Deck 2: Studying Behaviour Scientifically

Question 1

Andrew has taught his dog to do a number of tricks.On command,his dog can sit,beg,roll over,fetch,and speak.Andrew tells his friend Jacob that if a dog can learn all of these tricks and a cat cannot,then dogs must be smarter than cats.Jacob is impressed with the dog's tricks,but he's also convinced that his own cat is extremely smart.He tells Andrew that if a cat refuses to do all the silly tricks a dog does,then the cat is smarter than the dog: "It isn't that the cat can't learn the tricks,it's that the cat is too smart to be pushed around." Whose hypothesis is right?

A) Andrew's.
B) Jacob's.
C) Neither statement is a hypothesis,because neither Andrew nor Jacob is a scientist.
D) We don't know who's right without conducting research.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Hailie is writing a psychology research paper.She has collected research from the past three decades,which her professor says is fine.What is confusing for Hailie is that her articles say different things.She finally asks you why all of the research has been published if some of it is obviously wrong.You tell her that

A) scientists rarely work together or review previous research,which can leave publications in disagreement with each other.
B) there is no review process in scientific publication;if someone writes well enough,the article will be published,regardless of its validity.
C) truth and reality are in the eye of the beholder.
D) part of the scientific process is testing and retesting a theory,to see if everyone reaches the same results each time;if they don't,the research may not agree.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Sarah has just moved to a new city,where she works the night shift at the local hospital.On her way home from work,she walks through a park having a high crime rate.Sarah reasons that she is safe,because there are always a lot of people around.According to the research conducted by Darley and Latané,Sarah is

A) mistaken;the more people she encounters,the lower the likelihood any one of them would help her in an emergency.
B) correct;there is safety in numbers,and as long as the park is crowded,she's safe.
C) mistaken;the more people she encounters in any given situation,the higher the likelihood one of them will attack her.
D) correct;the more people she encounters,the lower the likelihood that Sarah will even be noticed.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

As Werner and his classmates begin to observe bullying among children for a class paper,he realizes that the children have many different reactions and his group needs to find a way to measure those responses.What would be the best approach?

A) Ask each child what he or she would call the type of reaction he or she had.
B) Develop a coding system to classify the children's behaviour in meaningful categories.
C) Focus on only one type of reaction and ignore the others.
D) Give each child a personality test.

Question 5

Thea is taking a social psychology class and is asked to come up with a hypothesis.She decides to see if opposites do in fact attract.On campus the next day,she notices how many people in couples seem to be opposites.When Thea arrives in class with her hypothesis,she mentions it to Melaina,who sits next to her.Melaina is surprised.She says,"My roommate suggested I see if 'birds of a feather' really 'flock together,' and they sure seemed to!" Both Melaina and Thea have found evidence for their hypotheses.What principle is affecting the reasoning of each?

A) Theory of social impact
B) Diffusion of responsibility
C) Hindsight
D) Bystander apathy

Question 6

Zhuang is trying to decide which major he should choose in college.His older brother notes that Zhuang is always asking questions,so maybe he should become a scientist.If Zhuang asks the same kinds of questions that successful scientists ask,he is probably asking things like

A) Why? How do you know? Where's your evidence? Is there another explanation?
B) How does this affect me? Why is it important that I know this?
C) Where will I use this information? Will it help me get ahead in life?
D) Who? What? When? Where? How? Can I get a quote?

Question 7

Sitting in the park one sunny day,Chaim notices that people who are walking dogs smile at him more often than people without dogs.Chaim concludes that people who own dogs are happier than those who do not own dogs.Based on the principles of psychological research there are many problems with Chaim's conclusion.What is the biggest problem?

A) Just because someone is walking a dog doesn't mean the person owns that dog.
B) Chaim did not observe people with cats before coming to his conclusion.
C) Correlation does not prove causation;the association may be spurious.
D) Chaim did not operationalize dogs.

Question 8

After the serial killer Ted Bundy was captured,he participated in a number of interviews and took various psychological tests.The interviews with him were particularly valuable to researchers,because his level of sociopathy is rare and perpetrators are often unwilling to assist researchers.Therefore,his case was ideal for a/an

A) case study.
B) naturalistic observation.
C) operationalization.
D) correlational study.

Question 9

Nathaniel is designing an experiment: He wants to learn how much time other students at his university spend studying for their art history exams.He decides to use a self-report survey,but he knows that people might over- or under-report their study time,due to

A) the hindsight bias.
B) random assignment.
C) placebo effects.
D) the social desirability bias.

Question 10

Priscilla wants to design a study that will let her look at whether people with high self-esteem are more likely to leave an unsatisfying relationship than those with low self-esteem.The only problem is that she can't look inside people's heads to see their degree of self-esteem.What should be her first step?

A) Create an operational definition that translates the abstract concept of self-esteem into something observable and measurable.
B) Find an assessment instrument that has already been used extensively by other researchers.
C) Find someone who has already studied self-esteem to work with.
D) Choose another topic.

Question 11

Dr.Child has developed a straightforward theory on emotional eating (the tendency for people to eat for emotional reasons rather than hunger).Dr.Gordion has also developed a theory,though hers is far more complicated.Both theories generate a number of new hypotheses.Both theories predict the phenomenon well.In the scientific community,Dr.______________ theory will probably be preferred because _____________.

A) Child's;it conforms to the law of parsimony
B) Child's;it will be easiest to prove or disprove
C) Gordion's;complexity suggests that she has thought the problem through more carefully
D) Gordion's;complexity is more likely to capture the complexity of eating behaviour

Question 12

For her experimental psychology class,Kristen has developed the hypothesis that intelligent people are more stressed out.Kristen's teacher tells her she needs to use operational definitions for her variables.This means that she needs to decide

A) which behaviours or qualities differentiate one person's intelligence and level of stress from the next person's.
B) the procedures she will use to collect her data.
C) which variables are independent and which are dependent.
D) which type of experimental design she will be using.

Question 13

Nahele has agreed to participate in a survey so he can receive extra credit in his psychology class.When he arrives,he is given a questionnaire that contains questions like "I enjoy playing team sports," "I often worry about getting things done," "I prefer to try new ways of doing things," and "I sometimes find it hard to trust other people." He is most likely taking a/an ___________ test.

A) intelligence
B) neuropsychological
C) achievement
D) personality

Question 14

Adira is driving to work when she sees a car fire at the side of a busy highway.She considers stopping,but then thinks that in the age of cell phones,and with so many cars passing by,someone must have already called the police.She passes the fire by.The next day,she sees an article in the newspaper about the person who had the car fire.He says he was astonished that nobody stopped to try to help him.The reaction Adira and the other drivers had produced was a

A) scientific principle.
B) diffusion of responsibility.
C) placebo effect.
D) demand characteristic.

Question 15

The psychologist Ann Rule spent a great deal of time with serial killer Ted Bundy after he was captured.She then wrote a best-selling book called The Stranger Beside Me,in which she described Bundy's life,experiences,and motivations.She also wrote about her own reactions to him;for example,"He certainly seemed to have made the most of his considerable assets.He was brilliant.handsome.[and his] treatment of me was the kind of old-world gallantry that he invariably showed toward any woman I ever saw him with,and I found it appealing." Though some say Rule's book is an important part of any posthumous research involving Bundy,case studies often have several drawbacks.What type of bias does the excerpt above suggest about Rule's approach to gathering and interpreting data?

A) She does not seem to be very objective about Bundy.
B) She was more interested in getting published than in learning about Bundy.
C) Because he was already in jail,she was unable to do naturalistic observation.
D) She failed to use formal survey methods in obtaining data.

Question 16

Lelani wants to know what percentage of all American college students receive financial aid in their freshman year.She attends a two-year community college,to which many students commute to campus every day.She stands outside the dining hall one weekday evening and hands out surveys to every third person entering the hall for dinner.Her data will

A) not be generalizable to all American college students,because she did not use a representative sample.
B) be completely invalid,because evenings are never a good time to do research.
C) be valid and generalizable,because she used random sampling and a representative sample.
D) be valid and generalizable as long as she continues to stand there;her presence will compel people to return the surveys to her.

Question 17

One day,after their psychology class,Olivia and Hannah are talking about dreaming.Most mornings Olivia doesn't remember any of her dreams,but occasionally she has vivid recollections when she wakes.Hannah says she has the same experience and wonders why.When they talk to friends about the phenomenon,they notice a pattern related to the stress of the previous day.They verbalize this pattern as,"When people feel stressed out over something one day,they are more likely to remember their dreams the following day." Olivia and Hannah have just formed a

A) scientific attitude.
B) valid statement.
C) hypothesis.
D) hindsight.

Question 18

Kathy is uncomfortable with some of the things she's learning in her science classes,and she becomes convinced that many scientists are just buying in to the theories they've been taught and perpetuating inaccurate information in their own research.In reality,

A) she's right.We have no idea how much of the information we rely on as fact is accurate.
B) she's right.At least 75 percent of the information published in journals is believed to be inaccurate.
C) theories are tested,modified,and then tested again by additional research;if they're inaccurate,they're discarded.
D) theories are modified only if someone with a great deal of research experience suggests they should be.

Question 19

Ramon is studying bullying behaviour among elementary schoolchildren.He arranges to spend one day following around a class of children,making notes on their behaviour.Unfortunately,when he presents his research to his professor,his professor says that Ramon's data were compromised by the way he collected it.What did Ramon forget to do?

A) He did not introduce himself to each student;that is,he failed to build rapport with his subjects.
B) He did not introduce himself to the children as a person in authority;as a result,the children may not have paid enough attention to him throughout the day.
C) He forgot to take some kind of reward to thank the children for having him there.
D) He did not use unobtrusive measures,and his presence may have affected the children's behaviour.

Question 20

Survey research uncovers a strong positive correlation between family size and parental patience.Which of the following conclusions can accurately be made?

A) Parents with large families learn to be more patient with their children.
B) Children in large families are better behaved.
C) Impatient parents have fewer children.
D) None of the above;correlation and causation are not the same thing.

Question 21

Matthew is conducting research to learn whether chewing peppermint gum during learning will improve recall if the participants are also chewing peppermint gum when they take a test.Matthew assigns the first 10 people who arrive to his experimental group.He assigns the last 10 people to his control group.What mistake has Matthew already made?

A) He didn't ask if anyone prefers cinnamon gum.
B) He forgot to ask how old each of the subjects is.
C) He failed to use random assignment.
D) He forgot that food (including gum)is always confounded.

Question 22

Samantha conducts an experiment on her college campus.She learns that more women than men talk to their fathers on the phone daily.Samantha may not be able to generalize her findings to the larger population of all college women,because most of the students at her college come from extremely patriarchical surrounding towns.Samantha's problem is a lack of

A) internal validity.
B) specific variables.
C) external validity.
D) a control group.

Question 23

Gary's son Sam is learning to drive.Each night,Gary takes Sam out in the family car for driving lessons.Gary notices that Sam improves more in lessons in which Gary is extremely critical.In fact,the more critical Gary is,the more Sam improves.After Sam gets his driver's license,Gary's wife Chrissy tells him that every time Gary was critical of Sam,she took him out so he could improve before his next lesson with his father.What was the problem with Gary's initial interpretation of Sam's improvement?

A) Parsimonious problem
B) Nonrepresentative sample problem
C) Generalizability problem
D) Third variable problem

Question 24

If scientific research shows that there is a positive correlation between the number of bars in a city and the number of churches in a city,we know that

A) churchgoing people are more likely to go to bars.
B) drinking makes people feel like going to church.
C) this relationship is a result of living in big cities.
D) there are several possible explanations for this relationship.

Question 25

Madison does a study to find out if talking on a cell phone while driving increases drivers' ability to react quickly to unexpected events.In her study,the dependent variable is

A) the car.
B) the time to react.
C) the cell phone.
D) Madison.

Question 26

Stephanie conducts an experiment to learn if brunettes have more fun.She has three brunette female friends and three blonde female friends go to the same party and record how many times they are asked to dance.When Stephanie discovers that two of the three brunette friends in her experiment are terrible dancers,she realizes that her results may be invalid due to a

A) poor manipulation.
B) confounding variable.
C) fourth variable.
D) lack of redheads in the study.

Question 27

In 1971,Phillip Zimbardo and colleagues conducted an experiment to learn about the power of roles.The subjects were randomly assigned to a "prisoner" group or a "guard" group.The guards were to do whatever they deemed necessary to maintain control.Less than two days into the experiment,one prisoner had a "nervous breakdown." Because the experimenters believed that the prisoner was trying to trick them into releasing him,they chided him for being weak and made him stay.If this experiment were done today,it would be in violation of the APA's ethical standards for informed consent,because

A) the participant was not allowed to leave freely without penalty.
B) it is unethical to study prison situations.
C) the researchers lied about what they were studying.
D) the study would be ethical if it were done today.

Question 28

Dr.Howard really wants her newly developed antianxiety medication to help people,but by smiling at the people who are getting the new drug and not at those who are getting the placebo,she is influencing her experimental subjects to respond differently than her control group subjects.In other words,she is unintentionally creating

A) validity replication.
B) placebo effects.
C) correlational effects.
D) experimenter expectancy effects.

Question 29

Dr.Sesay is testing a new antidepressant.He gives the experimental group the new medication and the control group sugar pills that look exactly the same as the real medication.However,some of the people who are taking the sugar pills start to feel less depressed.What is the most likely explanation?

A) Sugar relieves depression to some extent.
B) They expect to feel better,which makes them feel better.
C) Dr.Sesay accidentally gave them the real antidepressants.
D) The subjects are secretly taking other antidepressants on the side.

Question 30

Emily does a study to see if people who are learning difficult tasks are hungrier than people who are learning easy tasks.She carefully develops one task that is easy and one that is difficult,controls the temperature and noise of the room for each group,and randomly assigns people to either the difficult or the easy group.She provides each group with Rocky Road ice cream and observes how many people eat it in each group.There is a confounding variable in her experiment.What is it?

A) Some people might not like or be able to eat ice cream.
B) Some people might not like that they got the easy group rather than the difficult group or vice versa.
C) She did not use a coexperimenter.
D) She did not treat her subjects equally in all respects except for the variable that is of particular interest.

Question 31

Fred does a correlational study on shoe size and intelligence.He learns that the two variables are not related.Therefore,his correlation coefficient will be close to

A) 0
B) -1
C) +1
D) -10

Question 32

In a memory experiment,the subjects are asked to learn three lists of words.Each of the word lists is of equivalent difficulty.The first list contains university names,the second list is of dog breeds,and the third list contains kitchen appliances.After running 20 participants,the researchers notice that recall of university names,the first list that the participants learn,is much higher than recall for either of the other two lists.How can the researchers make sure that one list is actually easier to recall and not just an artifact of the way the test is set up?

A) Confound one of the variables.
B) Take a random sample of the participants' answers.
C) Change all of the university names to non-American proper names.
D) Counterbalance the word lists.

Question 33

Dr.Sesay is testing a new antidepressant.He gives the experimental group the new medication and the control group sugar pills that look exactly the same as the real medication.He is excited about all the good he believes this new medication will do for people.When he gives his control group the sugar pills,he shows little emotion,but when he hands out the antidepressants,he grins at his participants.To control for ______________,Dr.Sesay should use a _______________________ design instead.

A) experimenter expectancy effects;double-blind
B) placebo effects;correlational
C) experimenter expectancy effects;correlational
D) placebo effects;double-blind

Question 34

Dr.Deshi has gathered the results of 52 studies on antenatal (during pregnancy)and subsequent postpartum depression to learn whether antenatal depression is a significant risk factor for postpartum depression.To combine the results of all 52 studies and see how strongly the two problems are related,she should use a

A) correlational study.
B) case study.
C) mode.
D) meta-analysis.

Question 35

Stephanie conducts an experiment to learn if brunettes have more fun.She has three brunette female friends and three blonde female friends go to the same party,and record how many times they are asked to dance.In her experiment,Stephanie has defined her ____________ as the number of times the friends were asked to dance,and her ____________ as hair colour.

A) independent variable;extraneous variable
B) extraneous variable;dependent variable
C) independent variable;dependent variable
D) dependent variable;independent variable

Question 36

Dr.Sesay is testing a new antidepressant.He carefully screens his subjects and assigns them to either the control group or the experimental group.He gives one group the new medication and the other one sugar pills that look exactly the same as the real medication.By doing this,he is hoping to control for ____________ effects.

A) correlational
B) placebo
C) scatterplot
D) meta-analytical

Question 37

Madison does a study to learn if drinking warm milk before one goes to bed shortens the time it takes one to get to sleep.In her study,the independent variable is

A) the bed.
B) the time it takes to get to sleep.
C) the warm milk.
D) Madison.

Question 38

Ashley does a correlational study and learns that the less students study,the worse their grades are.She has gotten a strong ___________ correlation.

A) negative
B) positive
C) scatterplot
D) There is no correlation.