2024/2025 1|Page
Saylor Academy Psych101 Questions and
Answers
Eugenics
o :## The science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to
increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. Developed largely by
Francis Galton as a method of improving the human race, it fell into disfavor only
after the perversion of its doctrines by the Nazis.
Genomic imprinting
o :## Phenomenon by which certain genes are expressed in a parent-of-origin-
specific manner. If the allele inherited from the father is imprinted, it is thereby
silenced, and only the allele from the mother is expressed. If the allele from the
mother is imprinted, then only the allele from the father is expressed.
Functionalism
o :## Suggests that cognitive processes were governed by the function of the mind;
focused on the utility of consciousness and considers mental life and behaviour in
terms of active adaptation to the person's environment.
Structuralism
o :## Theory of consciousness developed by Wilhelm Wundt and his mentee Edward
Bradford Titchener which attempted to understand the mind as the sum of varying
underlying parts. Proposes that consciousness is best understood through the
systematic study of the anatomy of the brain
Developmental noise
,2024/2025 2|Page
o :## A concept within developmental biology in which phenotype varies between
individuals even though both the genotypes and the environmental factors are the
same for all of them; human fingerprints provide a well-known example; the
fingerprints differ even between genetically identical human twins.
Gene-environment interaction
o :## Genes are not "set in stone; the expression of genes in an organism can be
influenced by the environment, including the external world in which the organism
is located or develops, as well as the organism's internal world, which includes such
factors as its hormones and metabolism.
Polygenic
o :## Traits that are controlled by multiple genes and/or influenced by the
environment, such as height, skin color, eye color, weight
Pure experiment
o :## Type of experimental design thought to be the most accurate type of
experimental research. Also thought to be the only experimental design that can
establish cause and effect relationship. Three criteria must be met in a true
experiment: 1) Control group and experimental group, 2) Researcher-manipulated
variable, 3) Random assignment
Nature vs. Nurture Debate
o :## The nature vs. nurture debate is an ongoing one. The modern debate often
centers around the effect genes have on human personalities as opposed to the
influences that early environment and development might have.
Negative correlation
, 2024/2025 3|Page
o :## When two variables have an inverse relationship; as one variable increases, the
other decreases.
Psychoanalysis
o :## Aims to treat mental disorders by investigating the interaction of conscious and
unconscious elements in the mind and bringing repressed fears and conflicts into
the conscious mind by techniques such as dream interpretation and free
association.
Cognitivism
o :## Study focusing on mental processes, including how people perceive, think,
remember, learn, solve problems, and direct their attention to one stimulus rather
than another. Psychologists working from a cognitivist perspective, then, seek to
understand cognition.
Q: What famous psychologist decided nearly 100 years ago that psychology should be
defined as the scientific study of behavior?
o :## Watson
Q: Schizophrenia is a mental illness which
o :## Affects about 1% of the population
Q: A study of how adults respond to a new therapy has a group with the new therapy fully
implemented, a group with the new therapy partially implemented, a group with the new
therapy not implemented at all, and a group considering implementation of the new
therapy. Which group would be best described as the control group?
Saylor Academy Psych101 Questions and
Answers
Eugenics
o :## The science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to
increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. Developed largely by
Francis Galton as a method of improving the human race, it fell into disfavor only
after the perversion of its doctrines by the Nazis.
Genomic imprinting
o :## Phenomenon by which certain genes are expressed in a parent-of-origin-
specific manner. If the allele inherited from the father is imprinted, it is thereby
silenced, and only the allele from the mother is expressed. If the allele from the
mother is imprinted, then only the allele from the father is expressed.
Functionalism
o :## Suggests that cognitive processes were governed by the function of the mind;
focused on the utility of consciousness and considers mental life and behaviour in
terms of active adaptation to the person's environment.
Structuralism
o :## Theory of consciousness developed by Wilhelm Wundt and his mentee Edward
Bradford Titchener which attempted to understand the mind as the sum of varying
underlying parts. Proposes that consciousness is best understood through the
systematic study of the anatomy of the brain
Developmental noise
,2024/2025 2|Page
o :## A concept within developmental biology in which phenotype varies between
individuals even though both the genotypes and the environmental factors are the
same for all of them; human fingerprints provide a well-known example; the
fingerprints differ even between genetically identical human twins.
Gene-environment interaction
o :## Genes are not "set in stone; the expression of genes in an organism can be
influenced by the environment, including the external world in which the organism
is located or develops, as well as the organism's internal world, which includes such
factors as its hormones and metabolism.
Polygenic
o :## Traits that are controlled by multiple genes and/or influenced by the
environment, such as height, skin color, eye color, weight
Pure experiment
o :## Type of experimental design thought to be the most accurate type of
experimental research. Also thought to be the only experimental design that can
establish cause and effect relationship. Three criteria must be met in a true
experiment: 1) Control group and experimental group, 2) Researcher-manipulated
variable, 3) Random assignment
Nature vs. Nurture Debate
o :## The nature vs. nurture debate is an ongoing one. The modern debate often
centers around the effect genes have on human personalities as opposed to the
influences that early environment and development might have.
Negative correlation
, 2024/2025 3|Page
o :## When two variables have an inverse relationship; as one variable increases, the
other decreases.
Psychoanalysis
o :## Aims to treat mental disorders by investigating the interaction of conscious and
unconscious elements in the mind and bringing repressed fears and conflicts into
the conscious mind by techniques such as dream interpretation and free
association.
Cognitivism
o :## Study focusing on mental processes, including how people perceive, think,
remember, learn, solve problems, and direct their attention to one stimulus rather
than another. Psychologists working from a cognitivist perspective, then, seek to
understand cognition.
Q: What famous psychologist decided nearly 100 years ago that psychology should be
defined as the scientific study of behavior?
o :## Watson
Q: Schizophrenia is a mental illness which
o :## Affects about 1% of the population
Q: A study of how adults respond to a new therapy has a group with the new therapy fully
implemented, a group with the new therapy partially implemented, a group with the new
therapy not implemented at all, and a group considering implementation of the new
therapy. Which group would be best described as the control group?
