Questions and All Correct Answers
2026 Updated.
1. What is Psychology? - Answer The scientific study of behavior and mental processes (Hard
vs. Soft science)
-focuses on critical thinking (not just negative) and is scientific
1. Pseudopsychologies - Answer unreliable approaches that do not use the scientific method
-astrology, palmistry, psychokinesis, follicology
1.Psychology's Four Goals - Answer 1. Description: tells" what occurred"
2. Explanation: tells "why" a behavior or mental process occurred
3. Prediction: identifies conditions "under which a future behavior or mental process is likely to
occur"
4.Change: applies psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted or to bring about desired goals
1.Types of Psychology - Answer -biopsychology/ neuroscience
-clinical and counseling psychology
-cognitive psychology
- developmental psychology
education and school psychology
experimental psychology
-forensic psychology
-gender/ cultural psychology
-health psychology
-industrial/organizational psychology
-social psychology
1.what represents the largest group of Psychology? - Answer Clinical psychology
1.origins of psychology - Answer wilhelm wundt
structuralism
functionalism
psychoanalytic/ psychodynamic perspective
,1. Wilhelm Wundt - Answer "father of psychology" Leipzig, Germany 1879
1.Structuralism - Answer sought to identify the basic building blocks, or structures, of the
mind through introspection (Wundt and Titchener)
focused on sensations and perceptual experiences
1. Functionalism - Answer studied how the mind functions to adapt organisms to their
environment (William James)
1. Psychoanalytic/ psychodynamic perspective - Answer unconscious processes and
unresolved past conflicts (freud was the founder)
1.Recent schools of thought - Answer -behavioral perspective
- humanist perspective
-cognitive perspective
-neuroscience/ biopychology perspective
1. Behavioral perspective - Answer objective, observable environmental influence on overt
behavior (Watson, Pavlov, Skinner)
1. Humanist perspective - Answer free will, self-actualization, and a positive, growth-seeking
human nature (Rogers and Maslow)
-inner-self and the importance of subjective feelilngs
1.Cognitive perspective - Answer thought, perception, and information processing.
1. Neuroscience/ Biopsychology perspective - Answer genetics and other biological processes
in the brain and other parts of the nervous system
1. Brain Differences - Answer difference between men and women is quite small.
1. Evolutionary - Answer natural selection, adaptation, and evolution
1. Sociocultural - Answer social interaction and cultural determinants "sociobiology"
,1. Gestalt psychology - Answer emphasized perception; the notion that the whole is more
than the sum of the parts (Wertheimer)
1. Cognitive psychology - Answer focuses on mental function and reasoning (Ebbinghaus)
1. Psychological research can be either... - Answer Basic: conducted to advance scientific
knowledge
Applied: designed to solve current practical problems
alcohol abuse is an area that combines basic and applied research
1. Basic Research - Answer seeks answers for theoretical questions
ex how is hunger controlled by the brain
1. Applied research - Answer seeks answers for specific application problems
ex organizational psychology studies leadership, job satisfaction, job training, and development
1. Scientific Method - Answer 1. identify questions of interest and review lit.
2. develop a testable hypothesis
3. select a research method and collect the data
4. analyze the data and accept of reject the hypothesis
5. publish, replicate, and seek scientific review
6. build a theory
1. Thomas Kuhn - Answer -paradigm shift
-normal science
-revolutionary science
1. Paradigm shift - Answer has to do with measurement
-a new way to test something (abandon old method)
1. Key issues for human research participants - Answer - informed consent
-voluntary participation
-restricted use of deception
-debriefing
, -confidentiality
-alternative activities
1. Informed consent - Answer tis an explanation of a study and the responsibilities of
experimenter and participant
1. Restricted use of deception - Answer have consent but not fully
-deception involving the subjects must be justified
1. Voluntary - Answer freedom to withdraw at any time
must be available
1. Debriefing - Answer explaining the research process to subjects at the end of the study
1. Animal research - Answer must be justifies and must minimize discomfort to participants
proposal is submitted before, very strict rules to make sure no pain is experienced, research
much be justified
more laws for animal research than humans
1. Major research methods - Answer 1. experimental
2. descriptive
3. correlational
4. biological
1. Experimental Research - Answer -carefully controlled scientific procedure that manipulates
variables to determine cause and effect
- non human models are helpful in areas where we do not manipulate variables in humans
(crack baby)
1. Key Features of an Experiment - Answer -Independent variable
-dependent variable
-experimental group
-control group
1. Independent variable - Answer factor that is manipulated
what we can change, can set it up to have different conditions (low, medium, and high)