Psych 111 Practice Test

Identify the independent variable, dependent variable and mode of operationalization in a study summary (Question not graded, answer in explanation).

.Name the strengths and weaknesses associated with different forms of data collection (not graded, answer in explanation).

Critical thinking is:

• Questioning everything you read or hear and refusing to believe anything you have not seen for yourself

• Criticizing the way other people think

• Becoming an authority on everything so you don't need to rely on other's judgements

• Using specific thinking skills to reach reasonable conclusions

Which of these are not themes of Psychological Science?

• The mind cannot adapt to new surroundings

• A new mathematical revolution is energizing research

• The brain and mind are inseparable

• We often are unaware of the multiple influences on how we think, feel and act

• Nature and nurture act independently

In Psychological science, evolutionary theory emphasizes the inherited, adaptive value of behavior.

• True

• False

The social level of psychological analysis focuses on:

• Thoughts, actions and behaviors in different cultural groups

• Perception and cognition behavior

• Genetics

• Interpersonal behavior

What marked the beginning of Experimental Psychology?

• Aptitude tests of the Han Dynasty

• Ancient Greeks and Galen's Humors

• Structuralism

• Introspection

Gestalt Psychology says that the experience is equal to the sum of its parts.

• True

• False

Which of the following psychologists did not support structuralism?

• William James

• Wilhelm Wundt

• Edward Titchener

A "stream of consciousness" refers to:

• The progression of psychological research

• An ever changing, continuous series of thoughts

• A river in Consciousness, Alabama

• The way the scientific method works

The approach that functions of the mind, rather than the elements of the mind should be the focus of psychology is known as cognitive psychology.

• True

• False

Which of the following is a true of Gestalt Psychology (check all that apply):

• Emphasis on the unconcious

• Opposed to structuralism

• Perception is based on context and patterns

• Perceptions of objects are objective

• We organize our experiences randomly

The Law of Continuity states that elements with the same moving direction are perceived as a collective or unit.

• True

• False

Sigmund Freud pioneered the psychological field of:

Behaviorism was first proposed by:

• Sigmund Freud

• BF Skinner

• John B. Watson

• George A. Miller

• Ivan Pavlov

According to Behaviorism, what is most important:

• Conscious and Unconscious processes

• Stimulus and Response

• Higher order mental functions

• Structure of the mind

Cognitive Psychology is modeled after what?

• Computers

• Organs of the brain that control specific functions

• BF Skinner's haircut

• Similarity of thoughts

CBT stands for:

Which of the following are not Law(s) of Pragnanz?

• Law of Closure

• Law of Large Numbers

• Law of Similarity

• Law of Proximity

• Law of Continuity

• Law of Common Fate

A theory of Psychology, based in Physiology, now known to be extremely flawed, is known as:

The person who started Phrenology was:

• Ivan Pavlov

• Carl Rogers

• Francis Gall

• Luke Fon Fabre

• Abraham Maslow

The cognitive model says that a situation produces __________ which lead(s) to _________.

• A stimulus, response

• Automatic thoughts, reaction

• Rational thoughts, reaction

• Impulse, response

The cognitive triad consists of which of the following:

• Negative view of self

• Negative view of science

• Negative view of world

• Negative view of God

• Negative view of the future

An example of an Automatic Thought is catastrophizing.

• True

• False

A hypothesis is an interconnected idea or model of behavior.

• True

• False

Which are common problems of Psychological research?

• Direction of variable relationships

• Correlational reasonings (correlation does not imply causation)

• Third variables

• Observer bias

The independent variable is:

• The variable that is affected by manipulation of the dependent variable

• The variable that is manipulated to affect the dependent variable

• A variable that may or may not be working unknown to change the experiment

• A lie made up by the government

An important characteristic of a Dependent Variable is:

• There may be more than one of them

• They must be under the direct control of the researcher

• The variable cannot fail

• The variable must be possible to fail

The group you want to know about is called the:

• Sample

• Population

• Popular kids

The Law of Large Numbers state:

• The larger number of $20 bills you have, the happier you are

• The more people from one ethnic group in population, the more accurate it is

• The more people in a sample, the more accurate.

• The more monkeys typing on a computer, the more likely they are to type Shakespeare's work

Errors that cancel each other out are called systematic errors.

• True

• False

What method of brain scan are we responsible to know?

• EEG

• TMS

• MRI

• FMRI

• PET

Confidentiality means collecting no personal information.

• True

• False

Indicate which quality of good data is violated by the following description.A booth at the local carnival announces the discovery of a new way to assess intelligence. The assessment method involves interpreting the patterns of creases on one's left palm.

• Accuracy

• Reliability

• Validity

Indicate which quality of good data is violated by the following description.At the end of a long night of grading, a professor reads what he believes to be the last essay in the pile. He assigns it a grade of 80%. When he goes to write the grade on the back of the paper, he realizes he has already graded the paper earlier this evening- and only gave it a 70% the first time around.

• Accuracy

• Reliability

• Validity

Indicate which quality of good data is violated by the following description.A five-year-old counts the jelly beans in a jar, often skipping over numbers ending in 8 (e.g. 8, 18, 28).

• Accuracy

• Reliability

• Validity

What denotes a strong relationship?

• A correlation near +1

• A correlation near -1

• A correlation near zero

• A correlation near +1 or -1

Which is not a form of Response performance?

• Stimulus judgments

• Response accuracy

• Response reliability

• Reaction time

Anything that affects a dependent variable and may unintentionally vary between the experimental conditions of a study is known as a

Meta-analyses provide stronger evidence than single studies.

• True

• False

When groups are not equivalent because participants differ between conditions in unexpected ways, the condition is known as:

The only way to make groups equivalency more likely is random assignment.

• True

• False

Research subjects behaving differently because they know they are being watched is know as _______. (AKA the Hawthorne effect).

• Observer Bias

• Observational Technique

• Reactivity

• Poorly handled research

Double blinding (where the observer is unaware of who is in the control group and who is in the experimental group) is used to eliminate which of the following:

• Observer Bias

• Experimenter expectancy effect

• Variables

• BC Lions fumbling the football

Naturalistic Observation is where a researcher is involved in a situation.

• True

• False

Cross sectional studies compare different groups to make inferences about both while longitudinal studies involve observing changes that occur in the same people over time.

• True

• False

What influential book of Psychology did William James publish in 1890?

• A System of Logic

• On the Origin of Species

• Cognitive Psychology

• The Principles of Psychology