History and Approaches to Psychology Review Questions for AP Psychology

The study guide for these review questions can be found at:

History and Approaches to Psychology for AP Psychology

Directions: For each item, choose the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.

1. Wilhelm Wundt and the structuralists studied questions still asked today primarily by
   1. behavioral psychologists
   2. cognitive psychologists
   3. psychodynamic psychologists
   4. humanistic psychologists
   5. sociocultural psychologists
2. With which definition of psychology would John Watson and B. F. Skinner most agree?
   1. Psychology is the science of behavior.
   2. Psychology is the science of mental processes.
   3. Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes.
   4. Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes specific to contexts.
3. The question "Is intelligence more influenced by heredity or experience?" deals with a big issue in psychology known as
   1. stability vs. change
   2. mind-body dualism
   3. rationality vs. irrationality
   4. structure vs. function
   5. nature vs. nurture
4. If Aristotle and Locke, who both believed that what we know is acquired from experience, were alive today, they would best agree with the
   1. behavioral approach
   2. psychoanalytic approach
   3. humanistic approach
   4. biological approach
   5. psychodynamic approach
5. Which psychological approach is most concerned with the importance of encoding, storing, and retrieving information?
   1. information technology
   2. behavioral approach
   3. psychodynamic approach
   4. biological approach
   5. cognitive approach
6. Dr. Didden was hired by the TLC Company to help them retain their employees without lowering the firm's profits. After TLC removed cubicles and permitted employees to decorate their workroom as recommended by Dr. Didden, the absentee rate declined and no employees left for jobs elsewhere. Dr. Didden is most likely to be
   1. a forensic psychologist
   2. an industrial/organizational psychologist
   3. a counseling psychologist
   4. a clinical psychologist
   5. an engineering psychologist

Answers and Explanations

1. B—Wilhelm Wundt, Hall, and Titchener studied the basic elements of consciousness. Consciousness is currently called cognition. Cognitive psychologists examine thinking, memory, etc. using different methods.
2. A—John Watson and B. F. Skinner rejected the study of consciousness/mental processes because they are private events that cannot be verified scientifically. These behaviorists focused on the antecedents of a behavior, the behavior, and the consequences of the behavior.
3. E—The nature-nurture issue deals with the relative contribution of genes and experience to the expressions of psychological traits and behaviors.
4. A—Behaviorists think that what we know is gained through learning. The other approaches accept that some of our behavior is inborn.
5. E—Cognitive psychologists focus on how we acquire, maintain, and use information.
6. B—Industrial/organizational psychologists examine and assess the conditions, methods, and procedures in the workplace and apply psychological principles to help improve the working environment to increase productivity and job satisfaction.