ECU PSYC 1000 Introduction to Psychology Study Guide | Exam Review, Key Concepts &
Practice Questions
Structuralism - ANS ✔✔Early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used
introspection to reveal structure of the human mind
Introspection - ANS ✔✔Looking inward
Functionalism - ANS ✔✔Early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin;
explored how mental and behavioral processes function--how they enable the organism to
adapt, survive, and flourish
What event defined the start of scientific psychology? - ANS ✔✔Scientific psychology began in
Germany in 1879 when Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory
Why did introspection fail as a method for understanding how the mind works? - ANS
✔✔People's self-reports varied, depending on the past experience, intelligence, and verbal
ability
How did the cognitive revolution affect the field of psychology? - ANS ✔✔It recaptured the
field's early interest in mental processes and made them legitimate topics for scientific study
Behaviorism - ANS ✔✔Created by Watson. The view that psychology should be:
1. An objective science
2. Study behavior without reference to mental processes
Example: B. F. Skinner
Humanistic Psychology - ANS ✔✔Historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth
potential of healthy people
,Cognitive Nueroscience - ANS ✔✔The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with
cognition, including perception, thinking, memory, and language
Psychology - ANS ✔✔The study/science of behavior and mental processes
Nature-Nurture Issue - ANS ✔✔The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions
that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Today's psychological science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature
AND nurture
What is contemporary psychology's position on the nature-nurture debate? - ANS
✔✔Psychological events often stem from the interaction of nature and nurture, rather than
from either of them acting alone
Natural Selection - ANS ✔✔The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations,
those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding
generations
Levels of Analysis - ANS ✔✔The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological
to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
Biopsychosocial Approach - ANS ✔✔An integrated approach that incorporates biological,
psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis
Illusionary Correlation - ANS ✔✔The phenomenon of perceiving a relationship between
variables (typically people, events, or behaviors) even when no such relationship exists.
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Neuroscience - ANS ✔✔How the body and brain enable
emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
, "How do pain messages travel from the hand to the brain? How is blood chemistry linked with
moods and motives?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Evolutionary - ANS ✔✔How natural selection of traits has
promote the survival of genes
"How does evolution influence behavior tendencies?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Behavior Genetics - ANS ✔✔How our genes and our
environment influence our individual differences
"To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and
vulnerability to depression products of our genes? Of our environment?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Psychodynamic - ANS ✔✔How behavior springs from
unconscious drives and conflicts
"How can someone's personality traits and disorders be explained by unfulfilled wishes and
childhood traumas?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Behavioral - ANS ✔✔How we learn observable responses
"How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to
alter behavior, say, lose weight or stop smoking?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Cognitive - ANS ✔✔How we encode, process, store, and
retrieve information
"How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Solving problems?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Social-Cultural - ANS ✔✔How behavior and thinking vary
across situations and cultures
"How are we alike as members of one human family? How do we differ as products of our
environment?"
Practice Questions
Structuralism - ANS ✔✔Early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used
introspection to reveal structure of the human mind
Introspection - ANS ✔✔Looking inward
Functionalism - ANS ✔✔Early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin;
explored how mental and behavioral processes function--how they enable the organism to
adapt, survive, and flourish
What event defined the start of scientific psychology? - ANS ✔✔Scientific psychology began in
Germany in 1879 when Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory
Why did introspection fail as a method for understanding how the mind works? - ANS
✔✔People's self-reports varied, depending on the past experience, intelligence, and verbal
ability
How did the cognitive revolution affect the field of psychology? - ANS ✔✔It recaptured the
field's early interest in mental processes and made them legitimate topics for scientific study
Behaviorism - ANS ✔✔Created by Watson. The view that psychology should be:
1. An objective science
2. Study behavior without reference to mental processes
Example: B. F. Skinner
Humanistic Psychology - ANS ✔✔Historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth
potential of healthy people
,Cognitive Nueroscience - ANS ✔✔The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with
cognition, including perception, thinking, memory, and language
Psychology - ANS ✔✔The study/science of behavior and mental processes
Nature-Nurture Issue - ANS ✔✔The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions
that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Today's psychological science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature
AND nurture
What is contemporary psychology's position on the nature-nurture debate? - ANS
✔✔Psychological events often stem from the interaction of nature and nurture, rather than
from either of them acting alone
Natural Selection - ANS ✔✔The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations,
those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding
generations
Levels of Analysis - ANS ✔✔The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological
to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
Biopsychosocial Approach - ANS ✔✔An integrated approach that incorporates biological,
psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis
Illusionary Correlation - ANS ✔✔The phenomenon of perceiving a relationship between
variables (typically people, events, or behaviors) even when no such relationship exists.
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Neuroscience - ANS ✔✔How the body and brain enable
emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
, "How do pain messages travel from the hand to the brain? How is blood chemistry linked with
moods and motives?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Evolutionary - ANS ✔✔How natural selection of traits has
promote the survival of genes
"How does evolution influence behavior tendencies?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Behavior Genetics - ANS ✔✔How our genes and our
environment influence our individual differences
"To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and
vulnerability to depression products of our genes? Of our environment?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Psychodynamic - ANS ✔✔How behavior springs from
unconscious drives and conflicts
"How can someone's personality traits and disorders be explained by unfulfilled wishes and
childhood traumas?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Behavioral - ANS ✔✔How we learn observable responses
"How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to
alter behavior, say, lose weight or stop smoking?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Cognitive - ANS ✔✔How we encode, process, store, and
retrieve information
"How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Solving problems?"
Psychology's Current Perspectives: Social-Cultural - ANS ✔✔How behavior and thinking vary
across situations and cultures
"How are we alike as members of one human family? How do we differ as products of our
environment?"
