GRE Psychology Important Names

Who studied the effect of competition on performance and found that people perform better on familiar tasks when in the presence of others than when alone?

• Norman Triplett

• William McDougall

• E.H. Ross

• Verplank

• Pavlov

Who created the social facilitation effect? For example, cyclists tend to have faster times when riding in the presence of a counterpart as opposed to riding alone?

• Norman Triplett

• William McDougall

• E.H. Ross

• Verplank

• Pavlov

Who published the first textbooks on social psychology and defended that all matter has a mental aspect?

• Norman Triplett

• William McDougall

• E.H. Ross

• Verplank

• Pavlov

Who suggested that social approval influences behavior? For example, the course of a conversation changes dramatically based upon feedback (approval) from others?

• Norman Triplett

• William McDougall

• E.H. Ross

• Verplank

• Pavlov

Who helped to establish reinforcement theory?

• I. Verplank

• II. Pavlov

• III. Thorndike

• IV. Hull

• V. B. F. Skinner

Who considered personality to be a collection of behavior that happens to have been sufficiently reinforced to persist, and the result of behavioral development of an organism?

• B.F. Skinner

• Sigmund Freud

• Carl Rogers

• Albert Bandura

Who coined positive reinforcement (the case where you reward someone in order to increase the frequency of a behavior)?

• Hull

• B. F. Skinner

• Albert Bandura

• Robert Rescorla

• E.L. Thorndike

Who coined negative reinforcement (desired response will be performed by taking away or preventing something undesirable whenever the desired response is made)?

• Hull

• B. F. Skinner

• Albert Bandura

• Robert Rescorla

• E.L. Thorndike

Who coined punishment (giving organisms something undesirable whenever the response is made)?

• Hull

• B. F. Skinner

• Albert Bandura

• Robert Rescorla

• E.L. Thorndike

Who coined extinction (behavior that used to bring reward no longer does)?

• Hull

• B. F. Skinner

• Albert Bandura

• Robert Rescorla

• E.L. Thorndike