Deck 1: Introduction: Principles of Psychology

Question 1

The goal of psychology is to

A) develop ways to treat the mentally ill.
B) control human behavior.
C) explain human thought and behavior.
D) determine the causes of mental illness.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The foundations of psychology are most closely related to which of the following disciplines?

A) Chemistry
B) Philosophy
C) Political science
D) Astrology

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Proponents of the social brain hypothesis would be most likely to argue that

A) specific behaviors evolved mainly as a way to solve ecological problems.
B) the more social connections a person has, the greater that person's chances for survival.
C) human intelligence evolved as a way to survive in large social groups.
D) it is best to have social interactions primarily with people who share your personality type.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following would be evidence against the social brain hypothesis?

A) Students working in a group are better able to grasp a subject than students working individually.
B) A quiet co-worker prefers to eat lunch at his desk every day instead of socializing with others in the company cafeteria.
C) Your sister is clearly able to engage in meaningful social interactions with all of her 500 friends on Tumblr.
D) You regularly strike up friendly conversations with the cashiers at your local grocery store.

Question 5

According to the ancient Greek philosopher Plato,

A) we cannot necessarily rely on our senses to learn the truth.
B) all of reality is simply an illusion.
C) objective reality can be perceived only through experience.
D) animal behavior has nothing to teach us about human behavior.

Question 6

On which of the following points would Plato and Descartes likely have agreed?

A) There is no such thing as "innate knowledge."
B) Knowledge is acquired through experience alone.
C) Children are born as "blank slates."
D) Knowledge does not rely on our fallible senses.

Question 7

Which of the following is an empirical statement?

A) The temperature right now is higher than it was 24 hours ago.
B) The 1927 New York Yankees are the greatest baseball team of all time.
C) The social construction of gender in modern society imposes penalties on both men and women.
D) Women are naturally better parents than men; it is just part of their nature.

Question 8

Your sister is very shy. An empiricist philosopher would say that her shyness is due to

A) natural selection.
B) her early experiences.
C) genetics.
D) her inherent personality.

Question 9

Who wrote The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, which argues that all human behaviors had their beginnings in earlier ancestors?

A) René Descartes
B) Plato
C) John Locke
D) Charles Darwin

Question 10

Psychologist Margaret Floy Washburn is best known for her work on the

A) unreliability of human senses.
B) similarity of the nervous system to a machine.
C) relationships between human and animal behaviors.
D) ways that experience impacts behavior.

Question 11

Of the following, who is best described as a structuralist?

A) Edward Titchener
B) William James
C) B. F. Skinner
D) Wilhelm Wundt

Question 12

In a psychology experiment, subjects listen to a variety of tones presented at different frequencies and then reflect on the experience, describing what they heard as precisely as possible. These individuals would have been using a process called

A) behaviorism.
B) introspection.
C) hypnosis.
D) Gestalt therapy.

Question 13

A research psychologist is most interested in discovering the answers to questions like, "Why is empathy helpful to people?" and "How does education contribute to social stability?" This approach is most consistent with the _______ perspective.

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

Question 14

Which of the following statements best differentiates structuralism from functionalism?

A) Structuralism was interested in observable behavior only, while functionalism was interested in the mental process.
B) Structuralism was more scientific in its approach, while functionalism was more philosophical.
C) Structuralism asked what happens when an organism does something, while functionalism asked how and why.
D) Structuralism was interested in the practical consequences of behavior, while functionalism was interested in describing experience in its most basic terms.

Question 15

In a behaviorist approach to treatment for a patient with a fear of rats, the patient is

A) urged to talk about this fear to determine why he feels this way.
B) repeatedly exposed to stimuli that are gradually more and more like rats.
C) asked to observe other people who are handling rats in a calm, relaxed manner.
D) given medication to help reduce his anxiety.

Question 16

A behaviorist would be least concerned with

A) events that occurred in the past.
B) observable behavior.
C) functional relationships.
D) events that are occurring now.

Question 17

John Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner would have agreed that psychology is the study of

A) behavior.
B) the mind.
C) conscious experience.
D) mental processes.

Question 18

Which of the following would be most likely to argue that an individual regularly drinks to excess because she grew up in an environment where the adults were heavy drinkers?

A) Structuralist
B) Cognitive psychologist
C) Gestalt psychologist
D) Behaviorist

Question 19

Your psychology professor tells the class, "Experience cannot be analyzed successfully into its elements." Your professor is most likely

A) a behaviorist.
B) a Gestalt psychologist.
C) a structuralist.
D) an empiricist.

Question 20

A behaviorist is helping a special-needs child complete a number of target behaviors. These behaviors may include all of the following except

A) understanding the value of coins.
B) pointing to the correct algebraic formula.
C) increasing the number of times the child raises her hand in class.
D) independently operating a microwave oven.

Question 21

A behaviorist would assert that an appropriate behavioral objective for a student must be

A) understandable and broadly defined.
B) observable and measurable.
C) recognized as age-appropriate.
D) modifiable for the numerous environmental settings in which students participate.

Question 22

Cognitive psychologists became interested in how processing was done inside the brain, which led directly to the development of

A) neuroscience.
B) Gestalt psychology.
C) behaviorism.
D) functionalism.

Question 23

Refer to the figure below.
When he is in a casino, Albert is unable to control himself. He does not stop gambling until all of his money is gone. The _______ lobe of Albert's brain is most likely to be affecting this behavior.

A) parietal
B) occipital
C) temporal
D) frontal

Question 24

Why did women make few contributions to psychology in the first part of the 20th century?

A) Hysteria was prevalent during this time, which made women unsuitable as practicing psychologists.
B) Most women of the time went into medicine and law rather than psychology.
C) Women simply had little interest in higher education during this time.
D) Widespread sexism limited women's participation in science.

Question 25

You are trying to overcome your fear of snakes. Inspired by the work of Mary Cover Jones, your therapist first shows you some pictures of snakes. Then she tells you that there is a small snake in a cage in the next room. She asks you to observe the live snake from a distance, and continues this process until your fear is conquered. Your therapist is using the technique called

A) acceptance therapy.
B) extinction.
C) desensitization.
D) Gestalt therapy.

Question 26

Psychologists Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark found that doll tests

A) demonstrated that observational learning can promote aggressive as well as nurturing behavior in children.
B) showed that most people are willing to obey authority figures, even if those orders conflict with their own personal values.
C) confirmed that behavior can be modified based on a system of positive or negative reinforcements.
D) exposed internalized racism in African-American children, particularly among children attending segregated schools.

Question 27

Which of the following quotes best represents the position of a cognitive psychologist?

A) "People not only gain understanding through reflection, they evaluate and alter their own thinking."
B) "Give me a child and I will shape him into anything."
C) "Psychology is a purely objective, experimental branch of natural science that requires no more introspection than do the sciences of chemistry and physics."
D) "When properly used, positive reinforcement is extremely powerful."

Question 28

Psychologists now believe that subliminal advertising

A) is a powerful influence on consumers that should be regulated by government.
B) is effective only on young people, whose brains are still developing.
C) succeeds because the messages register unconsciously.
D) has a weak effect on consumers, if any at all.

Question 29

One of the goals of studying psychology is to

A) learn to sort out fact from fiction about ideas in popular psychology.
B) completely understand and predict human behavior.
C) learn how to become happy.
D) find the answers to all of life's questions.

Question 30

Much of the information about psychology portrayed in the popular media is

A) a close match to the findings of psychological researchers.
B) not able to be studied empirically.
C) just basic common sense.
D) contradicted by what psychological research has demonstrated.

Question 31

Scientific investigation has revealed that the "Mozart Effect" (the notion that children become smarter from listening to the music of Mozart) is

A) a question that cannot be answered through science.
B) dependent on the gender of the child.
C) not substantiated through research.
D) supported by findings from numerous studies.

Question 32

Psychological research has proven that many long-held, popular beliefs about psychology are untrue. Psychology as a science has been able to accomplish this by emphasizing

A) critical thinking.
B) reliance on authority.
C) consciousness.
D) belief perseverance.

Question 33

As you and your roommate watch a news report about a big fight that broke out at a local club, he turns to you and says, "I'm not surprised. It's a full moon, after all. People always go crazy around the full moon." As a student of psychology, your response should be:

A) "Is it a full moon tonight? No wonder I was feeling so weird!"
B) "When you look at police records, the actual data do not really support that idea."
C) "Well, people tend to be more accident-prone around the full moon, but the crime rate doesn't really go up."
D) "I don't think the moon has anything to do with this. It's too cloudy. You can't even see the moon tonight."

Question 34

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and _______.

Question 35

The process whereby physical traits and behaviors that improve reproductive success will spread within a species, changing it over time, is known as _______.

Question 36

The study of how physical events, such as lights and sounds, affect our senses is called _______.

Question 37

The _______ school of psychology uses introspection to analyze conscious experience.

Question 38

A psychologist coming from the _______ perspective might be interested in studying the practical reasons why humans have developed abstract reasoning abilities.

Question 39

You watch a video in which a researcher repeatedly exposes an animal to the sound of a buzzer followed by the delivery of food. The animal eventually salivates in response to the sound of the buzzer alone. This video is a classic illustration of the school of psychology known as _______.

Question 40

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" is an idea best represented by _______ psychologists.

Question 41

_______ psychology is the study of internal mental processes, specifically how we acquire and process information and gain knowledge.

Question 42

The study of the nervous system, including the brain and spinal cord and all of their connections to the body, is called _______.

Question 43

Sigmund Freud examined many women in his studies of _______, a mental disorder believed at the time to be caused by a malfunctioning uterus.

Question 44

Explain John Locke's idea of the tabula rasa.

Question 45

What is the main emphasis of cognitive psychology?

Question 46

What are the hallmarks of psychology as a science?

Question 47

How and why does the social behavior of animals evolve? Provide at least one specific example describing possible costs and benefits.

Question 48

For decades, psychology was dominated by the behaviorist approach. Explain why the field eventually became disenchanted with behaviorism.

Question 49

What are the four important principles that should be considered when you examine any behavior?

Question 50

A classmate tells you that she has over 700 Facebook friends. As a proponent of the social brain hypothesis, you will most likely

A) approve of her attempt to promote her "survival" by forming attachments to a large group.
B) conclude that she is more sociable and mentally healthy than the average person.
C) be skeptical of her ability to interact meaningfully with so many people.
D) recognize that she is using these "friendships" to mask her deep loneliness.

Question 51

Plato's cave analogy illustrates that

A) our nervous system operates much like a machine.
B) we cannot necessarily rely on our senses to learn the truth.
C) objective reality can be perceived only through logic.
D) animal behavior is very similar to human behavior.

Question 52

Which of the following statements is the best interpretation of the ideas of René Descartes?

A) Learning and observable behaviors are the only important scientific phenomena.
B) We must rely on our senses alone to acquire knowledge.
C) We can ultimately be sure of absolutely nothing.
D) The only true knowledge comes from within.

Question 53

An empiricist believes that the only source of knowledge about the external world is

A) logic.
B) intuition.
C) reason.
D) sensory experience.

Question 54

John Locke's idea of tabula rasa

A) contradicted Descartes's statement: "I think, therefore I am."
B) emphasized the careful measurement of behavior.
C) confirmed Plato's analogy of the cave.
D) supported the premises of the social brain hypothesis.

Question 55

A Darwinist is likely to believe that

A) heritable traits cannot be altered by experience.
B) all human behavior has its roots in animal behavior.
C) any mental activity that cannot be directly observed is unimportant.
D) the senses offer an unreliable understanding of the world.

Question 56

Research participants in early psychology studies might have been given a stimulus such as a ticking metronome and would reflect on the experience, reporting what the stimulus made them think and feel. These individuals would have been using a process called

A) psychoanalysis.
B) introspection.
C) Gestalt therapy.
D) hypnosis.

Question 57

Which of the following shows a pair of related terms?

A) Structuralism and observable behavior
B) Behaviorism and learning
C) Gestalt psychology and natural selection
D) Neuroscience and cognitive mapping

Question 58

Behaviorism examines _______, whereas cognitive psychology examines _______.

A) brain function; behavior
B) an individual's environment; an individual's actions
C) the adaptive function of behavior; the genetic component of behavior
D) external behavior; internal mental processes

Question 59

A patient has difficulty understanding what is said to him, and likewise has difficulty making himself understood. It is likely that he is experiencing a problem in his _______ lobe.

A) frontal
B) parietal
C) temporal
D) occipital

Question 60

Refer to the graph below.
According to the information in the graph,

A) in 2012, more than 70 percent of American women were studying psychology.
B) since 1976, gender discrimination has virtually disappeared on American college campuses.
C) in 2012, more than two-thirds of psychology PhDs awarded in the United States were earned by women.
D) between 1976 and 2012, the percentage of PhDs in psychology awarded in the United States more than doubled.

Question 61

Refer to the graphs below.

Researchers wanted to determine if ideas about race affect our visual perception. In an experiment, white college students were asked to look at a screen with images of objects that were either crime-relevant (e.g., a handgun) or crime-irrelevant (e.g., a book). For each object, the first image was so blurry it was unrecognizable. The image became progressively clearer across 40 different frames until the students were able to correctly identify it.
Before they began the task, they were shown a photo for 50 milliseconds. The photo was of a black face, a white face, or an abstract line drawing. These "flashes" were subliminal images, meaning that the students were not aware of having seen them. Researchers wanted to find out whether seeing a black or white face, even without being aware of it, influenced the students' ability to identify the objects.
-The purpose of this experiment was to

A) determine if a race-based subliminal image affects visual perception.
B) identify the factors that favor the formation of stereotypes.
C) study the relationship between learning and aggression.
D) study the effects of group pressure on conformity.

Question 62

Refer to the graphs below.

Researchers wanted to determine if ideas about race affect our visual perception. In an experiment, white college students were asked to look at a screen with images of objects that were either crime-relevant (e.g., a handgun) or crime-irrelevant (e.g., a book). For each object, the first image was so blurry it was unrecognizable. The image became progressively clearer across 40 different frames until the students were able to correctly identify it.
Before they began the task, they were shown a photo for 50 milliseconds. The photo was of a black face, a white face, or an abstract line drawing. These "flashes" were subliminal images, meaning that the students were not aware of having seen them. Researchers wanted to find out whether seeing a black or white face, even without being aware of it, influenced the students' ability to identify the objects.
-Based on the data, it appears that

A) students identified crime-irrelevant objects much more quickly than they identified crime-relevant objects.
B) exposing students to a white face made it easier for them to identify crime-relevant objects.
C) students who had been exposed to an African American face identified crime-relevant objects more quickly than those shown an abstract drawing.
D) exposing students to faces had no impact on their ability to identify crime-relevant objects.

Question 63

Refer to the graphs below.

Researchers wanted to determine if ideas about race affect our visual perception. In an experiment, white college students were asked to look at a screen with images of objects that were either crime-relevant (e.g., a handgun) or crime-irrelevant (e.g., a book). For each object, the first image was so blurry it was unrecognizable. The image became progressively clearer across 40 different frames until the students were able to correctly identify it.
Before they began the task, they were shown a photo for 50 milliseconds. The photo was of a black face, a white face, or an abstract line drawing. These "flashes" were subliminal images, meaning that the students were not aware of having seen them. Researchers wanted to find out whether seeing a black or white face, even without being aware of it, influenced the students' ability to identify the objects.
-The effects found in this study suggest that

A) few whites harbor a cultural association of African Americans with crime.
B) unconscious racial bias may influence real-world interactions between whites and African Americans.
C) most white college students are racist but are good at denying it.
D) people are almost always aware of their own beliefs and behaviors.

Question 64

Refer to the graphs below.

Researchers wanted to determine if ideas about race affect our visual perception. In an experiment, white college students were asked to look at a screen with images of objects that were either crime-relevant (e.g., a handgun) or crime-irrelevant (e.g., a book). For each object, the first image was so blurry it was unrecognizable. The image became progressively clearer across 40 different frames until the students were able to correctly identify it.
Before they began the task, they were shown a photo for 50 milliseconds. The photo was of a black face, a white face, or an abstract line drawing. These "flashes" were subliminal images, meaning that the students were not aware of having seen them. Researchers wanted to find out whether seeing a black or white face, even without being aware of it, influenced the students' ability to identify the objects.
-A hallmark of psychology as a science is critical thinking. What is a valid criticism of this perception experiment?

A) There was no need to show students an abstract line drawing.
B) It was unethical not to tell the students they were being shown subliminal images.
C) There might have been something about the faces used, apart from race, that influenced the students' perception of the images.
D) Researchers should have shown students only "crime-irrelevant objects."

Question 65

Refer to the graphs below.

Researchers wanted to determine if ideas about race affect our visual perception. In an experiment, white college students were asked to look at a screen with images of objects that were either crime-relevant (e.g., a handgun) or crime-irrelevant (e.g., a book). For each object, the first image was so blurry it was unrecognizable. The image became progressively clearer across 40 different frames until the students were able to correctly identify it.
Before they began the task, they were shown a photo for 50 milliseconds. The photo was of a black face, a white face, or an abstract line drawing. These "flashes" were subliminal images, meaning that the students were not aware of having seen them. Researchers wanted to find out whether seeing a black or white face, even without being aware of it, influenced the students' ability to identify the objects.
-Which of the four principles of psychology discussed in the textbook does this experiment seem to confirm?

A) The mind is a product of the brain.
B) We change our behavior in accordance with the activity of people around us.
C) Experience physically alters the structure of the brain.
D) We are consciously aware of only a small part of our mental activity.

Question 66

Psychology is best defined as the study of

A) mental health.
B) consciousness and intuition.
C) the mind and behavior.
D) learning and developmental delay.

Question 67

According to the social brain hypothesis, each of us can deal effectively with social interactions with roughly 150 people. This implies that

A) most of us are able to maintain close, lifelong friendships with about 150 people.
B) we are capable of maintaining social networks of up to 150 people throughout our lives.
C) most of us cannot recognize more than 150 people at any given time in our lives.
D) we function best in groups of roughly 150 people, whether all are friends or strangers.

Question 68

The idea that children are born with no knowledge or "content" whatsoever and are "filled" by life experiences is called

A) rationalism.
B) determinism.
C) tabula rasa.
D) nature vs. nurture.

Question 69

In Plato's cave allegory, a prisoner was temporarily unchained and allowed to see the fire at the mouth of the cave. When he returned to the chains, the other prisoners

A) refused to believe him.
B) marveled at his great knowledge.
C) began to reconsider their own views.
D) immediately accepted his insight.

Question 70

How is natural selection related to psychology?

A) All organisms have been shown to be capable of learning.
B) Humans behave as they do in part because that behavior promotes survival.
C) Survival depends on environment just as much as it depends on genes.
D) Animals share many genes with human beings.

Question 71

The year 1879 might be thought of as the beginning of psychology as a science because that is the year

A) Edward Thorndike conducted his first puzzle box experiments.
B) Margaret Floy Washburn wrote The Animal Mind.
C) Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species.
D) Wilhelm Wundt developed and opened the first psychology laboratory.

Question 72

Which of the following approaches to psychology did Edward Titchener advocate in the late 1800s?

A) Humanistic psychology
B) Psychoanalysis
C) Functionalism
D) Structuralism

Question 73

A researcher presents his participant with a series of flashing lights at varying intervals. After each presentation of a light, he asks the participant to fully describe her internal experiences, a method known as

A) functionalism.
B) introspection.
C) behaviorism.
D) psychoanalysis.

Question 74

Which of the following perspectives argues that human behavior develops in certain ways because it serves a useful purpose?

A) Psychoanalysis
B) Cognitive psychology
C) Behaviorism
D) Functionalism

Question 75

A quarter in your hand casts a different image on your retina than a quarter taped to the wall across the room, yet you know that the quarters have exactly the same dimensions. This phenomenon would be best explained by a

A) behaviorist.
B) Gestalt psychologist.
C) evolutionary psychologist.
D) structuralist.

Question 76

Refer to the figure below.
The figure illustrates a typical experiment in

A) Gestalt psychology.
B) evolutionary psychology.
C) functionalism.
D) cognitive psychology.

Question 77

When the U.S. Supreme Court was deliberating on whether to require schools to integrate black children and white children, their decision to strike down laws permitting segregated schools was greatly influenced by the "Doll Test," conducted by

A) Francis Sumner.
B) B.F. Skinner.
C) Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark.
D) Mary Cover Jones.

Question 78

What is a mainstream psychologist most likely to think about Sigmund Freud?

A) Freudian theory is untestable and not grounded in science.
B) Freud, a great pioneer in psychology, discovered the unconscious.
C) Freud was a complete fraud who barely rates a mention in psychology textbooks.
D) Rigorous research has proven that most of Freud's theories were correct.

Question 79

Your uncle tells you about an interesting magazine article explaining that humans use only 10 percent of their brains. As a student of psychology, your response should be:

A) "I know! Isn't that just astonishing?"
B) "Well, research actually shows that almost all of the brain is continually active."
C) "The data aren't conclusive on that yet, but most psychologists would agree with you."
D) "In fact, most neuroscientists would say the figure is closer to 5 percent."

Question 80

Which statement reflects a reasonable attitude for a good student of psychology to have toward any claim about human behavior?

A) The older an idea is, the more likely it is to be correct.
B) It is fine to accept an idea until it is proven wrong.
C) The more popular an idea is, the more likely it is to be correct.
D) Skepticism is advisable until an idea is proven right.