Psychology Foundations
What is psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes.
What research method uses numerical data, measurements and statistical analysis?
Quantitative research
What is the independent variable (IV) in an experiment?
The independent variable is the variable that the researcher deliberately manipulates or changes.
What is a correlational study?
A research method that investigates the relationship between two variables without manipulating them.
What is a questionnaire in psychological research?
A self-report research tool consisting of a set of questions used to collect information from participants.
What is the difference between behaviour and mental processes?
Behaviour refers to observable actions or responses, while mental processes are internal processes such as memory, attention, perception and thinking.
What type of research focuses on understanding people's experiences, interpretations and personal meanings?
Qualitative research.
What is the dependent variable (DV) in an experiment?
The dependent variable is the variable that the researcher measures to determine the effect of the independent variable.
What does a positive correlation indicate?
A positive correlation indicates that as one variable increases, the other variable tends to increase as well.
What is the difference between an open-ended question and a closed-ended question?
An open-ended question allows participants to respond in their own words, while a closed-ended question provides predefined response options.
A student is smiling, speaking and moving their hands while presenting in front of the class. Are these examples of behaviour or mental processes? Explain.
They are examples of behaviour because they are observable and can be recorded.
What is a sample in psychological research, and why do researchers use one?
A sample is the group of participants selected to take part in a study. Researchers use samples to investigate a larger population without having to study every individual.
A researcher investigates whether listening to classical music affects memory. One group listens to music before completing a memory test, while another group sits quietly. Identify the IV and DV.
IV: Listening condition (classical music or silence).
DV: Memory performance, measured by the number of words correctly recalled.
A researcher finds that as the number of hours students spend exercising increases, their reported stress levels tend to decrease. What type of correlation is this?
A negative correlation.
A questionnaire asks: "Don't you agree that students who sleep less are less productive?" What is the methodological problem with this question?
It is a leading question because its wording suggests a particular answer and may influence participants' responses.
A psychologist cannot directly observe a person's memory. How can the psychologist investigate this mental process scientifically?
By observing measurable behavioural indicators, such as performance on a memory test, and using these observations to infer the person's memory abilities.
A researcher investigates academic stress by studying only five students from one classroom. What methodological limitation could affect the generalizability of the findings?
The sample is very small and comes from a single classroom. Therefore, it may not adequately represent the wider population of students, limiting the extent to which the findings can be generalized.
Why is random allocation important when assigning participants to experimental and control groups?
Random allocation gives participants an equal chance of being assigned to each condition. It helps reduce pre-existing differences between groups and makes the groups more comparable.
What does a correlation coefficient of −0.85 indicate about the relationship between two variables?
It indicates a strong negative correlation. As one variable increases, the other tends to decrease. The coefficient does not establish causation.
What is social desirability bias, and how might it affect responses in a questionnaire about students' study habits?
Social desirability bias occurs when participants provide answers they believe are socially acceptable rather than answers that accurately reflect their behaviour. For example, students may report studying more hours than they actually do to appear responsible.
A researcher observes that a student avoids eye contact, speaks quietly and moves nervously during an oral presentation. The researcher concludes that the student is experiencing anxiety. Why should this conclusion be interpreted cautiously?
Because anxiety is a mental process or internal psychological state that cannot be directly observed. The behaviours may suggest anxiety, but they could have other explanations. Therefore, behavioural indicators do not provide absolute proof of an internal state.
wo psychologists conduct the same study using the same procedure. However, they obtain very different results. What research practice could help determine whether the original findings are consistent and dependable?
Replication. Repeating the study using the same or equivalent procedures helps determine whether the findings can be reproduced and whether they are reliable.
A researcher investigates whether caffeine improves concentration. The experimental group drinks coffee before completing a concentration test, while the control group drinks water. However, the experimental group completes the test in the morning, and the control group completes it in the afternoon. Explain the methodological problem and how it could affect the results.
Time of day is a potential confounding variable because it differs between the groups and could influence concentration. Therefore, differences in performance may be caused by the time of testing rather than caffeine. The researcher should test both groups under the same conditions and at comparable times.
A study finds a positive correlation between the number of hours adolescents spend using social media and their anxiety scores. A student concludes that social media use causes anxiety. Explain why this conclusion is scientifically incorrect and identify one possible third variable.
The conclusion is incorrect because correlation does not imply causation. The study only establishes that the variables are associated, not that one causes the other. A third variable, such as sleep quality, academic stress or pre-existing anxiety, could influence both social media use and anxiety scores.
A psychologist wants to investigate the relationship between hours of sleep and memory test scores among adolescents. Which type of graph should be used to represent the relationship? Explain how the graph should be organized and what pattern would indicate a positive correlation.
A scatterplot should be used because it displays the relationship between two quantitative variables.
X-axis: Hours of sleep.
Y-axis: Memory test scores.
Each participant is represented by one point.
A positive correlation would be indicated by an upward trend: as hours of sleep increase, memory scores also tend to increase.