Psychology Exam Review
Chapter 1-2
1. What are the four goals of psychology?
2. Which is the correct order of the scientific method used by psychologists in their studies?
3. Identify the major historical perspectives of psychology: structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt, etc.
4. Identify the major contemporary approaches to psychology: psychoanalytic, behavioral, cognitive,
humanistic, sociocultural, etc.
5. Identify Sigmund Freud, his theories, and the methods he used .
6. What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist?
7. Identify the following research methods: case studies, experiments, correlations, longitudinal studies, crosssectional studies, etc.
8. What ethical principals govern psychologists' research?
9. Identify problems that exist with conducting research and how researchers deal with them: self-fulfilling
prophecy, single-blind experiment, double-blind experiment, placebo effect, Hawthorne effect
Chapter 3-5
10. What forces do developmental psychologists believe affect our behavior?
11. When does human development begin?
12. What are reflexes? Which reflexes do human infants exhibit?
13. What is maturation?
14. Describe infant development and the elements that shape it.
15. Describe infant perceptual development.
16. Describe language development during childhood. (See also Ch. 11)
17. Define schema.
18. Identify Piaget’s stages of human development and the changes that take place in each.
19. Identify Freud’s stages of psychosexual development and the changes that take place in each.
20. Identify the following parenting styles and their advantages/disadvantages: permissive/laissez faire,
authoritarian, authoritative/democratic
21. Identify Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development and the changes that take place in each.
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22. Identify Kohlberg’s stages of moral development and the changes that take place in each.
23. Identify the problems related to adolescents’ newfound capacity for abstract thought?
24. What is identity crisis?
25. What do psychologists identify as a key part of adolescent development?
26. What purpose do peer groups serve with regard to adolescent social development?
27. What are gender roles?
28. What physical changes usually occur in the middle-aged adult?
29. Define the decremental model of aging
30. What factors affect one’s health in old age?
31. How do changes in life situations during old age compare to those of early adulthood?
32. Identify Bandura’s social learning theory. (See also Ch. 9)
Chapter 7
33. How do psychologists study of sleep?
34. Identify the stages of human sleep and the physiological changes that take place during each.
35. Identify the various theories about why we dream.
36. Identify sleep disorders and the causes of each.
37. What are the uses of hypnosis in therapy?
38. What is the primary goal of meditation?
39. Identify the major types of illegal drugs and their psychological and physiological effects.
Chapter 12
40. Identify the following theories of motivation: instinct theory, drive-reduction theory, incentive theory,
cognitive theory.
41. Identify the various biological and social motives that shape our behavior
42. What is the difference between extrinsic and intrinsic motivation?
43. Identify Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the differences among its various levels.
44. Identify the various physiological and cognitive theories of emotion
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Chapter 15
45. Identify the major causes of stress
46. Identify the various ways we react to stress. (emotional, cognitive, physical, etc.)
47. In the ____ stage of stress reaction, the body mobilizes its fight-or-flight defenses.
48. How do defensive coping strategies help a person cope with stress?
49. Give examples of active coping strategies.
50. Students attending college may face ____, which force them to consider deeply held values.
51. Jobs of comparable training, skills, and importance should be compensated at the same rate. This is the
theory of ____.
52. Identify various strategies to deal with stress.
53. What are the effects of prolonged exposure to stressful situations/
Chapter 6-8
54. When you distinguish an airplane from the sky in which it’s flying, you are using _____ perception
55. _____ are created when perceptual cues are distorted so that our brain cannot correctly interpret space, size,
and depth cues
56. In the brain, the ____ controls the functions of hunger, thirst, and sexual behavior.
57. Our higher thinking processes--those which make us unique--are housed in the ____.
58. What do psychobiologists use to study the brain?
59. In males, the sex hormone ____ is responsible for the growth of male sex characteristics.
60. If identical twins that were raised in separate and very different households share the same talents and
habits, then it probably means that ____.
Chapter 13
61. How is the test reliability measured?
62. According to Howard Gardner, people who do well on multiple choice tests exhibit ____.
63. Which type of test tries to help people plan their careers?
64. How are personality tests used?
Chapter 14
65. What do personality theories attempt to do?
66. Describe Sigmund Freud's concept of personality.
67. Carl Jung believed consciousness was divided into ____.
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68. Explain the trait theory of personality.
Chapter 16
69. What is the most accurate description of psychological disorder?
70. How do psychologists distinguish abnormal behavior from normal behavior?
71. What are the characteristics of anxiety disorders?
72. What does research suggest may cause anxiety disorders?
73. Identify and explain somatoform and dissociative disorders.
74. Identify and the causes and effects of schizophrenia.
75. ____ is a type of mood disorder in which individuals experience manic and depressive episodes
76. What symptoms are characteristic of people with personality disorders?
Chapter 17
77. What are the functions of psychotherapy?
78. What do psychotherapists do?
79. Psychoanalysts believe that when patients understand their unconscious motivations, they have developed
____.
80. Identify the components of client-centered therapy
81. In cognitive therapy, ____ is when clients are confronted with evidence that directly contradicts their
existing beliefs.
82. Identify the ideas behind behavior therapy
83. Identify the ideas behind biological approaches to treatment
84. Also known as sedatives or mild tranquilizers, ____ are used to reduce excitability and cause drowsiness.
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