psych 104 midterm questions

emotional reasoning fallacy

A friend says he will not have his new baby inoculated against any childhood diseases because he is afraid the shots will cause autism. You point out that there is no scientific evidence to support that idea. He says he knows that, but he just feels that it is true. What logical fallacy is at work?

Sigmund Freud

An approach to psychology that relied heavily on dream interpretation, symbolism, unconscious motives, and the suppression of sexual and aggressive urges was developed by __________.

Occam's razor

An important principle of scientific thinking states that if two explanations account equally well for a phenomenon, we should generally select the simpler one. This principle is known as __________.

slow

Analytical thinking is __________ compared to intuitive thinking.

level of analysis

As a discipline, psychology spans multiple __________, which can be thought of as the rungs on a ladder.

high external validity

Because carefully controlled studies generate more trustworthy results, the high internal validity of these studies can lead to __________.

tabula rasa

British philosopher John Locke stood on the nurture side of the nature-nurture debate, comparing the mind of a newborn to a sheet of paper that had yet to be written on. Others later used which term to describe the same idea?

Overreliance on anecdotes

Bud and Sandy are discussing the merits of new automobiles. Bud noted, "This car model has been tested by four different consumer agencies in hundreds of tests with virtually the same outcomes each time; it is very reliable." Sandy countered, "Yeah, but my neighbor down the street bought that car, and he has had nothing but problems. I would stay away from it." Which hallmark of pseudoscience has Sandy fallen prey to?

experimenter expectancy effect

Dr. Ingo Larsen is testing the effectiveness of a new memory-enhancing study technique. He greets each participant at the door and escorts them into either the control group (that receives the old memory technique) or the experimental group (that receives the new memory technique). He then conducts the experiment and analyzes the results. This is all quite problematic, because of the potential presence of __________.

existence proof

Dr. Sardonicus is designing a case study in order to demonstrate that a particular psychological phenomenon actually happens. Case studies can be useful in providing this kind of demonstration, also known as __________.

persuasive

According to David Hume, an eighteenth-century Scottish philosopher, the more a claim contradicts what we already know, the more __________ must be the evidence for the claim.

median or mode

When a politician makes the statement that the average tax return will be $5000 for citizens of her province, we should be suspicious of her statistics. It would be more meaningful to report the __________ as a measure of central tendency.

illusory correlation

When we perceive a reliable association between two events (although none exists), such as the presence of rainy weather and arthritis flare-ups, we are experiencing the phenomenon called __________.

Heuristic

A mental shortcut or general "rule of thumb" is referred to as a(n) __________ by psychologists.

peer review

The process of soliciting feedback from qualified experts in a research area prior to publishing the results of a research study is called __________.

pseudoscience

The story of how facilitated communication was debunked is a powerful illustration of the triumph of science over __________.

outlier

The technical term for a score that is much higher or lower than the typical responses, and might produce a misleading interpretation of the data set, is __________.

imageless thought

The theoretical framework of psychology known as structuralism had two major problems. One was that highly trained introspectionists often disagreed on subjective reports. The other was the discovery of __________.

inferential

The two kinds of statistics used by psychologists are descriptive statistics and __________ statistics.

intuitive

The type of thinking that allows us to operate on "autopilot" and make snap decisions is called __________.

sharpening and leveling

To be sure that we are not fooled by popular media reports about psychology research, we should be on the lookout for __________.

Behaviour geneticists

Twin and adoption studies addressing the nature-nurture debate are typically conducted by __________.

logical fallacy

Ways of thinking that appear to make intuitive sense but are actually traps that lead to mistaken conclusions are called __________.

tuskegee case study

What shameful experiment was conducted over the course of 40 years to determine what would happen if syphilis was left to run its course in unsuspecting "subjects" (at a time when a cure for the disease was already available)?

research ethics board

Which group at every major college and university reviews all research carefully to protect participants against abuses?

distribution curve

Which term describes a curved line on a graph that can be bell shaped, negatively skewed, or positively skewed?

naive realism

Which term describes the common sense belief that we see the world as it really is?

statistics

Which term indicates applying mathematics to describe and analyze data?

central tendencies

Which term refers to the type of descriptive statistic that tells us where the scores tend to cluster in a set of measurements?

structuralism

E.B. Titchener was a leading figure in which framework of psychology, which advocated the use of introspection to identify basic elements of experience?

applied research

Georgio does not want to take college entrance exams because he thinks they will not accurately reflect his ability to succeed in college and are no more useful than flipping a coin. His guidance counselor explains that psychologists have determined that, although not perfect, these tests are significantly better than chance at predicting college success. These psychologists are sharing some __________ with Georgio.

test-retest

If subjects' scores on a self-esteem scale are consistent over time, the scale has high __________ reliability.

naturalistic observation

If we want to study people's actual behaviour "in the wild" without them being influenced by the researcher, we can use __________.

cognitivism

In the 1950s and 1960s, many psychologists were disillusioned with behaviourism's neglect of the mental processes involved in different aspects of thinking. Arguing that thinking has a powerful effect on behaviour, psychologists such as Jean Piaget began to develop the field of __________.

sharpening

In the popular media (as opposed to scientific journals), research results can be presented in a misleading way because reporters have the tendency to exaggerate the gist or central message of the study. This is called __________.

System 1 thinking

Jerry is asked to estimate which is more common in the English language: Words that end in "ing" or words that have "-n-" as the second-to-last letter. He mentally recites many examples of the first category ("running," "jumping," "flying," "talking") but can only think of a few examples of the second category ("sink," "nine"). He judges that "ing" endings are more common, which of course is incorrect. (All words that end in "ing" also have "n" as the second-to-last letter; the addition of words that do not have an "i" and a "g" on either side of the "n" makes that second group larger.) After all this hubbub, it is clear that Jerry relied on __________ to reach his conclusion.

Psychoanalysis

Just as behaviourism was gaining popularity in the United States, Sigmund Freud was founding a new field of psychology, one that focused on internal psychological processes such as unconscious impulses, thoughts, and memories. This approach is called __________.

rival hypothesis

Laurie told her friend Sandi, "I had a headache this morning so I used an old family cure: Three sips of ginger ale, and an hour later my head felt better." Sandi replied, "I am glad you are feeling more comfortable now, but maybe the sheer passage of time made your headache go away." Sandi is offering a(n) __________ in response to Laurie's explanation.

pseudosymmetry

Media reports have a tendency to try to present two opposing sides of an issue as though both sides were equally valid. What is this tendency called?

range

Megan wanted to get a measure of the amount of variability in her set of data, so she subtracted the lowest score from the highest score. Megan computed the __________.

analytical

Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman refers to intuitive thinking as System 1. What type of thinking does Kahneman refer to as System 2?

5%

Of the 3500 or so self-help books published every year, what percentage are scientifically tested?

ruling out rival hypotheses

One important aspect of a research study that peer reviewers consider is whether the study considers alternate explanations. This is called __________.

Free will determinism

One of the great debates that has shaped the field of psychology is the question of whether people choose their behaviours or are obliged to act in certain ways by factors beyond their control. This is known as the __________ debate.

emotional reasoning fallacy

One reason people are drawn to believing in pseudoscience is that we use our emotions as guides to evaluate the validity of claims. This is known as the affect heuristic or the __________.

belief perseverance

People have a tendency to continue holding on to their beliefs even when those beliefs have been shown to be wrong. This phenomenon is known as __________.

ad hoc immunizing hypothesis

Psychics who perform poorly in laboratory tests and then blame their poor performance on "bad vibes" from skeptical researchers are displaying which sign of pseudoscience?

decline effect

Psychological researchers have become more aware of the importance of replicating research results. Part of this awareness is driven by the observation that the size of certain psychological findings appears to be shrinking over time. This phenomenon is known as the __________.

self-report measures

Questionnaires fall into which category of measurement tools?

descriptive

Questions such as, "What is the average level of extraversion in this sample?" call for the use of which kind of statistics?

invasive

Research involving animals can generate strong, often negative, feelings among people. This is especially so when the research involves __________ procedures that cause physical harm to the animals.

empiricism

Science begins with the premise that knowledge should first be acquired through observation. This premise is called __________.

response set

Sherri wants to design a self-report measure for her study of personality traits, but she knows she should be concerned that respondents might distort their answers, especially to paint themselves in a positive light. This tendency is known as __________.

Psychobabble

Some main warning signs of pseudoscientific claims include overreliance on anecdotes, exaggerated claims, absence of connectivity to other research, lack of peer review, and __________.

direct harm

Ten-year-old Candace Newmaker died as a result of a pseudoscientific treatment called "rebirthing therapy." This is an example of pseudoscience causing __________.

correlation isn't causation

The "third variable problem" is associated with which scientific thinking principle?

informed consent

The TCPS states: "__________individuals who participate in research should do so voluntarily, understanding the purpose of the research, and its risks and benefits, as fully as reasonably possible." This statement is most relevant in which of the following aspects of ethical research?

value-neutral

The authors accept the philosophical belief that science is __________; that is, neither good nor bad in itself.

correlational

The easiest way to determine if two variables are associated with one another is to use a(n) __________ research design.

applied psychological research

The idea of placing a third brake light at the base of a car's back windshield and changing the colour of fire engines from red to yellow are examples of __________.

misconception

The idea that we can dismiss scientific theories (such as Darwinian evolution) from serious consideration because a theory "is just an educated guess" is __________.

experimental designs

The only research designs that allow us the possibility of drawing cause-and-effect inferences are __________.

reciprical determinism

The outgoing behaviour of other people can make an extraverted person act even more extraverted. Bandura called this mutual influence on one another's behaviour __________.

belief perseverance

The phrase "don't confuse me with the facts" would best describe which self-deception trap?

sequential lineup

The police have arrested a suspect in an assault case and the victim has agreed to look at a lineup to see if he can identify the person who attacked him. Gary, a police psychologist, is advising the detectives on the most accurate way to put together a lineup. What should he recommend that they use?

clinical psychologist

Which type of psychologist is most likely to work with patients who have serious mental disorders such as major depression?

Introspection

Wilhelm Wundt developed the first full-fledged psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany. He pioneered the technique of __________, in which trained observers reflected on and reported on their own mental experiences.

developmental psychologist

You meet a psychologist who tells you that she conducts research on children to determine how their cognitive processes differ as the child gets older. You recognize that this person is most likely a(n) __________.

experimental design

You want to design a study that will be high in internal validity and will allow you to infer causation. Which research design should you use?