Test Bank for Discovering Psychology, 9e Susan Nolan,

Test Bank for Discovering Psychology, 9e Susan Nolan, Sandra Hockenbury (All Chapters Answers download link is at the end of this file)

Chapter 1 Essay

• What roles did philosophy and physiology play in the development of psychology as an independent science?

ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: The earliest origins of psychology can be traced back several centuries to the writings of the great philosophers. More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote extensively about topics like sleep, dreams, the senses, and memory. Many of Aristotle's ideas remained influential until the seventeenth century, when René Descartes, a French philosopher, came on the scene and proposed interactive dualism—the notion that the mind and body were separate, but interacting entities that produced sensations, emotions, and other conscious experiences. Philosophers also laid the groundwork for the nature–nurture issue. Philosophers had debated which was more important: inborn traits of the individual or environmental influences (the nurture of the individual). These philosophical discussions influenced the topics that would be considered in psychology. However, philosophy could advance the understanding of human behavior only up to a point because of the limitation of their methods. The emergence of psychology as a science hinged on advances in physiology. Physiology studies the biology of living organisms, including humans. Initial interest was in damaged brains, which were noted to produce a loss of function in the opposite side of the body. In the 1800s, scientists began to suggest that different brain areas were related to different behavioral functions. Taken together, the early work of physiologists established the foundation for the scientific methods that were subsequently applied to better understand behavior and mental processes.

• How did Edward Titchener and William James differ in their views of what psychology should study?

ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Edward Titchener was one of William Wundt's most devoted students. Wundt defined psychology as the study of consciousness and emphasized the use of experimental methods to study and measure consciousness. Titchener championed Wundt's ideas about the nature of psychology and created the concept of structuralism, which acknowledges that even our most complex conscious experiences can be broken down into elemental structures, or component parts, of sensations and feelings.Titchener developed his own approach, which he called “structuralism,” the first major school of thought in psychology. To identify these structures of conscious thought, subjects engaged in introspection. However, structuralism was criticized for relying too heavily on this approach, and it disappeared after Titchener's death. In contrast, William James took a more evolutionary approach to understanding psychology and behavior. James's ideas became the basis for a school of psychology, referred to as “functionalism,” which stressed studying the adaptive and practical functions of human behavior. Both structuralists and functionalists believed that psychology should focus on the study of conscious experiences. However, functionalists had very different ideas about the nature of consciousness and how it should be studied.

• Discuss Charles Darwin's influence on William James and explain how Darwin's theory of evolution

contributed to psychology.ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: In 1859, Charles 1 / 4

Darwin's groundbreaking work, On the Origin of Species, was published. The book came to have a profound impact on William James's thinking about the developing field of psychology. James stressed the importance of adaptation to environmental challenges. He wrote his own textbook on psychology that discussed brain function, habit, memory, sensation, perception, and emotion.James's ideas became the basis for a new school of psychology, called “functionalism,” which stressed the importance of how behavior functions to allow people and animals to adapt to their environments. Rather than trying to identify the essential structures of consciousness at a given moment, James saw consciousness as an ongoing stream of mental activity that shifts and changes.Functionalism's themes regarding the importance of the adaptive role of behavior and the application of psychology to enhance human behavior continue to be evident in modern psychology.

• What contributions did Mary Whiton Calkins and Margaret Floy Washburn make to psychology?

ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Mary Calkins studied with William James. She completed all the requirements for a Ph.D. in psychology.However, Harvard refused to grant her the Ph.D. degree because she was a woman, and at the time Harvard was not a coeducational institution. Nonetheless, Calkins made many contributions to psychology. She conducted research in dreams, memory, and personality. In 1891, she established a psychology laboratory at Wellesley College and wrote a well-regarded textbook, titled Introduction to Psychology. In 1905, she was elected president of the American Psychological Association—the first woman, but not the last, to hold that position. Margaret Floy Washburn was the first American woman to earn an official Ph.D. in psychology. She was Edward Titchener's first doctoral student at Cornell University. She strongly advocated the scientific study of the mental processes of different animal species, and she published an influential textbook in 1908, titled The Animal Mind. She was the second woman elected president of the American Psychological Association.

• What contributions did Francis C. Sumner, Kenneth Bancroft, and Mamie Phipps Clark make to psychology?

ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Francis C. Sumner was one of G. Stanley Hall’s notable students. He was the first Black American psychologist to receive a Ph.D. in psychology in 1920 from Clark University. At Howard University, Sumner was the chair of the psychology department when it produced more Black psychologists than all other U.S. colleges and universities combined. Kenneth Bancroft Clark was a student of Sumner’s. Clark and his wife, Mamie Phipps Clark, researched the negative effects of racial discrimination. Their work was paramount in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1954 decision to end segregation in schools.Sadly, Mamie Clark’s contributions were long overlooked, including the fact that segregation was initially her project, rather than her husband’s. Thankfully, Kenneth at least acknowledged her work when speaking about their research to the Supreme Court.

• Who was Sigmund Freud, and what were the basic ideas of the school of psychological thought he founded?

ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: In Vienna, Austria, a physician named Sigmund Freud developed a theory of personality based on uncovering causes of behavior that were unconscious, or hidden from the person's conscious awareness. Freud's school of thought, called “psychoanalysis,” emphasized the role of unconscious conflicts in determining behavior and personality. Freud was trained as a neurologist, but his thinking was strongly influenced by developments in psychology. Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality and behavior was based largely on his work with his patients and on insights derived from self-analysis.Freud believed that human behavior was motivated by unconscious conflicts that were almost always sexual or aggressive in nature. Past experiences, especially childhood experiences, were thought to be critical in the formation of adult personality and behavior. According to Freud, 2 / 4

glimpses of these unconscious impulses are revealed in everyday life in dreams, memory blocks, slips of the tongue, and spontaneous humor. Freud believed that when unconscious conflicts became overwhelming, psychological disorders could result. Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of personality also provided the basis for psychotherapy.

• Compare and contrast psychoanalysis and behaviorism as two of the early schools of psychology.

ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Psychoanalysis had a strong influence on psychological thinking in the early 1900s, as did behaviorism, which emerged as a dominating force in early psychology. Psychoanalysis emphasized the role of unconscious conflicts in determining behavior and personality. The psychoanalytic theory of personality and behavior was based largely on Freud's work with patients and on insights derived from self-analysis.Freud believed that human behavior was motivated by unconscious conflicts that were almost always sexual or aggressive in nature. Past experiences, especially childhood experiences, were thought to be critical in the formation of adult personality and behavior. Freud believed that unconscious impulses were revealed in everyday life in dreams, memory blocks, slips of the tongue, and spontaneous humor. Contrarily, behaviorism rejected the emphasis on consciousness promoted by structuralism and functionalism as well as Freud's ideas about unconscious influences on behavior, since they are difficult to test. For the behaviorist, consciousness and unconscious variables were not usable concepts. Instead, behaviorism believed that psychology should focus its scientific investigations strictly on overt, observable behaviors that could be objectively measured and verified.

• What roles did Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner play in the founding of behaviorism?

ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Behaviorism grew out of the pioneering work of Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov showed that dogs could learn to associate a neutral stimulus, such as the sound of a ticking metronome, with an automatic behavior, such as reflexively salivating at the sight of food. Once an association between the sound of the metronome and the food was formed, the sound of the metronome alone would trigger the salivation reflex in the dog. Pavlov believed he had discovered the mechanism by which all behaviors were learned. John B. Watson shared Pavlov's enthusiasm and championed behaviorism as a new school of thought for psychology. He believed that how behavior is acquired and modified in response to environmental influences is essential to the understanding of psychology. B.F.Skinner extended the ideas of Watson, believing that psychology should restrict itself to studying overt, observable behaviors that could be measured and verified. Skinner systematically worked with rats and pigeons to demonstrate the principles of reinforcement or punishment and how they shape behavior.

• What is humanistic psychology, and who advocated this approach?

ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Humanistic psychology was primarily advocated by the American psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Rogers, like Freud, was influenced by his experiences with patients. Rogers emphasized the conscious experiences of his patients (rather than the unconscious) and focused on each person's unique potential for psychological growth and self-direction. Rogers believed that human behavior was shaped and maintained by external causes. The humanistic approach emphasized self- determination, free will, and choice in human behavior; it included not only influential theories of personality but also a form of psychotherapy. Maslow developed a theory of motivation that emphasized psychological growth.

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• List and describe the eight major perspectives in contemporary psychology described in the textbook. Be

sure to address each perspective's unique emphasis and approach.ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: The biological perspective emphasizes the examination of the physical bases of human and animal behavior, including the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems as well as genetics. More specifically within biological psychology, neuroscience involves the study of the nervous system, particularly the brain.The psychodynamic perspective, Freud's landmark theory of psychoanalysis, continues to be relevant today. The emphasis in this perspective is on unconscious influences, early life experiences, and interpersonal relationships in explaining the underlying dynamics of behavior or in treating people with psychological problems. The behavioral perspective, championed by Watson and Skinner, involves a focus on observable behaviors and the fundamental laws of learning.Psychologists interested in this perspective continue to study how behavior is acquired or modified by environmental causes. The humanistic perspective was influenced by the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. This approach focuses on the motivation of people to grow psychologically, the influence of interpersonal relationships on a person's self-concept, and the importance of choice and self-direction in striving to reach one's potential. The positive psychology perspective focuses on the study of positive emotions and psychological states, positive individual traits, and the social institutions that foster those qualities in individuals and communities. The cognitive perspective involves examining the role of mental processes in how people process and remember information, develop language, solve problems, and think. The cross-cultural perspective involves studying how cultural factors influence behavior. The evolutionary perspective involves the application of the principles of evolution to explain psychological processes and phenomena.

• Which perspective in contemporary psychology was influenced by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow?

What does this perspective focus on?ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: The humanistic perspective was influenced by Rogers's work as a therapist and Maslow's development of a theoretical framework for motivation. This approach focuses on the motivation of people to grow psychologically, the influence of interpersonal relationships on a person's self-concept, and the importance of choice and self-direction in striving to reach one's potential. The humanistic perspective is most often emphasized among psychologists working in the mental health field.

• Evolutionary theory is based on the principle of natural selection. How does the evolutionary perspective

relate to our understanding of human thought and behavior? What must be assumed in the evolutionary perspective in psychology to apply the principles of evolution to the investigation of human thought and behavior?ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: The evolutionary perspective within psychology refers to the application of the principles of evolution to explain psychological processes. This approach proposes that the individual members of a species compete for survival. Because of inherited differences, some members of a species are better adapted to their environment than are others. These individuals inherit more useful characteristics and are more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass on their characteristics. This process reflects the principle of natural selection. In the context of psychology, psychologists assume that psychological processes are similarly subject to the principle of natural selection. Those psychological processes that help individuals adapt to their environments also help them survive, reproduce, and pass those abilities on to their offspring.

• How do individualistic cultures differ from collectivistic cultures?
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