Exam 2: Exstintion: How Psychologists Do Research

A hypothesis is an organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena and their interrelationships.

The editors of Scientific American are able to obtain a representative sample of their readers in order to assess their attitudes toward preservation of the rain forests in Costa Rica.When interpreting the results of their survey the editors will be able to:

When a correlation coefficient indicates a strong relationship between two variables,one variable is causing the other.

Descriptive statistics are statistical procedures that organize and summarize research data.

A study in which subjects of different ages are compared at a given time is called a cross-sectional study.

Psychologists measure test-retest reliability by giving the same test twice to the same group of people.

Which of the following statements is true?

The higher a male monkey's level of the hormone testosterone,the less docile he is likely to be.This means that:

Field research is descriptive or experimental research that is conducted in a natural setting outside the laboratory.

A sample's representativeness is less critical than its size.

When statistical findings have important implications for the decisions people make,it is important to try to examine the data dispassionately.

Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE about case studies?

Ideally,everything in the experimental situation EXCEPT the _______________ is held constant.

_______________ usually generate information about people indirectly; in contrast,_______________ gather information by asking people directly about their experiences.

Professor Turner wants to know if physiological changes occur when people watch violent movies.The most appropriate method to study this would be:

According to the principle of falsifiability,a scientific theory must make predictions that are specific enough to expose the theory to the possibility of disconfirmation.

The higher a male monkey's level of the hormone testosterone,the more aggressive he is likely to be.This means that:

Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." How would you frame this question in clear and concrete terms? Specify an operational definition for the major terms.

An advantage of the laboratory observation is that it allows the use of sophisticated equipment.

When Becky takes a personality test she is told that the test has been judged to have content validity,that is: