PSYCH EXAM 1 STUDY GUIDE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Dualism (Descartes) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Mind and body are separate substances; the mind is non-
physical, the body is physical.
Materialism (Hobbes) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Everything, including the mind, is physical matter; mental
processes are brain processes.
Nativism (Kant) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Some knowledge is innate and built into the human mind.
Empiricism (Locke) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Knowledge comes from experience; the mind begins as a
blank slate (tabula rasa).
Structuralism - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Focuses on breaking conscious experience into basic elements
(sensations, images, feelings).
Functionalism - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Focuses on the purpose of behavior and mental processes—how
they help us adapt.
Sigmund Freud - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Founder of psychoanalysis; emphasized unconscious motives
and early childhood experiences.
Psychoanalytic Theory - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Behavior is influenced by unconscious conflicts, desires,
and childhood experiences.
Behaviorism - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Psychology should study observable behavior, not internal mental
states.
Classical Conditioning - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Learning through association between two stimuli
(Pavlov's dogs).
, Operant Conditioning - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Learning through consequences; behaviors are shaped by
rewards and punishments.
Stimulus - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Any event or object that triggers a response.
Response - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅A reaction to a stimulus.
Reinforcer - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Anything that increases the likelihood that a behavior will occur
again.
Hypotheses - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Testable predictions about relationships between variables.
Operations (Operational Definitions) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Precise definitions of how variables are
measured or manipulated.
Gestalt Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅We perceive objects as whole patterns, not just the sum of
parts.
Humanistic Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Emphasizes free will, personal growth, and self-
fulfillment.
Social Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅the study of the causes and consequences of sociality
Cognitive Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Focuses on mental processes like memory, thinking, and
problem-solving.
Evolutionary Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Explains behavior through adaptation and natural
selection.
Cognitive Neuroscience - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅study of the physical changes in the brain and nervous
system during thinking
Dualism (Descartes) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Mind and body are separate substances; the mind is non-
physical, the body is physical.
Materialism (Hobbes) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Everything, including the mind, is physical matter; mental
processes are brain processes.
Nativism (Kant) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Some knowledge is innate and built into the human mind.
Empiricism (Locke) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Knowledge comes from experience; the mind begins as a
blank slate (tabula rasa).
Structuralism - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Focuses on breaking conscious experience into basic elements
(sensations, images, feelings).
Functionalism - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Focuses on the purpose of behavior and mental processes—how
they help us adapt.
Sigmund Freud - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Founder of psychoanalysis; emphasized unconscious motives
and early childhood experiences.
Psychoanalytic Theory - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Behavior is influenced by unconscious conflicts, desires,
and childhood experiences.
Behaviorism - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Psychology should study observable behavior, not internal mental
states.
Classical Conditioning - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Learning through association between two stimuli
(Pavlov's dogs).
, Operant Conditioning - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Learning through consequences; behaviors are shaped by
rewards and punishments.
Stimulus - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Any event or object that triggers a response.
Response - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅A reaction to a stimulus.
Reinforcer - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Anything that increases the likelihood that a behavior will occur
again.
Hypotheses - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Testable predictions about relationships between variables.
Operations (Operational Definitions) - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Precise definitions of how variables are
measured or manipulated.
Gestalt Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅We perceive objects as whole patterns, not just the sum of
parts.
Humanistic Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Emphasizes free will, personal growth, and self-
fulfillment.
Social Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅the study of the causes and consequences of sociality
Cognitive Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Focuses on mental processes like memory, thinking, and
problem-solving.
Evolutionary Psychology - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅Explains behavior through adaptation and natural
selection.
Cognitive Neuroscience - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅study of the physical changes in the brain and nervous
system during thinking
