PSYCH 120 EXAM 1 REVIEW QUESTIONS
The ________ involves gaining knowledge by observing events, collecting data, and
reasoning logically. - Answers - empirical method
Imagine that Dr. Zayler wants to understand initial romantic attraction (the kind that
people feel when they first meet someone, that leads them to seek out further
interactions). Which of the following statements is true? - Answers - If Dr. Zayler asked
people to report on their specific emotions, preferences, cognitions, behaviors, etc. that
were unfolding at every stage of the initial meeting, she would be taking a structuralist
approach to understanding initial romantic attraction. If Dr. Zayler asked "why do people
feel romantic attraction? What purpose does that serve?" she would be taking a
functionalist approach.
Which of the following is an example of behavior? - Answers - two people holding hands
in a park
Psychology began as a science in the discipline of - Answers - philosophy
Jake, a researcher, measures the levels of testosterone in adult males who tend to be
highly aggressive. He believes hormone levels are the single-most prominent cause of
male aggression. In this scenario, Jake is most likely using the ________ approach in
his study. - Answers - biological
watson and skinner believed that - Answers - psychology should focus on an organism's
visible interactions with the environment—that is, behaviors.
The job of most psychologists today is to study mental disorders and research effective
treatment. - Answers - False
In his practice, Dr. Wagner stresses the role of unconscious processes and unresolved
childhood conflicts that influence an individual's behavior. Dr. Wagner's belief aligns
with the ________ approach to psychology. - Answers - psychodynamic
Who would have been most likely to rely on the technique of systematic introspection? -
Answers - Wundt
According to evolutionary psychologists - Answers - human behavior is traceable to
problems early humans faced in adapting to their environments.
A(n) ________ is a broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain
observations and to make predictions about future observations. - Answers - theory
, Tamika hypothesizes that women are more helpful than men, and she decides to
conduct a study to test her hypothesis. During lunchtime, she goes to the crowded food
court and deliberately drops her folder containing papers. She then notes whether the
person standing closest to her bends over and picks up her papers and whether the
person is male or female. What is the operational definition of "helpful" in Tamika's
study? - Answers - bending over and grabbing papers
Amelia, a researcher, conducts a study and finds that teenage boys in the country of
Bodonia prefer to date older girls and keep their relationships confidential. Michael,
Amelia's colleague, tries to reproduce her study to see if he gets the same result. In this
scenario, Michael's act illustrates - Answers - replication
Professor Wong measures the intelligence and temperament of a group of
preschoolers. He plans to study the same group of participants over time and collect
data when the children are in Grades 3, 6, and 9. This is an example of which type of
research design? - Answers - longitudinal design
Which of the following research methods allow(s) researchers to determine causality? -
Answers - experimental studies
Jamie is conducting an experiment and wants to see if people who have just been given
a sandwich to eat behave less aggressively when provoked than people who have not
just been given a sandwich to eat. Jamie recruits 100 participants. The first 50 who sign
up at the beginning of the month get put in the "eat a sandwich" group, and the last 50
who sign up at the end of the month get put in the "no sandwich" group. Jamie then has
a partner (who is an actor working for the researchers) provoke the participants and
sees who lashes out at their partner the most. She finds out that the average
aggression score of the "no sandwich" group is higher than the "eat a sandwich" group!
Jamie wants to conclude that for her participants, being given a sandwich to eat
decreased aggression!
Don't just think about what might be generic weaknesses of this approach. Specifically, I
want to know which of the following is the problem wi - Answers - Jamie has not used
random assignment to determine who goes into which condition.
Roger thinks that drinking diet coke increases blood pressure, so he randomly assigns
people to either drink 10 diet cokes a week or 0 diet cokes a week and then monitors
their blood pressure. In this experiment, drinking diet coke is the _________ and blood
pressure is the ____________. - Answers - independent variable; dependent variable
In one study, researchers wanted to see if putting students in a black room (as opposed
to a bright yellow room) would increase their feelings of anger when they were
provoked. They took 500 students and randomly assigned half to complete the study in
a black room and half to a yellow room. Everybody had to answer the same writing
prompt. Then a research assistent entered the room, collected the writing assignment
and left to go "grade" it, and came back ten minutes later and told everybody the same
The ________ involves gaining knowledge by observing events, collecting data, and
reasoning logically. - Answers - empirical method
Imagine that Dr. Zayler wants to understand initial romantic attraction (the kind that
people feel when they first meet someone, that leads them to seek out further
interactions). Which of the following statements is true? - Answers - If Dr. Zayler asked
people to report on their specific emotions, preferences, cognitions, behaviors, etc. that
were unfolding at every stage of the initial meeting, she would be taking a structuralist
approach to understanding initial romantic attraction. If Dr. Zayler asked "why do people
feel romantic attraction? What purpose does that serve?" she would be taking a
functionalist approach.
Which of the following is an example of behavior? - Answers - two people holding hands
in a park
Psychology began as a science in the discipline of - Answers - philosophy
Jake, a researcher, measures the levels of testosterone in adult males who tend to be
highly aggressive. He believes hormone levels are the single-most prominent cause of
male aggression. In this scenario, Jake is most likely using the ________ approach in
his study. - Answers - biological
watson and skinner believed that - Answers - psychology should focus on an organism's
visible interactions with the environment—that is, behaviors.
The job of most psychologists today is to study mental disorders and research effective
treatment. - Answers - False
In his practice, Dr. Wagner stresses the role of unconscious processes and unresolved
childhood conflicts that influence an individual's behavior. Dr. Wagner's belief aligns
with the ________ approach to psychology. - Answers - psychodynamic
Who would have been most likely to rely on the technique of systematic introspection? -
Answers - Wundt
According to evolutionary psychologists - Answers - human behavior is traceable to
problems early humans faced in adapting to their environments.
A(n) ________ is a broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain
observations and to make predictions about future observations. - Answers - theory
, Tamika hypothesizes that women are more helpful than men, and she decides to
conduct a study to test her hypothesis. During lunchtime, she goes to the crowded food
court and deliberately drops her folder containing papers. She then notes whether the
person standing closest to her bends over and picks up her papers and whether the
person is male or female. What is the operational definition of "helpful" in Tamika's
study? - Answers - bending over and grabbing papers
Amelia, a researcher, conducts a study and finds that teenage boys in the country of
Bodonia prefer to date older girls and keep their relationships confidential. Michael,
Amelia's colleague, tries to reproduce her study to see if he gets the same result. In this
scenario, Michael's act illustrates - Answers - replication
Professor Wong measures the intelligence and temperament of a group of
preschoolers. He plans to study the same group of participants over time and collect
data when the children are in Grades 3, 6, and 9. This is an example of which type of
research design? - Answers - longitudinal design
Which of the following research methods allow(s) researchers to determine causality? -
Answers - experimental studies
Jamie is conducting an experiment and wants to see if people who have just been given
a sandwich to eat behave less aggressively when provoked than people who have not
just been given a sandwich to eat. Jamie recruits 100 participants. The first 50 who sign
up at the beginning of the month get put in the "eat a sandwich" group, and the last 50
who sign up at the end of the month get put in the "no sandwich" group. Jamie then has
a partner (who is an actor working for the researchers) provoke the participants and
sees who lashes out at their partner the most. She finds out that the average
aggression score of the "no sandwich" group is higher than the "eat a sandwich" group!
Jamie wants to conclude that for her participants, being given a sandwich to eat
decreased aggression!
Don't just think about what might be generic weaknesses of this approach. Specifically, I
want to know which of the following is the problem wi - Answers - Jamie has not used
random assignment to determine who goes into which condition.
Roger thinks that drinking diet coke increases blood pressure, so he randomly assigns
people to either drink 10 diet cokes a week or 0 diet cokes a week and then monitors
their blood pressure. In this experiment, drinking diet coke is the _________ and blood
pressure is the ____________. - Answers - independent variable; dependent variable
In one study, researchers wanted to see if putting students in a black room (as opposed
to a bright yellow room) would increase their feelings of anger when they were
provoked. They took 500 students and randomly assigned half to complete the study in
a black room and half to a yellow room. Everybody had to answer the same writing
prompt. Then a research assistent entered the room, collected the writing assignment
and left to go "grade" it, and came back ten minutes later and told everybody the same
