Test Bank: Introduction to Psychology: Gateways to Mind and
Behavior 15th Edition by Dennis - Ch. 1-18, 9781337565691,
with Rationales
What is Psychology? - ANSWER:The study of mind and behavior.
What is Nativism (Nature)? - ANSWER:Nativism is the theory that knowledge is innate and inborn. Our
biological endowment makes up who we are.
What is Empiricism (Nurture)? - ANSWER:Empiricism is the idea that we gain knowledge through
experience and surroundings. Our environment makes up who we are.
Plato - ANSWER:He believes in the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate and
inborn (nativism/nature).
Aristotle - ANSWER:He believes in philosophical empiricism which states that knowledge is gained
through experience.
Wilhelm Wundt - ANSWER:He believes in the idea of structuralism. Structuralism is when you analyze
the brain by breaking it down to its main components.
William James - ANSWER:He believes in the idea of functionalism. Functionalism is when you see how
someone functions or adapts to new aspects in their environment.
John Watson - ANSWER:He believed that psychology and the mind was not able to be studied through
scientific inquiry. Instead, he was a behaviorist who focused more so the actions of humans to explain
their train of thought.
B.F. Skinner - ANSWER:He was another behaviorist that believed in Pavlov's experiments and
Watson's theories. He studied how behavior was learned according to circumstance.
Sigmund Freud - ANSWER:He came up with psychoanalytic theory which is very much so used today.
Psychoanalysis is the study of unconscious mind and how it affects a person's thoughts, feelings, and
emotions.
Behaviorism - ANSWER:an approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the
scientific study objectively observable behavior
Cognitive Psychology - ANSWER:the scientific study of mental processes including perception,
thought, memory, and experience
Evolutionary Psychology - ANSWER:a psychological approach that explains mind and behavior in
terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection (Influenced
by Darwin, James, and EO Wilson)
Humanistic Psychology - ANSWER:an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the
positive potential of human beings
Social Psychology - ANSWER:A subfield of psychology that studies the causes and consequences of
interpersonal studies
Cultural Psychology - ANSWER:Study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of
their members
, Emergence of Cognitive Psychology - ANSWER:It became a thing when Max Wertheimer began to
study illusions and errors when it came to the mind. He came up with the Gestalt theory that states
that we rather perceive the "sum" over the "parts". Kurt Lewin believed that we saw the world as we
saw it and not at all how it actually was. The invention of computers made most psychologists ignore
this and see psychology objectively.
Operational Definition - ANSWER:It is the description of a property in concrete, measurable terms. For
example, you can operationally define happiness as the amount of times that someone smiles.
Dependent variable - ANSWER:A variable whose value depends on another variable
Independent variable - ANSWER:A variable who is manipulated for an experiment, but does not
depend on another
Reliability - ANSWER:It is the tendency for an instrument to produce the same measurement
whenever it is used to measure the same thing.
Power - ANSWER:An instrument's ability to detect change in the property.
Validity - ANSWER:The goodness with which a concrete event defines a property
Demand Characteristics - ANSWER:The aspects of an observational setting that caused people to
behave as they think they should
What is a correlation? - ANSWER:They are two variable that are said to be correlated when variation
of one variable is synchronized with the variation in the value of another. However, correlation does
not equate to causation.
What is the third variable problem (confounding variable)? - ANSWER:It is the chance that two
variable are only related because of each are causally related to a third one.
What is observer bias? - ANSWER:Observer bias is expectations can influence observation and
influence the perception of reality.
What is a double blind experiment? - ANSWER:In order to avoid observer bias, scientists use a double
blind to ensure that the observer and the person being observed are unaware of the experiment.
Mean, Mode, Range? - ANSWER:Mean= Average of data set, Mode= most recurring value, Range=
highest value - lowest value
Experimental Group - ANSWER:The group who experience a stimulus
Control Group - ANSWER:The group who does not experience a stimulus
Case study - ANSWER:A method of gathering scientific knowledge through studying an individual.
Nuremberg Code of 1947 - ANSWER:The code made after Nazi doctors would perform unethical
experiments of people to protect individuals against unjust experimenting.
Informed consent - ANSWER:Participants may not take part in a psychological study without a written
agreement to participate in a study by an adult who has been informed of all risks of participation.
No coercion - ANSWER:Each participant has the right to confirm or deny participation in a study
without being forced or threatened
Protection from Harm - ANSWER:Psychologists must take every possible precaution to protect their
research participants from any harm.
Behavior 15th Edition by Dennis - Ch. 1-18, 9781337565691,
with Rationales
What is Psychology? - ANSWER:The study of mind and behavior.
What is Nativism (Nature)? - ANSWER:Nativism is the theory that knowledge is innate and inborn. Our
biological endowment makes up who we are.
What is Empiricism (Nurture)? - ANSWER:Empiricism is the idea that we gain knowledge through
experience and surroundings. Our environment makes up who we are.
Plato - ANSWER:He believes in the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate and
inborn (nativism/nature).
Aristotle - ANSWER:He believes in philosophical empiricism which states that knowledge is gained
through experience.
Wilhelm Wundt - ANSWER:He believes in the idea of structuralism. Structuralism is when you analyze
the brain by breaking it down to its main components.
William James - ANSWER:He believes in the idea of functionalism. Functionalism is when you see how
someone functions or adapts to new aspects in their environment.
John Watson - ANSWER:He believed that psychology and the mind was not able to be studied through
scientific inquiry. Instead, he was a behaviorist who focused more so the actions of humans to explain
their train of thought.
B.F. Skinner - ANSWER:He was another behaviorist that believed in Pavlov's experiments and
Watson's theories. He studied how behavior was learned according to circumstance.
Sigmund Freud - ANSWER:He came up with psychoanalytic theory which is very much so used today.
Psychoanalysis is the study of unconscious mind and how it affects a person's thoughts, feelings, and
emotions.
Behaviorism - ANSWER:an approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the
scientific study objectively observable behavior
Cognitive Psychology - ANSWER:the scientific study of mental processes including perception,
thought, memory, and experience
Evolutionary Psychology - ANSWER:a psychological approach that explains mind and behavior in
terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection (Influenced
by Darwin, James, and EO Wilson)
Humanistic Psychology - ANSWER:an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the
positive potential of human beings
Social Psychology - ANSWER:A subfield of psychology that studies the causes and consequences of
interpersonal studies
Cultural Psychology - ANSWER:Study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of
their members
, Emergence of Cognitive Psychology - ANSWER:It became a thing when Max Wertheimer began to
study illusions and errors when it came to the mind. He came up with the Gestalt theory that states
that we rather perceive the "sum" over the "parts". Kurt Lewin believed that we saw the world as we
saw it and not at all how it actually was. The invention of computers made most psychologists ignore
this and see psychology objectively.
Operational Definition - ANSWER:It is the description of a property in concrete, measurable terms. For
example, you can operationally define happiness as the amount of times that someone smiles.
Dependent variable - ANSWER:A variable whose value depends on another variable
Independent variable - ANSWER:A variable who is manipulated for an experiment, but does not
depend on another
Reliability - ANSWER:It is the tendency for an instrument to produce the same measurement
whenever it is used to measure the same thing.
Power - ANSWER:An instrument's ability to detect change in the property.
Validity - ANSWER:The goodness with which a concrete event defines a property
Demand Characteristics - ANSWER:The aspects of an observational setting that caused people to
behave as they think they should
What is a correlation? - ANSWER:They are two variable that are said to be correlated when variation
of one variable is synchronized with the variation in the value of another. However, correlation does
not equate to causation.
What is the third variable problem (confounding variable)? - ANSWER:It is the chance that two
variable are only related because of each are causally related to a third one.
What is observer bias? - ANSWER:Observer bias is expectations can influence observation and
influence the perception of reality.
What is a double blind experiment? - ANSWER:In order to avoid observer bias, scientists use a double
blind to ensure that the observer and the person being observed are unaware of the experiment.
Mean, Mode, Range? - ANSWER:Mean= Average of data set, Mode= most recurring value, Range=
highest value - lowest value
Experimental Group - ANSWER:The group who experience a stimulus
Control Group - ANSWER:The group who does not experience a stimulus
Case study - ANSWER:A method of gathering scientific knowledge through studying an individual.
Nuremberg Code of 1947 - ANSWER:The code made after Nazi doctors would perform unethical
experiments of people to protect individuals against unjust experimenting.
Informed consent - ANSWER:Participants may not take part in a psychological study without a written
agreement to participate in a study by an adult who has been informed of all risks of participation.
No coercion - ANSWER:Each participant has the right to confirm or deny participation in a study
without being forced or threatened
Protection from Harm - ANSWER:Psychologists must take every possible precaution to protect their
research participants from any harm.
