Review Questions – Introduction, History, Methods
From the text: (These questions are covered in your textbook, but we did not discuss them in
class.)
Describe your textbook authors’ perspective on nature vs. nurture.
Can’t have one without the other
Both nature and nurture are important to humans’ psychological development
In the context of evolutionary theory, what is an “adaptation”?
In evolutionary theory, the physical characteristics, skills, or abilities that increase the
chances of reproduction or survival and are therefore likely to be passed along to future
generations
Describe the mind-body problem. How did Descartes’s version of dualism differ from
previous conceptualizations of dualism?
A fundamental psychological issue: Are mind and body separate and distinct, or is the mind
simply the physical brain’s subjective experience. Are the mind and body separate and
distinct or is the mind simply the physical brains subjective experience
The mind and body are separate but intertwined (the connection part was different)
What is the basic principle of Gestalt psychology? How did this principle pose a challenge to
structuralism?
The whole of personal experience is not simply the sum of its constituent elements. (whole
is different than the sum of its parts) aka seeing a triangle not three lines
Structuralism was all about consciousness being broken down
Describe the different levels of analysis at which human behavior can be studied. Give
examples.
Biological: how physical body including the brain contributes to mind and behavior
(neuroanatomy, hormone studies, gene studies)
Individual: Individuals differences in personality and in the mental processes that affect how
people perceive and know the world (personality, decision making, memory, seeing,
hearing)
Social: How group contexts affect how people interact and influence each other
(relationships, perceptions, stereotypes)
Cultural: peoples behaviors across cultures
Describe the two main types of observational research. What are the common concerns
associated with observational research?
Naturalistic Observation: observer separate from situation and doesn’t change it
Participant Observation: Researcher is involved in the situation
Concerns: reactivity and observer bias
What is the Hawthorne effect?
Changes in behavior occur when people know that others are observing them
Explain the difference between a longitudinal and cross-sectional design.
Cross Sectional: Involve observing and classifying developmental changes that occur in
different groups of people at the same time
Longitudinal: Involve observing and classifying developmental changes that occur in the
same people over time or with intervention by the observer
What’s the difference between a population and a sample?
Population: The group you want to know about
, Sample: Subset of the population you are actually studying
What are the weaknesses of the case study method?
Can be very subjective, researcher has a preexisting theory, cannot be generalized to a
population
What is external validity?
Degree to which the findings of an experiment can be generalized outside of the lab
What is the law of large numbers and how does it apply to psychological research?
Idea of replication
What is a response performance measure? Give examples.
Researcher quantify perceptual or cognitive processes in response to a specific stimulus
Speed of response
Response to different stimuli
Whether the response is right or wrong
What are the ethical guidelines regarding when deception can be used in a psychological
study?
Use deception only when other methods are not appropriate and when the deception does
not involve situations that would strongly affect people’s willingness to participate
Must have a careful debriefing afterwards
Describe the difference between reliability and validity?
Reliability: the stability and consistency of a measure over time in similar conditions
Validity: the extent to which the data collected in a study addresses the research hypothesis
in the way intended
Review Questions – Introduction, History, Methods
These questions were covered in class, or in class and the text.
Why did James describe psychology as a “nasty little subject”?
No simple answers in psychology, behavior is difficult to predict
What does is mean to say that a prediction is probabilistic? Or that behavior is multiply
determined?
Probabilistic Prediction: percent chance between two things that are linked (based usually
on past behavior) 80% chance you will go to sleep late because that is what you have done
every day
Multiply Determined: There are many different reasons behind each behavior and action of a
human
Explain the paradox of reflexivity.
Using the brain to study itself
Brain is made to deceive
Describe how the following individuals/ideas fit into the history of psychology: Descartes,
dualism, Wundt, introspection, structuralism, James, functionalism, stream of consciousness.
Descartes/dualism: body and soul are separate, brain is separate from immortal soul but
communicated through panel gland
Wundt: Made psychology a science, studied reaction time
Introspection: Systematic observation (asking someone to describe their consciousness)
which didn’t work because it was subjective and mostly imageless thought
Structuralism: What’s happening in your consciousness can be broken down into basic
underlying components
From the text: (These questions are covered in your textbook, but we did not discuss them in
class.)
Describe your textbook authors’ perspective on nature vs. nurture.
Can’t have one without the other
Both nature and nurture are important to humans’ psychological development
In the context of evolutionary theory, what is an “adaptation”?
In evolutionary theory, the physical characteristics, skills, or abilities that increase the
chances of reproduction or survival and are therefore likely to be passed along to future
generations
Describe the mind-body problem. How did Descartes’s version of dualism differ from
previous conceptualizations of dualism?
A fundamental psychological issue: Are mind and body separate and distinct, or is the mind
simply the physical brain’s subjective experience. Are the mind and body separate and
distinct or is the mind simply the physical brains subjective experience
The mind and body are separate but intertwined (the connection part was different)
What is the basic principle of Gestalt psychology? How did this principle pose a challenge to
structuralism?
The whole of personal experience is not simply the sum of its constituent elements. (whole
is different than the sum of its parts) aka seeing a triangle not three lines
Structuralism was all about consciousness being broken down
Describe the different levels of analysis at which human behavior can be studied. Give
examples.
Biological: how physical body including the brain contributes to mind and behavior
(neuroanatomy, hormone studies, gene studies)
Individual: Individuals differences in personality and in the mental processes that affect how
people perceive and know the world (personality, decision making, memory, seeing,
hearing)
Social: How group contexts affect how people interact and influence each other
(relationships, perceptions, stereotypes)
Cultural: peoples behaviors across cultures
Describe the two main types of observational research. What are the common concerns
associated with observational research?
Naturalistic Observation: observer separate from situation and doesn’t change it
Participant Observation: Researcher is involved in the situation
Concerns: reactivity and observer bias
What is the Hawthorne effect?
Changes in behavior occur when people know that others are observing them
Explain the difference between a longitudinal and cross-sectional design.
Cross Sectional: Involve observing and classifying developmental changes that occur in
different groups of people at the same time
Longitudinal: Involve observing and classifying developmental changes that occur in the
same people over time or with intervention by the observer
What’s the difference between a population and a sample?
Population: The group you want to know about
, Sample: Subset of the population you are actually studying
What are the weaknesses of the case study method?
Can be very subjective, researcher has a preexisting theory, cannot be generalized to a
population
What is external validity?
Degree to which the findings of an experiment can be generalized outside of the lab
What is the law of large numbers and how does it apply to psychological research?
Idea of replication
What is a response performance measure? Give examples.
Researcher quantify perceptual or cognitive processes in response to a specific stimulus
Speed of response
Response to different stimuli
Whether the response is right or wrong
What are the ethical guidelines regarding when deception can be used in a psychological
study?
Use deception only when other methods are not appropriate and when the deception does
not involve situations that would strongly affect people’s willingness to participate
Must have a careful debriefing afterwards
Describe the difference between reliability and validity?
Reliability: the stability and consistency of a measure over time in similar conditions
Validity: the extent to which the data collected in a study addresses the research hypothesis
in the way intended
Review Questions – Introduction, History, Methods
These questions were covered in class, or in class and the text.
Why did James describe psychology as a “nasty little subject”?
No simple answers in psychology, behavior is difficult to predict
What does is mean to say that a prediction is probabilistic? Or that behavior is multiply
determined?
Probabilistic Prediction: percent chance between two things that are linked (based usually
on past behavior) 80% chance you will go to sleep late because that is what you have done
every day
Multiply Determined: There are many different reasons behind each behavior and action of a
human
Explain the paradox of reflexivity.
Using the brain to study itself
Brain is made to deceive
Describe how the following individuals/ideas fit into the history of psychology: Descartes,
dualism, Wundt, introspection, structuralism, James, functionalism, stream of consciousness.
Descartes/dualism: body and soul are separate, brain is separate from immortal soul but
communicated through panel gland
Wundt: Made psychology a science, studied reaction time
Introspection: Systematic observation (asking someone to describe their consciousness)
which didn’t work because it was subjective and mostly imageless thought
Structuralism: What’s happening in your consciousness can be broken down into basic
underlying components
