Psychology chap 2

25. Dr. Evans prepares a set of questions to ask college students about their drinking behavior and their attitudes toward alcohol. Dr. Evans is undertaking: a. A survey b. Experimental research c. Naturalistic observation d. A case study

a. A survey

4. Arif is conducting an investigation of the effect of a word's length on the time it takes to recognize it. Brandy is examining the extent to which several broad personality traits are related. Which of the following alternatives best describes the type of research each of these individuals in conducting? a. Both Arif and Brandy are conducting basic research. b. Both Arif and Brandy are conducting applied research. c. Arif is conducting basic research. Brandy is conducting applied research. d. Arif is conducting applied research. Brandy is conducting basic research.

a. Both Arif and Brandy are conducting basic research.

2. Which of the following best defines basic research? a. Research that answers fundamental questions about behavior b. Research that is empirical c. Research that is based on theory d. Research that is objective

a. Research that answers fundamental questions about behavior

3. Which of the following best defines applied research? a. Research that investigates issues that have implications for everyday life b. Research that is not as empirical as basic research c. Research that is not based on prior theory d. Research that answers fundamental questions about behavior

a. Research that investigates issues that have implications for everyday life

14. Psychologists disagree on whether _________ is ever permissible in the conduct of psychological research. a. deception b. informed consent c. debriefing d. free choice

a. deception

30. Amanda selects a sample of college students. She obtains the students' scores on several personality scales, as well as on a test of creativity. Amanda wishes to summarize her sample's performance on the creativity test. She therefore computes ________ statistics. a. descriptive b. inferential c. correlational d. deviation

a. descriptive

26. At a DUI checkpoint, some cars are stopped at random; many others are not stopped. Using the terminology of psychological research, the cars that are stopped may be considered a __________ of all the cars that pass by the checkpoint. a. sample b. population c. segment d. subgroup

a. sample

22. Which of the following researchers is conducting a case study? a. Dr. Henriette, who is measuring how fast a group of students can respond to a stimulus. b. Dr. Innis, who is examining the tactile perception of a blind woman c. Dr. Jenner, who is observing children on a playground d. Dr. Kulik, who is combing through newspaper stories on serial killers

b. Dr. Innis, who is examining the tactile perception of a blind woman

12. Abstract ideas forming the basis of research hypotheses are termed: a. empirical variables b. conceptual variables c. measured variables d. operational definitions

b. conceptual variables

39. Dr. Ellis performs an experiment to test the hypothesis that alcohol consumption increases verbal aggression. However, the alcohol group contained mostly men, whereas the no-alcohol group contained mostly women. In this experiment, gender is a(n ) _________ variable. a. spurious b. confounding c. predictor d. independent

b. confounding

35. Professors Chase and Sanborn are conducting an experiment on the effects of caffeine on memory. Participants are randomly assigned to a caffeine or a no-caffeine group and their recall of items on a word list is later assessed. Which pair correctly identifies a variable in this experiment? a. experimental variable; memory b. independent variable; caffeine c. outcome variable; caffeine d. dependent variable; caffeine

b. independent variable; caffeine

8. A reviewer believes that a researcher's theory is unnecessarily complicated. She believes that the theory is not __________. a. objective b. parsimonious c. empirical d. general

b. parsimonious

29. Descriptive statistics: a. allow predictions beyond a data set b. summarize a set of data c. indicate how dispersed a set of data is around the mean d. show how two or more variables are related

b. summarize a set of data

33. A scatterplot is a visual representation of: a. the statistical significance of the results b. the relationship between two variables c. the variability in the data d. the central tendency of the data

b. the relationship between two variables

34. Between which pair of values is one most likely to find a positive correlation? a. alcohol consumption and GPA b. GPA and height c. GPA and amount of studying d. GPA and depression

c. GPA and amount of studying

40. Which of the following is true in a double-blind experiment? a. The participant knows what condition he or she is in but the experimenter does not. b. The experimenter knows what condition the participant is in but the participant does not. c. Neither the experimenter nor the participant knows what condition the participant is in. d. The experimenter and the participant know what condition the participant is in but they cannot influence the outcome

c. Neither the experimenter nor the participant knows what condition the participant is in.

17. Which of the following is the goal of descriptive research? a. To assess the validity of a measurement b. To assess the relationships among variables c. To assess the current state of affairs d. To assess the causal influence of one or more manipulations

c. To assess the current state of affairs

20. Dr. Girard is conducting a detailed examination of a patient with dissociative identity disorder. Dr. Girard is undertaking: a. a survey b. experimental research c. a case study d. naturalistic observation

c. a case study

37. The purpose of random assignment is to: a. combine the results of a number of similar studies b. determine how likely it is that the results of a manipulation were due to chance c. ensure that participant characteristics are equivalent across conditions d. determine whether two variables are related

c. ensure that participant characteristics are equivalent across conditions

32. The difference between the highest and the lowest score in a data set is termed the _________. a. correlation coefficient b. mode c. range d. standard deviation

c. range

36. Professors Chase and Sanborn are conducting an experiment on the effects of caffeine on memory. Participants are randomly assigned to a caffeine or a no-caffeine group and their recall of items on a word list is later assessed. Which pair below correctly names and identifies the variables in this experiment? a. word recall-outcome variable; caffeine-predictor variable b. word recall-independent variable; caffeine-dependent variable c. word recall-dependent variable; caffeine-independent variable d. word recall-experimental variable; caffeine-control variable

c. word recall-dependent variable; caffeine-independent variable

15. Informed consent includes which of the following? a. a detailed explanation of the study and its procedures b. a statement of the potential risks of participating in the study c. an assurance that participation is completely voluntary d. A, B, and C

d. A, B, and C

24. Fidelma is undertaking survey research. Which of the following is she probably doing? a. Recording the behaviors of sea lions in their natural habitat b. Observing the problem solving strategies of an extremely gifted middle-school girl c. Comparing students' performance on abstract and concrete versions of problems d. Asking a sample of students a series of questions about their sexual attitudes and behaviors

d. Asking a sample of students a series of questions about their sexual attitudes and behaviors

13. Which of the following is an operational definition of "happiness"? a. A feeling of joy or contentment b. The number of times an individual smiles in an hour c. An individual's self-rating on a 10-point happiness scale d. Both B and C are operational definitions of happiness.

d. Both B and C are operational definitions of happiness.

28. Naturalistic observation entails which of the following? a. The systematic, detailed study of a single individual b. Examining existing records, such as census documents c. Asking a sample of individuals a set of questions d. Examining behavior in the setting in which it typically occurs

d. Examining behavior in the setting in which it typically occurs

38. What does a psychologist usually mean when she says a particular experimental result is 'statistically significant'? a. The result reflects a large difference between the mean scores in one condition and the mean scores in another. b. The result is important in a practical sense. c. The result will allow psychologists to support one theory over alternative theories. d. The result is unlikely to have occurred solely as a result of chance.

d. The result is unlikely to have occurred solely as a result of chance.

18. Which of the following is the goal of experimental research? a. To assess the validity of a measurement b. To assess the relationships among variables c. To assess the current state of affairs d. To assess the causal influence of one or more manipulations

d. To assess the causal influence of one or more manipulations

1. Psychologists use the term ___________ research to refer to research that answers fundamental questions about behavior. The term _________ research refers to research that provides solutions to everyday problems. a. academic; applied b. practical; experimental c. experimental; practical d. basic; applied

d. basic; applied

19. Which of the following alternatives correctly matches a research design with its goal? a. descriptive research - assesses the causal influence of one or more manipulations b. experimental research - assesses the relationships among variables c. correlational research - provides an assessment of the current state of affairs d. experimental research - assesses the causal influence of one or more manipulations

d. experimental research - assesses the causal influence of one or more manipulations

9. One of the most frequent criticisms of psychodynamic theory is that it cannot be disproved; that is, the theory is not __________. a. parsimonious b. general c. replicable d. falsifiable

d. falsifiable

23. Survey is to case study as _______ is to __________. a. experimental; descriptive b. descriptive; experimental c. one participant; many participants d. many participants; one participant

d. many participants; one participant

5. In the _______ review process, research is screened and critiqued by scientists in the field before it is published. a. panel b. scientific c. expert d. peer

d. peer

27. Amy is conducting a survey of dating attitudes and behaviors among young adults as part of her masters' thesis work. Amy distributes questionnaires to 200 randomly selected students enrolled in an introductory psychology course at her university. The 200 students constitute Amy's ________. The people of whom she assumes her results will generalize are termed the _______. a. control group; population b. experimental group; population c. population; sample d. sample; population

d. sample; population

31. Which of the following is a measure of variability? a. median b. correlation coefficient c. mode d. mean e. range

e. range