Psychology Test 1 Study Guide
In a research study, informed consent is a concern of
ethics
Which of the following studies has had the most profound impact on ethical issues in psychological research?
Stanley Milgram's study of obedience
The claim that a whole is different from the sum of its parts is central to which of the following schools of thought?
Gestalt psychology
One major objection to the early Skinnerian approach to psychology is that it
did not take into account internal thoughts and feelings
An industrial-organizational psychologist would be most likely to study the
effectiveness of management training
Of the following, a behavioral psychologist is most likely to study the
effects of token economies on establishing social skills among children with emotional disturbances
An important difference between humanistic and psychoanalytic approaches is that humanistic psychologists believe in the importance of
free will
John B. Watson is best known as the founder of
behaviorism
Participants were asked to rate the importance of achieving honor-roll status. Researchers found that students from smaller families rated the importance more highly than students from larger families. The research team concluded that a student's attitude toward school achievement is the result of family size. Which of the following is the most important error made by the research team?
Assuming that correlation proves causation
Although Paul seems bright and capable to his parents and friends, he has been failing in school. Paul agrees to speak with a psychologist, who suggests that his problems stem from internal processes such as unrealistic expectations and negative thinking. The psychologist's view is typical of which of the following models of behavior?
Cognitive
Which theoretical perspective in psychology attempts to characterize the way in which humans store and process sensory information?
Cognitive
Ivan Pavlov was most well known for which of the following?
Conditioning dogs to salivate to the sound of a bell
There is a strong positive correlation between ice cream sales and instances of snakebites. Which of the following is the most likely explanation for this correlation?
Hot weather is related to both ice cream sales and snake activity.
What is the correct chronological order of the following perspectives of psychology, from past to present? Behaviorism Psychoanalysis Structuralism Humanism
III, II, I, IV
A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. What is the dependent variable in this study?
Incidence of aggressive behavior
In a normal distribution, which of the following statements is true about the area that falls between one standard deviation above and one standard deviation below the mean?
It contains the middle 68% of the distribution.
Which of the following statements is true of behaviorism?
It holds that development is largely a product of learning.
According to the ethical guidelines set by the American Psychological Association (APA), which of the following is true of psychological research in which animals are used as subjects?
It should conform to all APA ethical guidelines for animal research.
A psychologist gives the same test to a class of students at the beginning of the day and again at the end of the school day. The extent to which test scores are similar across the two administrations demonstrates which of the following test properties?
Reliability
All of the following are American Psychological Association ethical guidelines for researchers EXCEPT:
Research may not involve deception.
Psychodynamic therapy has its roots in the theories of
Sigmund Freud
A psychological researcher designs a study to determine whether positive feedback affects self-esteem. The researcher requires each participant to toss twenty coins into a coffee can that is three feet away. Half of the participants are told that their performance is superior, and the other half are told that their performance is well below average. Although some of the participants want to quit tossing coins after a few attempts, they are told that once they begin the study they have to complete it. After the coin toss, participants take a test measuring self-esteem. Following the test, all participants are debriefed and told that information about their performance was false. Results of the study indicate that participants who are told their performance is well below average report lower levels of self-esteem than do those who are told their performance is superior.
Violation of the right to withdraw
A person displays a set of rare behaviors that psychologists had not known about previously, because nobody had ever shown them before. The best strategy to investigate the nature of those behaviors is
a case study
−3, 3, 0, 3, −3 What is the standard deviation of the numbers above?
3
According to one theory of psychology, many people have mental illnesses because their maladaptive behaviors have proven rewarding for them in the past and thus have been continued. This belief is consistent with which of the following models?
Behavioral
Which of the following approaches to psychology emphasizes observable responses over inner experiences when accounting for behavior?
Behaviorist
What is the best way to ensure that results of a study are generalizable to a population?
By using a random selection of people in that population
Which of the following scenarios is regulated by federal law?
Dr. Mast, a psychologist, has a client, Tim, who threatens to seriously harm his brother, Carl. Tim has a history of serious violence and the means to carry out the threat; therefore, Dr. Mast must inform Carl.
Which of the following psychologists would have been likely to say, "I do not care about the unconscious or hidden motives—I want to study behavior directly"?
John Watson
In their discussions of the process of development, the advocates of nature in the nature-nurture controversy emphasize which of the following?
Maturation
Gestalt psychology is concerned primarily with understanding which of the following?
Perception
Which of the following best describes the response of members of the American Psychological Association to ethical issues in research?
They have developed codes of ethics for research with both human participants and animal subjects.
A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. What is the independent variable in this study?
Type of television program viewed
When is it permissible for a psychologist to share a client's test scores with another person?
When the client provides written permission to share results
A researcher is studying the effect of caffeinated drinks on the activity level of ten-year-old children. Half of the children in the study drank caffeinated soda, and half drank noncaffeinated soda. Neither the research team nor the children knew which drinks had caffeine and which drinks did not. The researchers were using
a double-blind design
A psychologist designed a study to test the effects of cell phone use on driving safety. Participants were randomly assigned either to drive an automobile simulator while talking to a friend on a cell phone or to drive a simulator without talking on a phone. In the study, cell phone use can be described as
an independent variable
A basic assumption underlying the evolutionary approach to sexual attraction is that men seek potential mates who
appear fertile
Ethical principles developed by the American Psychological Association help ensure that human participants in psychological research
are protected from physical and psychological harm
According to Wilhelm Wundt, the focus of scientific psychology should be the study of
conscious experience
Dorothea Dix was known for
documenting the poor conditions of mental asylums, which eventually led to their reform
A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. This research method is best characterized as
experimental
The most important reason to use operational definitions in psychological research is it
helps everyone involved with the research understand and collect data in the same manner.
In the 1800s, the activist Dorothea Dix led a movement in support of
improving the treatment of patients with mental disorders who were housed in asylums
A study can be regarded as scientific only if
its conclusions can be verified or refuted by subsequent studies
An illusory correlation is best defined as a
perceived relationship where one does not exist
Students from a journalism class ask only their friends to participate in a school newspaper survey and neglect to ask the rest of the student body. The journalism students' data may not be generalizable due to
sampling bias
An evolutionary psychologist would explainthat humans desire social interaction, social acceptance, and social affiliation due to a need for
survival
Cognitive psychologists are most likely to study
the acquisition of knowledge, planning, and problem solving
Professor Ahad has forty-three students in section one of the psychology classes she teaches and fifty-two students in section two. Section one meets at eight a.m. and, section two meets at one p.m. Professor Ahad gives all of her students the same final exam, and those in section two score significantly higher than those in section one. Professor Ahad concludes that her section one students are academically inferior to students in section two. The biggest problem with Professor Ahad's conclusion is that
time of day is a confounding variable in this scenario.
