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

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

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

Which of the following are steps in the scientific method?

Develop hypotheses Identify a question Communicate findings Test hypotheses through research

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

________psychology is the study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others.

Social psychology

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

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.

Behavioral neuroscientists study the ______ basis of behavior.

biological

When using naturalistic observation, we can sample typical behavior in a situation

but lose control of other factors

The subfield of psychology that deals with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological disorders is called _____ psychology.

clinical

Which subfield of psychology focuses primarily on educational, social, and career adjustment problems?

counseling psychology

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

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

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

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

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.

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