Psychology's History & Approaches Practice
Questions and Correct Answers
Socrates & Plato - Answer two philosophers from ancient Greece (teacher & student); believed
knowledge to be innate and that the mind & body are distinct
Artistotle - Answer Greek philosopher who emphasized observation as a source of knowledge; believed
mind & body to be inseparable.
Rene Decartes - Answer French philosopher who agreed with Socrates and Plato concerning the origins
of knowledge and the separation between mind & body; speculated about how mind & body
communicate
Francis Bacon - Answer one of the founders of modern science; promoted use of scientific method &
wrote about problems with (what was later known as) confirmation bias
John Locke - Answer British political philosopher & author of "An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding"; coined the phrase "blank slate" to describe the state of human knowledge at birth
empiricism - Answer the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b) science
flourishes through observation and experiment.
Wilhelm Wundt - Answer German physiologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened
first psychology research laboratory in 1879
E.B. Titchener - Answer Psychologist who developed structuralism and introspection; student of Wilhelm
Wundt.
structuralism - Answer an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental
structure of the human mind
William James - Answer founder of functionalism; studied how humans use their abilities to function in
their environments; known for being an early teacher of psychology
, Mary Whiton Calkins - Answer first female president of the APA (1905); a student of William James;
denied the PhD she earned from Harvard because of her sex (later, posthumously, it was granted to her)
Margaret Floy Washburn - Answer First female to be awarded a PhD in psychology; 2nd president of the
APA (1921)
functionalism - Answer William James's school of thought that stressed the adaptive and survival value
of behaviors
G. Stanley Hall - Answer Founded the American Psychological Association (now largest organization of
psychologists in the USA) and became first president
American Psychological Association (APA) - Answer World's largest association of psychologists with
around 152,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students
psychology - Answer the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
cognitive neuroscience - Answer the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition
(including perception, thinking, memory, and language)
nature-nurture issue - Answer the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes
and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
biological perspective - Answer the approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain, the
nervous system, genetics, and other biological functions
evolutionary perspective - Answer the application of principles of evolution, including natural selection,
to explain psychological processes and phenomena.
psychodynamic perspective - Answer A branch of psychology that studies how internal conflicts and
unconscious drives influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological
disorders. (Influenced by Sigmund Freud's model of psychoanalysis)
Questions and Correct Answers
Socrates & Plato - Answer two philosophers from ancient Greece (teacher & student); believed
knowledge to be innate and that the mind & body are distinct
Artistotle - Answer Greek philosopher who emphasized observation as a source of knowledge; believed
mind & body to be inseparable.
Rene Decartes - Answer French philosopher who agreed with Socrates and Plato concerning the origins
of knowledge and the separation between mind & body; speculated about how mind & body
communicate
Francis Bacon - Answer one of the founders of modern science; promoted use of scientific method &
wrote about problems with (what was later known as) confirmation bias
John Locke - Answer British political philosopher & author of "An Essay Concerning Human
Understanding"; coined the phrase "blank slate" to describe the state of human knowledge at birth
empiricism - Answer the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b) science
flourishes through observation and experiment.
Wilhelm Wundt - Answer German physiologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened
first psychology research laboratory in 1879
E.B. Titchener - Answer Psychologist who developed structuralism and introspection; student of Wilhelm
Wundt.
structuralism - Answer an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental
structure of the human mind
William James - Answer founder of functionalism; studied how humans use their abilities to function in
their environments; known for being an early teacher of psychology
, Mary Whiton Calkins - Answer first female president of the APA (1905); a student of William James;
denied the PhD she earned from Harvard because of her sex (later, posthumously, it was granted to her)
Margaret Floy Washburn - Answer First female to be awarded a PhD in psychology; 2nd president of the
APA (1921)
functionalism - Answer William James's school of thought that stressed the adaptive and survival value
of behaviors
G. Stanley Hall - Answer Founded the American Psychological Association (now largest organization of
psychologists in the USA) and became first president
American Psychological Association (APA) - Answer World's largest association of psychologists with
around 152,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students
psychology - Answer the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
cognitive neuroscience - Answer the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition
(including perception, thinking, memory, and language)
nature-nurture issue - Answer the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes
and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
biological perspective - Answer the approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain, the
nervous system, genetics, and other biological functions
evolutionary perspective - Answer the application of principles of evolution, including natural selection,
to explain psychological processes and phenomena.
psychodynamic perspective - Answer A branch of psychology that studies how internal conflicts and
unconscious drives influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological
disorders. (Influenced by Sigmund Freud's model of psychoanalysis)
