1. In 1879, in psychology’s first experiment, _______ and his students measured the time lag between hearing a ball hit a platform and pressing a key.

Wilhelm Wundt

2. In the early twentieth century, _______ redefined psychology as “the science of observable behavior.”

a

3. A psychologist treating emotionally troubled adolescents at a local mental health agency is most likely to be a(n)

d

4. A mental health professional with a medical degree who can prescribe medication is a _______.

psychiatrist

5. A psychologist doing research from the _______ perspective might be interested in how our blood chemistry affects our moods and motives.

c

6. How can critical thinking help you evaluate claims in the media, even if you’re not a scientific expert on the issue?

Critical thinking teaches us to look for evidence instead of relying on our intuition, which is often wrong. In evaluating a claim in the media, look for any signs of scientific evidence, preferably from several studies. Ask the following questions: Are claims based on scientific findings? Have several studies replicated the findings and confirmed them? Are any experts cited? If so, research their background. Are they affiliated with a credible university, college, or institution? Have they conducted or written about scientific research?

7. Nature is to nurture as

b

8. “Nurture works on what nature provides.” Describe what this means, using your own words.

The environment (nurture) has an influence on us, but that influence is limited by our biology (nature). Nature and nurture interact. People predisposed to be very tall (nature), for example, are unlikely to become Olympic gymnasts, no matter how hard they work (nurture).

9. _______ _______ is the principle that our mind processes information on two tracks at the same time—one with our full awareness and the other outside of our awareness.

Dual processing

10. Martin Seligman and other researchers who explore various aspects of human flourishing refer to their field of study as _______ _______.

positive psychology

11. _______ _______ refers to our tendency to perceive events as predictable and obvious after the fact.

Hindsight bias

12. As scientists, psychologists

d

13. Theory-based predictions are called _______.

hypotheses

14. Which of the following is NOT one of the descriptive methods psychologists use to study behavior?

c

15. You wish to survey a group of people who will reflect the views of the country’s entire adult population. To do this, you will need to question a _______ sample of the population, in which each person has an equal chance of being chosen.

random (representative)

16. A study finds that the more childbirth training classes women attend, the less pain medication they require during childbirth. This finding can be stated as a _______ (positive/negative) correlation.

negative

17. Knowing that two events correlate provides

a

18. Here are some recently reported correlations, with interpretations drawn by journalists. Knowing just these correlations, can you come up with other possible explanations for each of these?

(a) Alcohol use is associated with violence. (One interpretation: Drinking causes, or triggers, aggressive behavior.) Perhaps anger triggers drinking, or perhaps the same genes or child-raising practices are making both drinking and aggression more likely. (Here researchers have learned that drinking does indeed trigger aggressive behavior.) (b) Educated people live longer, on average, than less-educated people. (One interpretation: Education lengthens life and improves health.) Perhaps richer people can afford more education and better health care. (Research supports this conclusion.) (c) Teens engaged in team sports are less likely to use drugs, smoke, have sex, carry weapons, and eat junk food than are teens who do not engage in team sports. (One interpretation: Team sports encourage healthy living.) Perhaps some third factor explains this correlation—teens who use drugs, smoke, have sex, carry weapons, and eat junk food may be “loners” who do not enjoy playing on any team. (d) Adolescents who frequently see smoking in movies are more likely to smoke. (One interpretation: Movie stars’ behavior influences teens.) Perhaps adolescents who smoke and attend movies frequently have less parental supervision and more access to spending money than other adolescents.

19. To explain behaviors and clarify cause and effect, psychologists use _______.

experiments

20. To test the effect of a new drug on depression, researchers randomly assign people to control and experimental groups. People in the control group take a pill that contains no medication. This pill is a _______.

placebo

21. In a double-blind procedure,

c

22. A researcher wants to know whether noise level affects workers’ blood pressure. In one group, she varies the level of noise in the environment and records participants’ blood pressure. In this experiment, the level of noise is the _______ _______.

independent variable

23. The laboratory environment is designed to

b

24. In defending their experimental research with animals, psychologists have noted that

d