OBJECTIVES for Chapters from Hockenbury Text on Psychology [4th Ed]
Chapter 1
Introduction: The Origins of Psychology, pp. 2-9
1. Define psychology and discuss the issues that shaped
psychology's evolution over the past century and a half, including the
influence of philosophy and physiology.
2. Describe the roles played by Wilhelm Wundt and William
James in the establishment of psychology as a separate scientific discipline.
3. Identify the founders of structuralism and
functionalism, and compare and contrast their key ideas and goals.
4. Identify three early American psychologists who were
students of William James or Edward Titchener, and
list their contributions to the development of psychology.
5. Identify the founder and describe the key ideas of
psychoanalysis.
6. List three key figures in the development of
behaviorism, and describe behaviorism's basic assumptions and goals.
7. Identify two advocates of humanistic psychology, and
note how humanistic psychology differs from behaviorism and psychoanalysis.
Contemporary Psychology, pp. 10-16
8. List and describe the seven major perspectives in
contemporary psychology.
9. Explain the importance of cross-cultural psychology
and distinguish between individualistic and collectivistic cultures.
10. Explain the basic assumptions of the evolutionary
perspective.
11. List the specialty areas in contemporary psychology,
describe the focus of each, and distinguish between psychology and psychiatry.
The Scientific Method, pp. 16-20
12. List the four goals of psychology, explain the
scientific assumptions and attitudes of psychologists, and describe critical
thinking.
13. Describe the scientific method, note the difference
between a hypothesis and a theory, and explain the importance of operational
definitions, replication, and statistics.
Descriptive Research Methods, pp. 21-28
14. Define descriptive research methods, and describe how
naturalistic observation and case studies are conducted.
15. Define a pseudoscience and explain how to recognize
and evaluate pseudoscientific claims.
16. Describe survey research and list the criteria that
must be met for survey results to be valid.
17. Define correlation coefficient, explain the
difference between positive and negative correlations, and describe the
functions and limitations of correlational research.
The Experimental Method, pp. 28-35
18. Define and explain the function of the hypothesis,
independent variable, dependent variable, random assignment, experimental
group, and control group in an experiment.
19. Identify the hypothesis, independent variable,
dependent variable, experimental group, and control group in the experiment
testing the relationship between playing violent video games and aggressive
behavior, and critically evaluate the results of the experiment.
20. Explain the purpose of placebo-control groups,
defining expectancy effects, double-blind study, practice effects, and demand
characteristics.
21. Describe natural experiments and discuss the
limitations of the experimental method.
Ethics in Psychological Research, pp. 35-37
22. Describe the major provisions of the APA's code of ethics for research with human and nonhuman
animal subjects.
Application: Evaluating Media Reports About
Psychology, pp. 38-39
23. List criteria that should be used to evaluate media
reports about psychological findings and topics.
Chapter 2
Introduction: Neuroscience and Behavior, p. 44
1. Define biological psychology and neuroscience, and
explain why psychologists study the biological basis of behavior.
The Neuron: The Basic Unit of Communication, pp. 45-54
2. Describe the functions of neurons and glial cells, and distinguish among the three types of
neurons.
3. Identify the basic components of the neuron, describe
the action potential, and explain the processes that take place within the
neuron when it is activated.
4. Explain how information is communicated between
neurons, and distinguish between excitatory and inhibitory messages.
5. Describe how neurotransmitters affect synaptic
transmission, identify six important neurotransmitters, and explain their
effects on behavior.
The Nervous System and the Endocrine System:
Communication Throughout the Body, pp. 55-61
6. Describe the functions of the two major parts of the
central nervous system, and explain how spinal reflexes work.
7. Identify the divisions and subdivisions of the
peripheral nervous system, and describe their functions.
8. Describe the general functions of the endocrine
system, and explain the role hormones play.
9. Discuss the functions of the major endocrine glands,
and explain the relationship between the hypothalamus and the endocrine glands.
The Human Brain: A Guided Tour, pp. 62-76
10. Explain how case studies of people with damaged
brains, lesion techniques, and electrical stimulation have been used to study
the brain.
11. Summarize the results of research on Einstein's brain
tissue, including criticisms of that research.
12. Discuss how the pseudoscience called phrenology
evolved, and how it ultimately helped advance the idea of cortical
localization.
13. Explain how brain-imaging techniques are used to
study the brain, and identify some of the limitations of brain-imaging
research.
14. Describe the basic sequence of prenatal brain
development and the evidence for neurogenesis
throughout life.
15. Identify the structures of the brainstem, and
describe their functions.
16. Describe the forebrain's cerebral cortex, and explain
the functions of its four lobes and association areas.
17. Discuss the historical case of Phineas
Gage, and explain how this case study affected thinking about the brain.
18. Describe the limbic system and the functions of the
brain structures that comprise it.
Specialization in the Cerebral Hemispheres, pp. 76-82
19. Explain how the findings of Broca
and Wernicke provided early clinical evidence for
lateralization of function.
20. Explain how the brain organization of left-handed
people can differ from that of right-handed people, and what factors might be
involved in causing left-handedness.
21. Discuss the split-brain operation, and explain how it
provided evidence for the differing abilities of left and right hemispheres.
Plasticity: The Malleable Brain, pp. 83-84
22. Discuss the evolution of the ideas of brain
localization and lateralization.
23. Distinguish between functional plasticity and
structural plasticity, and briefly summarize a recent study that demonstrated
how learning a new motor skill affects the brain.
Application: Pumping Neurons: Maximizing Your Brain's
Potential, pp. 85-86
24. Describe the research evidence for structural and
functional plasticity in the human and nonhuman brain, and discuss some
practical applications of this research.
Chapter 5
What Is Learning?, pp. 190-191
1. Define learning and conditioning, and name the forms
of conditioning.
Classical Conditioning: Associating Stimuli, pp. 191-203
2. Describe the background that led to Ivan Pavlov's
discovery of classical conditioning, and the procedures he developed to create
a classically conditioned response.
3. Define and give examples of each of the following:
unconditioned stimulus, unconditioned response, conditioned stimulus, and
conditioned response.
4. Identify factors that can affect the strength of a
classically conditioned response, and give examples of generalization and
discrimination, extinction, and spontaneous recovery in classical conditioning.
5. Discuss John Watson's views on the nature of
psychology and describe the basic principles of behaviorism.
6. Describe John Watson and Rosalie Rayner's
famous "Little Albert" study and explain how emotional responses can
be classically conditioned.
7. Describe how Watson applied classical conditioning
principles to advertising.
8. Describe how classical conditioning can produce
placebo responses, and explain the role of classically conditioned compensatory
responses in drug addiction, including the phenomena of tolerance, withdrawal
symptoms, and drug cravings.
Contemporary Views of Classical Conditioning, pp. 203-208
9. Describe Robert Rescorla's
research and how it demonstrated the role of cognitive processes in classical
conditioning.
10. Discuss John Garcia's research on taste aversions,
and explain how taste aversions appeared to violate key aspects of the
classical conditioning model.
11. Explain how the notion of biological preparedness can
be applied to taste aversions and phobias.
Operant Conditioning: Associating Behaviors and
Consequences, pp. 208-223
12. Discuss Edward Thorndike's contributions to the study
of learning, and define the law of effect.
13. Discuss B. F. Skinner's views as a behaviorist,
noting his beliefs about the proper subject matter of psychology and his belief
that free will is an illusion.
14. Describe the basic principles of operant
conditioning, giving examples of positive and negative reinforcement, primary
and conditioned reinforcers, and discriminative
stimuli.
15. Explain the difference between negative reinforcement
and punishment, and give examples of punishment by application and punishment
by removal.
16. Describe four strategies to reduce undesirable
behaviors without resorting to punishment, and ways to enhance the
effectiveness of positive reinforcement.
17. Discuss shaping, explain the difference between
continuous and partial reinforcement, and describe and give examples of each of
the four schedules of reinforcement.
18. Give examples of how shaping, behavior modification,
and other operant conditioning principles can be used to develop new behaviors.
19. Discuss how researchers have applied operant
conditioning principles to train rats via remote control using "virtual
reinforcement."
Contemporary Views of Operant Conditioning, pp. 224-228
20. Discuss how Edward Tolman's
research demonstrated the role of cognitive factors in operant conditioning,
and explain cognitive maps and latent learning.
21. Explain the phenomenon of learned helplessness,
noting how it provided additional evidence for the role of mental factors in
learning, and describe how learned helplessness can be overcome.
22. Define instinctive drift and discuss how it
challenged the traditional behaviorist view of operant conditioning.
Observational Learning: Imitating the Actions of Others,
pp. 229-234
23. Describe Albert Bandura's
classic studies on observational learning and identify factors that increase
the likelihood of imitation occurring.
24. Discuss research on observational learning in
nonhuman animals.
25. Describe ways in which the principles of
observational learning have been applied in the media to promote social change
and healthy behaviors through entertainment programs.
26. Discuss research on the links between portrayals of
sexual and aggressive behavior in the media and sexual and aggressive behavior
in the real world, identifying the role played by observational learning.
Application: Using Learning Principles to Improve
Self-Control, p. 236
27. Explain how the relative value of reinforcers
can change over time, and identify five strategies that can help you stay
focused on long-term reinforcers.
Chapter 6
Introduction: What Is Memory? p. 242-252
1. Define memory, and explain the processes of encoding,
storage, and retrieval.
2. Describe the stage model of memory, and explain how
each of the three stages function.
3. Discuss the function, duration, capacity, and types of
sensory memory, and explain how George Sperling's
experiment advanced the understanding of sensory memory.
4. Describe the function, duration, and capacity of
short-term memory, and explain the usefulness of chunking.
5. Explain the functions of the different components in Baddeley's model of working memory.
6. Give examples of maintenance rehearsal and elaborative
rehearsal, and explain why one is more effective in encoding long-term
memories.
7. Describe the types of information in long-term memory,
and explain the differences between implicit memory and explicit memory.
8. Discuss the organization of information in long-term
memory.
Retrieval: Getting Information from Long-Term Memory pp.
253-257
9. Define retrieval, noting how retrieval cues work, and
describe what happens when retrieval fails, as in a tip-of-the-tongue (TOT)
experience.
10. Describe how retrieval is tested, and explain the serial position effect.
11. Discuss the context effect and mood congruence as different
forms of the encoding specificity principle, and evaluate the accuracy of
flashbulb memories.
Forgetting: When Retrieval Fails, pp. 257–262
12. Discuss Hermann Ebbinghaus’s
studies of forgetting, noting the basic pattern of the forgetting curve.
13. Describe how each of the following explanations
account for forgetting: encoding failure, decay theory, interference theory,
and motivated forgetting.
14. List the typical characteristics of déjà vu
experiences, and summarize the explanations to account for these experiences.
Imperfect Memories: Errors, Distortions, and False
Memories, pp. 263–268
15. Explain how the misinformation effect, source
confusion, and schemas and scripts can contribute to distorted or false
memories.
16. Define imagination inflation, and describe how it has
been used in psychological studies to create false memories.
17. Discuss the controversy surrounding repressed memory
therapy, noting the objections of memory experts.
The Search for the Biological Basis of Memory, pp.
269–280
18. Explain how research by Karl Lashley
and by Richard Thompson demonstrated that memories can be both localized and
distributed in the brain.
19. Define long-term potentiation
and discuss how Eric Kandel’s research on Aplysia demonstrated the physical changes associated with
forming a new long-term memory.
20. Define memory consolidation, retrograde amnesia, and anterograde amnesia.
21. Summarize what has been learned about memory from the
famous case of H.M., including Suzanne Corkin’s
recent studies of H.M.’s limited ability to remember
details about famous people.
22. Describe the roles of different brain structures in
normal memory.
22. Describe the underlying causes and typical course of
Alzheimer’s disease, including the progressive destruction of brain tissue.
Application: Superpower Memory in Minutes per Day! pp.
281–282
23. Identify several strategies you can use to enhance
your ability to remember information.
Chapter 9
Introduction: Your Life Story,
pp. 375-376
1. Discuss the scope and themes of developmental
psychology and identify the major stages of the lifespan.
Genetic Contributions to Your Life Story, pp. 376-379
2. Define the terms chromosomes, genes, and DNA, and
explain how they are related.
3. Explain how genes and environmental factors interact
to guide the development of living organisms, including a discussion of the
role played by alleles and an explanation of the difference between genotype and
phenotype.
4. Discuss the findings of the International Human Genome
Sequencing Consortium.
5. Describe the sex chromosomes and explain why males are
more likely to develop certain genetic disorders than females.
Prenatal Development, pp. 379-380
6. Describe how a zygote develops into a full-term fetus,
noting the characteristics of the three stages of prenatal development.
7. Provide examples of common teratogens, and explain how
teratogens affect the developing fetus.
Development During Infancy and
Childhood, pp. 381-396
8. Identify the sensory capabilities and reflexes of
newborns that enhance their chances for survival, explain how these abilities
promote the development of relationships with caregivers, and describe the development
of motor skills in infancy.
9. Define temperament and identify the main temperamental
patterns.
10. Explain the basic premise of attachment theory, the
behavioral differences that characterize secure and insecure attachment, and
the effects of day care on attachment.
11. Discuss cultural differences in the sleeping customs
of American and Mayan families with infants and young children and how those
customs reflect different cultural values.
12. Describe the stages of language development, and
explain how language development is shaped by both innate predispositions and
environmental influences, giving examples of each factor.
13. Explain the basic assumptions of Jean Piaget’s theory
of cognitive development, and describe the main characteristics of each of the
four stages of cognitive development in Piaget’s theory.
14. Discuss some important criticisms of Piaget’s theory,
including research by Renee Baillargeon, and contrast Lev Vygotsky’s
and Piaget’s views on cognitive development.
15. Explain how the information-processing model of
cognitive development differs from Piaget’s model of cognitive development.
Adolescence, pp. 396–406
16. Define adolescence and describe the typical course of
physical development, including primary and secondary sexual characteristics.
17. Discuss factors that affect the timing of puberty,
and describe the effects of early and late maturation, including how those
effects differ for girls and boys.
18. Describe how the brain develops during adolescence
and explain how these changes in brain structure are reflected in adolescent
behavior.
19. Discuss social development during adolescence,
including relationships with parents and peers, and note cultural differences
and similarities in parent-adolescent conflict.
20. Discuss the important role that adolescent identity
formation plays in Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory
of development, and describe the other stages of psychosocial development in Erikson’s theory.
21. Describe Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral
development, noting the stages and levels, and explain how moral reasoning is
influenced by gender and culture.
Adult Development, pp. 406–410
22. Explain the major milestones in physical and social
development during adulthood.
23. Describe changes in the composition of American
families and households from 1970 to the present, and discuss some of the
characteristics of career paths in adulthood.
Late Adulthood and Aging, pp. 410–411
24. Characterize physical development in late adulthood,
and discuss the accuracy of U.S. stereotypes of old age.
25. Describe K. Warner Schaie’s
longitudinal research on the effects of aging on cognitive and intellectual
abilities.
26. Discuss social development in late adulthood, explain
the activity theory of aging, and describe the final stage in Erik Erikson’s psychosocial theory.
The Final Chapter: Dying and Death, pp. 413–414
27. Describe Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s
stage theory of dying, and assess its validity.
Application: Raising Psychologically Healthy Children,
pp. 415–416
28. Explain the effects of authoritarian, permissive, and
authoritative parenting styles on children, and list several suggestions that
promote authoritative parenting.
Chapter 11
Introduction: What Is Personality?,
p. 465
1. Define personality, discuss the nature of personality
theories, and identify the four basic theoretical perspectives in personality.
The Psychoanalytic Perspective on Personality, pp.
466–480
2. Discuss the course of Sigmund Freud’s life, some of
his notable publications, and the social and cultural events that shaped
Freud’s views about human nature.
3. Distinguish among the three levels of awareness and
describe the nature and development of the three basic structures of
personality in Freud’s psychoanalytic theory.
4. Discuss Freud’s notion of the ego defense mechanisms,
and provide an everyday example of each of the major ego defense mechanisms.
5. Describe the psychosexual stages of development,
focusing on the core conflict at each stage, and explain the consequences of
fixation.
6. Compare and contrast Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
with the personality theories of neo-Freudians Carl Jung, Karen Horney, and Alfred Adler.
7. Identify criticisms of Freud’s theory and, more
generally, of the psychoanalytic perspective.
The Humanistic Perspective on Personality, pp. 480–484
8. Describe the humanistic perspective and contrast it
with psychoanalytic theory and behaviorism.
9. Discuss the key assumptions of Carl Rogers and
describe his theory of personality, especially the importance of the
actualizing tendency, the self-concept, conditional and unconditional positive
regard, and the fully functioning person.
10. Compare and contrast the viewpoints of Sigmund Freud
and Carl Rogers on human nature.
11. Identify the key strengths and weaknesses of the
humanistic perspective.
The Social Cognitive Perspective on Personality, pp.
484–488
12. Discuss the key ideas of Albert Bandura’s
social cognitive theory of personality, noting the role of self-efficacy
beliefs in the development of a person’s self-system.
13. Specify the strengths and weaknesses of the social
cognitive perspective.
The Trait Perspective on Personality, pp. 488–496
14. Describe how trait theories differ from the other
perspectives on personality, and distinguish between surface traits and source
traits.
15. Compare and contrast the trait theories of Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck.
16. Describe the brain-imaging research findings
suggesting that personality traits are associated with specific patterns of
brain activity.
17. Describe the five-factor model of personality, and
the research evidence supporting it.
18. Describe the research strategies used in the field of
behavioral genetics, and discuss research findings on the relationship between
genetics and personality traits.
19. Describe the “Minnesota Study of Twins Reared Apart,”
and the notion of emergenic traits in explaining
similarities between identical twins.
20. Identify limitations of the trait perspective.
Assessing Personality: Psychological Tests, pp. 497–501
21. Compare and contrast the methods of personality
assessment advocated by the pseudosciences of
astrology and graphology, noting what scientific research has indicated about
the validity of each method.
22. Compare and contrast the methods used by projective
tests and self-report inventories to measure personality.
23. Identify the key strengths and weaknesses of
projective tests and self-report inventories.
Application: Possible Selves: Imagine the Possibilities,
p. 503–504
24. Discuss how your “possible selves” can influence your
sense of self-efficacy, motivation, behavior, and life decisions.
Chapter 13
Introduction: What Is Stress? pp. 553–558
1. Define stress and discuss the role of cognitive
appraisal in the experience of stress.
2. Identify the focus of health psychology, and explain
how health psychologists are guided by the biopsychosocial
model.
3. Contrast the life events approach and the daily
hassles approach as explanations of the causes of stress.
4. Define conflict, and describe how different types of
conflict produce different degrees of stress.
5. Describe the four patterns of acculturation, noting
the level of acculturative stress likely to be produced by each pattern.
Physical Effects of Stress: The Mind-Body Connection, pp.
558–563
6. Discuss Walter Cannon’s contributions to our
understanding of the physical effects of stress, and describe the sequence of
physiological changes involved in the fight-or-flight response.
7. Describe the three stages of Hans Selye’s
general adaptation syndrome and the physiological mechanisms involved in
prolonged stress.
8. Define the placebo effect, and summarize brain-imaging
research findings about the response to real versus fake painkillers.
9. Define psychoneuroimmunology,
and describe how the work of Robert Ader and Nicholas
Cohen challenged the view that the immune system was independent of other body
systems.
10. Explain how the immune system, the nervous system,
and the endocrine system each influence one another.
11. Discuss the range of stressors that can adversely
affect immune system functioning and the health risk implications of those
findings, including susceptibility to the common cold and other infections.
Individual Factors That Influence the Response to Stress,
pp. 564–572
12. Discuss how psychological factors such as feelings of
personal control, explanatory style, and chronic negative emotions can affect
our response to stress.
13. Describe the Type A behavior
pattern, identifying the component which has the greatest impact on physical
health.
14. Critically evaluate the notion that personality
factors cause disease, noting the advantages and disadvantages of correlational
studies and prospective studies.
15. Define social support and discuss the impact of relationships
on stress and health, noting gender differences.
16. Describe the different types of social support, and
contrast helpful and unhelpful support behaviors.
Coping: How People Deal with Stress, pp. 572–578
17. List problem-focused coping strategies and
emotion-focused coping strategies, and give an example of each strategy.
18. Discuss gender differences in responding to stress,
contrasting the tend-and-befriend response with the fight-or-flight response.
19. Discuss differences between individualistic and
collectivistic cultures in attitudes about coping with stressors.
Application: Minimizing the Effects of Stress, pp.
578–579
20. Identify four ways to help minimize the negative
effects of stress.
Chapter 14
Introduction: Understanding Psychological Disorders, pp.
584–589
1. Define psychopathology and discuss some of the issues
related to labeling behavior as “abnormal.”
2. Discuss the social stigma associated with having a
mental disorder, including the accuracy of the stereotype that people with a
psychological disorder are prone to violence.
3. Define a psychological disorder, and discuss the
development and role of DSM-IV-TR in classifying psychological disorders.
4. Discuss the key findings of the National Comorbidity Survey, including the prevalence of
psychological disorders and gender differences in the incidence of specific
disorders.
5. List and describe core features and examples of key
diagnostic categories in DSM-IV-TR.
Anxiety Disorders: Intense Apprehension and Worry, pp.
590–597
6. Describe the main symptom of the anxiety disorders,
and differentiate between pathological anxiety and normal anxiety.
7. Identify the symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder
(GAD) and panic disorder, including cultural variations, and discuss the
cognitive-behavioral explanation of panic disorder.
8. Describe the most common types of phobias, noting the
specific symptoms that characterize agoraphobia and social phobia.
9. Discuss how the different learning theories account
for the development of phobias.
10. List the main symptoms and causes of posttraumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), and the factors that influence the likelihood of
developing PTSD.
11. Describe the main symptoms of obsessive-compulsive
disorder (OCD), identifying common obsessions and compulsions in different
cultures, and discuss current thinking about its causes.
Mood Disorders: Emotions Gone Awry, pp. 598–605
12. Describe the main features of a mood disorder, noting
how those features differ from normal mood swings.
13. Discuss the range of symptoms that characterize major
depression, noting how major depression differs from dysthymic
disorder.
14. Discuss the prevalence and course of major depression,
including gender differences.
15. Define bipolar disorder and cyclothymic
disorder, identify the symptoms of each, and discuss the prevalence and course
of bipolar disorder.
16. Discuss the role of genetic predisposition, brain
chemistry, and stressful life events in the development of mood disorders, and
note the relationship between creativity and mood disorders.
17. Summarize the findings and implications of research
investigating the link between cigarette smoking and psychological disorders,
especially depression and schizophrenia.
Personality Disorders: Maladaptive Traits, pp. 604–608
18. Identify the key characteristics and symptoms of a
personality disorder, and describe the three categories or “clusters” of
personality disorders.
19. Describe the symptoms and characteristics of paranoid
personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and borderline
personality disorder.
Dissociative Disorders:
Fragmentation of the Self, pp. 609–611
20. Contrast common dissociative
experiences with the symptoms of a dissociative
disorder, noting the formal definition of a dissociative
disorder.
21. Describe the symptoms of dissociative
amnesia and dissociative fugue, and list the factors
that have been identified as triggering these disorders.
22. Describe the symptoms and possible causes of dissociative identity disorder (DID), and explain the
controversy surrounding its diagnosis and reports of its prevalence.
Schizophrenia: A Different Reality, pp. 611–620
23. Define schizophrenia, distinguishing between positive
and negative symptoms of schizophrenia.
24. List and describe the key symptoms of schizophrenia.
25. Describe the different types of schizophrenia,
discuss the prevalence of schizophrenia, and identify variations in the course
of the disease.
26. Summarize the evidence for the various factors
thought to be involved in the development of schizophrenia, including genetic
factors, paternal age, and exposure to the influenza virus.
27. Discuss research on the role of the brain in
schizophrenia, including abnormal brain structures, the dopamine hypothesis,
and the progressive loss of gray matter in early-onset schizophrenia.
28. Discuss the findings and implications of the Finnish
Adoptive Family Study of Schizophrenia, describing the roles of heredity and
family environment in the development of schizophrenia.
Application: Understanding and Helping to Prevent
Suicide, pp. 621–622
29. Discuss patterns of suicidal behavior and characterize
the thinking of the suicidal person.
30. List and explain five guidelines to help someone who is expressing suicidal intentions.