Review Sheet for Psych 101
Spring 2016 Exam 1
Chapter One
Introduction:
Define in one sentence the discipline of psychology (as discussed by Culver and presented in the book).
Understand the meaning of that definition (e.g., what does cognitive/mental processes refer to).
What are the 4 goals of psychology as described in your text? Understand them, don’t just memorize a list.
Psychologists use the scientific method to achieve the 4 goals. Explain what I mean by scientific method.
Be prepared to match a subfield of psych with its description. Focus on items (in order from top to bottom, so 1
means the top or first in the list) 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 11, 13, 14. 15, 16, 19, 21 as presented on page 7 (you won’t be
tested on any of the others).
Historical and Current views in psychology
When did the discipline of psychology begin and who is considered to be the founder?
Describe Wundt's approach to psychology. What was it called? What was the primary method he and his
colleagues used?
Compare and contrast structuralism, gestalt psychology, and functionalism (the three earliest schools of thought
in psychology).
Describe the behaviorist takeover of psychology. Who is considered the founder of behaviorism?
Describe Freud’s view of psychology.
Describe the 5 current perspectives in psychology (pp 16-17; also in notes)
Explain the following 2 key controversial issues: determinism vs. free will and nature vs. nurture.
Chapter Two
Research Methodology
According to your notes why do psychologists study animals in research?
Describe the process of scientific method and understand each of the steps (e.g., what is an operational
definition ). Regarding operational definition: In psychology, many variables we are interested in are not easy
to measure; they are not obvious ways to measure things like “happiness” or “self esteem” or even
“aggression.” Nonetheless, we must devise specific measureable and valid ways to measure these things.
An operational definition is the specific way a researcher manipulates or measures a variable of interest
and it must be communicated to others very clearly.
What is a (scientific) theory. What is a hypothesis.
What is experimental research? Know what independent and dependant variables are and be able to identify
them in a study.
What is random assignment to experimental and control conditions and why is it a critical aspect of
experiments?
What are the main advantages and disadvantages (limitations) of experimental research?
What is a placebo effect? What is experimenter bias? How can researchers address these problems?
Briefly describe the 5 nonexperimental research methods as described in your text and notes (these are archival
research, naturalistic observation, survey research, case study, and correlational research). Know the main
characteristics of each.
Understand the very basics of correlation (positive vs. negative, and strength).
Understand why correlation does not necessarily indicate causation.
According to your notes, why is replication important?
According to your text, what does informed consent refer to?