Practice Exam 1: Chapters 1 & 2

1. In the 1920s, there were many fundamental disputes between competing schools of thought in psychology. These disputes illustrate which of the textbook’s unifying themes?a. Psychology is empirical.b. Psychology evolves in a socio-historical context.c. Psychology is theoretically diverse.d. Our experience of the world is highly subjective.

2. Psychologists refer to the use of cognitive skills and strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome asa. skepticism.b. scientific thinking.c. critical thinking.d. empiricism.

3. Which of the following is NOT good advice for developing sound study habits?a. Find a place to study where you can concentrateb. Set up a schedule for studyingc. Avoid taking study breaks while studyingd. Reward yourself for studying

4. Widely shared customs, beliefs, values, and norms refer to which of the following?a. ideographic natureb. culturec. ontogenyd. phylogeny

5. A scientist uses ____ to explain a set of observations.a. a theoryb. common sensec. introspectiond. empiricism

6. Researchers in psychology have “to see it to believe it.” This orientation is MOST consistent witha. empiricism.b. structuralism.c. functionalism.d. humanism.

7. Dr. Lopez is a psychologist who evaluates, diagnoses, and treats people with everyday problems of moderate severity. What type of psychologist is Dr. Lopez?a. An educational psychologistb. A counseling psychologistc. A school psychologist

d. An industrial psychologist8. Which of the following questions would a social psychologist be MOST likely to ask?

a. How stable is personality over the lifespan?b. Why do we like some people and not others?c. What effect does anxiety have on test performance?d. Do depressed people think differently than non-depressed people?

9. Colleges and universities are the primary work setting for approximately ____ of American psychologists.a. 10%b. 30%c. 50%d. 70%

10. The individual MOST closely associated with the recent development of positive psychology isa. David Buss.b. Roger Sperry.c. James Olds.d. Martin Seligman.

11. Which of the following psychological perspectives is MOST likely to focus on the interrelations among the mind, body, and behavior?a. evolutionary perspectiveb. biological perspectivec. cognitive perspectived. behavioral perspective

12. The cognitive perspective contends that to fully understand human behavior, psychologists need to focus attention ona. the role of the unconscious.b. internal mental events.c. the interrelations among the mind, body, and behavior.d. the adaptive value of a behavior.

13. After World War II, many psychologists began to specialize ina. clinical psychology.b. research psychology.c. experimental psychology.d. industrial psychology.

14.Which of the following psychologists would be MOST likely to stress that each person has a drive to grow and fulfill his or her potential?a. Sigmund Freudb. B. F. Skinnerc. G. Stanley Hall

d. Abraham Maslow15.Humanists believe that people’s behavior is governed by

a. their self-concepts.b. unconscious sexual urges.c. the outcomes of their responses.d. biochemical processes.

16. It should be easiest to teach a child to pick up his toys by utilizing the principles and techniques developed bya. William James.b. Abraham Maslow.c. B. F. Skinner.d. Wilhelm Wundt.

17. Janet trained her dog to sit on command by following this behavior with a reward of a dog biscuit and praise. Janet used the principles ofa. behaviorism.b. humanism.c. psychoanalysis.d. functionalism.

18. Marissa wants to study people’s emotional reactions to increases in temperature. Her classmate, Bernard, tells her that she should focus on observable behaviors, rather than internal states in her study. Bernard’s views are MOST similar to those found ina. the psychodynamic perspective.b. the evolutionary perspective.c. the behavioral perspective.d. the biological perspective.

19. Christine is a psychologist who conducts research on the effects of reward on maze learning in rats. Christine would MOST likely be considered aa. behaviorist.b. structuralist.c. psychoanalyst.d. Gestalt psychologist.

20. John B. Watson argued that psychologists shoulda. use the method of introspection to establish the structural aspects of consciousness.b. be concerned with the purposiveness (function) of behavior.c. confine their work to people who are diagnosed as mentally ill.d. abandon the study of consciousness.

21. Which of the following statements about Freud’s psychoanalytic theory is MOST accurate?a. Freud’s views have been largely abandoned and they exert relatively little, if any,

influence on current mainstream psychology.b. Freud’s views exert a tremendous influence on other disciplines, but not on psychology.c. Freud’s views exert a tremendous influence on developmental and abnormal psychology,

but not on other areas of mainstream psychology.d. Many psychoanalytic concepts have filtered into the mainstream of psychology.

22. The concept of “stream of consciousness” is associated witha. John Watson.b. William James.c. Sigmund Freud.d. Wilhelm Wundt.

23. The first woman to serve as president of the American Psychological Association wasa. Mary Calkins.b. Margaret Washburn.c. Leta Hollingworth.d. Anna Freud.

24. If while watching an exquisite sunset you stop and analyze your sensations, thoughts, and feelings, you would be performing introspection as the ____ once did.a. structuralistsb. behavioristsc. functionalistsd. psychoanalysts

25. The person responsible for establishing psychology as an independent discipline with its own subject matter isa. G. Stanley Hall.b. René Descartes.c. William James.d. Wilhelm Wundt.

26. Wundt defined psychology asa. the scientific study of behavior.b. the scientific study of the unconscious.c. the scientific study of the brain.d. the scientific study of conscious experience.

27.The scientific approach assumes thata. events are governed by some lawful order.b. each event is completely unique.c. there are no general laws or principles that apply to human behavior.d. the search for absolute truth is the ultimate goal.

28. A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables is a(n)a. variable.b. hypothesis.c. theory.d. operational definition.

29. Dr. Licciardi predicts that if people are observed while they perform a complex task, they will make more errors. Dr. Licciardi’s prediction is an example ofa. a hypothesis.b. an operational definition.c. a theory.d. inferential statistics.

30. In scientific investigations, researchers must clearly define the variables under study by precisely describing how they will be measured or controlled. These definitions are referred to asa. objective definitions.b. precise definitions.c. operational definitions.d. dictionary definitions.

31. Operational definitions are MOST closely associated with which major advantage of the scientific approach?a. commonsense approachb. clarity and precisionc. intolerance of errord. tolerance of error

32. Researchers who were studying plant growth raised plants in two separate rooms. One room had taped conversations playing 24 hours a day; the other room was silent. The researchers found that the plants grew better in the room that had the conversations playing. In this study, the type of room (conversation or silence) would bea. the dependent variable.b. an extraneous variable.c. a placebo.d. the independent variable.

33. The purpose of the control group is toa. make the experiment more complex.b. isolate the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable.c. make statistical significance more likely.d. isolate the effect of the dependent variable on the independent variable.

34. In experimental research, the variable that the researcher measures because it is thought to be affected by the manipulation of another variable is thea. extraneous variable.b. dependent variable.c. independent variable.d. controlled variable.

35. Suppose a researcher discovered a +.87 correlation between the length of a person’s toes and the number of shoes the person owns. In general, people who own the fewest number of shoes would havea. small toes.b. large toes.c. medium-sized toes.d. either very large or very small toes.

36. As an adult ages, his/her physical strength declines. The relationship between age and physical strength is a(n)a. nonexistent correlation.b. equal correlation.c. positive correlation.d. negative correlation.

37. Of the following, the correlation coefficient that indicates the strongest relationship between the two variables being measured isa. +0.65.b. -0.89.c. 0.00.d. +3.45.

38.Which of the following is NOT listed in the textbook as a descriptive research method?a. criterion-based inductionb. case studiesc. surveysd. naturalistic observation

39. One advantage of naturalistic observation is that ita. approximates the experimental method.b. allows for cause-and-effect conclusions to be drawn.c. allows behavior to be studied in realistic settings.d. involves random assignment.

40. Broadening the scope of phenomena that psychologists are able to study is associated witha. descriptive research methods.b. introspective research methods.c. hypothetical deductive research methods.d. functional research methods.

41. The subjects who participate in an experiment shoulda. all be chosen from the same geographical area and socioeconomic class.b. be allowed to choose in which group they would like to be.c. come from a wide range of different age groups.d. be carefully chosen so that they represent a sample of the population.

42. The fact that researchers often unintentionally influence the outcome of their studies implies the existence ofa. experimenter bias.b. a placebo effect.c. sampling bias.d. social desirability.

43. The ____ is a research strategy that minimizes the potential methodological problems associated with the placebo effect and experimenter bias.a. neutral sample procedureb. single-blind procedurec. double-blind procedured. blind sample procedure

44. Deception is used in some research in order toa. help control for placebo effects.b. help aid in double-blind procedures.c. prevent socially desirable responding.d. encourage socially desirable responding.

45. Which of the following is NOT included in the ethical guidelines for human participants in psychological research?a. Participants should not be subjected to harmful or dangerous treatments.b. Participants should be paid for their participation.c. Participants’ right to privacy should not be compromised.d. Participants should volunteer to participate.

46. The correct sequencing of the sections of the main body of a journal article would bea. introduction, method, results, discussion.b. introduction, discussion, method, results.c. discussion, introduction, method, results.d. method, introduction, results, discussion.

47. Imagine that a group of researchers conducted a single-blind study designed to test the effectiveness of subliminal-message weight-loss tapes. Suppose the researchers found that everyone lost weight during the study, even those who were given tapes without any subliminal messages. This type of result woulda. indicate that the independent and dependent variables are negatively correlated.b. provide evidence that subliminal tapes are effective in promoting weight loss.c. be evidence of a placebo effect.d. be evidence that the study contained confounding variables.

48. A researcher is conducting an experiment on the effect of alcohol consumption on reaction time; half of the subjects drink alcoholic drinks, and half drink nonalcoholic versions of the same drinks. The subjects receiving the nonalcoholic drinks are the ____ group and are used in the study to minimize the influence of ____.a. experimental; sampling biasb. experimental; the placebo effectc. control; sampling biasd. control; the placebo effect

49. The double-blind procedure was developed by researchers because of which unifying theme in psychology?a. psychology is empiricalb. psychology evolves in a sociohistorical contextc. our behavior is shaped by our cultural heritaged. our experience of the world is highly subjective

50. The organization or standard format of journal articles describing psychological research reflects or follows thea. preferences of the specific researcher.b. goals of science.c. steps involved in conducting scientific research.d. unifying themes of psychology.