1. TRUE OR FALSE 1. Questions about human nature date back to the speculations of the ancient philosopher Aristotle. 2. Sigmund Freud established the first psych laboratory at the University of Vienna, Austria. 3. The science of psychology developed from the more established fields of biology and philosophy. 4. Psychology is best defined today as the study of mental life. 5. Psychology is a way of asking and answering questions. 6. The biggest and most persistent issue in psychology concerns the nature-nurture controversy, that is the relative contributions of biology and experience to psychological traits and behavior. 7. Evolution has become an important principle for psychology. 8. In contrast to sociology and anthropology, contemporary psychology has little interest in how behavior varies across cultures. 9. Psychology’s different perspectives contradict each other.* 10. Psychiatry is a branch of psychology that involves the assessment and treatment of psychological disorders.*

2. ANSWERS 1) True 2) False 3) True 4) False 5) True 6) True 7) True 8) False 9) False 10) False

3. Is Human Nature Fixed or Changeable? Please use the following scale in response to the following statements… 1=Strongly Agree 2=Agree 3=Mostly Agree 4=Mostly Disagree 5=Disagree 6=Strongly Disagree

4. 1. The kind of person someone is, is something very basic and can’t be changed very much. 2. People can do things differently, but the important parts of who they are can’t really be changed. 3. Everyone, no matter who the person is, can significantly change his or her basic characteristics. 4. As much as I hate to admit it, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. People can’t really change their deepest attributes.

5. 5. People can substantially change who they are. 6. Everyone is a certain kind of person and there is not much that can be done to really change that. 7. No matter what kind of person someone is, he or she can always change significantly. 8. All people can change their most basic qualities.

6. Directions 1. Reverse the numbers you wrote down so 6=1, 5=2, 4=3, 2=5, 1=6) 2. Then add up the new numbers 3. Scores will range from 8-48. Lower scores reflect the belief that traits are fixed. Higher scores indicate a belief that traits are changeable.