Exam 1: Introduction and Research Methods

Experimental controls are specific strategies and procedures that help minimize the possibility that extraneous variables or some other uncontrolled factor will influence the outcome of the experiment.

According to one of the pie charts in Chapter 1, among psychologists who recently received their doctorate, most chose "clinical psychology" as their specialty area.

According to proponents of evolutionary psychology, psychological processes that helped individuals adapt to their environments also helped them to survive, reproduce, and pass on those psychological mechanisms to their offspring.

Using nonhuman animal participants in research studies allows psychologists to exert a much higher degree of control over the experimental participants' environment than when human participants are involved.

Which of the following statements is a key reason why some states have enacted legislation allowing psychologists to prescribe medications for psychological symptoms?

Psychologists in New Mexico and Louisiana can qualify for prescription privileges if they complete additional coursework and supervised clinical training.

Personality psychologists study individual differences in people and the characteristics that make each person unique.

A pseudoscience is a theory, method, or practice that promotes claims in ways that appear scientific even though supporting empirical evidence is lacking or nonexistent.

Psychologists use statistics to:

The results of experiments conducted in the laboratory may not replicate well, meaning that the results cannot be applied to real-world situations or to more general populations beyond the participants in the study.

Researchers at State University wanted to test the hypothesis that distributed, or spaced, practice results in better retention of material than massed practice or cramming. To find out if there is a cause-and-effect relationship, the researcher should use:

How do individualistic cultures differ from collectivistic cultures?

Physiology is sometimes referred to as the "third force" in American psychology.

Biological psychology is a perspective and specialty area that applies the principles of evolution to explain psychological processes and phenomena.

In Crum and Langer's hotel experiment, the participants were 84 female housekeeping staff at seven carefully matched hotels.

At which university was the very first psychology research laboratory established?

René Descartes promoted a doctrine called interactive monism, an idea that the mind and the body are one entity that produces sensations, emotions, and other conscious experiences.

Positive psychology is a field of psychological research that focuses on the study of positive psychological states, positive individual traits, and social institutions that foster these qualities in individuals and communities.

In _____, information from multiple case studies is systematically combined and analyzed.

Collectivistic cultures are cultures that stress individual goals and achievements over the goals and achievements of the group.