Deck 2: The Science of Psychology

Question 1

Psychology is defined as

A) the scientific study of mind and behaviour
B) the scientific study of people
C) the scientific study of biology
D) the scientific study of the brain

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following best describes the textbook definition of psychology?

A) The scientific study of the brain
B) The diagnosing of mental illnesses
C) The scientific study of the mind and behaviour
D) The scientific study of the nervous system

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Suppose you were conducting a study to examine whether infants can identify their mothers' voices after birth. What discipline of science would be necessary to answer that question?

A) Psychological science
B) Philosophical inquiry
C) Biological science
D) Philosophy of mind

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Psychology is sometimes confused with this medical specialty

A) physical therapy
B) psychiatry
C) endocrinology
D) neurology

Question 5

Which of the following describes the differences between a clinical psychologist and a psychiatrist?

A) Clinical psychologists are only interested in pharmacological solutions to mental illness
B) Clinical psychologists usually hold medical degrees
C) Psychiatrics cannot prescribe medication that affects psychological states
D) Psychiatrists can prescribe medications that affect psychological states

Question 6

A sports and exercise psychologist is one example of a(n)

A) applied psychologist
B) medical doctor
C) academic psychologist
D) neurologist

Question 7

This field of psychological study examines the way human beings change over the lifespan

A) clinical psychology
B) cognitive psychology
C) evolutionary psychology
D) developmental psychology

Question 8

Among other things, this field of psychological study examines, memory, perception and thinking.

A) cognitive psychology
B) developmental psychology
C) behavioural psychology
D) evolutionary psychology

Question 9

Pseudoscience is

A) Non-science performed for non-scientific goals
B) A collection of approaches in psychology sharing the assumption that knowledge is context specific
C) The study of the natural world
D) The scientific study of all aspects of the mind, brain and behaviour

Question 10

Psychologists guided by this perspective view the mind as a complex information-processing device

A) cognitive
B) psychodynamic
C) humanistic
D) positive

Question 11

Which of the following best describes the view of psychologists taking the evolutionary perspective?

A) Humans evolved brains to defeat less intelligent organisms
B) Behaviour is determined by positive external forces
C) The mind and the brain evolved in specific ways to help our ancestors solve problems
D) Humans evolved to use more aggressive means to achieve status

Question 12

The main focus of positive psychology is

A) human strengths
B) human weakness
C) positive reinforcement
D) lifespan development

Question 13

When a psychologist discusses the effect of unconscious conflicts and motivation on behaviour, he or she is speaking from this perspective

A) sociocultural
B) evolutionary
C) psychodynamic
D) behavioural

Question 14

Psychologists that emphasise how society and culture shape human psychology take what perspective?

A) cognitive
B) Sociocultural
C) humanistic
D) psychodynamic

Question 15

The earliest pre-scientific system of psychology can be traced back to

A) The Buddha
B) Archimedes
C) Aristotle
D) Plato

Question 16

Which of the following best describes the rationalist view of the mind?

A) knowledge can only be obtained through pure observation
B) empirical research is the only way to knowledge
C) the mind is separate from the body and continues to exist without it
D) mental abilities are learned not inherited

Question 17

Rene Descartes asserted that the mind and body are separate entities made of different materials, a notion known as

A) dualism
B) qualism
C) Rationalism
D) oneism

Question 18

According to the British Empiricists, knowledge and truth were only obtainable through

A) rationality
B) microscopic investigation
C) evolution
D) experience

Question 19

Rather than rely on pure logic or sensory experience as philosophers do, scientists base their conclusions on multiple pieces of observation known as

A) data
B) datum
C) experience
D) knowledge

Question 20

In Germany, this man opened the first scientific psychology lab

A) Titchner
B) James
C) Wundt
D) Hall

Question 21

The first scientific methodology to be used in psychology was

A) introspection
B) retrospection
C) priming
D) stereospection

Question 22

Functionalism was a psychological perspective that

A) focused on purposes and functions of the mind as shaped throughout human history
B) focussed on the contents of consciousness
C) assessed the function of IQ for the education system
D) assessed the function of psychologists in society

Question 23

Psychoanalysis is a perspective of psychology most associated with

A) Erich Fromm
B) Sigmund Freud
C) Carl Jung
D) William James

Question 24

Which of the following is the best description of the beliefs of psychoanalysts?

A) Humans adapt their behaviour to their environment
B) Humans use reason and logic to make decisions
C) Humans are driven by unconscious conflicts and desires
D) Humans are motivated by the desire to achieve greatness

Question 25

What did behaviourists such as John Watson believe about psychological science?

A) Internal mental states cannot be scientifically observed
B) Cognitive processes should take the centre stage in psychological science
C) Behaviour is driven by unconscious conflict
D) Consciousness is the most objective concept in psychology

Question 26

A behaviourist would say that learning refers to

A) changes in thoughts as others demonstrate behaviour
B) a score on a final exam
C) performance on an intelligence test
D) changes in behaviour as the result of environmental influence or experience

Question 27

Because Dr. Patel believes that behaviour is mainly determined by free will, she is likely a

A) psychoanalyst
B) behaviourist psychologist
C) humanistic psychologist
D) behaviour analyst

Question 28

Science is driven by objective ways of knowing, also called

A) retroactive methods
B) empirical methods
C) intuitive methods
D) rational methods

Question 29

The systematic application of observation and logic to questions in the natural world is a good definition of

A) craft
B) science
C) pseudoscience
D) psychometry

Question 30

Which of the following best describes the scientific method?

A) A collection of rules for ethical science practice
B) A non-empirical method popularised by physiologists
C) A succession of five steps towards acquiring empirical knowledge
D) A code of conduct for experimenters when dealing with humans

Question 31

Which of the following is NOT one of the four goals of science?

A) prediction
B) description
C) explanation
D) transformation

Question 32

Scientists take the point of view that claims must be backed by compelling evidence before they can be accepted as fact. Thus, scientists are

A) sceptics
B) believers
C) conformers
D) cynics

Question 33

A specific, precise, and testable prediction about the occurrence of an event is known as a

A) theory
B) hypothesis
C) judgement
D) premonition

Question 34

What is the best definition of a scientific theory?

A) A specific, precise, and testable prediction about the occurrence of an event
B) An interconnected set of ideas and statements that explain observed facts
C) A loose collection of inferred beliefs
D) A quantitative method for analysing data

Question 35

Which of the following best describes the relationship between a hypothesis and a theory?

A) A theory is always correct even if a hypothesis is proven false
B) Theories never predict the most extreme hypotheses
C) The testing of a hypothesis is always in the context of a theory
D) A hypothesis is always correct when it proves a theory

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT a valid distinction between science and pseudoscience?

A) Science relies purely on anecdotal evidence
B) Science is self-correcting
C) Pseudoscientific claims are untestable
D) Pseudoscience revers the burden of proof to their critics

Question 37

Which of the following is a core component of Humanistic psychology

A) Humanistic psychology emphasises a positive view of human nature
B) Humanistic psychology emphasises the need to reduce human behaviour to biological processes
C) Humanistic psychology emphasises uses reductionism to understand human behaviour
D) Humanistic psychology emphasises is an example of social constructionism

Question 38

Psychologists who believe the key to understanding human behaviour lie in understanding the nervous system (particularly the brain) take the

A) Evolutionary perspective
B) Biological perspective
C) Behavioural perspective
D) Cognitive perspective

Question 39

Which of the following is a key criticism of Pseudoscience?

A) it is popular in mass media
B) it is common sense
C) it lacks empirical evidence
D) it is indistinguishable from applied psychology

Question 40

Which of the following is concerned with the multidisciplinary study of the nervous system and the tools that measure it?

A) Psychology
B) Psychoanalysis
C) Sociology
D) Neuroscience

Question 41

Social constructionism refers to

A) A non-science performed for non-scientific goals, but with the surface appearance of science
B) The study of psychological change and development from childhood to older adulthood
C) A collection of approaches which share the assumption that knowledge is highly context specific and created through discourse
D) The study of individual differences between people

Question 42

The field of psychological study that is concerned with working in the criminal justice system is

A) Health psychology
B) Psychiatry
C) Forensic psychology
D) Pseudo-psychology

Question 43

Among other things, the field of psychological study that involves working with patients suffering from neurological problems (e.g., stroke) is

A) Neuropsychology
B) Forensic Psychology
C) Educational psychology
D) Counselling psychology

Question 44

Humanistic psychology emerged as a reaction against

A) Psychoanalysis
B) Behaviourism
C) Psychiatry
D) Evolution

Question 45

The cognitive revolution refers to the paradigm shift from

A) Behaviourism to cognitive psychology
B) Psychodynamic to cognitive psychology
C) Cognitive psychology to behaviourism
D) Pseudoscience to behaviourism

Question 46

The last decade has seen a rise in research into

A) The brain and its relationship to psychological functioning
B) The use of animal models to understand human behaviour
C) Using cognitive models to understand evolution
D) The use of classical and operant conditioning studies

Question 47

Academic psychology involves

A) Teaching of psychology
B) Conducting psychological research
C) Sharing research through conferences and journals
D) All of the above

Question 48

Different theories explaining the same phenomenon

A) Cannot co-exist
B) Raise questions about the scientific value of psychology
C) Can co-exist if they operate at different levels of explanation
D) Are often viewed as contradictory to one another

Question 49

Impeccable trivia refers to

A) Pseudoscience
B) The study of the bigger picture of psychology
C) Phenomena that are amendable to very scientific study but which are considered largely irrelevant to understanding what makes us tick
D) Unscientific conclusions drawn from psychology in the media

Question 50

There are cultural differences in psychology of different countries, such that

A) American psychology tends to be more theoretical than European Psychology
B) American psychology tends to be more experimental than European psychology
C) European psychology is considered less scientific
D) European psychology is concerned with only the humanistic perspective

Question 51

Psychology is just another word for the practice of psychiatry

Question 52

Though psychology did not become a science until much later, many ancient thinkers pondered psychological questions

Question 53

Rene Descartes believed in dualism, a notion that the mind and body were made of different materials

Question 54

Functionalists like William James believed that they key to studying the mind was to study its contents

Question 55

Sigmund Freud created psychoanalysis to study only the observable behaviour of his patients

Question 56

Behaviourists like Watson and Skinner believed that only behaviour, and not thoughts and feelings, could be scientifically studied.

Question 57

Intuition is the most objective way to analyse scientific phenomenon.

Question 58

Scepticism is detrimental to scientific progress because it does not allow intuitive ideas becoming facts.

Question 59

Pseudoscience does not rely on objective testing of claims but rather on testimonials, anecdotes, and bold statements for or against a claim.

Question 60

Critical thinking is important to science because the critical thinker weighs all of the evidence for and against an explanation before deciding which is true.

Question 61

The philosophical movement founded by Rene Descartes which held that beliefs should be formed through the use of reason, rather than personal experience is known as _____.

Question 62

Sigmund Freud is strongly associated with ______, a perspective that led to the first "talking" therapy for mental illness.

Question 63

According to the _________perspective, free will and intrinsic worth are important influences on human behaviour.

Question 64

Scientists use a _________to test a specific prediction, and use a _________to explain a set of observed facts.

Question 65

__________________emerged as a major force in psychology in the 1950s.

Question 66

American psychology tends to be particularly _______ and mainland European psychology is typically more _____

Question 67

_________psychology involves using psychological theory, research and techniques in a range of professional settings.

Question 68

_________has emerged as both a separate discipline and an approach to study psychology. It provides insights into the relationship between the ______, mind and behaviour.

Question 69

Different _________explaining the same phenomenon can coexist if they operate at different levels of ______

Question 70

Is Psychology a science? In your answer discuss to what extent psychology conforms to the principles of science.

Question 71

Describe the six core areas of academic psychology and their core focus.

Question 72

Discuss to what extent psychoanalytic ideas are still important in some areas of applied psychology.

Question 73

Different theories explaining the same phenomenon can coexist if they operate at different levels of explanation. Explain what is meant by operating at different levels of explanation.