GRE Psychology Subject Test:
PEOPLE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
100% CORRECT!!
E. L. Thorndike - ANSWERlaw of effect: reward-punishment. Precursor of operant
conditioning (SKINNER). Postulated a cause-and-effect chain of behavior revolving
around reinforcement. Individuals do what rewards them and stop doing what doesn't
bring some type of reward. // Instrumental learning* This type of learning happens
through "trial, error, and accidental success." The animal then acts based on
previous successes. This led to his LAW OF EFFECT- postulated that successful
behaviors are MORE LIKELY TO BE REPEATED. Demonstrated this concept with
CATS IN PUZZLE BOXES. A cat was placed inside the box and would eventually
accidentally press the escape door level and be free. In later trials, the cat would
press the lever right away.// LAW OF EFFECT = precursor to operant conditioning.
Psychologist and Columbia university.
Fritz Heider - ANSWERFOUNDER OF ATTRIBUTION AND BALANCE THEORIES.
Attribution theory= the study of how people infer the causes of others' behavior.
People will actually attribute intentions and emotion to just about anything. Balance
theory= the study of how people make their feelings and/or actions consistent to
preserve psychological homeostasis.
Charles Osgood + Percy Tannenbaum - ANSWERcongruency theory
Charles Osgood - ANSWERcongruency theory // studied semantics, or word
meanings. Famous for his creation of semantic differential charts, which allowed
people to plot the meaning of words on graphs. People with similar backgrounds and
interested plotted words similarly. Indicating that words have similar connotations
(implied meaning) for cultures or subcultures. STUDIED SEMANTICS. PEOPLE
WITH SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS AND INTERESTS EXPERIENCE WORDS THAT
HAVE SIMILAR (IMPLIED MEANINGS) ACROSS CULTURES IN THE SAME WAY.
Ex: near good, but far from relaxed.
Kurt Lewin - ANSWERtheory of association: forerunner of behaviorism. Association
is group things together based on the fact that they occur together in time and space.
Organisms associate certain behaviors with certain rewards and certain cues with
certain situations. Pavlov later proved experimentally*// FOUNDER OF SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY. Applied gestalt ideas to social behavior. Conceived FIELD
THEORY= the total of influences upon individual behavior. A person's LIFE SPACE=
the collection of forces upon the individual. VALENCE VECTOR and BARRIER=
forces in the life space.
B. F. Skinner - ANSWERoperant conditioning: first scientific experiments to prove
the concepts in Thorndike's law of effect and in Watson's idea of the causes/ effects
of behavior. Behavior is influenced primarily by reinforcement= operant conditioning.
Created the now classic stereotype of a psychological study- rats and the skinner
box. Proved that animals are influenced by reinforcement.// BEHAVIOR THEORY=
,B.F. Skinner. Behavior theory is the application of classical and operant conditioning
principles to human abnormal behavior. It is a model of behavior BASED ON
LEARNING. Behavioralists change maladaptive behavior through new learning.
RADICAL BEHAVIORALISM is associated with Skinner's operant ideas that
behavior is related only to its consequences. NEOBEHAVIORALISM uses Pavlov's
classical counterconditioning principles to create new responses to stimuli.
//SKINNER BOX + OPERANT CONDITIONING. Famous behaviorist. 2 famous
books= Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Both philosophically discuss
the control of human behavior.
Ivan Pavlov - ANSWERclassical conditioning (Pavlovian conditioning): teaching an
organism to respond to a neutral stimulus by pairing the neutral stimulus with a not-
so-neutral stimulus (CS). Ex: dogs would salivate at the sight of food, but also at the
sound of the assistant's footsteps. //BEHAVIOR THEORY= Ivan Pavlov. Behavior
theory is the application of classical and operant conditioning principles to human
abnormal behavior. It is a model of behavior BASED ON LEARNING. Behavioralists
change maladaptive behavior through new learning. RADICAL BEHAVIORALISM is
associated with Skinner's operant ideas that behavior is related only to its
consequences. NEOBEHAVIORALISM uses Pavlov's classical counterconditioning
principles to create new responses to stimuli. // CLASSICAL CONDITIONING.
Acquired fame as the winner of the Nobel Prize for his work on digestion. Later,
investigating dogs and classical conditioning.
John B. Watson - ANSWERschool of behaviorism: expanded on Pavlov's classical
conditioning. Watson's idea of learning, like his idea of all behavior, was that
everything could be explained by stimulus-response chains and that conditioning
was the key factor in developing these chains. MOST CONCERNED WITH CHILD
DEVELOPMENT—ENVIRONMENT IMPACTS DEVELOPMENT. //BEHAVIORISM
APPROACH. Imitation of parents is what shaped kids and their behavior. Molded by
their environment. // expanded on Pavlov and founded the school of
BEHAVIORALISM. Continued to study conditioning, stimulus-response chains, and
objective, observable behaviors. Saw humans as SQUIRMING BITS OF FLESH
ready to be trained.
Leon Festinger - ANSWERcognitive dissonance theory= suggests that it is
uncomfortable for people to have beliefs that do not match their actions. After
making a difficult decision, people are motivated to back their actions up by touting
corresponding beliefs. Also, the less the act is justified by circumstance, the more we
feel the need to justify it by bringing our attitude in life with the behavior.
Clark Hull - ANSWERdrive reduction theory: Performance= Drive X Habit =
individuals are first motivated by drive, and then act according to old successful
habits. They will do what has worked in the past to satisfy their drive. Ex: do you look
for food do satisfy the hunger drive? Etc. DRIVE REDUCTION. REDUCE THE
DRIVE.// EXPLAINED MOTIVATION WITH MATH! Performance = Drive X Habit.
AKA, we do what we need to do and we do what has worked best in the past.
Edward Tolman - ANSWERexpectancy-value theory: Performance = expectation x
value. Believes that people are motivated by goals that they think they might actually
, meet. *Victor Vroom big companies offer little incentives to people low on the totem
pole. Tolman's experiments: animals form cognitive maps of mazes rather than
simple escape routes // behaviorist. PURPOSIVE BEHAVIOR theory asserted that
learning is acquired through meaningful behavior (termed sign learning) and that rats
in mazes formed cognitive maps rather than blindly attempting various routes. ALSO
CREATED - EXPECTANCY-VALUE THEORY of motivation in which
PERFORMANCE = EXPECTATION X VALUE.
Henry Murray + David McClelland + John Atkinson - ANSWERstudied that people
are motivated by a need for achievement (nAch). May be manifested through a need
to pursue success, or a need to avoid failure, but either way the goal is to feel
successful. Atkinson suggested:
Henry Murray - ANSWERTAT
Neil Miller - ANSWERapproach-avoidance conflict: conflict refers to the state one
feels when a certain goal has both pros and cons. The further one is from the goal,
the more they focus on the pros or reasons to approach the goal. The closer one is
from the goal, the more reasons they come up with to not obtain goal// proved
experimentally that abnormal behavior can be learned.
Donald Hebb - ANSWERarousal= important. A medium amount is best for
performance. // memory involves changes in synapses and neural pathways—
making a memory "tree"
Albert Bandura - ANSWERmodeling= bobo doll
John Garcia - ANSWERpreparedness=Garcia effect
M. E. Olds - ANSWERdrive reduction theory
Hermann Ebbinghaus - ANSWERLearning Curve// forgetting curve. There is a sharp
drop in savings immediately after you learn it, but then it levels off. First to study
memory systematically—to follow up.
Noam Chomsky - ANSWERmost notable figure in psycholinguistics *** Will see Q's
on his work! Transformational Grammar differentiates between surface structure and
deep structure in language. Surface Structure: the way that words are organized--
Each example below has DIFFERENT surface structure: Ex: I studied the material
for hours/ The material was studied for hours by me/ For hours, I studied the
material. Deep Structure: the underlying meaning of a sentence/ Each example
above as the SAME deep structure (meaning)// Most famous for his (NATIVIST/
GENETIC INTERPRETATION) of an innate Language acquisition device (LAD)***
Studied children and noticed how they made small errors ("I founded the toy") often
based on grammar rules, rather than large structural errors, Chomsky proposed that
humans have: An INBORN ABILITY to adopt generative grammar rules of the
language that they hear. The rules are then used to make millions of new/novel
sentences. Children only need to be exposed to a language in order to easily apply
the LAD. Explains why children who are learning different languages progress
PEOPLE QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
100% CORRECT!!
E. L. Thorndike - ANSWERlaw of effect: reward-punishment. Precursor of operant
conditioning (SKINNER). Postulated a cause-and-effect chain of behavior revolving
around reinforcement. Individuals do what rewards them and stop doing what doesn't
bring some type of reward. // Instrumental learning* This type of learning happens
through "trial, error, and accidental success." The animal then acts based on
previous successes. This led to his LAW OF EFFECT- postulated that successful
behaviors are MORE LIKELY TO BE REPEATED. Demonstrated this concept with
CATS IN PUZZLE BOXES. A cat was placed inside the box and would eventually
accidentally press the escape door level and be free. In later trials, the cat would
press the lever right away.// LAW OF EFFECT = precursor to operant conditioning.
Psychologist and Columbia university.
Fritz Heider - ANSWERFOUNDER OF ATTRIBUTION AND BALANCE THEORIES.
Attribution theory= the study of how people infer the causes of others' behavior.
People will actually attribute intentions and emotion to just about anything. Balance
theory= the study of how people make their feelings and/or actions consistent to
preserve psychological homeostasis.
Charles Osgood + Percy Tannenbaum - ANSWERcongruency theory
Charles Osgood - ANSWERcongruency theory // studied semantics, or word
meanings. Famous for his creation of semantic differential charts, which allowed
people to plot the meaning of words on graphs. People with similar backgrounds and
interested plotted words similarly. Indicating that words have similar connotations
(implied meaning) for cultures or subcultures. STUDIED SEMANTICS. PEOPLE
WITH SIMILAR BACKGROUNDS AND INTERESTS EXPERIENCE WORDS THAT
HAVE SIMILAR (IMPLIED MEANINGS) ACROSS CULTURES IN THE SAME WAY.
Ex: near good, but far from relaxed.
Kurt Lewin - ANSWERtheory of association: forerunner of behaviorism. Association
is group things together based on the fact that they occur together in time and space.
Organisms associate certain behaviors with certain rewards and certain cues with
certain situations. Pavlov later proved experimentally*// FOUNDER OF SOCIAL
PSYCHOLOGY. Applied gestalt ideas to social behavior. Conceived FIELD
THEORY= the total of influences upon individual behavior. A person's LIFE SPACE=
the collection of forces upon the individual. VALENCE VECTOR and BARRIER=
forces in the life space.
B. F. Skinner - ANSWERoperant conditioning: first scientific experiments to prove
the concepts in Thorndike's law of effect and in Watson's idea of the causes/ effects
of behavior. Behavior is influenced primarily by reinforcement= operant conditioning.
Created the now classic stereotype of a psychological study- rats and the skinner
box. Proved that animals are influenced by reinforcement.// BEHAVIOR THEORY=
,B.F. Skinner. Behavior theory is the application of classical and operant conditioning
principles to human abnormal behavior. It is a model of behavior BASED ON
LEARNING. Behavioralists change maladaptive behavior through new learning.
RADICAL BEHAVIORALISM is associated with Skinner's operant ideas that
behavior is related only to its consequences. NEOBEHAVIORALISM uses Pavlov's
classical counterconditioning principles to create new responses to stimuli.
//SKINNER BOX + OPERANT CONDITIONING. Famous behaviorist. 2 famous
books= Walden Two and Beyond Freedom and Dignity. Both philosophically discuss
the control of human behavior.
Ivan Pavlov - ANSWERclassical conditioning (Pavlovian conditioning): teaching an
organism to respond to a neutral stimulus by pairing the neutral stimulus with a not-
so-neutral stimulus (CS). Ex: dogs would salivate at the sight of food, but also at the
sound of the assistant's footsteps. //BEHAVIOR THEORY= Ivan Pavlov. Behavior
theory is the application of classical and operant conditioning principles to human
abnormal behavior. It is a model of behavior BASED ON LEARNING. Behavioralists
change maladaptive behavior through new learning. RADICAL BEHAVIORALISM is
associated with Skinner's operant ideas that behavior is related only to its
consequences. NEOBEHAVIORALISM uses Pavlov's classical counterconditioning
principles to create new responses to stimuli. // CLASSICAL CONDITIONING.
Acquired fame as the winner of the Nobel Prize for his work on digestion. Later,
investigating dogs and classical conditioning.
John B. Watson - ANSWERschool of behaviorism: expanded on Pavlov's classical
conditioning. Watson's idea of learning, like his idea of all behavior, was that
everything could be explained by stimulus-response chains and that conditioning
was the key factor in developing these chains. MOST CONCERNED WITH CHILD
DEVELOPMENT—ENVIRONMENT IMPACTS DEVELOPMENT. //BEHAVIORISM
APPROACH. Imitation of parents is what shaped kids and their behavior. Molded by
their environment. // expanded on Pavlov and founded the school of
BEHAVIORALISM. Continued to study conditioning, stimulus-response chains, and
objective, observable behaviors. Saw humans as SQUIRMING BITS OF FLESH
ready to be trained.
Leon Festinger - ANSWERcognitive dissonance theory= suggests that it is
uncomfortable for people to have beliefs that do not match their actions. After
making a difficult decision, people are motivated to back their actions up by touting
corresponding beliefs. Also, the less the act is justified by circumstance, the more we
feel the need to justify it by bringing our attitude in life with the behavior.
Clark Hull - ANSWERdrive reduction theory: Performance= Drive X Habit =
individuals are first motivated by drive, and then act according to old successful
habits. They will do what has worked in the past to satisfy their drive. Ex: do you look
for food do satisfy the hunger drive? Etc. DRIVE REDUCTION. REDUCE THE
DRIVE.// EXPLAINED MOTIVATION WITH MATH! Performance = Drive X Habit.
AKA, we do what we need to do and we do what has worked best in the past.
Edward Tolman - ANSWERexpectancy-value theory: Performance = expectation x
value. Believes that people are motivated by goals that they think they might actually
, meet. *Victor Vroom big companies offer little incentives to people low on the totem
pole. Tolman's experiments: animals form cognitive maps of mazes rather than
simple escape routes // behaviorist. PURPOSIVE BEHAVIOR theory asserted that
learning is acquired through meaningful behavior (termed sign learning) and that rats
in mazes formed cognitive maps rather than blindly attempting various routes. ALSO
CREATED - EXPECTANCY-VALUE THEORY of motivation in which
PERFORMANCE = EXPECTATION X VALUE.
Henry Murray + David McClelland + John Atkinson - ANSWERstudied that people
are motivated by a need for achievement (nAch). May be manifested through a need
to pursue success, or a need to avoid failure, but either way the goal is to feel
successful. Atkinson suggested:
Henry Murray - ANSWERTAT
Neil Miller - ANSWERapproach-avoidance conflict: conflict refers to the state one
feels when a certain goal has both pros and cons. The further one is from the goal,
the more they focus on the pros or reasons to approach the goal. The closer one is
from the goal, the more reasons they come up with to not obtain goal// proved
experimentally that abnormal behavior can be learned.
Donald Hebb - ANSWERarousal= important. A medium amount is best for
performance. // memory involves changes in synapses and neural pathways—
making a memory "tree"
Albert Bandura - ANSWERmodeling= bobo doll
John Garcia - ANSWERpreparedness=Garcia effect
M. E. Olds - ANSWERdrive reduction theory
Hermann Ebbinghaus - ANSWERLearning Curve// forgetting curve. There is a sharp
drop in savings immediately after you learn it, but then it levels off. First to study
memory systematically—to follow up.
Noam Chomsky - ANSWERmost notable figure in psycholinguistics *** Will see Q's
on his work! Transformational Grammar differentiates between surface structure and
deep structure in language. Surface Structure: the way that words are organized--
Each example below has DIFFERENT surface structure: Ex: I studied the material
for hours/ The material was studied for hours by me/ For hours, I studied the
material. Deep Structure: the underlying meaning of a sentence/ Each example
above as the SAME deep structure (meaning)// Most famous for his (NATIVIST/
GENETIC INTERPRETATION) of an innate Language acquisition device (LAD)***
Studied children and noticed how they made small errors ("I founded the toy") often
based on grammar rules, rather than large structural errors, Chomsky proposed that
humans have: An INBORN ABILITY to adopt generative grammar rules of the
language that they hear. The rules are then used to make millions of new/novel
sentences. Children only need to be exposed to a language in order to easily apply
the LAD. Explains why children who are learning different languages progress
