Psychology exam questions and
answers graded A+
Critical Thinking - ANS✅✅thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather,
it examines assumptions appraises the sources, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence and
assesses conclusions
Structuralism - ANS✅✅early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; Used
introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind
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
Behaviorism - ANS✅✅the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies
behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists today, agree with (1) but not
with (2)
Humanistic Psychology - ANS✅✅historically significant perspective that emphasized human
growth potential
Psychology - ANS✅✅the science of behavior and mental processes
Cognitive Neuroscience - ANS✅✅the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with
cognition
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
science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture
Natural Selection - ANS✅✅the principle that those chance inherited traits that better enable an
organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to
succeeding generations
,Evolutionary Psychology - ANS✅✅the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using
principles of natural selection
Behavior Genetics - ANS✅✅the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and
environmental influences on behavior
Culture - ANS✅✅the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group
of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
Positive Psychology - ANS✅✅the scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of
discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individual and communities to thrive
Levels of Analysis - ANS✅✅the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to
social-cultural, for analyzing any given performance
Psychological Approach - ANS✅✅an integrated approach that incorporates biological
psychological and social cultural levels of analysis
Basic Research - ANS✅✅pure science that arms to increase the scientific knowledge base
Applied Research - ANS✅✅scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
Counseling Psychology - ANS✅✅a branch of psychology that assist people with problems in living
and in achieving greater well-being
Clinical Psychology - ANS✅✅a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with
psychological disorders
Psychiatry - ANS✅✅a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by
physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy
Community Psychological - ANS✅✅a branch of psychological that studies how people interact
with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups
, Intuition - ANS✅✅an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with
explicit, conscious reasoning
Hindsight Bias - ANS✅✅the tendency to believe after learning an outcome, that one would have
foreseen it
Theory - ANS✅✅an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations
and predicts behaviors or events
Hypothesis - ANS✅✅a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
Operational Definition - ANS✅✅a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a
research study
Replication - ANS✅✅repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants
in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced
Case Study - ANS✅✅a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in
the hope of revealing universal principles
Naturalistic Observation - ANS✅✅a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in
naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
Survey - ANS✅✅a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a
particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of group
Population - ANS✅✅all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn
Random Sample - ANS✅✅a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has
an equal chance of inclusion
Correlation - ANS✅✅a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how
well either factor predicts the other
answers graded A+
Critical Thinking - ANS✅✅thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather,
it examines assumptions appraises the sources, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence and
assesses conclusions
Structuralism - ANS✅✅early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; Used
introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind
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
Behaviorism - ANS✅✅the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies
behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists today, agree with (1) but not
with (2)
Humanistic Psychology - ANS✅✅historically significant perspective that emphasized human
growth potential
Psychology - ANS✅✅the science of behavior and mental processes
Cognitive Neuroscience - ANS✅✅the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with
cognition
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
science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture
Natural Selection - ANS✅✅the principle that those chance inherited traits that better enable an
organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to
succeeding generations
,Evolutionary Psychology - ANS✅✅the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using
principles of natural selection
Behavior Genetics - ANS✅✅the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and
environmental influences on behavior
Culture - ANS✅✅the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group
of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
Positive Psychology - ANS✅✅the scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of
discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individual and communities to thrive
Levels of Analysis - ANS✅✅the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to
social-cultural, for analyzing any given performance
Psychological Approach - ANS✅✅an integrated approach that incorporates biological
psychological and social cultural levels of analysis
Basic Research - ANS✅✅pure science that arms to increase the scientific knowledge base
Applied Research - ANS✅✅scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
Counseling Psychology - ANS✅✅a branch of psychology that assist people with problems in living
and in achieving greater well-being
Clinical Psychology - ANS✅✅a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with
psychological disorders
Psychiatry - ANS✅✅a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by
physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy
Community Psychological - ANS✅✅a branch of psychological that studies how people interact
with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups
, Intuition - ANS✅✅an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, as contrasted with
explicit, conscious reasoning
Hindsight Bias - ANS✅✅the tendency to believe after learning an outcome, that one would have
foreseen it
Theory - ANS✅✅an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations
and predicts behaviors or events
Hypothesis - ANS✅✅a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
Operational Definition - ANS✅✅a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a
research study
Replication - ANS✅✅repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants
in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced
Case Study - ANS✅✅a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in
the hope of revealing universal principles
Naturalistic Observation - ANS✅✅a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in
naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
Survey - ANS✅✅a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a
particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of group
Population - ANS✅✅all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn
Random Sample - ANS✅✅a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has
an equal chance of inclusion
Correlation - ANS✅✅a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how
well either factor predicts the other
