MegaMaester

Psychology · Module 4

Psychology's Big Questions

The first three modules built the foundations, applications, and the individual and social mind. This module reaches for the field's biggest and most fascinating questions — and the wider domains where psychology meets the rest of life.

You will explore consciousness and sleep, what intelligence is and how it is measured, how language and thought connect, what evolution can and cannot explain about the mind, how culture shapes us, where psychology is applied in the world, and where the science is heading.

Lessons
7 lessons
Estimated time
~6-8 hours
Assessment
Module quiz included

Not started yet

Lessons

Lesson 1 · 16 min

Consciousness, Sleep, and Dreams

Lesson 2 · 16 min

Intelligence and Its Measurement

Lesson 3 · 16 min

Language and the Mind

Lesson 4 · 16 min

Evolution and the Mind

Lesson 5 · 16 min

Culture and the Mind

Lesson 6 · 16 min

Psychology at Work and Beyond

Lesson 7 · 16 min

The Future of Psychology

Check your understanding

Finish the lessons, then test yourself. Your best score is saved on this device. You can also open this quiz on its own page.

Psychology's Big Questions — Module Assessment

14 questions · pass mark 75%

  1. 1.In the 1953 study by Aserinsky and Kleitman, what did they link rapid eye movements during sleep to?
  2. 2.Which statement best captures the hard problem of consciousness?
  3. 3.Why did the French government commission Alfred Binet's early intelligence test around 1905?
  4. 4.What did Charles Spearman's general factor, g, describe?
  5. 5.Which statement best reflects the current scientific view of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
  6. 6.In his 1959 review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior, Noam Chomsky argued that:
  7. 7.What is the main problem with a just-so story in evolutionary psychology?
  8. 8.The concept of biological preparedness, applied to fears of snakes and heights, was proposed by Martin Seligman in 1971 and holds that:
  9. 9.In the classic underwater-scene studies, what difference in perception is typically reported between Western and East Asian participants?
  10. 10.What did Henrich, Heine, and Norenzayan (2010) actually argue about WEIRD samples?
  11. 11.Which applied field is most directly concerned with hiring, motivation, and team performance in the workplace?
  12. 12.How should the 'Hawthorne effect' from the Western Electric studies be described today?
  13. 13.The Open Science Collaboration's 2015 project attempted to replicate 100 psychology studies. What did it find, and what was its main legacy?
  14. 14.A friend shares a small brain-imaging study and says it "proves" what people feel. What is the most thoughtful response?
Answer every question to submit.