Question 1

_____ psychology research fulfills two purposes, including understanding the behavior of animals and applying that understanding to human beings.

Accepted Answer

Comparative psychology focuses on studying the behavior and mental processes of different species, especially non-human animals, and compares these findings to human psychology to understand both similarities and differences. This approach helps in understanding human behavior by looking at it in the context of the broader animal kingdom.

Question 2

Psychoanalysis was created by:

Accepted Answer

Psychoanalysis, a method of treating mental disorders and also a theory of how the human mind works, was developed by Sigmund Freud in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Question 3

Liam was diagnosed with depression and feels he would benefit from medication. Liam would need to make an appointment with a:

Accepted Answer

Psychiatrists are medical doctors who specialize in diagnosing and treating mental health conditions, including prescribing medication. Clinical psychologists, clinical social workers, and counseling psychologists can provide therapy but cannot prescribe medication.

Question 4

Researchers tell their possible participants enough about the study beforehand to enable them to make an educated decision about whether to participate; this is an ethical requirement called:

Accepted Answer

Informed consent is the ethical requirement that ensures participants are fully informed about the procedures and risks involved in a study before they agree to participate. This allows them to make an educated decision about their participation.

Question 5

Psychologists employ the _____ method when conducting research.

Accepted Answer

Psychologists use the scientific method to conduct research, which involves forming a hypothesis, collecting data through observation and experimentation, and drawing conclusions based on the evidence.

Question 6

You believe that using chemical pesticides labeled as toxic in your home garden is perfectly safe for the environment because that is what people in your parents', grandparents', and great-grandparents' generations believed. Your belief BEST exemplifies which kind of thinking error?

Accepted Answer

The antiquity fallacy refers to the error in reasoning that suggests something is true or better simply because it has been believed or practiced for a long time. In this scenario, the belief that using toxic chemical pesticides is safe for the environment because it was believed to be so in past generations exemplifies this fallacy.

Question 7

The name of the organization at each university or research center that protects research participants from harm is called the:

Accepted Answer

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) is the organization responsible for protecting the rights and welfare of human research participants, ensuring that research is conducted ethically and in compliance with federal regulations.

Question 8

When psychologists focus on thinking, language, attention, memory, and intelligence, they are probably _____ psychologists.

Accepted Answer

Cognitive psychology is the branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn. As part of the larger field of cognitive science, this branch of psychology is related to other disciplines including neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.

Question 9

_____ psychology is one of the research specializations where psychologists focus on how people relate to one another.

Accepted Answer

Social psychology is the branch of psychology that deals with how individuals think about, influence, and relate to one another.

Question 10

Being able to access the inner workings of the brain to study the link between behavior and the biological functions is emphasized in:

Accepted Answer

Neuroscience focuses on understanding the brain and nervous system, including how they relate to behavior and cognitive functions.

Question 11

A psychologist studying a behavior, such as aggressiveness in monkeys, and researching to see how pervasive this behavior is across species would MOST likely be a _____ psychologist.

Accepted Answer

Comparative psychologists study the behavior of different species to understand the similarities and differences, and how these behaviors evolved. In this case, studying aggressiveness across species fits within the realm of comparative psychology.

Question 12

According to psychologists' research on academic success in college students, _____ is positively correlated with GPAs.

Accepted Answer

Engagement in extracurricular activities is positively correlated with GPAs because it helps students develop time management skills, a sense of community, and often reinforces academic learning through practical application.

Question 13

Dr. Phan is conducting research on how our preferences for certain kinds of food can be traced back to our ancestors. Dr. Phan is MOST likely what type of psychologist?

Accepted Answer

Dr. Phan is most likely an evolutionary psychologist because this field studies how evolutionary principles such as natural selection influence human thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, including preferences that could be traced back to our ancestors.

Question 14

Dr. McKibben is conducting research on adolescents and their usage of social media. She is keeping track of how many hours per day the adolescents spend on social media. This research is MOST likely an example of _____ research.

Accepted Answer

Dr. McKibben's research is descriptive because it aims to describe the behavior of adolescents regarding their social media usage without manipulating any variables or establishing cause-and-effect relationships.

Question 15

The purpose of replication is to:

Accepted Answer

Replication is essential in research as it involves repeating a study or experiment to verify its results. By successfully replicating a study, researchers can add credibility to the original findings, confirming their reliability and accuracy. This process helps to ensure that the results are not due to chance or specific conditions of a single study.

Question 16

When Dr. Carol decides she is going to do a study on the reasons for aggression in children, she decides to read what other researchers have discovered. This is called a _____ review.

Accepted Answer

This is called a literature review, where a researcher reads and synthesizes existing research and publications on a specific topic to understand what is already known before conducting their own study.

Question 17

When research psychologists focus on people's traits, they are MOST likely known as _____ psychologists.

Accepted Answer

Personality psychologists specialize in studying traits that characterize individuals and differentiate them from one another, making "personality" the correct answer.

Question 18

Marty describes himself as a positive psychologist. As such, he MOST likely sees psychology as a(n):

Accepted Answer

Positive psychology focuses on enhancing well-being, happiness, and the factors that contribute to a fulfilling life, rather than solely on treating mental illness or dysfunction.

Question 19

In experimental research examining the effects of two different kinds of therapy for adolescents with anxiety, which item would MOST likely serve as the independent variable?

Accepted Answer

The independent variable is the variable that is manipulated by the researcher to observe its effect on the dependent variable. In this scenario, the type of treatment given to the adolescents is manipulated to examine its effects on anxiety, making it the independent variable.

Question 20

Dr. Wu studied the effects of sugar consumption on hyperactive behavior in children. He found a correlation coefficient of +.72. What might this number tell us about the variables?

Accepted Answer

A correlation coefficient of +.72 suggests a strong positive relationship between the two variables, meaning as one variable increases, the other also increases. In this context, as sugar consumption increases, hyperactive behavior in children also increases.

Quiz 1: The Science of Psychology