Deck 2: Psychology As a Science

Question 1

Research that involves intentional manipulation of variables is called _______ research.

A) correlational
B) case study
C) descriptive
D) experimental

Answer 1

D

Question 2

A research team wants to know if sugar consumption is related to hyperactivity. Researchers give fifty children cupcakes made with real sugar and another fifty children cupcakes made with zero-calorie sugar substitutes. They then observe each child individually to assess his or her level of activity after eating the cupcakes. This is an example of

A) a case study.
B) naturalistic observation.
C) experimental research.
D) correlational research.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

In case study research,

A) researchers interview a representative sample of people about a topic of interest.
B) one or more individuals are studied in great detail.
C) people are carefully observed in real-world situations.
D) subjects are polled about their beliefs and opinions.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

To better understand aggressive behavior toward strangers, a psychologist gathers all available information about a man who threatened random people in a mall with an automatic weapon. This is an example of

A) correlational research.
B) experimental research.
C) naturalistic observation.
D) case study research.

Question 5

A manager at a science museum wants to identify the most popular exhibits, so once every hour for six weeks she has volunteers count the number of people standing in front of each exhibit. This is an example of

A) naturalistic observation.
B) correlational research.
C) case study research.
D) experimental research.

Question 6

Which of the following research methods would be most appropriate for exploring whether childhood emotional abuse predicts higher levels of adult depression?

A) Naturalistic observation
B) Experimental research
C) Correlational research
D) Case studies

Question 7

Which of the following research methods would be most appropriate for investigating the relationship between political orientation and belief in climate change?

A) Survey research
B) Case study research
C) Naturalistic observation
D) Experimental research

Question 8

A researcher hoping to identify autism's early warning signs collects home videos of autistic teens. She uses these videos of their formative years to identify atypical movements as they learned to crawl and walk. This is an example of

A) a case study.
B) survey research.
C) naturalistic observation.
D) an experiment.

Question 9

Compared to experimental research, survey research is limited because it

A) relies more on the honesty and accurate memories of participants.
B) is more expensive and time-consuming.
C) tends to produce less-representative samples.
D) generates more non-linear data.

Question 10

If heavy snowfall in Alaska has a correlation of -0.78 with the consumption of ice cream and a correlation of +0.78 with the sale of boots, you can predict that for a snowy January in Alaska, the store will

A) sell more boots, but ice cream sales will be unchanged.
B) sell more boots and ice cream sales will be lower.
C) sell slightly more ice cream and significantly more boots.
D) see equal increases in sales for both ice cream and boots.

Question 11

Which of the following is true about the strength of a correlation?

A) Positive correlations are stronger than negative correlations.
B) Negative correlations are stronger than positive correlations.
C) The closer a correlation is to 1.00, the weaker the relationship.
D) The closer a correlation is to 0.00, the weaker the relationship.

Question 12

The extent to which changes in one factor are accompanied by changes in another is called

A) positive skew.
B) negative skew.
C) a correlation.
D) a confound.

Question 13

Correlations are most useful for

A) predicting behavior.
B) discovering the cause of behavior.
C) explaining outcomes.
D) testing treatments.

Question 14

A researcher would be most likely to find a positive correlation between

A) optimism and depression.
B) ocean temperature and auto sales.
C) illness and school attendance.
D) height and weight.

Question 15

A correlation of +0.40 between levels of depression in teens and their parents would indicate that

A) teen and parental depression are mostly unrelated.
B) teen depression causes parental depression.
C) parental depression causes teen depression.
D) depressed teens tend to have depressed parents.

Question 16

Which of the following correlations has the strongest predictive value?

A) +0.50
B) +0.30
C) 0.00
D) -0.75

Question 17

As the number of pirates in the world has decreased, the mean global temperature has increased. This is an example of a

A) non-linear relationship.
B) spurious correlation.
C) strong inference.
D) meta-analysis.

Question 18

Refer to the figure below.
This scatterplot shows a(n) _______ correlation.

A) positive
B) negative
C) inverse
D) non-linear

Question 19

A recent study found that married people are less likely to have personality disorders than unmarried people. The news reporter covering the study advised people to get married to improve their personalities. You know this recommendation is not warranted because

A) correlational research is invalid.
B) it is possible that personality disorders keep people from marrying.
C) these findings are unlikely to be replicated.
D) Occam's razor rules out a relationship between marriage and personality disorders.

Question 20

Professor Durkin predicts that because we attribute positive qualities to attractive people, attractive children get away with misbehaving more often than unattractive children do. This is an example of

A) a theory.
B) a hypothesis.
C) Occam's razor.
D) a spurious correlation.

Question 21

"The death penalty is immoral" is a _______ hypothesis because it _______.

A) good; has been shown that many people agree
B) good; can be proven
C) poor; is not true
D) poor; is not testable

Question 22

The claim "cigarette smoking does not increase risk for lung cancer" _______ a scientific hypothesis because it is _______.

A) is not; not testable
B) is not; clearly untrue
C) is; testable
D) is; consistent with theory

Question 23

On a hike, you find branches arranged to form a three-foot-tall pyramid, surrounded by a circle of pebbles. Occam's razor would support the hypothesis that _______ created this pyramid.

A) Bigfoot
B) another hiker
C) aliens
D) random chance

Question 24

Results from a recent experiment are consistent with a researcher's expectation that exposing people to unfamiliar groups reduces prejudice. This means that the researcher

A) has proven her theory.
B) has proven her hypothesis.
C) should retain her hypothesis for now.
D) needs to follow up with correlational studies.

Question 25

Strong inference

A) is controversial among psychological researchers.
B) involves designing research with the potential to disprove a hypothesis.
C) applies only to correlational research.
D) eliminates the need for replication.

Question 26

Research has shown that social exclusion activates the same brain regions as physical pain. A researcher wants to test the hypothesis that over-the-counter pain relievers will also reduce the pain of social exclusion. She gives half of her participants ibuprofen and half a placebo, then has them play a game in which other players ignore them. Participants who take the ibuprofen are the _______ and participants who take the placebo are the _______.

A) experimental group; control group
B) randomly assigned group; blind group
C) representative sample; random sample
D) independent sample; dependent sample

Question 27

A research team is investigating the impact of stereotypes on performance. In one group, women read an article about why the structure of men's brains makes them better at math. In the second group, women read an article saying there are no biological differences in the mathematical abilities of men and women. Then all women in the study take a challenging math test. Researchers time the test and score the number of items women answered correctly. In this study, which of the following is the independent variable?

A) Women's scores on the math test
B) Women's beliefs about their math abilities
C) Which article the women read
D) How long it takes women to complete the math test

Question 28

Research has shown that social exclusion activates the same brain regions as physical pain. A researcher wants to test the hypothesis that over-the-counter pain relievers will also reduce the pain of social exclusion. She gives half of her participants ibuprofen and half a placebo, has them play a game in which other players ignore them, and then measures their level of distress. In this study _______ is the independent variable and _______ is the dependent variable.

A) taking ibuprofen; taking a sugar pill
B) being ignored; distress
C) distress; taking ibuprofen
D) whether people take ibuprofen; distress

Question 29

Experimental research would be more useful than correlational research to test the hypothesis that

A) intelligent parents invest more time in their children's education.
B) same-sex classrooms cause girls to develop more positive attitudes toward math.
C) introverted people dislike large social gatherings.
D) alcohol consumption predicts weight gain.

Question 30

In a phobia treatment study, the participants spend three hours facing their fears. Post-treatment scores show significant improvement in overall distress levels when handling the feared objects, so the treatment is judged as effective by the researcher. To improve the study's design, the researcher can

A) increase the length of time for the treatment component.
B) repeat the study with a new set of participants for a more representative sample.
C) include a control group, which would receive some supportive counseling but not the actual treatment.
D) change to a correlational design since it is unethical to have participants experience fear as part of a study.

Question 31

To test the impact of mood on generosity, a researcher has half of his participants watch a depressing movie and half watch a comedy. Then the researcher asks all participants for help moving boxes to another room. In this study, mood is the

A) independent variable.
B) dependent variable.
C) confound.
D) covariant.

Question 32

In an experiment, the variable that is expected to differ across the experimental and control groups is the _______ variable.

A) dependent
B) independent
C) experimental
D) confounding

Question 33

Scientists use laboratory experiments primarily to

A) create the most naturalistic conditions possible.
B) generate initial information about whether two variables are related.
C) replicate case studies.
D) test cause-and-effect relationships.

Question 34

Researchers are testing the hypothesis that high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood trigger panic attacks. Half of the participants breathe carbon dioxide-enriched air, and the other half breathe normal air, then measured panic attack symptoms. In this study _______ is the independent variable and _______ is the dependent variable.

A) carbon dioxide-enriched air; regular air
B) regular air; carbon dioxide-enriched air
C) type of air; panic attack symptoms
D) panic attack symptoms; type of air

Question 35

A meta-analysis is

A) a combination of results from many related studies.
B) an alternative to the strong inference approach.
C) the most common analysis in correlational research.
D) the most common analysis in experimental research.

Question 36

Scientific investigation of Clever Hans revealed that

A) Hans's owner was a con artist.
B) Occam's razor is far from infallible.
C) horses respond to unintended cues from their owners.
D) horses are capable of simple arithmetic.

Question 37

The Jennifer-John study examining bias against female applicants for a science job suggests that

A) women perceive bias, but bias does not actually exist.
B) women used to face hiring biases, but they no longer do.
C) men are biased against female applicants, but women are not.
D) both men and women are biased against female applicants.

Question 38

Your text describes a study in which professors receive e-mails, supposedly from students, asking for mentoring. All details about the e-mails are identical except whether they appear to come from males or females and from whites or nonwhites. This is _______ research, and found _______.

A) experimental; no evidence of bias
B) experimental; bias against women and minorities
C) correlational; no evidence of bias
D) correlational; bias against women and minorities

Question 39

A study that looked at hiring of male and female musicians who sat behind a screen when auditioning for an orchestra is an example of _______ research and revealed _______.

A) experimental; no change in hiring rates for women
B) experimental; an increase in hiring rates for women
C) descriptive; no change in hiring rates for women
D) descriptive; an increase in hiring rates for women

Question 40

Treatment-outcome researchers attempt to prevent initial differences between treatment and control groups by using

A) statistical inference.
B) placebo controls.
C) randomization.
D) double blinding.

Question 41

A college professor testing two different study-skill interventions tosses a coin to decide which type of training each student will get. The professor does this to

A) make it more likely that participants will be representative of the broader population.
B) make statistical analyses easier by guaranteeing the same number of participants in each group.
C) make it less likely that there will be pre-existing differences between the groups.
D) avoid the confound of participants knowing other people in their group.

Question 42

Random assignment to experimental and control conditions involves being assigned

A) to your condition based on your position on the normal distribution.
B) to your condition by pure chance.
C) in a way that guarantees no cognitive differences between groups.
D) in a way that guarantees no personality differences between groups.

Question 43

The presence of adoring groupies at a small local club make a rock band confident they will become world famous. They should probably pay more attention to the importance of

A) reliability.
B) frequency distributions.
C) effect size.
D) representative samples.

Question 44

To learn more about the gaming habits of teenage boys, a professor randomly selected fifty boys from various high schools for a video game study. In this study, "all teenage boys" make up the

A) population.
B) representative sample.
C) independent variable.
D) control group.

Question 45

As part of a political opinion poll, a researcher sent a questionnaire to every hundredth person on a list of students enrolled at an American college. Which of the following is the sampling frame?

A) Sending the questionnaires
B) Deciding which college to study
C) Seeing which questionnaires are returned
D) Choosing every hundredth student on the enrollment list

Question 46

A researcher wants to study stress and coping in students transitioning into middle school. Students _______ would be the most representative sample.

A) taking remedial math
B) selected at random from a homeroom course
C) receiving detention during their first week
D) seeking support from the guidance counselor

Question 47

You accept a job selling high-end knives door-to-door on commission because you were informed that company employees, on average, earn $60,000 a year. After three months of making less than $1,000 a month, you learn that most other salespeople are making less than $20,000 a year. If the company has 20 sales people, two managers, and one president, how can the company's claim still be correct?

A) The median salary is higher than the mean salary.
B) The modal salary is higher than the mean salary.
C) The median of all salaries is $60,000 because the managers and the president earn huge salaries.
D) The mean of all salaries is $60,000 because the managers and president earn huge salaries.

Question 48

Refer to the set of numbers below.
2, 10, 8, 4, 10, 12, 3
In this set of numbers, the median is _______ than the mean and _______than the mode.

A) greater; greater
B) greater; less
C) less; less
D) less; greater

Question 49

Refer to the set of numbers below.
2, 8, 3, 4, 8, 10, 0
In the set of numbers, the median is _______ than the mean and _______than the mode.

A) greater; greater
B) greater; less
C) less; less
D) less; greater

Question 50

The median is better than the mean as a measure of central tendency for which of the following distributions?

A) 3; 4; 12; 86
B) 175; 182; 193; 200; 211
C) 1,024; 1,037; 1,048; 1,059; 1,074
D) 12; 12; 12; 14; 16

Question 51

Refer to the graph below.
The mean score for this distribution is _______ and the median score is _______.

A) 5; 4
B) 4; 5
C) 4; 4
D) 3; 5

Question 52

Refer to the graph below.
Scores for Group 1 differ most dramatically from scores for Group 2 in their

A) mean.
B) mode.
C) standard deviation.
D) median.

Question 53

The first five participants in a study of motivation have scores of 5, 6, 7, 11, and 11 on the motivation questionnaire. Which of the following will change most if the next participant receives a score of 1?

A) Mean
B) Median
C) Reliability
D) Validity

Question 54

On an intelligence test, Group 1 has a mean score of 96 with a standard deviation of 13. Group 2 has a mean score of 105 with a standard deviation of 8. On this test, _______ scores were higher on average and _______ spread out than _______ scores.

A) Group 1; more; Group 2
B) Group 1; less; Group 2
C) Group 2; more; Group 1
D) Group 2; less; Group 1

Question 55

Which of the following samples would produce a nearly normal distribution?

A) The number of men and women in the country
B) Incomes in a small company with many low-level employees and two high-paid executives
C) Heights of all adult men in America
D) Scores on a very easy test

Question 56

When a researcher looks at her personality questionnaire data from 75 participants, she notices limited variance in scores, except for one score falling 4 standard deviations above the mean. This score is

A) outside the sampling frame.
B) evidence of negative skew.
C) invalid.
D) an outlier.

Question 57

Select the correct order of measures of central tendency, from lowest to highest, for a negatively skewed distribution.

A) Mean, median, mode
B) Median, mode, mean
C) Mode, mean, median
D) Mean, mode, median

Question 58

A cross-country runner wants to know how consistent her race times have been this season. The most useful measure of her race times would be the

A) range.
B) standard deviation.
C) mode.
D) difference between the median and the mode.

Question 59

In which of the following distributions would the mean, median, and mode be most alike?

A) The heights of all adult women in America
B) The heights of six women sharing a house
C) Heights in a family with a mother, father, two elementary school students, and a preschooler
D) Heights in a physical therapy course that includes several members of the basketball team

Question 60

Although a researcher was hoping data from his personality questionnaire would have a normal distribution, the median and mode are both quite a bit higher than the mean. This means his data are

A) positively skewed.
B) negatively skewed.
C) invalid.
D) unreliable.

Question 61

Which of the following choices requires inferential statistics?

A) Determining the class average on an exam
B) Determining whether the exam scores of one fourth-grade classroom reflect how all fourth-graders would score
C) Identifying the most common grade on a test
D) Calculating the difference between pre-test and post-test scores after administration of a specialized learning module

Question 62

To decide whether first-year students given study skills training have a better grade point average (GPA) at the end of the year than students without training, researchers will need to determine the _______ of GPA differences between the two groups.

A) statistical significance
B) standard deviation
C) variance
D) frequency distribution

Question 63

Effect size

A) is typically identical to statistical significance.
B) is typically identical to sample size.
C) refers to the magnitude of the difference between groups.
D) refers to the variance within the control group.

Question 64

The main purpose of inferential statistics is to

A) adjust analyses to improve validity.
B) account for variability within a population.
C) decide whether the standard deviation is skewed by outliers.
D) estimate a characteristic of a population based on a sample.

Question 65

A health researcher measured the weight of third-grade girls. In a group of ten girls, weights in pounds were 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 65, and 66. The range is _______, and the sample _______ appear to have clear outliers.

A) 53-66; does not
B) 53-66; does
C) impossible to calculate without inferential statistics; does not
D) impossible to calculate without inferential statistics; does

Question 66

Reliability refers to whether your measurement tool _______ and validity to whether it _______.

A) produces repeatable results; measures what it is supposed to measure
B) measures what it is supposed to measure; produces repeatable results
C) produces statistically significant results; controls for confounds
D) controls for confounds; produces statistically significant results

Question 67

A measure of conscientiousness produces very similar scores each time a person repeats the exercise, but it doesn't predict whether a person is reliable in everyday life. This measure appears to be

A) reliable and valid.
B) valid but not reliable.
C) reliable but not valid.
D) neither reliable nor valid.

Question 68

In a depression-treatment study, neither the participants nor the researcher know who is taking medication and who is taking a sugar pill. This is an example of a

A) double-blind trial.
B) confound.
C) research design with low validity.
D) research design with low reliability.

Question 69

In an experiment treating spider phobia, half of the participants get eight hours of cognitive-behavioral treatment. The other half get eight hours of attention from a therapist but no active treatment. Both groups report a statistically significant reduction in their fear of spiders. This is evidence that

A) cognitive-behavioral therapy has no effect.
B) the placebo effect can be significant.
C) participants' expectations have no effect.
D) control groups are a waste of resources.

Question 70

In a test of a new medication for schizophrenia, doctors allow patients to decide if they want to take the new medication or stick with their current medication. This is problematic because it creates an issue with

A) frequency distributions.
B) effect size.
C) informed consent.
D) group equivalence.

Question 71

A researcher is testing the hypothesis that an herbal supplement improves concentration. Before taking a concentration test, the first group gets the supplement. Which of the following reflects the highest quality research design for this hypothesis?

A) A second group gets nothing. A computer system tracks which participants get supplements.
B) A second group gets nothing. The person giving the concentration test keeps track of which participants get supplements.
C) A second group gets an identical pill but without the supplement. The person giving the concentration test keeps track of who gets which pill.
D) A second group gets an identical pill but without the supplement. A computer system tracks who gets which pill.

Question 72

Ethical principles require researchers to

A) explain the hypothesis they will be testing before participants begin a study.
B) provide information about potential risks to participants before they begin a study.
C) refrain from conducting research on animals.
D) have their research design approved by a group of people similar to the proposed participants.

Question 73

The Tuskegee syphilis study is famous because

A) it was the first use of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled research.
B) it demonstrated the psychological effects of syphilis infection.
C) researchers failed to inform participants that they had a treatable disease.
D) measures were so low in reliability and validity that the data had no value.

Question 74

Deception in psychological research

A) has never been considered ethical.
B) has not been allowed since the Tuskegee study.
C) is not possible because it interferes with the legal requirement of informed consent.
D) is occasionally allowed but must be followed by a thorough debriefing.

Question 75

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is responsible for all of the following except

A) evaluating the rationale for a proposed study.
B) ensuring researchers have minimized animal stress and pain.
C) inspecting animal care facilities.
D) collecting blood and tissue samples from research animals.

Question 76

In taste tests, people prefer Coke to Pepsi when they drink labeled samples but prefer Pepsi to Coke when they drink unlabeled samples. This is an example of

A) explicit bias.
B) unconscious bias.
C) the placebo effect.
D) poor measurement validity.

Question 77

Although very few people would admit to a belief that men make better hires than women, several experiments show that men are more likely to be hired than women with identical résumés. This is an example of

A) explicit bias.
B) unconscious bias.
C) poor validity.
D) negative skew.

Question 78

A meta-analysis of published and unpublished tests of SSRI medications revealed that

A) SSRIs are effective for all levels of depression.
B) published and unpublished trials have similar findings.
C) people in placebo groups became even more severely depressed.
D) SSRIs beat placebos only for severe levels of depression.

Question 79

There is some evidence that children and adults who watch violent television shows tend to be more aggressive in their behavior. This does not prove that violent shows increase aggressive behavior because _______ does not prove _______.

Question 80

The best way to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship is through _______ research.