introduction to the Science of Psychology

Participants may be exposed to risk or discomfort during research

only when minimal risk and discomfort are outweighed by the benefit to the knowledge base and to human welfare.

LaTasha works for a multinational corporation. She must report to executives from a collectivist culture about the status of a project conducted by her group. To communicate in the most appropriate way to these executives, she should say:

"The group is performing well together."

Melanie has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. If the disorder is genetic, who is at the greatest risk of developing the disorder?

Melody, her identical twin

Cicely is trying to prevent teenage inner-city boys from joining gangs. She has set up a program in the boys' neighborhood to teach job skills. Cicely is most likely a __________ psychologist.

community

Dr. Dalbey is studying the effects of fatigue on aggression. He hypothesizes that the more fatigue a person is experiencing, the more aggressively the person will behave. Unbeknownst to Dr. Dalbey, the participants' level of hunger also had an impact on their aggression. Hunger could thus be a(n) __________ variable.

confounding

As an environmental psychologist, Fred would be most interested in

creating a more functional workplace.

Dr. V wanted to test her hypothesis that sugar improves memory, so she gave one group of participants candy sweetened with sugar and another group candy sweetened with NutraSweet. Then she compared the performance of the two groups on a test of recognition memory. Dr. V's research method is

experimental.

Giorgi wants to manipulate certain aspects of his study to understand the effect of those changes. Such manipulation is a foundational part of

experiments.

The goals of research in scientific psychology are

description, prediction, control, and explanation.

A researcher wants to know if personality traits are more similar based on genetic contributions or based on environmental factors. She examines pairs of identical twins who are raised together in the same home and also studies identical twins who were separated at birth and raised in different homes by different parents. According to the textbook, this researcher is conducting a(n) __________ study.

Adoption

Which statement is the best representation of the impact that Sigmund Freud has had?

Freud himself recanted most of his theories shortly before his own death, and the result is that his ideas never advanced beyond his own time.

The text gives a lengthy discussion of a form of treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder called EMDR. If you were suffering from this problem and were exploring the possibility of using EMDR as part of your own treatment, which of the following questions would indicate that you were engaging in critical thinking?

Is there research evidence to support the usefulness of EMDR?

"Anything that cannot be observed and measured directly is not worth studying." Which psychologists are most likely to agree with this statement?

John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner

Veronica's research focuses on optimism and the factors that lead to living a balanced and happy lifestyle; that is, the factors that make life worth living. Veronica has dedicated her research to the study of ___________ psychology.

Positive

Which of the following beliefs would a collectivist society support?

Restraining one's self to be part of a social unit is good.

Briana is studying the impact of room temperature on the speed at which students take a 50-question multiple choice exam. In this study, her participants' previous preferences for different temperature rooms is

a confound.

If you were interested in determining the effectiveness of a new medication in treating depression, it would be most important that you use

a double-blind design.

Tai is interested in how alcohol consumption affects driving ability. He gives college students two, four, or six beers and then measures how many obstacles the students "hit" when they are in a driving simulator. The dependent variable is

alcohol consumption.

During a thesis meeting, Dr. Voldemort suggests that Anwen consider using inferential statistics in her upcoming research project. After the meeting, Anwen meets her friend Jack and confesses she doesn't know what Dr. Voldemort was talking about. Jack explains that inferential statistics

are mathematical procedures used to draw conclusions from data.

Dr. Mueller is interested in studying eating disorders. Her hypothesis is that abnormal eating behavior is learned through previous successes and failures with restrictive diet programs. She most likely follows which school of psychological thought?

behavioral

Dr. Jamison is conducting a study examining the emotional and behavioral changes that occur during puberty. Dr. Jamison is especially interested in how these changes are associated with changes in hormones and brain structures. The subfield of psychology Dr. Jamison seems to be interested in is __________ psychology.

biological

Dr. Vance is attempting to discover where emotional experience is localized in the brain by using brain imaging technology. Dr. Vance works in the subfield of __________ psychology.

biological

Sue wants to quit smoking, but she cannot seem to kick the addiction. A psychologist who takes a __________ approach might tell Sue that she keeps smoking because her brain is chemically dependent on the drug.

biological

Calisha and Renata are discussing arsonists. Calisha has been reading the work of a __________ psychologist and believes that fire-setting behavior might be linked to hormonal imbalances. Renata has been reading the work of a __________ psychologist and believes that fire-setting is a behavior that is supported by group processes.

biological; social

Hank is a psychologist interested in providing services to help those suffering schizophrenia. He focuses on the maladaptive ways in which its sufferers receive and process information about themselves and the world around them. Hank is most likely a(n) __________ psychologist.

clinical

For his sociology research paper, Sawyer would like to report descriptive statistics from his survey findings. In other words, the statistics Sawyer plans to report will

describe a data set numerically.

A ________ psychologist would be most interested in researching changes in human behavioral, emotional, and mental processes over time.

developmental

Dr. Zoe began working for a research foundation that focuses on the study of epigenetics. Dr. Zoe's work will most likely focus on

diseases and stress factors that can alter the expression of genes

Dr. Cassidy researches how teachers can most effectively teach grammar principles to elementary school students. Dr. Cassidy's research is most appropriate for which subfield of psychology?

educational

To attempt to discover why some adolescents begin using drugs and alcohol, a social psychologist would most likely study the

effects of peer pressure and the influence of role models, such as rock or movie stars, on adolescents' decision-making processes.

A creative team wants to design a web site that users can navigate intuitively and that has a logical flow of information that can be easily manipulated by a user. This team would benefit from the expertise of a(n) __________ psychologist.

engineering

In attempting to explain behavior, B. F. Skinner focused on

environmental stimuli.

Scientific psychology is empirical because it relies on information from

experience and observation.

"We're not going to stop until you've accomplished everything you're capable of," Jennifer's personal trainer tells her. "You can work harder and achieve all of your goals!" This statement most closely mirrors the philosophy of the __________ approach.

humanistic

Dr. Butterfield is a psychologist who believes that our choices are dictated not by our instincts but by our unique perceptions of the world. Dr. Butterfield takes a __________ approach in her practice.

humanistic

Dr. Hood is conducting a research study in which she is examining two different methods for helping to combat social phobia in adolescents. The intervention methods being studied represent the __________ variable.

independent

Although Kwan Li loves his family and friends, he believes that his own beliefs and dreams are the most important things determining his future. He is willing to compete with others to realize his potential. Kwan Li has most likely been socialized in a(n) __________ culture.

individualist

A researcher wants to know what conclusions she can reasonably draw from the data that she collected in her experiment. The researcher should use __________ statistics to understand what her data mean.

inferential

As you go south from Maine to Florida, your latitude decreases, but the average daily temperature goes up. This illustrates a

negative correlation.

A psychologist following the __________ approach is most likely to believe that people are driven to actions by unseen behaviors that are locked deep in their unconscious, hidden from their own awareness.

psychodynamic

When each member of a population has an equal chance of being chosen for a study, the individuals selected constitute a(n) __________ sample.

random

Psychology is best defined as the

science that studies behavior and mental processes and applies that study to improve human welfare.

A psychologist who wants to know what relaxation techniques improve athletic ability is most likely a(n) __________ psychologist.

sport

Ellen wants to see if the level of lighting in a room will affect the performance of individuals on an IQ test. She lets one group in her study have very bright lights and a second group have more normal lighting. She finds that the individuals in the bright light group have better scores on the test than do the individuals in the normal light group. The difference between the two groups' scores is statistically significant, which means

the difference between the groups is probably not due to chance.

Dr. Gillis has decided to use __________ in his research to guard against both experimenter bias and participant expectations.

the double-blind design