ap psych unit 1 mcq

Audra is working on a puzzle book and comes across the following figure. The Gestalt law that would affect Audra's perception of the picture above is influenced by the law of A. Closure B. Similarity C. Proximity D. Continuity E. Transference

A

Deception can be used in research when A. It is appropriate for what is being studied B. Participants are debriefed before the experiment C. The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approves it D. It is more expensive to use other methods E. The subjects in the experiment are college students

A

Researchers studying gender have found that A. There are more similarities than differences between the genders B. There are no significant cognitive differences between the genders C. There are no significant emotion differences between the genders D. Research tools are no capable of determining if there are true differences or not E. Differences between the genders are becoming more pronounced over time

A

The advantage of an experiment is that it allows a researcher to A. Infer cause and effect B. Test a large number of people C. See how people behave in their natural environment D. Gain an in-depth knowledge of a person or a small group of people E. Find the relationship between two variables

A

There is a negative correlation between TV watching and grades. What can we properly conclude from this discovery? A. We cannot conclude anything about cause and effect B. We can conclude that TV watching leads to lower grades C. We can conclude that TV watching increases grades D. We can conclude that the grades students get have an effect on their TV watching habits E. We can conclude that this is an illusory correlation

A

What is the primary advantage of conducting a survey rather than using other types of research methods? A. Surveys can gather information from a diverse representation of and a large number of people. B. Surveys can demonstrate cause and effect. C. Surveys can provide an in-depth analysis of a unique individual or group. D. Surveys collect more descriptive data than other research methods do. E. Surveys allow the researcher to control the variables in a study.

A

Which of the following is a positive correlation? A. As study time decreases, students achieve lower grades B. As levels of self-esteem decline, levels of depression increase C. People who exercise regularly are less likely to be obese D. Gas milage decreases as vehicle weight increases E. Repeatedly shooting free throws is associated with a smaller percentage of misses free throws

A

Which of the following is true of the American Psychological Association? A. It addresses a number of ethical guidelines for the practice of psychology. B. It determines whether studies that are going to be conducted at an institution are ethical. C. It regulates animal welfare in research. D. It regulates laws about psychological issues

A

Which of the following represents naturalistic observation? A. From a third-floor window, researchers watch how elementary school children interact on a playground B. Researchers bring people into a laboratory to se how they respond when asked to solve a puzzle with no solution C. A principal sits in the back of a classroom to evaluate a teacher D. A social worker spends the afternoon in the home of a mother accused of neglecting her children E. Two grandparents sit in the front row to watch as their grandson performs his piano recital

A

Why is random assignment of participants to groups and important aspect of a properly designed experiment? A. If the participants are randomly assigned, the researcher can assume that the people in each of the groups are pretty similar B. By randomly assigning, the researcher knows that whatever is learned from the experiment will also be true for the population from which the participants were selected C. Random assignment keeps expectations from influencing the results of the experiment D. If participants are not randomly assigned, it is impossible to replicate the experiment E. Statistical analysis cannot be performed on an experiment if random assignment is not used

A

"Monday morning quarterbacks" rarely act surprised about the outcome of weekend football games. Their tendency to believe they knew how the game would turn out if explained by A. Overconfidence B. Hindsight Bias C. Intuition D. Illusory Correlation E. Random Sampling

B

7, 5, 10, 4, 4 What is the median of the numbers above? A. 4 B. 5 C. 6 D. 7 E. 10

B

A researcher wants to conduct an experiment to determine if eating a cookie before class each day improves students' grades. He uses two psychology classes for the experiment, providing daily cookies to one and nothing to the other. At the end of the semester, the researcher compares the final grades of students in the two classes. What is the independent variable for this experiment? A. The students in the class that received cookies B. The presence or absence of cookies C. The students in the class that didn't receive cookies D. The period of the day that the two classes met E. Semester grades

B

A researcher was interested in studying the effects of a new medication on depression. One group received the new medication and another group received a standard medication for depression. The researcher asked participants to answer a series of questions rating their mood levels before and after six weeks of taking the medications. Which of the following is the control condition in this study? A. The group receiving the new medication B. The group receiving the standard medication C. The rating of the participant's mood levels D. The series of questions E. The participants

B

A student is writing an article for her school newspaper about the school's new cell-phone policy, and she'd like to include survey results from a random sample of students in her article. Which of the following constitutes a random sample? A. The writer arrives at school early and interviews the first five students who come through the main entrance B. The writer pulls the names of five students from a hat that contains all students' names. She interviews the five selected students C. The writer asks he teacher if she can distribute a brief survey to the students in her AP Psychology class D. The writer passes out brief surveys to 50 students in the hall and uses the 18 surveys returned to her as the basis of her article E. The writer asks the principal for the names of 10 students who have had their cell phones confiscated for a day for violating the policy. She interviews these 10 students

B

Dr. Wilson, who teaches engineering classes, is interested in learning about how lack of sleep affects performance. What would be the best way to ensure that her findings are generalizable to all the students at her university? A. Randomly assigning half the students in one of her classes she teaches at into a condition where they are told to sleep four hours a night and other half a condition in which they are told to sleep eight hours a night. B. Surveying every tenth student listed in the university directory about their sleep habits C. Surveying all students in the classes she teaches. D. Studying 40 students over time, from their freshman year through their senior year, to see differences as the students mature. E. Asking friends who teach at other universities to collect and share data on their students.

B

Let's say a psychology researcher is interested in testing whether a particular parenting technique would lead adolescents to feel more satisfies with their lives. What method should be used? A. Case study B. Experiment C. Survey D. Naturalistic Observation E. Correlation

B

A scientist's willingness to admit that she is wrong is an example of A. Curiosity B. Intelligence C. Humility D. Skepticism E. Cynicism

C

Dr. Sampson follows the structuralist school of thought. Her techniques would most likely include A. presenting a participant with an ambiguous stimuli, such as a picture of an older woman looking over the shoulder of a younger woman, and then asking the participant to make up a story about what is going on in the picture B. asking a participant to describe whatever thoughts come to mind, without censorship C. presenting a participant with an object, such as a can of soda, and having the subject report his or her perceptions or experience of the can D. encouraging a client to reevaluate distorted or unhelpful thoughts and work on coping strategies E. rewarding a student with a sticker for every day that the student does not talk in class and with an extra ten minutes of recess after the student accumulates ten stickers

C

Kara works as a dog trainer. She reads a new book that describes some unusual training methods, and she wants to test them out on the dogs she works with. She assigns each dog to one of two groups by picking a number out of a hat. Half the dogs are assigned to one group, and half the dogs are assigned to the other group. For a month, she trains one group using her old methods and the other group using the unusual methods. At the end of the month, Kara records that the dogs that were trained with her old methods obey her 80 percent of the time and those that were trained with the unique methods obey her 90 percent of the time. Kara concludes that the unique methods work better. Kara can best improve her experimental design by A. Using random assignment B. Using random selection C. Having someone else test the dogs D. Using a computer program to pick the dogs' numbers E. Trying a third training method as well

C

Samantha experienced a traumatic brain injury and afterward began to exhibit bizarre symptoms that no one had ever documented before. The best research method to study Samantha would be A. An experiment B. A correlation study C. A case study D. A survey E. Naturalistic observation

C

Which of the following demonstrates the need for psychological science? A. Psychology's methods are unlike those of any other science B. Psychological experiments are less valuable without psychological science C. Intuition and common sense are not always correct D. Intuition can never be right unless applied scientifically E. Psychological science can be used to answer fundamental questions about religion

C

Which of the following is a potential problem with case studies? A. They provide too much detail and the researcher is likely to lose track of the most important facts B. They are generally too expensive to be economical C. They may be misleading because they don't fairly represent other cases D. They are technically difficult to and most researchers don't have the skills to do them properly E. The dependent variable is difficult to operationally define in a case study

C

The benefit of using inferential statistics is that it allows a researcher to A. Describe the data B. Find the measures of central tendency C. Find the spread of the data D. Make generalizations about a population E. Visualize the raw data

D

What statistical technique would be appropriate for a researcher to use in trying to determine how consistent intelligence scores are over time? A. Correlation coefficient B. Mean C. Median D. Standard deviation E. Range

D

When a distribution of scores is skewed, the best representation of central tendency is the A. Inference B. Standard Deviation C. Mean D. Median E. Correlation coefficient

D

When seeking approval to conduct an experiment using participants from her college psychology course, a student researcher should A. Ask her professor B. Request permission from the dean of the department C. Get consent from students' parents D. Apply to the institutional review board at the university E. Apply to the IACUC at the university

D

2, 2, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16 What is the range of the numbers above? A. 2 B. 4.98 C. 7.73 D. 8 E. 14

E

Dr. Rodriguez is interested in finding out if stress levels throughout the year have a relationship with students' grades. The research method she most likely used is A. A case study B. A cross-sectional study C. Naturalistic observation D. An experiment E. Correlation Study

E

Julie is interested in developing a test to measure achievement levels of middle school students. Which of the following domains of psychology is most applicable to Julie's interest? A. Personality B. Counseling C. Biological D. Industrial-Organizational E. Psychometric

E

Mr. Gregg wants to help his second-grade students improve their reading skills. He tests the students with 20 reading comprehension questions at the beginning of the year. Every week throughout the year he gives the students 30 minutes of reading comprehension tips. He tests the students at the end of the year with 20 reading comprehension questions that are similar in difficulty to those on the original test. He finds that the students' reading comprehension has increased and concludes that his tips worked. Which of the following describes the most significant problem with Mr. Gregg's study? A. Mr. Gregg should have had someone else test the children in case he was showing experimenter bias. B. Mr. Gregg should have tested his students every month so he could more accurately track their progress. C. It was unethical of Mr. Gregg to test the children without their parents' consent. D. Mr. Gregg should have used the same test to ensure reliability. E. Mr. Gregg failed to account for changes in the students' maturity.

E

Ms. Li, a principal, is interested in the differences in student behavior between two of the third-grade classrooms at her school. She asks the teachers, Mr. Williams, whose class meets at 9:00, and Ms. Walsh, whose class meets at 1:00, to record over a week the number of times students in their classrooms act out. Mr. Williams' class has 31 students, and Ms. Walsh's class has 32 students. "Acting out" is defined as students speaking without raising their hand or getting out of their seats without being given permission. At the end of the week, Mr. Williams reports that on average, his students acted out 73 times a day, and Ms. Walsh reports that, on average, her students acted out 27 times a day. Ms. Li decides that the students in Ms. Walsh's classroom act out more often than those in Mr. William's class. The results of this study are inconclusive because A. the sample size is too small to draw valid conclusions B. the number of students in the classrooms is unequal C. Ms. Li did not use random assignment D. Ms. Li did not use random selection E. the time of day was a confounding variable

E

Which of the following is not an ethical principle regarding research on humans? A. Researchers must protect participants from needless harm and discomfort B. Participants must take part in the study on a voluntary basis C. Personal information about individual participants must be kept private D. The research must be fully explained to participants when the study is completed E. It is never acceptable for a researcher to deceive a participant during the research

E