Because behavior is rooted in biology and also shaped by interactions with other people, psychology has features of both a natural science and a social science.
Correct Answer
True
True. Areas such as biopsychology resemble the natural sciences, while the study of how people influence one another places psychology among the social sciences.
Category: Defining Psychology
Question 2
Introspection lost favor partly because different observers reporting on the same experience often disagreed with one another.
Correct Answer
True
True. Even in Wundt's controlled form, introspection remained highly subjective, and poor agreement between observers made its results hard to verify scientifically.
Category: Early Schools of Thought
Question 3
Freud argued that psychological problems stem largely from the conscious mind rather than the unconscious.
Correct Answer
False
False. Freud held that the unconscious mind, which holds feelings and urges a person cannot perceive, is a major source of psychological problems, which is why he developed ways to reach it.
Category: Early Schools of Thought
Question 4
The German word gestalt roughly means a form seen as a whole.
Correct Answer
True
True. The name reflects the Gestalt psychologists' central claim that people perceive how parts relate to one another to form a meaningful whole.
Category: Early Schools of Thought
Question 5
Gestalt principles continue to influence modern research on sensation and perception.
Correct Answer
True
True. Although the rise of behaviorism limited the Gestalt psychologists' influence in the United States, their principles of perceptual organization remain part of perception research today.
Category: Early Schools of Thought
Question 6
Mary Cover Jones eliminated a young boy's fear of rabbits, work she viewed as a follow-up to Watson's Little Albert study.
Correct Answer
True
True. In 1924 Jones eliminated the rabbit fear of a toddler known as Little Peter, and she presented the work as a sequel to Watson's Little Albert study. It showed that a learned fear could be unlearned, an early step toward behavior therapy.
Category: Behaviorism
Question 7
In Maslow's hierarchy, esteem needs must generally be met before basic survival needs such as food and water.
Correct Answer
False
False. Maslow placed basic physiological needs such as food, water and shelter at the bottom of the hierarchy, so they generally must be met before higher needs such as esteem.
Category: Humanism and Cognition
Question 8
Mary Whiton Calkins was awarded her PhD by Harvard after completing all of the degree requirements in the 1890s.
Correct Answer
False
False. Harvard refused to grant Calkins the degree because she was a woman, even though she completed every requirement and her mentor William James argued on her behalf.
Category: Diversity in Psychology
Question 9
Wilhelm Wundt served as the first president of the American Psychological Association.
Correct Answer
False
False. G. Stanley Hall, who studied under William James, was the first president of the American Psychological Association. Wundt worked in Germany.
Category: Early Schools of Thought
Question 10
Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark's studies of African American children's doll preferences helped inform the Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education.
Correct Answer
True
True. The Clarks' research on how segregation affected children's self-image was cited in the case that ended legal school segregation, and the couple also opened the first child guidance center in Harlem.
Category: Diversity in Psychology
Question 11
Cross-cultural psychologists typically study diverse groups within a single country, while multicultural psychologists compare populations across countries.
Correct Answer
False
False. The roles are reversed: multicultural psychologists usually study diverse groups within one country, while cross-cultural psychologists compare populations from different countries.
Category: Diversity in Psychology
Question 12
Evolutionary psychology traces its intellectual origins to the work of Sigmund Freud.
Correct Answer
False
False. Evolutionary psychology traces its roots to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection and studies the ultimate, adaptive causes of behavior.
Category: Subfields of Psychology
Question 13
Jean Piaget proposed that very young infants lack object permanence, the understanding that hidden objects still exist.
Correct Answer
True
True. Piaget concluded from infants' failure to search for hidden toys that object permanence develops during the first year of life. Later research suggests some understanding may appear earlier than he thought, but the proposal itself is a classic part of developmental psychology.
Category: Subfields of Psychology
Question 14
Personality psychology studies the patterns of thought and behavior that all people share rather than those that make individuals unique.
Correct Answer
False
False. Personality psychology focuses on the patterns of thought and behavior that make each individual unique, today often described in terms of measurable traits such as the Big Five.
Category: Subfields of Psychology
Question 15
Sport and exercise psychologists study factors such as motivation and performance anxiety that affect athletic performance.
Correct Answer
True
True. The field also studies how sport and exercise affect mental well-being, and its methods apply to other high-pressure work such as surgery and military operations.
Category: Subfields of Psychology
Question 16
Counseling psychology focuses mainly on people with severe psychological disorders, while clinical psychology serves psychologically healthy people.
Correct Answer
False
False. Clinical psychology focuses on diagnosing and treating psychological disorders, while counseling psychology focuses on emotional, social, vocational and health concerns in psychologically healthy people.
Category: Subfields of Psychology
Question 17
Forensic psychologists may assess whether a defendant is competent to stand trial.
Correct Answer
True
True. Forensic psychology applies psychology within the justice system, including competency evaluations, child custody assessments, jury selection and expert testimony.
Category: Careers in Psychology
Question 18
A PhD in psychology can usually be completed in about two years of graduate study.
Correct Answer
False
False. Earning a PhD in psychology usually takes about five to six years of graduate study, including research that leads to a dissertation.
Category: Careers in Psychology
Question 19
In the United States, a doctoral dissertation is usually graded privately by a single advisor rather than defended before a committee.
Correct Answer
False
False. A U.S. doctoral candidate generally must defend the dissertation before a committee of expert reviewers before the degree is awarded.
Category: Careers in Psychology
Question 20
Psychology coursework can be useful in health care fields, and the MCAT medical school admission exam includes a section on the psychological foundations of behavior.
Correct Answer
True
True. Health care is a growing field where psychology training is helpful, and medical school applicants are now tested on psychological and social foundations of behavior.
Category: Careers in Psychology