AP Psych Unit 2 multiple choice
IV and DV: an investigator hypothesizes that the adult weight of a dog is higher when it has fewer littermates
IV: # of littermates DV: adult weight of the dogs
IV and DV: Guinea pigs are kept at different temps for 6 weeks. Percent weight gain is recorded.
Independent: temp Dependent: weight gain
list IV and DV: Height of bean plants is recorded daily for 2 weeks
Independent: the day/week Dependent: height of bean plants
To accurately infer cause and effect, experimenters should use a. random assignment b. naturalistic observation c. standard deviation d. correlation coefficients e. scatterplots
a.
To assess the effect of televised violence on aggression, researchers plan to expose one group of children to violent movie scenes and another to nonviolent scenes. To reduce the chance that the children in one group have more aggressive personalities that those in the other group, the researchers should make use of a. random assignment b. the double-blind procedures c. naturalistic observations d. operational definitions e. replication
a.
To study the development of relationships, Dr. Rajiv carefully observed and recorded patterns of verbal and nonverbal behaviors among boys and girls in the school yard. Which research method did he employ? a. naturalistic observation b. replication c. the survey d. the case study e. experimentation
a.
Which of the following correlation coefficients expresses the weakest degree of relationship b/w two variables a. -0.12 b. +1.00 c. -0.99 d. +0.25 e. -0.50
a.
Which of the following correlations b/w self esteem and body weight would enable you to most accurately predict body weight from knowledge of level of self-esteem a. +0.60 b. +0.01 c. -0.10 d. -0.06 e. 0.00
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 in basketball is associated with a smaller percentage of missed throws
a.
Which of the following represents naturalistic observation a. Researchers watch and record how elementary school children interact on the playground. b. Researchers bring participants into a laboratory to see how they respond to a puzzle with no solution c. A principal looks at the relationship b/w the number of student absences and their grades. d. A social worker visits a family home and gives feedback on family interactions e. Two grandparents sit in the front row to watch their grandson's first piano recital
a.
Why is random assignment of participants to groups an 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 participants, 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.
Which measure of central tendency would be most appropriate in determining housing values in a particular community
a. range b. mode c. median d. mean e. standard deviation
What do scientists call an explanation that organizes observations and predicts future behaviors or events? a. hypothesis b. theory c. critical thinking d. operational definition e. replication
b
"Monday Morning quarterbacks" rarely act surprised about the outcome of weekend football games. This tendency to believe they knew how the game would turn out is best explained by which psychological principle? a. Overconfidence b. Hindsight bias c. Intuition d. Illusory correlation e. Random sampling
b.
A journalism student is writing an article about her school's new cell-phone policy, and she'd like to interview a random sample of students. Which of the following is the best example of 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 her 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.
A researcher wants to conduct an experiment to determine if eating a cookie before class each day improves student 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 the 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 of 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.
An experiment was designed to study the potential impact of alcohol consumption on emotional stability. A specification of the procedures used to measure emotional stability illustrates a. the independent variable b. an operational definition c. the double-blind procedure d. random assignment e. the dependent variable
b.
Correlation research is most useful for the purposes of a. explanation b. prediction c. control d. replication e. experimentation
b.
Formulating testable hypotheses before conducting research is most directly useful for restraining a thinking error known as a. random sampling b. hindsight bias c. overconfidence d. illusory correlation e. random assignment
b.
Jen collects data that indicates that students who spend more time preparing for the AP test tend to score better than other students. Jen can now conclude that a. studying improves exam grades b. a relationship exists b/w studying and exam grades c. a significant correlation exists b/w studying and exam grades d. anyone who doesn't study will do poorly on the exam e. better students tend to study more
b.
Some psychologists consider Stanley Milgram's obedience studies to be unethical b/c of which ethical considerations a. improper sampling procedure b. risk of long-term harm c. clear scientific purpose d. debriefing e. anonymity
b.
Which method should a psychology researcher use if she is interested in testing whether a specific reward in a classroom situation causes students to behave better? a. Case study b. Experiment c. Naturalistic observation d. Correlation
b.
Which of the following is an ex. of random sampling I. Picking out of a hat to assign each of three classes to an experimental condition II. Having a computer generate a random list of 100 hs students III.. Approaching any 50 students during 6th period lunch
b.
Which of the following questions most likely could be answered using empirical approach a. is human nature basically good or evil? b. what causes aggression c. what happens after we die? d. how will style choices change in the future? e. what is the basis of faith?
b.
Dr. Doolittle conducts basic research on the systematic changes in intelligence associated w/ aging. It is most likely that Dr. Doolittle is a(n) ____________ psychologist. a. biological b. social c. developmental d. industrial-organizational e. personality
c.
If the correlation b/w the physical weight and reading ability of children is +0.85, this would indicate that a. there is very little statistical relationship b/w weight and reading ability among children b. low body weight has a negative effect on the reading abilities of children. c. better reading ability is associated w/ greater physical weight among children d. body weight has no casual influence on the reading abilities of children e. weight is a casual variable dependent on reading ability
c.
To minimize the extent to which outcome differences b/w experimental and control conditions can be attributed to placebo effects, researchers make use of a. random sampling b. the double blind procedure c. random assignment d. operational definitions e. replication
c.
Vincenzo conducts an experiment to see whether fear makes mice run through mazes faster. He first selected a sample of 60 mice and then divided them into a control group and an experimental group. Which cannot be a confounding variable a. how fast the mice are at the start b. when the mice run the maze c. the population from which he selected his subjects d. how frightened the mice are before the experiment e. where the mice run the maze
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. our intuitions about human thinking and behavior are not always accurate d. Intuition does not provide correct answers unless it is applied through the scientific method e. Psychological science research is superior to that of other sciences like biology and physics
c.
Who used the method of introspection to scientifically identify basic elements of mind? a. Aristotle b. John Locke c. Edward Titchener d. John Watson e. Socrates
c.
Wilhelm Wundt's early experiments were attempts to investigate which area of psychology? a. the causes of mental illness b. social conformity c. the simples mental processes d. childhood development e. causes of aggression
c.
sandy scores a perfect 100 on a test that everyone else fails. if we were to graph this distribution, it would be a. symmetrical b. normal c. positively skewed d. negatively skewed e. a straight line
c.
1. Working in a community mental health center, Dr. Thatcher treats adults who suffer from severe depression. Dr. Thatcher is most likely a(n) ________ psychologist. a. personality b. industrial-organizational c. social d. clinical e. developmental
d.
Jose hypothesizes that a new drug he has just invented will enhance mice's memories. He feeds the drug to the experimental group and gives the control group a placebo. He then times the mice as they learn to run through a maze. In order to know whether his hypothesis has been supported, Jose would need to use a. scatter plots b. descriptive statistics c. histograms d. inferential statistics e. means-end analysis
d.
Professor Ma wants to design a project studying emotional response to date rape. He advertises for participants in the school newspaper, informs them about the nature of the study, gets their consent, conducts an interview, and debriefs them about the results when the experiment is over. If you were on the IRB, which ethical consideration would you most likely have the most concern about in the study? a. coercion b. deception c. confounding variables d. anonymity e. clear scientific purpose
d.
Theoretically, random assignment should eliminate a. sampling error b. the need to use stats c. concerns over validity d. many confounding variables e. the need for a representative sample
d.
What technique do researchers use to reduce the impact of compounding variables? a. hindsight bias b. naturalistic observation c. scatterplots d. random assignment e. measures of central tendency
d.
When a distribution of scores is skewed, which of the following is the most representative measure of central tendency? a. Inference b. Standard deviation c. Mean d. Median e. Correlation coefficient
d.
Which descriptive statistic would a researcher use to describe how close a student's SAT score is to a school's average SAT score? a. Correlation coefficient b. Mean c. Median d. Standard deviation e. Range
d.
According to professor Fayad, we like people who like us because their affection for us boosts our own self-esteem. His idea is an example of a. naturalistic observation b. illusory correlation c. hindsight bias d. replication e. a theory
e
In an experiment to study the effectiveness of a new drug research, participants who receive a placebo are participating in the ___________ condition. a. DV b. correlational c. experimental d. replication e. control
e
Which of the following hypotheses would be most difficult to test experimentally a. people exposed to the color red will be more aggressive than those exposed to the color blue b. exercise improves mood c. exposer to violent television increases aggression d. studying leads to better grades e. divorce makes children more independent
e.