AP Psychology Unit 1 Study Questions
a counseling psychologist
A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being
clinical psychologist
A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders
Psychological influences
Learned fears and other learned expectations Emotional responses Cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations
Biological influences
Natural selection of adaptive traits Genetic predispositions responding to environment Brain mechanisms Hormonal influences
Social-cultural influences
Presence of others Cultural, societal, and family expectations Peer and other group influences Compelling models (such as in the media)
An industrial/ organizational psychologist
The application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces
Biological processes
The scientific study of links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes. (some biological psychologists call themselves behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists.)
Psychoanalytic approach
perspective holding that the unconscious mind controls much of our thought and action; held by Sigmund Freud
Humanistic approach
perspective stressing individual choice and free will; held by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
Introspection research methodology
the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes
Evolutionary psychology
the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.
Behavioral approach
-perspective explaining human thought and behavior in terms of conditioning, looking strictly at observable behaviors and what reaction organisms get in response to specific behaviors; held by Watson, Skinner, and Pavlov
Trephining
A surgical instrument with a cylindrical saw usually used for removing a disk of bone
4. If Aristotle and Locke, who both believed that what we know is acquired from experience, were alive today, they would best agree with the A) Behavioral approach B)Psychoanalytic approach C) Humanistic approach D) Biological approach E) Psychodynamic approach
A) Behaviorist think that what we know is gained through learning. The other approaches accept that some of our behavior is inborn.
18. Behaviorists explain human thought and behavior as a result of A) Past conditioning B) Unconscious behavioral impulses C) Natural selections D) Biological processes
A) Behaviorists explain human thought and behavior as a result of conditioning in our pasts, either classical conditioning or operant conditioning. This conditioning restricts (or eliminates) the idea of personal choice, and behaviorists do not usually refer to biological causes and evolutionary theory (like natural selection). The unconscious mind is a concept from psychoanalytic theory.
2. With which definition of psychology would John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner most agree? A) Psychology is the science of behavior B) Psychology is the science of mental processes C) Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes D) Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes specific to contexts E) Psychology is the extension of population
A) John Watson and B. F. Skinner rejected the study of consciousness and mental processes because they are private events that cannot be verified scientifically. These behaviorists focused on the antecedents of a behavior, the behavior, and the consequences of the behavior.
12. Which of the following psychologist wrote the first psychology textbook? A) William James B) Wilhelm Wundt C) B. F. Skinner D) John Watson E) Albert Bandura
A) William James wrote the first psychology textbook, THE PRINCIPLES OF PSYCHOLOGY, 1890
11. The research methodology Wilhelm Wundt used is called A) Intropsection B) Structuralism C) Naturalistic observation D) Inferential E) Scientific
A) Wundt used the technique of introspection to research his theory of structuralism. He did not use naturalistic observation and inferential and scientific are general terms that might be applied to many different types of research.
Empirical Investigation
An approach to research that relies on sensory experience and observation as research data
Question 1: Wilhelm Wundt and the structuralists studied questions still asked today by: A) Behavioral psychologists B) Cognitive psychologists C) Psychodynamic psychologists D) Humanistic psychologists E) Sociocultural psychologists
B) Wilhelm Wundt, Hall, and Titchener studied the basic elements of consciousness. Consciousness is currently called cognition. Cognitive psychologists examine thinking, memory, etc., using different methods.
10. Dr. Marco explains to a client that his feelings of hostility toward a coworker are most likely caused by the way the client interprets the co-workers actions and the way he thinks that people should behave at work. Dr. Marco is most likely working from what perspective? A) Behavioral B) Cognitive C) Psychoanalytic D) Humanist E) Social-cultural
B) The cognitive perspectives emphasizes the role of interpretation of other's actions and best fits the given scenario. The other perspectives would emphasize other types of explanations.
16. Which of the following psychologist might have described himself as a humanist? A) B. F. Skinner B) William James C) Abraham Maslow D) John Watson E) Ivan Pavlov
C) Maslow is the only psychologist in this list included in the section on humanism. Skinner, Pavlov, and Watson are behaviorists
7. You are at a lecture about the history of psychology and the speaker states that Wilhelm Wundt's theory of structuralism was the first scientific psychological theory. On what historical fact might the speaker be basing his or her argument? A) Wundt was internationally known at the time, and his lent credence to his theory in the scientific community. B) Wundt studied under Ivan Pavlov for his graduate training, and Pavlov required scientific methods to be used. C) Structuralism was based on the results of his introspection experiments, so it is, at least in part, empirical. D) Structuralism was based on the careful anecdotes gathered from Wundt's extensive clinical career. E) Wundt was the first person to study psychology in an academic setting
C) Scientific research is empirical by nature, and Wundt based the theory of structuralism on results of experimentation. Wundt's reputation and the academic settings are not relevant to the scientific nature of his theory. Wundt did not study under Pavlov nor was he a clinical psychologist.
17. Symbolic dream analysis might be an important research technique to a psychologist form which of the following perspectives? A) Behaviorist B) Biopsychologist C) Psychoanalytic D) Evolutionary E) Structuralist
C) The idea that dream contain symbols is central to the psychoanalytic perspective, and not any of the other perspectives listed.
13. Which of the following concepts is most integral to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory? A) Trephining B) Structuralism C) The Unconscious mind D) The concept of gestalt E) Behaviorism
C) The unconscious mind is an integral concept in Freudian theory. Memories and impulses are repressed into the unconscious mind and this drives our later behaviors. The other concepts mentioned do not relate to psychoanalytic theory.
9. In what way might a behaviorist disagree with a cognitive psychologist about the cause of aggression? A) A behaviorist might state that aggression caused by memories or ways we think about aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might say aggression is caused by a past repressed experience. B) A behaviorist might state that aggression is a behavior encouraged by our genetic code, while a cognitive psychologist might state that aggression is caused by members or ways we think about aggressive behavior. C) A behaviorist might state that aggression is caused by past rewards for aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might believe gression is caused by an expressed desire to fulfill certain life needs. D) A behavior psychologist might state that aggression is caused by past reward for aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might believe aggression is caused by memories or ways we think about aggressive behavior. E) A behaviorist would not disagree with a cognitive psychologist about aggression because they both believe that aggressive behavior is caused by the way we cognitively process certain behaviors.
D) Behaviorists look at what behavior we are rewards for, and cognitive psychologist explain our behavior through the way we interpret events. The rest of the answers are explanations of other psychological perspectives incorrectly applied to behaviorism air cognitive theory.
14. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic theory has been criticized for being A) Appropriate for female patients, but not male patients B) Only applicable for research settings, not therapy settings C) Based on large groups, not individual cases D) Unscientific and unverifiable E) Too closely tied to behavioristic thought
D) Freud did not use the scientific method and many of his conclusions cannot be tested. The theory was based on individual male and female cases in therapeutic settings, and is not tied closely to behaviorism.
15. John Watson relied on the pioneering work of _____ in establishing behaviorism as a paradigm of psychology. A) B. F. Skinner B) Wilhelm Wundt C) William James D) Ivan Pavolov E) Signmund Freud
D) Watson referred to the conditioning experiments Ivan Pavlov did with dogs. B. F. Skinner came after Watson chronologically, and the other psychologists mentioned are not part of the behaviorist paradigm.
3. The question, is intelligence more influenced by heredity or experience deals with a big issue in psychology known as A) Stability vs. Change B) Mind-body dualism C) Rationality vs. irrationality D) Structure vs. function E) Nature vs. nurture
E) The Nature vs. nurture issues deals with the relative contribution of genes and experience to the expressions of psychological traits and behaviors
5. Which psychological approach is most concerned with the importance of encoding, storing and retrieving information? A) Informational technology B) Behavioral approach C) Psychodynamic approach D) Biological approach E) Cognitive approach
E) Congitive psychologist focus on how we acquire, maintain, and use information.
6. Dr. Didden was hired by the TLC Company to help retain its employees without lowering the firm's profits. After TLC removed cubicles and permitted employees to decorate their workroom as recommended by Dr. Didden, the absentee rate declined and no employees left for jobs elsewhere. Dr. Didden is most likely to be A) A forensic psychologist B) An industrial/ organizational psychologist C) A counseling psychologist D) A clinical psychologist E) An engineering psychologist
E) Industrial and organizational psychologists examine and asses the conditions, methods, and procedures in the workplace and apply psychological principles to help improve the working environment to increase productivity and job satisfaction.
8. Signmund Freud's theory of the unconscious mind A) Was revolutionary because it was the first comprehensive explanation of human thought and behavior B) Resulted from discoveries about the human brain obtained by cadaver dissection. C) Is outdated and has no relevance in modern psychology D)Focused entirely on human males' sex drive E) Depends on the idea that humans can remember events by not be consciously aware of the memory.
E) The unconscious mind contains memories of events or feelings of which we are not consciously aware. It was not the first comprehensive
Cognitive psychologists
Wilhelm Wundt, Hall, and Titchener (Consciousness)
Behavioral psychologists
John B. Watson B. F. Skinner Ivan Pavlov Daniel Kahneman (Behavior Economics)
Sociocultural psychologists
Kenneth Clark Mamie Phipps Clark
Concept of Gestalt
Psychology concept used in training. It proposes that what is 'seen' is what appears to the seer and not what may 'actually be there,' and that the nature of a unified whole is not understood by analyzing its parts. It views learning as a reorganizing of a whole situation (often involving insight as a critical factor) in contrast to the behavioral psychology view that learning consists of associations between stimuli and responses. Gestalt experiments show that the brain does not act like a sponge (as a passive receiver of information) but actively filters, structures, and matches all incoming information against known patterns to make sense of it
Psychodynamic psychologists
Sigmund Freud
Structuralism
a method of interpretation and analysis of aspects of human cognition, behavior, culture, and experience that focuses on relationships of contrast between elements in a conceptual system that reflect patterns underlying a superficial diversity. the doctrine that structure is more important than function.
Cognitive approach
perspective examining human thought and behavior in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events
