PSY 510 Module 1 Questions and
Correct Answers
Psychobiology - <CORRECT ANSWER >>This research area combines biology and psychology.
Researchers in this area typically study brain organization or the chemicals within the brain
(neurotransmitters)
Cognition - <CORRECT ANSWER >>How humans process, store, and retrieve information; solve
problems; use reasoning and logic; make decisions; and use language. Develop models of how
memory works, ways to improve memory, methods to improve problem solving and
intelligence, and theories of language acquisition. Whereas psychobiology researchers study
the brain, cognitive scientists study the mind.
Human Development - <CORRECT ANSWER >>the physical, social, and cognitive development of
humans. Prenatal development period throughout the life span to research on the elderly
(gerontology). Led to better understanding of prenatal development and hence better prenatal
care, knowledge of cognitive development and cognitive limitations in children, and greater
awareness of the effects of peer pressure on adolescents.
Social psychology - <CORRECT ANSWER >>how we view and affect one another. Combines the
disciplines of psychology and sociology, in that social psychologists are typically interested in
how being part of a group affects the individual.
Psychotherapy - <CORRECT ANSWER >>assess whether a therapy is effective in helping
individuals.
Gaining knowledge via tenacity - <CORRECT ANSWER >>involves hearing a piece of information
so often that you begin to believe it is true, and then, despite evidence to the contrary, you
cling stubbornly to the belief.
, Gaining knowledge via rationalism - <CORRECT ANSWER >>involves logical reasoning. With this
approach, ideas are precisely stated and logical rules are applied to arrive at a logically sound
conclusion.
Knowledge via empiricism - <CORRECT ANSWER >>involves gaining knowledge through
objective observation and the experiences of your senses.
Knowledge via science - <CORRECT ANSWER >>involves a merger of rationalism and empiricism.
Scientists collect data (make empirical observations) and test hypotheses with these data
(assess them using rationalism)
Hypothesis - <CORRECT ANSWER >>a prediction regarding the outcome of a study
Variable - <CORRECT ANSWER >>an event or behavior that has at least two values)
Theory - <CORRECT ANSWER >>an organized system of assumptions and principles that
attempts to explain certain phenomena and how they are related.
Skeptic - <CORRECT ANSWER >>a person who questions the validity, authenticity, or truth of
something purporting to be factual
Publicly verifiable knowledge - <CORRECT ANSWER >>presenting research to the public so that
it can be observed, replicated, criticized, and tested
Empirically solvable problems - <CORRECT ANSWER >>Questions that are potentially
answerable by means of currently available research techniques.
Principle of falsifiability - <CORRECT ANSWER >>The idea that a scientific theory must be stated
in such a way that it is possible to refute or disconfirm it
Correct Answers
Psychobiology - <CORRECT ANSWER >>This research area combines biology and psychology.
Researchers in this area typically study brain organization or the chemicals within the brain
(neurotransmitters)
Cognition - <CORRECT ANSWER >>How humans process, store, and retrieve information; solve
problems; use reasoning and logic; make decisions; and use language. Develop models of how
memory works, ways to improve memory, methods to improve problem solving and
intelligence, and theories of language acquisition. Whereas psychobiology researchers study
the brain, cognitive scientists study the mind.
Human Development - <CORRECT ANSWER >>the physical, social, and cognitive development of
humans. Prenatal development period throughout the life span to research on the elderly
(gerontology). Led to better understanding of prenatal development and hence better prenatal
care, knowledge of cognitive development and cognitive limitations in children, and greater
awareness of the effects of peer pressure on adolescents.
Social psychology - <CORRECT ANSWER >>how we view and affect one another. Combines the
disciplines of psychology and sociology, in that social psychologists are typically interested in
how being part of a group affects the individual.
Psychotherapy - <CORRECT ANSWER >>assess whether a therapy is effective in helping
individuals.
Gaining knowledge via tenacity - <CORRECT ANSWER >>involves hearing a piece of information
so often that you begin to believe it is true, and then, despite evidence to the contrary, you
cling stubbornly to the belief.
, Gaining knowledge via rationalism - <CORRECT ANSWER >>involves logical reasoning. With this
approach, ideas are precisely stated and logical rules are applied to arrive at a logically sound
conclusion.
Knowledge via empiricism - <CORRECT ANSWER >>involves gaining knowledge through
objective observation and the experiences of your senses.
Knowledge via science - <CORRECT ANSWER >>involves a merger of rationalism and empiricism.
Scientists collect data (make empirical observations) and test hypotheses with these data
(assess them using rationalism)
Hypothesis - <CORRECT ANSWER >>a prediction regarding the outcome of a study
Variable - <CORRECT ANSWER >>an event or behavior that has at least two values)
Theory - <CORRECT ANSWER >>an organized system of assumptions and principles that
attempts to explain certain phenomena and how they are related.
Skeptic - <CORRECT ANSWER >>a person who questions the validity, authenticity, or truth of
something purporting to be factual
Publicly verifiable knowledge - <CORRECT ANSWER >>presenting research to the public so that
it can be observed, replicated, criticized, and tested
Empirically solvable problems - <CORRECT ANSWER >>Questions that are potentially
answerable by means of currently available research techniques.
Principle of falsifiability - <CORRECT ANSWER >>The idea that a scientific theory must be stated
in such a way that it is possible to refute or disconfirm it
