Question 1

Sally proposes the idea that one's sexual history prior to marriage may be linked to whether one ends up getting divorced. This best represents which step of the scientific method?

Accepted Answer

A)  testing the hypothesis 
B)  observing events 
C)  forming a hypothesis 
D)  formulating a theory

Question 2

A case study examines in detail ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  a single participant 
B)  multiple instances of a situation 
C)  a set of questions put to participants 
D)  the relationship between two variables

Question 3

An Institutional Review Board (IRB) looks out for the welfare of those serving as participants in research.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

________ bias occurs when participants or items are not chosen at random but instead are selected so that an attribute is over- or under-represented.

Accepted Answer

A)  Response 
B)  Reliability 
C)  Sampling 
D)  Personal

Question 5

The question "What is happening?" refers to which of the following goals in psychology?

Accepted Answer

A)  description 
B)  explanation 
C)  prediction 
D)  control

Question 6

The administration of Midwest State University wants to know if arrangement of chairs affects student participation in classrooms. What would be a good operational definition of the dependent variable in an experiment designed to measure this relationship?

Accepted Answer

A)  class size: under 50 or over 50 
B)  number of students enrolled in each class 
C)  chair arrangement: theater style or circular 
D)  frequency with which students ask questions

Question 7

As part of a psychology experiment, Brett decides to measure a person's "anxiety" by noting the number of blinks a person makes in a twenty minute social interaction with a stranger. Brett appears to have offered a(n) ________ of anxiety.

Accepted Answer

A)  variable 
B)  operational definition 
C)  theory 
D)  hypothesis

Question 8

In the phrase "survival of the fittest," the fittest are those who are the strongest.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

The outwardly observable acts of an individual, alone or in a group, are referred to as ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  behavior 
B)  sensations 
C)  mental processes 
D)  perceptions

Question 10

Introspection requires ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  metaphysical experiences 
B)  self-skepticism about experiences 
C)  empiricism 
D)  reflection on the self

Question 11

You overhear psychology students preparing for a test. They note that one of the research methods often "fails to generalize." Which method is the most likely topic of their discussion?

Accepted Answer

A)  correlation 
B)  case study 
C)  experiment 
D)  surveys

Question 12

Why is it important to make sure that different participant groups are roughly equivalent in terms of personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender) before any independent variable is introduced?

Accepted Answer

A)  Because it is important to treat all research participants equally so that they feel that they are not being manipulated. 
B)  Because research ethics forbid any experiment to take place when the participant groups are fundamentally different from each other. 
C)  So that no major differences between the groups unduly bias the results of the experiment. 
D)  Because it threatens the integrity of a within-group experimental design.

Question 13

Which of the following professionals might have a master's degree but not a doctoral degree?

Accepted Answer

A)  An applied psychologist 
B)  A psychiatrist 
C)  A clinical psychologist 
D)  A counseling psychologist

Question 14

Dr. Braunz has been treating a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She decides to write a prescription for Ritalin. Given this information, it is most likely that Dr. Braunz is a _________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  psychiatrist 
B)  psychoanalyst 
C)  humanistic psychologist 
D)  school psychologist

Question 15

Julie finds that the number of hours she sleeps each night is related to the scores she receives on quizzes the next day. As her sleep approaches 8 hours, her quiz scores improve; as her sleep drops to 5 hours, her quiz scores show a similar decline. Julie realizes that ______________________.

Accepted Answer

A)  there is a negative correlation between the number of hours she sleeps and her quiz grades 
B)  there is a positive correlation between the number of hours she sleeps and her quiz grades 
C)  her low quiz scores are caused by sleep deprivation the night before a quiz 
D)  she should sleep about 10 hours a night to ensure 100 percent quiz grades

Question 16

Which of the following is CORRECT concerning random assignment?

Accepted Answer

A)  In random assignment each participant has an equal chance for each condition. 
B)  In random assignment each participant is assigned alphabetically to each condition. 
C)  Random assignment can only be determined after an experiment is over. 
D)  The best formula for random assignment is birth dates.

Question 17

An applied psychologist may hold either a Ph.D. or a master's degree.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 18

If Eve provides psychotherapy and is trained to administer and interpret psychological tests, then what type of psychologist is she? What other job tasks might this type of psychologist have?

Accepted Answer

The answer of If Eve provides psychotherapy and is trained...

Question 19

Evolutionary psychologists propose that people lie because ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  unconscious forces lead them to do so 
B)  people are rewarded for doing so 
C)  doing so gave our ancestors an advantage for survival 
D)  they have been lied to

Question 20

The goal of cognitive neuroscience is to ________.

Accepted Answer

A)  discover the nature, organization, and operation of mental events by studying the brain 
B)  demonstrate that concepts like reinforcement and punishment are really irrelevant 
C)  prove that psychological motivations for behavior do not originate in the brain 
D)  demonstrate that human brain functioning and animal brain functioning are essentially the same

Exam 1: Introduction to the Science of Psychology: History and Research Methods

Sally proposes the idea that one's sexual history prior to marriage may be linked to whether one ends up getting divorced. This best represents which step of the scientific method?

A case study examines in detail ________.

An Institutional Review Board (IRB) looks out for the welfare of those serving as participants in research.

________ bias occurs when participants or items are not chosen at random but instead are selected so that an attribute is over- or under-represented.

The question "What is happening?" refers to which of the following goals in psychology?

The administration of Midwest State University wants to know if arrangement of chairs affects student participation in classrooms. What would be a good operational definition of the dependent variable in an experiment designed to measure this relationship?

As part of a psychology experiment, Brett decides to measure a person's "anxiety" by noting the number of blinks a person makes in a twenty minute social interaction with a stranger. Brett appears to have offered a(n) ________ of anxiety.

In the phrase "survival of the fittest," the fittest are those who are the strongest.

The outwardly observable acts of an individual, alone or in a group, are referred to as ________.

Introspection requires ________.

You overhear psychology students preparing for a test. They note that one of the research methods often "fails to generalize." Which method is the most likely topic of their discussion?

Why is it important to make sure that different participant groups are roughly equivalent in terms of personal characteristics (e.g., age, gender) before any independent variable is introduced?

Which of the following professionals might have a master's degree but not a doctoral degree?

Dr. Braunz has been treating a child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She decides to write a prescription for Ritalin. Given this information, it is most likely that Dr. Braunz is a _________________.

Julie finds that the number of hours she sleeps each night is related to the scores she receives on quizzes the next day. As her sleep approaches 8 hours, her quiz scores improve; as her sleep drops to 5 hours, her quiz scores show a similar decline. Julie realizes that ______________________.

Which of the following is CORRECT concerning random assignment?

An applied psychologist may hold either a Ph.D. or a master's degree.

If Eve provides psychotherapy and is trained to administer and interpret psychological tests, then what type of psychologist is she? What other job tasks might this type of psychologist have?

Evolutionary psychologists propose that people lie because ________.

The goal of cognitive neuroscience is to ________.