Question 1

An educational psychologist is interested in comparing two educational techniques in a sample of preschool children.In part because she believes that one technique might be more effective than the other,children are randomly assigned to the two techniques so that every child has the same opportunity to be assigned to the more effective technique.Randomly assigning students to groups satisfies which feature of ethical research?

Accepted Answer

A) external validity 
B) beneficence 
C) being just 
D) respecting persons

Question 2

Which statement about the role of missing evidence in decision making is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

A) People have a natural tendency to seek out informational gaps in order to arrive at the best possible decision. 
B) People usually overvalue the importance of missing evidence. 
C) People usually ignore missing evidence. 
D) People have a strong tendency to actively seek missing information if what is missing would challenge their existing beliefs.

Question 3

Five extremely tall members of the college basketball team are among 30 students in an introductory psychology class.If a frequency distribution is taken of height,the distribution probably will be:

Accepted Answer

A) normal. 
B) positively skewed. 
C) negatively skewed. 
D) bimodal.

Question 4

A researcher wants to assess the effects of varying amounts of alcohol on ratings of perception of friendliness.Three groups of people are given either one,two,or three beers to drink.Three more groups of people are given either one,two,or three nonalcoholic beers to drink.Then,all participants are shown a series of pictures of people's faces and are asked to rank the perceived friendliness of each face on a scale from 1 to 10.Each face was presented for 5 seconds.In this experiment,the dependent variable is:

Accepted Answer

A) the number of groups. 
B) whether or not the beer had alcohol in it. 
C) how long each participant was allowed to look at each face. 
D) the rating of perceived friendliness.

Question 5

An archaeologist discovers new evidence suggesting humans inhabited a particular area long before it was originally believed.Because these results are so novel,if the archaeologist is critically thinking,she should first:

Accepted Answer

A) critically evaluate the work of other archaeologists who argue the opposite. 
B) contact archaeologists who share her views and ask them to evaluate her evidence. 
C) begin writing a book on her findings. 
D) look for additional evidence that humans inhabited the area that may still be missing.

Question 6

An archaeologist discovers new evidence suggesting humans inhabited a particular area long before it was originally believed.If the archaeologist is critically thinking,she should first:

Accepted Answer

A) critically evaluate the work of other archaeologists who argue the opposite. 
B) contact her professional colleagues who share her views and spread the good news. 
C) conduct additional tests on the evidence in an attempt to falsify her results. 
D) contact the press and begin publicizing her findings.

Question 7

Williams and Ceci (2015)sought to determine if gender biases exist in academic hiring practices.They studied almost 1,000 professors in a mock hiring situation in which each professor read the files of several job applicants and then rank-ordered the applicants in terms of most-to-least qualified.What the professors did not know was that the gender of the job applicants was randomly assigned to the professors.That is,if one professor read that job applicant A was a woman,another professor read that the same job applicant A was a man.As a result,an average rating of each applicant could be compared when that applicant was presented as a male and as a female.In this study,what is the independent variable?

Accepted Answer

A) the number of professors 
B) the rank-order 
C) the gender of the applicants 
D) the number of applicants

Question 8

College administrators are presented with mixed evidence that a recent initiative to increase first-year success among its students is effective.Based on results from the psychological literature,the administrators probably will decide to:

Accepted Answer

A) discontinue the program in the absence of clear evidence of effectiveness. 
B) reduce funding for the program as a result of the ambiguous evidence. 
C) continue to fund the program fully for one additional year with the intent to discontinue the program if the data next year are inconclusive. 
D) continue to fund the program as a result of perceived encouraging evidence of effectiveness.

Question 9

_____ occurs when participants decide if they wish to be studied in the experimental or control group.

Accepted Answer

A) Self-selection 
B) Random assignment 
C) Informed consent 
D) Random sampling

Question 10

If an odd number of scores are put in order from lowest to highest,the score in the middle position is the:

Accepted Answer

A) mode. 
B) mean. 
C) median. 
D) range.

Question 11

When aspects of a setting cause participants to behave the way they think an observer wants them to behave,the problem of _____ is present.

Accepted Answer

A) demand characteristics 
B) complexity 
C) validity 
D) variability

Question 12

Researchers wanted to see if adults were actually afraid of the dark by exposing them to different levels of light in a room while measuring their heart rates.In this experiment,what are the heart rates of the participants?

Accepted Answer

A) the dependent variable 
B) the independent variable 
C) the control group 
D) the experimental group

Question 13

Angela wants to determine if male or female college students are more likely to pay with cash versus a credit card while at a restaurant.She is undecided if she should observe their actions at a restaurant or rather questions to participants about this topic using a survey.Angela is trying to decide on the best _____ to address her research question.

Accepted Answer

A) statistical technique 
B) parsimonious theory 
C) experimental hypothesis 
D) empirical method

Question 14

Which statement about critical thinking is TRUE?

Accepted Answer

A) Humans have a natural tendency to evaluate evidence critically. 
B) Courses designed to increase critical thinking usually are effective. 
C) Decisions based on empirical data necessarily involve critical thinking. 
D) Thought patterns that have been evolutionary adaptive often interfere with the ability to critically evaluate evidence.

Question 15

People who drink more alcohol tend to have lower personal incomes.This is an example of:

Accepted Answer

A) a positive correlation. 
B) a negative correlation. 
C) cause and effect. 
D) an unreliable measure.

Question 16

Given two theories that are equally consistent with observations about the world,the _____ theory is preferred,illustrating the principle of _____.

Accepted Answer

A) simpler;parsimony 
B) more complex;parsimony 
C) simpler;falsifiability 
D) more complex;falsifiability

Question 17

Suppose that a local government is considering a construction project that will cost tax payers a large amount of money.Residents have strong views on both sides of the debate.In an attempt to educate the public,the city arranges several informational sessions in which the pros and cons of the project are discussed.Which result is consistent with the psychological literature?

Accepted Answer

A) Residents' original attitudes toward the project would be strengthened by attending the informational sessions. 
B) Residents' original attitudes toward the project would be weakened slightly by attending the informational sessions. 
C) The majority of the residents would change their minds after hearing evidence on both sides of the debate. 
D) The informational sessions would have no effect whatsoever on residents' attitudes toward the project.

Question 18

Which measure lacks both reliability and validity?

Accepted Answer

A) scholastic aptitude as measured by the score on an SAT test 
B) happiness as measured by heart beats per minute 
C) intelligence as measured in terms of birth order 
D) class performance as measured by randomly picking a grade out of a hat

Question 19

Manipulation and random assignment are two key features of:

Accepted Answer

A) naturalistic observation. 
B) matched-samples correlational designs. 
C) an experiment. 
D) natural correlations.

Question 20

Carolina wants to determine if preschoolers are more or less likely to initiate play with same or opposite gender peers.She is trying to devise a plan in which the children will not know that they are being observed.Carolina seeks a(n):

Accepted Answer

A) empirical method. 
B) parsimonious theory. 
C) experimental hypothesis. 
D) research question.

Exam 2: Methods in Psychology-Part A