Module 2 Today’s Psychology and Its

Approaches

LEARNING TARGETS
2-1 Describe how contemporary psychology focuses on cognition,
biology and experience, culture and gender, and human
flourishing.
2-2 Describe the biopsychosocial approach and psychology’s main
theoretical perspectives.
2-3 Explain how psychological principles can help you learn,
remember, and thrive, and do better on the AP® exam.

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Contemporary Psychology
2-1 How has contemporary psychology focused on cognition,
biology and experience, culture and gender, and human
flourishing?

Simultaneous with humanistic psychology’s emergence, psychologists in

the 1960s pioneered a cognitive revolution. This led the field back to its
early interest in cognition—how our mind processes and retains
information. Cognitive psychology today continues its scientific
exploration of how we perceive, process, and remember information and
of how thinking and emotion interact in anxiety, depression, and other
disorders. The marriage of cognitive psychology (the science of mind) and
neuroscience (the science of brain) gave birth to cognitive neuroscience.
This specialty, with researchers in many disciplines, studies the brain
activity underlying mental activity.

cognitive psychology
the study of mental processes, such as occur when we perceive, learn,
remember, think, communicate, and solve problems.

cognitive neuroscience
the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including
perception, thinking, memory, and language).

Today’s psychology builds on the work of many earlier scientists and

schools of thought. To encompass psychology’s concern with observable
behavior and with inner thoughts and feelings, we now define psychology
as the science of behavior and mental processes. Let’s unpack this
definition. Behavior is anything an organism does—any action we can
observe and record. Yelling, smiling, blinking, sweating, talking, and
questionnaire marking are all observable behaviors. Mental processes are

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the internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior—sensations,
perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

psychology
the science of behavior and mental processes.

The key word in psychology’s definition is science. Psychology is less

a set of findings than a way of asking and answering questions. Our aim,
then, is not merely to report results but also to show you how
psychologists play their game. You will see how researchers evaluate
conflicting opinions and ideas. And you will learn how all of us, whether
scientists or simply curious people, can think harder and smarter when
experiencing and explaining the events of our lives.
Psychology has roots in many disciplines and countries. The young
science of psychology developed from the more established fields of
philosophy and biology. Wundt was both a philosopher and a physiologist.
James was an American philosopher. Freud was an Austrian physician.
Ivan Pavlov, who pioneered the study of learning, was a Russian
physiologist. Jean Piaget, the last century’s most influential observer of
children, was a Swiss biologist. These “Magellans of the mind,” as
psychology historian Morton Hunt (1993) called them, illustrate the
diversity of psychology’s origins.
Like those pioneers, today’s estimated 1+ million psychologists are
citizens of many lands (Zoma & Gielen, 2015). The International Union of
Psychological Science has 82 member nations, from Albania to
Zimbabwe. In China, the first university psychology department was
established in 1978; by 2016 there were some 270, not counting AP®
Psychology courses now taught in some secondary schools (Zhang, 2016).
Moreover, thanks to international publications, joint meetings, and the
Internet, collaboration and communication cross borders more than ever.
Psychology is growing, and it is globalizing. The story of psychology—the
subject of this book—continues to develop in many places, at many levels,

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with interests ranging from the study of nerve cell activity to the study of
international conflicts. Contemporary psychology, shaped by many forces,
is particularly influenced by our understanding of biology and experience,
culture and gender, and human flourishing.

Evolutionary Psychology and Behavior Genetics

Are our human traits inherited, or do they develop through experience?
This has been psychology’s biggest and most persistent issue. As we have
seen, the debate over the nature–nurture issue is ancient. The ancient
Greeks debated this, with Socrates and Plato assuming that we inherit
character and intelligence and that certain ideas are also inborn, and
Aristotle countering that there is nothing in the mind that does not first
come in from the external world through the senses.

nature–nurture issue
the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and
experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Today’s science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature
and nurture.

In the 1600s, philosophers rekindled the debate. Locke rejected the

notion of inborn ideas, suggesting that the mind is a blank slate on which
experience writes. Descartes disagreed, believing that some ideas are
innate. Descartes’ views gained support from a curious naturalist two
centuries later.

AP® EXAM TIP

Pay close attention to what your authors, David Myers and Nathan DeWall, are
emphasizing as they tell the story of psychology. When they say the nature–
nurture issue is the biggest issue in psychology, that’s a sign that it’s likely to be

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 covered on the AP® exam.

In 1831, an indifferent student but ardent collector of beetles,

mollusks, and shells set sail on a historic round-the-world journey. The 22-
year-old voyager, Charles Darwin, pondered the incredible species
variation he encountered, including tortoises on one island that differed
from those on nearby islands. Darwin’s 1859 On the Origin of Species
explained this diversity by proposing the evolutionary process of natural
selection: From among chance variations, nature selects traits that best
enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
Darwin’s principle of natural selection—what philosopher Daniel Dennett
(1996) has called “the single best idea anyone has ever had”—is still with
us 150+ years later as biology’s organizing principle. Evolution also has
become an important principle for twenty-first-century psychology. This
would surely have pleased Darwin, who believed his theory explained not
only animal structures (such as a polar bear’s white coat) but also animal
behaviors (such as the emotional expressions associated with human lust
and rage).

Charles Darwin (1809–1882) Darwin argued that natural selection shapes

behaviors as well as bodies.

natural selection
the principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and

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 reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait
variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

The nature–nurture issue recurs throughout this text as today’s

psychologists explore the relative contributions of biology and experience.
They ask, for example, how are we humans alike because of our common
biology and evolutionary history? That’s the focus of evolutionary
psychology. And how do we individually differ because of our differing
genes and environments? That’s the focus of behavior genetics.

A nature-made nature–nurture experiment Identical twins (left) have

the same genes. This makes them ideal participants in studies designed to shed
light on hereditary and environmental influences on personality, intelligence, and
other traits. Fraternal twins (right) have different genes but often share a similar
environment. Twin studies provide a wealth of findings—described in later
modules—showing the importance of both nature and nurture.

evolutionary psychology
the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural
selection.

behavior genetics
the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental
influences on behavior.

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 We can, for example, ask: Are gender differences biologically
predisposed or socially constructed? Is children’s grammar mostly innate
or formed by experience? How are intelligence and personality differences
influenced by heredity and by environment? Are sexual behaviors more
“pushed” by inner biology or “pulled” by external incentives? Should we
treat psychological disorders—depression, for example—as disorders of
the brain, disorders of thought, or both?
Such debates continue. Yet over and again we will see that in
contemporary science the nature–nurture tension dissolves: Nurture works
on what nature provides. Our species is biologically endowed with an
enormous capacity to learn and adapt. Moreover, every psychological
event (every thought, every emotion) is simultaneously a biological event.
Thus, depression can be both a brain disorder and a thought disorder.

Check Your Understanding

Ask Yourself
Think of one of your own unique traits. How do you think that trait was
affected by the influences of nature and nurture?

Test Yourself
How did the cognitive revolution affect the field of psychology?
What is natural selection?
What is contemporary psychology’s position on the nature–nurture issue?
Answers to the Test Yourself questions can be found in Appendix E at the end of the book.

Cross-Cultural and Gender Psychology

What can we learn about people in general from psychological studies
done in one time and place—often with participants from what
psychologists have called the WEIRD cultures (Western, Educated,
Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic [Henrich et al., 2010])? As we will
see time and again, culture—shared ideas and behaviors that one
generation passes on to the next—matters. Our culture shapes our

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behavior. It influences our standards of promptness and frankness, our
attitudes toward premarital sex and varying body shapes, our tendency to
be casual or formal, our willingness to make eye contact, our
conversational distance, and much, much more. Being aware of such
differences, we can restrain our assumptions that others will think and act
as we do.

culture
the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group
of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.

Culture and kissing Kissing crosses cultures. Yet how we do it varies.

Imagine yourself kissing someone on the lips. Do you tilt your head right or left?
In Western cultures, in which people read from left to right, about two-thirds of
couples kiss right, as in William and Kate’s famous kiss, and in Auguste Rodin’s
sculpture, The Kiss. In one study, 77 percent of Hebrew- and Arabic-language
right-to-left readers kissed tilting left (Shaki, 2013).

It is also true, however, that our shared biological heritage unites us as

a universal human family. The same underlying processes guide people
everywhere. Some examples:
People diagnosed with specific learning disorder (formerly called

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 dyslexia) exhibit the same brain malfunction whether they are Italian,
French, or British (Paulesu et al., 2001).
Variation in languages may impede communication across cultures. Yet
all languages share deep principles of grammar, and people from
opposite global hemispheres can communicate with a smile or a frown.
People in different cultures vary in feelings of loneliness (Lykes &
Kemmelmeier, 2014). But across cultures, loneliness is magnified by
shyness, low self-esteem, and being unmarried (Jones et al., 1985;
Rokach et al., 2002).

“ All people are the same; only their habits differ.”

Confucius, 551–479 B.C.E.

We are each in certain respects like all others, like some others, and
like no other. Studying people of all races and cultures helps us discern our
similarities and our differences, our human kinship and our diversity.
You will see throughout this book that one’s socially defined gender
(as well as one’s biologically defined sex) matters, too. Today’s
researchers report gender differences in what we dream, in how we express
and detect emotions, and in our risk for alcohol use disorder, depression,
and eating disorders. Gender differences fascinate us, and studying them is
potentially beneficial. For example, many researchers have observed that
women carry on conversations more readily to build relationships, while
men talk more to give information and advice (Tannen, 2001).
Understanding these differences can help us prevent conflicts and
misunderstandings in everyday interactions.
But again, psychologically as well as biologically, women and men are
overwhelmingly similar. Whether female or male, we learn to walk at
about the same age. We experience the same sensations of light and sound.
We remember vivid emotional events and forget mundane details. We feel
the same pangs of hunger, desire, and fear. We exhibit similar overall
intelligence and well-being.
The point to remember: Even when specific attitudes and behaviors

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vary by gender or across cultures, as they often do, the underlying
processes are much the same.

Positive Psychology
Psychology’s first hundred years often focused on understanding and
treating troubles, such as abuse and anxiety, depression and disease,
prejudice and poverty. Much of today’s psychology continues the
exploration of such challenges. Without slighting the need to repair
damage and cure disease, Martin Seligman and others (2002, 2005, 2011)
have called for more research on human flourishing. These psychologists
call their approach positive psychology. They believe that happiness is a
by-product of a pleasant, engaged, and meaningful life. Thus, positive
psychology uses scientific methods to explore the building of a “good life”
that engages our skills and a “meaningful life” that points beyond
ourselves.

positive psychology
the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and
promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.

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The Biopsychosocial Approach and Psychology’s
Theoretical Perspectives
2-2 What is the biopsychosocial approach, and what are
psychology’s main theoretical perspectives?

Each of us is a complex system that is part of a larger social system. But

each of us is also composed of smaller systems, such as our nervous
system and body organs, which are composed of still smaller systems—
cells, molecules, and atoms.
These tiered systems offer complementary outlooks. Consider horrific
school shootings. Have they occurred because the shooters have brain
disorders or genetic tendencies that cause them to be violent? Because they
have observed brutality and mayhem in the media or played violent video
games? Because they live in a gun-toting society? Such perspectives are
complementary. Together, the biological, psychological, and social-
cultural viewpoints form an integrated biopsychosocial approach (Figure
2.1).

biopsychosocial approach
an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-
cultural viewpoints.

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 Figure 2.1 Biopsychosocial approach
This integrated approach incorporates three viewpoints to offer a
more complete picture of any given behavior or mental process.

AP® EXAM TIP

You will see versions of Figure 2.1 throughout the text. Spend some time right
now familiarizing yourself with how the figure’s three viewpoints might
contribute to behavior or mental processes, the very stuff of psychology.

Within this broad approach, psychology has more focused theoretical

perspectives. Each offers a way of looking at a behavior or mental process,

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yet each by itself is incomplete. Each theoretical perspective described in
Table 2.1 asks different questions and has its limits. Together they
complement one another. Consider, for example, how they shed light on
anger:
Someone working from the behavioral perspective might attempt to
determine what triggers angry responses or aggressive acts.
Someone working from the biological perspective might study brain
circuits that cause us to be red in the face and “hot under the collar,” or
how heredity and experience influence our individual differences in
temperament.
Someone working from the cognitive perspective might study how our
interpretation of a situation affects our anger and how our anger affects
our thinking.
Someone working from the evolutionary perspective might analyze how
anger facilitated the survival of our ancestors’ genes.
Someone working from the humanistic perspective (a historically
important approach defined earlier in this unit) might be interested in
understanding how angry feelings affect a person’s potential for growth.
As we will see, modern-day positive psychology incorporates
humanistic psychology’s emphasis on human flourishing.
Someone working from the psychodynamic perspective (which evolved
from Freud’s psychoanalysis) might view an outburst as an outlet for
unconscious hostility.
Someone working from the social-cultural perspective might explore
how expressions of anger vary across cultural contexts.

TABLE 2.1 Psychology’s Theoretical Perspectives

Perspective Focus Sample Questions

Behavioral How we learn How do we learn to fear particular

observable objects or situations? What is the most
responses effective way to alter our behavior, for
example, to lose weight?

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Biological How the body and How do pain messages travel from the
brain enable hand to the brain? How is blood
emotions, chemistry linked with moods and
memories, and motives? To what extent are
sensory psychological traits such as
experiences; how intelligence, personality, sexual
our genes and our orientation, and vulnerability to
environment depression products of our genes? Of
influence our our environment?
individual
differences

Cognitive How we encode, How do we use information in

process, store, and remembering? Reasoning? Solving
retrieve information problems?

Evolutionary How the natural How does evolution influence behavior

selection of traits tendencies?
has promoted the
survival of genes

Humanistic How we achieve How can we work toward fulfilling our

personal growth potential? How can we overcome
and self-fulfillment barriers to our personal growth?

Psychodynamic How behavior How can someone’s personality traits

springs from and disorders be explained by
unconscious drives unfulfilled wishes and childhood
and conflicts traumas?

Social-cultural How behavior and How are we affected by the people

thinking vary around us, and by our surrounding
across situations culture?
and cultures

behavioral psychology
the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of
learning.

biological psychology
the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal)
and psychological processes. (Some biological psychologists call themselves

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 behavioral neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists,
physiological psychologists, or biopsychologists.)

psychodynamic psychology
a branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts
influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological
disorders.

social-cultural psychology
the study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking.

AP® EXAM TIP

These perspectives will come up again and again throughout your AP®
Psychology course, and they likely will be on the exam. You need to become
very comfortable with the meaning of terms such as behavioral, cognitive, and
psychodynamic. Ask your teacher for clarification if you are the least bit unclear
about what the perspectives mean.

The point to remember: Like two-dimensional views of a three-

dimensional object, each of psychology’s perspectives is helpful. But each
by itself fails to reveal the whole picture.
With perspectives ranging from the biological to the social, psychology
relates to many fields. As we will see in Module 3, psychologists may be
found in settings ranging from the laboratory to the clinic to the office.
They may teach in medical schools, law schools, and high schools, or
work in hospitals, factories, and corporate offices. They engage in
interdisciplinary studies, such as psychohistory (the study of people’s
historical motivations), psycholinguistics (the study of language and
thinking), and psychoceramics (the study of crackpots).1

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 Views of anger How would each of psychology’s theoretical perspectives
explain what’s going on here?

Psychology also influences modern culture. Knowledge transforms us.

Learning about the solar system and the germ theory of disease alters the
way people think and act. Learning about psychology’s findings also
changes people: They less often judge psychological disorders as moral
failings, treatable by punishment and ostracism. They less often regard and
treat women as men’s mental inferiors. They less often view and raise
children as ignorant, willful beasts in need of taming. “In each case,” noted
Morton Hunt (1990, p. 206), “knowledge has modified attitudes, and,
through them, behavior.” Once aware of psychology’s well-researched
ideas—about how body and mind connect, how a child’s mind grows, how
we construct our perceptions, how we learn and remember, how people
across the world are alike (and different)—your mind may never again be
quite the same.

“ Once expanded to the dimensions of a larger idea, [the mind] never returns to its
original size.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1809–1894

But bear in mind psychology’s limits. Don’t expect it to answer the

ultimate questions, such as those posed by Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy
(1904): “Why should I live? Why should I do anything? Is there in life any
purpose which the inevitable death that awaits me does not undo and

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destroy?”
Although many of life’s significant questions are beyond psychology,
some very important ones are illuminated by even a first psychology
course. Through painstaking research, psychologists have gained insights
into brain and mind, dreams and memories, depression and joy. Even the
unanswered questions can renew our sense of mystery about things we do
not yet understand. And, as you will see in Modules 4–8, your study of
psychology can help teach you how to ask and answer important questions
as you evaluate competing ideas and claims.
Psychology deepens our appreciation for how we humans perceive,
think, feel, and act. By so doing it can enrich our lives and enlarge our
vision. Through this book we hope to help guide you toward that end. As
educator Charles Eliot said a century ago: “Books are the quietest and
most constant of friends, and the most patient of teachers.”
Check Your Understanding
Ask Yourself
How have your cultural experiences influenced your development?
When you signed up for this course, what did you think psychology would
be all about?
Test Yourself
What advantage do we gain by using the biopsychosocial approach in
studying psychological events?
The___________ ___________ perspective in psychology focuses on how
behavior and thought differ from situation to situation and from culture to
culture, while the ______________ perspective emphasizes observation of
how we respond to and learn in different situations.
Answers to the Test Yourself questions can be found in Appendix E at the end of the book.
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Use Psychology to Become a Stronger Person—and a
Better Student
2-3 How can psychological principles help you learn, remember,
and thrive, and do better on the AP® exam?

Throughout this text, we will offer evidence-based suggestions that you

can use to live a happy, effective, flourishing life, including the following:
Get a full night’s sleep. Unlike sleep-deprived people, who live with
fatigue and gloomy moods, well-rested people live with greater energy,
alertness, and productivity.
Make space for exercise. Aerobic activity not only increases health and
energy, it also is an effective remedy for mild to moderate depression
and anxiety.
Set long-term goals, with daily aims. Successful people take time each
day to work toward their goals, such as exercising or sleeping more, or
eating more healthfully. Over time, they often find that their daily
practice becomes a habit.
Have a “growth mindset.” Rather than seeing their abilities as fixed,
successful people view their mental abilities as like a muscle—
something that grows stronger with effortful use.
Prioritize relationships. We humans are social animals. We flourish
when connected in close relationships. We are both happier and
healthier when supported by (and supporting) caring friends.
Psychology’s research also shows how we can learn and retain
information. Many students assume that the way to cement new learning is
to reread. What helps even more—and what this book therefore
encourages—is repeated self-testing and rehearsal of previously studied
material. Memory researchers Henry Roediger and Jeffrey Karpicke
(2006) call this phenomenon the testing effect. They note that “testing is a
powerful means of improving learning, not just assessing it.” In one of
their studies, English-speaking students recalled the meaning of 40

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previously learned Swahili words much better if tested repeatedly than if
they spent the same time restudying the words (Karpicke & Roediger,
2008). Many other studies, including in college classrooms, confirm that
frequent quizzing and self-testing boosts students’ retention (McDaniel et
al., 2015; Trumbo et al., 2016).

testing effect
enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information.
Also referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.

As you will see in Modules 31–33, to master information you must

actively process it. Your mind is not like your stomach, something to be
filled passively; it grows stronger only with effort. Countless experiments
reveal that people learn and remember best when they put material in their
own words, rehearse it, and then retrieve and review it again.
The SQ3R study method incorporates these principles (McDaniel et
al., 2009; Robinson, 1970). SQ3R is an acronym for its five steps: Survey,
Question, Read, Retrieve,2 Review. We have organized this book in a way
that facilitates your use of the SQ3R study system.

SQ3R
a study method incorporating five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve,
Review.

To study a module, first survey, taking a bird’s-eye view. Scan the

headings, and notice how the module is organized. Before you read each
main section, try to answer its numbered Learning Target (for this section:
“How can psychological principles help you learn, remember, and thrive,
and do better on the AP® exam?”). Roediger and Bridgid Finn (2010) have
found that “trying and failing to retrieve the answer is actually helpful to
learning.” Those who test their understanding before reading, and discover

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what they don’t yet know, will learn and remember better.
Then read, actively searching for the answer to the question. At each
sitting, read only as much of the module (usually a single main section) as
you can absorb without tiring. Read actively and critically. Ask questions.
Take notes. Make the ideas your own: How does what you’ve read relate
to your own life? Does it support or challenge your assumptions? How
convincing is the evidence?

“ It pays better to wait and recollect by an effort from within, than to look at the
book again.”
William James, Principles of Psychology, 1890

Having read a section, retrieve its main ideas: “Active retrieval

promotes meaningful learning,” says Karpicke (2012). So test yourself.
This will not only help you figure out what you know, the testing itself
will help you learn and retain the information more effectively. Even
better, test yourself repeatedly. We offer many self-testing opportunities
throughout each module—for example, in the Check Your Understanding
sections. After answering the Test Yourself questions there, you can check
your answers in Appendix E at the end of this text and reread as needed.

More learning tips To learn more about the testing effect and the SQ3R
method, view the 5-minute animation “Make Things Memorable,” at
tinyurl.com/HowToRemember.

Finally, review: Read over any notes you have taken, again with an eye
on the module’s organization, and quickly review the whole module. Write

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or say what a concept is before rereading to check your understanding. The
Module Review provides answers to the learning target questions along
with helpful review questions. The Unit Review offers Key Terms and Key
Contributors, along with AP® Exam Practice Questions. In addition to
learning psychology’s key concepts and key people, you will also need to
learn the style of writing that is required for success on the exam. The
sample grading rubrics provided for some of the Free-Response Questions
(essay-style questions) in the module and unit reviews will help get you
started.
Four additional study tips may further boost your learning:

Distribute your study time. One of psychology’s oldest findings is that

spaced practice promotes better retention than massed practice. You’ll
remember material better if you space your time over several study periods
—perhaps one hour a day, six days a week—rather than cram it into one
week-long or all-night study blitz. For example, rather than trying to read
an entire module in a single sitting, read just one main section and then
turn to something else. Interleaving your study of psychology with your
study of other subjects boosts long-term retention and protects against
overconfidence (Kornell & Bjork, 2008; Taylor & Rohrer, 2010).
Spacing your study sessions requires a disciplined approach to
managing your time. At the beginning of this text, Richard O. Straub
explains time management in a helpful preface.

Learn to think critically. Whether you are reading or in class, note people’s
assumptions and values. What viewpoint or bias underlies an argument?
Evaluate evidence. Is it anecdotal? Or is it based on informative
experiments? (More on this in Module 6.) Assess conclusions. Are there
alternative explanations?

Process class information actively. Listen for the main ideas and sub-ideas
of a lesson. Write them down. Ask questions during and after class. In
class, as with your homework, process the information actively, and you
will understand and retain it better. As psychologist William James urged a

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century ago, “No reception without reaction, no impression without . . .
expression.” Make the information your own. Relate what you read to
what you already know. Tell someone else about it. (As any teacher will
confirm, to teach is to remember.)
Also, take notes by hand. Handwritten notes, in your own words,
typically engage more active processing, with better retention, than does
verbatim note taking on laptops (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014).

Overlearn. Psychology tells us that overlearning improves retention. We

are prone to overestimating how much we know. You may understand a
module as you read it, but that feeling of familiarity can be deceptively
comforting. By using the Check Your Understanding questions, you can
test your knowledge and overlearn in the process.
Memory experts Elizabeth Bjork and Robert Bjork (2011) offer simple,
scientifically-supported advice for how to improve your retention and your
grades:
Spend less time on the input side and more time on the output side,
such as summarizing what you have read from memory or getting
together with friends and asking each other questions. Any activities
that involve testing yourself—that is, activities that require you to
retrieve or generate information, rather than just representing
information to yourself—will make your learning both more durable
and flexible. (p. 63)

Check Your Understanding

Ask Yourself
Of all of these helpful principles, which ones seem most relevant and
important for improving your own life and studies?

Test Yourself
The _____________ _____________ describes the enhanced memory that
results from repeated retrieval (as in self-testing) rather than from simple

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 rereading of new information.
What does the acronym SQ3R stand for?

Answers to the Test Yourself questions can be found in Appendix E at the end of the book.

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Module 2 REVIEW
2-1 How has contemporary psychology focused on cognition,
biology and experience, culture and gender, and human
flourishing?

The cognitive revolution in the 1960s led psychology back to its early
interest in the mind, and its current definition as the science of behavior
and mental processes.
Our growing understanding of biology and experience has fed
psychology’s most enduring debate. The nature–nurture issue centers
on the relative contributions of genes and experience, and their
interaction in specific environments.
Charles Darwin’s view that natural selection shapes behaviors as well
as bodies led to evolutionary psychology’s study of our similarities
because of our common biology and evolutionary history, and behavior
genetics’ focus on the relative power and limits of genetic and
environmental influences on behavior.
Cross-cultural and gender studies have diversified psychology’s
assumptions while also reminding us of our similarities. Attitudes and
behaviors may vary somewhat by gender or across cultures, but because
of our shared human kinship, the underlying processes and principles
are more similar than different.
Psychology’s traditional focus on understanding and treating troubles
has expanded with positive psychology’s call for more research on
human flourishing and its attempt to discover and promote traits that
help people to thrive.

2-2 What is the biopsychosocial approach, and what are

psychology’s main theoretical perspectives?

The biopsychosocial approach integrates information from three

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 differing but complementary viewpoints: biological, psychological, and
social-cultural.
This approach offers a more complete understanding than could usually
be reached by relying on only one of psychology’s theoretical
perspectives (behavioral, biological, cognitive, evolutionary,
humanistic, psychodynamic, and social-cultural).

2-3 How can psychological principles help you learn, remember,

and thrive, and do better on the AP® exam?

The testing effect shows that learning and memory are enhanced by
actively retrieving, rather than simply rereading, previously studied
material.
The SQ3R study method—survey, question, read, retrieve, and review—
applies principles derived from memory research and can help you learn
and remember material.
Four additional study tips are (1) distribute your study time, (2) learn to
think critically, (3) process class information actively, and (4) overlearn.
Psychological research has shown that people who live happy, thriving
lives (1) manage their time to get a full night’s sleep, (2) make space for
exercise, (3) have a growth mindset, and (4) prioritize relationships.

Multiple-Choice Questions
1. Which of the following is a major issue in modern-day psychology?
a. Evolutionary–biological
b. Social-cultural–biopsychosocial
c. Nature–nurture
d. Psychodynamic–cognitive
e. Social-cultural–behavioral
2. Which of the following perspectives is most likely to address how the
encoding, storing, and retrieval of information might alter our
thoughts?

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 a. Evolutionary
b. Psychodynamic
c. Humanistic
d. Cognitive
e. Biological
3. Which of the following perspectives would be most likely to examine
the unconscious motives of a person who is overly aggressive on the
basketball court?
a. Psychodynamic
b. Social-cultural
c. Behavioral
d. Evolutionary
e. Humanistic
4. Positive psychology, which studies the ideas behind human flourishing,
is connected to which psychologist?
a. John Locke
b. Martin Seligman
c. Charles Darwin
d. Sigmund Freud
e. John Watson

Practice FRQs

1. At the end of this course, you will probably be taking the AP®
Psychology exam. Explain how you could use the following
concepts to help you succeed on that test.
Testing effect
Spaced practice
SQ3R

Answer
1 point: Testing effect: Students should frequently test themselves, over

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 the course of the year, on the material they are currently learning as well
as the material they have already learned. Page 20
1 point: Spaced practice: Studying should be spaced out over the entire
span of the course and not crammed into the last days or hours before
the AP® exam. Page 21
1 point: SQ3R: Students should use the Survey-Question-Read-
Retrieve-Review method in order to most effectively learn the material
for the entire course. This will allow them to process the information on
a deeper level and retain it better over the course of the year. Page
20

2. Six months ago, Carlos emigrated from Mexico to the United States.
Although fluent in English and an honor student in Mexico, Carlos has
had difficulty completing his assignments since moving to the United
States. His parents don’t understand why he is not succeeding like he
did in his last school. Carlos has quit participating in family traditions.

Explain how each of the following psychological perspectives might

explain Carlos’ behavior:
Psychodynamic
Cognitive
Social-cultural
(3 points)

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