Experiment in Psychology: Allows for us to determine cause and effect in relation to assumptions
we make in real life. We, as psychologists, want to find truth in our assumptions or debunk the
assumptions that are false.
Experiment components:
Independent variable (what is added to create a change)
Dependent variable (the measure of the presumed change)
Control group (the group which does not receive the independent variable)
Experimental group (the group that receives the independent variable)
For each of the following scenarios write an hypothesis and identify the above components.
SCENARIO ONE: A researcher hypothesizes that sugar intake increases a student's success on
standardized tests. One hundred students took a standardized math test after drinking 24 ounces
of sugar water, and then completed a similar math test the following day without drinking
anything. The researcher compared each individual's scores from the two tests.
SCENARIO TWO: A university research team believes that studying in the same room where a
test is administered will increase performance on the test. After one week of instruction, 20
students from a class are invited to study for three hours prior to the test in the room where the
test will be administered. Twenty other students from the same class are not allowed to study for
the test in the classroom. After the test is completed, researchers compare test results between the
two groups.
Rewrite the question into an hypothesis.
List the best perspective and the best research method.
1. Is a new experimental drug that can cure depression?
2. Students who use flashcards -- how does it affect their test grades?
3. What are the effects of violent cartoons on 10-year-old boys?
4. Are students who are bullied in elementary school more likely to act out violently against
high school peers?
5. Is obesity related to the population of the city where you live?
Ethics in Research:
Scientific experiment includes certain variables and how those variables create a behavior. When
recreating a situation to determine cause/effect we use the experiment.
Imagine what things we can experiment and what we can not experiment without conflicting with moral
and ethical standards.
Do not forget, we, as a society, can accept experimenting on people with how to improve their test scores
by using flashcards but are not acceptant of experimenting on people with how does waterboarding really
make people tell the truth.
AP Psychology
Ms Stanford
1.
Who would be most likely to agree with the
statement, “Psychology should investigate
only behaviors that can be observed”?
a) Wilhelm Wundt
b) Sigmund Freud
c) William James
d) Charles Darwin
e) John Watson
2.
Psychologists who study the degree to which
genes influence out personality are working
within the ________________ perspective.
a) behavioral
b) evolutionary
c) behavior-genetics
d) neuroscience
e) cognitive
3.
4.
Which psychological perspective
emphasizes the interaction of the brain and
body in behavior?
a) neuroscience
b) cognitive
c) behavioral
d) behavior-genetics
e) evolutionary
Two historical roots of psychology are:
a) philosophy and chemistry
b) physiology and chemistry
c) philosophy and biology
d) philosophy and physics
e) biology and physics
5.
Which of the following individuals is also a
physician?
a) clinical psychologist
b) experimental psychologist
c) hospital psychiatrist
d) biological psychologist
e) applied psychologist
6.
Dr. Smith’s research centers on the
relationship between changes in our thinking
over the life span and changes in moral
reasoning. Dr. Smith is most likely a:
a) clinical psychologist
b) personality psychologist
c) psychiatrist
d) developmental psychologist
e) industrial psychologist
Unit 1 Review
7.
A major, general principle underlying the
PRTR study method is that:
a) people learn and remember material
best when they actively process it
b) many students overestimate their
mastery of text and lecture material
c) study time should be spaced over time
rather than crammed into one session
d) “overlearning” disrupts efficient
retention
e) hanging out at a frat party before
studying creates the best success
8.
After a detailed study of a gun-shot wound
victim, a psychologist concludes that the
brain region destroyed is likely to be
important for memory functions. Which
research strategy did the psychologist use to
deduce this?
a) the case study
b) a survey
c) experimentation
d) correlation
e) double-blinded study
9.
In order to determine the effects of exercise
on motivation, exercise is the:
a) control condition
b) intervening variable
c) independent variable
d) dependent variable
e) experimenter bias
10. The scientific attitude of skepticism is based
on the belief that:
a) people are rarely candid in revealing
their thoughts
b) mental processes can’t be studied
objectively
c) the scientist’s intuition about behavior
is usually correct
d) ideas need to be tested against
observable evidence
e) people have little influence as to how
their experiments are conducted
11. What is the mean for the following
distribution of scores: 2, 3, 7, 6, 1, 4, 9, 5, 8,
2?
a) 5
b) 4
c) 4.7
d) 3.7
e) 2
12. If shoes and IQ are negatively correlated,
which of the following is true?
a) people with large feet tend to have high
IQs
b) people with small feet tend to have high
IQs
c) people with small feet tend to have low
IQs
d) IQ is unpredictable based on a person’s
shoe size
e) None of the above
13. What is the median of the following
distribution of scores: 1, 3, 7, 7, 2, 8, 4?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
e) 7
14. What is the mode of the following
distribution of scores: 8, 2, 1, 1, 3, 7, 6, 2, 0,
2?
a) 1
b) 2
c) 3
d) 4
e) 7
15. In generalizing from a sample to the
population, it is important that:
a) the sample is representative of the
population
b) the sample is large
c) the scores in the sample have low
variability
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
16. When a difference between two groups is
“statistically significant,” this means that:
a) the difference is statistically real but
little of practical significance
b) the difference is probably the result of
sampling variation
c) the difference is not likely to be due to
chance variation
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
17. In an experiment to determine the effects of
attention on memory, memory is the:
a) control condition
b) intervening variable
c) independent variable
d) dependent variable
e) confounding variable
18. One reason researchers base their findings
on representative samples is to avoid the
false consensus effect, which refers to our
tendency to:
a) overestimate the extent to which others
share our belief
b) falsely perceive a relationship between
two events when none exists
c) underestimate errors in our judgment
d) search of evidence to confirm our belief
e) make all of the above reasoning errors
19. Which of the following best describes the
hindsight bias?
a) events seem more predictable before
they have occurred
b) events seem more predictable after they
have occurred
c) a person’s intuition is usually correct
d) a person’s intuition is rarely correct
e) none of the above
20. Which of the following is true, according to
the text?
a) because laboratory experiments are
artificial, any principles discovered
cannot be applied to everyday behaviors
b) no psychological theory can be
considered true until tested
c) psychology’s theories reflect common
sense
d) psychology has few ties to other
disciplines
e) psychological experiments are most
often tested using animals
21. Discuss three important principles in making generalizations about populations on the basis of samples.
22. Discuss the importance of random assignment and control techniques in research.
23. If your level of test anxiety goes down as your time spent studying for the exam goes up, would you say these
events are positively or negatively correlated? Explain your reasoning.
24. Identify two pitfalls in thinking that make intuition and common sense untrustworthy.
25. Pick five of the seven perspectives and give an example of how they would explain love in an individual.
26. Explain the differences between a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist.