AP PSYCH UNIT 0 PRACTICE TESTS

To understand the unusual behavior of an adult client, a clinical psychologist carefully investigates the client's current life situation and his physical, social-cultural, and educational history. Which research method has the psychologist used?

the case study

What statement is most correct about the relationship between correlation and causation?

Correlation indicates the possibility of a causal relationship, but it does not prove causation.

To assess reactions to a proposed tuition hike at her college, Ariana sent a questionnaire to every fifteenth person in the college registrar's alphabetical listing of all currently enrolled students. Ariana employed the technique of...

random sampling.

Critical thinkers can best be described as...

questioning.

What generalizations about culture and gender is most correct?

Even when specific attitudes and behaviors vary by gender or across cultures, underlying principles are often very similar.

Examining correlational evidence to determine what further research would be needed to establish a causal relationship is an example of ________ thinking?

critical

Coach Vroman attended a clinic to improve his basketball coaching skills. Afterward, he randomly assigned his seventh-grade players to two groups: Group 1 will be coached by the new method and Group 2 will be coached by his old method. He then measured their performance at one team practice to judge the effectiveness of the new coaching method. What might affect the statistical significance of his study?

By testing only two groups, Coach Vroman's sample size may be too small and unrepresentative.

A researcher interested in investigating the attitudes or opinions of a large sample of people is most likely to use which research method?

survey

What questions most likely could be answered using an empirical approach?

What causes aggression?

What is the advantage of researchers using an empirical approach in evaluating the accuracy of eyewitness testimony?

Under controlled conditions, researchers collect evidence that may justify a cause-effect conclusion.

The range is....

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution.

The belief that weather conditions signal the onset of arthritis pain best illustrates

an illusory correlation

The explanatory power of a scientific theory is most closely linked to its capacity to generate testable...

inferences

What two questions exemplify the scientific attitude?

What do you mean? How do you know?

Correlational research is most useful for purposes of...

prediction

In a test of the effects of sleep deprivation on problem-solving skills, research participants are allowed to sleep either 4 or 8 hours on each of three consecutive nights. This research is an example of...

an experiment.

The biggest danger of relying on case-study evidence is that it....

may be unrepresentative of what is generally true.

Professor Shalet contends that parents and children have similar levels of intelligence largely because they share common genes. His idea is best described as a(n)

theory

Dr. Donelian wants to reduce his students' perception that psychological experiments merely document the obvious. His best strategy would be to ask the students to...

predict the outcomes of experiments before they are told the actual results.

Professor Ober carefully observes and records the behaviors of children in their classrooms in order to track the development of their social and intellectual skills. Professor Ober is most clearly engaged in....

naturalistic observation.

A majority of respondents in a national survey agreed that "classroom prayer should not be allowed in public schools." Only 33 percent of respondents in a similar survey agreed that "classroom prayer in public schools should be banned." These divergent findings best illustrate the importance of...

wording effect

What are considered to be limitations of psychological experiments conducted in laboratory environments?

Laboratories are artificial environments, so behavior might not apply to the real world.

Mr. and Mrs. Berry have five children aged 2, 3, 7, 9, and 9. The median age of the Berry children is

7

What type of scatterplot represents a relationship with a correlation coefficient that would be close to negative one (-1)?

During the last Central High School basketball game, the starting five players scored 11, 7, 21, 14, and 7 points, respectively. For this distribution of scores, the range is

14

In 1848, Phineas Gage, a railroad construction foreman, survived when an explosion drove an iron rod through his head damaging the functioning of the frontal lobes. This instance provided evidence that the frontal lobe plays a role in personality and behavior. Researchers have continued to study Gage's brain to better understand this link. Which research method is being used?

case study

Why is replication important to science?

Repeated research with similar results increases confidence in the reliability of the original findings.

Which of the following correlations between self-esteem and body weight would enable you to most accurately predict body weight from knowledge of level of self-esteem?

+0.60

Surveys indicate that people are much less likely to support "welfare" than "aid to the needy." These somewhat paradoxical survey results best illustrate the importance of

wording effect

Professional psychological associations require researchers to

minimize infection, illness, and pain in animal subjects.

Which of the following correlation coefficients expresses the weakest degree of relationship between two variables?

-0.12

The sequential occurrence of two highly unusual events is most likely to contribute to

an illusory correlation.

Redelmeier and Tversky (1996) followed 18 patients with arthritis for 18 months. Patients were asked to record their pain and joint tenderness, while researchers documented changes in the weather. Nearly all patients believed that their condition was associated with weather changes, when the actual correlation was near zero. These participants need to be reminded that

we are likely to recall instances that confirm our beliefs.

Which of the following are considered to be limitations of psychological experiments conducted in laboratory environments?

Laboratories are artificial environments, so behavior might not apply to the real world.

Replication involves

repeating an earlier research study.

Slender women are considered especially beautiful in one country; in another country, stout women are seen as particularly attractive. In both countries, however, women perceived as very beautiful receive preferential treatment. This best illustrates that ________ often underlie cultural differences.

common psychological processes

After noting that a majority of professional basketball players are African-American, Ervin concluded that African-Americans are better athletes than members of other racial groups. Ervin's conclusion best illustrates the danger of

generalizing from vivid cases.

In the hypothesis "Students who study a list of terms in the morning, just after waking up, will recall more terms than students who study the list just before falling asleep," what is the independent variable?

time of day

Which of the following is most likely to inhibit critical thinking?

overconfidence

Professor Woo noticed that the distribution of students' scores on her last biology test had an extremely small standard deviation. This indicates that the

students' scores tended to be very similar to one another.

Professor Ambra was skeptical about the accuracy of recently reported research on sleep deprivation. Which process would best enable her to assess the reliability of these findings?

replication

A majority of respondents in a national survey agreed that "classroom prayer should not be allowed in public schools." Only 33 percent of respondents in a similar survey agreed that "classroom prayer in public schools should be banned." These divergent findings best illustrate the importance of

wording effects

To provide a baseline against which they can evaluate the effects of a specific treatment, experimenters make use of a(n)

control condition

Which research method would be most appropriate for investigating the relationship between the religious beliefs of Americans and their attitudes toward abortion?

the survey

What distribution of scores would the median most clearly be a more appropriate measure of central tendency than the mean?

10, 22, 8, 9, 6

A research method in which an investigator manipulates factors that potentially produce a particular behavior is called a(n)

experiment

Which of the following correlations between annual income and education level would best enable you to predict annual income on the basis of level of education?

+.50

In which research method do we study one exceptional individual in depth and try to carefully draw conclusions about others based on the evidence?

case study

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools must be desegregated, meaning Black and White children must attend the same schools instead of being separated. In its decision, the Court cited the expert testimony of two psychologists, illustrating the negative impact of such separation on Black children. This example illustrates that psychology...

can help people understand some of our world's great problems.

Correlational research is most useful for purposes of

prediction

To exercise maximum control over the factors they are interested in studying, researchers engage in

experimentation.

In an experiment designed to study the effectiveness of a new drug, research participants who receive a placebo are participating in the ________ condition.

control

American males shake hands in greeting; Japanese men bow. However, people can communicate with a smile. What does this tell us about the role of culture in understanding our psychology?

Culture shapes our behavior, but certain underlying processes guide people everywhere.

Which of the following is a measure of the degree of variation among a set of events?

standard deviation

In a test of the effects of sleep deprivation on problem-solving skills, research participants are allowed to sleep either 4 or 8 hours on each of three consecutive nights. This research is an example of

an experiment

The most commonly reported measure of central tendency is the

mean

Why would the median, rather than the mean, be the appropriate measure of central tendency in determining housing values in a particular community?

The median is minimally affected by extreme scores.

Which of the following defines ethical principles that should guide human experimentation?

informed consent, protection from harm, confidentiality, debriefing

When provided with the unscrambled solution to anagrams, people underestimate the difficulty of solving the anagrams by themselves. This best illustrates

overconfidence

Evelyn wants to know how consistent her bowling scores have been during the past season. Which of the following measures would be most relevant to this specific concern?

standard deviation

What scatterplot represents the strongest negative correlation?

The IQ scores of the five members of the Duluth family are 100, 82, 104, 96, and 118. For this distribution of scores, the range is

36

The process of replication is most likely to be facilitated by

operational definitions

According to Emily's grandfather, Adolf Hitler's obvious emotional instability made it clear from the beginning days of his international conflicts that Germany would inevitably lose World War II. The grandfather's claim best illustrates

the hindsight bias

Which of the following statements is most correct about the relationship between correlation and causation?

Correlation indicates the possibility of a causal relationship, but it does not prove causation.

What do researchers call a difference between the means of experimental and control groups when they know the averages are reliable and the difference between the groups is unlikely due to random chance or extraneous variables?

statistically significant

The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution is the

range

Researchers use experiments rather than other research methods in order to distinguish between

causes and effects.

Which procedure helps to ensure that the participants in a survey are representative of a larger population?

random sampling

When you question whether anecdotal evidence can be generalized to all people, you are applying

critical thinking

If college graduates typically earn more money than high school graduates, this would indicate that level of education and income are

positively correlated.

To determine whether the strength of people's self-esteem is related to their income levels, researchers would most likely make use of

correlational research.

Researchers are interested in studying the impact of drugs on human fetuses. In this case, why would a correlational study be more appropriate than an experiment?

because participants could not be ethically assigned to an experimental or control condition

The news media reported that a new pesticide was not harmful to humans. What statement best exemplifies critical thinking in response to this report?

wonder who funded this study?"

A researcher interested in proving a causal relationship between two variables should choose which research method?

experiment

The most foolproof way of testing the true effectiveness of a newly introduced method of psychological therapy is by means of

experimental research

A soft drink company recently invested in a new advertising campaign to increase sales. What would allow executives to best judge the results of their latest commercials?

compare the means of sales before and after the beginning of the new campaign to determine statistical significance

Historians of science describe which three attitudes as the basis of the scientific viewpoint?

curiosity, skepticism, humility

What technique do researchers use to reduce the impact of confounding variables?

random assignment

Both the researchers and the participants in a memory study are ignorant about which participants have actually received a potentially memory-enhancing drug and which have received a placebo. This investigation involves the use of

double blind procedure

What is true for those assigned to a control group?

The experimental treatment is absent.

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools must be desegregated, meaning Black and White children must attend the same schools instead of being separated. In its decision, the Court cited the expert testimony of two psychologists, illustrating the negative impact of such separation on Black children. This example illustrates that psychology

can help people understand some of our world's great problems.

Knowing the difference between an experimental condition and a control condition is most relevant to understanding the nature of

independent variables.

Researchers are interested in studying the relationship between poor prenatal nutrition and early cognitive development. Because of ethical concerns, which research method would be most appropriate for researchers to use?

correlational

A researcher who deceives participants about the goals of the research needs to fully inform them of the true nature of the study later, according to which ethical principle of human experimentation?

debriefing

If psychologists discovered that wealthy people are less satisfied with their marriages than poor people are, this would indicate that wealth and marital satisfaction are

negatively correlated.

The hindsight bias refers to people's tendency to

exaggerate their ability to have foreseen the outcome of past events.

Sasha believes that she is a very good driver. Her belief leads her to take unnecessary risks, such as driving too fast and cutting in front of other drivers. Sasha's driving appears to be affected by

overconfidence

When we see certain outcomes as obvious based on what has occurred, we may be experiencing

hindsight bias.

In 1953, H.M. underwent surgery to control his seizures. Doctors removed tissue from the hippocampus. As a result H.M.'s memory was severely impaired. Psychologists studied H.M.'s memory function until his death in 2008. Which research method did the psychologists utilize in this situation?

case study

The distributions of which of the following types of data are most likely to form a normal curve?

height

Dr. Donelian wants to reduce his students' perception that psychological experiments merely document the obvious. His best strategy would be to ask the students to

predict the outcomes of experiments before they are told the actual results.

Megan was certain that she would never live far away from her family. However, in order to further her career, she decided to move. Megan's experience best illustrates

overconfidence

To examine assumptions, discern hidden values, evaluate evidence, and assess conclusions is to engage in

critical thinking.

Six different high school students spent $10, $13, $2, $12, $13, and $4, respectively, on entertainment. The mode of this group's entertainment expenditures is

$13

What do scientists call an explanation that organizes observations and predicts future behaviors or events?

theory

Following the scientific discovery that a specific brain structure is significantly larger in violent individuals than in those who are nonviolent, a news headline announced: "Enlarged Brain Structure Triggers Violent Acts." The headline writer should most clearly be warned about the dangers of

confusing correlation with causation.

During the past month, Henri and Sylvia each ate 10 candy bars, while Jerry ate 8, Tricia ate 6, and Tahli ate only 1. The mean number of candy bars eaten by these individuals was

7

A specification of how a researcher measures a research variable is known as a(n)

operational definition