UNIT 1, Part 1 BYU AP Psychology

When interviewing a sampling of people about attitudes toward global terrorism, which of the following would I want to do if I wanted my sampling to be random?
I would ensure that my sampling of subjects included

the same probability that each person in the population could be chosen

In order to determine the effects of a new drug on memory, one group of subjects is given a pill that contains the drug. A second group is given a sugar pill that does not contain the drug. This second group constitutes the

control group

When a difference between two groups is “statistically significant,” this means that

the difference is not likely to be due to chance variation

One major factor that separates the experimental method from correlational studies is that the experimental method

seeks to discover cause-effect relationships

In any experiment, the cause is called the _______________, while the effect or result is called the _______________.

independent variable; dependent variable

The procedure designed to ensure that the experimental and control groups do not differ in any way that might affect the experiment’s results is called

random assignment

What is wrong with Martina’s research strategy: She has five friends each drink three 8-ounce cups of coffee and then measures their reaction time on a learning task?

There is no control condition

In a test of the effects of air pollution, groups of students performed a reaction-time task in a polluted or an unpolluted room. To what conditions were students in the unpolluted room exposed?

controlled

When considering a normal distribution of scores, what percentage of scores is equal to or below the mean?

50 percent

What is the median of the following distribution of scores: 10, 7, 5, 11, 8, 6, 9?

8

What is the mean of the following distribution of scores: 2, 3, 7, 6, 1, 4, 9, 5, 8, 2?

4.7

What is the mode of the following distribution of scores: 2, 2, 4, 4, 4, 14?

4

A lopsided set of scores that includes a number of extreme or unusual values is said to be

skewed

When the mean of a distribution of scores or measures is higher than the median, the distribution will be

positively skewed

Which of the following is the measure of central tendency that would be most affected by a few extreme scores?

mean

If a student scored higher than 75 percent of the other students taking the same test scored, you know that he or she

obtained a percentile rank of seventy-five on the test he or she took

The punter on a football team wants to determine how consistent his punting distances have been during the past season. He should compute the

standard deviation

When you see a graphed cluster of dots depicting the values and relationship of two different variables, you are seeing a visual description of relatedness called a

scatter-plot or scatter-gram

The philosophical views of John Locke are most closely associated with ________, while the views of René Descartes are associated with __________.

nurture; nature

The seventeenth-century philosopher who believed that the mind is blank at birth and that most knowledge comes through sensory experience is

Locke

Which seventeenth-century philosopher believed that some ideas are innate?

Descartes

Which argue for nature/heredity/genes

Plato and Descartes

Which argue for nurture/learning/environment

Aristotle and Locke

When a study finds that children who were hugged more from birth to kindergarten do better in academics and social adjustment when going to school, the position of __________ is being supported most.

Nurture

The first psychology laboratory was established by _______________ in the year ___________________.

Wundt; 1879

The first woman to receive a PhD in psychology was __________.

Margaret Floy Washburn

The first woman president of the American Psychological Association was __________.

Mary Whiton Calkins

Analyzing different strategies and approaches used in studying learning, memorizing, therapy, perception, loving, or any human process is exciting and intriguing. This “thinking about our thinking” is called

metacognition

Match the terms with the psychological approach

eclectic → a. a combination of portions of two or more approaches
behavioristic → b. Watson, Pavlov, Little Albert, classical conditioning, Skinner, operant conditioning
psychoanalytic → c. Freud; subconscious; determinism; anxiety; defense mechanisms; neo-Freudians: Erikson, Horney, Adler, Jung
cognitive → d. Ellis, Glasser, belief, conscious choice
humanistic → e. Maslow, Rogers, individual choice, free will, self actualization, genuineness, unconditional positive regard

Match the terms with the approach:

behavioristic → c. objective, based purely on observable actions
cognitive → a. thought, interpretations, rethinking
psychoanalytic → b. subconscious motivation, conflict
humanistic → d. positive, hierarchy of needs

Well-done surveys measure attitudes in a representative subset, or __________, of an entire group, or a(n) __________.

random sample; population

Which of the following research strategies would be best for determining whether alcohol impairs memory?

experiment

Which type of research strategy would allow you to determine whether students’ college grades accurately predict later income?

correlation

A double-blind procedure would be critical for which of the following?

assessing the treatment designed to reduce schizophrenic symptoms

A friend majoring in anthropology is critical of psychological research because it often ignores the influence of culture. You should point out that

even when specific thoughts and actions vary across cultures, the underlying processes are much the same

Match the professional role with the psychologist’s focus:

basic research → research studies and findings
clinical practice → most therapists
applied research → companies hiring a psychologist to help with morale or productivity

In an experiment to determine the effects of exercise on motivation, exercise is the

independent variable

In an experiment to determine the effects of attention on memory, memory is the

dependent variable

Recently, in the U.S. and Britain, women are receiving ________ college degrees than men

more

Which of the following perspectives describes the process of natural selection, which preserves traits that enhance an organism’s ability to adapt?

evolutionary perspective