AP Psych Unit 1 & 2

In drug-treatment studies, double-blind procedures minimize outcome differences between experimental and control conditions that could be attributed to: a. replication. b. random assignment. c. operational definitions. d. random sampling. e. placebo effects.

d

In which research method do we study one exceptional individual in depth and try to carefully draw conclusions about others based on the evidence? a. naturalistic observation b. experimentation c. hindsight bias d. case study e. random sampling

d

Mr. Bown uses her knowledge of a person's cognitive processes to design computer programs that are easier to use. Mr. Bown is most likely a(n) _____ psychologist. a. evolutionary b. educational c. developmental d. human factors e. biological

d

Professor Carter observes and records the behavior of grocery shoppers as they select items to purchase. Which type of research is Professor Carter employing? a. survey research b. case study c. experimentation d. naturalistic observation

d

Professor Crisman believes that most women prefer tall and physically strong partners because this preference enhanced the survival of our ancestors' genes. This viewpoint best illustrates the ________ perspective. a. social-cultural b. behavioral c. cognitive d. evolutionary e. psychodynamic

d

The specialist most likely to have a medical degree is a(n) a. clinical psychologist. b. industrial-organizational psychologist. c. developmental psychologist. d. psychiatrist. e. biological psychologist.

d

What is the primary limitation of the case study research method? a. It is not an empirical method. b. The case study is not part of the scientific method. c. Random sampling must be used to ensure representative findings. d. Individual cases can be misleading and result in false generalizations. e. Correlational findings from case studies cannot be interpreted as causal.

d

Which perspective is most relevant to understanding the impact of strokes and brain diseases on memory? a. evolutionary b. behavioral c. psychodynamic d. biological e. humanistic

d

Which professional specialty focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of people with psychological disorders? a. personality psychology b. social psychology c. biological psychology d. clinical psychology e. developmental psychology

d

In a distribution of test scores, which measure of central tendency would likely be the most affected by a couple of extremely high scores? a. median b. range c. mode d. standard deviation e. mean

e

In an experiment designed to study the effectiveness of a new drug, research participants who receive a placebo are participating in the ________ condition. a. dependent variable b. correlational c. experimental d. replication e. control

e

Bar graphs allow researchers to a. compare groups. b. generalize from samples. c. demonstrate significance. d. visualize correlation. e. avoid bias.

a

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) a. population. b. representative sample. c. independent variable. d. control condition. e. dependent variable.

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 Dr. Rajiv employ? a. naturalistic observation b. replication c. the survey d. the case study e. experimentation

a

A hypothesis is a(n) a. observable relationship between specific independent and dependent variables. b. testable prediction that gives direction to research. c. set of principles that organizes observations and explains newly discovered facts. d. unprovable assumption about the unobservable processes that underlie psychological functioning. e. statement of procedures used to define research variables.

b

An experiment was designed to study the potential impact of alcohol consumption on emotional stability. A specification of the variables and 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

Basic research on persistent human traits like optimism and pessimism is most characteristic of the specialty known as ________ psychology. a. biological b. personality c. social d. developmental

b

Because she had a serious traffic accident on Friday the 13th of last month, Felicia is convinced that all Friday the 13ths will bring bad luck. Felicia's belief best illustrates a. the illusion of control. b. illusory correlation. c. the hindsight bias. d. overconfidence. e. random sampling.

b

Dr. Ochoa develops tests to accurately identify the most qualified job applicants in a large manufacturing firm. Which psychological specialty does Dr. Ochoa's work best represent? a. developmental psychology b. industrial-organizational psychology c. biological psychology d. clinical psychology e. psychiatry

b

If college graduates typically earn more money than high school graduates, this would indicate that level of education and income are a. causally related. b. positively correlated. c. independent variables. d. dependent variables. e. negatively correlated.

b

Professor Woo noticed that the distribution of students' scores on her last biology test had an extremely small standard deviation. This indicates that the: a. test was given to a very small class of students. b. students' scores tended to be very similar to one another. c. mean test score was lower than the median score. d. students generally performed very well on the test. e. test was a poor measure of the students' knowledge.

b

Random sampling is to ________ as random assignment is to ________. a. correlational studies; case studies b. surveys; experiments c. illusory correlation; control group d. replication; correlation e. description; prediction

b

The range is a. a total population from which samples may be drawn. b. the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. c. the most commonly used measure of variation. d. the average deviation of scores from the mean. e. the most frequently occurring score in a distribution of scores.

b

Which of the following is the best definition of illusory correlation? a. a statistical relationship between two variables b. a perceived but nonexistent correlation c. any independent variable that does not truly cause a dependent variable d. a scatterplot indicating the likelihood that a variable will or will not change e. a predication about the relationship between two variables

b

Which of the following statements is most correct about the relationship between correlation and causation? a. Correlations are statistical relationships, causations are logical relationships. b. Correlation indicates the possibility of a causal relationship, but it does not prove causation. c. If one variable is strongly positively correlated with another variable, the relationship is causal. d. if one variable is strongly negatively correlated with another variable, the relationship is not causal. e. Both correlations and causations need to be proven with experimental data.

b

Which perspective is most concerned with how individuals interpret their experiences? a. behavioral b. cognitive c. biological d. social-cultural e. psychodynamic

b

Why is Wilhelm Wundt often considered the first scientific psychological researcher? a. His scientific philosophy was carefully built on Descartes' idea about mind-body dualism. b. He gathered data through experiments in his lab. c. He treated patients with mental illnesses using a medical model for the first time. d. His attention to genetic causes was ahead of his time. e. He analyzed data from his studies using inferential statistics.

b

A correlation coefficient is a measure of the a. difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution. b. average squared deviation of scores from a sample mean. c. direction and strength of the relationship between two variables. d. statistical significance of a difference between two sample means. e. frequency of scores at each level of some measure.

c

A negative correlation between people's physical health and their marital happiness would indicate that: a. poor physical health has a negative impact on marital happiness. b. marital unhappiness promotes poor health. c. higher levels of marital happiness are associated with lower levels of physical health. d. marital happiness has no causal influence on physical health.

c

Dr. Santaniello conducts basic research on how children's moral thinking changes as they grow older. It is most likely that Dr. Santaniello is a(n) ________ psychologist. a. social b. clinical c. developmental d. industrial-organizational e. biological

c

If the correlation between the physical weight and reading ability of children is +0.85, this would indicate that a. there is very little statistical relationship between 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 with greater physical weight among children. d. body weight has no causal influence on the reading abilities of children. e. weight is a causal variable dependent on reading ability.

c

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 a. dependent variable. b. replication. c. placebo. d. random sample. e. double blind.

c

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? a. list of terms b. memorization c. time of day d. number of terms remembered e. students

c

Professor Smith told one class that alcohol consumption has been found to increase sexual desire. He informed another class that alcohol consumption has been found to reduce sexual appetite. The fact that neither class was surprised by the information they received best illustrates the power of a. overconfidence. b. replication. c. the hindsight bias. d. the double-blind procedure. e. the placebo effect.

c

Replication involves a. the selection of random samples. b. perceiving order in random events. c. repeating an earlier research study. d. rejecting ideas that cannot be scientifically tested. e. overestimating the extent to which others share our views.

c

The distinctive feature of the psychodynamic perspective is its emphasis on a. natural selection. b. brain chemistry. c. unconscious conflicts. d. learned behaviors. e. introspection.

c

Which method offers the most reliable way of assessing whether athletic performance is boosted by caffeine consumption? a. the survey b. the case study c. the experiment d. naturalistic observation

c

Which of the following best describes the view of the mind held by Plato and Socrates? a. The mind should be studied through careful, empirical observations. b. The mind is an illusion produced by the brain. c. The mind is separate from the body and continues after the body dies. d. The mind is made up of knowledge that is a result of our experiences. e. The mind results from biological processes produced by neural transmissions.

c

Which of the following defines ethical principles that should guide human experimentation? a. control group, random sampling, random assignment b. case study, naturalistic observation, survey c. informed consent, protection from harm, confidentiality, debriefing d. volunteer participants only, no deception, incentives for participation e. effect size, statistical significance, measures of central tendency, variation

c

Which of the following is a measure of the degree of variation among a set of events? a. mean b. scatterplot c. standard deviation d. median e. correlation coefficient

c

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? a. informed consent b. protection from harm c. confidentiality d. debriefing e. coercion

d

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 a. naturalistic observation. b. the hindsight bias. c. random sampling. d. the double-blind procedure. e. replication.

d

Dr. DeVries is interested in measuring how practice in problem solving affects this ability. The population of interest is high school seniors, and the sample consists of students who attend an exclusive college preparatory school. Half of the sample receives practice in solving particular types of problems, while the other half does not. Both groups take the same problem-solving test. Which of the following might best explain why Dr. DeVries may not be able to generalize his findings? a. He is not taking into account how the scores on the test might deviate from one another. b. His data may be positively skewed. c. He should have conducted his experiment in a lab instead of a natural setting. d. His sample is not representative of the population. e. He did not receive approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) before beginning his research.

d

Efforts to discover whether the intelligence of children is more heavily influenced by their biology or by their home environments are most directly relevant to the debate regarding a. structuralism versus functionalism. b. evolution versus natural selection. c. observation versus introspection. d. nature versus nurture. e. humanism versus behaviorism.

d

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 a. naturalistic observation. b. survey research. c. a case study. d. an experiment. e. a correlational study.

d

Mrs. Thompson believes that her son has become an excellent student because she consistently uses praise and affection to stimulate his learning efforts. Her belief best illustrates a ________ perspective. a. humanistic b. cognitive c. biological d. psychodynamic e. behavioral

e

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 a. random assignment. b. naturalistic observation. c. replication. d. correlation. e. random sampling.

e

Which procedure helps to ensure that the participants in a survey are representative of a larger population? a. random assignment b. replication c. correlation d. naturalistic observation e. random sampling

e