Who tested a parent-training manual for children's fear of the dark, and when?
Jean Giebenhain and Stan O'Dell tested it in 1984.
What skills and methods did the parent-training manual combine?
It combined lamp control, relaxation, positive self-statements, record keeping and feedback, rewards, and gradual reward withdrawal.
What outcome did all six children achieve within two weeks?
They slept through the night at or below the goal illumination and reported no fear.
How did the children rate their fear after treatment?
They reported no fear on a fear thermometer.
What does psychology study, and how is its science applied?
It studies human and animal behavior and applies this science to human problems.
What qualifies as behavior in a person or animal?
Anything they do that can be observed in some way.
What is science?
A body of systematized knowledge gathered by carefully observing and measuring events.
What methods does scientific psychology use?
Experiments and observations that others can repeat.
What kind of data does scientific psychology use that others can verify?
Data that are often quantitative.
What is a scientific theory?
A general principle that summarizes many observations and predicts what may happen in new situations.
What is measurement?
The assignment of numbers to objects or events according to certain rules.
What are the behavioral sciences?
Fields of knowledge that study human and animal behavior.
What three features partly distinguish psychology from other behavioral sciences?
Its exclusive interest in behavior, focus on individuals, and wide range of behaviors studied.
What is a variable in an experiment?
An event or condition that can take different values and ideally be measured quantitatively.
What is an independent variable?
A condition set or selected by the experimenter to test its effect on behavior.
What is a dependent variable?
The behavior measured in an experiment, which may depend on the independent variable.
How does an experimenter formulate a hypothesis?
In testable, observable terms.
What does an experimenter vary during an experiment?
The events expected to affect behavior.
What does an experimenter observe after varying expected causes?
The effect on behavior while holding other conditions constant.
What does experimental control hold constant besides the specified independent variable?
Factors that might affect the dependent variable.
What distinguishes the experimental group from the control group in a control-group design?
The experimental group is exposed to the independent variable; the control group is not.
What is a baseline in an experiment?
The normal level of behavior established before an independent variable is introduced.
How do subjects serve as their own controls in a within-subjects design?
Researchers compare their behavior after the independent variable is introduced with their baseline behavior.
What are the three phases of an A-B-A within-subjects design?
Measure behavior without the variable, with it, and again after its removal.
What skill applies psychological knowledge to practical problems?
An art or skill acquired through study, practice, and special experience.
How does prescribing authority differ between clinical psychologists and psychiatrists?
Psychiatrists receive medical training and can prescribe treatment; clinical psychologists do not have medical training and cannot prescribe drugs.
What kinds of roles do psychologists work in?
Psychologists work in roles including psychotherapy, research, education, consultation, administration, court testimony, pain support, biofeedback, and business consulting.
Which major subfields belong to psychology?
They include clinical, counseling, school and educational, experimental and physiological, industrial and organizational, social, developmental, and community psychology.
What degree does a clinical psychologist normally hold?
A Ph.D., M.A., or Psy.D.
What degree does a psychiatrist hold, and what training have they completed?
An M.D. and medical school training.
How does a psychologist gather personal history for a thorough clinical assessment?
Through detailed interviews.
Who may provide a social-background assessment during clinical evaluation?
A trained social worker.
What makes clinical observation scientifically limited?
Its subjectivity, casualness, lack of control, and imprecision.
What is systematic observation?
The exacting, systematic study of naturally occurring behavior without deliberately manipulating the independent variable.
What is inductive reasoning?
Establishing general principles from particular instances by identifying recurring relationships between factors and behavior.
Why does correlation between two events not prove causation?
Other factors or combinations of factors may explain the relationship.
What did structuralism seek to identify about the mind?
Its elementary units and the rules by which they combine.
What does Gestalt psychology say determines mental experience?
The organization and relationships of elements into a whole pattern.
What does functionalism study about mind and behavior?
How they help individuals adapt to a changing environment.
Which older psychological schools vanished while their discoveries entered general knowledge?
Structural, Gestalt, and functional schools.
In what forms do behaviorism and psychoanalysis continue?
Modified forms.
Which five perspectives arose over roughly the last 50 years?
Biological, cognitive, developmental, humanistic, and social perspectives.
What does the biological perspective relate behavior to?
Bodily functions, particularly those of the nervous and glandular systems.
How did children adjust the bedside lamp's rheostat during training?
They aimed to dim the light by one-half number each night.
What did rheostat settings 1 and 11 represent in the children's training?
Setting 1 meant total darkness, and setting 11 meant maximum brightness.
When were follow-ups conducted after the children's training?
At 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year.
How were the children doing at follow-up compared with training's end?
They were doing as well as or better than at the end of training.
What makes behavior vocal?
It can be heard and recorded.
How do psychologists infer internal mental processes?
They infer them from behavior through which those events manifest themselves.
How are scientific theories evaluated?
By how useful they are for summarizing observations and predicting outcomes.
What can happen to scientific theories as new data are obtained?
They may be modified or replaced by theories that summarize and predict better.
What can psychological measurement use, and why are some phenomena difficult to measure directly?
It can use behavior counts or response time, but some phenomena resist direct measurement with physical scales.
Which fields besides psychology study behavior?
Anthropology, sociology, economics, politics, geography, history, zoology, pharmacology, physiology, and neurobiology.
What does anthropology compare, and what do sociology and economics study?
Anthropology compares behavior across cultures; sociology studies group behavior; economics studies behavior involved in exchanging goods and services.
Where does psychology conventionally plot the independent variable?
On the horizontal abscissa.
Where does psychology conventionally plot the dependent variable?
On the vertical ordinate.
What feedback did participants receive in the feedback experiment?
The experimental group was told when a line was within 1.25 inches of the block’s length.
What do researchers do when matching every possible factor is impractical?
They match subjects on relevant factors, then assign them randomly to groups.
When is an A-B-A design suitable?
When the independent variable does not produce a long-lasting effect.
Who should examine a patient when a medical disorder may be present?
A psychiatrist or another physician.
What research do clinical psychologists more often conduct than psychiatrists?
Systematic research on diagnosing, treating, and preventing behavior disorders.
Which person's techniques originated psychoanalysis?
Sigmund Freud.
What are psychoanalysts without M.D. degrees called?
Lay analysts.
Which problems do counseling psychologists generally address?
Milder emotional and personal problems, career or education choices, and sometimes family problems.
How do school psychologists identify students’ learning difficulties?
They use tests and consultations with students and parents.
How many psychologists are in the United States, and what share are clinical?
The number is approaching 100,000, and somewhat more than a third are clinical psychologists.
How long do Ph.D. or Psy.D. clinical psychologists study postgraduate psychology?
Four or five years.
How long do M.A. clinical psychologists study, and under whose supervision do they usually work?
About two years, usually under a Ph.D. psychologist’s supervision.
Which tests may be used in clinical assessment?
Intelligence, interest, emotional-maturity, personality, and other tests.
What determines the tests, diagnosis, and remedy in clinical assessment?
The individual case.
What kinds of observation does clinical observation combine?
Clinical, experimental, and systematic observation.
Which thinker inferred that dreams often reflect strong unconscious desires?
Sigmund Freud.
What is the chief scientific value of clinical observation?
It suggests ideas for rigorous investigation.
Which methods can systematic observation use to describe behavior and differences?
Questionnaires, surveys, interviews, and observations of naturally occurring behavior.
How did type I book carrying differ from type II in the college-student observations?
Type I wrapped the forearm around the book with its short edge against the body; type II held it at the side with its long edge approximately horizontal.
Which book-carrying type did approximately 90–95% of observed females use?
Type I.
What pattern strengthens evidence that a factor causes a behavior?
The behavior occurs with the factor but not without it, and larger amounts correspond to larger behavioral changes.
What does damage to a particular left-hemisphere area do to speech in almost all right-handed people?
It impairs speech, with the impairment’s degree related to the amount of damage.
Which 1890 textbook represented psychology as a separate field concerned with the mind?
William James’s *The Principles of Psychology*.
Which topics did early psychologists James and Wundt investigate experimentally?
Attention, imagery, memory, thinking, emotion, and physical-mental relations.
What method did Wundt-associated structuralists use to study experience?
Trained introspection in response to stimuli.
Who founded Gestalt psychology in Germany around 1912?
Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler.
Which psychologists studied how mental processes help people and animals adapt?
John Dewey, James R. Angell, and Harvey Carr.
How does the behavioral perspective explain Sam’s aggression?
It is learned behavior maintained by past rewards.
What does the behavioral perspective focus on for memory problems?
Describing and potentially teaching compensatory behaviors.
What partly influences which perspective a psychologist uses?
The psychologist’s own bias.
What aspect of research partly influences which perspective a psychologist uses?
The aspect of behavior being studied.
Answer 55 questions on What Psychology Is Like.
1. A parent is using a fear-of-the-dark program with a child who has just reached the agreed dim-light goal. Which plan best matches the manual’s approach?
2. What outcome was reported for the six children within two weeks of beginning the parent-training program?
Go over the full study guide for What Psychology Is Like.
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