Fundamentals of psychology

Tyler, a psychologist, believes that listening to classical music while studying will increase academic performance. This is an examples of a(n)

• Hypothesis

• Case study

• Experimental design

• Theory

Piaget based much of his theory of cognitive development on his observations of how his children interacted with the world as they grew. Piaget’s research method was _______ and his scientific goal was ________.

Which of the following is not one of the five questions that provide a strategy for critical thinking?

• Are there alternative ways of interpreting the evidence?

• What am I being asked to believe or accept?

• What evidence is available to support the assertion?

• What is the reputation of the researcher(s)?

After the magician pulled a rabbit from her hat, Audrey exclaimed, “I’d like to see her do that again!” In other words Audrey is challenging the _______ of the magician.

Jason answered a series of vocabulary and reading comprehension questions on a website. When he finished, the site gave him a rating of intelligence. “I don’t think that test really measured intelligence”, thought Jason. Jason is questioning the test’s

• Consistency

• Reliability

• Validity

• Datum

Researchers who want to find the best explanation of a phenomenon when they have several rival hypotheses should:

• Describe the correlation among the variables involved

• Conduct research in the real world instead of a laboratory

• Continue observing the phenomenon of interest until the best explanation becomes clear

• Conduct controlled research using experimental methods

Logan is interested in studying cooperation in children between the ages of two and six. He suspects that cooperation is greatest in groups of girls as opposed to groups of boys or co-ed groups. After carrying out his observation, he decides to examine the results to determine any relationships between gender and cooperation. Logan is planning to carry out a(n):

• Double-blind experiment

• Random assignment

• Experiment

• Correlational study

Psychologists are most likely to use case studies instead of other research methods when they wish to study

• People without being intrusive

• Group behaviour and public opinion

• Cause-effect relationships between variables

• Phenomena that are new, complex or rare

Which of the following is not one of the four main goals for researchers in psychology?

• Control and eliminate all maladaptive behaviour and mental processes

• Describe behaviour and mental processes

• Make predictions about behaviour and mental processes

• Explain how and why behaviour and mental processes occur

The measure of central tendency that is most affected by extremely high or extremely low scores is the _____