EXAM PREP MISSED/QUESTIONED

Q: What does Pearson’s r measure?

A: The strength (absolute value) and direction (sign) of a correlation, ranging from -1 to +1.

Q: What does correlation NOT imply?

A: Causation — a correlation can be due to a third variable (spurious correlation).

Q: Give an example of spurious correlation.

A: Ice cream sales and drowning deaths are correlated, but the third variable is hot weather.

Q: What makes a measure “unobtrusive”?

A: It uses evidence from behavior (like dents on lockers) instead of observing or asking directly, reducing reactivity.

Q: How is observer bias different from demand characteristics?

A: Observer bias = researcher records what they expect.
Demand characteristics = participants change behavior to match what they think the researcher wants.

Q: What is reactivity?

A: When participants change their behavior simply because they know they are being observed.

Q: Define adaptation.

A: A trait shaped by natural selection because it solved an ancestral survival or reproduction problem.

Q: Define by-product.

A: A characteristic that comes along with an adaptation but has no function itself (ex: belly button).

Q: Define noise.

A: Random effects from chance mutations or developmental quirks, not adaptive.

Q: Define evolutionary mismatch.

A: Traits once adaptive in ancestral environments but maladaptive in modern settings (ex: craving sugar).

Q: Define dispositional inference.

A: Judging behavior as caused by personality or traits.

Q: Define fundamental attribution error.

A: Overestimating personality’s role while underestimating situational influences.

Q: Define self-serving bias.

A: Taking credit for success (internal) and blaming failures on external factors.

Q: Define hedonic adaptation.

A: The tendency for emotions to return to a baseline level after positive or negative events.

Q: Define impact bias.

A: Overestimating how strongly or how long an event will affect future emotions.

Q: Define empathy gap.

A: Underestimating the influence of future emotional states on behavior (ex: thinking you’ll resist cake later).

Q: Endogenous vs exogenous emotions?

A: Endogenous = relevant to the decision.
Exogenous = irrelevant to the decision but still influences it (ex: sunny mood → spending more).

Q: Define peak-end rule.

A: Memories of events are shaped by the emotional peak and the ending, not the average.

Q: Define statistical numbing.

A: We feel more moved by the story of one individual than by statistics about many people.