscience
What type of research methodology involves watching and documenting people's behavior, without changing the situation?
naturalistic observation
Which of the following are key issues in the field of psychology?
nature versus nurture individual differences versus universal principles free will versus determinism
When a researcher wants to correlate tension with depression, she develops tests that measure these two emotional states. The tests are her _________ of the variables she is interested in.
operational definitions
The branch of developmental psychology that would study how your traits are different from your sister's traits is called ______ psychology.
personality
One pitfall of survey research is that if a sample of a(n) ______ is not representative, the results will be inaccurate.
population
Research is utilized to
understand the degree to which hypotheses are accurate.
The growing area of genetics and gene therapy may allow psychologists to focus on ______ of psychological disorders rather than on ______ only.
prevention and treatment
__________are broad explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest.
theories
Recent research has found a relationship between body fat and colon cancer in women. This means that _____.
there is a correlation between these variables
Which of the following is true of hypotheses?
they can be tested
In the field of psychology, women are more likely than men to
to attend graduate school
In an experiment, the group that receives no treatment is referred to as the _____ group.
to control
Experimental manipulation is used to
to detect relationships between different variables
The manipulation implemented by the experimenter is called
treatment
In trying to help someone deal with a mental illness, the psychodynamic perspective suggests that we should explore
unconscious processes
A theory is a
framework to explain relationships between different facts or principles.
Unlike counseling psychologists, clinical psychologists help people who are
suffering from a serious disease and psychological disorder
