Deck 1: Introduction to Psychology

Question 1

According to the text, which of the following is not a goal of applied research?

A) solving specific problems
B) applying new knowledge to problems in the real world
C) advancing our general scientific understanding
D) improving the quality of life

Answer 1

advancing our general scientific understanding

Question 2

Which of the following best reflects psychology's goal of description?

A) Researchers have studied how smoking habits develop so that they may develop techniques to prevent teenagers from starting the habit.
B) Researchers have developed a test that shows which individuals are likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.
C) Researchers have examined hundreds of cases of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality) in order to provide a clear picture of the disorder.
D) Researchers have identified a gene involved in many cases of obesity.

Answer 2

Researchers have examined hundreds of cases of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality) in order to provide a clear picture of the disorder.

Question 3

According to the text, which of the following is not a goal of basic research?

A) Solving specific problems
B) Advancing our general scientific understanding
C) Pursuing knowledge for its own sake
D) Seeking new knowledge

Answer 3

Solving specific problems

Question 4

According to the text, psychology is the scientific study of

A) human and animal behaviour.
B) thought, perception, and emotion.
C) conscious and unconscious processes.
D) behaviour and mental processes.

Question 5

When researchers can specify the conditions under which a behaviour or event is likely to occur, they have accomplished the goal of

A) explanation.
B) influence.
C) description.
D) prediction.

Question 6

Understanding the conditions under which a given behaviour occurs enables researchers to state the causes of the behaviour. This is a requirement of the goal of

A) influence.
B) description.
C) prediction.
D) explanation.

Question 7

When a study is conducted for the purpose of solving practical problems, the research would be described as

A) a theory.
B) applied research.
C) basic research.
D) a hypothesis.

Question 8

Dr. Sherkus conducts a study concerning the emotional reaction of people when they first receive the news that they have diabetes. The purpose of the research is to help people adjust quickly and positively to their situation. This type of research would be

A) basic.
B) standard.
C) theoretical.
D) applied.

Question 9

Which of the following best reflects psychology's goal of explanation?

A) Researchers have developed a test that shows which individuals are likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.
B) Researchers have studied how smoking habits develop so that they may develop techniques to prevent teenagers from starting the habit.
C) Researchers have identified a gene involved in many cases of obesity.
D) Researchers have examined hundreds of cases of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality) in order to provide a clear picture of the disorder.

Question 10

When researchers have learned how to apply a principle or change a condition in order to prevent unwanted occurrences, they have met the fundamental goal of

A) description.
B) influence.
C) prediction.
D) explanation.

Question 11

A theory enables researchers to

A) find the right interpretation for the data they collect.
B) describe several alternatives for what they observe.
C) explain what they were not able to find proof of.
D) fit many separate facts into a larger framework.

Question 12

An understanding of any behaviour or mental process usually begins with

A) influence.
B) explanation.
C) prediction.
D) description.

Question 13

Which of the following best reflects psychology's goal of influence?

A) Researchers have examined hundreds of cases of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality) in order to provide a clear picture of the disorder.
B) Researchers have studied how smoking habits develop so that they may develop techniques to prevent teenagers from starting the habit.
C) Researchers have developed a test that shows which individuals are likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.
D) Researchers have identified a gene involved in many cases of obesity.

Question 14

The goals of psychology as a science are to

A) understand human and animal behaviour fully.
B) study and control human behaviour.
C) compare, analyze, and control behaviour and mental processes.
D) describe, explain, predict, and influence behaviour and mental processes.

Question 15

According to the text, which of the following is not a major goal of psychology?

A) reconstruction
B) influence
C) prediction
D) description

Question 16

According to the text, research that is conducted in order to find solutions to specific problems is called

A) controlled research.
B) basic research.
C) pure research.
D) applied research.

Question 17

Which of the following best reflects psychology's goal of prediction?

A) Researchers have developed a test that shows which individuals are likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.
B) Researchers have examined hundreds of cases of dissociative identity disorder (multiple personality) in order to provide a clear picture of the disorder.
C) Researchers have studied how smoking habits develop so that they may develop techniques to prevent teenagers from starting the habit.
D) Researchers have identified a gene involved in many cases of obesity.

Question 18

When a researcher utilizes a general principle or set of principles to explain how a number of separate facts are related to one another, the researcher is using

A) a theory.
B) basic research.
C) a hypothesis.
D) applied research.

Question 19

According to the text, which of the following is not a major goal of psychology?

A) describing and explaining behaviour
B) predicting behaviour
C) influencing behaviour
D) comparing human and animal behaviour

Question 20

When a study is conducted for the purpose of finding new knowledge or advancing scientific understanding, the research would be described as

A) a hypothesis.
B) a theory.
C) basic research.
D) applied research.

Question 21

In-depth information about a single individual is the type of information gathered when psychologists use

A) laboratory observation.
B) the case study method.
C) the survey method.
D) naturalistic observation.

Question 22

Which of the following is not an advantage of the case study method?

A) It can allow researchers to reach conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships.
B) It provides a good source of descriptive information.
C) It can provide the basis for a hypothesis to be tested later.
D) It is useful in studying the behaviour patterns of animals in the wild.

Question 23

The case study is not useful for

A) supplying detailed descriptions of behaviour which can provide the foundation for psychological theories.
B) learning about rare physical and psychological disorders.
C) studying large numbers of people.
D) learning the consequences of rare brain injuries.

Question 24

In order to examine the parenting behaviour of pandas, two psychologists spent three years observing the panda in the mountainous regions of Western China. The method used by these investigators was most likely

A) the survey method.
B) the case study method.
C) the experimental method.
D) naturalistic observation.

Question 25

Unobtrusively observing people who are eating at a fast food restaurant in order to determine how frequently they take bites of their food is an example of

A) naturalistic observation.
B) the case study method.
C) the survey method.
D) the experimental method.

Question 26

Which of the following is not one of the limitations of naturalistic observation?

A) The method is not useful in situations where more than a few subjects have to be observed.
B) The presence of the researcher may influence the behaviour of the subjects.
C) The subjects may not behave as they would naturally.
D) The expectations of the researcher may distort his or her observations.

Question 27

________ is to general scientific understanding as ________ is to practical problems.

A) Applied research; basic research
B) Basic research; applied research
C) Hypothesis; theory
D) Theory; hypothesis

Question 28

Sandy is interested in determining how long bear cubs stay with their mother. She spends several years studying their behaviour in Yellowstone Park, noting dates of birth and time of leaving mother for several bear families. This is an example of

A) the case study method.
B) the experimental method.
C) the survey method.
D) naturalistic observation.

Question 29

Much was learned about the biological nature of memory by observing an individual who had severe memory loss over an extended period of time. This is an example of

A) the case study method.
B) the laboratory method.
C) naturalistic observation.
D) the experimental method.

Question 30

Which of the following statements applies to the case study method?

A) It is appropriate for studying most physical or psychological disorders.
B) A case study may take months or years to complete.
C) It can be used to determine the cause of the behaviours observed.
D) The researcher can be fairly confident that the findings may be applied to large groups or a different culture.

Question 31

The purpose of a case study is to

A) provide a detailed description of some behaviour or disorder.
B) assess the strength of the relationship between variables.
C) provide accurate information about large numbers of people.
D) identify cause-and-effect relationships.

Question 32

Descriptive research methods

A) yield descriptions of behaviour.
B) do not occur in the laboratory.
C) include the experimental method and correlational methods.
D) identify causes of behaviour.

Question 33

John interviews 10 people about their memories from the first three years of their lives. He then writes an essay about early memory in humans. Which research method did he use to collect his data?

A) naturalistic observation
B) controlled experiment
C) correlation study
D) case study

Question 34

Freud based his ideas about human personality on the information he acquired about his patients' lives and especially their memories of early childhood experiences. Freud's theory is based on

A) the experimental method.
B) survey research.
C) the case study method.
D) naturalistic observation.

Question 35

The survey is most useful when we wish to learn about

A) rare psychological and physical disorders.
B) how people will respond during highly controlled conditions.
C) the behaviour, beliefs, or attitudes of a large group of people.
D) how people react during natural disasters.

Question 36

Much of our knowledge about sleep has been gained through

A) naturalistic observation.
B) laboratory observation.
C) case studies.
D) surveys.

Question 37

Which of the following statements is not true of naturalistic observation?

A) Researchers using this method attempt to influence the behaviour being observed.
B) This method allows the study of some phenomena that cannot be studied experimentally for ethical reasons.
C) Subjects may or may not know that they are being observed.
D) Behaviour studied in this way is usually more natural than behaviour studied under laboratory conditions.

Question 38

The case study method is most useful when studying

A) common behaviour.
B) unique behaviour.
C) highly motivated behaviour.
D) animal behaviour.

Question 39

Margot is interested in determining if people who play video games also socialize while playing their games. She goes to a local arcade and carefully observes the behaviour of persons in the area. Margot is collecting information with the

A) laboratory observation method.
B) case study method.
C) naturalistic observation method.
D) survey method.

Question 40

Naturalistic observation, laboratory observation, the case study method, and survey research share which of the following features?

A) They are only used in basic research situations.
B) None are successful in helping us understand behaviour.
C) They all find the causal reasons for why behaviours occur.
D) They describe rather than identify causes of behaviour.

Question 41

One of the difficulties with the survey method is

A) the impossibility of getting a representative sample.
B) the subjects may give dishonest or inaccurate responses.
C) that only a relatively small number of subjects can be used.
D) the inability to examine changes over time.

Question 42

A descriptive method that is used to determine the degree of relationship between two characteristics, events, or behaviours is known as the ________ method.

A) coefficient
B) observational
C) experimental
D) correlational

Question 43

The entire group of interest to which the researchers intend to generalize their results is called the

A) subject set.
B) representative sample.
C) sample.
D) population.

Question 44

You are about to start a research project with the goal of understanding how one variable causes another variable; poverty causes HIV infection, for example. A starting point would be to demonstrate that the two variables are related. You are only hypothesising that when poverty is high, HIV infection rates are also high. You could start your project with a ________ study of these two variables.

A) coincidental
B) correlational
C) experimental
D) observational

Question 45

Population is to ________ as sample is to ________.

A) behaviour; opinions
B) representative; biased
C) people; attitudes
D) whole; part

Question 46

Which of the following methods has the advantage of allowing the investigator to collect large amounts of information about the attitudes, beliefs, experiences or behaviours of large groups of people?

A) laboratory observation
B) the case study method
C) the survey method
D) naturalistic observation

Question 47

Which statement is true regarding the selection of subjects for a survey?

A) Generalization to the larger population will be fairly accurate, regardless of the way the sample has been chosen.
B) The sample should contain important subgroups within the population in the same proportions as they are found in the larger population.
C) The most accurate surveys are those with the largest number of subjects.
D) If the sample is relatively large, it need not be representative.

Question 48

The Hockey News polled its readers to establish the television newscast preferences of Canadians. Why would scientists be skeptical about the results?

A) Too large a percentage of questionnaires were returned.
B) Hockey News readers probably do not represent a cross-section of Canadians who watch television newscasts.
C) Some of the questionnaires could have been completed by women.
D) Males would be underrepresented.

Question 49

What is an advantage of using the survey method, if properly done?

A) The participants will tell you what you want to hear.
B) Only a few subjects need to be used.
C) It can provide highly accurate information.
D) Answers are short and easy to analyze.

Question 50

Subjects selected from a population for a survey make up a group referred to as a

A) subpopulation.
B) control group.
C) sample.
D) subgroup.

Question 51

Which research method is used to determine the relationship between two characteristics, events, or behaviours?

A) the survey
B) the correlational method
C) the case study
D) naturalistic observation

Question 52

Concerns about internet survey distribution and collection of data include which of the following?

A) The subjects' identity can never be discovered.
B) People are rarely honest about themselves when they are filling out information on the internet.
C) Dishonest researchers could copy the findings.
D) There is a limited portion of the population that uses the internet, thereby creating biases in this method of data collection.

Question 53

Which of the following correlational coefficients represents the strongest relationship between two variables?

A) 0.00
B) - .59
C) + .70
D) - .76

Question 54

One advantage of collecting survey responses over the internet is that

A) the same person can respond more than once and provide even more data to the study.
B) the subjects' identity can never be discovered.
C) it is a fast, inexpensive way to obtain large amounts of information.
D) subjects can change their answers.

Question 55

Which of the following is a challenge for gathering accurate information from an interview?

A) Too few subjects can be interviewed to provide accurate information.
B) The interview method does not provide detailed responses.
C) Characteristics of the interviewer can influence the subject's response.
D) The interview method may not provide a representative sample.

Question 56

Which of the following describes a positive correlation?

A) There is no relationship between the variables.
B) When the value of one variable goes down, the value of the other goes up.
C) When the value of one variable goes up, the value of the other goes up.
D) When the value of one variable goes up, the value of the other variable goes down.

Question 57

Which of the following describes a negative correlation?

A) There is no relationship between the variables.
B) When the value of one variable goes down, the value of the other goes down.
C) When the value of one variable goes up, the value of the other goes up.
D) When the value of one variable goes up, the value of the other variable goes down.

Question 58

What is the proper term for a group of subjects selected for a survey so that important subgroups within the population are included for study in the same proportions as they are found in the larger population?

A) subpopulation
B) representative sample
C) critical mass
D) sample

Question 59

Which of the following is not true of correlation?

A) The fact that there is a correlation between two variables means that one variable causes the other, but it isn't clear which is cause and which is effect.
B) A negative correlation means that an increase in the value of one variable is associated with a decrease in the value of the other variable.
C) The number in a correlation coefficient indicates the relative strength of the relationship between two variables-the higher the number, the stronger the relationship.
D) Correlations are useful in making predictions. The stronger the relationship between the variables, the better the prediction.

Question 60

A positive correlation is one in which

A) variables change in the same direction.
B) a strong relationship has been found.
C) definite predictions can be made.
D) the hypothesis has been supported.

Question 61

The group of subjects exposed to the independent variable is called

A) the control group.
B) the sample.
C) the experimental group.
D) the population.

Question 62

Professor Jancy did a study in which she explored the relationship between caffeine consumption and the ability to memorize words on a list. The dependent variable in her study was

A) time between learning and attempting recall.
B) the length of the word list to be remembered.
C) amount of caffeine consumed.
D) the number of words recalled.

Question 63

A psychologist is conducting an experiment to test the influence that coloured backgrounds of pages in textbooks have on the amount of information retained by students. She has a short text printed in three versions, each with a different colour of background. After students in three separate groups read their assigned text, she tests the students' retention. In this study, the three colours are the

A) dependent variable.
B) control variable.
C) independent variable.
D) random variable.

Question 64

Which of the following refers to an untested prediction about behaviour?

A) independent variable
B) correlation
C) hypothesis
D) dependent variable

Question 65

Subjects are assigned to take math tests in either a crowded classroom or an almost-empty classroom. Test scores are then examined to determine whether these conditions affected performance. In this example, the independent variable is

A) the test scores.
B) the subjects' mathematics skill.
C) not identified.
D) how crowded the classroom was.

Question 66

The research method that is used to explore cause and effect relationships between variables is

A) the correlational method.
B) naturalistic observation.
C) the case study.
D) the experimental method.

Question 67

Moira conducted a study to see how different levels of sleep deprivation (the lack of sleep) influenced test performance in college students. She was using the

A) case study method.
B) survey method.
C) experimental method.
D) naturalistic observation method.

Question 68

Professor Jancy did a study in which she explored the relationship between caffeine consumption and the ability to memorize words on a list. The independent variable in her study was

A) the length of the word list to be remembered.
B) the number of words recalled.
C) the time between learning and attempting recall.
D) the amount of caffeine consumed.

Question 69

A hypothesis is

A) any condition that can be manipulated, measured or controlled.
B) a variable measured at the end of the experiment.
C) a prediction about a relationship between two or more variables.
D) a variable manipulated by the researcher.

Question 70

Woloshyn, Willoughby, Wood, and Pressley's research on study strategies found that students recalled more information when they used

A) imagery and "why" questions as they reviewed the material to be learned.
B) whatever method they had used in secondary school to study.
C) someone else's notes to study the material to be learned.
D) repetition only when studying the material to be learned.

Question 71

In studying the effects of hunger on competition, a researcher has subjects skip one, two, or three meals and then play a competitive game. She notes the number of points scored by subjects in the three hunger groups. In this example, the independent variable is

A) the number of points scored.
B) the number of games played.
C) the amount of food consumed.
D) the number of meals missed.

Question 72

A psychology instructor studying the effects of the order of test items on test scores gave half the class a test in which the item order reflected the order in the textbook. The other half received the same questions in random order. What was the independent variable in this experiment?

A) the order of the items
B) the test scores
C) the difficulty of the items on the test
D) the method used to assign subjects to groups

Question 73

Which of the following variables is presumed to vary as a result of the researcher's manipulation of another factor or condition?

A) random
B) independent
C) control
D) dependent

Question 74

A psychologist is conducting an experiment to test the influence that coloured backgrounds of pages in textbooks have on the amount of information retained by students. She has a short text printed in three versions, each with a different colour of background. After students in three separate groups read their assigned text, she tests the students' retention. In this study, the retention of what the students read is the

A) dependent variable.
B) random variable.
C) independent variable.
D) control variable.

Question 75

Which of the following variables causes changes in the behaviour being studied?

A) control
B) independent
C) random
D) dependent

Question 76

A psychologist is studying the effects of fatigue on competition. She has subjects skip one, two, or three nights of sleep and then play a competitive game, noting the number of points scored by subjects in the three different conditions. In this example, the dependent variable is

A) fatigue.
B) the number of points scored.
C) number of nights sleep was missed.
D) number of games played.

Question 77

The systematic variation of some factor believed to affect behaviour is an essential characteristic of which of the following methods?

A) case study
B) survey method
C) correlational method
D) experimental method

Question 78

In studying the effects of hunger on competition, a researcher has subjects skip one, two, or three meals and then play a competitive game. She notes the number of points scored by subjects in the three hunger groups. In this example, the dependent variable is

A) the number of meals missed.
B) the amount of food consumed.
C) the number of games played.
D) the number of points scored.

Question 79

Independent variable is to ________ as dependent variable is to ________.

A) correlation; experiment
B) cause; effect
C) random; control
D) effect; cause

Question 80

A psychology instructor studying the effects of the order of test items on test scores gave half the class a test in which the item order reflected the order in the textbook. The other half received the same questions in random order. What was the dependent variable in this experiment?

A) the order of the items
B) the method used to assign subjects to groups
C) the difficulty of the items on the test
D) scores on the test