Deck 1: Introduction and Research Methods

Question 1

What organisms do psychologists study?

A) rats
B) humans
C) chimps
D) all of the above

Answer 1

all of the above

Question 2

A scientist watching jackals feed on seals measures the frequency of feeding, competitive behavior, and duration of feeding. He is gathering _____.

A) anecdotal data
B) empirical evidence
C) scientific evidence
D) critical evidence

Answer 2

empirical evidence

Question 3

_____ is information acquired by direct observation and measurement using systematic scientific methods.

A) Psychological science
B) Empirical evidence
C) Critical thinking
D) Scientology

Answer 3

Empirical evidence

Question 4

Dr. Krostom responds to radio listeners by using mostly her own common sense, beliefs, and values rather than scientific research. This practice is more like _____ than _____.

A) fraud; vice
B) pseudopsychology; psychology
C) illegal behavior; legal behavior
D) opinion; facts

Question 5

Which of the following is the BEST example of psychology's goal of describing behavior?

A) giving an interest-inventory (test) at a college counseling center to determine what career or college choices would best suit a student
B) conducting an experiment to determine if watching violent cartoons increases aggressive behavior in preschoolers
C) videotaping an intersection with four-way stop signs and measuring the ratio of complete to incomplete stops made by drivers
D) sending first-time drug offenders to an inpatient treatment program rather than to jail

Question 6

Which of the following is the BEST example of psychology's goal of changing behavior?

A) sending first-time drug offenders to an inpatient treatment program rather than jail
B) exploring the function of cutting behavior in a teenager's life so that the teenager can understand his or her options and make choices regarding the behavior.
C) giving an interest-inventory (test) at a college counseling center to determine what career or college choices would best suit a student
D) videotaping an intersection with four-way stop signs and measuring the ratio of complete to incomplete stops made by drivers

Question 7

If a psychologist is interested in studying the risk factors that lead to delinquency in adolescence, on what goal of psychology is the researcher focused?

A) describing behavior
B) explaining behavior
C) predicting behavior
D) changing behavior

Question 8

An example of ______________ would be if you argue that most behaviors are a product of your environment and your friend argues that behaviors are a result of heredity.

A) the nature-nurture controversy
B) applied versus basic research
C) continuity versus discontinuity controversy
D) an objective versus subjective argument

Question 9

Research has shown that watching episodes of aggression on television causes children to become physically more aggressive. As a result, the V-chip was created. What goal of psychology does this best represent?

A) describing behavior
B) explaining behavior
C) predicting behavior
D) changing behavior

Question 10

Structuralism made an important contribution to the science of psychology because it ________________.

A) established a model for the scientific study of mental processes.
B) showed how separate thoughts combined to form an idea.
C) explained why individuals experience stimuli differently.
D) highlighted why different scientific methods are needed to study children and animals versus studying adult humans.

Question 11

Functionalism was strongly influenced by what previous theory?

A) Darwin's theory of evolution
B) structuralism
C) behaviorism
D) Pavlov's theory of classical conditioning

Question 12

Which of the following is an important reason why many of Freud's followers moved away from his school of thought?

A) He put too much emphasis on sex and aggression as motives for behavior.
B) He believed too strongly that the mind influences the body in such diseases as cancer and Alzheimer's disease.
C) He put too much emphasis on social relationships and social motives in explaining behavior.
D) He believed too strongly that defense mechanisms such as projection and transference were a factor in behavior.

Question 13

Which one of the following parts of Freudian theory is still accepted by many psychotherapists today?

A) the influence of sexual drives on behavior
B) the influence of aggressive drives on behavior
C) the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior
D) a and b

Question 14

Pavlov's concept of ______________ explained behavior as a result of observable stimuli and observable responses.

A) introspection
B) conditioning
C) functionalism
D) shaping

Question 15

The humanistic perspective was responsible for influencing the development of what area of psychology?

A) cognitive
B) sociocultural
C) positive
D) evolutionary

Question 16

The norm for standing distance between two friends during a conversation is about 3-6 feet in the United States, whereas it is only about 1-2 feet in Middle Eastern countries. This difference best reflects what type of psychology?

A) behavioral
B) sociocultural
C) environmental
D) evolutionary

Question 17

What type of research would study ways to enhance athletic performance?

A) independent
B) basic
C) dependent
D) applied

Question 18

A researcher who performs a previous study following the same procedures to see if he would get the same results would be an example of _____.

A) an invalid research method
B) a replication of studies
C) plagiarism
D) a waste of research time and funding

Question 19

Someone interested in studying the effects of text-messaging rather than talking on the phone on the quality of friendships would perform __________ as the first step in order to follow the scientific method.

A) a testable hypothesis
B) a theory
C) a literature review
D) a statistical analysis

Question 20

Data from many studies have been compiled, and researchers have developed a(n) __________ to explain their results.

A) hypothesis
B) experimental study
C) abstract
D) theory

Question 21

According to the rules of informed consent, when you ask the researcher if you have to complete/finish the experiment in which you are participating, the researcher should respond with _____.

A) "You have the right to drop out of the study at any time."
B) "I'm sorry, the experiment must continue."
C) "Please continue. I will debrief you afterwards."
D) "You may drop the study now, but you will forfeit credit."

Question 22

Debriefing is _____.

A) interviewing subjects after a study to find out what they were thinking during their participation
B) explaining the purpose of the study, anticipated results, and deceptions used when the study is over
C) disclosing potential physical and emotional risks and the nature of the study prior to its beginning
D) interviewing subjects after a study to determine whether any deceptions were effective in preventing them from learning the true purpose of the study

Question 23

Which of the following is true about animal research?

A) It accounts for only 7 to 8% of psychological research.
B) Most animal research uses rats or mice.
C) Animal researchers use punishments as often as they use rewards.
D) a and b

Question 24

With which type of animal is nonhuman research mostly conducted?

A) rats
B) dogs
C) cats
D) primates

Question 25

A therapist may be required to break client confidentiality if the client _____.

A) asks to be reimbursed for their services
B) threatens to hurt others
C) is abusing a child or an elder adult
D) b and c

Question 26

Which of the following therapists is violating psychology's ethical standard of confidentiality?

A) Dr. Novak called the Department of Social Services to report her client, who admitted during their session together that she was abusing her 9-year-old daughter.
B) Dr. Jones describes detailed case histories of former clients to his psychology class without disguising their characteristics.
C) Dr. Smith-Nguyen discusses a client with his wife to get her advice.
D) b and c

Question 27

If a clinical psychologist is doing therapy with someone who threatens to kill another person, the psychologist should_________________________.

A) try to talk him out of it but cannot call the police no matter what the outcome due to confidentiality concerns.
B) have the person committed to a mental institution
C) call the police and inform the potential victim if the person making the threat cannot be talked out of it
D) nothing; due to confidentiality concerns the psychologist is powerless.

Question 28

In a naturalistic observation, a researcher would be most likely to do which of the following?

A) conduct an in-depth study of a single subject
B) observe participants as they behave naturally in the laboratory
C) observe and systematically record behavior in a participant's natural state or habitat
D) determine cause and effect

Question 29

A survey is a(n) _____.

A) experimental technique for sampling a population's attitudes
B) research technique for assessing the behaviors and attitudes of a wide selection of people
C) noncorrelational research technique for sampling a wide variety of populations
D) unreliable and invalid research technique, usually used by magazines and political or commercial pollsters

Question 30

Which scientific method of research would be used if a college student running for student body president was trying to determine whether to emphasize campus security, improved parking facilities, or increased health services in their campaign?

A) a case study
B) naturalistic observation
C) an experiment
D) a survey

Question 31

_____ research is used to study the brain and other parts of the nervous system.

A) Traditional
B) Psychological
C) Biological
D) Clinical

Question 32

Which of the following is a disadvantage of an experiment?

A) inability to determine cause and effect
B) participant bias
C) researcher bias
D) b and c

Question 33

The BEST definition of an independent variable is a _____.

A) measurable behavior that is exhibited by a participant and is affected by the dependent variable
B) variable that is manipulated by the experimenter to determine its causal effect on the dependent variable
C) variable that is kept constant during an experiment to prevent contamination of other variables
D) variable that cannot be manipulated by anyone

Question 34

If researchers gave participants varying amounts of a new "memory" drug and then gave them a story to read and measured their scores on a quiz, the _____ would be the independent variable (IV), and the _____ would be the dependent variable (DV).

A) response to the drug; amount of the drug
B) experimental group; control group
C) exposure to the drug; quiz scores
D) researcher variables; extraneous variables

Question 35

_____ are factors that are not being directly manipulated or measured, which could affect research results if they are not held constant.

A) Random variables
B) Placebos
C) Extraneous variables
D) Replicators

Question 36

An example of a(n) ___________ is one in which an experiment was conducted on caffeine-induced stress in which neither the class researchers nor the participants in the experiment knew who did and did not receive caffeine until after the study was completed.

A) counterbalanced design study
B) double-blind study
C) unknown condition experiment
D) controlled deception condition experiment

Question 37

In a study in which neither the patient nor the physician knew whether a patient was getting the drug or the placebo, 85% of participants and patients correctly identified whether they were in the experimental or control condition. Contrary to design expectations, the experiment was not ________.

A) effective
B) reliable
C) correlational
D) double blind

Question 38

If a presidential candidate concludes from a poll conducted in Minnesota that he is ahead in the race and that from those results that he will win the election nationwide, then the candidate is guilty of _____________.

A) experimenter bias
B) sample bias
C) the placebo effect
D) the lack of adequate controls

Question 39

One way to decrease participant bias is to _____.

A) conduct single-blind and double-blind studies
B) use the selectivity model
C) use placebo controls
D) a and c

Question 40

In 1848 Phineas Gage had a metal rod accidentally shot through part of his face and brain. As a result, he suffered a drastic personality transformation, with his injury and recovery documented by his physician. This is an example of a(n)_____________.

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

Question 41

Which of the following is an example of a zero correlation?

A) the relationship between your grades and how much time you spend studying
B) the relationship between your alcohol consumption and physical reaction time
C) the relationship between intensity of rain and umbrella use
D) the relationship between your adult height and intelligence

Question 42

Which is the stronger correlation, -1.00 or +1.00?

A) +1.00
B) They are the same.
C) -1.00
D) Neither; -1.00 does not exist.

Question 43

Since there is a correlation between cancer and stress, which of the following statements is true?

A) Cancer causes stress.
B) Stress causes cancer.
C) Knowing a person's stress level can predict that person's likelihood of cancer.
D) Obesity causes both stress and likelihood of cancer to increase.

Question 44

An example of ________ would be destroying the amygdala in a research rat in order to observe changes in its behavior.

A) lesioning research
B) unethical research
C) ablation research
D) animal husbandry

Question 45

An example of _________ correlation would be the more a mother smokes, the more damage a fetus suffers.

A) positive
B) negative
C) zero
D) perfect

Question 46

An example of a __________ correlation is the more absences a student has, the lower their exam scores.

A) positive
B) negative
C) zero
D) perfect

Question 47

If you use a small wire to record the brain's electrical activity, the output produces an _____.

A) EGG
B) EEG
C) EKG
D) EGK

Question 48

If you are having specific areas of your brain stimulated to prepare for performing brain surgery, than you are MOST likely undergoing _____.

A) ESB
B) EEG
C) EGG
D) EFG

Question 49

EEGs can determine which of the following?

A) mental disorders
B) brain tumors
C) the areas of the brain that are most active during a particular task
D) b and c

Question 50

If a person has been injected with radioactive glucose and his doctor is observing the activity levels in various parts of his brain, than he is having a(n) _____.

A) near death experience
B) PET scan
C) MI scan
D) CT scan

Question 51

Studying the night before the exam would be an example of _____ and studying for 1 hour a day 5 nights before the exam would be an example of _________.

A) distributed; massed
B) massed; distributed
C) massed; massed
D) distributed; distributed

Question 52

List and describe the four goals of psychology giving an original example of how either basic or applied research could be used to achieve each goal.

Question 53

Contrast the following three schools/perspectives in psychology with regard to their research methods, beliefs about the effects of the past on behavior, and areas of emphasis: psychoanalytic, behaviorism, and cognitive psychology. Explain which perspective you find most intriguing.

Question 54

Suppose you believe that stress causes headaches. Describe what you would need to do for each of the six basic steps in the scientific method to research your belief.

Question 55

Imagine that you are an editor of Psychological Science, a respected journal that reports scientific results in psychology. Describe how you consider statistics, publication, replication, and citations to be related to determining the legitimacy of research results.

Question 56

Describe the different types of research methods that individuals involved with biological research can use.

Question 57

Imagine that you are a psychologist. Describe ethical considerations for human participants in research studies, as well as the benefits, limitations, and ethical considerations for animal research. Then, describe what you would tell a therapy client about what she can expect with regard to your maintaining her confidentiality. Finally, state the possible consequences of violating ethical standards in psychology.

Question 58

Suppose you believe negative advertising causes people to vote against the political candidate attacked in the ad. Describe an experiment you could perform to test your theory. Be sure to include a hypothesis, operational definitions of your independent and dependent variables, who your participants would be, and how you would randomly assign them to experimental or control groups.

Question 59

What are some ways that you as a researcher might be able to reduce the likelihood of social desirability bias in participants?

Question 60

Suppose you wanted to determine whether the use of marijuana is related to car accidents. Discuss the major limitations and merits of using each of the following research methods: an experiment, a naturalistic observation, a survey, and a case study; then state which method you would ultimately use.

Question 61

Provide an example of a positive correlation, negative correlation, and zero correlation.

Question 62

Contrast the three types of brain scans-CT, PET, and MRI (or fMRI)-providing an example of when each scan might be used.

Question 63

Discuss the SQ4R method. Give an example of how you would use it utilizing information from the chapter and applying each of the steps.