AP Psychology Chapter 2
the distributions of which of following types of data are most likely to form a normal curve?
height
when we certain outcomes as obvious based on what has occurred, we may be experiencing
hindsight bias
which of the following is true for those assigned to the experimental group in an experiment?
the experimental group receives the experimental treatment
formulating testable hypotheses before conducting research is most directly useful for restraining a thinking error known as
the hindsight bias
if psychologists discovered that more intelligent parents have smarter children than less intelligent parents, this would demonstrate that
the intelligence of parents and children is positively correlated
which research method would be most appropriate for investigating the relationship between the religious beliefs of Americans and their attitudes toward abortion?
the survey
what do scientists call an explanation that organizes observations and predicts future behaviors or events?
theory
if a result is statistically significant, this means that
there is less than a 5 percent likelihood that the results occurred by chance.
Why are researchers so careful about drawing conclusions regarding statistical significance?
they want to make sure an observed difference isn't due to change
in the hypothesis "students who study a list of terms in the morning, just after waking up, will recall more terms than students who study the list just before falling asleep," what is the independent variable
time of day
the hindsight bias leads people to perceive research findings as
unsurprising
Redelmeier and Tversky (1996) followed 18 patients with arthritis for 18 months. Patients were asked to record their pain and joint tenderness, while researchers documented changes in the weather. Nearly all patients believed that their condition was associated with weather changes, when the actual correlation was near zero. These participants need to be reminded that
we are likely to recall instances that confirm our beliefs
participants in an experiment are said to be blind if they are uninformed about
which experimental treatment, if any, they are receiving
Surveys indicate that people are much less likely to support "welfare" than "aid to the needy." These somewhat paradoxical survey results best illustrate the importance of
wording effects
professor shimabukuro carefully observes and records the behaviors of children in their classrooms in order to track the development of their social ans intellectual skills. professor shimabukuro is most clearly engaged in
naturalistic observation
psychologists who carefully watch the behavior of chimpanzee societies in the jungle are using a research method known as
naturalistic observation
to describe the behavior of animals in their native habitats, researchers are most likely to make use of
naturalistic observation
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 dr rajiv employ?
naturalistic observation
if psychologists discovered that wealthy people are less satisfied with their marriages than poor people are, this would indicate that wealth and marital satisfaction are
negatively correlated
a specification of how a researcher measures a research variable is known as
operational definition
the process of replication is most likely to be facilitated by
operational definitions
to minimize the extent to which outcome differences between experimental and control conditions can be attributed to placebo effects, researchers make use of
operational definitions
our tendency to believe we know more than we do illustrates
overconfidence
the scientific attitude of humility is most likely to be undermined by
overconfidence
which of the following is most likely to inhibit critical thinking
overconfidence
in a drug treatment study, participants given a pill containing no actual drug are receiving a
placebo
in a study of the effects of alcohol consumption, some participants drank a nonalcoholic beverage that actually smelled and tasted like alcohol. this nonalcoholic drink was a
placebo
in order to learn about the political attitudes of all students enrolled at Arizona state university, professor marlow randomly selected 800 of these students to complete a questionaire. in this instance, all the students enrolled at arizona state university are considered to be a
population
to learn about the tv viewing habits of all the children attending Oakbridge school, professor devries randomly selected and interviewed 50 of the school's students. in this instance, all the children attending the school are considered to be a
population
If college graduates typically earn more money than high school graduates, this would indicate that level of education and income are
positively correlated
Dr. Donelian wants to reduce his students' perception that psychological experiments merely document the obvious. His best strategy would be to ask the students to
predict the outcomes of experiments before they are told the actual results
correlational research is most useful for purposes of
prediction
Hypotheses are best described as
predictions
to accurately infer cause and effect, experimenters should use
random assignment
to study the effects of noise on workers productivity, researchers have one group of subjects work in a noisy room and a second group work in a quiet room. to ensure that any differences in the productivity of the two groups actually result from the different noise levels to which the groups are exposed, the researchers would use
random assignment
which technique most clearly minimizes the likelihood that any outcome differences between the experimental and control conditions can be attributed to age or personality differences in research participants?
random assignment
to assess reactions to a proposed tuition hike at her college, ariana sent a questionnaire to every fifteenth person in the college registrar's alphabetical listing of all currently enrolled students. ariana employed the technique of
random sampling
which procedure helps to ensure that the participants in a survey are representative of a larger population?
random sampling
which measure of variation is most affected by extreme scores?
range
when gamblers "go on a winning streak" they often ignore most of their other losing ways. this best exemplifies
regression toward the mean
replication involves
repeating an earlier research study
Which technique involves repeating the essence of an earlier research study with different participants and in different circumstances?
replication
professor mata was skeptical about the. accuracy of recently reported research on sleep deprivation. which process would best enable her to assess the reliability of these findings?
replication
to graphically represent the correlation between two variables, researchers often construct a
scatter plot
when the observed difference between the means of an experimental group and control group are not likely due to change, researchers conclude that this difference is
statistically significant
a researcher interested in investigating the attitudes or opinions of a large sample of people is most likely to use which research method?
survey
random sampling is to ______ as random assignment is to________
surveys; experiments
a hypothesis is a
testable prediction that gives direction to research
to understand the unusual behavior of an adult client, a clinical psychologist carefully investigates the client's current life situation and his physical, social-cultural, and educational history. which research method has the psychologist used?
the case study
Both the researchers and the participants in a memory study are ignorant about which participants have actually received a potentially memory-enhancing drug and which have received a placebo. This investigation involves the use of
the double blind procedure
nimin has volunteered to participate in an experiment evaluating the effectiveness of aspirin. neither he nor the experimenters know whether the pill he takes during the experiment contains aspirin or are merely placebos. the investigators are apparently making use of
the double blind procedure
Why is replication important to science?
Repeated research with similar results increases confidence in the reliability of the original findings.
which two questions exemplify the scientific attitude?
What do you mean? How do you know?
professor raza suggests that because people are especially attracted to those who are good looking, handsome men will be more successful than average looking men in getting a job. the professor's prediction regarding employment success is an example of
a hypothesis
which of the following is the best definition of illusory correlation?
a perceived but nonexistent correlation
george was worried about his bakery's neq cupcakes after two customers disliked them on the first day, but when he surveyed his customers over the next week, more than 90% of the customers said they loved them. by giving too much weight to those two customers before the survey, george almost committed an error known as
a sampling bias
According to professor alrahami, we like people who like us because their affection for us boosts our own self-esteem as one part of a larger work on attraction. his idea is an example of
a theory
professor trinh contends that parents and children have similar levels of intelligence largely because they share common genes. his idea is best described as
a theory
dr westcott hypothesized that students in a classroom seating 30 would get higher course grades than students seated in an auditorium seating 300. in this example,
classroom size has been operationally defined
hindsight bias, overconfidence, and our tendency to perceive patterns in random events push us to overvalue
common sense
a soft drink company recently invested in a new advertising campaign to increase sales. which of the following would allow executives to best judge the results of their latest commericals?
compare the means of sales before and after the beginning of the new campaign to determine statistical significance
to determine whether a research finding is statistically significant, researchers
compare the means of the control group and experimental group
following the scientific discovery that a specific brain structure is specifically larger in violent individuals than in those who are nonviolent, a news headline announced: "enlarged brain structure triggers violent acts." the headline writer should most clearly be warned about the dangers of
confusing correlation with causation
in an experiment designed to study the effectiveness of a new drug, research participants who receive a placebo are participating in the__________ condition
control
which if the following statisical measures is most helpful for indicating the extent to which high school grades predict college grades?
correlation coefficient
which of the following statements is most correct about the relationship between correlation and causation?
correlation indicates the possibility of a casual relationship, but it does not prove causation
researchers are interested in studying the relationship between poor prenatal nutrition and early cognitive development. because of ethical concerns, which research method would be most appropriate for researchers to use?
correlational
to discover the extent to which economic status can be used to predict political preferences, researchers are most likely to use
correlational measures
to determine whether the strength of people's self esteem is related to their income levels, researchers would most likely make use of
correlational research
historians of science describe which 3 attitudes as the basis of the scientific viewpoint?
curiousity, skepticism, humility
which of the following correlations between annual income and education level would best enable you to predict annual income on the basis of level of education?
+0.50
which of the following correlations between self esteem and body weight would enable you to most accurately predict body weight from knowledge of level if self esteem?
+0.60
which of the following correlation coefficients expresses the weakest degree of relationship between two variables?
-0.12
which of the following correlation coefficients expresses the strongest degree of relationship between two variables?
-0.67
if scores on the wechsler adult intelligence scale are normally distributed, with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, what percentage of scores will fall between 85 and 115?
68
in a test of the effects of sleep deprivation on problem solving skills, research participants are allowed to sleep either 4 or 8 hours on each of three consecutive nights. this research is an example of
an experiment
the belief that weather conditions signal the onset of arthritis pain best illustrates
an illusory correlation
the sequential occurrence of two highly unusual events is most likely to contribute to
an illusory correlation
an experiment was designed to study the potential impact if alcohol consumption on emotional stability. a specification of the procedures used to measure emotional stability illustrates
an operational definition
researchers are interested in studying the impact of drugs on human fetuses. in this case,why would a correlational study be more appropriate than an experiment?
because participants could not be ethically assigned to an experimental or control condition
if the correlation between the physical weight and reading ability of children is +0.85, this would indicate that
better reading ability is associated with greater physical weight among children
in 1848, phineas gage, a railroad construction foreman, survived when an explosion drove an iron rod through his head damaging the functioning of the frontal lobes. this instance provided evidence that the frontal lobe plays a role in personality and behavior. researchers have continued to study gage's brain to better understand this link. which research method is being used?
case study
in which research method do we study one exceptional individual in depth and try to carefully draw conclusions about others based on the evidence?
case study
which research method is typically used to examine one participant in depth, usually because the individual's situation/behavior is rare or unusual?
case study
researchers use experiments rather than other research methods in order to distinguish between
causes and effects
a correlation coefficient is a measure if the
direction and strength if the relationship between two variables
The hindsight bias refers to people's tendency to
exaggerate their ability to have foreseen the outcome of past events
a research method in which an investigator manipulates factors that potentially produce a particular behavior is called an
experiment
a researcher interested in proving a causal relationship between two variables should choose which research method?
experiment
the most foolproof way of testing the true effectiveness of a newly introduced method of psychological therapy is by means of
experimental research
to exercise maximum control over the factors they are interested in studying, researchers engage in
experimentation
because she had a serious traffic accident in friday the 13th of last month, felicia is convinced that all friday the 13ths will bring bad luck. Felicia's belief best illustrates
illusory correlation
knowing the differenece between an experimental condition and a control condition is most relevant to understanding the nature of
independent variables
what is the primary limitation of the case study research method?
individual cases can be misleading and result in false generalizations
the explanatory power of a scientific theory is most closely linked to its capacity to generate testable
inferences
which of the following researchers used the case study method, carefully observing one exceptional individual in depth to reach conclusions that might be true of all of us?
jean piaget
Which makes finding statistical significance more likely?
large sample size
Why are researchers careful to use large, representative samples in their studies?
larger, representative sample sizes help ensure reliable and valid results
the biggest danger of relying on case-study evidence is that it
may be unrepresentative of what is generally true
a majority of respondents in a national survey agreed that "classroom prayer should not be allowed in public schools." only 33 percent of respondents in a similar survey agreed that "classroom prayer in public schools should be banned." these divergent findings best illustrate the importance of
wording effects