Perspectives and Research Design

Professor Ober carefully monitors and records the behaviors of children on school playgrounds to track the development of their physical skills. Professor Ober is engaged in:

• experimentation. 
• replication. 
• survey research.
• naturalistic observation. 

Researchers who study single individuals in depth in order to uncover general principles of thinking and behavior are using which research method?

• experimentation 
• correlational study
• naturalistic observation 
• case study

Which research design is focused on gathering information about self-reported perceptions or attitudes through questionnaires?

• survey method 
• correlational study 
• naturalistic observation 
• case study

A confounding variable:

• could influence the results of an experiment because of researcher bias.
• is a variable other than the independent variable that may influence the dependent variable. 
• is an outside influence affecting the results of a naturalistic observation study. 
• is the one factor the researcher changes between the control and experimental groups

Johnny is part of a study designed to test the ability of a pill to cure the migraines of people who experience chronic migraines. After a few days, Johnny finds that the pill has alleviated his migraines and he experiences far fewer than usual. However, unbeknownst to Johnny, the pill he has been taking is nothing more than a sugar pill. What effect is Johnny most likely under the influence of?

• The Stratified Effect
• The Self-Bias Effect
• The Placebo Effect
• The Psychoanalytic Effect

Dr. Schulte wants to investigate if aggressive behavior in children is increased if they view violent videos.  In this instance, the dependent variable is

• 
  violent videos
• 
  aggressive behavior
• 
  a placebo
• 
  the control condition

Operational definitions are used for which of the following reasons?

• They enable researchers to replicate studies by precisely describing the variables and how they are used.
• They exclude mental processes from being studied, as they are no longer considered part of the scientific study of psychology.
• They determine which test of statistical significance will be used to analyze the results of the experiment
• They determine whether the experiment is better suited for a laboratory or a field setting

Which correlation coefficient represents the strongest relationship between variables?

• -0.78
• 0.67
• 0.85
• -0.87

Carrie is struggling to balance her school, home, and social lives.  What type of psychologist would she go to for help?

• Clinical
• Counseling
• Cognitive
• Human Factors

Who is known as the "Father of Psychology?"

• Sigmund Freud
• Wilhelm Wundt
• William James
• John Locke