AP Psych - Research Method (practice questions)

The hindsight bias refers to people's tendency to:

A. Dismiss the value of replication

B. Reject any ideas that cannot be scientifically tested

C. Exaggerate their ability to have foreseen the outcome of past events

D. Assume that correlation proves causation

E. Overestimate the extent to which others share their opinions

C. Exaggerate their ability to have foreseen the outcome of past events

The hindsight bias leads people to perceive research findings as:

A. Invalid

B. Unpredictable

C. Inexplicable

D. Unreplicable

E. Unsurprising

E. Unsurprising

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

A. Illusory correlation

B. Control groups

C. The placebo effect

D. Wording effects

E. Hindsight bias

E. Hindsight bias

A hypothesis is a(n):

A. Observable relationship between specific independent and dependent variables

B. Testable prediction that gives direction to research

C. Set of principles that organizes observations and explains newly discovered facts.

D. Unprovable assumption about the unobservable processes that underlie psychological functioning

E. Statement of procedures used to define research variables

B. Testable prediction that gives direction to research

Professor Delano suggests that because people are especially attracted to those who are good-looking, handsome men will be more successful than average-looking men in getting a job. The professor's prediction regarding employment success is an example of:

A. The hindsight bias

B. The placebo effect

C. A hypothesis

D. Standard deviation

E. An operational definition

C. A hypothesis

Dr. Roberts hypothesized that students in a classroom seating 30 would get higher course grades than students seated in an auditorium seating 300. In this example:

A. Dr. Roberts has found a cause-effect relationship.

B. Dr. Roberts has found a positive correlation between classroom size and course grades.

C. The dependent variable is the professor.

D. The independent variable is the size of the class.

E. Dr. Roberts has demonstrated the importance of random sampling.

D. The independent variable is the size of the class

Why is replication an important part of the scientific method?

A. It allows you to obtain a representative sample of cases to study.

B. The natural setting eliminates the artificial environment of a lab.

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

D. Researchers can test the impact of belief on behavior.

E. Minimizing preexisting differences between groups increases confidence in the findings.

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

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?

A. The survey

B. The case study

C. Experimentation

D. Naturalistic observation

E. Correlation

B. The case study

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?

A. Naturalistic observation

B. Correlation

C. Survey

D. Experimentation

E. Case study

E. Case study

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

A. Survey

B. Correlation

C. Experiment

D. Case study

E. Naturalistic observation

A. Survey

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:

A. Random sampling

B. Wording effects

C. The placebo effect

D. Naturalistic observation

E. Hindsight bias

B. Wording effects

In order to learn about the political attitudes of all students enrolled at Arizona State University, Professor Marlow randomly selected 800 of these students to complete a questionnaire. In this instance, all the students enrolled at Arizona State University are considered to be a(n):

A. Independent variable

B. Representative sample

C. Control

D. Dependent variable

E. Population

E. Population

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

A.Random assignment

B. Replication

C. Correlation

D. Naturalistic observation

E. Random sampling

E. Random sampling

To learn about the TV viewing habits of all the children attending Oakbridge School, Professor DeVries randomly selected and interviewed 50 of the school's students. In this instance, the children participating in the survey are considered to be a(n):

A. Population

B. Representative sample

C. Independent variable

D. Control condition

E. Dependent variable

B. Representative sample

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:

A. Random assignment

B. Naturalistic observation

C. Replication

D. Correlation

E. Random sampling

E. Random sampling

Psychologists who carefully watch the behavior of chimpanzee societies in the jungle from a distance are using a research method known as:

A. The survey

B. Experimentation

C. Naturalistic observation

D. The case study

E. Random sampling

C. Naturalistic observation

A correlation coefficient is a measure of the:

A. Difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

B. Average squared deviation of scores from a sample mean

C. Direction and strength of the relationship between two variables

D. Statistical significance of a difference between two sample means

E. Frequency of scores at each level of some measure

C. Direction and strength of the relationship between two variables

Which of the following is used to graphically represent the correlation between two variables?

A. Skewed distribution

B. Scatterplot

C. Standard deviation

D. Bar graph

E. Pie chart

B. Scatterplot

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:

A. Casually related

B. Negatively correlated

C. Independent variables

D. Dependent variables

E. Positively correlated

B. Negatively correlated

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

A. Casually related

B. Positively correlated

C. Independent variables

D. Dependent variables

E. Negatively correlated

B. 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:

A. Case studies

B. Correlational research

C. Experimentation

D. Naturalistic

E. Double-blind

B. Correlational research

Based on the information provided in the chart above, which of the following best represents the relationship between study hours and test grades.

A. There is a negative correlation

B. There is a positive correlation

C. There is no correlation

D. There is hindsight bias

E. The distribution is skewed

B. There is a positive correlation

An extensive survey revealed that children with relatively high self-esteem tend to picture God as kind and loving, whereas those with lower self-esteem tend to perceive God as angry. The researchers concluded that the children's self-esteem had apparently influenced their views of God. This conclusion best illustrates the danger of:

A. Perceiving order in random events

B. Generalizing from extreme examples

C. Randomly sampling children's views

D. Exaggerating the extent to which others share our beliefs

E. Assuming that correlation proves causation

E. Assuming that correlation proves causation

If psychologists discovered that more intelligent parents have smarter children than less intelligent parents, this would demonstrate that:

A. Intelligence is inherited

B. More intelligent parents provide their children with greater educational opportunities than do less intelligent parents

C. The intelligence of parents and children is positively correlated

D. Experiments based on this relationship would indicate causation

E. Intelligence of children and parents are negatively correlated

C. The intelligence of parents and children is positively correlated

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

A. Correlation

B. Survey

C. Naturalistic observation

D. Experiment

E. Case study

D. Experiment

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:

A. Naturalistic observation

B. Survey research

C. A case study

D. An experiment

E. A correlational study

D. An experiment

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

A. Survey

B. Experiment

C. Case study

D. Naturalistic observation

E. Correlational method

B. Experiment

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

A. Case studies

B. Correlational research

C. Experimentation

D. Replication

E. Surveys

C. Experimentation

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

A. Facts and theories

B. Causes and effects

C. Case studies and surveys

D. Random samples and representative samples

E. Hypotheses and operational definitions

B. Causes and effects

To accurately infer cause and effect and safeguard against bias, experimenters should use:

A. Random assignment

B. Naturalistic observation

C. Standard deviations

D. Correlation coefficients

E. Scatterplots

A. Random assignment

To assess the effect of televised violence on aggression, researchers plan to expose one group of children to violent movie scenes and another group to nonviolent scenes. To reduce the chance that the children in one group have more aggressive personalities than those in the other group, the researchers should make use of:

A. Random assignment

B. Random sample

C. Naturalistic observation

D. Operational definitions

E. Replication

A. Random assignment

To study the effects of noise on worker productivity, researchers have one group of subjects work in a noisy room and a second group work in a quiet room. To ensure that any differences in the productivity of the two groups actually result from the different noise levels to which the groups are exposed, the researchers would use:

A. The case study

B. Correlational measurement

C. Naturalistic observation

D. Replication

E. Random assignment

E. 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:

A. Naturalistic observation

B. The hindsight bias

C. Random sampling

D. The double-blind procedure

E. Replication

D. The double-blind procedure

Abdul has volunteered to participate in an experiment evaluating the effectiveness of aspirin. Neither he nor the experimenters know whether the pills he takes during the experiment contain aspirin or are merely placebos. The investigators are apparently making use of:

A. Naturalistic observation

B. Illusory correlation

C. The double-blind procedure

D. Random sampling

E. The overconfidence effect

C. The double-blind procedure

In a study of the effects of alcohol consumption, some participants drank a nonalcoholic beverage that actually smelled and tasted like alcohol. This nonalcoholic drink was a:

A. Dependent variable

B. Replication

C. Placebo

D. Random sample

E. Double blind

C. Placebo

In a drug treatment study, participants given a pill containing no actual drug are receiving a(n):

A. Random sample

B. Experimental treatment

C. Double-blind

D. Replication

E. Placebo

E. Placebo

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

A. Dependent variable

B. Correlational

C. Experimental

D. Replication

E. Control group

E. Control group

Random sampling is to _____ as random assignment is to _____.

A. Correlational studies; case studies

B. Surveys; experiments

C. Illusory correlation; control group

D. Replication; correlation

E. Description; prediction

B. Surveys; experiments

In the hypothesis "Students who study a list of term 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?

A. List of terms

B. Memorization

C. Time of day

D. Number of terms remembered

E. Students

C. Time of day

Which of these techniques do researchers use in experiments to reduce the impact of confounding variables?

A. Hindsight bias

B. Naturalistic observation

C. Scatterplots

D. Random assignment

E. Measures of central tendency

D. Random assignment

Mr. and Mrs. Klostreich have three children aged 2, 6, and 7. The mean age of the Klostreich children is:

A. 15

B. 6

C. 5

D. 7

E. 8

C. 5

Over the summer, Ivan and Melanie each read 2 books, George read 3, Ali read 4, and Marsha read 5. The median number of books read by these individuals was:

A. 2

B. 4

C. 16

D. 8

E. 3

E. 3

Six different high school students spent $2, $3, $2, $2, $1, and $6, respectively, at lunch in the cafeteria. The mode of this group's expenditures is:

A. $8

B. $6

C. $1

D. $3

E. $2

E. $2

In a distribution of test scores, which measure of central tendency would likely be the most affected by a couple of extremely high scores?

A. Median

B. Range

C. Mode

D. Standard deviation

E. Mean

E. Mean

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

A. The median is useful for measuring how much values deviate from one another

B. The median is minimally affected by extreme scores

C. The median is best used to sort values into groups

D. The median allows you to examine the gap between the lowest and highest value

E. The median allows you to generalize from representative samples to the general population

B. The median is minimally affected by extreme scores

The IQ scores of the five members of the Duluth family are 102, 106, 100, 100, and 118. For this distribution of scores, the range is:

A. 6

B. 14

C. 18

D. 104

E. 106

C. 18

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

A. Test was given to a very small class of students

B. Students' scores tended to be very similar to one another

C. Mean test score was lower than the median score

D. Students generally performed very well on the test

E. Test was a poor measure of the students' knowledge

B. Students' scores tended to be very similar to one another

If scores on the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) are normally distributed in a bell curve with a mean of 100, what percentage of scores will fall between 85 and 115?

A. 34

B. 47

C. 68

D. 80

E. 95

C. 68

Why are researchers so careful about drawing conclusions regarding statistical significance?

A. Statistical significance determines which research method should be used for a hypothesis.

B. They want to make sure an observed difference isn't due to chance

C. Statistical significance is primarily a subjective decision, so researchers need to be more careful

D. They need to make sure the results are important

E. Statistical significance is used in case studies, not experiments, so researchers do not have a control group to rely on

B. They want to make sure an observed difference isn't due to chance

The American Psychological Association and British Psychological Society have developed ethical principles urging investigators to:

A. Avoid the use of monetary incentives in recruiting people to participate in research

B. Forewarn potential research participants of the exact hypotheses that the research will test

C. Avoid the manipulation of independent variables in research involving human participants

D. Explain the research to the participants after the study has been completed

E. Increase the difficulty level of research endeavors while maintaining validity

D. Explain the research to the participants after the study has been completed

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?

A. Informed consent

B. Protection from harm

C. Confidentiality

D. Debriefing

E. Coercion

D. Debriefing

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

A. Control group, random sampling, random assignment

B. Case study, naturalistic observation, survey

C. Informed consent, protection from harm, confidentiality, debriefing

D. Volunteer participants only, no deception, incentives for participation, coercion

E. Effect size, statistical significance, measures of central tendency, variation

C. Informed consent, protection from harm, confidentiality, debriefing

A researcher who gathers and analyzes data from student essay test responses without talking with the students about the study violates which ethical principle of human experimentation?

A. Informed consent

B. Protection from harm

C. Confidentiality

D. Debriefing

E. Coercion

A. Informed consent

What is the primary limitation of the case study research method?

A. It is not an empirical method

B. The case study is not part of the scientific method

C. Random sampling must be used to ensure representative findings

D. Individual cases can be misleading and result in false generalizations

E. Correlational findings from case studies cannot be interpreted as casual

D. Individual cases can be misleading and result in false generalizations

An experiment was designed to study the potential impact of alcohol consumption on emotional stability. A specification of the procedures used to measure emotional stability illustrates:

A. The independent variable

B. An operational definition

C. The double-blind procedure

D. Random assignment

E. The dependent variable

B. An operational definition

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?

A. Naturalistic observation

B. Replication

C. Random sampling

D. The case study

E. Standard deviation

B. Replication

Which of the following questions most likely could be answered using data from an empirical scientific method approach?

A. Is human nature basically good or evil?

B. What causes aggression?

C. What happens after we die?

D. How will style choices change in the future?

E. What is the basis of faith?

B. What causes aggression?

A researcher wants to conduct an experiment to determine if eating a cookie before class each day improves students' grades. He uses two psychology classes for the experiment, providing daily cookies to one and nothing to the other. At the end of the semester, the researcher compares the final grades of students in the two classes. What is the independent variable for this experiment?

A. The students in the class that received cookies.

B. The presence or absence of cookies

C. The students in the class that didn't receive cookies

D. The period of the day that the two classes met

E. Semester grades

B. The presence or absence of cookies

Psychologists are conducting research to determine if watching violence on television leads to aggressive behavior. An experiment is conducted using inmates convicted of violent crime. The participants are randomly assigned to two groups - one watches violent TV programs and the other does not and their behavior is monitored. Watching violent TV programs would be which of the following?

A. Placebo

B. Independent variable

C. Dependent variable

D. Confounding variable

E. Hypothesis

B. Independent variable

Why is random assignment of participants to groups an important aspect of a properly designed experiment?

A. If the participants are randomly assigned, the researcher can assume that the people in control group and in the experimental group are pretty similar.

B. By randomly assigning, the researcher knows that whatever is learned from the survey will also be true for the population from which the participants were selected.

C. Random assignment keeps expectations of researcher and participants from influencing the results of the experiment

D. If participants are not randomly assigned, it is impossible to replicate the experiment.

E. Statistical analysis cannot be performed on an experiment if random assignment is not used

A. If the participants are randomly assigned, the researcher can assume that the people in control group and in the experimental group are pretty similar.