Psychology Exam 1 - Practice Exam and NOBA Questions
To demonstrate the vast changes that have taken place in the world around us over the last century, consider that average human life expectancy in 1900 was ______ Blank years, and that number has jumped to 79 years in 2010.
47
These days, researchers find that about ______ Blank percent of homes across the world have a television, demonstrating the ease with which information can be transmitted to populations.
80
10. We can use _____________ in order to help eliminate confounds between conditions a. random assignment a. generalization c. representative sampling d. self selection
A
16. David Harper, the marketing manager of a large cosmetic company, observes that when the company decreases the price of its premium deodorant brand, there is an increase in the level of sales of the brand. If the company increases the price of its premium brand, there is a decrease in the level of sales of the brand. In the context of experimental research studies, the changes in price represent the: A. independent variable. B. dependent variable. C. placebo. D. confederate.
A
17. Dr. Kingston, a psychologist, is examining how a student's reading speed is differently affected by two variables: being tutored by a teacher's assistant or being tutored by a computer-based reading program. In this experiment, which of the following is the dependent variable? A. The student's reading speed B. The teacher's assistant C. The computer-based reading program D. The grade that the student belongs to
A
4. Which of the following scenarios best illustrates the method of introspection? A. A researcher documents his subject's description of an experience. B. A scientist asks her subject to remember and recall a list of words. C. A scientist observes rats in a maze to see how fast they learn to find their way out. D. A researcher attributes a species' characteristics to natural selection.
A
6. If you hear the results of a study and you are not at all surprised by the information you should ask yourself if you are showing ___________. a. hindsight bias. b. the double-blind procedure. c. the availability heuristic d. replication.
A
Shalva suggests that most people outside of industralized societies do not have telephones in their home. Loni disagrees, and would most accurately respond in which of the following ways?
Actually, about three-quarters of the world's population now has access to a mobile phone!
12. Dr. Kate proposes that students find it difficult to return to their academic schedules after spring break. Specifically, she predicts that every year there will be more student absences on the Monday following spring break than on the Friday before spring break. Her testable prediction is also known as her __________. A. research method B. hypothesis C. operational definition D. theory
B
20. How do you identify the dependent variable of a study? a. Figure out what researchers manipulated b. Figure out what researchers measured c. Figure out who is in the sample d. Figure out how many conditions in are in the study
B
3. The historical perspective known as _____ concentrates on discovering the basic elements of mental processes in psychology. A. functionalism B. structuralism C. humanism D. behaviorism
B
5. In the field of psychology, individuals who advocate _____ are most likely to consider the mind as flexible and fluid, characterized by constant change in response to a continuous flow of information from the world. They care about the purpose of the mind/brain. A. structuralism B. functionalism C. the humanistic approach D. the behavioral approach
B
7. ____________ is important to obtain before starting a research study to ensure people know they are involved in the study, what will happen in the study, and understand they can choose to stop participating at any time. a. Confidential security b. Informed consent c. Privacy notice d. Forced agreement
B
14. Which of the following correlation coefficients is indicative of the strongest relationship between two variables? A. +0.65 B. 0.00 C. -0.87 D. -0.24
C
15. Professor Jacobs believes that sleep deprivation is related to conflicts between roommates. He collects data on the number of hours of sleep and the number of conflicts for a group of college students over the course of a month. He obtains a correlation coefficient of -0.75. In the context of correlational research, which of the following is the most likely conclusion from the results of his study? A. Seventy-five percent of the conflicts investigated are not related to sleep deprivation. B. Sleep deprivation causes fewer conflicts. C. Sleeping too little is associated with more conflicts. D. Sleep and conflict are not related.
C
18. What makes a study experimental instead of non-experimental? a. measured an independent variable b. Joanne measured a dependent variable c. manipulation of an independent variable d. Joanne manipulated a dependent variable
C
19. What type of design has different groups of participants in different conditions? a. Within Subjects design b. Among Subjects design c. Between Subjects design d. Compound Subjects design
C
2. Psychology is formally defined as: A. the study of the human mind. B. the subjective study of human behavior. C. the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. D. the exclusive study of abnormal behavior.
C
1. Which of the following is NOT a goal of psychological science? A. To describe B. To explain C. To predict D. To speculate
D
11. ______________ are part of descriptive research. a. surveys b. case studies/interviews c. observation d. all of the above
D
13. In the context of psychology's scientific method, the objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study is referred to as the: A. hypothesis. B. theory. C. logical conclusion. D. operational definition.
D
9. Well-constructed ___________ let us talk about causality. a. Correlational studies b. Descriptive studies c. Non-experimental studies d. Experimental studies
D
According to the code of ethics that governs research in psychology, which of the following statements regarding the use of deception is the most accurate?
Deception may be used when necessary, but must be followed by a debriefing after the research participation is complete.
Which of the following is an example of an empirical question that could be tested using systematic observation?
Do teenagers spend more time on their cell phones in a shopping mall than do adults?
8. Correlational results do not imply ___________ in part because of _____________ . a. causality; significance b. causality; relationship problems c. significance; the third variable problem d. relationships; heuristics e. causality; the third variable problem
E
______ are professional guidelines that offer researchers a path for making decisions that protect their participants from potential harm
Ethics
Which notable individual, who was a cousin of evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin, is credited with inventing the self-report questionnaire that allowed people to offer their own judgments or opinions on various matters?
Francis Galton
Which of the following is an example of an empirical question that could be tested using systematic observation?
How does race impact voting trends in a political election?
Which of the following titles of an academic paper best reflects the notion that science is democratic?
Look at the Data and Form Your Own Opinion.
How does a researcher know which methods she should use to test her hypotheses in psychological research?
The best method depends on the question being asked as well as the resources that are available to the researcher.
In what way have scientists Fritz Haber and Norman Borlaug helped to save more than a billion human lives on our planet?
They developed hybrid agricultural crops and synthetic fertilizer that allowed us to produce adequate food for the planet.
What kind of research would be most useful in investigating whether saving for retirement improves with age?
a correlational design
Dr. Zarski wants his department to put together a proposal for a program of research that will earn excellent grant funding from a variety of sources, including the federal government. He knows that the research he is conducting will take many years and cost upwards of several million dollars. Which type of research is Dr. Zarski probably proposing?
a longitudinal study
Which of the following would serve as an appropriate operational definition of depression in a research study about mood disorders?
a participant's total score on a statistically valid depression inventory
Dr. Crondall is studying who's happier - married or non-married couples. He uses people's current marital status as an independent variable because he can't randomly assign people to a married or single group. What kind of research strategy doesn't employ random assignment?
a quasi-experiment
Based on what you know about dental hygiene and health which of the following would be the best description of the correlation between variable A (the number of times a day one brushes their teeth) and variable B (the number of cavities one has when they go to the dentist)
a strong negative correlation
An article headline claimed that "Drugs Cause Homelessness" due to a positive relationship found between homeless populations and drug use. Educated psychologists thought this might be flawed, because they thought unemployment was influencing both drug use and homelessness. This is an example of:
a third variable problem
What distinguishes an experiment from a quasi-experimental research design?
an experiment involves random assignment and a quasi-experiment does not
Psychologists often explore questions related to abstract concepts (e.g., satisfaction, happiness, spirituality) when conducting research but those concepts may be hard to quantify. What must be clearly stated at the beginning of the research of such a concept?
an operational definition of the concept
Professor Brown is a psychologist who conducts intelligence research using students from his own courses as his participants. One day he comes into class and posts the results of intelligence tests on the board with each student's name. Professor Brown has forgotten to attend to which ethical obligation in research?
confidentiality
Maritza is in a study testing if almond milk slows the development of brittle bones. She's in the study for 3 months but doesn't know that her milk allergy is causing her body to block nutrients, so it doesn't help her. Maritza's allergy is an example of a(n):
confound
Which kind of research allows us to passively observe exactly two variables to determine a relationship between them without drawing cause-and-effect conclusions?
correlational research
Dr. Morabian is conducting research that was inspired by studies published 10 years before he got his doctorate. He reads those studies, thinks about how they can be improved, and designs research that will extend their findings. Dr. Morabian's work demonstrates that science is:
cumulative
If a psychology study employs deception as part of its methods, the participants must be informed of that deception before their contribution is completed. This opportunity to educate research participants about the true nature of study is called ______ Blank .
debriefing
Annie conducts a correlational research study and calculates that the variables in question have a correlational coefficient of -.81. In this statistic, the negative sign gives us information about the ______ Blank of the relationship between the two variables.
direction
methods in psychological research are approaches to data-gathering that are tied to actual measurement and observation.
empirical
In order to make sure that research is conducted in a way that protects the welfare and dignity of its participants, psychology has developed a code of . that governens all such exploration
ethics
Dr. Magill is conducting research on whether giving monkeys ice cold water in the morning will cause them to be less aggressive during the day. He has several graduate students observing the monkeys and he regularly comments to the students that ice water is "definitely making a difference." As a result, the graduate students are less likely to rate minor aggressive incidents as true aggression. The research in this example has been compromised by ______ Blank .
experimenter expectations
Dr. Miller-Lewis is conducting research aimed at understanding how elderly people can best thrive when residing in an assisted-living facility. She has several logical ideas that can be tested in her research. These ideas, which might be thought of as educated guesses, are called ______ Blank .
hypotheses
In an experiment, the condition that is being manipulated or changed by the researcher is called the______ Blank variable.
independent
Oladipo volunteers to be a participant in a research study. When he arrives at the laboratory, he is given a handout that describes the basic purposes of the research and explains that they are not obligated to participate in the study. This handout is related to the ethical consideration of ______ Blank .
informed consent
Markus is in a study examining the impact of vitamin C on vision. Some participants take 100mg. of vitamin C every day while others take placebo. Markus doesn't know which group he's in, but he is given eye exams measuring his vision each month. What is the dependent variable?
participant's vision, in this case, Markus'
Barbara is complaining that she has terrible abdominal pains. Several physicians have found nothing wrong with her. One physician gives Barbara a prescription for tablets with no real medication in them. "I think that this new medication will be very helpful for your abdominal infection," the physician tells Barbara. Within 24 hours of taking the fake medication Barbara reports that her abdominal pains have disappeared. This is called a
placebo effect
Which ethical guideline would a scientist be breaking if they talked to police to find out personal information about individuals without those individuals' consent?
privacy
To demonstrate the enormous contributions that science has made to social and technological changes over the past century, your text author cites the work of Dr. Edward Jenner. Sometimes called the "father of immunology," Jenner's work directly led to the development of a vaccine that led to the eradication of ______ Blank .
smallpox
Mary is gathering data for her dissertation research, and has decided to use the internet to reach a large number of potential participants with a minimum of cost. She creates a list of questions and puts it on a website, and then sends the link out to many people in the hopes that they will go to her site. This inexpensive and rather efficient research design is called a(n)______ Blank .
survey
Sometimes considered the core of science, ______ Blank refers to the careful monitoring (or watching) of the natural world with the aim of better understanding it.
systematic observation
When we develop ______ Blank (groups of closely related phenomena or observations) in science, we must do so in a way that can be tested. Otherwise there is no way to prove (or disprove) them.
theories
Which of the following represents the biggest problem associated with the use of a correlational design in psychology research?
these designs do not allow one to determine causality
What is participant demand?
when a research participant behaves in a way that she/he thinks the experiment wants them to behave
