Question 1

From a behavioural perspective, people are born as a 'tabula rasa', or a(n)

Accepted Answer

The term 'tabula rasa' translates directly to 'blank slate' in English, which is a concept in philosophy that suggests individuals are born without built-in mental content and that all knowledge comes from experience or perception.

Question 2

Despite its emphasis on unconscious factors, the psychodynamic perspective is similar to the behavioural perspective in that they both acknowledge the importance of ________________ in determining human behaviour.

Accepted Answer

Both the psychodynamic and behavioral perspectives recognize the significance of external and environmental factors in shaping human behavior. The psychodynamic perspective, while focusing on internal processes and unconscious motivations, acknowledges how early life experiences (which are external/environmental) influence behavior. The behavioral perspective directly emphasizes the role of the environment and external stimuli in determining behavior through conditioning.

Question 3

A psychologist who argues that the proper focus of psychology is NOT inner mental events but ONLY observable behaviour is most likely associated with which psychological perspective?

Accepted Answer

The behavioural perspective in psychology emphasizes observable behavior over internal mental processes. This perspective is associated with psychologists like B.F. Skinner, who argued that psychology should be a science of behavior that can be seen and measured, rather than internal mental states.

Question 4

Modern psychodynamic theory differs from Freud's traditional psychoanalytic theory in that the modern approach

Accepted Answer

Modern psychodynamic theory de-emphasizes the role of unconscious aggressive and sexual impulses compared to Freud's traditional psychoanalytic theory, focusing more on ego functions, relationships, and conflict resolution.

Question 5

Which of the following is an accurate comparison between the behavioural and psychodynamic perspectives is most accurate?

Accepted Answer

The behavioural approach focuses on observable behaviours and the effects of the environment on behaviour, thus emphasizing external causes. In contrast, the psychodynamic approach, rooted in Freudian theory, emphasizes unconscious motivations and conflicts, internal psychological processes, and early childhood experiences, thus focusing on internal causes.

Question 6

Which of the following psychological perspectives strongly emphasizes the role of the external environment in influencing and affecting our actions?

Accepted Answer

The Behavioural perspective emphasizes the role of the external environment in shaping and controlling human behavior, focusing on observable behaviors and the ways they're learned through interaction with the environment.

Question 7

You get especially angry when your boss yells at you, but you never talk back to him. According to psychodynamic theory, you do not talk back because you have _____________ your aggressive drives into your unconscious.

Accepted Answer

According to psychodynamic theory, repressing aggressive drives means pushing these feelings into the unconscious mind, where they are not directly accessible to awareness but can still influence behavior. This is why you don't talk back to your boss despite feeling angry.

Question 8

The psychological techniques that help people cope with anxiety and the pain of traumatic experiences are called ____________.

Accepted Answer

Defence mechanisms are psychological strategies that are unconsciously used to protect a person from anxiety arising from unacceptable thoughts or feelings. They help individuals cope with stress, anxiety, and trauma by distorting reality in some way to reduce their distress.

Question 9

While being treated for a psychological illness, Tom's therapist makes Tom express all thoughts that come to his mind. The therapist is using a technique called ______.

Accepted Answer

Free association is a technique in psychotherapy, particularly in psychoanalysis, where the patient is encouraged to share all thoughts, feelings, and images that come to mind, without censorship or filtering. This technique is used to explore the unconscious mind and uncover repressed memories and feelings.

Question 10

Freud's psychoanalytic perspective suggested that humans have inborn ___________ drives.

Accepted Answer

Freud's psychoanalytic perspective posited that humans have innate sexual and aggressive drives, which are key components in his theory of personality and behavior.

Question 11

The behavioural psychological perspective owes its' roots to which philosophical perspective?

Accepted Answer

The behavioral psychological perspective is closely linked to British empiricism, which emphasizes the role of experience and evidence gathered through the senses in the formation of ideas, rather than innate ideas or intuition. This aligns with the behavioral focus on observable and measurable aspects of human behavior.

Question 12

According to Thorndike's law of effect, studying for an exam should lead you to study for future exams if

Accepted Answer

Thorndike's law of effect suggests that behaviors followed by pleasant outcomes are more likely to be repeated in the future. Therefore, if you do well on an exam as a result of studying, you are more likely to study for future exams.

Question 13

A major criticism of Sigmund Freud's theory of psychoanalysis would be that his theory _________________.

Accepted Answer

Freud's theory of psychoanalysis is criticized for being difficult to test empirically because many of its key concepts, such as the unconscious mind and Oedipus complex, are abstract and not easily measurable. This makes it challenging to scientifically validate or refute his ideas.

Question 14

A psychologist proposes that to affect recent problems with school violence we need to significantly change the environments in which children are being raised by more heavily reinforcing the behaviours we would like to see. This psychologist is most likely associated with which psychological perspective?

Accepted Answer

The psychologist's focus on changing environments to reinforce desired behaviors aligns with the Behavioral perspective, which emphasizes the role of environmental stimuli in shaping behavior through conditioning.

Question 15

Imagine two students who both get a D on an important exam in a psychology class. One of them decides to study much harder, and on the next test she gets a significantly better grade. The other student concludes that he just isn't smart enough to do well in this class and, not surprisingly, he gets another D on the next exam. Even though both students were exposed to the same occurrence (both got a D on the first exam), their subsequent behaviours were very different as a result of their different thoughts and expectations. This example best illustrates the approach of which of the following?

Accepted Answer

This example illustrates cognitive behaviourism, which emphasizes how personal beliefs, expectations, and interpretations of events influence behavior. The different outcomes for the two students were a result of their different thoughts and expectations following the initial exam.

Question 16

The psychological defence mechanism that is thought to protect people from anxiety by keeping anxiety-producing thoughts, feelings, memories, and impulses in the unconscious is called ____________________.

Accepted Answer

Repression is a psychological defense mechanism where the mind unconsciously prevents anxiety-producing thoughts, feelings, memories, and impulses from entering consciousness.

Question 17

Watson was so passionate about his behaviouristic perspective that he believed that he could take 12 infants and identify

Accepted Answer

Watson, a behaviorist, believed that through conditioning, he could train individuals to adopt any behaviors or pursue any profession, emphasizing the power of the environment and experiences over genetics or innate traits.

Question 18

The behavioural perspective is often traced to ___________, who studied the causes of salivation in dogs.

Accepted Answer

Ivan Pavlov is known for his work on classical conditioning, which involved studying the causes of salivation in dogs in response to various stimuli, laying foundational work for the behavioral perspective in psychology.

Question 19

A psychologist who subscribe to the Freudian school of thought likely endorse which of the following statements? Our behaviour is largely the _____________________________.

Accepted Answer

Freudian psychology, or psychoanalysis, emphasizes the role of unconscious conflicts, desires, and defenses in shaping behavior. Freud believed that behavior is the result of the ongoing struggle between our innate drives (such as sexual and aggressive impulses) and the defenses we develop to keep these drives in check. This perspective is encapsulated in choice C, which highlights the continuous conflict between internal impulses and defenses as a determinant of behavior.

Question 20

This perspective arose from philosophical schools that emphasized free will, innate tendencies toward growth, and the attempt to find meaning in one's existence

Accepted Answer

The humanistic perspective in psychology focuses on free will, innate tendencies toward growth, and the search for meaning, aligning with the description provided.

Quiz 1: Psychology: the Science of Behaviour