Deck 1: Section 2: The Science of Psychology

Question 1

A psychologist using the _____ perspective would be MOST interested in studying why Canadians have almost as many guns per capita as Americans but a significantly lower level of per capita murders.

A) biological
B) behavioral
C) cognitive
D) sociocultural

Answer 1

sociocultural

Question 2

Which perspective explains behavior by focusing on external causal factors?

A) behavioral and cognitive
B) biological and sociocultural
C) sociocultural and behavioral
D) cognitive and biological

Answer 2

sociocultural and behavioral

Question 3

A cognitive explanation for why a depressed mother killed her children would focus on _____.

A) exploring the presence of mood disorders in her siblings
B) examining her belief that her life was miserable
C) uncovering environmental factors that caused her depression
D) investigating the lack of social support she received to deal with her stressful life

Answer 3

examining her belief that her life was miserable

Question 4

When Carla works in a group, she may not exert as much effort as she does when she is working alone. This example of the effect of other people on behavior is MOST directly related to psychology's _____ perspective.

A) behavioral
B) biological
C) cognitive
D) sociocultural

Question 5

Internal causes are the main emphasis of the _____ perspective, whereas external causes are the main emphasis of the _____ perspective.

A) behavioral; sociocultural
B) behavioral; biological
C) biological; behavioral
D) sociocultural; cognitive

Question 6

Which is NOT one of the major psychological research perspectives?

A) biological
B) therapeutic
C) cognitive
D) sociocultural

Question 7

Dr. Simon studies how the activity of neural chemicals influences our moods. Dr. Simon's work MOST directly illustrates psychology's _____ perspective.

A) behavioral
B) biological
C) cognitive
D) sociocultural

Question 8

Psychologists who study how brain chemistry influences behavior are most likely from the _____ perspective, whereas psychologists who study how we perceive and reason are most likely from the _____ perspective.

A) biological; cognitive
B) cognitive; biological
C) biological; sociocultural
D) behavioral; cognitive

Question 9

In classical conditioning, new behaviors are learned as a result of the _____.

A) reinforcers that follow behavior
B) reinforcers that precede behavior
C) pairing of two environmental events
D) pairing of a behavior with a punishment or reward

Question 10

A psychologist with a biological perspective is interested in studying how human behavior is influenced by _____.

A) environmental circumstances
B) unconscious drives
C) brain mechanisms
D) cultural experiences

Question 11

Maggie often makes unusual comments because she is rewarded when others pay attention to her. Maggie's continuing tendency to make unusual comments is an example of _____ conditioning, which is emphasized by psychology's _____ perspective.

A) operant; cognitive
B) operant; behavioral
C) classical; cognitive
D) classical; behavioral

Question 12

Kelli's psychology professor informed the class that she conducts research on problem solving and reasoning. Kelli's psychology professor is MOST likely a proponent of the _____ perspective.

A) sociocultural
B) behavioral
C) biological
D) cognitive

Question 13

Which investigation of violent behavior would MOST likely be conducted by a cognitive psychologist?

A) exploring how exposure to TV violence influences children to model violent acts
B) examining how aggressive children process information about acts of violence differently than nonaggressive children
C) comparing different areas of the brain for increased activity levels during exposure to violent TV shows
D) examining how cultures differ in their penalties for violent acts

Question 14

As Janet is waiting in line at the theater, a man runs by and grabs her purse. Someone is more likely to respond to Janet's cries for help if she is waiting in line with _____, illustrating the _____.

A) very few other people; bystander effect
B) a large crowd of people; bystander effect
C) very few other people; the social facilitation effect
D) a large crowd of people; the social facilitation effect

Question 15

The sociocultural perspective in psychology focuses on how _____.

A) the brain, nervous system, and other physiological mechanisms contribute to social and cultural behaviors
B) mental processes such as thinking, problem solving, and memory influence social and cultural behaviors
C) other individuals and cultural context impact behavior and mental processes
D) external environmental and cultural events condition observable behavior

Question 16

Psychology is currently defined as the science of _____.

A) mental health
B) unconscious and conscious thinking
C) observable behavior
D) behavior and mental processes

Question 17

A cognitive psychologist would explain how memory works by studying various _____.

A) mental processes
B) cultural experiences
C) environmental circumstances
D) brain structures

Question 18

Dr. Wilson studies how people evaluate different options when making a decision. Dr. Wilson's research MOST directly illustrates psychology's _____ perspective.

A) behavioral
B) biological
C) cognitive
D) sociocultural

Question 19

Dr. Brandon studies how the customs and norms of different countries shape children's educational and career goals. Dr. Brandon's research MOST likely reflects a _____ perspective.

A) sociocultural
B) behavioral
C) cognitive
D) sociological

Question 20

When Jim witnessed his 4-year-old nephew cry and whine until he received what he wanted, he tried to explain to his sister that she was conditioning the crying and whining based on environmental events. Jim's explanation of his nephew's behavior is representative of the _____ perspective.

A) sociocultural
B) behavioral
C) cognitive
D) biological

Question 21

Dr. Matthews is observing children on the playground and recording instances of aggression. This BEST illustrates which research method?

A) case study
B) experimentation
C) participant observation
D) naturalistic observation

Question 22

A research technique commonly used to study the effects of brain injury on various behaviors is _____.

A) the case study
B) naturalistic observation
C) participant observation
D) a correlational study

Question 23

Experimental study is to _____ as correlational study is to _____.

A) describe; predict
B) predict; explain
C) explain; describe
D) explain; predict

Question 24

Which is typically considered a descriptive research method?

A) participant observation
B) survey research
C) case study
D) All the answers are correct.

Question 25

The case study of H. M. revealed that after surgery H. M. was unable to _____, suggesting that the _____ plays a role in these types of memories.

A) form new memories; hypothalamus
B) form new memories; hippocampus
C) remember information learned prior to surgery; hypothalamus
D) remember information learned prior to surgery; hippocampus

Question 26

According to the bystander effect, in which situation is Tony MOST likely to receive help?

A) He slips in a puddle of water while walking on a crowded street.
B) He drops a package while on an elevator with one other person.
C) He has a flat tire while driving on a busy highway.
D) His papers fall out of a file on a bus with many other passengers.

Question 27

After his favorite football team lost an important game, Chuck commented that the coach should have known that the team's strategy would fail because of the opposition's strong defense. Chuck's comment BEST illustrates which of the following?

A) the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon
B) the bystander effect
C) the third-variable problem
D) the overconfidence effect

Question 28

In an attempt to more objectively observe drinking behavior among fraternity members, Henry joined a fraternity. Henry is utilizing the _____ research method.

A) naturalistic observation
B) participant observation
C) case study
D) All the answers are correct.

Question 29

Researchers studied H. M., an amnesiac, in depth over an extended period of time in order to more fully understand the problems he experienced and to develop hypotheses for future research. The in-depth study of H. M. is an example of the _____ research method.

A) experimental
B) correlational
C) case study
D) participant observation

Question 30

Which is a purely descriptive type of research method?

A) observation
B) correlation
C) case study
D) both observation and case study

Question 31

Which perspective can explain how children acquire language?

A) behavioral
B) biological
C) sociocultural
D) All the answers are correct.

Question 32

Researchers use _____ techniques to determine cause-effect relationships and _____ techniques to predict events.

A) survey; correlational
B) correlational; survey
C) experimental; correlational
D) correlational; experimental

Question 33

Because Jim was interested in the nest-building behavior of wrens, he went into the field to observe them. Jim was using the _____ method of research.

A) case study
B) participant observation
C) naturalistic observation
D) correlational

Question 34

Andrew is experiencing the hindsight bias when he states, _____.

A) "The problem with females is they always use hindsight to explain their mistakes!"
B) "There is bias in everything we do; from selecting a new car to explaining why we selected that particular car."
C) "Of course people failed to help Kitty Genovese; when we are in a large group we are obviously less likely to help someone in trouble than when we are alone."
D) None of the answers are correct.

Question 35

The difference between naturalistic observation and participant observation is that _____.

A) only naturalistic observation occurs in the natural environment
B) observers become part of the group that is being studied in a participant observation
C) observers must measure both their own behavior and that of their study participants in a naturalistic observation
D) naturalistic observation requires that observers become familiar with their group before recording any behaviors

Question 36

Which statement about the different psychological perspectives is TRUE?

A) The biological perspective provides more meaningful psychological explanations than do the other perspectives.
B) The more dominant internal perspectives make up for the explanatory weaknesses of the external perspectives.
C) The four perspectives are complementary and work together to provide more complete psychological explanations.
D) The sociocultural perspective sharply conflicts with the behavioral perspective.

Question 37

Hindsight bias is sometimes called the _____.

A) biased explanation effect
B) hypothesis bias problem
C) I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon
D) third-variable problem

Question 38

In order to understand the aggressive behavior of an adolescent client, a clinical psychologist has carefully investigated the adolescent's home environment, history of social relationships, academic record, and neurological functioning. Which research method has the psychologist employed?

A) survey
B) case study
C) participant observation
D) naturalistic observation

Question 39

Dian Fossey's study of mountain gorillas in Africa is a good example of the _____ research methods.

A) case study and correlational
B) participant observation and experimental
C) naturalistic observation and correlational
D) naturalistic observation and participant observation

Question 40

Describe is to predict as _____ study is to _____ study.

A) correlational; naturalistic observation
B) experimental; correlational
C) survey; case
D) case; correlational

Question 41

To develop hypotheses about why people commit sex-related crimes, Dr. Green conducted an in-depth investigation of an individual convicted of indecent exposure. Dr. Green's investigation illustrated which methodology?

A) case study
B) correlational study
C) participant observation
D) naturalistic observation

Question 42

If a marketing researcher is trying to determine whether or not individuals living in Boston prefer domestic or imported beer, which technique would MOST likely yield a random sample?

A) randomly surveying individuals who are drinking beer in Boston bars
B) randomly surveying individuals who are purchasing beer in Boston liquor stores
C) mailing surveys to Boston residents over the age of 20 who were randomly selected from voter registration data
D) mailing surveys to Boston residents over the age of 20 who were randomly selected from birth certificate data

Question 43

The _____ is the group of people who participate in a study, whereas the _____ is all of the people about whom a study is meant to generalize.

A) sample; population
B) population; sample
C) subsample; sample
D) subsample; population

Question 44

As Jimmy constructs a survey about attitudes toward health care, he words the questions carefully to minimize the possibility that participants will respond in a way that does not reflect what they actually think. By attending to question construction, Jimmy aims to minimize _____.

A) the third-variable problem
B) hindsight bias
C) the placebo effect
D) social desirability bias

Question 45

In order to discover the extent to which education can be used to predict political preferences, researchers are MOST likely to engage in _____.

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

Question 46

Surveys are MOST useful when researchers wish to_____.

A) explain why people behave in a particular manner
B) gather information that is unbiased and accurate
C) collect information about behavior, beliefs, and attitudes
D) All the answers are correct.

Question 47

Which statement regarding populations and samples is TRUE?

A) If you have a sample, then generalization of the research findings to the population is possible.
B) A representative sample is necessary for generalization of the research findings to the population.
C) The population is the smaller subset of people used in a study.
D) None of these statements are true.

Question 48

Which selection procedure(s) would be MOST likely to yield a random sample of voters' opinions toward capital punishment in the state of Texas?

A) randomly selecting voters registered in the smallest and largest voting districts
B) randomly selecting voters who visit the polls on election day in all voting districts
C) randomly selecting voters from the complete list of all registered voters
D) All of these selection procedures would be equally likely to yield a random sample.

Question 49

"Variable" is the answer to which question?

A) What is any factor that can take on only one value?
B) What is any factor that can take on more than one value?
C) What is the statistic that tells us the type of relationship between two factors?
D) What is the statistic that tells us the strength of the relationship between two factors?

Question 50

Sharon wants to study student perceptions of the residence halls at her university. She contacts every 20th name on an alphabetized list from the registrar's office. In this situation, the students contacted by Sharon represent _____.

A) a random sample
B) the sample
C) the population
D) a random population

Question 51

When each individual in the population has an equal opportunity of being in the sample, _____ sampling is being used.

A) correlational
B) random
C) experimental
D) subpopulation

Question 52

A _____ study is a research method used to determine how well one variable predicts another variable.

A) correlational
B) experimental
C) descriptive
D) All of these research methods can be used to make predictions about variables.

Question 53

Virtually all correlation coefficients in psychological research have an absolute value of less than 1.00, which indicates that _____.

A) data collection methods often include some degree of human error
B) one cannot predict behavior perfectly
C) virtually all relationships are very weak
D) research participants often provide inaccurate answers that contribute to measurement error

Question 54

Charlene is interested in determining whether the opinions of registered voters toward an increase in taxes for the public schools are influenced by the age of the voter. In her research, she attempts to contact every 20th person on the voter registration lists. All registered voters constitute the _____ for this study and the people she contacts constitute the _____ for this study.

A) experimental group; control group
B) control group; experimental group
C) sample; population
D) population; sample

Question 55

One of the major benefits of the case study technique is that it allows researchers to _____.

A) make predictions about specific human behaviors
B) develop hypotheses that can be tested using experimental methods
C) explain why individuals engage in specific behaviors
D) All the answers are correct.

Question 56

Sample is to population as _____ is to _____.

A) representative; nonrepresentative
B) nonrepresentative; representative
C) subset; entire group
D) entire group; subset

Question 57

Which data collection technique would be the MOST effective way of investigating the relationship between political preferences and the economic status of North Americans?

A) the survey
B) the case study
C) experimentation
D) naturalistic observation

Question 58

To obtain a representative sample, researchers use random _____, which allows them to _____.

A) assignment; generalize results to the population of interest
B) assignment; equalize participant characteristics across groups
C) sampling; generalize results to the population of interest
D) sampling; equalize participant characteristics across groups

Question 59

The purpose of drawing a _____ from the _____ is to ensure that the sample is _____ of the population.

A) random sample; population; representative
B) random population; sample; representative
C) representative sample; population; not a random sample
D) representative population; sample; not a random sample

Question 60

Which research technique would be MOST well suited to examining whether the number of hours spent watching TV predicts hours spent exercising?

A) naturalistic observation
B) case study
C) correlational study
D) participant observation

Question 61

Two variables increasing and decreasing together is to _____ as two variables moving in opposite directions is to _____.

A) no relationship; curvilinear relationship
B) curvilinear relationship; no relationship
C) positive relationship; negative relationship
D) negative relationship; positive relationship

Question 62

To equalize participant characteristics across groups in an experiment, researchers use random _____, which allows them to _____.

A) assignment; generalize results to the population of interest
B) assignment; eliminate participant characteristics as possible explanations for results
C) sampling; generalize results to the population of interest
D) sampling; eliminate participant characteristics as possible explanations for results

Question 63

"Random assignment" is the answer to which question?

A) What control measure can be used for experimental, correlational, and survey research?
B) What control measure can be used only for experimental and correlational research?
C) What control measure can be used only for correlational research?
D) What control measure can be used only for experimental research?

Question 64

Which statement BEST reflects the third-variable problem?

A) A correlation among three variables increases the difficulty of determining which variable is most influential.
B) When a third variable is measured in a correlational study, the strength of the correlation between variable #1 and variable #2 typically diminishes.
C) A correlation between two variables may occur because some third variable is responsible for the relationship between the two variables.
D) Although adding a third variable to a correlational study increases predictability, it makes it more difficult to draw cause-effect conclusions.

Question 65

"Negative correlation" is the answer to which question?

A) What is an inverse relationship between two variables?
B) What is a direct relationship between two variables?
C) What is a correlation that describes a negative outcome from a manipulated variable?
D) What is a correlation that predicts a negative outcome from a manipulated variable?

Question 66

If Kate wanted to provide a visual depiction of the correlation between hours of sleep each night and grade point average, she would use a _____.

A) scatterplot
B) pie chart
C) frequency distribution
D) bar graph

Question 67

Looking at the _____ in a scatterplot indicates the strength of the relationship between two variables and looking at the _____ indicates what type of correlation exists.

A) X-axis; Y-axis
B) Y-axis; X-axis
C) scatter; direction of data points
D) direction of data points; scatter

Question 68

When there is a _____ relationship, as values of variable X (e.g., elevation) increase, values of variable Y (e.g., temperature) decrease.

A) positive
B) negative
C) curvilinear
D) zero

Question 69

You must determine the strength and direction of a correlation between two variables, but you only have information concerning the scatterplot. Told there is little scatter among a set of data points that fall in a lower left to upper right direction on a graph, you conclude that the correlation would BEST be described as _____.

A) strongly positive
B) weakly positive
C) strongly negative
D) weakly negative

Question 70

The _____ indicates the strength of a correlation coefficient.

A) slope
B) sign
C) absolute value
D) None of these.

Question 71

If the points on a scatterplot are spread all over the graph, this would suggest that the two variables depicted are _____.

A) normally distributed
B) positively correlated
C) negatively correlated
D) not correlated

Question 72

Suppose Aaron finds that the correlation between students' levels of optimism and their scores on an exam is -.68. This correlation indicates which of the following?

A) More optimistic students have higher exam scores.
B) More optimistic students have lower exam scores.
C) Being highly optimistic causes students to have higher exam scores.
D) Being highly optimistic causes students to have lower exam scores.

Question 73

Suppose Abby finds a significant positive correlation between the hours that a child watches TV and the number of aggressive behaviors the child displays in the classroom. Because she is aware of _____, Abby concludes correctly that TV watching _____ aggressive behavior.

A) the third-variable problem; causes
B) the third-variable problem; predicts
C) the social desirability bias; causes
D) the social desirability bias; predicts

Question 74

"Positive correlation" is the answer to which question?

A) What is an inverse relationship between two variables?
B) What is a direct relationship between two variables?
C) What is a correlation that describes a positive outcome from a manipulated variable?
D) What is a correlation that predicts a positive outcome from a manipulated variable?

Question 75

Which correlation coefficient represents the variables with the strongest degree of relationship?

A) +.99
B) -1.00
C) +.01
D) -.59

Question 76

We would expect the correlation between years of smoking and incidence of lung cancer to be _____ whereas we would expect the correlation between mountain elevation and temperature to be _____.

A) curvilinear; negative
B) positive; negative
C) negative; positive
D) positive; curvilinear

Question 77

Professor Bailey is examining the relationship between how close a student sits to the front of the classroom and that student's grade in a course. She believes that the greater the distance is between students and the front of the classroom, the lower their final grades will be. Which correlation coefficient BEST supports Professor Bailey's belief?

A) -.30
B) +.50
C) -.70
D) +.90

Question 78

Which correlation coefficient indicates the weakest relationship between two variables?

A) -1.00
B) -0.43
C) +0.66
D) +0.21

Question 79

When there is a _____ relationship, as values of variable X (e.g., income) increase, values of variable Y (e.g., education level) also increase.

A) positive
B) negative
C) curvilinear
D) zero

Question 80

Which correlation coefficient represents the variables with the weakest degree of relationship?

A) +.99
B) -1.00
C) +.01
D) -.59