WGU Psychology Study Guide
Define mind - ✔✔ correct answer nonphysical manifestation of the brain's activity. What the brain
DOES.
Define behavior - ✔✔ correct answer The outwardly observable acts of a person, either alone or in a
group
Define science - ✔✔ correct answer Striving to solidify facts by using objective evidence
What are the three levels of analysis? - ✔✔ correct answer brain, person, group
Level of the brain - ✔✔ correct answer focus on both the activity of the brain and the structure and
properties of the organ itself: brain cells and their connections, the chemical liquid in which they
exist, and the genes that give rise to them.
Level of the person - ✔✔ correct answer focus on mental events, the contents and functions of the
mind
divide mental events into two types, mental contents and mental processes
Define mental contents - ✔✔ correct answer consist of knowledge; beliefs (including ideas,
explanations, and expectations); desires (such as hopes, goals, and needs); and feelings (such as fear,
sadness, joy, and guilt).
Define mental processes - ✔✔ correct answer consist of sets of operations that work together to
complete a function, such as attention, perception, or memory. These operations are like the
chopping, measuring, and mixing that goes into cooking, and the different mental contents are
analogous to different ingredients in cooking.
Level of the group - ✔✔ correct answer focus on the ways collections of people (as few as two or as
many as a society) shape the mind and behavior.
To study human minds and behavior, psychologists often look at specific groups of people. Groups
can vary in their demographics and organization. Some groups are official, such as the Girl Scouts or
the Knights of Columbus. Other groups are studied based on their demographics, such as groups that
include only one type of culture, a specific age range, or only one sex.
,WGU Psychology Study Guide
Structuralism - ✔✔ correct answer Wundt
Uses introspection to discover the elements of the mind and rules for combining them
Functionalism - ✔✔ correct answer James
Studies WHY thoughts, feelings, and behavior occur and how they are adaptive.
Gestalt Psychology - ✔✔ correct answer Wertheimer
Focus on overall patterns of thoughts or experience; "the whole is more than the sum of its parts."
Psychodynamic Theory - ✔✔ correct answer Freud
Conflicts among conscious and unconscious forces underlie many thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Behaviorism - ✔✔ correct answer Watson and Skinner
Behavior is the appropriate focus of psychology and it can be understood by studying stimuli,
responses, and the consequences of responses.
Humanistic Psychology - ✔✔ correct answer Maslow and Rogers
Belief that people have positive values, free will, and deep inner creativity; inspired the positive
psychology movement.
Cognitive Psychology - ✔✔ correct answer Neisser
Mental events correspond to information that is stored and processed, analogous to information
processing in a computer.
, WGU Psychology Study Guide
Cognitive Neuroscience - ✔✔ correct answer Structure of the mind can be understood by learning
how mental events arise from brain function.
Feminist and multicultural psychology - ✔✔ correct answer APA and CPA convention walk out
Working with the whole person through inclusivity that honors gender, orientation, race, class,
religion, etc.
Evolutionary psychology - ✔✔ correct answer Barkow, Cosmides, and Tooby
Key mental strategies and goals are inborn through adaptation of the species, the result of natural
selection.
Define clinical psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Administers and interprets psychological tests;
provides psychotherapy; helps people function more effectively.
Define clinical neuropsychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Administers tests to diagnose the effects of
brain damage on thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and to diagnose what parts of the brain are
damaged.
Define counseling psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Helps people manage issues that arise during
everyday life (career, marriage, family, work).
Define developmental psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Researches and teaches the development
of mental contents and processes as well as behavior with age and experience
Define cognitive psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Researches and teaches the nature of thinking,
memory, and related aspects of mental contents and processes.
Define social psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Researches and teaches how people think and feel
about themselves and other people and how groups function
Define personality psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Researches and teaches individual differences
in preferences and inclinations.
Define mind - ✔✔ correct answer nonphysical manifestation of the brain's activity. What the brain
DOES.
Define behavior - ✔✔ correct answer The outwardly observable acts of a person, either alone or in a
group
Define science - ✔✔ correct answer Striving to solidify facts by using objective evidence
What are the three levels of analysis? - ✔✔ correct answer brain, person, group
Level of the brain - ✔✔ correct answer focus on both the activity of the brain and the structure and
properties of the organ itself: brain cells and their connections, the chemical liquid in which they
exist, and the genes that give rise to them.
Level of the person - ✔✔ correct answer focus on mental events, the contents and functions of the
mind
divide mental events into two types, mental contents and mental processes
Define mental contents - ✔✔ correct answer consist of knowledge; beliefs (including ideas,
explanations, and expectations); desires (such as hopes, goals, and needs); and feelings (such as fear,
sadness, joy, and guilt).
Define mental processes - ✔✔ correct answer consist of sets of operations that work together to
complete a function, such as attention, perception, or memory. These operations are like the
chopping, measuring, and mixing that goes into cooking, and the different mental contents are
analogous to different ingredients in cooking.
Level of the group - ✔✔ correct answer focus on the ways collections of people (as few as two or as
many as a society) shape the mind and behavior.
To study human minds and behavior, psychologists often look at specific groups of people. Groups
can vary in their demographics and organization. Some groups are official, such as the Girl Scouts or
the Knights of Columbus. Other groups are studied based on their demographics, such as groups that
include only one type of culture, a specific age range, or only one sex.
,WGU Psychology Study Guide
Structuralism - ✔✔ correct answer Wundt
Uses introspection to discover the elements of the mind and rules for combining them
Functionalism - ✔✔ correct answer James
Studies WHY thoughts, feelings, and behavior occur and how they are adaptive.
Gestalt Psychology - ✔✔ correct answer Wertheimer
Focus on overall patterns of thoughts or experience; "the whole is more than the sum of its parts."
Psychodynamic Theory - ✔✔ correct answer Freud
Conflicts among conscious and unconscious forces underlie many thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
Behaviorism - ✔✔ correct answer Watson and Skinner
Behavior is the appropriate focus of psychology and it can be understood by studying stimuli,
responses, and the consequences of responses.
Humanistic Psychology - ✔✔ correct answer Maslow and Rogers
Belief that people have positive values, free will, and deep inner creativity; inspired the positive
psychology movement.
Cognitive Psychology - ✔✔ correct answer Neisser
Mental events correspond to information that is stored and processed, analogous to information
processing in a computer.
, WGU Psychology Study Guide
Cognitive Neuroscience - ✔✔ correct answer Structure of the mind can be understood by learning
how mental events arise from brain function.
Feminist and multicultural psychology - ✔✔ correct answer APA and CPA convention walk out
Working with the whole person through inclusivity that honors gender, orientation, race, class,
religion, etc.
Evolutionary psychology - ✔✔ correct answer Barkow, Cosmides, and Tooby
Key mental strategies and goals are inborn through adaptation of the species, the result of natural
selection.
Define clinical psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Administers and interprets psychological tests;
provides psychotherapy; helps people function more effectively.
Define clinical neuropsychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Administers tests to diagnose the effects of
brain damage on thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and to diagnose what parts of the brain are
damaged.
Define counseling psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Helps people manage issues that arise during
everyday life (career, marriage, family, work).
Define developmental psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Researches and teaches the development
of mental contents and processes as well as behavior with age and experience
Define cognitive psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Researches and teaches the nature of thinking,
memory, and related aspects of mental contents and processes.
Define social psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Researches and teaches how people think and feel
about themselves and other people and how groups function
Define personality psychologist - ✔✔ correct answer Researches and teaches individual differences
in preferences and inclinations.
