Psych Pioneers
Who established the first psychology laboratory in 1879?
Wilhelm Wundt
Wundt’s laboratory in Leipzig, Germany helped establish psychology as an experimental science.
A psychologist studies how rewards and punishments affect whether a student completes homework.
Which perspective?
A. Biological
B. Behavioral
C. Cognitive
D. Humanistic
B. Behavioral
Why: Behavioral psychology focuses on observable behavior and learning.
What research method involves watching behavior in its normal environment without interfering?
A. Survey
B. Experiment
C. Naturalistic observation
D. Case study
C. Naturalistic observation
A correlation coefficient can range from:
A. 0 to 100
B. -1.00 to +1.00
C. -10 to +10
D. 0 to 1
B. -1.00 to +1.00
Psychology is scientifically defined as the study of ______ and ______.
Behavior and mental processes
Which early psychologist is associated with functionalism and studied how thoughts and behaviors help people adapt?
William James
Functionalism focused on the purpose of thoughts and behaviors rather than breaking consciousness into pieces.
A researcher examines how memory and thinking affect a student's test performance.
Which perspective?
A. Cognitive
B. Behavioral
C. Evolutionary
D. Psychodynamic
A. Cognitive
Why: Cognitive psychology focuses on thinking, memory, perception, and problem-solving.
A researcher changes the amount of sleep participants receive and measures their memory scores. What is the independent variable?
A. Memory score
B. Amount of sleep
C. Participants
D. Researcher
B. Amount of sleep
Remember: IV = what the researcher changes/manipulates.
As study time increases, test scores tend to increase. What type of correlation is this?
Positive correlation
Why: Both variables move in the same direction.
Which statement is a hypothesis?
A. Psychology is interesting.
B. Students who sleep at least eight hours will score higher on a memory test than students who sleep four hours.
C. Why do humans dream?
D. Everyone should get more sleep.
B
Why: A hypothesis is a testable prediction.
Which psychologist is most associated with psychoanalysis and the unconscious mind?
Sigmund Freud
Freud believed unconscious conflicts and early childhood experiences could influence behavior.
A psychologist studies whether differences in brain activity are related to anxiety.
Which perspective?
A. Humanistic
B. Sociocultural
C. Biological
D. Behavioral
C. Biological
Why: The biological perspective examines the brain, nervous system, hormones, and genetics.
A researcher changes the amount of sleep participants receive and measures their memory scores. What is the dependent variable?
Memory score
Remember: DV = what is measured.
As the number of absences increases, a student's grade tends to decrease. What type of correlation?
Negative correlation
Why: Variables move in opposite directions.
Researchers repeat another scientist's study to determine whether they get similar results. What is this called?
Replication
Why: Replication helps determine whether findings are reliable.
Which psychologist is strongly associated with behaviorism and operant conditioning?
B. F. Skinner
Skinner studied how consequences such as reinforcement and punishment influence behavior.
A psychologist believes someone's current behavior may be influenced by unconscious childhood conflicts.
Which perspective?
A. Cognitive
B. Psychodynamic
C. Evolutionary
D. Behavioral
B. Psychodynamic
Test Trap: Think Freud → unconscious → psychodynamic.
Why is random assignment useful in an experiment?
A. It guarantees the hypothesis is correct.
B. It makes every participant identical.
C. It helps create similar groups and reduces preexisting differences.
D. It eliminates the need for a control group.
C.
Why: Random assignment helps researchers determine whether the independent variable actually caused differences between groups.
Which represents the strongest correlation?
A. +0.24
B. -0.91
C. +0.67
D. -0.48
B. -0.91
Strength depends on how close the number is to 1.00 or -1.00, NOT whether it's positive or negative.
A researcher gives 1,000 teenagers a questionnaire asking about their social-media use and stress. What research method is being used?
A. Experiment
B. Survey
C. Naturalistic observation
D. Case study
B. Survey
Psychology eventually developed from which two major fields of study?
A. Biology & chemistry
B. Philosophy & physiology
C. Sociology & anthropology
D. Medicine & mathematics
B. Philosophy & physiology
Psychology grew from philosophical questions about the mind combined with scientific study of the body and nervous system.
A researcher investigates why humans may have developed a fear of dangerous animals because that fear helped ancestors survive.
Which perspective?
A. Sociocultural
B. Humanistic
C. Evolutionary
D. Cognitive
C. Evolutionary
Why: Evolutionary psychology examines behaviors and traits in terms of adaptation and survival.
A researcher wants to determine whether caffeine causes students to perform better on a memory task. Which research method should they use?
A. Survey
B. Correlational study
C. Case study
D. Experiment
D. Experiment
TEST TRAP: To establish cause and effect, think experiment.
Researchers find that students who sleep more tend to have higher grades. Can they conclude that sleeping more causes higher grades?
A. Yes
B. No
B. NO!
Why? Correlation shows a relationship, not cause and effect. Other variables could influence both sleep and grades.
Researchers discover a strong positive correlation between ice cream sales and sunburns. Does buying ice cream cause sunburn?
NO.
Reveal: THIRD VARIABLE ALERT!