Deck 7: Psychology, Society, and Culture

Question 1

What is intelligence? How have psychologists tested for intelligence? Why did the book titled The Bell Curve cause a controversy among social scientists?

Answer 1

Intelligence is the ability of a person to understand situations and to make adjustments according to learning and thinking. Psychologists use a variety of tests to determine the characteristics of individuals. The most well-known intelligence test is the IQ test. IQ stands for "intelligence quotient," and this test attempts to reduce many aspects of intelligence to a single number. In short, IQ scores, which are a ratio of mental age to chronological age of an individual, are used to compare an individual's intelligence to that of the rest of the population. The book The Bell Curve is about the declining intelligence, based off of IQ scores, in the U.S. and was very controversial. The author claims that the declining IQ is due to nonwhite immigrants coming into the U.S. The author argues that since the immigrants' IQ scores are lower than those of the white majority, they are causing the average for the entire country to drop in intelligence. This argument received much negative attention because some believe it is highly prejudiced. Also, it makes the claim that IQ equals intelligence, and many social scientists still question exactly what an IQ score actually means.

Question 2

The ability of a person to understand situations and make adjustments depending on learning and thinking is called:

A) intelligence.
B) deviance.
C) illegitimate opportunity.
D) differential association.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which approach to the explanation of behavior did Sigmund Freud pioneer?

A) Cognitive approach.
B) Psychoanalytic approach.
C) Behavioralist approach.
D) Humanist approach.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Abraham Maslow's hierarchy states that each level:

A) must be satisfied before the next is attempted.
B) is independent of the others.
C) alone is enough to make an individual self-actualized.
D) will require no further effort once attained.

Question 5

David Lykken and Auke Tellegen's study of pairs of identical twins found that regardless of their surroundings, their level of:

A) intelligence differed by only 10.5 percent.
B) happiness was the same.
C) insecurity was greatly overestimated for both.
D) depression was exactly opposite 80 percent of the time.

Question 6

The psychoanalytic approach to understanding behavior focuses on:

A) Freud's theories of behavior.
B) one's conscious understanding of one's environment.
C) cognitive science.
D) the actions one demonstrates.

Question 7

Recent discussions of the nature/nurture debate have tended to emphasize the:

A) enormous importance of nurture and the environment.
B) complex interaction between the two.
C) inheritability of most intellectual behaviors.
D) importance of socialization reversals.

Question 8

Name the third stage of Piaget's developmental stages.

A) Concerns with symbolism and fantasy.
B) Concerns with logical thought and irony.
C) Concerns with abstract concepts.
D) Concerns with physical objects.

Question 9

The humanist approach emphasizes:

A) the entire person.
B) the mind.
C) psychoanalysis and genetics.
D) negative reinforcement.

Question 10

What is pop psychology? How is pop psychology different from the more scientific theories of psychology?

Question 11

Judith Martin suggested that if the child acts perfect, the child:

A) is being deceptive.
B) is manipulative and dangerous.
C) is perfect.
D) is really not perfect.

Question 12

A society is composed of individuals, and as a whole society is:

A) equal exactly to the sum of these individuals.
B) best understood as developing in the same way individuals develop.
C) known to have few adjustment problems.
D) more than the sum of those individuals.

Question 13

Answer and explain why the following question is important: What is the greater determinant of human behavior: nature or nurture?

Question 14

In the nature/nurture debate, the cognitive approach focuses on:

A) nature.
B) nurture.
C) the entire being.
D) suggesting an alternative to nature or nurture.

Question 15

Freud originated a system of:

A) environmental categories.
B) personality testing called IQ.
C) psychotherapy known as psychoanalysis.
D) pop psychology.

Question 16

Which approach to the explanation of behavior focuses on the unconscious and its relation to conscious thoughts and actions?

A) Cognitive approach.
B) Psychoanalytic approach.
C) Behavioralist approach.
D) Humanist approach.

Question 17

Freud's Oedipus complex received much:

A) widespread support because people found it easy to accept.
B) praise from the general public.
C) positive reaction from all psychologists.
D) publicity and aroused widespread opposition.

Question 18

Good adjustment and normality:

A) have precisely the same meaning in all societies.
B) do not have precisely the same meaning when applied to personality.
C) are the same in all cultures.
D) are recognized as being not closely related.

Question 19

How and why are the cognitive, psychoanalytic, behavioralist, and humanist explanations of human behavior different? Give specific examples of a famous researcher for all of these approaches except cognitive.

Question 20

Martin Seligman argues that couples who stay together happily are the ones who:

A) see each other as objects.
B) do not see each other every week of the year.
C) see their spouse objectively.
D) see their spouse through rose-colored glasses.

Question 21

Skinner argued that human behavior could be changed through operant conditioning.

Question 22

Two individuals can have exactly the same social environment and therefore be exactly identical in behavior.

Question 23

Mental tests:

A) rely on predicting individuals' reactions by simulating conditions.
B) have only been used in modern times.
C) are useless except for the IQ test.
D) are only for research and have no practical application.

Question 24

Once personality has begun to form, it becomes an independent force in the adjustment of the individual to the total environment.

Question 25

Which is Maslow's first stage of personality development?

A) Love and belonging needs.
B) Safety and belonging needs.
C) Self-esteem needs.
D) Basic physiological needs.

Question 26

Culture is external to the individual and not a part of personality.

Question 27

The study of children who have been largely isolated demonstrates the importance of:

A) genetic determinism in behavior.
B) socialization.
C) feral phases in all children.
D) the need for isolation in normal development.

Question 28

Piaget finds it useful to consider a child's life as one undivided period in personality development.

Question 29

Each individual is an independent entity without dependency on culture.

Question 30

It is possible to find children who have been completely isolated from other human beings from the time of birth.

Question 31

Abraham Maslow's levels of development have how many levels?

A) Four.
B) Five.
C) Two.
D) Three.

Question 32

The nature/nurture debate focuses on whether heredity or environment is more important in determining personality.

Question 33

The behavioralist approach focuses on thought as the determinant of behavior.

Question 34

Personality bears the imprint of four things: inherited potentialities of the individual, natural environment, the culture of an individual's society, and unique personal experiences.

Question 35

To Freud, personality consisted of how many major systems or "structures"?

A) Two.
B) Three.
C) Four.
D) One.

Question 36

The human baby is a helpless creature at birth.

Question 37

Mental tests indicate:

A) no differences in intelligence.
B) great differences in intelligence.
C) the infallibility of IQ tests.
D) that tests are the best and only way to study people.

Question 38

Stories of feral children should be regarded with skepticism.

Question 39

Operant conditioning is often discussed in terms of:

A) superego development.
B) id identification.
C) positive reinforcement.
D) self-actualization.

Question 40

The experiences of the young child within the family group seem to have little influence on human personality development.

Question 41

Intelligence is measured without limitations because it is just mental manipulation.

Question 42

The pop psychology of the early 2000s has a common theme-the gradual long-term solution to problems.

Question 43

Culture's role in shaping individual personality is:

A) minor.
B) unimportant.
C) unknown.
D) major.

Question 44

Women are emotionally and psychiatrically disabled and have more symptoms of stress than men.

Question 45

The total organization of the inherited and acquired characteristics of an individual as evidenced by human behavior is called personality.

Question 46

People with an IQ of less than 80 are considered mentally retarded.

Question 47

Self-actualization, the level of human achievement in which one is well adjusted to one's reality, is the highest level, according to Maslow.

Question 48

Abraham Maslow developed the Oedipus complex to explain personality development.

Question 49

Personality may be defined as the total organization of the inherited and acquired characteristics of an individual as evidenced by the group's behavior.

Question 50

Skinner's emphasis on the environment's role in shaping personality is undisputed by many psychologists.

Question 51

The humanist approach emphasizes actions in shaping behavior rather than the mind.