Question 1

You caution a friend about eating so many foods that are high in fat content. Your friend replies that his grandfather ate all the bacon and cheese he wanted, and he lived to be 93. Which of the following is the BEST explanation for your friend's error in reasoning?

Accepted Answer

A) the anthopocentric effect 
B) the use of individual cases 
C) a self-fulfilling prophecy 
D) the fallacy of negative instances

Question 2

From her studies of chimpanzees in the wild in Tanzania, Jane Goodall showed that humans are not the only tool-making animals. In discovering this information, Jane Goodall used which type of research method?

Accepted Answer

A) field experiments 
B) experimental control 
C) correlational studies 
D) naturalistic observation

Question 3

To find out whether it really is "the thought that counts" when giving a gift, Gino and Flynn asked gift recipients to rate how much they would appreciate getting a gift they requested as opposed to one chosen by the gift giver. According to the empirical evidence gathered, these researchers found that the

Accepted Answer

A) recipients were more appreciative of a requested gift. 
B) recipients were more appreciative of an unrequested gift. 
C) recipients were equally appreciative of the gift whether requested or unrequested. 
D) gift givers believed that recipients would be significantly more likely to appreciate a requested gift.

Question 4

Which research method can address questions not answered by other approaches and allows information about large numbers of people to be gathered?

Accepted Answer

A) survey method 
B) clinical method 
C) naturalistic observation 
D) experimental method

Question 5

The survey method involves

Accepted Answer

A) an in-depth study of the opinions and attitudes of a selected individual. 
B) an overview of the attitudes and backgrounds of selected groups. 
C) direct observation and recording of a representative sample of behavior. 
D) careful questioning of a representative sample of people.

Question 6

Wundt's ideas were carried to the United States by

Accepted Answer

A) Sigmund Freud. 
B) Edward Titchener. 
C) Abraham Maslow. 
D) Fritz Perls.

Question 7

Taking your clients' cultural beliefs and values into account when making diagnoses and before beginning therapy illustrates the importance of

Accepted Answer

A) social accommodation. 
B) cultural relativity. 
C) ethnocentrism. 
D) cultural assimilation.

Question 8

The functionalists primarily followed the principles of

Accepted Answer

A) economics and the law of supply and demand. 
B) physics and the laws of gravity. 
C) biology and natural selection. 
D) chemistry and the table of elements.

Question 9

In an experiment, if the obtained results would occur by chance in less than five experiments out of 100, the results

Accepted Answer

A) were randomly assigned. 
B) cannot be replicated. 
C) were statistically significant. 
D) were part of a meta-analysis.

Question 10

William James regarded consciousness as

Accepted Answer

A) connections between stimuli and responses. 
B) an ever-changing flow of images and sensations. 
C) being overshadowed by the unconscious mind. 
D) a set of building blocks to be analyzed through introspection.

Question 11

A psychologist discovers a correlation between parents who smoke cigarettes and juvenile delinquency in their children. We can conclude that

Accepted Answer

A) parental smoking causes juvenile delinquency. 
B) juvenile delinquents drive their parents to take up smoking. 
C) both parental smoking and juvenile delinquency are caused by a third factor, such as socioeconomic status. 
D) parental smoking and juvenile delinquency are related, but no causal relationship has been established.

Question 12

Max Wertheimer is associated with which one of the following schools of thought?

Accepted Answer

A) Gestalt psychology 
B) behaviorism 
C) psychoanalysis 
D) functionalism

Question 13

Regarding their research on weight loss, Conlon and his colleagues weighed the participants on a standard digital scale at the beginning of the weight-loss period and once every week until the program ended. This exact procedure being used to represent the participants' weights is referred to as a(n)

Accepted Answer

A) operational definition. 
B) tentative theory. 
C) null hypothesis. 
D) contingent reinforcer.

Question 14

Rules that define acceptable and expected behavior for members of various groups are called

Accepted Answer

A) social norms. 
B) cultural laws. 
C) universal norms. 
D) cultural relational behaviors.

Question 15

Basic research is best described as research done

Accepted Answer

A) to find solutions to specific problems. 
B) to seek knowledge for its own sake. 
C) to improve students' abilities in reading and math. 
D) with lower animals to avoid ethical issues.

Question 16

Which degree in psychology emphasizes therapy skills rather than a research orientation?

Accepted Answer

A) Psy.D. 
B) Ph.D. 
C) Ed.D. 
D) M.A.

Question 17

The idea that behavior must be judged relative to the values of the culture in which it occurs is called

Accepted Answer

A) relative deprivation. 
B) normal behavior. 
C) ethnocentric behavior. 
D) cultural relativity.

Question 18

A correlation coefficient of -.87 indicates a very weak relationship between the two events.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Sid believes his dreams forecast the future. He describes all the dreams that came true in the last month. His friend Joey asks him about all the times his dreams did not come true. Sid's tendency to remember the times his dreams came true and forget the times they did not is known as

Accepted Answer

A) confirmation bias. 
B) uncritical acceptance. 
C) the observer effect. 
D) critical thinking.

Question 20

Researchers conducting web-based research have trouble controlling who actually answers their on-line questionnaires, which places limits on their research due to the possibility of

Accepted Answer

A) researcher bias. 
B) research participant bias. 
C) biased samples. 
D) the Barnum effect.

Exam 1: Psychology, Critical Thinking, and Science