Exam 1: What Is Psychology

The goal of trained introspection, a research method in psychology popularized by Wilhelm Wundt, was to:

Several middle-school girls watch their classmates, Jon and Jason, engage in a rough-and-tumble wrestling match. The attention of the girls seems to intensify the boys' play. A psychologist trained in the functionalist school would wonder:

In their research studies, contemporary psychologists rely heavily upon:

Randy meets a Californian who grows his own vegetables and refuses to eat nonorganic food. Randy concludes that Californians are overzealous about nutrition. This type of error illustrates the importance of which critical thinking guideline?

Phrenology:

The forerunners of psychology developed the theory of phrenology, which in Greek means:

Professor King approaches questions about human behaviour from a perspective that emphasizes the rewards and punishments that maintain certain specific behaviours. He does not invoke the mind to explain behaviour, but sticks to what he can observe and measure directly. It is most likely that he accepts which of the following psychological approaches?

Which modern psychological perspective is behaviourism a part of?

One common form of oversimplification is "argument by anecdote." Explain the meaning of this statement and provide an example.

A fortune teller reads Haifa's palm and tells Haifa that she will fall in love during spring break when she travels to Cancun. As a critical thinker enrolled in a general psychology class, how would Haifa react to this news? What critical-thinking guidelines would be important for her to consider?

Which of the following would give the most accurate view of psychology?

Why is Wilhelm Wundt especially revered by psychologists?

The learning perspective is adhered to by two different types of psychologists: behaviourists and social-cognitive learning theorists. Compare these two types of learning theory advocates.

Which school of thought in psychology hoped to analyze sensations, images, and feelings into basic elements?

Sociocultural psychologists use an interesting metaphor in regard to humans and culture. They describe people as similar to fish. Fish are unaware that they live in water, so obvious is water in their lives. Explain why sociocultural psychologists use this metaphor.

_______________ focus on how groups affect attitudes and behaviour, why people obey authority, and how each of us is affected by other people-spouses, lovers, friends, bosses, parents, and strangers.

Which of the following best describes the academic field of psychology?

A(n) __________ psychologist studies how genetically-influenced behaviour that was functional or adaptive during our species' past may be reflected in the present behaviours, mental processes, and traits of modern humans.

Shelley wants her grandma to keep in touch through e-mail but her grandma says, "Oh, Shelley, you know that you can't teach an old dog new tricks!" If Shelley has been studying the problems with popular beliefs about psychological phenomena, how should she respond?

Your textbook discusses a famous laboratory set up in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879. The goal of this laboratory was the study of: