PSYC 107 Test 1

What does an Institutional Review Board do?

It judges whether proposed experiments are ethical.

Who is recognized as one of the founders of behaviorism?

John Watson

Someone develops a new test of mechanical abilities. Which of the following (if true) would be the strongest evidence that the test is biased against women?

Women with a particular test score are better mechanics than men with the same score

An experimenter had participants exercise much, a little, or not at all and then measured how much they ate at dinner. What was the dependent variable?

the amount of food eaten

What is an operational definition of "anxiety"?

the amount of muscle tension after hearing a loud noise

Health psychologists are especially interested in

the effects of exercise and diet on behavior

One of the main objections raised against ESP is that

the experiments that reportedly produced positive results have not been replicable

A correlation coefficient is a mathematical value that ranges between

+1 and -1

What does it mean to say that Raven's Progressive Matrices is a "culture-reduced" test?

It calls for little factual information or use of language.

In which of these ways does stereotype threat affect the results of a test?

It decreases the validity of the test.

Why have psychologists made more progress in understanding sensation than emotion?

It is easier to make accurate measurements in sensation.

Compared to the Wechsler and Stanford-Binet tests, what is an advantage of Raven's Matrices?

It is more appropriate for people who do not speak English.

What do we call theoretical research, such as trying to understand learning and memory?

basic research

Why did Harvard University refuse to give a Ph.D. degree to Mary Calkins?

because she was a woman

Which of the following correlations is generally the highest?

between the IQs of unrelated children who were adopted and reared in the same family

Which type of psychologist would be most interested in the genetic makeup of an individual?

biological

Since the 1960s, which fields have increased in their influence within psychology?

cognitive psychology and neuroscience

Under what circumstances is psychological research with animals legally permissible?

only after a committee at the college or research institute approves the proposal

What correlation coefficient indicates that two variables have no consistent relationship to each other?

0

On IQ tests such as the WISC and WAIS, men's mean score is ___ and women's mean is ___.

100... 100

The Wechsler and the Stanford-Binet tests were both devised to have a mean score around __________ and a standard deviation around __________.

100...15

Who was Clever Hans?

A horse that seemed to do arithmetic

What is a correlation?

A measurement of the relationship between two variables

Why do quantitative scores on the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) have higher predictive validity for graduate students in English than verbal scores do?

All graduate students in English tend to have similar (high) verbal scores.

Which research question is a most directly related example of the nature-nurture issue?

Are behavioral differences between boys and girls due to differences in their genes?

What can we conclude if the correlation between variable A and variable B is zero?

As A goes up, B does not consistently go either up or down.

Brain researchers would probably be most comfortable with the statement that

Brain activity and mental activity are the same thing

Which way of conducting research generally uses the fewest participants?

Case history

A psychologist evaluates 60 people before and after 8 weeks of therapy. Because 55 of the 60 are improved, she concludes that the therapy was effective. A flaw in this study is that it lacks

Control group

It is found that children with many friends are generally happier than children with fewer friends. What kind of research design was probably used in this study?

Correlation

Which of the following is one possible explanation for g?

Different abilities develop together because all depend on health, nutrition, etc.

Which of the following types of evidence, if found, would offer the strongest support in favor of Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences?

Different intellectual skills reflect different genetic predispositions.

Suppose someone charges that the driver's license exam is "biased" against people with poor eyesight. To evaluate that claim, what evidence would be most important?

Does the exam accurately predict driving performances of people with poor vision?

A subset of a sample is a population

False

What does "psychometric" mean?

based on measurements of individual differences

What kind of specialist provides advice and consultation to police, lawyers, and courts?

Forensic psychologists

A test claims to measure intelligence. How could you measure the reliability of the test?

Give the test repeatedly and see whether each person's scores are consistent

What do psychologists and philosophers mean by the term mind-body question?

How does the brain activity relate to mental activity?

The mind-brain (or mind-body) problem refers to the question:

How is the mind related to the brain and does one control the other?

What is the main difference between a correlational study and an experiment?

In an experiment, the investigator manipulates the independent variable

What does it mean if the correlation between variable A and variable B is -.5?

Increases in A are associated with decreases in B

What evidence did Spearman cite to support his concept of a "g" factor in intelligence?

Most people who do well on one intellectual task do well on others tasks also.

What evidence did Spearman have for his proposed g factor in intelligence?

Most people who do well on one type of test also do well on other tests.

Jane Goodall spent years observing chimpanzees in the wild. Her technique was

Naturalistic observation

According to one study, what was the effect of red-letter instructions on the first page of a test?

On average, students got lower test scores.

What does The Individuals with Disabilities Act in the United States require?

Public schools must provide free and appropriate education for all children regardless of their limitations.

Why do deaf and foreign-born people get a fairer score on the Raven's Progressive Matrices than they do on the Wechsler or Stanford-Binet test?

Raven's Matrices include only nonverbal questions and answers.

Why did early psychologists spend so much effort studying rats in a maze?

Researchers expected to find simple laws

Suppose someone devises a new IQ test and we discover that tall people get higher test scores than short people. How can we determine whether this test is biased against short people?

See whether the test equally well predicts performances of both short and tall people

What is one way to decrease the impact of stereotype threat?

Simply educate people about stereotype threat.

According to the Flynn effect, if psychologists did NOT re-standardize IQ tests from time to time, what would happen?

The mean score on the test would increase from generation to generation

What does it mean to say that a test is biased against members of a particular group?

The test scores underestimate the performance of that group on other tasks.

What is a desirable feature of a scientific theory?

The theory is falsifiable

Psychology research differs from chemistry research in many ways. What is one way in which they are similar?

They both need careful measurement

How strongly do monozygotic twins resemble each other in IQ scores if they were reared in separate families?

They resemble each other more closely than dizygotic twins reared together.

An "operational definition" describes a construct and provides a way to measure a construct

True

Psychologists specializing in learning and motivation stress which point about food choice?

We are most adept at learning to avoid foods which cause illness

Students who spent the weekend studying got better test scores than students who went to the beach. To know whether this statement came from an experiment or a correlational study, which question should we ask?

Were students randomly assigned to two groups, or did they decide for themselves?

When Wilhelm Wundt started his psychological research, what was a key issue?

What are the elements of experience?

Modern-day research on animal intelligence focuses strongly on what question?

What does animal learning tell us about the mechanisms of intelligent behavior?

According to a recent survey, 78% of workers say they have cheated their employer. Before we can interpret these results, what question is important to ask?

What were the participants told to count as examples of cheating?

An evolutionary psychologist is most likely to consider

Why are men more likely than women to seek multiple sex partners?

Who advocated research on the actions the mind performs, rather than the ideas it has?

William James

What is a placebo?

a pill with no important biological effects

Which of the following is impossible?

a test with low reliability and high predictive validity

Aptitude tests attempt to measure _____. Achievement tests attempt to measure _____.

ability to learn... skills and knowledge already learned

What is meant by "adaptive testing"?

administering only those items at or near someone's level of functioning

The WAIS-III test is given to __________. The WISC-IV test is given to __________.

adults.. children up to age 16

Jane describes a dream she had that came true the next day. This is an example of

an anecdote

To decide whether or not any individual item on a test is biased against men or women, psychologists would need to determine whether:

an item that is easy for one group is among the most difficult for the other.

Sternberg distinguished three types of intelligence: practical, creative, and __________.

analytical

IQ scores

are positively correlated with success on a variety of jobs.

What job is a school psychologist most likely to perform?

consult with teachers about how to meet the educational needs of a troubled student

A survey on the Internet lets anyone answer it. What kind of sample will probably result?

convenience sample

If a psychologist wanted to test Spearman's concept of a "g" factor in intelligence, what kind of data should the psychologist collect?

correlations between performances on various intellectual tasks

An experimenter announces, "This is an experiment on hypnosis." Although the experimenter does not actually hypnotize anyone, many participants behave the way they believe hypnotized people do. Which of these do the results illustrate?

demand characteristics

Dr. Rodentz deprives rats of food for different lengths of time and then records how long each rat takes to reach food at the end of a maze. The time needed to reach the food is the

dependent variable

The mean, median, range, and standard deviation are all examples of

descriptive statistics

Mathematical summaries of results are called __________ statistics, while statistics that inform about the entire population, based on information collected from small samples, are called __________ statistics

descriptive...inferential

What is a key concern for the field known as ergonomics or human factors?

design of machinery and instructions so people can understand them better

Someone who believes that all behaviors have a cause follows which philosophical position?

determinism

What refers to the idea that every event, including our behavior, has a cause?

determinism

A biopsychologist is unlikely to investigate

effects of unconscious thoughts on behavior

Wilhelm Wundt is famous for

establishing the first laboratory for psychological research

Which of the following methods leads to conclusions about cause and effect?

experiment

A new worker at Consolidated Generic Products cannot perform any of the company's traditional tasks as well as more experienced workers. However, the new worker learns new skills faster than the older workers. The new worker apparently has a high degree of

fluid intelligence

If you solve a problem of a type you never saw before, what type of intelligence do you show?

fluid intelligence

Jacque's co-workers are surprised to see him solve complex problems on the spot, because he is not skilled at the tasks of his job. Jacque is apparently high in ____ intelligence and lower in ____ intelligence.

fluid; crystallized

In one study, what had the biggest effect on whether Japanese exchange students felt homesick?

foods

Professor Plum devises a new personality test and administers it to a large and representative group of people, finding a wide distribution of scores on the test. Two months later he administers a second form of the same test to the same people and finds that most people receive almost the same score they had the first time. He should conclude that the test has

high reliability and unknown validity.

Cognition can best be defined as

how we think and acquire knowledge

A testable prediction of what will happen under a specific set of conditions is known as a

hypthesis

Deliria thinks her hunches usually come true, although in fact they are correct only by chance. Remembering only the cases that fit her expectations produces which of the following?

illusory correlation

Estimates of the heritability of IQ scores are LOWEST for people in which kind of family?

impoverished families

The increase in raw IQ scores known as the Flynn effect has been shown to occur

in every country where it has been investigated

What kind of psychologist helps a corporation choose the right people to hire?

industrial/organizational

What kind of psychologist helps a company increase workers' productivity and satisfaction?

industrial/organizational psychologist

Wilhelm Wundt was one of the first people to demonstrate that

it is possible to measure psychological processes scientifically

To determine whether a theory is parsimonious, psychologists pay attention to whether

its assumptions are simple and consistent with those of other theories

Psychologists analyze a reading comprehension test and find that someone could answer most of the questions correctly without reading the passage. They therefore cast doubt on which aspect of this test?

its validity

Professor Lewis gave a study guide to the students in the first two rows of class. Later, these students got better grades than the other students. What is wrong with this experiment?

lack of random assignment to groups

Over the last 50 years or so, what have psychologists had to do in order to make sure the mean score on an IQ test remains at 100?

make the test harder

"Falsifiability" is a desirable characteristic for a scientific theory because a falsifiable theory

makes clear, testable predictions

What are "descriptive statistics"?

mathematical summaries of results

The reliability of most IQ tests is .90 or higher. This means that the tests

measure something (whatever) in a repeatable manner.

The word psychology was derived from the Greek words psyche, meaning ___________, and logos, meaning ___________.

mind...word

If you become skillful at basketball because your friends encourage you to play and you have practiced a lot, your behavior is influenced primarily by ___________. If you are good at basketball mainly because you are very tall, as have been all of the members of your family for generations, your behavior is influenced primarily by ___________.

nurture...nature

If a test has high reliability,

people who do well on the test one day are likely to do well again another day.

Dualism--the idea that mind and brain exist separately--conflicts with the:

physicists' principle of conservation of matter and energy

Adherents of free will disagree with adherents of determinism with regard to whether behavior is

predictable

The WAIS-III and WISC-IV have one advantage over the Raven's Progressive Matrices test, which is that the WAIS-III and WISC-IV

provide scores on a number of separate abilities.

A psychotherapist with a medical degree is a _________ and one with a Ph.D. is a _________.

psychiatrist...psychologist

What do we call the relationship between the intensity of a stimulus and its perceived intensity?

psychophysical function

If every individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected for a sample, it is a __________ sample.

random

If competent researches consistently get similar results whenever they follow a particular procedure, then the results are

replicable

A cross-cultural sample is most important for what type of research?

research seeking generalizations about human nature in general

Damage to the adrenal gland can lead to an increased need for which dietary substance?

salt

The earliest psychologists (in the late 1800s and early 1900s) focused most of the research on __________ because they believed those questions __________.

sensation...were relatively easy to answer

When Clever Hans seemed to answer mathematical questions, what was he really responding to?

signals from the person asking the question

Which of psychologist is most concerned with how other people influence our behavior?

social psychologist

Which of the following does NOT typically offer help to troubled people?

social psychologist

What is an independent variable?

something the experimenter changes or controls.

The process of establishing rules for administering a test and for interpreting its scores is known as

standardization.

If someone expects that members of his/her group usually do poorly on some task, which expectation may interfere with the person's ability to concentrate and do well on the task. What is this phenomenon called?

stereotype threat

What distinguishes a psychoanalyst from other kinds of therapists?

strong adherence to theories pioneered by Sigmund Freud

If an IQ test has high predictive validity, then

students who do well on the test also get good grades in school.

An operational definition is a definition that

tells us how to produce or measure something

Improved nutrition and increased cognitive stimulation are among the possible explanations for

the Flynn effect

What could be an operational definition of "sense of humor"?

the number of times someone makes other people laugh

In both science and a criminal trial, who has the "burden of proof"--that is, the obligation to demonstrate that their claims are correct?

the side that should be able to produce good evidence, if they are right

If a test has low validity, then

the test does not measure what it is supposed to measure

"Stereotype threat" refers to the finding that Black students' test performance deteriorates when

they are nervous about their performance or expect to do poorly.

If we compare IQ scores across countries, we find a tendency toward lower scores in which countries?

those with the highest exposure to infectious diseases

What was originally, and still is, the main purpose of IQ tests?

to predict performance in school.

What did Sigmund Freud emphasize in treating troubled people?

tracing current behavior to early childhood experiences

Women now receive approximately what percentage of the Ph.D's in psychology?

two-thirds

In Dr. Wizard's study, people in the experimental group receive a "subliminal audiotape" that is supposed to improve their self-esteem. The other group receives no treatment. Later, Dr. Wizard interviews them and reports that people in the experimental group show higher self-esteem. What change would IMPROVE the research?

use a blind observer

What is known to influence people's food preferences?

variations in their number of taste buds

Harriet has just taken a new IQ test. She answered 88 questions correctly. However, this test has not yet been standardized. Therefore,

we do not know how her score compares to that of other people.

A psychologist who attempts to test the assumptions of determinism is most likely to investigate

whether it is possible to predict behaviors