REVIEW Psych Test 2

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

Which of the following is a measure of the degree of variation among a set of events?

standard deviation

To accurately infer cause and effect, experimenters should use

random assignment

In a group of five individuals, two report annual incomes of $10,000, and the other three report incomes of $14,000, $15,000, and $31,000, respectively. The mode of this group's distribution of annual incomes is

10000

The IQ scores of the five members of the Duluth family are 100, 82, 104, 96, and 118. For this distribution of scores, the range is

36

On a 10-item test, three students in Professor Hsin's advanced chemistry seminar received scores of 2, 5, and 8, respectively. For this distribution of test scores, the standard deviation is equal to the square root of

6

If scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) 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

Why are researchers careful to use large, representative samples in their studies?

68

Mr. and Mrs. Klostreich have six children aged 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, and 16. The mean age of the Klostreich children is

8

During the past year, Zara and Ivan each read 2 books, but George read 9, Ali read 12, and Marsha read 25. The median number of books read by these individuals was

9

Which of the following are considered to be limitations of psychological experiments conducted in laboratory environments?

Laboratories are artificial environments, so behavior might not apply to the real world.

The experimental group receives the experimental treatment Correct

The experimental group receives the experimental treatment Correct

Why would the median, rather than the mean, be the appropriate measure of central tendency in determining housing values in a particular community?

The median is minimally affected by extreme scores.

Which of the following correlation coefficients expresses the weakest degree of relationship between two variables? a. -0.12 b. +1.00 c. -0.99 d. +0.25 e. -0.50

a

Which of the following correlations between self-esteem and body weight would enable you to most accurately predict body weight from knowledge of level of self-esteem? Select one: a. +0.60 b. +0.01 c. -0.10 d. -0.06 e. 0.00

a

Hypotheses are best described as

predictions

An extensive survey revealed that children with relatively high self-esteem tend to picture God as kind and loving, whereas those with lower self-esteem tend to perceive God as angry. The researchers concluded that the children's self-esteem had apparently influenced their views of God. This conclusion best illustrates the danger of

assuming that correlation proves causation.

Which of the following correlation coefficients expresses the strongest degree of relationship between two variables? Select one: a. +0.10 b. -0.67 c. 0.00 d. -0.10 e. +0.59

b

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.

Psychologists' personal values and goals

can bias their observations and interpretations

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

Dr. Roberts hypothesized that students in a classroom seating 30 would get higher course grades than students seated in an auditorium seating 300. In this example,. what has been operationally defined

classroom size

To determine whether a research finding is statistically significant, researchers

compare the means of the control group and experimental group.

A researcher who publishes the results of a case study might be most worried about violating which ethical principle of human experimentation?

confidentiality

The experimental treatment is absent for

control group

Which of the following statistical measures is most helpful for indicating the extent to which high school grades predict college grades?

correlation coefficent

Examining correlational evidence to determine what further research would be needed to establish a causal relationship is an example of ________ thinking?

critical

A questioning attitude regarding psychologists' assumptions and hidden values best illustrates

critical thinking

The enduring traditions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a large group of people constitutes their

culture

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? a. +0.05 b. -0.01 c. +0.10 d. +0.50 e. -0.00

d

Critical thinkers can best be described as

questioning

A researcher who deceives participants about the goals of the research needs to fully inform them of the true nature of the study later, according to which ethical principle of human experimentation?

debriefing

In an experiment, researchers manipulate one factor to see its effect on a target factor. What is this target factor called?

dependent variable

A correlation coefficient is a measure of the

direction and strength of the relationship between two variables.

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

double blind procedure

Basing decisions or conclusions on observable evidence describes which of the following?

empirical approach

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 a(n)

experiment

A researcher interested in proving a causal relationship between two variables should choose which research method?

experiment

In an experiment designed to study the effectiveness of a new drug, research participants who receive a placebo are participating in the ________ condition.

experimental

The most foolproof way of testing the true effectiveness of a newly introduced method of psychological therapy is by means of

experimental research

Alexandra is told that research supports the value of cosmetic surgery for boosting self-esteem. Belinda is told that the esteem-enhancing value of cosmetic surgery has been refuted by research. Both women would consider the findings to be common sense. This best illustrates the power of

hindsight bias.

Formulating testable hypotheses before conducting research is most directly useful for restraining a thinking error known as

hindsight bias.

testable prediction that gives direction to research.

hypothesis

The belief that weather conditions signal the onset of arthritis pain best illustrates

illusory correlation

The explanatory power of a scientific theory is most closely linked to its capacity to generate testable

inferences

Which of the following defines ethical principles that should guide human experimentation?

informed consent, protection from harm, confidentiality, debriefing

Why are researchers so careful about drawing conclusions regarding statistical significance?

make sure its not due to chance

In a distribution of test scores, which measure of central tendency would likely be the most affected by a couple of extremely high scores?

mean

The most commonly reported measure of central tendency is the

mean

Professional psychological associations require researchers to

minimize infection, illness, and pain in animal subjects.

Psychologists who carefully watch the behavior of chimpanzee societies in the jungle are using a research method known as

naturalistic observation

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 dependent variable?

number of terms remembered

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

operational def

Our tendency to believe we know more than we do illustrates

overconfidence

Sasha believes that she is a very good driver. Her belief leads her to take unnecessary risks, such as driving too fast and cutting in front of other drivers. Sasha's driving appears to be affected by

overconfidence

Thinking that she had outperformed most of her classmates, Glenda was surprised to receive just an average grade on her psychology test. Glenda's experience best illustrates

overconfidence

Which of the following is most likely to inhibit critical thinking?

overconfidence

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

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(n)

population

If college graduates typically earn more money than high school graduates, this would indicate that level of education and income are

positively correlated

To assess the effect of televised violence on aggression, researchers plan to expose one group of children to violent movie scenes and another group to nonviolent scenes. To reduce the chance that the children in one group have more aggressive personalities than those in the other group, the researchers should make use of

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

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution is the

range

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

recall instances that confirm our beliefs

Why is replication important to science?

repeated research with similar results increases confidence in the reliability of the original findings

Replication involves

repeating an earlier research study.

Correlational research is most useful for purposes of

replication

Which technique involves repeating the essence of an earlier research study with different participants and in different circumstances?

replication

George was worried about his bakery's new 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

sampling bias

When the observed difference between the means of an experimental group and control group are not likely due to chance, researchers conclude that this difference is

statistically significant.

Professor Woo noticed that the distribution of students' scores on her last biology test had an extremely small standard deviation. This indicates that the

students' scores tended to be very similar to one another.

A researcher interested in investigating the attitudes or opinions of a large sample of people is most likely to use which research method?

survey

Which research method would be most appropriate for investigating the relationship between the religious beliefs of Americans and their attitudes toward abortion?

survey

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

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.

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

theory

If a result is statistically significant, this means that the

there is less than a 5 percent likelihood that the results occurred by chance.

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 biggest danger of relying on case-study evidence is that it

unrepresentative

The hindsight bias leads people to perceive research findings as

unsurprising

Which of the following questions most likely could be answered using an empirical approach?

what causes aggression

Participants in an experiment are said to be blind if they are uninformed about

what treatment if any they are getting

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