Download General Psychology Study Guide – First Exam

General Psychology Study Guide – First Exam
Chapter One: Introducing Psychology and Its Methods
1. How does our textbook define psychology? Describe the three key elements of
this definition. How was psychology defined by strict behaviorists such as John
Watson and B.F. Skinner?
2. Contrast the philosophical position of dualism with that of monism. Which of
these positions was advocated by Descartes? Which position do you tend to
agree with?
3. Who was Wilhelm Wundt, and what was his contribution to the early history of
psychology? Be able to describe the method of introspection. Who was William
James?
4. What is the core assumption underlying the treatment method of
psychoanalysis. Be able to describe in general terms Sigmund Freud’s view
of human nature. What are the principle criticisms of the psychoanalytic
perspective?
5. Understand how the advent of behaviorism (a.k.a., the “learning perspective”)
largely redefined the subject matter of psychology and dominated the field for
most of the twentieth century. What objection did John Watson and subsequent
behaviorists such as B.F. Skinner have to the study of mental states (e.g.,
"happiness") as opposed to overt behaviors (e.g., "smiling")? What did
behaviorists believe about the relative impact of "nature vs. nurture" on behavior?
What are some possible criticisms of the learning perspective?
6. Define cognition. What is the central focus of the cognitive perspective, and
how does it differ from the behaviorist tradition? What are three factors cited in
the text as important factors in triggering the “cognitive revolution”?
7. Distinguish between basic and applied research.
8. Be able to distinguish between the terms psychologist, psychiatrist,
psychotherapist, and psychoanalyst. What are the necessary qualifications for
each? (class notes)
9. Be able to differentiate between the following specialty areas within psychology:
clinical, school, educational, developmental, social, personality,
industrial/organizational, and neurobiological. Which of these is the largest
branch? If given a brief description of a topic or professional activity, be able to
identify the field of specialization most likely to be involved. (pages 11-14 and
class notes)
10. What is the meaning of the term empiricism? What does it mean to say that
psychology is an “empirical science”? (class notes)
11. What are the four goals of psychology? (Understand that these are also the
goals of any scientific research). (class notes).
12. How does the text define critical thinking? What are the characteristics of a
person with well developed critical thinking skills?
13. Understand that a hypothesis is a specific, testable prediction about the
relationship between two or more variables. Understand why testing hypotheses
and replicating results are essential to the method of science.
14. Understand the meaning of the term operational definition, and explain why
concepts must be operationally defines in order to be tested. Be able to provide
examples of operational definitions, such as an operational definitions of
”hunger”, of “generosity”, and of “intelligence”.
15. Distinguish between descriptive research, correlational research, and
experimental research. Which specific goal of science is addressed by each
approach?
16. Be able to define and differentiate between self reports, behavioral ratings,
and archival research. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
17. What determines the extent to which we can generalize the results obtained
from a sample to a population? What is a random sample?
18. Differentiate between case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach?
19. What is a scatterplot? Understand how a correlation coefficient indicates the
strength and direction of the relationship between two variables. Be able to
distinguish between positive and negative correlations.
20. What is the basic limitation of correlational research? What is the basic limitation
common to all methods of descriptive research? (class notes)
21. What is the chief advantage of experimental research as compared to other
methods of research? What is the major potential weakness of experiments?
(class notes)
22. Feel confident in understanding, applying, and recognizing examples of the
following terms: independent variable(s), dependent variable(s), treatment,
experimental group(s), and control group (s).
23. What are confounding variables? (class notes)
24. Understand how the use of placebos and double-blind procedures are used to
control for the expectations of experimenters and/or research participants. (class
notes).
25. What is a meta-analysis?
26. Understand the importance of the replication and generalizeability of any
research finding.
27. What are the three ethical concerns that any researcher must address when
conducting research with human beings?
28. Contrast the biological and sociocultural perspectives in modern psychology.
Appendix: Statistics in Psychological Research (pgs. 746-752)
1. Define and distinguish between descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
2. Given a set of numbers, be able to calculate each of the three measures of
central tendency: the mean, mode, and median. Which of these measures is
most affected by extreme scores? Which is least affected by extreme scores?
3. Be able to define and differentiate between two measures of variability: the
range and the standard deviation. In what sense is the standard deviation
analogous to the mean? What would the shape of a distribution be if it had a
standard deviation of zero?
4. What is a normal curve? Be able to show where the mean, the mode, and the
median would fall along a normal curve.
5. What does it mean to say that the results of an experiment are statistically
significant? Understand that statistical significance does not guarantee that the
results of the study are accurate or valid.