Psychology Unit 1 EOU Test

Psychology is scientific in nature because

• it uses introspection to analyze thoughts.

• it uses a systematic approach.

• it studies behavior and mental processes.

• . it studies the physical connections between the body and the brain.

Answer explanation

Psychology's status as a science is grounded in the use of the scientific method, said Dominello. Psychologists base their professional practice in knowledge that is obtained through verifiable evidence of human behavior and mental processes.

Who formed the basis for experimentation in psychology with their studies of perception?

• Gustav Fechner

• Edward Titchener

• Mary Whiton Calkins

• William James

Answer explanation

Gustav Theodor Fechner was a German physicist, philosopher, and experimental psychologist. A pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics (techniques for measuring the mind), he inspired many 20th-century scientists and philosophers. He is also credited with demonstrating the non-linear relationship between psychological sensation and the physical intensity of a stimulus via the formula: S=KlnI⁡, which became known as the Weber–Fechner law.^[

According to John B. Watson, the focus of psychology should be

• early childhood experiences.

• introspection.

• observable behavior.

• unconscious mind.

Answer explanation

John Broadus Watson (January 9, 1878 – September 25, 1958) was an American psychologist who popularized the scientific theory of behaviorism, establishing it as a psychological school.^[3] Watson advanced this change in the psychological discipline through his 1913 address at Columbia University, titled Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.^[4] Through his behaviorist approach, Watson conducted research on animal behavior, child rearing, and advertising, as well as conducting the controversial "Little Albert" experiment and the Kerplunk experiment. He was also the editor of Psychological Review from 1910 to 1915.^[5] A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Watson as the 17th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.^[6]

Who started the ego movement in the field of psychology?

• Erik Erikson

• Alfred Adler

• Karen Horney

• Anna Freud

Answer explanation

Ego Psychology - a system of psychoanalytic developmental psychology concerned especially with personality.

Anna Freud CBE (3 December 1895 – 9 October 1982) was a British psychoanalyst of Austrian-Jewish descent.^[1] She was born in Vienna, the sixth and youngest child of Sigmund Freud and Martha Bernays. She followed the path of her father and contributed to the field of psychoanalysis. Alongside Hermine Hug-Hellmuth and Melanie Klein, she may be considered the founder of psychoanalytic child psychology.^[2]

Compared to her father, her work emphasized the importance of the ego and its normal "developmental lines" as well as incorporating a distinctive emphasis on collaborative work across a range of analytical and observational contexts.

Which perspective focuses on the influence of the unconscious mind over conscious behavior?

• psychodynamic

• behaviorist

• humanistic

• cognitive

Answer explanation

Originating in the work of Sigmund Freud, the psychodynamic perspective emphasizes unconscious psychological processes (for example, wishes and fears of which we're not fully aware), and contends that childhood experiences are crucial in shaping adult personality.

Whom among the following are the pioneers of humanistic perspective in psychology?

• Ivan Pavlov and B.F. Skinner

• Wilhelm Wundt and William James

• Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

• Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung

Answer explanation

One of humanistic psychology's early sources was the work of Carl Rogers, who was strongly influenced by Otto Rank, who broke with Freud in the mid-1920s. Rogers' focus was to ensure that the developmental processes led to healthier, if not more creative, personality functioning. The term 'actualizing tendency' was also coined by Rogers, and was a concept that eventually led Abraham Maslow to study self-actualization as one of the needs of humans.^[7][8] Rogers and Maslow introduced this positive, humanistic psychology in response to what they viewed as the overly pessimistic view of psychoanalysis.

An evolutionary psychologist would be interested in studying which aspect of human behavior?

• Biological bases of behavior and mental processes

• The effect of groups, social roles, and relationships on behavior

• Unconscious motives behind a person’s behavior

• Biological bases for universal mental characteristics

Answer explanation

Evolutionary psychology is a theoretical approach in psychology that examines cognition and behavior from a modern evolutionary perspective.^[1][2] It seeks to identify human psychological adaptations with regards to the ancestral problems they evolved to solve. In this framework, psychological traits and mechanisms are either functional products of natural and sexual selection or non-adaptive by-products of other adaptive traits.^[3][4]

Adaptationist thinking about physiological mechanisms, such as the heart, lungs, and the liver, is common in evolutionary biology. Evolutionary psychologists apply the same thinking in psychology, arguing that just as the heart evolved to pump blood, and the liver evolved to detoxify poisons, there is modularity of mind in that different psychological mechanisms evolved to solve different adaptive problems.^[5] These evolutionary psychologists argue that much of human behavior is the output of psychological adaptations that evolved to solve recurrent problems in human ancestral environments.^[6]

Some evolutionary psychologists argue that evolutionary theory can provide a foundational, metatheoretical framework that integrates the entire field of psychology in the same way evolutionary biology has for biology.^[5][7][8]

Which of these subfields are likely to do more basic research in comparison to applied research?

• Experimental psychology

• Educational psychology

• Industrial psychology

• School psychology

Answer explanation

Experimental psychology refers to work done by those who apply experimental methods to psychological study and the underlying processes. Experimental psychologists employ human participants and animal subjects to study a great many topics, including (among others) sensation & perception, memory, cognition, learning, motivation, emotion; developmental processes, social psychology, and the neural substrates of all of these.^[1]

What do you call a professional who has trained to understand the impact of environmental conditions like poverty and drug abuse on mental disorders?

• A psychiatrist

• A psychologist

• A psychiatric social worker

• A psychoanalyst

Answer explanation

Social work in mental health, also called psychiatric social work, is a process where an individual in a setting is helped to attain freedom from overlapping internal and external problems (social and economic situations, family and other relationships, the physical and organizational environment, psychiatric symptoms, etc.). It aims for harmony, quality of life, self-actualization and personal adaptation across all systems. Psychiatric social workers are mental health professionals that can assist patients and their family members in coping with both mental health issues and various economic or social problems caused by mental illness or psychiatric dysfunctions and to attain improved mental health and well-being. They are vital members of the treatment teams in Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences in hospitals. They are employed in both outpatient and inpatient settings of a hospital, nursing homes, state and local governments, substance use clinics, correctional facilities, health care services, private practice, etc.^[73]

A psychologist is interested in finding more about situations in which toddlers are likely to throw tantrums. Which goal of research is she trying to fulfill?

• Prediction

• Explanation

• Description

• Control

Answer explanation

Explain

In addition to describing, psychologists may seek to explain behaviors. The goal of explaining is to answer questions about why people react to certain stimuli and how various factors can impact personality and mental health. Psychologists often use experiments to formulate theories explaining aspects of human and animal behaviors.

Many psychologists have developed theories over the years to explain human behaviors. Some theories have been debunked or replaced by more recent findings, while others have endured and maintained their acceptance by the scientific community. Some theories focus on explaining minor aspects of human behavior, like Pavlov’s theory of classical conditioning and Bowlby’s attachment theory. Others set out to describe human behavior in its entirety, like Erikson’s eight stages of human development and Freud’s theory of personality. (not sure if added appropriate links but links are needed)

Predict

Making predictions about how humans think and act is the third goal of psychology. By looking at past observed behavior (describing and explaining), psychologists aim to predict when or if others might exhibit the same behavior.

Psychologists may then foresee a pattern of behavior. By predicting behavioral patterns, psychologists may also understand their underlying causes. In theory, a prediction could give psychologists the ability to help change or control behavior.