Prologue/ Chapter 1 Test
This test will consist of 50 questions and cover History & Approaches of
psychology
History & Approaches (2-4%)
• Key people
• Wundt – “father,” first lab (Germany), structuralism (studying the most basic
components, or structures, of conscious experiences)
• James – functionalism (explained how the structures identified
by Wundt function in our lives)
• Gestalt psychology – examines the total or whole experience of
individual
• Psychoanalysis – Freud and the unconscious mind
• Believed that he discovered the unconscious mind- which we do
not have conscious control over but determines how we think and behave
• Behaviorism – Pavlov was first (conditioning), Watson really pushed
this and said observable behaviors were the most significant (should
only focus on stimuli that cause behavior and the resulting responses)
• Skinner built on this with reinforcements (dominant school of thought from
the 20s through 60s)
• Modern Psychological Perspectives
• Humanistic – choice & free will; taking control of actions; reaching full
potential. All this could be done through the meeting of needs; Maslow &
Rogers
• Psychoanalysis – see above; unconscious comes from repressed memories
• Biopsychosocial (biology) - explain behavior strictly in terms of biological
processes (genes, hormones, neurotransmitters)
• Evolutionary – natural selection determines who we are
• Behavioral – focus on observable behavior
• Cognitive – how we interpret, process and remember events; thinking
• Social-Cultural – who we are based on surroundings, time periods,
culture, etc.
• Most psychologists adhere to an eclectic point of view, claiming that
no one perspective has all the answers
Research Methods (8-10%)
• Hindsight bias - the tendency upon hearing about research findings to
thin that they knew it all along
• Overconfidence - tendency to be very sure of a fact and later finding
that the objective reality was different
• Basic vs. Applied Research – basic doesn’t apply real world use (how
do different cultures measure intelligence); applied is doing just that
(how affective are substance abuse programs)
• Independent vs Dependent Variable – dependent depends on the
independent (If…,then…)
• Operational definition – explaining how you will define the variable
(what is “significant” weight loss?)
• Validity & Reliability - measures what the researcher set out to measure;
research can be replicated
• Participants – random sample
• One of psychology’s favorite methods of research – Experimental
method of research – confounding variable (any difference between the
control group and experimental group)
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Experimenter bias – bias towards experimental vs control groups
Double blind procedure – neither participant nor experimenter know outcomes
Experimental group – receives the IV
Control group – basis for comparison
• Human/Animal Ethics
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Voluntary
Informed consent
Confidentiality
Risk
Debrief
• Correlational Research Methods – expresses a relationship between 2
variables
• Positive – presence of one thing predicts the presence of another
• Negative – presence of one predicts the absence of another (going in opposite
direction)
• Survey method – used to investigate a relationship between two variables
• Ex Post Factor – like experiment but sample not random; still is control like in
experiment
• Naturalistic observation – observe participants in their natural habitats without
interfering
• Case study – used to get a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group
• Confounding Variable - extraneous variable whose presence affects the variables
being studied so that the results you get do not reflect the actual relationship between
the variables under investigation
• Statistics – describes a set of data
• Frequency distribution - table that displays the frequency of various outcomes
in a sample
• Central tendency – mean, median, mode
• Measures of Variability – range & standard deviation
• Correlation coefficient – strength of a correlation computed
• Inferential statistics – determining whether findings can be applied to a larger
population
Which movement in the early history of psychology was most strongly
and directly influenced by the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin:
• Functionalism
• Structuralism
• Behaviorism
• Introspectionism
The origin of the science of psychology as we know it today is generally
traced back to:
• the opening of Wundt’s laboratory in Germany in the late 1800s.
• Skinner’s publication of The Behavior of Organisms in the 1930s.
• Darwin’s theory of evolution and the publication of On the Origin of
Species by Means of Natural Selection in 1859.
• Freud’s publication of The Interpretation of Dreams in 1900.
In the textbook, author David Myers emphasizes the point that
psychology is defined primarily by its:
• a. findings—the collection of facts and opinions accepted by
professionals in the field.
• b. methods—an insistence on testing ideas and opinions with
rigorously designed scientific observations and experiments.
• c. authorities—the credibility and respect awarded to important people
who have contributed to the field of psychology over its history.
• d. traditions—the history and ways of thinking built up over many
hundreds of years, as educated people have contemplated what makes
people act as they do.
Professor Miura explains to her students the theory that powerful
unconscious motives underlie our preferences for certain types of
romantic partners, and that such preferences relate to unresolved
conflicts we had with our parents during our very early childhood years.
This explanation fits most closely with the ____ perspective or level of
analysis:
• a. psychodynamic
• b. behavior genetics
• c. neurosciences
• d. evolutionary
In regard to the “nature-nurture” issue, textbook author David Myers
takes the position that:
• a. “nature” determines our physical makeup, but “nurture” determines
our behavior.
• b. “nature” is far more important than “nurture” in determining our
behavior.
• c. “nurture” is far more important than “nature” in determining our
behavior.
• d. “nurture” works on what “nature” endows.
Dr. Chavez’s research involves conducting surveys of adults in several
countries (United States, Canada, Mexico, Chile, and Argentina). The
research is aimed at comparing the expectations of adults in these
different countries about the role of fathers in childrearing. Dr. Chavez’s
work fits best with the:
• a. psychodynamic
• b. social-cultural
• c. behavioral
• d. neurosciences
William James was a major contributor to the early development of
psychology who:
• a. developed the functionalism school of thought and authored the first
textbook in psychology.
• b. opened the first laboratory for the scientific study of psychology.
• c. formulated the theory of psychoanalysis and conducted
investigations of the unconscious mind.
• d. developed the first widely used intelligence test
Students working on a project for a course in nutrition take turns sitting
in a fast-food restaurant, observing and recording the amounts and types
of food purchased by everyone patronizing the restaurant from 11 a.m.
to 1 p.m. each weekday. The research method they are using is:
• a. a survey.
• b. naturalistic observation.
• c. an experiment.
• d. a correlational study
To graphically represent the correlation between two variables,
researchers often construct a:
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
• e.
Skewed distribution.
Scatterplot.
Standard deviation.
Bar graph
Pie chart
In a drug treatment study, participants given a pill containing no actual
drug are receiving a:
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
• e.
Random sample.
Case study.
False consensus.
Replication.
Placebo
In a test of the effects of cigarette smoking on physical health and
development, groups of monkeys were raised in either a smoke free or
smoke infested environment. Monkeys in the smoke infested
environment were exposed to the _______ condition:
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
Correlational
Survey
Control
Experimental
A test that fails to predict what it is designed to predict (ex. intelligence)
lacks:
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
• e.
Standardization
Norms
Fairness
Validity
Reliability
Which of the following is
true of the frequency
distributions shown in the
graphs above:
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
• e.
Distribution A has more variation than distributions B or C.
Distribution B has more variation than distributions A or C.
Distribution B and distribution C have the same variation.
The standard deviation of distribution A is infinite.
The standard deviation of distribution B is zero.
Because she had a serious traffic accident on Friday the 13th of last
month, Sheryl is convinced that all Friday the 13ths will bring bad luck.
Sheryl's belief best illustrates:
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
• e.
The illusion of control.
Illusory correlation.
The hindsight bias.
The false consensus effect.
Random sampling
In order to study some effects of alcohol consumption, Dr. Marshall
tested the physical coordination skills of 21-year-old men who one day
drank 4 ounces of alcohol in the laboratory. The next day they drank 2
ounces, and the third day they drank 0 ounces. In this study, the
independent variable consisted of:
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
The age of the research participants.
The amount of alcohol consumed.
The physical coordination skills of the research participants.
The effects of alcohol consumption
In a study of children’s reading abilities, one group of 8-year-olds is
exposed to a new program that supposedly enhances reading abilities.
Another group is taught with standard methods for teaching reading.
Results of the study indicated that the children taught with the new
program learned to read more complex material than did the group who
were exposed to the standard teaching methods. In this study, which
group represents the control:
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
• e.
The group exposed to the new program
The development of the new program
The group that improved its reading
The group that received the standard teaching methods
There was no control
“Monday morning quarterbacks” rarely act surprised about the outcome
of that weekend’s football games. Their tendency to believe they knew
how the game would turn out is explained by::
• a.
• b.
• c.
• d.
• e.
Overconfidence
Hindsight bias
Intuition
Illusory correlation
Random sampling
Professor Ambra was skeptical about the accuracy of recently reported
research on sleep deprivation. Which process would best enable her to
assess the reliability of these findings:
• a. naturalistic observation
• b. replication
• c. random sampling
• d. the case study
• e. standard deviation