Deck 1: Psychology and Life

Question 1

Suppose you want to draw some psychological conclusions in a way that is consistent with the scientific aspect of psychology. You should base your conclusions on

A) the beliefs held by most people.
B) the fundamental notion of common sense.
C) your personal feelings or intuitions, but only if they are reasonable.
D) evidence collected according to the principles of the scientific method.

Answer 1

evidence collected according to the principles of the scientific method.

Question 2

When drawing conclusions about behavior, psychologists rely on

A) their own personal beliefs.
B) what is known as "common sense."
C) objectively collected information.
D) their everyday observations of people.

Answer 2

objectively collected information.

Question 3

A friend's curiosity about how the human mind works is coupled with her fascination with computer science and artificial intelligence. It sounds as though your friend's interests are consistent with the emerging area of ________ science.

A) social
B) health
C) cognitive
D) biological

Answer 3

cognitive

Question 4

An educational psychologist has decided to do research on reading behavior. If he were to approach this topic from the broadest level of analysis, he would be most likely to study

A) whether readers move their lips while reading.
B) whether attitudes toward reading vary around the world.
C) the eye movements readers make while reading a page of text.
D) left and right brain hemisphere differences in the processing of foreign languages.

Question 5

The first task in psychology is to make accurate observations about behavior. This means that psychologists must first ________ behavior.

A) predict
B) explain
C) control
D) describe

Question 6

A boy complains that his sister has been teasing him. The parents ask him to tell them specifically when she teases him and how it happens; they are asking him to provide behavioral data to support his claim. A psychologist would say that the child is being encouraged to do all of the following EXCEPT

A) observe his sister's behavior.
B) explain why his sister teases him.
C) report on his sister's teasing behavior in an objective fashion.
D) note the conditions under which his sister's teasing behavior occurs.

Question 7

In order to investigate behavior, researchers may use different levels of analysis. Which of the following research questions exemplifies the broadest, most global level of analysis?

A) What are the origins of prejudice?
B) Are there gender differences in prejudice?
C) Are there differences in how various racial groups express prejudice?
D) What is the role of early childhood experiences in the formation of prejudice?

Question 8

Imagine that you are a research psychologist. In your attempt to describe behavior, it is of utmost importance that you

A) use a broad level of analysis.
B) use a narrow level of analysis.
C) collect the facts as they exist.
D) collect only those facts that are consistent with your expectations.

Question 9

Therapeutic programs designed to help people substitute more positive behaviors for negative behaviors are most closely related to the psychological goal of

A) control.
B) prediction.
C) explanation.
D) description.

Question 10

While proofreading a paper a friend has written on the life of Wilhelm Wundt, you are startled by an error that states that Wundt

A) was trained as a physiologist.
B) established the first formal psychology laboratory.
C) wrote a book entitled Principles of Physiological Psychology.
D) was the founder and first president of the American Psychological Association.

Question 11

To help you learn to associate people with their contributions to the history of psychology, you have decided to use flashcards. Unfortunately, one of the cards you have written is incorrect. Which of the following pairings is wrong?

A) William James wrote The Principles of Psychology in 1890.
B) G. Stanley Hall founded the American Psychological Association.
C) Wilhelm Wundt founded a laboratory at Cornell University in 1892.
D) Edward Titchener was one of the first psychologists in the United States.

Question 12

The year is 1900 and you are looking for a job in a psychology laboratory, somewhere in North America. Assuming that each laboratory has an opening, about how many laboratories will you have from which to choose?

A) 1
B) 4
C) 40
D) 400

Question 13

Suppose you were a research assistant in Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory. After observing his experiments, you would probably conclude that

A) his approach was not in the least bit scientific.
B) the responses that were required of participants were quite complex.
C) independent observers could replicate the experiments.
D) the data collection techniques were neither systematic nor objective.

Question 14

Imagine being a participant in one of Titchener's early studies of conscious experience. What would you most likely be asked to do?

A) Attempt to memorize a long list of nonsense words.
B) Try to read the mind of a person seated in an adjoining room.
C) Permit yourself to be hypnotized and your responses recorded.
D) Examine your thoughts and feelings about sensory experiences.

Question 15

As an advocate of an alternative to structuralism, the German psychologist ________ focused on the way in which the mind understands experiences as organized wholes rather than as the sums of simple parts.

A) Max Wertheimer
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Wilhelm Wundt
D) Edward Titchener

Question 16

It would be accurate to state that William James was interested in the ________ of the mind, and Edward Titchener was interested in the ________ of the mind.

A) functions; contents
B) contents; functions
C) functions; functions
D) contents; contents

Question 17

Compared to Edward Titchener, William James was more interested in

A) rigorous laboratory methods and experimental control.
B) the functions of mental processes, not the contents of the mind.
C) the basic elements of sensation that formed an individual's mental life.
D) the "what" of mental contents rather than the "why" or "how" of thinking.

Question 18

Simply put, in their approach to behavior, functionalists such as William James and John Dewey emphasized the importance of

A) purposes.
B) elements.
C) contents.
D) structures.

Question 19

Due in large part to the theorizing of John Dewey, school systems in the early part of the twentieth century in the United States placed less emphasis on

A) rote learning.
B) learning by doing.
C) intellectual curiosity.
D) "progressive education."

Question 20

Which of the following is LEAST likely to have been the title of an article written by William James?

A) "Human uniqueness."
B) "The role of religion and mysticism in human behavior."
C) "How human consciousness helps one adjust to the environment."
D) "The importance of rigorous laboratory methods in understanding behavior."

Question 21

According to the ________ perspective, one purpose of behavior is to reduce the tension that has been brought about by powerful inner forces such as conflicts between personal needs and society's demands.

A) cultural
B) humanistic
C) behavioristic
D) psychodynamic

Question 22

A friend who has been studying psychology a lot longer than you tells you that your habit of biting your nails is the result of an inner conflict between your personal need to stay a child and society's demand that you grow up. You should recognize this advice as stemming from the ________ perspective.

A) cultural
B) biological
C) humanistic
D) psychodynamic

Question 23

While rummaging in your grandfather's attic, you come across what appears to be a previously undiscovered early manuscript of Sigmund Freud. Although you can't read German, you guess that it most likely entitled something like

A) Learning by Doing.
B) The Technique of Introspection.
C) The Purposes of Behavior.
D) Unconscious Motivations.

Question 24

Neo-Freudian theorists broadened psychodynamic theory by suggesting that

A) human nature is entirely rational.
B) only conscious process are important.
C) personality develops over the lifetime.
D) systematic scientific research is not necessary.

Question 25

The search for antecedent environmental conditions and the observable consequences that follow from responses is most closely associated with the ________ perspective.

A) cognitive
B) humanistic
C) behaviorist
D) psychodynamic

Question 26

A teacher wants to determine whether smiling at children if they raise their hands after she asks a question increases the likelihood that children will volunteer answers. From the behaviorist perspective, the antecedent environmental condition is ________ and the consequence is ________.

A) smiling; asking a question
B) raising of hand; smiling
C) asking a question; smiling
D) raising of hand; asking a question

Question 27

The behaviorist perspective was pioneered by ________, who first argued that psychological research should seek the laws that govern observable behavior.

A) Sigmund Freud
B) John Watson
C) Mary Calkins
D) B. F. Skinner

Question 28

All of the following are direct consequences of behaviorism EXCEPT

A) new therapies for modifying behavior disorders.
B) guidelines to create model utopian communities.
C) the determination that humans are innately good and capable of choice.
D) education of children through the use of positive reinforcement rather than punishment.

Question 29

The humanistic perspective in psychology gives greater weight and importance to

A) the capacity of humans to make choices.
B) breaking down complex behavior into elementary units of behavior.
C) how environmental forces come to control the individual's behavior.
D) the powerful instinctual tendencies that dominate people's actions.

Question 30

While looking for a reference in the psychology section of the library, you come across an interesting book that emphasizes the "whole" person. It includes references to historical figures, artists, and authors. You are most likely looking at a book that is taking a ________ perspective.

A) cognitive
B) humanistic
C) behaviorist
D) psychodynamic

Question 31

One way in which the cognitive model of behavior differs from the behavioral model is in the assertion that, according to the cognitive model, behavior

A) may result from totally novel ways of thinking.
B) is totally determined by past behavioral consequences.
C) is totally determined by preceding environmental events.
D) is totally determined by both preceding stimulus events and past behavioral consequences.

Question 32

A cognitive psychologist would be most likely to agree with the idea that

A) there is no such thing as a novel way of thinking.
B) behavior is primarily a function of objective reality.
C) thoughts can be either the results of behavior or the causes of behavior.
D) researchers should focus their attention on simple behaviors rather than on higher mental processes.

Question 33

If you were to sample a group of researchers in psychology, they are most likely to say that the dominant approach in psychology today is the ________ perspective.

A) cognitive
B) sociocultural
C) evolutionary
D) psychodynamic

Question 34

Psychologists who accept a biological explanation of behavior make certain assumptions. Which of the following would NOT be one of these assumptions?

A) Psychological behavior has a biochemical basis.
B) Behavior or behavior potential is determined by heredity.
C) Experience cannot alter underlying biological structures and processes.
D) Complex behavior is best understood if it is broken down into smaller, elementary units of analysis.

Question 35

With respect to the relationship between the principles of evolution and the brain's mental abilities, evolutionary psychologists

A) assume that brains evolve just as other organs do.
B) believe that evolution of mental abilities has finally ended.
C) have concluded that brains adapt in humans, but not in other animals.
D) believe that only physical abilities adapt to environmental demands, not the brain.

Question 36

Evolutionary psychologists are more likely to explain the male and female sexual roles of today as

A) products of recent changes in the society.
B) behaviors that developed over extremely long periods of time.
C) identical to those roles as they existed during the Pleistocene era.
D) learned responses to environmental consequences in the individual male's and female's experience.

Question 37

Eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, do not seem to be as common in third-world countries as they are in technologically advanced countries. Focusing on reasons for the difference in the incidence of these illnesses around the world is most directly within the province of the ________ perspective.

A) sociocultural
B) cognitive
C) humanistic
D) evolutionary

Question 38

A man is convicted of being a serial killer. A psychologist who favors the biological perspective would be MOST likely to look for the determinants of the killer's behavior in the

A) immediate stimulus environment.
B) man's unconscious drives and conflicts.
C) man's brain and nervous system processes.
D) adaptive behaviors of the man's ancestors.

Question 39

Ever since she was a little girl, a teenager has been a troublemaker. A psychologist who favors the behaviorist perspective would most likely explain her behavior in terms of

A) heredity.
B) her mental processes.
C) the role of specific brain systems.
D) her previous behavior and its consequences.

Question 40

According to a psychologist, youngsters she is working within an alternative high school program have value systems that have developed under social conditions that foster self-limiting, aggressive tendencies instead of growth enhancement. It is likely the psychologist favors the ________ perspective.

A) humanistic
B) evolutionary
C) psychodynamic
D) behavioristic

Question 41

Suppose you read in the newspaper that someone robbed a store after watching a particularly violent movie. If you were a cognitive psychologist seeking to understand this behavior, you would be most interested in whether the

A) individual really needed the money.
B) individual had relatives who were also robbers.
C) movie affected the thoughts and attitudes of the individual.
D) individual had a happy childhood without conflict and stress.

Question 42

One night, you go to a lecture by a psychologist who emphasizes our early ancestors. For example, when describing marital infidelity, he suggests that our ancestors were not monogamous because not being monogamous was adaptive behavior and increased the chances for survival. It is likely that the psychologist endorses the ________ approach.

A) cognitive
B) biological
C) evolutionary
D) psychodynamic

Question 43

While doing research for a paper on "teenage rebellion," you discover that there are some places in the world where young adults experience very little turmoil and other places where teenagers seem prone to violent outbursts. Psychological studies of such differences are most likely to be done by psychologists who favor the ________ perspective.

A) sociocultural
B) cognitive
C) humanistic
D) evolutionary

Question 44

You're reading an article about how recent research has shown that infants are much more sophisticated than was previously thought. Although several different types of psychologists may have written it, the author is most likely a ________ psychologist.

A) health
B) clinical
C) developmental
D) human factors

Question 45

A classmate comes to you because he is concerned that his best friend is experiencing personal problems. You should suggest to your classmate that his friend may benefit by talking to a(n) ________ psychologist.

A) cognitive
B) counseling
C) educational
D) developmental

Question 46

Forensic psychologists are often involved in making important legal decisions. Which of the following examples is NOT likely to be a part of a forensic psychologist's work?

A) assessments of an individual's capacity to understand the acts they have committed
B) providing evidence that influences child custody decisions in divorce proceedings
C) assessments regarding the effects of absenteeism in the workplace
D) assessments regarding whether individuals are a danger to themselves or others

Question 47

Founded by the American psychologist William James, the school of __________ focused on the purposes of behavior.

Question 48

Establishing one of the first psychological laboratories in the United States and inventing techniques for studying memory were accomplishments of __________, who, as a woman, was allowed only to participate as a guest graduate student even though she completed all requirements for a Ph.D. at Harvard.

Question 49

The first woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology was __________ in 1894. She wrote an influential textbook, The Animal Mind, published in 1908 and became the second woman to lead the American Psychological Association.