Influential Psychologists

The language acquisition device is the innate “tool” in the brain that allows children to learn language and grammar easily. Noam Chomsky proposed that language learning cannot be totally dependent on observation and reward—since young children learning to speak make errors and generate novel expressions that they have never heard anyone else say (e.g. a parent is unlikely to have said “I wants cookie yesterday” or “do you think dinosaurs liked candy?” in front of the child).

Konrad Lorenz was an Austrian zoologist, ethologist, and ornithologist. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern ethology. Lorenz won the Nobel Prize in 1973 for Physiology or Medicine (alongside Nikolass Tinbergen and Karl von Frisch) and is the author of numerous books.

Mary Ainsworth is most well known for her development of the Strange Situation design which was designed to study emotional attachment in early stages of childhood, resulting in the attachment theory. The other choices are incorrect. Jean Piaget was a developmental psychologist who created the theory of cognitive development; he is considered to be the most influential developmental psychologist. Harry Harlow is best known for studying maternal separation, dependency, and social isolation using rhesus monkeys. Last, John Bowlby developed the attachment theory of maternal deprivation.

Carl Rogers, among many other contributions to psychology including his nineteen propositions, developed a "person-centered approach" to psychotherapy that changed the stigma that surrounds being a patient of mental health. The other choices are incorrect. Abraham Maslow was a humanist who created Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Erik Erikson was a developmental psychologist who created the life-stage virtue and coined the term “identity crisis”. Last, Mary Ainsworth created the strange situation design to study attachment in young children.

Wilhelm Wundt is considered the “father of experimental psychology.” His psychological laboratory at the University of Leipzig was the first of its kind. It is because of his efforts that psychology is considered a distinct scientific discipline.

Skinner was a key theorist in the development of the behaviorist approach to psychological study. Skinner's particular brand of behaviorism was called Radical Behaviorism, and much of Skinner's research was focused on operant conditioning (conditioning focusing on the modification of voluntary behavior through positive or negative reinforcement and punishment).

The main difference between Freud and Jung's psychoanalytic philosophies was that Freud's conception of the unconscious. Jung saw Freud's theory of the unconscious as too negative and incomplete. Jung believed that the unconscious was not only a source of creativity and positivity, but also that there were two unconscious levels. He believed that there was a personal level of unconscious as well as an ancestral level of unconscious called the collective unconscious. These were the primary conflicts between Freud and Jung. The other answers given are incorrect, because all of the listed tenets were Jung’s beliefs, not Freud’s.

Eysenck, who at the time of his death was the most cited living psychologist in the world, promoted the idea of extraversion, neuroticism, and psychoticism as the three personality traits or dimensions which, in combination, made up the majority influence in personality and psychological development.

"Mary Ainsworth" devised the "Strange Situation" paradigm in the 1970s. It was used to examine the attachment patterns between parent and child. This study identified four primary attachment styles: secure, avoidant, resistant, and disorganized.

Considered one of the most influential psychologists, second only to Freud, Albert Ellis developed REBT in 1955 in order to help clients resolve emotional and behavioral problems and move towards happier, healthier mental states. Ellis's work set the foundation for the development of other cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) and changed the practice of clinical psychology. The other choices are incorrect. Carl Jung founded analytical psychology and coined several phrases such as archetype, collective unconscious, and introversion and extroversion. Abraham Maslow was a humanist who created Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Last, Carl Rogers designed the person-centered strategy to psychotherapy.