Psychology Unit 1

A person displays behaviors of a psychological disorder that psychologists in the United States have not seen before. The best strategy to investigate the nature of those behaviors is to conduct what kind of descriptive research method?

Case Study

What measures the direction and strength of the relationship between two variables?

Correlation Coefficients

A survey shows that children who have encyclopedias in their home environment earn better grades in school than children whose homes lack encyclopedias. The researcher concludes that having encyclopedias in the home environment improves grades. Why is this conclusion incorrect?

Correlation does not equal causation

Dr. Zimbardo recruited college students to pretend to be prison guards or prisoners in a fake prison. The college students were not aware that the prison was fake. What research technique is he utilizing to reduce bias?

Deception

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

Dependent Variable

Dr. Ivey is researching using stimulants to treat ADHD. To best minimize experimenter bias, what procedure should he conduct?

Double- Blind procedure

Drawing a random sample of people from a town for an interview study of social attitudes ensures that

Each person has an equal chance of getting chosen

A researcher conducted a study to investigate whether women in the first trimester of pregnancy score higher on levels of disgust than women who are in a later stage of pregnancy. The researcher believes that being more selective about food choices helps pregnant women avoid diseases that could harm their fetuses. A researcher from what psychological perspectives would most likely be interested in examining this relationship?

Evolutionary Approach

Tom believes he performed poorly on his last three history exams because of bad luck. As a result, he believes he is due for a good score on the next exam and does not study because he is sure he will perform well. The error in his thinking is most likely attributable to

Gamblers Fallacy

Fatima tries out for the debate team at her school because she believes that debate team members are the smartest kids in school. She is not chosen as a team member. After failing to make the debate team, Fatima remembers that the students who made the team last school year were juniors and members of the History Club. She now decides that she knew she should not have tried out since she is a sophomore and not a member of the History Club. This best illustrates the power of...

Hindsight Bias

Name 5 ethical principles that should guide human experimentation.

Informed Consent, Right to Withdraw, Protection from Harm, Confidentiality, and Debriefing

After calculating algebra test scores, Mr. Bailey notices that 2 students had extremely low scores. Which measure of central tendency is most affected by this?

Mean

Name the measures of central tendency.

Mean, Median, Mode

A small sample of living neural tissue is being studied under a powerful microscope. The researcher notices that some of the neural cells have connections to capillaries and seem to nourish and support the other neural cells. What type of research is being conducted?

Natural Observation

The argument over the relative contributions of heredity and environment in the development of various behaviors and personality traits is known as what controversy?

Nature vs. Nurture

If psychologists discovered that wealthy people are less satisfied with their marriages than poor people are, this would indicate what correlation for wealth and marital satisfaction?

Negative correlation

As Bob was ringing up groceries, he relayed the final total to the customer who informed him that the total he said didn't match what showed up on the screen. Bob was confident that he said the same total that was represented on the screen. What terms best describes Bob's belief?

Overconfidence

Behaviors result from unconscious thoughts or feelings

Psychodynamic Approach

The scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of humans and other animals.

Psychology

A psychology professor wants to investigate the study habits of students at her university. She cannot collect data from every student but hopes to use a subset of the students to draw accurate conclusions about the behavior of the student body. What is the best way for her to select these students?

Random Sampling

Name the measures of variance

Range, Standard Deviation

Mr. Jones was hesitant about the accuracy of some recently reported research on sleep deprivation. What process would help him assess the reliability of these findings?

Replication

What do researchers often construct to represent the correlation between two variables?

Scatter Plot

This approach looks at how different parenting styles are encouraged in different communities

Social- Cultural Approach

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?

The time of day

If a result is statistically significant, this means that...

There is less likelihood that it occurred by chance

Explain what it means to have a correlation coefficient of -0.12

Weak negative

An intelligence test has a mean of 75 with a standard deviation of 5. Which of the following scores is within one standard deviation of the mean? 68 82 78 70

78

Would use praise and affection to stimulate learning efforts

Behavioral Approach

Many people who have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder find their symptoms are reduced when they take a medication that alters their serotonin or norepinephrine levels. Their outcome supports what psychological perspective?

Biological Approach