Test yourself repeatedly throughout your studies. This will not only help you figure out what you know and don't know; the testing itself will help you learn and remember the information more effectively thanks to the testing effect.
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
In the early twentieth century, __________________ redefined psychology as “the science of observable behavior.”
a
A psychologist treating emotionally troubled adolescents at a local mental health agency is most likely to be a(n)
d
A mental health professional with a medical degree who can prescribe medication is a __________________.
psychiatrist
A psychologist doing research from the __________________ perspective might be interested in how our blood chemistry affects our moods and motives.
c
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?
Nature is to nurture as
b
“Nurture works on what nature endows.” 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).
_____________ _____________ is the principle that our mind processes information on two tracks simultaneously—one with our full awareness and the other outside of our awareness.
Dual processing
Positive psychology uses scientific methods to explore positive _____________, positive _____________, and positive _____________.
emotions; character traits; institutions
_____________ _____________ refers to our tendency to perceive events as obvious or inevitable after the fact.
Hindsight bias
As scientists, psychologists
d
Theory-based predictions are called _____________.
hypotheses
Which of the following is NOT one of the DESCRIPTIVE methods psychologists use to study behavior?
c
You wish to survey a group of people who truly represent the country's adult population. Therefore, you need to ensure that you question a _____________ sample of the population.
random (representative)
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
Knowing that two events are correlated provides
a
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 childrearing 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.
27
To explain behaviors and clarify cause and effect, psychologists use _____________.
experiments
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 is a _____________.
placebo
In a double-blind procedure,
c
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
The laboratory environment is designed to
b
In defending their experimental research with animals, psychologists have noted that
d
Answering these questions will help you make these concepts more personally meaningful, and therefore more memorable.
How would you have defined psychology before taking this class?
Imagine that someone claims she can interpret your dreams or can speak to the dead. How could critical thinking help you check her claims?
Which of the four big ideas is most interesting to you? What was it that attracted your attention to that idea?
What about psychology has surprised you the most so far?
If you could conduct a study on any psychological question, which would you choose? How would you do it?
What other questions or concerns do you have about psychology?
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