Psych Chapter 1
The magazine Desperate Wives publishes a survey of its female readers called "The Sex Life of the American Wife." It reports that 87 percent of all wives like to make love in rubber boots. A more accurate title for this survey would be ________.
"The Sex Lives of Our Readers: Desperate Wives Women Respond"
Which correlation coefficient is most likely to describe the relationship between brushing one's teeth and the number of cavities one gets?
-.62
Which of the following statements is correct concerning correlation coefficients?
A correlation of +.89 and -.89 are both strong and equally so.
Which of the following statements is correct?
A psychologist has no medical training.
Several years ago, two scientists announced that they had evidence of "cold fusion" in the laboratory, but further studies failed to replicate their findings, and it was later found that the original scientists had used sloppy methods. This highlights which of the following critical thinking principles?
All evidence is not equal in quality.
Which of the following statements about research with animals is incorrect?
Animals are no longer allowed to be used in research in which it would be clearly unethical to use humans.
Which of the following is a common ethical guideline suggested by the American Psychological Association?
Deception must be justified.
Which of the following is CORRECT concerning random assignment?
In random assignment, each participant has an equal chance for each condition.
Which of the following statements is true about naturalistic observation?
It involves observing behavior in its natural context.
Which of the following statements concerning using animals in research is correct?
Pain and suffering of animals are allowed, but only when necessary, and must be minimized as much as possible.
________ is an experiment in which neither the participants nor the individuals running the experiment know if participants are in the experimental or the control group until after the results are tallied.
The double-blind study
Cognitive neuroscience includes the use of tools such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET).
True
Roger conducted a naturalistic observation as a project for a psychology class. He observed the interactions of parents and children at a football game. Many of the people he observed seemed to have noticed him. Roger forgot about the observer effect.
True
The goals of psychology are to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior.
True
The most accurate definition of the discipline of psychology today is that it is the science of behavior.
True
What is the BEST analogy for Wundt's and Titchener's mission for psychology?
a chart listing the basic chemical elements
All the following variables, EXCEPT for _______, would likely show a negative correlation.
adult shoe size and IQ scores
In the early part of the past century, psychologists who broke down thought processes into their basic elements and analyzed them were called structuralists. What term might we use to describe psychologists with similar interests today?
cognitive
A(n) ________ is a measure of how strongly two variables are related to one another.
correlation
Perceiving the question is the first step in a scientific investigation. This step is derived from which goal of psychology?
describing
Freud stressed the importance of ________.
early childhood experiences
Dr. Mosher is a psychologist who tries to understand how people select their mates. She must be a(n) ________.
evolutionary psychologist
Forming a hypothesis is the second step in a scientific investigation. This step is derived from two goals of psychology—description and ________.
explanation
Sally proposes the idea that one's sexual history prior to marriage may be linked to whether one ends up getting divorced. This best represents which step of the scientific method?
forming a hypothesis
The administration of Midwest State University wants to know if the arrangement of chairs affects student participation in classrooms. What would be a good operational definition of the dependent variable in an experiment designed to measure this relationship?
frequency with which students ask questions
The general curiosity about why people think, feel, and behave the way they do:
has always probably been with us.
A good control group ________.
holds constant all variables in the experiment
Ideally, everything in the experimental situation except the __________ is held constant.
independent variables
In the definition of psychology, the term mental processes refers to ________.
internal, covert activities
In the statement "Critical thinking requires reasoned judgments," the word reasoned means ________.
logical and well thought out
Dr. Littman-Smith is conducting research in Kenya into the ways that mothers and their toddlers interact throughout the day. Given the purpose of her study, it is most likely that she is engaged in ________.
naturalistic observation
Which research method involves watching behaviors as they occur without intervening or altering the behaviors in any way?
naturalistic observation
Observing behavior as it happens in real-life natural settings without imposing laboratory controls is known as the ________.
naturalistic observation method
A correlation coefficient is a numerical measure of the -----.
strength of the relationship between two variables
Which of the following terms do NOT belong together?
structuralism; observable behavior
The magazine Desperate Wives publishes a survey of its female readers called "The Sex Life of the American Wife." It reports that 87 percent of all wives like to make love in rubber boots. The critical flaw in this research would be ________.
the fact that the sample is not representative of American wives
A correlation coefficient shows that smoking and life expectancy are indeed related. As a result, a researcher could predict that ________ if the direction of the relationship is known.
the person's life expectancy will go up or down based on the number of cigarettes the person smokes daily
An operational definition is ________.
the precise meaning of a term used to describe a variable, such as a type of behavior, which researchers want to measure
Which of these is the most accurate definition of the discipline of psychology?
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
