Scientists would be MOST UNCOMFORTABLE making which of the following statements? * "My facts have been proven." "My theory is parsimonious." "My variables have been operationally defined." "Correlation does not necessarily imply causation." Scientists are most likely to agree on which theories are correct. * how to evaluate competing theories. how to put theories into practice. which questions are worth investigating. What is a hypothesis? a statistical procedure * a testable prediction an established fact a method of investigation A psychologist noticed what she felt was a relationship between violence on TV and aggressive behavior. The psychologist's idea, which involves testable predictions, is known as a/an ________. parsimony A standard deviation * hypothesis experiment When an experimenter wants to determine if his or her results are convincing, or if they might have arisen by accident instead, the experimenter relies on _______. intuition parsimony * statistical techniques common sense A result is "replicable" if the results are statistically significant. * other competent investigators can repeat the results. B the interpretation is consistent with other scientific theories. it agrees with common sense. How might an investigator determine whether a result is "replicable"? Try to find a simpler explanation that fits the results. Conduct a statistical test to measure the probability of getting such results by chance. * Repeat the experiment and compare results. Examine the procedures looking for hidden flaws. An investigator repeats the procedures of someone else's experiment but obtains different results. Therefore, the results of the first experiment were not _______. correlational parsimonious statistically significant * replicable Which of the following is a highly desirable feature of a scientific study? selective attrition demand characteristics * replicability illusory correlation The goal of scientific research is to establish comprehensive explanations of natural phenomena. These explanations are called _______. * theories facts predictions hypotheses Which of the following is a DESIRABLE feature of a scientific theory? The theory simply restates the facts it is supposed to explain. The theory is based on illusory correlations. The theory makes complex assumptions. * The theory is falsifiable. A good theory would be one that is not falsifiable. has many assumptions. * predicts many observations. avoids independent variables. Which of the following would NOT be falsifiable? "The highest mountain in the world is in the Himalayas." * "People who are under too much stress will fail to achieve their full potential." "Behaviors followed by reinforcement increase in frequency." "People identify the direction of a sound source by comparing the response in the left ear with the response in the right ear." If a theory is NOT "falsifiable," then it is the most parsimonious theory available. * is useless. is well established and widely accepted. makes very precise predictions. To determine whether a theory is parsimonious, psychologists pay attention to whether * its assumptions are simple and consistent with those of other A theories. the results on which it is based are statistically significant. it has the potential to lead to practical applications. investigators have replicated the results on which it is based. The preference of scientists for the theory that makes the fewest unfamiliar or untested assumptions is known as the principle of * parsimony. statistical significance. normal distribution. informed consent. To determine whether a theory is "parsimonious," we pay attention to the accuracy of its predictions. * simplicity of its assumptions. B practical usefulness of its applications. statistical significance of its results. Clever Hans could answer a question correctly ONLY IF he heard the questioner during the answer. saw his trainer flashing signals. * saw the questioner during the answer. had practiced that particular question previously. Some investigators claim they have taught monkeys to understand spoken English, but another scientist argues that the results might be due to a "Clever Hans" effect. What does this mean? The procedure works only if training begins during infancy. The procedure works only with a few carefully selected and especially bright individuals. * The monkeys might be responding to subtle visual cues accidentally given by the investigators. The results are not replicable. In one word, why did most scientists resist the belief that Clever Hans could do complex mathematics, even before they had a good explanation of what he was actually doing? * parsimony randomness statistics correlation What evidence did Oskar Pfungst present to indicate that Clever Hans was not doing mathematical calculations? Hans was correct no more often than we would expect for chance guessing. * Hans could answer a question correctly only if the questioner knew the correct answer. Hans could answer correctly only if the questioner made subtle sounds while he was answering. Hans could answer correctly only if his owner, Mr. von Osten, was present. The ability to read another person's mind is known as _______. precognition * telepathy clairvoyance psychokinesis A "psychic" claims that he can read the minds of people on the planet Zipton, which is millions of light years away. What is the main scientific objection to this claim? The claim confuses correlation with causation. The claim ignores the role of demand characteristics. The claim is parsimonious. * The claim is not falsifiable. An "anecdote" is a medicine that reverses the effect of a poison. professional psychic. measurement of the variation in results within a group. * report of an isolated event or occurrence. Jane describes a dream she had that came true the next day. This is an example of * an anecdote. an experimental result. selective attrition. a correlational result. Cecelia is MOST likely to tell her husband, Ken, about dreams she had that failed to come true. A * dreams she had that later came true. events in her life that she later dreamed about. her dreams of other men. When Kreskin, the professional "psychic," finds his check hidden somewhere in the audience, he uses the same method used by Wilhelm Wundt. * Clever Hans. Oskar Pfungst. Mary Calkins. A proponent of ESP claims that ESP shows up only when the "vibrations" are right and that there is no way to know whether the vibrations are right except to see whether ESP shows up. What is wrong with this theory from a scientific standpoint? It relies too heavily on operational definitions. It relies too heavily on negative correlations. B * It is not falsifiable. It has too many dependent variables. One of the main reasons psychologists are insistent on replicability in the area of ESP is because so many people in the general public are skeptical of ESP. * the history of ESP contains many flawed procedures, weak evidence, and nonreplicated results. there is a lot of professional jealousy between psychologists and parapsychologists. the idea of ESP is highly falsifiable. The ganzfeld procedure is used to investigate homeopathic medical techniques. * claims of extrasensory perception. the reality of age regression. claims of alien abductions. Which of the following is more true of subject matter in psychology than subject matter in physics? * Accepted "facts" change from one historical era to another. Most measurements can be made without affecting the events being measured. Concepts are clearly and precisely defined. Methods of measurement are fairly straightforward. An operational definition is a definition that relates something to a mathematical equation. describes the underlying cause of something. gives synonyms or antonyms. * tells us how to produce or measure something. Which of the following could be an operational definition of "curiosity"? the mental activity experienced by a child in the presence of brightly colored objects * the number of unassigned books that someone reads during a month discomfort provoked by recognizing that one does not understand something a desire to gain knowledge for its own sake Which of the following is an OPERATIONAL definition of moral behavior? behavior that conforms to high ethical standards acting on the basis of sympathy with other people * the amount of money one has donated to charity belief in a standard of behavior, even if others disagree Which of the following is an operational definition of "motivation"? desire that which stimulates us to do something an incentive or drive * the number of hours of work someone will do to obtain a certain outcome Which of the following is an operational definition of "social attachment"? a sense of loneliness when separated from the other person * the number of contacts with the other person during the day a constant preoccupation with thoughts about the other person a desire to be with the other person Which of the following is an operational definition of "intelligence"? the ability to survive in the real world A * a score on an IQ test the ability to comprehend relationships the product of the cerebral cortex of the brain The advantage of using an operational definition is that it provides a compromise between competing viewpoints. * enables investigators to measure a phenomenon. explains what the term means to the average person. offers a theoretical explanation of the causes of a phenomenon. A psychologist wishes to investigate the effect of televised violence on aggressive behavior. Which of the following would be a practical operational definition of aggressive behavior? how aggressive the person feels just after watching a program * how many times the person punches a large plastic doll B how angry the person is how many murders and assaults the person commits In an effort to compare the mathematical abilities of men and women, an investigator administers a test to 100 male engineering majors and 100 women who answered an ad in the newspaper. What is wrong with this study? lack of a dependent variable reliance on anecdotal evidence use of descriptive statistics * lack of representative samples If every individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected for a sample, the sample is said to be a/an _______ sample. representative * random independent stratified The advantage that a random sample has over a representative sample is that it requires fewer individuals. more closely resembles the entire population. * can produce results close to the characteristics of the population, even in ways that the investigators overlooked. avoids the influence of independent variables. Which of the following would BEST describe the kind of research a psychologist would use to study whether or not facial expressions mean the same thing to various people throughout the world? longitudinal study triple-blind study * cross-cultural study ganzfeld procedure A "blind observer" is an observer who has no previous experience with psychological observations. does not reveal his or her observations to anyone. * does not know what each subject is expected to do. observes everyone except himself or herself. A placebo is a member of the control group. pill with effects opposite to those of an experimental drug. nonblind observer. * pill with no important biological effects. In a double-blind study, subjects are assigned randomly to both the control group and the experimental group. the experimenter manipulates neither the independent variable nor the dependent variable. both the experimental group and the control group receive placebos. * neither the observer nor the subjects know which group is the experimental group and which is the control group. The best way to describe a double-blind study is to say that the rater does not know which is the control group and which is the experimental group. * neither the rater nor the subjects know which group is the experimental group and which is the control group. the subjects do not know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group. everyone has to wear dark glasses. In an experiment to test the effects of a drug, an experimenter would have to use a placebo. Without a placebo it would be impossible to make the study _____. statistically significant A replicable parsimonious * double blind The careful examination of what people or animals do in their normal environments is called intrusive observation. * naturalistic observation. double-blind study. a case history. Jane Goodall spent years observing chimpanzees eat, interact, and live in the wild. Her technique would best be described as _______. experimentation correlational analysis B * naturalistic observation a case history A case history includes an experimental group and a control group. necessarily includes the use of inferential statistics. establishes the strength of the relationship between two variables. * is a detailed description of a single individual. Investigators are most likely to use the case history method when they study the effects of a drug on behavior. the frequency of certain attitudes in a large population. * a rare behavior or an unusual person. two or more independent variables. Which of these ways of conducting research generally uses the smallest number of subjects? * case history correlational study experiment survey How does a case history differ from an anecdote? A case history is a report of a single experience. * A case history is potentially replicable. An anecdote provides scientists with more compelling evidence than a case history. An anecdote involves the manipulation of an independent variable. One of the most common techniques for finding out about people's beliefs or attitudes is to ask a large number of people a series of questions. This technique is called naturalistic observation. a case study. the ganzfeld procedure. * a survey. If someone plans to administer a survey to determine which event people think is the most important one of the 20th century, the person who administers the survey should definitely * administer the survey to a random sample or representative sample of the population. invite everyone who wants to answer the questions to be part of the survey. take it for granted that everyone who answers has an educated basis for his or her opinion. give people a few suggestions of possible answers. You hear that "60% of Americans think that the use of illegal drugs is the nation's number one problem." Before you can interpret the meaning of this sentence, you must know how widespread the drug problem really is. * how the survey question was phrased. what other problems confront the nation. whether people in other countries give the same answer. A study of the relationship between two variables that the investigator does not control is known as a random assignment. * correlational study. double-blind experiment. case history. The main difference between a correlational study and an experiment is that in an experiment, the subjects are aware of the hypothesis being tested. A all individuals receive the same treatment. the subjects are observed without interference in their normal life. * the investigator manipulates the independent variable. A correlation is a measurement of the changes in a person's behavior after a treatment. * measurement of the relationship between two variables. measurement of the difference between experimental and control groups. careful study of a single person over time. It has been reported that people who trust other people are generally happier than people who do not trust others. This conclusion is probably based on the results of a double-blind experiment. case history. B * correlational study. single-blind experiment. A correlation coefficient is a mathematical value that ranges between * -1 and +1. 0 and infinity. 0 and 1. 0 and 100. If the correlation between variable A and variable B is greater than +1, then the mean value of A is greater than the mean value of B. either A causes B or B causes A. * someone calculated the correlation incorrectly. A causes B. If the correlation between variable A and variable B is 0, then we can use measurements of A to predict measurements of B with high accuracy. increases in A are associated with decreases in B. * the relationship between A and B is random. the mean value of A is equal to the mean value of B. If the correlation between variables A and B is +0.7, then * we can use measurements of A to make moderately accurate predictions of the value of B. the mean value of B is greater than the mean value of A. the mean value of A is greater than the mean value of B. as variable A increases, variable B tends to decrease. If the correlation between variable A and variable B is -0.75, then * we can use measurements of variable A to make moderately accurate predictions of variable B. there is no consistent relationship between variables A and B. there is a relationship between variables A and B, but it has been growing weaker over time. the mean value of B is less than the mean value of A. According to one study, the more hours students spend watching television, the lower their grades in school. This relationship is an example of an illusory correlation. a positive correlation. a zero correlation. * a negative correlation. An investigator finds no consistent relationship between how much sleep students get at night and their grade averages in school. According to that study, the correlation between sleep and grades is _____. uncertain * zero positive negative If the correlation between variable A and variable B is negative, then the strength of the relationship is growing weaker over time. A causes B. B causes A. * increases in A are associated with decreases in B. An investigator finds that it is possible to use measurements of people's speed of response as a moderately accurate predictor of their grades in school. From this information we can conclude that the correlation between speed of response and grades is * either positive or negative but not zero. A zero. negative. positive. Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates that you could use measurements of one variable to predict measurements of a second variable with perfect accuracy? .9 0 * -1 .5 Suppose someone demonstrates a +0.5 correlation between students' reported interest in psychology and their grades on a psychology test. The best conclusion we can draw from those results is that becoming interested in psychology causes students to perform better on their psychology tests. doing well on psychology tests causes students to become more interested in the material. B most of these students had a relatively high interest in psychology but a relatively low test score. * someone who knew the students' interest levels in psychology could fairly accurately predict their test scores. Which of the following correlation coefficients indicates the WEAKEST relationship between two variables? That is, which one permits the LEAST accurate predictions of one variable from the other? -.5 +.1 +.5 * 0 An illusory correlation is a correlation that is positive at some times and negative at other times. * an imagined or greatly exaggerated correlation. a correlation that has been increasing in strength over time. a correlation between a psychological variable and a physical variable. Some people believe that "genius is associated with insanity," although they have no scientific evidence to support their claim. This is an example of psychokinesis. * an illusory correlation. a normal distribution. a negative correlation. One reason why illusory correlations arise and persist is that psychologists test only hypotheses that are falsifiable. human behavior often fails to follow the normal distribution. psychologists collect more observations on children than on old people. * people tend to remember examples that fit their expectations. Someone who believes Friday the 13th is bad luck is likely to remember examples that fit this expectation than times when nothing went wrong on Friday the 13th. This tendency in people's memory gives rise to a normal distribution. differential survival. inferential statistics. * an illusory correlation. If the correlation between variable A and variable B is +1, then either A causes B or B causes A. * we can say nothing about causation from this information. B causes A. A causes B. The correlation between A and B is +.60; the correlation between C and D is -.75. What do we know about causation based on the above? We know A causes B, but we don't know if C causes D. We know C causes D, but we don't know if A causes B. We know A causes B AND that D causes C. * We don't know anything about causation from the information above. The advantage of the experimental method as opposed to correlational studies is that an experiment is better suited to studies of unique or unusual individuals. can consist of as little as one observation of a single individual. * can lead to the discovery of cause-and-effect relationships. is easier to do and poses fewer ethical problems. A study in which an investigator manipulates one variable while observing at least one other variable is known as _____. a correlation A * an experiment a survey a case history An experimenter kept students in a hot, neutral, or cold room and then tested their ability to memorize poetry. What was the INDEPENDENT variable in this experiment? the motivation of the students * the temperature of the room the difficulty of the poetry the students' success in memorizing the poetry An experimenter had subjects exercise much, a little, or not at all and then measured how much they ate at dinner two hours later. What was the DEPENDENT variable in this experiment? the delay between exercise and dinner the amount of exercise B the type of food offered * the amount of food eaten An "independent variable" is one that is irrelevant to what happens in the experiment. the experimenter cannot control or measure. * the experimenter manipulates. the experimenter measures after the treatment. Professor Taylor provides a review session for half the students taking Psychology 101. Later he compares their test scores against those of the other students. What is the dependent variable in this experiment? the total number of students * the test scores of the students the review session the difficulty of the test An experimenter exposed students to one hour of soft, intermediate, or loud noise and then tested their ability to solve puzzles. What was the independent variable in this experiment? * the loudness of the noise the students' scores on the puzzles the motivation of the students the difficulty of the puzzles Dr. Ratrunner deprives several rats of food for different lengths of time and then places them at the start of a maze. He records how long each rat takes to reach the food at the end of the maze. The running speed of the rats is the * dependent variable. normal distribution. inferential statistic. independent variable. An instructor gives weekly tests in one class and just one midterm exam to a second class and then compares performances of students in the two classes when they all take the same final exam. What is the dependent variable in this experiment? the number of students in each class the difficulty of the final exam the number of tests given before the final exam * the students' scores on the final exam The control group in an experiment is a group that is given an opportunity to decide which experimental group to join. has some control over the independent variable. is controlled by the dependent variable. * is treated the same as the experimental group except for the treatment the experiment is designed to test. The experimental group in one study receives a free copy of the study guide so that the experimenter can determine the effect of the study guide on test performance. What will the control group in this experiment do? help the experimenter write the tests * take all the same tests without using the study guide use the study guide without taking any tests help the experimenter decide which students will get the study guide Random assignment is a procedure that psychological researchers apply to their demand characteristics. dependent variables. means and medians. * participants. How does an experimenter try to equate the experimental group and the control group at the start of the experiment? elimination of independent variables A * random assignment demand characteristics statistical tests The advantage of randomly assigning subjects to the experimental group and the control group is that random assignment guarantees that subjects will know what is expected of them in the experiment. avoids the need to perform statistical tests on the results. eliminates or reduces the influence of independent variables. * reduces the possibility that the groups differ greatly at the start of the experiment. Correlational studies have demonstrated that watching violence on television causes aggressive behavior. watching violence on television reduces aggressive behavior. B increasing testosterone levels cause people to enjoy violent television programs. * there is a relationship between watching televised violence and aggressive behavior, but those studies don't determine cause and effect. One set of experimenters chose to conduct experiments in a juvenile detention center to determine the effects of televised violence on aggressive behavior. What was the advantage of conducting the study in a detention center? Conducting the study in a detention center decreases the influence of demand characteristics. Conducting the study in such a setting makes it easier to generalize the results to the entire population. Only people in such an institution can freely give their informed consent to the procedure. * It is easier to control the choice of television programs in such a center than in homes. In a psychological experiment, "demand characteristics" are ways in which the experimental group differed from the control group at the start of the experiment. methods the experimenter used for controlling the variables. statistical procedures for determining the significance of the results. * cues that tell the subject what the experimenter hopes to find. The cues that tell a subject what is expected or what the experimenter hopes to find are known as independent variables. correlations. dependent variables. * demand characteristics. Which of the following is UNDESIRABLE for psychological research and theories? * demand characteristics falsifiability parsimony independent variables Dr. Hoonoes got statistically significant results in her last experiment but is worried about "demand characteristics." By that she means that the results may have been influenced by a failure to assign subjects randomly to groups. communication between members of the experimental group and members of the control group. the fact that some people quit before the experiment was finished. * what some subjects guessed the experiment was about. Which of the following procedures would be most likely to REDUCE the effects of "demand characteristics"? * Conceal the purpose of the experiment from the subjects. Evaluate the statistical significance of the results. Discard data from any subject who did not complete the experiment. Assign subjects randomly to groups. In many psychological experiments the experimenter will take elaborate steps to conceal the purpose of the experiment from the subjects. The purpose of concealing this information is that it is unethical to allow subjects in an experiment to know the purpose of the experiment. * to eliminate demand characteristics. that it is quicker if you do not have to explain the purpose of the experiment. to eliminate illusory correlations. Dr. Hoonoes got statistically significant results in her last experiment, but she is worried about "Experimenter bias." By this she means that the results may have been influenced by the experimenter's dislike for calculating statistics. * the tendency of an experimenter to distort the experimental results to fit an expected outcome. the fact that some people quit before the experiment was finished. a tendency to rank people high on everything or on nothing. The seniors at Lobotomy Tech like the college better than the freshmen do. Before we conclude that students' opinions of the college improve as they stay there longer, we should consider the possible influence of demand characteristics. A the Clever Hans effect. blind observers. * selective attrition. The problem of "selective attrition" refers to the fact that certain kinds of people may be more likely than others to talk to other people during an experiment. * quit before the experiment is finished. respond to demand characteristics. volunteer to be subjects in an experiment. Dr. Hoonoes got statistically significant results in her last experiment, but she is worried about selective attrition (differential survival). By this she means that the results may have been influenced by * the fact that some people quit before the experiment was finished. the fact that people knew they were in an experiment. B differences between representative samples and random samples. what some subjects guessed the experiment was about. Which of the following is a possible example of the effects of "selective attrition" (differential survival)? Freshmen who live on campus have more friends than those who live at home and commute to campus. * The average senior at Kinsey State College has higher grades than the average freshman. Most freshmen at Kinsey State College enjoy their elective courses more than their required courses. Students whose grades have been improving are happier than those whose grades have been deteriorating. Most new employees at Consolidated Generic complain about the company's policies, while older and more experienced workers seem content. One possible explanation is demand characteristics. the placebo effect. the Clever Hans effect. * selective attrition. People give one answer to a survey question when they are told the survey was sponsored by the Republican Party and a different answer when they are told it was sponsored by the Democratic Party. One possible reason for the difference is the placebo effect. selective attrition. standard deviation. * demand characteristics. The main problem with conducting an experiment using people who are all very similar is there will not be selective attrition. you are less likely to find statistically significant differences between the experimental and control groups. * you will be less certain that the results will generalize. there is a greater chance for demand characteristics. How would you demonstrate that the results of your study generalize? by proving that no subjects dropped out during the course of the experiment by showing that the experimenter did not know which group each subject was in * by repeating your experiment using other subjects and a variety of circumstances by statistically analyzing the difference between your experimental and control groups Before conducting any experiment on humans, a psychological investigator must obtain demand characteristics. * informed consent. a normal distribution. certification from the American Psychological Association. What does a Human Subjects Committee do? It provides lists of people who are willing to serve as volunteers in psychological experiments. It maintains statistics on the number and type of experiments conducted at an institution. It helps experimenters evaluate the statistical significance of their data. * It judges whether proposed experiments are ethical. The main ethical principle guiding psychology experiments with human subjects is do not do anything until the subject fully understands the purpose of the experiment. * only include procedures that subjects would agree to experience. never repeat an experiment that has already been done by someone else. subjects should always be compensated, based on the amount of time and effort involved in the experiment. Ethical standards for the treatment of subjects * have been established by the APA. A are left up to the individual experimenter. exist for human subjects, but not for animal subjects. are followed by only a small minority of psychological researchers. Which of the following statements would scientists who conduct animal research be MOST likely to agree with? Animals should have all the same rights as humans. Animal welfare is not an important issue. * Extremely painful experiments on animals are rare. Computer simulations could be used instead of animals in most situations.