Deck 1: Psychology As Science: Part 2

Question 1

April is studying lucid dreaming,specifically examining whether people can control their dreams while remaining asleep.Adam is examining whether lucid dreaming can be utilized to solve previously unsolvable problems,like preventing cancer.April is conducting _____ research,whereas Adam is conducting _____ research.

A) pseudoscientific;scientific
B) scientific;pseudoscientific
C) applied;basic
D) basic;applied

Answer 1

basic;applied

Question 2

Leonardo claims to have graduated at the top of his class from a very prestigious state university.Before the admissions officer approves his application for law school,she requests to see his transcript.In this case,the admissions officer is demonstrating:

A) objectivity.
B) open-mindedness.
C) creativity.
D) communication skills.

Answer 2

objectivity.

Question 3

Katie is a psychologist interested in examining the pleasure paradox.In order to induce the pleasure paradox,she should ask participants to:

A) list a few reasons why they dislike something.
B) list a lot of reasons why they dislike something
C) list a few reasons why they like something.
D) list a lot of reasons why they like something.

Answer 3

list a lot of reasons why they like something.

Question 4

Craig is looking at an online dating website and discovers the profile of someone who seems perfect for him.In fact,she appears almost too good to be true.Which of the following qualities of a good scientist may help him to avoid potential disappointment upon meeting her?

A) humility
B) open-mindedness
C) skepticism
D) creativity

Question 5

Belief perseverance is the tendency to:

A) judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily one can think of similar instances.
B) maintain a belief despite encountering contradictory factual information.
C) overestimate one's skills and abilities as compared to others.
D) search for evidence that supports preexisting beliefs.

Question 6

The scientific method is a(n):

A) systematic approach for addressing questions of interest.
B) heuristic-based approach for studying human phenomena.
C) mental shortcut for judging the likelihood of an event occurring based on how easy it comes to mind.
D) outdated approach to studying nature that is rarely used in the twenty-first century.

Question 7

Confirmation bias is the tendency to:

A) judge the likelihood of an event based on how easily one can think of similar instances.
B) only look for evidence that confirms what they already believe to be true.
C) overestimate one's skills and abilities as compared with others.
D) see the event as having been predictable.

Question 8

The focusing effect is:

A) when some information is emphasized while other information is undervalued.
B) a failure to see the limitations of one's own immediate experience.
C) the tendency to prioritize information that is most readily available in our memory.
D) the tendency to overestimate one's skills and abilities.

Question 9

When Jonathan ran for class president,it never occurred to him that he could lose.This tendency is known as:

A) hindsight bias.
B) the representativeness heuristic.
C) the availability heuristic.
D) the overconfidence phenomenon.

Question 10

_____ is the process of reflecting on one's own thoughts and experiences to find relevant evidence that can be used to evaluate claims about ourselves and the world.

A) The focusing effect
B) Hindsight bias
C) Introspection
D) Belief perseverance

Question 11

Your research program yields a significant finding about the ability of a new medication to successfully treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).The ability of others to build upon your work to make future advances depends on your:

A) problem solving skills.
B) project management skills.
C) communication skills.
D) critical thinking skills.

Question 12

Which of the following is known as the "I knew it all along" phenomenon?

A) the availability heuristic
B) hindsight bias
C) the overconfidence effect
D) the representativeness heuristic

Question 13

The better-than-average effect occurs when an individual:

A) judges the likelihood of an event based on how easily he/she can think of similar instances.
B) evaluates an event by comparing it to a "typical" example.
C) overestimates his/her own skills and abilities as compared to others.
D) searches for evidence that supports preexisting beliefs.

Question 14

_____ is the tendency to be exceedingly assured of the correctness of one's own judgments.

A) Hindsight bias
B) Confirmation bias
C) The outlier effect
D) The overconfidence phenomenon

Question 15

Which of the following states that extreme outcomes are more likely when considering fewer cases?

A) the law of large numbers
B) Weber's law
C) the law of small numbers
D) the law of effect

Question 16

Raquel is interested in determining whether astrological signs are predictive of personality.To investigate this,she examines her own behaviors,find that they match the predictions in her astrology book,and concludes that everyone's sign does indeed predict how they will behave.Believing that everyone thinks and behaves like her is an error that stems from Raquel's use of the:

A) "what you see is what there is" phenomenon.
B) pleasure paradox.
C) better-than-average effect.
D) hindsight bias.

Question 17

_____ is research dedicated to expanding the existing knowledge on a topic.

A) Applied research
B) Basic research
C) Pseudoscience
D) Introspection

Question 18

Data are to science as:

A) anecdotes are to pseudoscience.
B) opinions are to empirical research.
C) systematic observations are to pseudoscience.
D) nonsystematic observations are to basic research.

Question 19

The representativeness heuristic is a strategy for:

A) judging the likelihood of an event based on how easily one can think of similar instances.
B) deciding the likelihood of an event by how much it resembles a "typical" example of that event.
C) overestimating one's skills and abilities as compared with others.
D) searching for evidence that supports preexisting beliefs.

Question 20

Jeremiah is a door-to-door salesman.He has been keeping a record of his sales for the past few months.He is not surprised when his data revealed an outlier during the month of _____,given the inclement weather around that time.

A) November (total sales = 22)
B) December (total sales = 23)
C) January (total sales = 7)
D) February (total sales = 19)