Chapter One: The Science of Mind –

The Discipline of Psychology

Learning Objective / Related Questions
Multiple
Choice / Essay
1.  Explain the subject matter that psychologists study, addressing the meaning of mind and psychology’s role as a hub science. / 1-11
2.  Analyze the respective contributions of philosophy and the physical sciences as the “roots” of modern psychology. / 12-39 / 1
3.  Compare and contrast the early movements in psychology – structuralism, Gestalt psychology, functionalism, behaviorism, psychodynamic theory, and humanism – in terms of leading figures, core principles, and contribution to modern psychology. / 40-87 / 2
4.  Differentiate the seven major perspectives of modern mainstream psychology in terms of typical research questions, research methods, and focal causes of behavior. / 88-106 / 3
5.  Analyze the ways in which the seven major perspectives can be integrated to address a single psychological problem or topic. / 107-112
6.  Explain why psychology’s role as a “hub science” allows psychologists to pursue a wide range of career paths in terms of professional specialties and research areas. / 113-121


Chapter One: The Science of Mind - The Discipline of Psychology

MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Which of the following best describes the mind?

a. / The basis of rational thought / c. / The embodiment of the soul
b. / The hidden instinctual self / d. / The brain and its activities

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Remember REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

2. The scientific study of behavior and mental processes is called ____.

a. / introspection / c. / behaviorism
b. / psychology / d. / functionalism

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Remember REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

3. The word psychology is a combination of two Greek words: psyche (or psuche), meaning the soul, and logos, meaning the ____.

a. / law of / c. / study of
b. / expression of / d. / representation of

ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: Remember REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

4. Rosa, a doctoral student in psychology, observes that one of her young study participants grimaces after taking a bite of broccoli. His facial expression is an example of ____.

a. / a psychosomatic response / c. / an integrated mental process
b. / a behavior / d. / introspection

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Apply REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

5. Although the bulk of psychology focuses on human behavior, studying animal behavior has been an essential part of the discipline that allows for ____.

a. / making essential comparisons with humans
b. / understanding animal-human interactions
c. / understanding behavior from an evolutionary standpoint
d. / designing better psychoanalytical therapies

ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Remember REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

6. A doctor notices that many soldiers returning from fighting in the trenches in World War I were highly anxious, fearful of loud noises, and having difficulty reconnecting with their families. He asks them to record personal observations of their own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a journal. This process is called ____.

a. / extroversion / c. / objectivism
b. / transference / d. / introspection

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Apply REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

7. It is difficult for others to confirm an individual’s subjective introspections; therefore, this approach does not lend itself well to ____.

a. / psychoanalysis / c. / case studies
b. / the scientific method / d. / cognitive therapy

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Understand REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

8. Over the last 30 years, new methods have allowed psychologists to observe brain activity and revisit questions of mental processes. What element have these methods introduced to psychological research?

a. / objectivity / c. / generalizability
b. / subjectivity / d. / conclusiveness

ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Analyze REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

9. Kevin Boyack and his colleagues generated a map of the sciences, similar to a map of friendship networks on social media, by using ____.

a. / the number of doctoral dissertations in each field
b. / the titles of journal articles
c. / reference lists in journal articles
d. / search terms related to psychology

ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: Understand REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

10. The mapping done by Boyack and colleagues shows that psychology is one of the major hub sciences, with strong connections to ____.

a. / the medical sciences, the social sciences, and education
b. / the humanities, education, and the medical sciences
c. / the social sciences, the medical sciences, and the humanities
d. / the medical sciences, education, and philosophy

ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Understand REF: What Is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

11. Psychology as a hub science tells us that ____.

a. / psychological research is well-funded
b. / the general population is intrigued by the study of human behavior
c. / psychology is one of the oldest disciplines
d. / many disciplines require an in-depth understanding of people

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Analyze REF: What is Psychology?

OBJ: LO1

12. As a discipline, psychology dates back to ____.

a. / ancient Greece / c. / the Renaissance era
b. / the Roman Empire / d. / the 1870s

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Remember

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

13. The psychology family tree includes two major roots: ____.

a. / biology and philosophy / c. / anthropology and physics
b. / medicine and the social sciences / d. / philosophy and the physical sciences

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

14. The discipline that systematically examines basic concepts, including the source of knowledge, is called ____.

a. / psychology / c. / science
b. / History / d. / philosophy

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Remember

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

15. Any science that studies nonliving matter, including physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geology, is called a(n) ____ science.

a. / natural / c. / applied
b. / physical / d. / earth

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Remember

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

16. Philosophers and psychologists have a shared interest in ____.

a. / helping others gain self-confidence / c. / the scientific method
b. / anatomy of the nervous system / d. / the origin of knowledge

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

17. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato was one of the earliest thinkers to address the question, “What is the mind?” He viewed the mind as three parts that must be in balance: ____.

a. / id, ego, and superego / c. / reason, spirit, and appetite
b. / intellect, emotion, and instinct / d. / cognition, creativity, and sanity

ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

18. While attending the opening of her friend’s art exhibit, Lisbeth weighs the pros and cons of having a third glass of wine. In Plato’s version of the mind, this is the role of the ____.

a. / driver / c. / reins
b. / horse / d. / carriage

ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Apply

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

19. Ancient Greek philosophers ____.

a. / were exclusively monists
b. / provided natural explanations for their observations
c. / were exclusively dualists
d. / relied on the supernatural to explain their observations

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

20. The philosophies of monism and dualism address which of the following questions?

a. / Does the mind operate through innate processes or is it formed through experience?
b. / How does one study the processes of the mind?
c. / Does the mind work as the sum of its parts or as individual elements?
d. / What is the relationship between the body and mind?

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

21. Which of the following titles suggests monism?

a. / Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt
b. / Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen
c. / We All Are One, by Jimmy Cliff
d. / War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy

ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: Analyze

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

22. Who was a vocal proponent of dualism?

a. / Aristotle / c. / Baruch Spinoza
b. / René Descartes / d. / Democritus

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Remember

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

23. Contemporary scientists studying the brain are ____.

a. / primarily dualists
b. / monists
c. / nearly evenly split between monism and dualism
d. / entirely dualists

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

24. The relationship between behavior and biology is ____.

a. / unilateral: biology affects behavior
b. / unilateral: behavior affects biology
c. / reciprocal: biology affects behavior and vice versa
d. / mutually exclusive: biology and behavior function independently

ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: Analyze

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

25. Most philosophers beginning with Aristotle commonly believed that all knowledge is ____.

a. / gained through sensory experience
b. / innate or inborn
c. / built upon from simple schema present at birth
d. / acquired by integrating environmental cues with innate skills

ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Remember

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

26. Which of the following best describes the British empiricists’ view of the mind?

a. / Infants acquire language primarily by drawing from innate mechanisms.
b. / Infants learn to process language entirely based on their sensory experiences.
c. / Infants with similar genetic backgrounds will acquire language at similar rates.
d. / Infants are born with varying degrees of aptitude for acquiring language.

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Analyze

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

27. Which of the following is one of the greatest contributions of empiricism?

a. / The idea that the brain is the essence of the mind.
b. / The idea that each person has a different capacity for learning.
c. / The idea that our brains are composed of interconnected “living units.”
d. / The idea that all men are created equal.

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

28. Empiricism profoundly influenced the foundations of ____.

a. / sociology
b. / psychoanalysis
c. / philosophy
d. / science

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

29. American political thought was profoundly influenced by ____.

a. / behaviorism
b. / psychoanalysis
c. / dualism
d. / empiricism

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

30. Which of the following best describes how contemporary psychology views the mind?

a. / Sam was just born smart, though no one else in his family seems to share his intelligence
b. / Sam must have gotten the “smart gene” from his mother: he never studies but gets good grades.
c. / Sam was sent to the best schools and thus became a highly intelligent individual.
d. / Sam was alert and responsive as a baby, studied diligently in school, and was admitted to a top-ranked college.

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Analyze

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

31. At what point did the discipline of psychology distinguish itself from the discipline of philosophy?

a. / When psychologists began to explore individual rather than global phenomenon
b. / When psychologists adopted the scientific method
c. / When psychologists became interested in providing therapeutic treatments
d. / When psychologists began to investigate abnormal behaviors

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Analyze

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

32. In what way did ancient physicians contribute to contemporary psychology?

a. / By studying the nervous system and developing the scientific method
b. / By studying hormone imbalances and developing the scientific method
c. / By studying the nervous system and developing diagnostic tools
d. / By studying hormone imbalances and developing diagnostic tools

ANS: A PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

33. As early as 500 B.C.E., Greek physicians began to ____.

a. / interpret the cardiovascular system as the locus of the mind
b. / prohibit bloodletting as a form of treatment
c. / systematically dissect human bodies
d. / drill holes in people’s skulls to cure seizures

ANS: C PTS: 1 DIF: Remember

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

34. Which of the following was one of the findings of early Greek physicians regarding the brain?

a. / The brain controls the coordinated movement of the body.
b. / The brain is divided into four major lobes.
c. / The brain controls personality by secreting yellow bile.
d. / The brain is connected to the sense organs, such as the eyes.

ANS: D PTS: 1 DIF: Understand

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

35. Greek physicians described a rudimentary theory of personality, stating that it is affected by the relative amounts of four different body fluids. A person with depression might be diagnosed as having an excess of ____.

a. / blood / c. / phlegm
b. / black bile / d. / yellow bile

ANS: B PTS: 1 DIF: Apply

REF: What Are Psychology's Roots? OBJ: LO2

36. Beginning in the 17th and 18th centuries, with new technologies including the light microscope, scientists began to make a series of important new discoveries showing that ____.