Question 1

The following name most clearly linked with the behaviorist view in psychology is:

Accepted Answer

B.F. Skinner is most closely associated with the behaviorist view in psychology. He believed that behavior was shaped by the environment through the use of reinforcements and punishments, and that psychology should focus on observable behaviors instead of unobservable mental processes.

Question 2

John Watson advocated that the goal of scientific research should be to:

Accepted Answer

John Watson was one of the founding fathers of behaviorism, which asserts that behavior is determined by environmental factors rather than internal processes such as feelings and thoughts. Therefore, the goal of scientific research, according to Watson, was to demonstrate how changes in the environment lead to changes in behavior.

Question 3

The scientific approach that is concerned with discovering how changes in the environment can lead to changes in measurable behavior is:

Accepted Answer

Behaviorism focuses on observable behavior and how it is affected by environmental changes or stimuli. This approach emphasizes the importance of studying behavior and learning through scientific methods.

Question 4

Dr.Richardson believes that the best way to make sense of human behavior is to look for links between how changes in the environment lead to observable responses to those changes.Dr.Richardson's views are consistent with the:

Accepted Answer

Dr. Richardson's belief that behavior can be understood through the observation of responses to environmental changes is consistent with the behavioral approach to psychology, which emphasizes the role of environmental factors in shaping behavior.

Question 5

Ruth believes that individuals learn to be aggressive as a result of the experiences they have.Ruth's view is most consistent with the:

Accepted Answer

Ruth's belief that aggression is learned through experiences aligns with the behavioral approach to psychology, which emphasizes how external environmental factors shape behavior. Structuralism focuses on analyzing the conscious experience into basic elements, while the nativist view emphasizes the innate and biologically determined aspects of behavior. The psychoanalytic view emphasizes the role of unconscious processes in shaping behavior.

Question 6

The following name most closely linked with the behaviorist view in psychology is:

Accepted Answer

John Watson is most closely linked with the behaviorist view in psychology. He believed that observable behavior was the only valid topic of study for psychology, and rejected the notion of studying internal mental processes.

Question 7

One of the main objections to the study of conscious experiences raised by psychologists who followed the behavioral perspective was that conscious experiences:

Accepted Answer

Psychologists who followed the behavioral perspective believed that only observable behavior should be studied, and since conscious experiences cannot be directly observed, they argued that they cannot be verified scientifically.

Question 8

Which of the following questions would most interest a behaviorist?

Accepted Answer

Behaviorists focus on how external factors, such as reinforcement, shape and influence behavior. Therefore, they would be most interested in understanding how external reinforcement affects the behavior of individuals in the context of friendship.

Question 9

As psychology emerged as a discipline, the focus of psychological research shifted from:

Accepted Answer

Psychology initially emerged as a discipline under structuralism, which focused on breaking down mental processes into their component parts for analysis. However, this approach was eventually overshadowed by functionalism, which sought to understand the purpose and adaptive functions of behaviors and mental processes. Behaviorism then emerged as the dominant approach, emphasizing the study of observable behavior and the environmental factors that shape it. Therefore, the shift in focus of psychological research was from structuralism to functionalism to behaviorism.

Question 10

Which of the following pairings is incorrect?

Accepted Answer

Sigmund Freud is known for developing psychoanalysis, not functionalism.

Question 11

An auction house is about to sell a first edition of a book arguing psychology should not study consciousness, but should emphasize the study of environmental changes and how they affect behavior.The book was most likely written by:

Accepted Answer

The book arguing against the study of consciousness and advocating for behaviorism was most likely written by John Watson, who is one of the main founders of the behaviorist school of psychology.

Question 12

You are reading a book about how actions are changed by reinforcement.The book was most likely written by:

Accepted Answer

The theory of how reinforcement affects behavior is primarily associated with the work of B.F. Skinner, a prominent psychologist and behaviorist. Therefore, it is likely that a book on this topic would be written by a psychologist or behaviorist who follows the principles of Skinner's theory, making answer choice C the best option.

Question 13

The owner of a store that buys and sells used books has just purchased one written by John Watson.The book was is most likely about:

Accepted Answer

John Watson is best known as the founder of behaviorism, a theory which emphasizes the importance of environmental factors over innate or inherited factors in determining behavior.

Question 14

The person who advocated the view that psychology should focus on the study of observable behavior, rather than the study of conscious experience, was:

Accepted Answer

John Watson was the person who advocated for behaviorism, which holds that psychology should focus on the study of observable behavior rather than the study of conscious experience. William James and John Dewey were early advocates of functionalism, an early school of psychology that focused on the adaptive purpose and function of behavior. Edward Titchener was a structuralist who focused on analyzing the basic components of conscious experience.

Question 15

John Watson felt that:

Accepted Answer

John Watson, the founder of behaviorism, argued that psychology should focus on observable behavior because mental events cannot be publicly observed and thus fall outside the domain of science. He believed that introspection was not a reliable method for understanding human behavior.

Question 16

John Watson is most clearly linked with:

Accepted Answer

John Watson is considered the father of behaviorism in psychology, which emphasizes observable and measurable behaviors over internal mental processes.

Question 17

Which of the following pairings is correct?

Accepted Answer

Sigmund Freud is associated with the theory and practice of psychoanalysis, which involved the exploration of the unconscious mind and the use of techniques such as dream analysis and free association. Skinner is associated with behaviorism, Maslow with humanistic psychology, and Wundt with structuralism and the founding of psychology as a scientific discipline.

Question 18

B.F.Skinner is most clearly linked with:

Accepted Answer

B.F. Skinner is most closely associated with the behaviorist view in psychology, which emphasizes the role of observable behavior in shaping and controlling human experience. Skinner's work focused on the ways that environmental contingencies can be used to shape behavior, and he is known for developing the concept of operant conditioning.

Question 19

The goal in behaviorism is to:

Accepted Answer

Behaviorism is focused on observable, measurable behavior and aims to understand how the environment can shape or change it.

Question 20

The owner of a store that buys and sells used books has just purchased one written by a behaviorist.The book is most likely about:

Accepted Answer

Behaviorism is a psychological approach that focuses on how environmental changes or stimuli affect behavior. Therefore, a book written by a behaviorist is likely to be about the theories and principles of behaviorism and how they explain human behavior. Choice A is about learning principles of perception, which is more related to cognitive psychology. Choice C is about innate principles of perception, which is more related to evolutionary psychology. Choice D is about natural selection and adaptation, which is more related to evolutionary biology.

Quiz 1: Introduction to Psychology