Deck 1: A --What Is Psychology

Question 1

Individuals who believe that behavior is primarily determined by one's genetic predispositions likely favor nurture in the nature-nurture debate.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A biopsychologist (or behavioral neuroscientist) explains behavior in terms of biological factors, such as electrical and chemical activities in the nervous system, the effects of drugs and hormones, genetics, and evolutionary pressures.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Contemporary psychologists are no longer interested in cognitive processes.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

William James established the American approach to psychology known as functionalism.

Question 5

To be officially recognized as a psychologist, a person must hold the Psy.D. degree.

Question 6

John Watson and other behaviorists were much more interested in studying animal behavior and learning than in studying mental processes.

Question 7

Studying the effects that others' expectations have on a person's behavior is a question that is most likely to be studied by a social psychologist.

Question 8

Sigmund Freud was the first psychologist.

Question 9

A human factors specialist (or ergonomist), attempts to facilitate the operation of machinery so that ordinary people can use it efficiently and safely.

Question 10

Contemporary psychologists have now resolved the old nature-nurture issue in favor of nature.

Question 11

A psychologist attempts to predict the behavior of her client, but she is wrong. This means that her client has free will.

Question 12

Freud's influence on clinical psychology is stronger today than ever before.

Question 13

During the mid 1900s, many psychologists believed that they could discover the basic laws of behavior by studying the behavior of rats in mazes.

Question 14

A cognitive psychologist is interested in the processes of thinking and acquiring knowledge.

Question 15

Darwin's theory of evolution has never really had an influence in the field of psychology.

Question 16

Determinism is the assumption that everything that happens has a cause.

Question 17

A psychologist who specializes in making machines easier for people to use is known as an ergonomist or human-factors psychologist.

Question 18

In terms of the mind-brain problem, most brain researchers today accept the view that conscious experience is inseparable from the physical brain.

Question 19

Psychology is defined as the systematic attempt to help worried, depressed, or otherwise troubled people.

Question 20

One of early psychologists' main research topics was the relationship between physical stimuli and psychological sensations.

Question 21

In 1879, ____________________ established the first research laboratory, thus creating the discipline of psychology.

Question 22

The psychological study of people at work is known as ____________________.

Question 23

The nature-nurture issue is the question of the relationship between ____________________ and ____________________.

Question 24

Wundt's set the precedent for studying psychological questions with ____________________.

Question 25

When most people think of psychologists, they think of ____________________.

Question 26

Cognitive psychologists emphasize how our thinking influences our ____________________.

Question 27

An ____________________ psychologist would be most interested in studying built-in behavior tendencies that serve adaptive functions?

Question 28

____________________ are specialists in the psychological condition of students, usually in kindergarten through the 12th grade.

Question 29

The philosophical question of how experience relates to the brain is the ____________________ problem.

Question 30

Women now receive the majority of psychology Ph.D.s in the United States.

Question 31

An increased need for sodium salts in the body can be caused by damage to the ____________________.

Question 32

A type of psychologist known as a ____________________, attempts to facilitate the operation of machinery so that ordinary people can use it efficiently and safely.

Question 33

How differences in behavior relate to differences in heredity and environment is often refered as the ____________________ issue.

Question 34

A program that studies ergonomics (human factors) may be found in either the psychology department or the ____________________ department of some universities.

Question 35

Psychology concerns itself with the possible role of cultural influences on behavior.

Question 36

A psychologist believes that differences between males and females are due to society's expectations about how boys and girls behave. This psychologist takes the ____________________ viewpoint.

Question 37

The current definition of psychology given in the text is the systematic study of ____________________ and ____________________.
or

Question 38

The research field of ____________________ and ____________________ studies how behavior depends on the outcomes of past behaviors and current motivations.
or

Question 39

In Wundt's view, psychology had two kinds of elements: ____________________ and ____________________.
or

Question 40

The type of person that would be most interested in the genetic makeup of an individual, is a ____________________ psychologist.

Question 41

Explain the difference between structuralism and functionalism.

Question 42

One of the early research interests of comparative psychologists was to measure and rank order animal intelligence in varying species. Various tasks were developed in the attempt to understand animal intelligence. In your textbook, two specific tasks are presented. Name and describe these two tasks.

Question 43

The mathematical description of the relationship between the physical properties of a stimulus and its perceived properties is called the ____________________.

Question 44

In the field of psychology, there are a variety of different types of psychologists performing various types of tasks and responsibilities. In your textbook, different types of psychologists are organized into two main categories. Describe those two categories and give one example of a specific type of psychologist for each category.

Question 45

Of the various types of psychological research described in your textbook--developmental psychology, learning and motivation, cognitive psychology, biological psychology, evolutionary psychology, social psychology, and cross-cultural psychology--select two types and describe how those psychologists might study learning processes?

Question 46

____________________ is credited with being the founder of American psychology.

Question 47

A counseling psychologist is trying to help her client with vocational issues, specifically whether or not the client should pursue medical school or get a job straight out of college. In trying to determine how her client might behave (prior to intervention), the psychologist will want to assess a number of variables. In terms of the nature/nurture debate, give one example of "nature" influences and one example of "nurture" influences.