Chapter 1: The Science of Psychology
Multiple-Choice Questions
1.1 The Classical Roots of Psychology
1. Psychology is the scientific study of ______. 4
a. the physiological functions of the brain C, c
b. how personality can be determined by the size and shape of one’s head
c. behavior and mental processes
d. how cultures and societies develop and interact with each other
2. Socrates is known for his thoughts on ______. 4
a. dualism C, a
b. Structuralism
c. behavior and mental processes
d. how cultures influence psychology
3. Plato believed that we must balance our desires and ______. 4-5
a. goals C, c
b. wishes
c. emotions
d. thoughts
4. Aristotle argued against the existence of ______. 5
a. observation C, c
b. reason
c. innate knowledge
d. culture
5. Descartes argued that the human mind is not subject to ______. 5
a. innate control C, c
b. understanding
c. laws
d. forces of culture
6. Locke believed that at the moment of birth the mind contains ______innate knowledge. 5
a. all C, c
b. physical
c. no
d. some
7. Hobbes proposed thoughts and experiences are by-products of the workings of the ______. 5
a. brain C, a
b. liver
c. sub consciousness
d. culture
8. Darwin believed that observable behavior can be studied ______. 5
a. experimentally C, c
b. only in humans
c. scientifically
d. only in terms of culture
1.2 The Rise of Scientific Psychology
9. The first psychology laboratory was founded by ______. 5
a. Wundt c. Titchener F, a
b. James d. Watson
10. Most psychologists agree that psychology, as a science, was born in ______. 5
a. 1879 c. 1909 F, a
b. 1891 d. 1921
11. The first psychology laboratory was opened in ______. 5
a. 1642 c. 1879 F, c
b. 1853 d. 1906
12. Wundt was the first ______. 5
*** a. psychologist to use an experimental laboratory F, a
b. psychologist to analyze dreams
c. American-born psychologist
d. psychologist to use written tests to measure human abilities
13. Wundt believed that ______be studied through scientific experiments. 5
a. no mental processes could F, b
b. some mental processes could not
c. only mental processes could
d. all mental processes could
14. Wundt’s primary experimental interest was ______. 5
*** a. sensation c. human instincts F, d
b. emotion d. selective attention
15. According to Wundt, the mind should be studied ______. 5
*** a. subjectively and introspectively c. as a spiritual entity F, b
b. scientifically d. according to philosophical traditions
2 yr.: 84% r = .24
16. Wundt believed that attention is actively controlled by ______. 5
a. instincts and drives c. rewards and punishments F, b
b. intentions and motives d. hormones and neurotransmitters
17. The person most directly responsible for moving psychology out of the realm of 5
philosophy and into the world of science is ______. F, d
a. Sigmund Freud c. B.F. Skinner
b. William James d. Wilhelm Wundt
18. The person who established the first American psychology laboratory at Johns Hopkins 6
University in 1883 was ______. F, a
a. G. Stanley Hall c. William James
b. Edward Titchener d. J. M. Cattell
19. The first American to be called a “professor of psychology,” at the University of 6
Pennsylvania in 1888 was ______. F, d
a. G. Stanley Hall c. William James
b. Edward Titchener d. J. M. Cattell
20. A famous student of Wundt’s, who later became the leader of American 6
psychology as a professor at Cornell University, was ______. F, c
a. Watson c. Titchener
b. Galton d. James
21. Titchener believed psychologists should analyze complex experiences in terms of 6
______. F, a
a. their simplest elements c. learned behaviors
b. a stream of consciousness d. actualizing experiences
22. Titchener wanted to strip perception of its associations in order to find ______. 6
a. spiritual purity F, c
b. the instinctive underpinnings of behavior
c. the atoms of thought
d. the root causes of physiological sensation
23. Titchener broke experience down into ______basic elements. 6
a. two c. four F, b
b. three d. five
24. Experience was broken down into three basic elements (physical sensations, feelings, 6
and images) by ______. F, b
a. Freud c. Galton
b. Titchener d. James
25. Which of the following choices correctly matches a famous psychologist with his 6
*** theoretical perspective? F, a
a. Titchener structuralism c. Watson - functionalism
b. Laing cognitive d. James behaviorism
4 yr.: 68% r = .32
26. Structuralism emphasizes ______. 6
a. individual differences C, d
b. the application of biological principles to the mind
c. the influence of subconscious urges on conscious behavior
d. the basic units of experience and their combinations
4 yr.: 74% r = .05
27. The basic units of experience and their combinations were the foundation of ______. 6
a. structuralism c. behaviorism C, a
b. functionalism d. Gestalt psychology
28. One of structuralism’s most important proponents was ______. 6
a. Freud c. Titchener F, c
b. Galton d. James
29. Titchener was a member of the ______school of thought. 6
a. structuralist c. behaviorist F, a
b. functionalist d. reductionist
30. If you looked at an apple and recognized it because of seeing its red, round shape, 6
with a stem at the top, remembering what other apples had looked like, and A, c
remembering that you really like the taste of apples, you would be supporting the
______school of psychology.
a. functionalist c. structuralist
b. behaviorist d. Gestalt
31. The theory of mental life and behavior that is concerned with how an organism uses its 7
perceptual abilities to function in its environment is ______. C, a
a. functionalism c. objective introspection
b. structuralism d. behaviorism
32. The idea that consciousness is a continuous flow is central to ______. 7
a. structuralism c. objective introspection C, b
b. functionalism d. behaviorism
33. According to James, the atoms of experience (pure sensations without 6
*** associations) ______. F, d
a. were genetically predetermined
b. were the basis of all human behavior
c. were best understood through experimental research
d. did not exist
34. James argued that consciousness ______. 6-7
a. does not exist c. is comprised of “atoms of thought” F, d
b. is an illusion d. flows in a continuous stream
35. James suggested that ______allow us to benefit from previous experience. 7
a. rewards and punishments c. atoms of experience F, b
b. mental associations d. dreams
36. The ideas that mental associations allow us to benefit from experience, every time we 7
*** repeat something our nervous systems are changed, and psychology should use C, c
subjective introspection to study everyday, true-to-life experiences, are central to ______.
a. structuralism c. functionalism
b. humanism d. Gestaltism
37. A central idea of functionalism is that ______. 7
*** a. consciousness can be broken down into three elements C, c
b. individual differences are the basis of human behavior
c. consciousness is a continuous flow
d. thoughts must be studied by objective introspection
4 yr.: 28% r = .21
38. James suggested that when we repeat something several times, ______. 7
a. our nervous systems change F, a
b. we must re-learn the activity each time
c. we become bored with the activity
d. we can strip perceptions of their basic associations
2 yr.: 36% r = .02
39. In discussing sensations, feelings, and images the______. 6-7
*** a. structuralist focused on the primary role of sensations in our experience of the C, c
world while the functionalist focused on the primary role of feelings
b. structuralist and the functionalist completely agreed on how they should be
studied
c. structuralist considered the three to be atoms of experience whereas the
functionalist claimed that these three aspects of experience could not be teased apart
d. functionalist considered the three to be atoms of experience whereas the
structuralist claimed that these three aspects of experience could not be teased apart
4 yr.: 79% r = .40
40. William James is noted for founding the ______school of psychology. 7
a. Gestalt c. structuralist F, b
b. functionalist d. reductionist
41. Roughly translated from the German, gestalt means ______. 7
a. "whole" c. "parts"
b. "perception" d. "background" F, a
42. Wertheimer, Köhler, and Koffka were all associated with ______psychology. 7
a. functionalist c. Gestalt F, c
b. psychoanalytic d. existential
43. The idea that psychology should focus on how people experience and perceive 7
*** separate objects (such as dots) as whole patterns (such as lines, or objects) is a C, c
central concept of ______psychology.
a. cognitive c. Gestalt
b. humanistic d. behavioral
4 yr.: 70% r = .25
44. When applied to perception, Gestalt refers to ______. 7
*** a. the atoms of thought c. a flow of consciousness C, d
b. environmental stimuli d. our tendency to see patterns
2 yr.: 77% r = .48; 2 yr.: 67% r = .30
45. Gestalt psychologists were most interested in ______. 7
a. sensations c. elements of thought F, b
b. perception d. conditioning
4 yr.: 67% r = .31; 2 yr.: 75% r = .55
46. When we see a painting by Georges Seurat, the famous French impressionist, we 7
*** tend to experience it as a rendering of a lovely landscape rather than as the series A, a
of separate, differently colored dots of which the painting is actually composed.
This phenomenon illustrates an important point made by ______.
a. Gestalt psychologists c. behavioral psychologists
b. structuralists d. existentialists
47. When we listen to a favorite piece of music, we tend to experience the melodies and 7
harmonies as a beautiful single piece of music rather than as the series of separate A, a
notes of which the song is actually composed. This phenomenon illustrates an
important point made by ______.
a. Gestalt psychologists c. psychoanalysts
b. humanists d. behaviorists
2 yr.: 78% r = .39
48. The female psychologist who is known for her work in color vision during 7
psychology’s early years is ______. F, a
a. Christine Ladd-Franklin c. Margaret Floy Washburn
b. Margaret Mead d. Mary Whiton Calkins
49. The female psychologist who is known for her analysis of how we learn verbal material 7
and her contributions to self-psychology is ______. F, d
a. Christine Ladd-Franklin c. Margaret Floy Washburn
b. Margaret Mead d. Mary Whiton Calkins
50. The female psychologist who is known for her pioneering research examining the role of 7
imagery in thought processes is ______. F, c
a. Christine Ladd-Franklin c. Margaret Floy Washburn
b. Margaret Mead d. Mary Whiton Calkins
51. Two female psychologists who were elected and served as presidents of the 7
American Psychological Association were ______. F, d
a. Christine Ladd-Franklin and Margaret Floy Washburn
b. Margaret Mead and Christine Ladd-Franklin
c. Margaret Floy Washburn and Margaret Mead
d. Mary Whiton Calkins and Margaret Floy Washburn
52. Today women receive ______of the Ph.D.s granted in psychology. 7
a. very few c. most F, c
b. fewer than half d. none
53. Women receive about ______of the baccalaureate degrees awarded in psychology. 7
a. one-third c. two-thirds F, d
b. one-half d. three-fourths
54. Women represent ______of all psychology graduate students. 7
a. the vast minority c. two-thirds F, d
b. about half d. the vast majority
1.3 Contemporary Approaches to Psychology
55. The ______approach presumes that biological processes are the sole determinant of thoughts
and behavior. 8
a. biological c. behavioral F, a
b. structuralism d. humanistic
56. ______are especially interested in determining the extent to which behavior, thoughts and
emotions are affected by physical conditions. 8
a. Physiological psychologists c. Behavioral psychologists F, a
b. Cognitive psychologists d. Humanistic psychologists
57. John Watson was the founder of the school of thought that became known as ______. 8-9
*** a. functionalism c. behaviorism F, c
b. structuralism d. humanism
58. The school of thought that became known as behaviorism was founded by ______. 8
a. Watson c. James F, a
b. Titchener d. Wundt
59. According to Watson, consciousness ______. 8-9
a. is the focal point of modern psychology F, d
b. is an observable behavior
c. is a continuous flow
d. can neither be measured nor defined
2 yr.: 62% r = .25
60. Watson felt that psychologists should study ______. 9
a. consciousness c. mental imagery F, b
b. observable behavior d. elements of thought
4 yr.: 74% r = .12; 2 yr.: 74% r = .33; 2 yr.: 73% r = .45
61. Psychologists should only study observable, measurable behavior, according to ______. 9
a. Freud c. Kohler F, d
b. Titchener d. Watson
62. The idea that psychology should be based only on observable, measurable behaviors 9
is central to ______. C, a
a. behaviorism c. structuralism
b. cognitive theory d. psychodynamic theory
4 yr.: 70% r = .21
63. Watson’s views were based on experiments by ______. 9
a. Skinner c. James F, d
b. Titchener d. Pavlov
64. Pavlov called his method of training ______. 9
a. shaping c. reinforcement F, b
b. conditioning d. modeling
2 yr.: 84% r = .40; 2 yr.: 86% r = .33
65. Pavlov intentionally trained his dogs to expect food when they ______. 9
a. saw a red light c. heard a ringing bell F, c
b. heard a laboratory door open d. received an electric shock
66. Pavlov’s famous conditioning experiments involved ______. 9
a. dogs c. chickens F, a
b. a child d. a morning dove
67. Watson’s famous conditioning experiment involved a ______. 9
a. dog c. chicken F, b
b. child d. dove
2 yr.: 86% r = .23
68. Watson’s experiment with Little Albert proved that ______. 9
a. other animals besides dogs can be conditioned F, c
b. reward learning is more powerful in humans than conditioning
c. people can be conditioned
d. children are born with a natural fear of rats
69. In Watson’s famous experiments with Little Albert, he taught Albert to fear a ______. 9