Example
In a study on mood and helping behavior, Dr. Akthar had one group of participants receive compliments from a research assistant before being asked to donate money to a charity organization and had another group of participants receive criticism from a research assistant before being asked to donate money. Dr. Akthar measured the difference between the two groups of participants in the amount of money donated to the charity. Dr. Akthar conducted _____ research.
a.) correlational
b.) experimental
c.) survey
d.) case study
Experimental
Izzy is very anxious and tense. The type of drug that would help to calm her is a(n):
a.
GABA agonist.
b.
GABA antagonist.
c.
serotonin agonist.
d.
serotonin antagonist.
GABA antagonist
If Kristine wants to study the relationship between students’ exercise patterns and their sleep quality, she should use the
_____ method.
a.
experimental
b.
correlational
c.
case study
d.
naturalistic observational
correlational
After a biking accident, Pete has difficulty typing fluidly on his computer, although he has no trouble producing or
comprehending language. Pete’s _____ was likely to have been injured in the accident.
a.
medulla
b.
thalamus
c.
hippocampus
d.
cerebellum
cerebellum
Once the level of electrical activity in a neuron reaches _____, an action potential will occur.
a.
the excitatory level
b.
the synapse
c.
the spinal cord
d.
threshold
threshold
When Mirna grabbed her hot plate from the microwave, she immediately removed her hand from it (she subsequently realized that the plate was very hot). This reflexive behavior was initiated by neurons in Mirna’s:
a.) sensory cortex
b.) motor cortex
c.) spinal cord
d.) thalamus
Spinal cord
Dr. Eng is conducting a study on the effects of exercise on depression. He has the treatment group jog together in a
park for 30 minutes 5 times a week for 2 months. The control group watches TV together in Dr. Eng’s lab during the
same time periods. The results show that, after 2 months, the treatment group has a lower average level of depression
than the control group. Which of the following is a potential confound in this experiment?
a.
exercise vs. TV
b.
depression vs. anxiety
c.
being outside vs. inside
d.
jogging vs. sitting
being outside vs. inside
When Venus wants to swing her tennis racquet, her _____ is activated.
a.
somatic nervous system
b.
autonomic nervous system
c.
endocrine system
d.
parasympathetic nervous system
somatic nervous system
Priya’s results show that there is a correlation between childhood obesity and time spent watching television. However,
Priya further uncovers that parental stress levels predict both childhood obesity and time children spend watching
television. In this study, parental stress is a(n):
a.
third variable
b.
confound
c.
independent variable
d.
dependent variable
third variable
Dr. Musa just read an article describing an experiment on the effect of doing a morning meditation on the stress level of
students in elementary schools. She wants to replicate this study, but the authors of the article did not specify how
they measured students’ stress. Therefore, this study is lacking:
a.
an operational definition.
b.
an independent variable.
c.
generalizability.
d.
random assignment.
an operational definition
In order to study how well SAT scores predict college GPA, Dr. DeMartino should employ the _____ method.
a.) observational
b.) case study
c.) experimental
d.) correlational
Correlational
Botulism, a food-borne toxin that causes muscle paralysis, is a(n):
a.
dopamine antagonist.
b.
dopamine agonist.
c.
acetylcholine antagonist.
d.
acetylcholine agonist.
acetylcholine antagonist
After experiencing a stroke, Martine lost her ability to hear. Apparently, the stroke damaged her:
a.
reticular formation
b.
cerebellum
c.
medulla
d.
thalamus
thalamus
After learning in your psychology class that people tend to be attracted to others who are similar to themselves, you
share this finding with a friend. Your friend says, “That’s obvious – everyone knows that!” Your friend seems to be
exhibiting:
a.
introspection.
b.
the hindsight bias.
c.
the expectancy effect.
d.
response bias.
the hindsight bias
Drugs that block the reuptake of serotonin are used to treat:
a.
depression.
b.
schizophrenia.
c.
Alzheimer’s disease.
d.
Parkinson’s disease.
depression
In a study on the effects of emotional disclosure on happiness, while participants in a different condition are asked to write expressively about a traumatic experience they have had, participants in Hue’s condition are asked to write about something mundane (such as what they ate for breakfast). Neither Hue nor the researcher giving instructions to the
participants know whether she is in the experimental or control condition. This study is using _____ procedures and Hue is in the _____ condition.
a.) single-blind; experimental
b.) single-blind; placebo control
c.) double-blind; experimental
d.)double-blind,placebo control
double-blind,placebo control
In Dr. Patel’s study on the effect of caffeine on mood, she makes sure the only difference between the treatment and
control groups’ experience during the study is that the treatment group consumes caffeine, whereas the control group
does not. In doing so, Dr. Patel is using _____ to _____.
a.
random assignment; eliminate potential confounds
b.
experimental control; eliminate potential confounds
c.
random assignment; increase generalizability
d.
experimental control; increase generalizability
experimental control; eliminate potential confounds
In her experiment, Yun Ha has found a correlation of -.32 between the number of hours students spend on Facebook
per day and GPA. Yun Ha therefore recommends that students:
a.
increase their use of Facebook
b.
decrease their use of Facebook
c.
study more
d.
continue using Facebook at their current rate.
decrease their use of Facebook
The synaptic gap is:
a.
the place where two neurons touch.
b.
the space between two neurons.
c.
a chemical that is transmitted to the receiving neuron.
d.
the part of the receiving neuron that binds to neurotransmitters
the space between two neurons
After going for a long run, Matt experiences feelings of pleasure due to the increased release of:
a.
epinephrine
b.
acetylcholine
c.
endorphins
d.
GABA
endorphins
When Meredith finds out that her sister is in the hospital, her heart begins to beat faster, her digestion slows, and her
muscles become tense as a result of her _____ nervous system’s activity.
a.
central
b.
somatic
c.
sympathetic
d.
parasympathetic
Sympathetic
Dr. Jimenez wants to identify predictors of students’ GPA at graduation. She finds that the correlation between
conscientiousness (a personality trait) and GPA is 0.43, whereas the correlation between amount of time spent on
Facebook and GPA is -.37. She concludes that a high GPA is predicted by:
a.
high conscientiousness and lots of time on Facebook.
b.
high conscientiousness and little time spent on Facebook.
c.
low conscientiousness and lots of time on Facebook.
d.
low conscientiousness and little time spent on Facebook.
high conscientiousness and little time spent on Facebook
Mohammed is conducting an experiment on the effect of laughter on stress. ½ of his participants watch videos of Jay
Leno; the other ½ watch videos of the news. The participants who watch the news are in the _____.
a.
experimental condition
b.
control condition
c.
observational condition
d.
treatment condition
control condition
Ron is given Narcan, which is an _____ _____. As a result, he experiences pain throughout his body.
a.
acetylcholine agonist
b.
acetylcholine antagonist
c.
endorphin agonist
d.
endorphin antagonist
endorphin antagonist
George wants to find out about the relation between patient satisfaction and smoking behavior among all patients at a medical group. To get a group of participants for his study, George gets a list of all of the patients at the medical group and picks 100 of them by chance. George is using ____ so that he can ____.
a.
random assignment; rule out confounds
b.
random assignment; get a representative sample
c.
random sampling; rule out confounds
d.
random sampling; get a representative sample
random sampling; get a representative sample