Psychology General
Studies
Correlations
Key Terms
General
100

Psychology is the (blank) study of human behavior and mental processes. (what word goes in the blank space?)

Psychology is the SCIENTIFIC study of human behaviour and mental processes.

100

What is the name of the variable that is measured in a study?

The dependent variable.

100

What type of a correlation does this picture represent?


a positive correlation

100

What is the definition of "psychology?"

The scientific study of human behaviour and mental processes.

100

The group in an experiment that receives a treatment that is expected to have an effect is called the ....(what)... group?

Treatment group

200

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and ...?

mental process / cognitive processes / cognition / internal processes (any of these terms is fine).

200

What is the name of the variable that is manipulated by the researcher/s in a study?

Independent variable

200

What type of correlation does this picture show?


Negative Correlation

200

When one variable increases, so does the other. What's this type of relationship between the variables called?

A positive correlation.

200

What is it called when you give someone a treatment (e.g. pill or injection) that has no biological effects but may have an effect if the person believes it will?

A placebo.

300

In psychology, is anecdotal or empirical evidence more valuable?

Empirical

300

What is the name given to a variable that might affect the dependent variable, but is not what the researchers are interested in studying?

Extraneous variable.

300

What type of correlation does this picture show?


No correlation

300

When one variable increases, the other decreases. What is this type of relationship between variables called?

Negative correlation.

300

Name one part of the brain that we will study in Criminology in our second unit (at least one part of the brain was mentioned in activities in the workbook)

frontal lobe or prefrontal cortex are both acceptable answers, as is the amygdala.

400

In the scientific approach to studying psychology, after we gather data and form a hypothesis, what's the next step?

Test the hypothesis.

400

Why are laboratory experiments used to investigate causational relationships?

Because extraneous variables can be controlled in a laboratory, so the IV can be isolated and is the only variable influencing the DV.

400

Research has found that as females students are exposed to an increased number of negative stereotypes about women in STEM, their performance on math exams decreases. What type of a correlation does this represent?

Negative correlation

400

What is a "phenomenon" in psychology?"

Anything that is commonly observed, especially if there is some uncertainty about its origin. Basically, if people commonly act or think in a particular way, it probably has a name and is an example of a phenomenon.

400

Name one neurotransmitter (at least one was mentioned in activities in this introduction unit).

Serotonin. Others include acetylcholine and dopamine.

500

What is the difference between a mental process and a cognitive process?

There is none.

500

What are two reasons why we might not be able to conclude a causational relationship from a study?

1) There are too many extraneous or confounding variables.

2) We do not know the direction of the relationship in the study (i.e. which variable is affecting which).

500

Researchers have found that high school students to use their executive functioning skills decreases between the ages of 16 and 18. They have also found that the teenage brain is going through a major developmental period in the frontal cortex (the region of the brain associated with executive functioning). Is this more likely a causal or correlational relationship. Justify your choice.

I would say causal, but your competitors get to be the ones who determine whether or not you get the 500 based on how convincing your justification was.

500

What is it called when we're not sure of the direction of influence in a relationship between two variables?

Bidirectional ambiguity

500

What is Ms. Anderson's cat's name?

Lady

M
e
n
u