Introduction to Psychology Focus Questions:
Chapter 1
1. What was Descartes’ version of dualism? How did it help pave the way for a science of psychology?
• The body (made of matter) is responsible for behavior aimed towards survival, and the soul (immaterial)
differentiates us from animals as it allows us to think, he believed that the soul and body interacted through the
pineal gland
• Paved way for science as attributed actions and processes to the physical body rather than the immaterial soul
2. What reasons can you think of for why Descartes’ theory, despite its intuitive appeal, was unsuitable for a complete
psychology?
• In his theory the soul produced thoughts and was responsible for the actions of the body, the actions of the body
can scientifically studied as it is made of matter however the immaterial cannot objectively be studied therefore
cannot be scientific
3. How did Hobbes’ materialism help lay the groundwork for a science of psychology?
• Hobbes disregarded the idea of an immaterial soul and attributed every thought and their physical reflections
to the body, this meant that every human action, motives, processes could be scientifically studied as they were
bound to the laws of nature
4. How did the nineteenth century understanding of the nervous system inspire a theory of behaviour called
reflexology?
• If all actions were controlled by the body as it is independent from the soul, this meant that an action was just
a nervous reaction to environmental stimuli (reflex) and all human action was just a response
5. How did the discoveries of localization of function in the brain help establish the idea that the mind can be studies
scientifically?
• Previously all human behavior had been attributed to the soul, now with the concept of the body being in charge,
the brain was the command center for behaviour and different parts of it corresponded to different behaviors,
therefore the functions of the immaterial soul were now attributed to the brain which was now within the realm
of science and could be studied
6. How would you explain the origin of complex ideas and thoughts according to British Empiricism? What role did
the law of association by contiguity play in this philosophy?
• Empiricists believed that we were all born as blank slates and all thoughts and ideas, and behaviors were
reflections of sensory experiences or learned from our environment. Small elemental ideas formed together to
create more complex thoughts.
• Association by contiguity→ when the mind encountered 2 ideas that occurred simultaneously of contiguously
an association would form between them (making the more complex)
7. How would you describe the influence that empiricist philosophy has had on psychology?
• Laid the foundations for a better understanding of learning and memory functions, and proposed a theory for
how sensory feedback adds up to form complex concepts
8. Why is the ability to learn dependent on inborn knowledge? In Kant’s nativist philosophy, what is the distinction
between a priori and a posteriori knowledge?
• Kant’s nativist philosophy argued that for a child to be able to obtain, memorize and utilize any idea the brain
most be able to know how to perform some of these abilities- a priori knowledge (we are born with these
abilities), info we obtained after birth via sensory experience (a posteriori knowledge) relied of a priori
knowledge to be known
,9. How did Darwin’s theory of natural selection offer a scientific foundation for explaining behaviour by describing
its functions? How did it provide a basis for understanding the origin of a priori knowledge?
• Darwin’s theory of natural selection argued that as physical aspects promote survival and reproduction, so do
mental mechanisms and behavior.
• A priori knowledge allowed our ancestors to learn and survive therefore this was passed on genetically
10. How do neural, physiological, genetic, and evolutionary explanations differ from one another? How would you
apply these explanations toward an understanding of jealousy?
• Neural explanation→ explaining the effects of the processes and structures of the neural system on human
behaviour.
- Jealousy→ The neural connections of the brain and complex associations with it makes regarding past
experience with others concerns a neural explanation of jealousy
• Physiological explanation→ involves chemical and biological material as well, such as hormones and medicine
while explaining behaviour.
- The role hormones and various chemicals play in the process of thought and response to situations that
trigger jealousy
• Genetic explanation → different genes individuals inherit, and the causality between the differences between
these genes and human behaviour; basically how which genes affect which behaviors.
- The role of inherited genes and their role in defining characteristics of thought processes and reactions to a
possible threat to the relationship with a significant someone
• Evolutionary explanation→ working with humane functions and natural mechanics brought by evolution in not
only an individual, but the species as a whole.
- The role of various biological and social mechanisms in the human brain, developed through natural
selection, in defining the characteristics of jealousy-inflicted conflict and methods of coping with it
11. How do learning and cognitive explanations differ? How would you apply each of them toward an understanding
of jealousy?
• Learning explanation→ concerned with what kind of changes on the human behaviour certain environmental
experiences can inflict.
-used to analyze the jealous experiences of a person with past significant others. This would help understand
the thought patterns that led to a certain idea of jealousy, and how this inflicts a certain reaction towards the
potential threat or the significant other
• Cognitive explanations→ the effects of these environmental experiences to previous or inherent knowledge or
beliefs, and uses these effects on cognitive abilities as a step towards understanding how behaviour changes
through experience.
- take in account the unconscious memory and in-built mechanisms of the mind as well. This could help
understand what processes of the mind while thinking about a threatening relationship were involved in the
thought process – as well as what environmental and social stimuli was received and how it was processed to
come up with an idea and a response to perceived jealousy.
12. How do social and cultural explanations differ? How would you apply each of them toward an understanding of
jealousy?
• Social psychology→ is concerned with immediate results of social and environmental input on individuals and
groups
- analyzing a person’s idea about a relationship, what is perceived as a possible threat to a social relationship
• Cultural explanations→ observe a deal of settled social traditions as well, to draw a conclusion about their
effects on people’s behaviour and thoughts.
- the understanding of an agreed upon definition of social or romantic infidelity, what pattern of thoughts and
reactions and generally accepted for such situation and generally how it is seen convenient to deal with
them.
, 13. What constitutes a developmental explanation? How would you apply a developmental explanation toward an
understanding of jealousy?
• Developmental explanation→ the changes in behaviour, emotions and thoughts in different ages.
- People would be prone to value nurture as a child and begin to seek a relationship built on mutual interests
as they grow; these priorities can be changed to sexuality, romanticism, trust or cooperation. Different
interpretations of what a relationship comes across, and what does the new conditions mean for both parties
from the perspective of what the relationship relies on, could be applied to an understanding of jealousy.
14. What are some research specialties in psychology that are not defined primarily by the level of analysis employed?
• Sensory psychology and perceptual psychology, psychology of emotion or psychology of motivation.
15. What are the main divisions of academic studies? How does psychology link them together?
• Natural sciences→ science certainly strong connections to biology and chemistry
• Social sciences→ sociology and anthropology
• Humanities→ psychology is basically a study of what people do. Everything they create, the processes and the
influences would be within the scope of psychology
Chapter 2:
1. How did Clever Hans give the appearance of answering questions, and how did Oskar Pfungst unveil Hans’s
methods?
• Hans learned to distinguish subtle and sometimes unconscious body movement of observers and used them to
understand what was expected of him
• Pfungst revealed these methods by conducting the experiment where Hans was unable to see anyone and found
Hans could not interpret the answers when he did not have subtle bodily movements to rely on
2. How are observations, theories, and hypotheses related to one another in scientific research?
• The data provided by observations are interpreted by theories as theories use this data as a primary basis.
Hypotheses are specific, concrete predictions deducted from a vast and vague theory.
3. How does The Clever Hans story illustrate (1) the value of scepticism, (2) the value of controlled experimentation,
and (3) the need for researchers to avoid communicating their expectations to subjects?
• Value of skepticism→ shows the value of objectively questioning strange claims and to try to disprove these
claims through investigation, falsification instead of trying to prove
• Controlled experimentation→ changing variables in the experiment to gain more results and recording and
interpreting results as new info is acquired
• The need for researchers to avoid communicating their expectations to subjects→ this could lead to subjects
answering correctly because of the researcher rather than the subject’s abilities which could become a
confounding variable and lead to making false claims
4. How can an experiment demonstrate the existence of a cause-effect relation between two variables?
• Independent variable is thought to affect the other variable when changed, dependent variable is thought to be
affected by changes in the other variable- used to describe causal relationships by changing the IV and seeing
how it affects the DV
5. What were the independent and dependent variables in Pfungst’s experiment with Clever Hans?
• The independent variable→ Hans’s ability to see, to determine if he would or would not be able to obtain visual
cues at a certain moment.
• The dependent variable→ the percentage of questions Hans responded correctly, defined by the state of the
independent variable during each response.
, 6. What were the independent and dependent variables in DiMascio’s experiment on treatments for depression? Why
were the subjects randomly assigned to the different treatments rather than allowed to choose their own treatment?
• The independent variable→ the type of treatment the subjects received – or hadn’t
• The dependent variable→ their degree of depression after 16 weeks.
• The subjects were randomly assigned types of treatment to eliminate any bias towards the results, to balance
the distribution of the treatments fairly and equally.
7. What are the differences in procedure between a correlational study and an experiment? How do the types of
conclusions that can be drawn differ between a correlational study and an experiment?
• In experiments→ the researchers have first-hand control over independent variable and can directly observe
what changes in an independent variable cause what differences in the dependent variable.
• In a correlational study→ however, for legal, practical or ethical reasons the researchers are not given direct
control over the situation. They observe various pre-existing conditions to assess a relation between primal
conditions and the outcomes.
• correlational studies do not define for certain a cause and effect-based relation between these variables as they
cannot just be altered to serve the study.
8. How does an analysis of Baumrind’s classic study of parental disciplinary style illustrate the difficulty of trying to
infer cause and effect from a correlation?
• The study shows the relation between parental disciplinary styles and child behavior; it is possible there are
other variables contributing to the results which were not accounted for. Correlational studies do not allow for
the manipulation of conditions and thus the observation of these changing conditions therefore any link found
between the 2 variables would be much weaker than in an experimental study
9. How do descriptive studies differ, in method and purpose, from experiments and from correlational studies?
• Experiments and correlational studies assess a relationship that varies in strength, but is existent nonetheless.
• Descriptive studies, are interested in the conditions and try to define a certain behaviour, mind-set or a mental
condition; their prevalence, without trying to assert a specific initiator or a set of conditions within a cause-
effect spectrum.
10. What are the relative advantages and disadvantages of laboratory studies and field studies?
• Laboratory studies Advantage→ greater control over the variables as in a more controlled environment, able to
manipulate the variables
• Laboratory Studies Disadvantage→ observation can sometimes alter subject behaviour and lead to artificial,
unnatural outcomes, which can then obscure the results of the study.
• Field study advantage→ more convenient; the subject is in an environment from everyday life, behaviour is
more natural ensure a clearer outcome of the study.
• Field studies disadvantage→ researcher has little control, so it might not be possible to alter the variables to
observe their effects clearly.
11. How do self-report methods, naturalistic observations and tests differ from one another? What are some advantages
and disadvantages of each?
• Self-report methods→ identified by the own statements of the subject about their behaviour and mental state.
- Advantage→Fast and direct procedure.
- Disadvantage→ risky as subject may manipulate their answers, subjective content that can be
misinterpreted and remembered wrongly- arguable reliability
• Naturalistic observations→observations of the subject in their ordinary life.
- Advantage→ clearer image of subject’s everyday life and their thoughts and feelings
- Disadvantage→ subjects are aware of the observers’ presence and may therefore manipulate their behavior.
• Tests→ the researcher deliberately obstructs the subject’s pathway by presenting a problem or a question, and
the factor of interference separates this method from naturalistic observations.
