KC Psychology Chapter 1 Test

"Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes." This means that psychologists are interested in:

Describing, predicting, and explaining behavior and mental processes.

All of the following are steps in the scientific method except:

Developing a theory to explain observed phenomena.

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" would be said by a psychologist from which psychological perspective?

Gestalt psychology

People will strive to reach their full potential if they are given the opportunity according to the:

Humanistic perspective

Psychologists are expected to adhere to a strict set of ethical guidelines aimed at protecting participants. Which of the following would you be unlikely to find in the APA guidelines?

Researchers should pay subjects for their time.

Dr. Han studies how people's thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by others. She is a(n) _______ psychologist.

Social

The following trend seems likely to occur regarding psychology's future:

The evolving sophistication of neuroscientific approaches is likely to have an increasing influence over other branches of psychology.

The underrepresentation of racial and ethnic minorities among psychologists is significant for which of the following reasons?

The field of psychology is diminished by the diverse perspectives and talents of the minority-group members, their underrepresentation may deter other minority-group members from entering the field, the rarity of minority psychologists can discourage some members of minority groups from seeking treatment.

Dr. Calvo wanted to investigate students' problem-solving abilities. He designed a study in which he presented an easy problem, a moderately difficult problem, and a very difficult problem. He measured how long it took students to complete each problem. He hypothesized that students would take less time to solve the easier problem and more time to solve the moderately difficult problem and even more time to solve the very difficult problem. The level of problem difficulty is:

The independent variable.

If you consider the opposing viewpoints on each major issue in psychology as opposite ends of a continuum, the positions of individual psychologists typically fall somewhere between the two ends. Which of the following best exemplifies this concept?

A neuropsychologist is interested in determining the roles that both heredity and environment play in developing more connections (dendrification) between cells in the brain.

Dr. Seymour was walking down a country trail when he observed a mother robin ignoring her chirping offspring in the nest. He immediately thought that the mother robin was ignoring her brood because she was deaf. This last statement is an example of:

An hypothesis.

As a researcher, Dr. Morillo wanted to use a relatively inexpensive way to test his hypothesis. Therefore, he examined existing data such as census documents, college records, and newspaper clippings. This type of research is known as:

Archival research.

The rapidly growing area in psychology that seeks to understand how we might inherit certain behavioral traits and how our environment influences whether we actually display such traits is:

Clinical neuropsychology

Dr. Morris focuses on higher mental processes, such as thinking, reasoning problem solving, and decision-making. She is a(n) _______ psychologist.

Cognitive

Dr. Compulsa was a meticulous researcher. In order to make sure that her assistants did not give any hints regarding which participants were in which treatment groups and to make sure her participants did not know which group they were in, she employed a:

Double blind procedure.

Psychologists identify questions to be researched from:

Everyday observations, previous research, curiosity, creativity, or insight.

The only way psychologists can establish cause-and-effect relationships through research is by carrying out a(an):

Experiment that demonstrates the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.

Dr. Delia expected that runners who drank her nutrition drink would be faster in the 100-meter dash than those sprinters who did not. When she timed the racers, she would stop the watch when she anticipated that one of her nutrition racers was about to cross the line. When one of the non-nutrition racers crossed the line, she waited until he or she completely crossed the line before stopping the watch. Dr. Delia unintentionally created __________ in her study.

Experimental bias

Dr. Park is studying how people take in information, transform it, store it, and retrieve it. She is investigating:

Information processing.

Mel participated in a psychological study where he was asked to look at a bright orange ball and then describe in detail what he was experiencing. This procedure is called:

Introspection.

A hypothesis:

Is a prediction stated in a way that allows it to be tested, stems from a theory, is defined in operational terms.

Research:

Is a systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery of new knowledge.

The PsyD:

Is obtained by psychologists who wish to focus on treatment of psychological disorders.

The majority of students in an undergraduate psychology program:

Join the workforce after graduation.

Theories and hypotheses allow psychologists to:

Make sense of unorganized, separate observations and bits of information, place pieces within a structured and coherent framework, pose appropriate questions

Psychology would benefit most from the entrance of more _______ psychologists into the field.

Minority

Researchers who use nonhuman animals in experiments:

Must worry about ethical standards, must make every effort to minimize discomfort in experimental procedures, are required to promote the psychological well-being of some species such as primates.

If you spend some time watching people in the checkout line of a local discount store to see how many read the tabloid newspapers displayed next to the register, you have chosen the _______ research method to answer your question.

Naturalistic observation

Dr. Harris discovers that there is a -.89 correlation between stress and sexual performance. This demonstrates:

No correlation.

Anna participated in a psychological experiment. Following her participation in the experiment, she must be given a debriefing in which she:

Receives an explanation for the study and the procedures involved.

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

Personality

Elena went to a doctor to seek relief from certain personality problems. Her doctor, Dr. Kiefer, started to feel for bumps on her head to determine her personality characteristics. Dr. Kiefer was practicing:

Phrenology.

Dr. Matta discussed with his client slips of the tongue and the content of his client's dreams to determine what his client was truly feeling. Dr. Matta subscribes to the _______ perspective in psychology.

Psychodynamic

Dr. Kuljurgis treated her patients by chipping a hole in her patients' skulls with a crude instrument to allow evil spirits to escape from their bodies. This procedure is called:

Trephining.

How our nervous system operates is an example of:

Universal principles.

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.

Predictions in the field of psychology state that by the year 2010:

Women will outnumber men.

Some psychologists specializing in psychological disorders argue that people make intentional choices and that even those who display so-called abnormal behavior should be considered responsible for their actions. Other psychologists disagree and contend that such individuals are the victims of forces beyond their control. The position psychologists take on this issue may determine how they choose to treat abnormal behavior. Such decisions are influenced by the issue of:

conscious versus unconscious causes of behavior.

A humanistic psychologist is most likely to take an extreme rather than a combination position on which of the following issues?

free will versus determinism

Leta Stetter Hollingsworth:

was one of the first psychologists to focus on child development and on women's issues.