Deck 1: The Science of Psychology

Question 1

The American Psychological Association is made up of ________ divisions.

A) 10
B) 25
C) 48
D) 56

Answer 1

56

Question 2

Psychology is ________.

A) a single, unified field of study
B) an "umbrella" for a loose amalgamation of different subfields
C) comprised of two distinct subfields
D) not a field of study at all

Answer 2

an "umbrella" for a loose amalgamation of different subfields

Question 3

Psychologists are interested in ________.

A) every aspect of human thoughts, feelings, and actions.
B) aspects of human behavior, but not human thought
C) aspects of human thought, but not human behavior
D) only major aspects of human thought and behavior

Answer 3

every aspect of human thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Question 4

Researchers have found that people tend to be less inhibited in their behavior and take greater risks when they are in a group than when they are alone. Of the following mental health professionals, ________ psychologists would probably have the most interest in these findings.

A) experimental
B) personality
C) developmental
D) social

Question 5

A group of psychologists studies how people influence one another, exploring issues such as first impressions, interpersonal attraction, and how attitudes are formed and maintained. These psychologists are most likely ________ psychologists.

A) developmental
B) experimental
C) social
D) personality

Question 6

A group of psychologists are interested in how hormones, psychoactive medications, and "social drugs" affect us. They are most likely to be ________.

A) neuropsychologists
B) biological psychologists
C) experimental psychologists
D) behavioral geneticists

Question 7

________ are interested in the workings of the brain and the nervous system.

A) Experimental psychologists
B) Psychobiologists
C) Behavioral geneticists
D) Neuropsychologists

Question 8

A group of psychologists at a cocktail party are discussing what kinds of questions are most usefully studied in the field of psychology. Which of the following pairs of psychologists is most likely to find agreement?

A) industrial/organizational and experimental psychologists
B) industrial/organizational and physiological psychologists
C) clinical and counseling psychologists
D) personality and experimental psychologists

Question 9

Researchers have found that men tend to use their brains differently than women when solving some types of problems. Which of the following types of psychologists would probably be most interested in conducting this type of research?

A) experimental psychologists
B) industrial/organizational psychologists
C) social psychologists
D) psychometric psychologists

Question 10

A group of psychologists conduct research on basic psychological processes, including learning, memory, sensation, perception, thinking, motivation, and emotion. They are most likely ________ psychologists.

A) physiological
B) clinical
C) experimental
D) psychometric

Question 11

A group of psychologists study the differences among individuals' traits such as agreeableness, sociability, self-esteem, emotional stability, and aggressiveness. They are most likely ________ psychologists.

A) clinical
B) developmental
C) psychometric
D) personality

Question 12

________ investigate the impact of heredity on both normal and abnormal traits and behavior.

A) Behavioral geneticists
B) Experimental psychologists
C) Neuropsychologists
D) Psychobiologists

Question 13

Researchers have found that men are usually assumed to be more aggressive than women. However, when women believe they are not being observed they are often just as aggressive as men. Of the following professionals, ________ psychologists would probably be the most interested in these findings.

A) clinical
B) developmental
C) psychometric
D) personality

Question 14

Life-span psychologists focus mainly on studying ________.

A) adolescent changes and development
B) adulthood
C) the entire developmental spectrum from infancy through adulthood
D) infancy and childhood development

Question 15

About half of all psychologists specialize in ________ psychology.

A) social or developmental
B) physiological or experimental
C) clinical or counseling
D) personality or developmental

Question 16

A group of psychologists study human, mental, and physical growth from the prenatal period through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. They are most likely ________ psychologists.

A) developmental
B) social
C) personality
D) organizational

Question 17

Psychology is the scientific study of ________.

A) how personality can be determined by the size and shape of one's head
B) behavior and mental processes
C) the physiological functions of the brain
D) how cultures and societies develop and interact with each other

Question 18

Child psychology, adolescent psychology, and lifespan psychology are specialty areas within the field of psychology known as ________ psychology.

A) health
B) physiological
C) personality
D) developmental

Question 19

Each of the following is a specialty area within developmental psychology except ________.

A) life-span psychology
B) psychobiology
C) child psychology
D) adolescent psychology

Question 20

A group of psychologists is attempting to determine what causes some people to be optimistic and sociable, while others are pessimistic and reserved. They are most likely to be ________ psychologists.

A) developmental
B) counseling/clinical
C) psychometric
D) personality

Question 21

A systematic explanation of a phenomenon that organizes known facts, allows the prediction of new facts, and permits a degree of control over the phenomenon is known as a ________.

A) hypothesis
B) theory
C) postulate
D) principle

Question 22

A young man is suspected of blowing up a Federal building in Oklahoma City in order to get even with the Federal government for its actions two years earlier against the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas. Of the following professionals, ________ psychologists would probably have the least interest in that event.

A) social
B) personality
C) industrial/organizational
D) counseling

Question 23

Psychologists use the scientific method to do each of the following except ________ what they study.

A) predict
B) describe
C) control
D) circumvent

Question 24

Each of the following is described by your text as a benefit of psychology except ________.

A) job skills
B) self-understanding
C) control skills
D) critical thinking skills

Question 25

Each of the following characterizes a state of mind necessary for critical thinking except ________.

A) a willingness to submit your own beliefs to scrutiny
B) creativity
C) a willingness to challenge the opinions of others
D) objectivity

Question 26

The history of psychology can be divided into ________ main stages.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

Question 27

Each of the following is a specialty area within the field of physiological psychology except ________.

A) experimental psychology
B) neuropsychology
C) behavioral genetics
D) psychobiology

Question 28

A teacher suspects that her students are unusually quiet during her Monday morning classes because they stay up late on Sunday nights. She believes that if she monitored the times they went to bed, she would find that the sleepy ones went to bed later than the more alert ones. In scientific terms, her hunch, or suspicion of what she would find if she monitored her students, is called a ________.

A) hypothesis
B) postulate
C) theory
D) prognosis

Question 29

Wilhelm runs an experiment and finds that males with high levels of testosterone tend to be more physically aggressive than males with lower levels of testosterone. This leads him to believe that testosterone has a direct effect on physical aggression in males. Wilhelm's belief is best described as a ________.

A) thesis
B) prognosis
C) theory
D) hypothesis

Question 30

A specific, testable prediction about a phenomenon, usually derived from a theory, is a ________.

A) prognosis
B) theory
C) principle
D) hypothesis

Question 31

In recent years, several Japanese automobile companies have opened manufacturing plants in the United States, bringing Japanese management practices with them. For the most part, American workers at these plants have refused to unionize in the traditional American mold, preferring to work under the Japanese model. Of the following mental health professionals, ________ psychologists would probably be most interested in these events.

A) developmental
B) industrial/organizational
C) social
D) experimental

Question 32

Each of the following is one of five enduring issues that draw psychologists together except ________.

A) mind-body
B) stability-change
C) diversity-universality
D) situation-group

Question 33

The term psychology is defined by your text as the "science of behavior and mental processes." According to your text, the key word in that definition is ________.

A) processes
B) mental
C) behavior
D) science

Question 34

A group of psychologists seeks to determine in advance who will be effective as a salesperson, as an airline pilot, or in any other career. They are most likely to be ________ psychologists.

A) social
B) developmental
C) industrial/organizational
D) experimental

Question 35

Each of the following is a strategy described in the text for questioning assumptions and examining data except ________.

A) defining the problem
B) simplifying as much as possible
C) suggest a theory or reasonable explanation for the problem
D) analyzing assumptions

Question 36

Researchers have found that Parkinson's disease is related to deficiencies in the production of the chemical dopamine in the brain. Of the following professionals, ________ psychologists would probably be most interested in these findings.

A) clinical
B) experimental
C) physiological
D) psychometric

Question 37

Neuropsychology, psychobiology, and behavioral genetics are specialty areas within the field of psychology known as ________ psychology.

A) experimental
B) physiological
C) psychometric
D) clinical

Question 38

Modern psychologists use techniques based on ________.

A) deductive reasoning
B) objective introspection
C) inductive reasoning
D) the scientific method

Question 39

A group of psychologists study the biological basis of human behavior, thoughts, and emotions. They are most likely ________ psychologists.

A) clinical
B) physiological
C) psychometric
D) experimental

Question 40

A scientist decides to solve a problem by collecting data through careful systematic observation, developing theories, making predictions based on those theories, and systematically testing those predictions. The scientist is using ________.

A) the inductive method
B) the deductive method
C) the scientific method
D) objective introspection

Question 41

The scientific method has been applied to psychological issues for about the last ________ years.

A) 250
B) 130
C) 75
D) 400

Question 42

A central idea of functionalism is that ________.

A) thoughts must be studied by objective introspection
B) consciousness is a continuous flow
C) individual differences are the basis of human behavior
D) consciousness can be broken down into three elements

Question 43

Most psychologists agree that psychology, as a science, was born in ________.

A) 1879
B) 1921
C) 1909
D) 1891

Question 44

Wundt's primary experimental interest was ________.

A) selective attention
B) sensation
C) human instincts
D) emotion

Question 45

A noted scientist argues that consciousness is a continuous flow, and that perceptions, associations, sensations and emotions cannot be separated. This scientist is most likely a follower of ________.

A) Titchener
B) Wundt
C) James
D) Galton

Question 46

Which of the following is not one of the main stages of the history of psychology discussed in your text?

A) the Gestalt revolution
B) the emergence of a science of the mind
C) the behaviorist decades
D) the cognitive revolution

Question 47

Wundt believed that ________ be studied through scientific experiments.

A) only mental processes could
B) all mental processes could
C) some mental processes could not
D) no mental processes could

Question 48

James argued that consciousness ________.

A) is comprised of "atoms of thought"
B) is an illusion
C) flows in a continuous stream
D) does not exist

Question 49

According to James, the atoms of experience (pure sensations without associations) ________.

A) were best understood through experimental research
B) were the basis of all human behavior
C) were genetically predetermined
D) did not exist

Question 50

James suggested that when we repeat something several times, ________.

A) we become bored with the activity
B) our nervous systems change
C) we must re-learn the activity each time
D) we can strip perceptions of their basic associations

Question 51

The first psychology laboratory was founded by ________.

A) James
B) Watson
C) Titchener
D) Wundt

Question 52

Wundt used the term ________ to describe his view of psychology.

A) voluntarism
B) cognitism
C) Gestaltism
D) mentalism

Question 53

The first psychology laboratory was opened in ________.

A) 1906
B) 1642
C) 1853
D) 1879

Question 54

People began to apply the scientific method to questions about behavior and mental processes in the late ________.

A) 1600s
B) 1500s
C) 1800s
D) 1700s

Question 55

Wundt was the first ________.

A) to use a psychological laboratory
B) psychologist to use written tests to measure human abilities
C) psychologist to analyze dreams
D) American-born psychologist

Question 56

James suggested that ________ allow us to benefit from previous experience.

A) atoms of experience
B) rewards and punishments
C) mental associations
D) dreams

Question 57

Before psychology was a formal discipline, it was a branch of the general field of ________.

A) sociology
B) anthropology
C) philosophy
D) biology

Question 58

At the beginning of the 20^th century, most university psychology programs were located in ________.

A) philosophy departments
B) education departments
C) medical schools
D) biology departments

Question 59

The person most directly responsible for moving psychology out of the realm of philosophy and into the world of science was ________.

A) William James
B) Sigmund Freud
C) B.F. Skinner
D) Wilhelm Wundt

Question 60

According to Wundt, the mind should be studied ________.

A) scientifically
B) according to philosophical traditions
C) as a spiritual entity
D) subjectively and introspectively

Question 61

The best known of psychology's pioneers is ________.

A) B.F. Skinner
B) Sigmund Freud
C) William James
D) Wilhelm Wundt

Question 62

The most controversial of psychology's pioneers is ________.

A) William James
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Wilhelm Wundt
D) B.F. Skinner

Question 63

Titchener broke experience down into ________ basic elements.

A) two
B) three
C) four
D) five

Question 64

One of structuralism's most important proponents was ________.

A) Freud
B) James
C) Titchener
D) Galton

Question 65

A noted scientist argues that experience can be broken down into physical sensations (including sights and sounds), affections or feelings (which are like sensations but less clear), and images (such as memories or dreams). This scientist is most likely a follower of ________.

A) Galton
B) Wundt
C) James
D) Titchener

Question 66

In discussing sensations, feelings, and images the ________.

A) structuralist considered the three to be atoms of experience whereas the functionalist claimed that these three aspects of experience could not be teased apart
B) functionalist considered the three to be atoms of experience whereas the structuralist claimed that these three aspects of experience could not be teased apart
C) structuralist focused on the primary role of sensations in our experience of the world while the functionalist focused on the primary role of feelings
D) structuralist and the functionalist completely agreed on how they should be studied

Question 67

Structuralism emphasized ________.

A) individual differences
B) the application of biological principles to the mind
C) the basic units of experience and their combinations
D) the influence of unconscious urges on conscious behavior

Question 68

William James is noted for founding the ________ school of psychology.

A) Gestalt
B) structuralist
C) reductionist
D) functionalist

Question 69

A famous student of Wundt's, who later became the leader of American psychology as a professor at Cornell University, was ________.

A) Titchener
B) James
C) Galton
D) Watson

Question 70

Titchener believed psychologists should analyze complex experiences in terms of ________.

A) learned behaviors
B) actualizing experiences
C) their basic elements
D) a stream of consciousness

Question 71

The idea that consciousness flows in a continuous stream is central to ________.

A) objective introspection
B) functionalism
C) behaviorism
D) structuralism

Question 72

The person who established the first American psychology laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in 1883 was ________.

A) J. M. Cattell
B) G. Stanley Hall
C) William James
D) Edward Titchener

Question 73

Experience was broken down into three basic elements (physical sensations, feelings, and images) by ________.

A) Freud
B) Galton
C) Titchener
D) James

Question 74

Which of the following choices correctly matches a famous psychologist with his theoretical perspective?

A) Lange - cognitive
B) James - behaviorism
C) Watson - functionalism
D) Titchener - structuralism

Question 75

Wundt believed that attention is actively controlled by ________.

A) intentions and motives
B) instincts and drives
C) hormones and neurotransmitters
D) rewards and punishments

Question 76

The basic units of experience and their combinations were the foundation of ________.

A) functionalism
B) Gestalt psychology
C) structuralism
D) behaviorism

Question 77

The first American to be called a "professor of psychology," at the University of Pennsylvania in 1888 was ________.

A) William James
B) Edward Titchener
C) J. M. Cattell
D) G. Stanley Hall

Question 78

Titchener wanted to strip perception of its associations in order to find ________.

A) the root causes of physiological sensation
B) the atoms of thought
C) spiritual purity
D) the instinctive underpinnings of behavior

Question 79

Titchener's basic elements of experience did not include ________.

A) perceptions
B) feelings
C) physical sensations
D) images

Question 80

If you looked at an apple and recognized it because of seeing its red, round shape, with a stem at the top, remembering what other apples had looked like, and remembering that you really like the taste of apples, you would be supporting the ________ school of psychology.

A) structuralist
B) functionalist
C) behaviorist
D) Gestalt