PSYCH 7A Midterm 1 Ch 2

Scientific investigation of Clever Hans revealed that A) Hans's owner was a con artist. B) Occam's razor is far from infallible. C) horses respond to unintended cues from their owners. D) horses are capable of simple arithmetic

A) Hans's owner was a con artist.

When administered to subjects in an experiment, a placebo is a treatment that A) Is believed to be free of medical effects B) Has different effects on different groups C) Is being subjected to rigorous testing D) Has unpredictable medical effects

A) Is believed to be free of medical effects

In which of the following distributions would the mean, median, and mode be most alike? A) The heights of all adult women in America B) The heights of six women sharing a house C) Heights in a family with a mother, father, two elementary school students, and a preschooler D) Heights in a physical therapy course that includes several members of the basketball team

A) The heights of all adult women in America

A psychological test designed to measure creativity is considered a reliable tool based on whether A) The same subjects would score consistently over time B) It accounts for different concepts of creativity C) Subjects who attain lower scores are actually less creative D) Testing conditions affect the performance of subjects

A) The same subjects would score consistently over time

A meta-analysis is A) a combination of results from many related studies. B) an alternative to the strong inference approach. C) the most common analysis in correlational research. D) the most common analysis in experimental research

A) a combination of results from many related studies.

A hypothesis is A) a testable prediction about the relationship between variables. B) a simple explanation for a psychological finding. C) an observed relationship between independent and dependent variables. D) an unprovable assumption about psychological processes.

A) a testable prediction about the relationship between variables.

In an experiment, the variable that is expected to differ across the experimental and control groups is the _________ variable A) dependent B) independent C) experimental D) confounding

A) dependent

The key purpose of an Institutional Review Board(IRB) is to A) determine whether a proposed study is ethical. B) identify the most appropriate statistical analyses for a study. C) punish unethical researchers. D) evaluate whether a researcher's conclusions match the data.

A) determine whether a proposed study is ethical.

In a depression-treatment study, neither the participants nor the researcher know who is taking medication and who is taking a sugar pill. This is an example of a A) double-blind trial B) confound C) research design with low validity D) research design with low reliability

A) double-blind trial

A manager at a science museum wants to identify the most popular exhibits, so once every hour for six weeks she has volunteers count the number of people standing in front of each exhibit. This is an example of A) naturalistic observation B) correlational research C) case study research D) experimental research

A) naturalistic observation

Which of the following correlation coefficients represents the weakest correlation between two variables? A) +0.70 B) -0.10 C) +0.25 D) -0.85

B) -0.10

Which of the following best represents the case study method? A) A report that discusses the different responses of two groups to variations in medical treatment B) A book that documents the development of a person who was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness at a young age C) A documentary film that presents footage of members of an isolated tribe going about their daily lives D) An article that analyzes the results of responses to questionnaires asking about a number of controversial social issues

B) A book that documents the development of a person who was diagnosed with a life-threatening illness at a young age

A good scientific hypothesis is A) Logically impossible to refute B) Based on a relatively new theory C) Tied to observable phenomena D) Capable of being proven

B) Based on a relatively new theory

A recent study found that married people are less likely to have personality disorders than unmarried people. The news reporter covering the study advised people to get married to improve their personalities. You know this recommendation is not warranted because A) correlational research is invalid. B) it is possible that personality disorders keep people from marrying. C) these findings are unlikely to be replicated. D) Occam's razor rules out a relationship between marriage and personality disorders.

B) It is possible that personality disorders keep people from marrying

In a typical controlled experiment designed to test the effects of a new drug, _______ will be administered to the _______ group. A) Only the placebo; experimental B) Only the placebo; control C) The drug and the placebo; experimental D) The drug and the placebo; control

B) Only the placebo; control

A psychologist at a university has designed an experiment in which subjects will interact one-on-one with Thomas. Thomas will identify himself as a fellow subject but he is actually a member of the psychologist's research team. The psychologist has told the university's Institutional Review Board (IRB) that the experiment cannot be run successfully without this deception. The IRB is likely to decide that the experiment may proceed only if A) it is redesigned so that Thomas identifies his actual role at the outset. B) Thomas's role is revealed immediately after subjects complete their participation. C) the individual administering the study informs the subjects that they will be deceived in some way. D) it is clear that the subjects would not tell Thomas anything they would not tell a researcher.

B) Thomas's role is revealed immediately after subjects complete their participation.

The Tuskegee syphilis study raised serious concerns about ethical research because the researchers A) Infected test subjects with a dangerous disease B) Withheld information from test subjects about their condition C) Distorted the data gathered from observation D) Failed to create randomized control groups for comparison

B) Withheld information from test subjects about their condition

Your text describes a study in which professors receive e-mails, supposedly from students, asking for mentoring. All details about the e-mails are identical except whether they appear to come from males or females and from whites or nonwhites. This is _______ research, and found _______. A) experimental; no evidence of bias B) experimental; bias against women and minorities C) correlational; no evidence of bias D) correlational; bias against women and minorities

B) experimental; bias against women and minorities

Refer to the set of numbers below. 2, 10, 8, 4, 10, 12, 3 In this set of numbers, the median is _______ than the mean and _______ than the mode. A) greater; greater B) greater; less C) less; less D) less; greater

B) greater; less

Results from a recent experiment are consistent with a researchers expectation that exposing people to unfamiliar groups reduces prejudice. This means that the researcher A) has proven her theory B) has proven her hypothesis C) should retain her hypothesis for now D) needs to follow up with correlational studies

B) has proven her hypothesis

"Green is the prettiest color" is a _______ hypothesis because it is _______. A) poor; not true B) poor; not testable C) good; testable D) good; true

B) poor; not testable

Ethical principals require researchers to A) explain the hypothesis they will be testing before participants begin a study. B) provide information about potential risks to participants before they begin a study. C) refrain from conducting research on animals. D) have their research design approved by a group of people similar to the proposed participants.

B) provide information about potential risks to participants before they begin a study.

To learn more about the gaming habits of teenage boys, a professor randomly selects 50 boys from various high schools for a video game study. In this study "all teenage boys" make up the A) population B) representative sample C) independent variable D) control group

B) representative sample

A researcher wants to study stress and coping in students transitioning into middle school. Students _______ would be the most representative sample. A) taking remedial math B) selected at random from a homeroom course C) receiving detention during their first week D) seeking support from the guidance counselor

B) selected at random from a homeroom course

As the number of pirates in the world has decreased, the mean global temperature has increased. This is an example of a A) non-linear relationship. B) spurious correlation. C) strong inference. D) meta-analysis.

B) spurious correlation

A cross-country runner wants to know how consistent her race times have been this season. The most useful measure of her race times would be the A) range. B) standard deviation. C) mode. D) difference between the median and the mode

B) standard deviation

Although very few people would admit to a belief that men make better hires than women, several experiments show that men are more likely to be hired than women with identical résumés. This is an example of A) explicit bias. B) unconscious bias. C) poor validity. D) negative skew.

B) unconscious bias

Which of the following samples would produce a nearly normal distribution? A) The number of men and women in the country B) Incomes in a small company with many low-level employees and two high-paid executives C) Heights of all adult men in America D) Scores on a very easy test

C) Heights of all adult men in America

Which of the following research methods would be most appropriate for investigating the relationship between political orientation and belief in climate change? A) Survey research B) Case study research C) Naturalistic observation D) Experimental research

C) Naturalistic observation

A research team is investigating the impact of stereotypes on performance. In one group, women read an article about why the structure of men's brains makes them better at math. In the second group, women read an article saying there are no biological differences in the mathematical abilities of men and women. Then all women in the study take a challenging math test. Researchers time the test and score the number of items women answered correctly. In this study, which of the following is the independent variable? A) Women's scores on the math test B) Women's beliefs about their math abilities C) Which article the women read D) How long it takes women to complete the math test

C) Which article the women read

The extent to which changes in one factor are accompanied by changes in another is called A) positive skew. B) negative skew. C) a correlation. D) a confound.

C) a correlation

In a phobia treatment study, the participants spend three hours facing their fears. Post-treatment scores show significant improvement in overall distress levels when handling the feared objects, so the treatment is judged as effective by the researcher. To improve the study's design, the researcher can A) increase the length of time for the treatment component. B) repeat the study with a new set of participants for a more representative sample. C) include a control group, which would receive some supportive counseling but not the actual treatment. D) change to a correlational design since it is unethical to have participants experience fear as part of a study.

C) include a control group, which would receive some supportive counseling but not the actual treatment.

A college professor testing two different study skill interventions tosses a coin to decide which type of training each student will get. The professor does this to A) make it more likely that participants will be representative of the broader population. B) make statistical analyses easier by guaranteeing the same number of participants in each group. C) make it less likely that there will be pre-existing differences between the groups. D) avoid the confound of participants knowing other people in their group.

C) make it less likely that there will be pre-existing differences between the groups.

Effect size A) is typically identical to statistical significance. B) is typically identical to sample size. C) refers to the magnitude of the difference between groups. D) refers to the variance within the control group.

C) refers to the magnitude of the difference between groups.

A measure of conscientiousness produces very similar scores each time a person repeats the exercise, but it doesn't predict whether a person is reliable in everyday life. This measure appears to be A) reliable and valid. B) valid but not reliable. C) reliable but not valid. D) neither reliable nor valid.

C) reliable but not valid

The Tuskegee syphilis study is famous because A) it was the first use of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled research. B) it demonstrated the psychological effects of syphilis infection. C) researchers failed to inform participants that they had a treatable disease. D) measures were so low in reliability and validity that the data had no value

C) researchers failed to inform participants that they had a treatable disease.

A data set has a median value of 66, a mean value of 68, and a standard deviation of 18. Which value in the data set is most reasonably understood as an outlier? A) 42 B) 68 C) 86 D) 24

D) 24

Which of the following research methods will be most appropriate for exploring whether childhood emotional abuse predicts higher levels of adult depression? A) Naturalistic observation B) Experimental research C) Correlational research D) Case studies

D) Case studies

Cases of spurious correlations are typically explained in terms of _______ variables that are _______ two correlated variables. A) Independent; distinct from B) Independent; unaffected by C) Confounding; independent of D) Confounding; affecting

D) Confounding; affecting

Which of the following is a measure of central tendency? A) Standard deviation B) Range C) Variance D) Mode

D) Mode

A meta- analysis of published and unpublished tests of SSRI medications reveled that A) SSRIs are effective for all levels of depression. B) published and unpublished trials have similar findings. C) people in placebo groups became even more severely depressed. D) SSRIs beat placebos only for severe levels of depression.

D) SSRIs beat placebos only for severe levels of depression.

When a researcher looks at her personality questionnaire data from 75 participants, she notices limited variance in scores, except for one score falling 4 standard deviations above the mean. This score is A) outside the sampling frame. B) evidence of negative skew. C) invalid. D) an outlier.

D) an outlier

A correlation of +0.40 between levels of depression in teens and their parents would indicate that A) teen and parental depression are mostly unrelated. B) teen depression causes parental depression. C) parental depression causes teen depression. D) depressed teens tend to have depressed parents.

D) depressed teens tend to have depressed parents.

The main purpose of inferential statistics is to A) adjust analyses to improve validity. B) account for variability within a population. C) decide whether the standard deviation is skewed by outliers. D) estimate a characteristic of a population based on a sample.

D) estimate a characteristic of a population based on a sample.

Research that involves intentional manipulation of variables is called _______ research. A) correlational B) case study C) descriptive D) experimental

D) experimental

Deception in psychological research A) has never been considered ethical. B) has not been allowed since the Tuskegee study. C) is not possible because it interferes with the legal requirement of informed consent. D) is occasionally allowed but must be followed by a thorough debriefing.

D) is occasionally allowed but must be followed by a thorough debriefing.

Which of the following investigation types does not represent the descriptive method of scientific inquiry? A) Surveying B) Case study C) Naturalistic observation D) Laboratory experimentation

D) laboratory experimentation

The principle of Occam's razor is used to compare scientific hypotheses primarily on the basis of A) clarity B) usefulness C) testability D) simplicity

D) simplicity

Research has shown that social exclusion activates the same brain regions as physical pain. A researcher wants to test the hypothesis that over-the-counter pain relievers will also reduce the pain of social exclusion. She gives half of her participants ibuprofen and half a placebo, has them play a game in which other players ignore them, and then measures their level of distress. In this study _______ is the independent variable and _______ is the dependent variable. A) taking ibuprofen; taking a sugar pill B) being ignored; distress C) distress; taking ibuprofen D) whether people take ibuprofen; distress

D) whether people take ibuprofen; distress