Psychology MCQ: May 2020

Archive for May 2020

What characteristics do men tend to focus on in potential partners?

Answer: They tend to focus on physical attractiveness of potential partners.

What did the Walster et al study find?

Answer: they used a dance to assess students reactions to their partners on a blind date.
People who rated were rated highly attractive by independent observers, were found to be more liked by your date.

Is physical attractiveness important when it comes to relationships?

Answer: Yes, although people refuse to admit it, it does matter.
Wakil et al found that 32 desirable traits for a partner men ranked physical appearance 12th, women ranked it 22nd.

What did the Dutton & Aaron (1974) study find?

Answer: People anticipating electric shocks rated members of the opposite sex as being more attractive.
Another study they conducted involved men crossing a ravine by a narrow rope bridge, a river, a sturdy bridge, were met female experimenter.
Those who crossed the deep ravine were more likely to ring the womens phone number and ask for a date.

What did the White et al (1974) study find?

Answer: They found that men who ran on the spot, tended to rate women as being more attractive.

What does seem to work in making people tend to view others as attractive?

Answer: Research indicates that people who are emotionally aroused, tend to rate others as more attractive.

How did Reis (1997) find that proximity doesn't always work?

Answer: They found that differences, whether that be in personality, conflict of interests, value differences, status differencials can ALL lead to antagonism.

What did Mita et al. find? (photos and images in a mirror)

Answer: If the claim that if merely repeated exposure to a stimulus that enhanced our liking then we should prefer photos of our facial images as we see them in a mirror.
Found that we generally like what we see in the mirror, but not in the photographs.
Our friends will tend to prefer our photographs.

Why should proximity be so important?

Answer: The mere exposure effect Zajonc: Repeated exposure to any stimulus makes it more appealing.
- whether that be faces, photos, languages, and tunes, even letter from their own name.
The more people are exposed to faces, photos, languages and tunes the more they like them.

Is it true that the people we see more often we are more likely to fall in love with?

Answer: Yes, we tend to like people we see a lot.

What evidence is there proximity and propinquity?

Answer: Mcknight in an Australian sample found that 83% of people met their 'special partner' in a familiar setting, and 6% in just a casual setting.

What theoretical perspectives can educational psychology research take?

Answer: Cognitive, behavioural, social cognitive theory and humanism.

Did most students report using evidence-based study techniques?

Answer: No, they mainly reported using 'repeated reading' which is not an evidence based technique.
Self-test is an evidence based technique.

What type of questions did Karpicke et al's study on strategies in student learning?

Answer: They used open-ended questions asking students to list study strategies they used.
predicted that few would use practicing self-testing/having to recall the information.

What is the testing effect?

Answer: More will be remembered the more you test yourself on it compared to merely reading/reviewing it

In studies that have assessed the best study technique, what has been found to be the best?

Answer: Practice testing - self-testing or taking practice tests.
Distributed practice - implementing a schedule of practice that spreads out study techniques over time. Space out study sessions to retain knowledge.

Have the idea of knowing learning styles been supported?

Answer:
They have little emperical support.
Study - found that people who rated themselves as high in a particular learning style correlated with their performance on tasks.
BUT this did not mean learning styles are increasing their performance - it is people's perceptions of how they learn that influences performance.

What are learning styles?

Answer: the idea that certain modalities are better suited for different types of learners

In general, what is the cue utilization hypothesis?

Answer: the effect of stress or increased levels of physiological arousal on attentional processing of information.

What evidence exists of extrinsic cues in the 'Cue utilization hypothesis'?

Answer:

A research study that measured study conditions.
Showed people underestimate how well they do in tests.
The more study lists given to people the better they perform.
People tend to discount study conditions and put emphasis on characteristics

Which cue part of the 'Cue Utilization hypothesis' matters the most?

Answer: Intrinsic.
Shown through effects of item difficulty - people tend to underestimate their performance.

What are Mnemonic cues?

Answer: Study techniques a person can use to help improve the ability to remember something.
Mnemonics are strategies that can be modified to fit a variety of learning content.
It is part of the 'Cue Utilization hypothesis' concerned with how we form JOL's.

What are extrinsic cues?

Answer: It is how you structure study sessions and study techniques you use.
It is part of the 'Cue Utilization hypothesis' concerned with how we form JOL's.

What are intrinsic cues?

Answer: This is the characteristics of the material we are studying/learning.
It is part of the 'Cue Utilization hypothesis' concerned with how we form JOL's.

How are 'JOLs' formed?

Answer: Through Cue utilization hypothesis that involved intrinsic, extrinsic and maemonic cues.

What is 'JOLs'?

Answer: It is a metacognitive assessment of our own understanding and ability to recall information.
This is something we often do naturally - know whether we need to pay attention to a particular topic we don't understand.

What did McInerney (2005) determine are the four historical basic emphases in edu psych research?

Answer:

1. Cognitive Psychology - memory and learning - helping to do this.
2. Behavioural Psychology - Skinner tested observable behaviour.
3. Social Cognitive theory - how do people feel about their learning (not outcome)?
4. Humanism

Do educational psychology practioners just focus on educational outcomes or are there other areas?

Answer: There are other areas. Although the main focus is to improve school based/educational outcomes, they can also work within the social environment of schools - helping children show resilience and make friends.

How can educational psychology practitioners apply their knowledge of effective education?

Answer: They can develop and implement programmes to be applied to schools.

What do educational psychology practitioners do?

Answer:

- understand classroom and school environments and the operation of schools/agencies
- apply principles of learning to development/comptence of schools.
- consult with educators/professionals regarding cognitive, affective, social and behavioural performance - know what is effective.

What are the two things ed psychologists can be?

Answer: Practitioners and/or researchers.

Who was the founder of Educational based psychology? What did he do?

Answer: Founder - Lightner Witmer.
In 1900, he was the first to start looking at how children learn and evidence based interventions for school difficulties.

What is the main aim of educational psychology?

Answer: To improve educational processes and outcomes.

What are some forms of therapy?

Answer: individual, couples, Family (common in treating younger children), groups that work on anger management, alcohol abuse.

What is an Eclectic approach to treating mental illness?

Answer: A therapist will select a technique from various types of therapy, to design a treatment that best suits each particular case. The goal in doing this is to meet the individual needs of a patient, so the mental disorder/illness is better targeted/treated.

What are cognitive approaches to treating mental illnesses?

Answer: How we think usually dictates how we feel and behave. How you interpret a situation dictates how you feel about it. The goals in cognitive therapy are to try identify these manipulative thoughts and change them.

What does Behavioural Therapy do?

Answer: This focuses on the present and tries to extinguish these non-effective behaviours.
One of the main methods used is 'disensitization', which is putting the person closer and closer to what their phobia is based on.

What do Psychodynamic treatments do?

Answer: They focus on the past.
Were generated by Froid.
Therapist and Patient will work together to identify 'hidden blocks'.
It is not a very popular method because it is difficult for a psychologist to study the unconscious.

What do Biomedical treatments in reagrds to mental health disorders refer to?

Answer: Treatments that can only be administered by a doctor or physician. They will likely see the mental illness as a disease. They are treatments that are via medication. rarely neurosurgery.

When defining abnormal behaviour, how is self harm/ harm to others related?

Answer: Some individuals will certainly have a heightened desire/risk of to hurt themselvesHowever, the vast majority of those with mental health disorders do not harm themselves.

When defining abnormal behaviour, how is impairment related?

Answer: This would be cognitive impairment that is perhaps observable. However, there are individuals that are not necessarily impaired in function and are able to conform their conduct In society.

When defining abnormal behaviour, how is distress related?

Answer: Individuals may have a mental health disorder because they are mentally suffering. But this is not sufficient for all mental disorders. Someone with narcissistic personality disorder is unlikely to show any distress. Some people act a certain way because of this disorder and do not see it as wrong or abnormal, so will not all show distress.

When defining abnormal behaviour, how is contextual deviance related?

Answer: Something may be considered abnormal if it is deviating from how we expect people to behave in the cultural or social environment we are in. This must be approached with caution, as departure from social or cultural context does not always equate to them having a mental/abnormal disorder. If a woman deviates from her expected social role of being housewife, and becomes a race car driver this is not abnormal.

How do you solve the problem of 'order effects' in a within-subjects design?

Answer: by counterbalancing.

If an extraneous variable is causing differences between groups, what would this be called?

Answer: A confounding variable.

What could cause a third unknown factor influencing you're results?

Answer: If participants have not been randomly assigned to groups, there may be subject variables that are influencing the groups.

Which type of experiment does not allow you to explain the results?

Answer: Quasi experiment, as the factors are not able to be manipulated by the experimenter.

Which type of experiment allows you to explain and predict you're results?

Answer: True experiment

What is counterbalancing?

Answer: An attempt to control for the effects of order in a repeated measures design: half the participants experience the conditions in one order, and the other half in the opposite order.
The two groups are split - hald experiencing one condition, while half experience the other.
Practice effects will be averaged out.

What is a practice effect?

Answer: Never done task before, over time become better at the task.
By the time you get to sleep deprived condition, able to perform the task because has had practice.

What is an 'order effect'?

Answer: The order in which participants experience the levels.
By the last task is performed participants may feel sick of it, may not be performing with fall attention which can effect the results.

How is a within-subjects design a solution to the problem of increase in error variance/extraneous subject variables?

Answer: Because participants are experiencing all levels of the IV, it is easier to detect differences between the conditions.
The characteristics each person is bringing into the experiment is going to be consistent across all the levels of IV.

Why is it that between subjects design may have an increase in error variance?

Answer: Because participants are experiencing different levels/conditions, it becomes harder to detect the differences in the design that may be producing error variance.

What is the difficulty when it comes to an increase in error variance in between-subjects design?

Answer: It is hard to determine whether the error is from the general variability of performance of particpants, or if it has been created due to our own manipulations within the experiment.

What does participant variability lead to in between subjects design?

Answer: Increase in error variance - going to make it harder to determine whether error variance is arising from the general variability all people have within experiments or if it has been due to our manipulation.

What is a way in stopping the 'order effect' within a within-subjects design?

Answer: Can stop this through counterbalancing.

What is a problem with a within-subject design?

Answer: Order effects.
The order in which participants experience the levels.
By the last task is performed participants may feel sick of it, may not be performing with fall attention which can effect the results.

What is the benefit of a within-subjects design?

Answer: it reduces error variance by making it easier to detect small systematic differences between treatment conditions.

What is a within-subjects design?

Answer: Each subject is tested in every level of the IV.
They are experiencing all the experimental factors of the experiment.

Does random assignment and matching eliminate confounding variables?

Answer: No.
No matter what we do people are always going to behave or react differently to different stimuli.

What could be a problem in making subject variables a control variable?

Answer: It reduces the generalissimo of the statements we can make about our experiment.
Can say the results apply to ONLY females.

What is another way to control for extraneous subject variables that have potential to become confounds?

Answer: To make the potential subject variable a control variable.
E.g If gender might have an impact on the study, then could make the study only females.

What is a confounding variable?

Answer: a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment and be influencing the results.
E.g too much males in one experimental group, could change the effect of one of the IV's so not able to see true results.

What is matching?

Answer: important subject variables are matched/or eliminated in the treatment conditions. but certain subject variables that have the potential to become confounds are controlled for.
E.g if there are too many men in one team, could become a confound.

What is another way to prevent extraneous subject variables becoming confounds?

Answer: Through the process of matching.

How do you control for subject variables that may become a confound?

Answer: Randomly assign to conditions.

How might subject variables (height, gender, age, weight) in a between subjects design become a confound?

Answer: if one group has one particular subject variable, may perhaps be older than the other group, then it is effecting how the participants respond/may be responding differently which will effect the results.

What is a between subjects design?

Answer: Groups are independent of one another and each participant is tested in only one level of the IV.
E.g drug trialling - participants are randomly assigned and tested with only one of the drugs/treatment groups.

How is a demand characteristic something that can become an issue for Independent Variables?

Answer: Because people believe there are 'demands' for a certain behaviour, it influences participants behaviour.
They are no longer acting naturally/are trying to please the experimenter on how they may be expected to perform.

What is a demand characteristic?

Answer: Demand characteristic's are particular cues in a new situation that people interpret as 'demands' for a particular behaviour.

What does a double blind study involve?

Answer: When neither the experimenter nor the particpants are aware which condition participants have been assigned to, in order to stop bias/placebo.

What does a single blind study involve?

Answer: This is where a control group is used to measure the placibo effect, but the group is not made aware which group they are in.

What are two ways to prevent the placebo effect from occurring?

Answer: Single blind study and double blind study - both involving control groups.

How might the placebo effect cause issues with independent variables?

Answer: If certain factors can influence how people perceive the experiment then it can also influence their behaviour.
Not acting how they would naturally behave within the assigned condition.

What are placebo effects?

Answer: This is where people's beliefs about what will happen actually influence their behaviour.

Why are control groups important in order to prevent issues with Independent Variables?

Answer: If you are studying the effectiveness or improvement of something, you are only able to see how effective it is only by comparing.

If you have the IV of X and observe the results of Y, what is the fourth explanation for this?

Answer: - Chance.
There are sometimes things that we cannot control for within an experiment.
E.g Looking at effect of graphic car accident adds - saw a decrease in crashes
No one took into consideration the natural drops and highs in accidents.

If you have the IV of X and observe the results of Y, what is the third explanation for this?

Answer: - There could be an unknown 3rd factor determining which level the IV participants are in. (confounding variable)
E.g Relationship between smoking and cancer.
Higher rate of cancer in smokers than non-smokers.
Another factor? stress - can motivate people to smoke/smoke more often.

If you have the IV of X and observe the results of Y, what is the second explanation for this?

If you have the IV of X and observe the results of Y,
what is the second explanation for this?

Answer: The observed difference on the dependent/measured variable is determining what level of the IV particpants are in.

If you have the IV of X and observe the results of Y, what is the first explanation for this?

Answer: That the difference between the levels of the IV are directly responsible for the difference between the groups for DV.

What is the only way you are able to conclude that there is a causal relationship between an independent variable and the pattern of results?

Answer: All participants must have been randomly assigned to the groups.
So it must have been a true/manipulated experiment.

Are you able to conclude that there is a causal relationship between an independent variable and the pattern of results in a Quasi experiment?

Answer: No, because you have not been able to manipulate the IV - or even randomly assign to groups.

What is a true experiment?

Answer: a controlled manipulation; manipulation removes directionality; random assignment removes 3rd variable, best way to do an experiment

A Quasi experiment allows you to be able to predict and explain results. True or False?

Answer: False.

What is an independent variable?

Answer: The experimental factor(s) that distinguishes your groups (being manipulated by the experimenter.

What are levels of an IV?

Answer: They are different conditions of an independent variable.
Are labels that help us distinguish between the groups of an IV.

If we are wanting to conduct an experiment testing three different drugs in treating cancer, what would be the IV and the levels of this experiment?

Answer: The independent variable would be the drug and the levels would consist of the three different drugs.

What is another word for an indpendent variable and why?

Answer: It is also called a manipulated variable because the experimenter is able to manipulate the IV and its different levels.
You can choose which people go where in things like memory tests.

What does a subject variable refer to?

Answer: This is where the factors are not directly manipulated by the experimenter. There are certain characteristics that participants have that experimenters cannot control for.
E.g if you are conducting an experiment between right handers and left handers - can't dictate where they go.

If you are wanting to conduct a study where you are comparing the life expectancy of rural v urban dwellers, is this a manipulated or subject variable?

Answer: It is subject.

What is a True Experiment?

Answer: Factor that is directly manipulated by the experimenter that enables you to be able to predict AND explain your results.

What is a Quasi Experiment?

Answer: This is a subject variable that means the factors are not able to be directly manipulated by the experimenter.

If you were developing a new test to screen applicants for the New Zealand Police, it would be most important that the test showed a high level of:

A. faith validity.
B. face validity
C. construct validity
D. test-retest validity

Answer: C

An organizational psychologist has asked you for advice on which test(s) to use for screening fire fighter applicants. In particular, they want a test that can identify individuals who show abnormal functioning. Which test would you recommend for them?

A. Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).
B. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory 2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF).
C. The OCEAN Five Factor Model Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism).
D. NEO Personality Inventory 3 (NEO-PI-3).

Answer: B

Which type of work would be most likely to be done by someone who explicitly labels themselves as an exercise psychologist?

A. Developing a training plan to help a non-athlete take up recreational jogging using a walk/run plan.
B. Clinical interventions with elite gymnasts who show symptoms of eating disorders.
C. Working with parents of junior athletes and teaching them how to identify early warning signs of possible psychological issues.
D. Teamwork building with the local rugby team that has entered the new Under 85kg National Club Cup.

Answer: A

According to recent meta-analyses (as reported in Terry, 2011), which of the following sports psychology phenomena has the largest effect?

A. The effect of exercise on body image.
B. The effect of exercise on depression.
C. The effect of mood on performance.
D. The effect of anxiety on performance.

Answer: B

Which of the following best summarises Triplett's dynamogenic theory explaining the superior performance of cyclists in the presence of others?

A. Other cyclists help with energy conservation.
B. Competitive instinct releases energy.
C. The presence of others reduces anxiety.
D. Repetitive tasks allow for controlled bursts of high performance.

Answer: B

A common disadvantage of electronic health records is:

A. Patients only have a single health record, which means they cannot misrepresent their medical history when attending a new health practice.
B. Patients are required to opt-in to the system voluntarily, and effectiveness of the system will be reduced if uptake is low.
C. Health professionals often face increased administrative burden, including being expected to type notes during consultations with patients.
D. They generate large quantitative datasets for public health researchers, which are hard to analyse statistically.

Answer: C

A 2019 report showed that a common treatment injury in the Southern DHB region was 'pressure injuries', which involve a localized injury to the skin and/or underlying tissue (usually over a bony prominence) as a result of pressure, or pressure in combination with shear and/or friction. This type of injury would be most likely to involve:

A. Lapses
B. Skill-based mistakes
C. Knowledge-based mistakes
D. Violations

Answer: B

Which type of following scenarios be most likely to involve an error of omission?

A. A patient experiences a pressure injury during a surgical procedure.
B. A patient experiences an adverse reaction to prescribed medication, because the wrong dose was administered.
C. A patient is sent home from their GP s office as having a cold, and then 36 hours later is hospitalised with meningitis.
D. A patient is incorrectly diagnosed with cancer, based on a false positive test.

Answer: C

The quote 'errors are not so much causes as consequences' implies that:

A. errors are often not accidental but are actually caused by violations.
B. errors are the last and often least manageable link in a chain of events.
C. human error is inevitable.
D. accidents are not truly caused by errors, but by unsafe acts.

Answer: B

Using Reason's (2005) taxonomy of human failures, a treatment injury that occurred because of inadequate pre-operative assessment would be most appropriately classified as a:

A. rule-based error
B. knowledge-based error.
C. skill-based error.
D. system-based error.

Answer: A

We can anticipate that a serious design-induced error when flying will occur if:

A. Both criticality and likelihood ratings are low.
B. The criticality of the error is high and its likelihood rating is low.
C. The criticality of the error is low and its likelihood rating is high.
D. Both criticality and likelihood ratings are high.

Answer: D

Which of the following tasks would NOT be considered a vigilance task?

A. A cytotechnologist in the lab checking pap smear samples for potential abnormalities.
B. An air traffic controller monitoring flight paths of multiple aircraft to detect potential collisions.
C. A health practitioner conducting swabs to screen patients for COVID-19.
D. A baker inspecting decorative cookies to ensure that all of them have the correct decorations.

Answer: C

It is most appropriate to use automation:

A. in moderation, i.e. a moderate level of automation regardless of task type.
B. adaptively, depending on the task and current circumstances.
C. for information acquisition tasks, but not information analysis tasks.
D. for decision selection, but not for action implementation.

Answer: B

What would be the most effective way of reducing prevalence-related misses in security screening?

A. Educating screeners about the target prevalence effect so that they know how to avoid it.
B. Increasing actual target prevalence.
C. Artificially increasing target prevalence by inserting fake targets.
D. Providing false feedback on performance accuracy.

Answer: C

Why does the vigilance decrement occur?

A. Because vigilance tasks are repetitive and monotonous, which results in under-stimulation people zone out.
B. Because as we age, our cognitive abilities naturally decline, and we become worse at vigilance tasks.
C. Because of low target prevalence.
D. Because vigilance tasks are stressful and cognitively demanding.

Answer: D

Which of the following is NOT a limitation of research exploring the relationship between age and driving anger?

A. There is likely to be an interaction between age and sex, and previous samples have not included a sufficient representation of both sexes across diverse age ranges.
B. Research examining on-road anger has mostly included young drivers, and true age differences are less likely to be apparent when using such small age ranges.
C. Research examining on-road anger has focused almost exclusively on car drivers, ignoring other road users.
D. Different jurisdictions allow drivers to get their licence at different ages, which may in turn affect the relationship between age and driving anger.

Answer: C

The New Zealand government allows young drivers to reduce the amount of time spent on their restricted licence from 18 months to 12 months if they complete an approved course, such as a defensive driving course. Is this policy appropriate, based on research evidence, and why?

A. No, because the DeKalb study showed that driver training results in poorer safety outcomes.
B. No, because accelerating licensure (time discounts) has been consistently associated with increased violations and crash risk.
C. Yes, because drivers need to learn procedural skills to be safe on the roads.
D. No, because other forms of driver training may be more appropriate than defensive driving.

Answer: B

Mike occasionally drives home from the pub even though he suspects he might be over the legal blood alcohol limit. According to the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ), this behaviour would be classified as a(n):

A. Error
B. Ordinary Violation
C. Exceptional Violation
D. Lapse

Answer: B

Which of the following strategies would be an effective and cost-effective (i.e. relatively cheap) method for improving road safety, with no major disbenefits?

A. Reduce the amount people use their cars, as road deaths dropped dramatically during lockdown.
B. Require all learner drivers to complete mandatory skid training.
C. Paint additional road markings that make the road appear narrower, so people will instinctively slow down.
D. Implement a social media campaign advising everyone to driver slower and pay more attention while driving.

Answer: C

Individuals who rate highly on the personality trait of conscientiousness would be most likely would be most likely to engage in which type of aberrant driving behaviour, as classified by the Manchester Driver Behaviour Questionnaire (DBQ)?

A. Ordinary Violations.
B. None, they would likely score low on all subscales.
C. Errors
D. Lapses

Answer: B

Behaviour is to discrimination as attitude is to:

A. cognition
B. affect
C. prejudice
D. instinct

Answer: C

Should adolescents be allowed to play very violent video games? This debate brings into conflict which two opposing social psychological views?

A. The contact hypothesis versus social evolutionary theory
B. Psychodynamics versus the Jungian archetype
C. The inverted U-curve hypothesis versus the J-curve
D. Social learning theory versus the cathartic hypothesis

Answer: D

Superordinate goals will not reduce intergroup conflict if:

A. the goal is not a shared threat
B. the groups are ethnically diverse.
C. the groups fail to achieve the goal.
D. a monetary incentive is not provided.

Answer: C

Which of the following is a notable finding from Sherif's summer camps field study?

A. The boy's personality types were either authoritarian or dogmatic which caused the conflict
B. The losers of the intergroup camp games and competitions were usually the ones that expressed the greater intergroup aggression
C. Prejudice, discrimination and ethnocentrism arose as a consequence of perceived intergroup conflict
D. Simple contact between members of opposing groups did not improve intergroup relations

Answer: D

According to Zimbardo (1970) deindividuation:

A. induces behaviour that is normative in our society.
B. makes us very conscious of who we are.
C. heightens concern for social evaluation.
D. provides a cloak of anonymity that diffuses individual responsibility.

Answer: D

Ebenezer is self-employed, lives in his mother's house, and somehow manages to avoid paying any form of tax. He swans off for summer holidays in the national parks, uses public toilets (but only the free ones), and has even managed to obtain free medical insurance. Ebenezer is a(n):

A. easy rider.
B. free rider.
C. self-monitor.
D. compensator.

Answer: B

A representative from a radio station calls you up, saying that they are doing some 'market research' about the sorts of listeners that tune into their station. The representative just wants to ask you what your favourite song is right now. When you give him your answer he thanks you for your time and hangs up. A week later the same representative calls up and asks if they can now conduct a 20-minute interview with you about the music you listen to and what you would like to hear on their station. The radio station is using:

A. the reciprocity principle.
B. the foot-in-the-door tactic.
C. ingratiation.
D. intimidation.

Answer: B

Asch's study on conformity found that people conformed in a group pressure situation even when:

A. they believed the others were wrong.
B. others seemed to know what they were saying.
C. the task was difficult.
D. there was no basis for thinking anything.

Answer: A

Which of the following did NOT influence obedience in Milgram's research?

A. Immediacy of the authority
B. Proximity to the victim
C. Peer pressure
D. Dispositional traits

Answer: D

Public compliance is:

A. a change in norms resulting from social influence.
B. a change in thinking resulting from behaviour.
C. a change in group norms resulting from conformity.
D. a change in behaviour resulting from social influence.

Answer: D

In the theory of reasoned action, a person's behaviour is best predicted by:

A. the idea that attitude scales should be as brief as possible.
B. the rationality of human behaviour.
C. asking about the person's intentions to act.
D. how behaviour determines attitudes.

Answer: C

Arthur never goes to church, and therefore knows that he is not interested in religion. This is an example of the logic underlying:

A. cognitive dissonance
B. self-perception theory
C. emotional lability.
D. belief in a just world.

Answer: B

According to Forgas' affect-infusion model:

A. people recall information more readily if it is NOT congruent with their present mood.
B. people recall information more readily if it is congruent with their present mood.
C. moods modify the way we see ourselves to a greater degree for central rather than peripheral traits.
D. moods modify our judgements by direct access and motivate processing information.

Answer: B

Research on the mere exposure effect has shown that:

A. what people may think of as provocative clothing has changed over time.
B. 'too many cooks spoil the broth' has a kernel of truth.
C. it is important to understand decision-making strategies.
D. attraction to an object increases as we encounter it more often.

Answer: D

In a classic study of predicting discriminatory behaviour based on prejudiced attitudes, LaPiere (1934) found that:

A. generalised prejudice towards Chinese was not matched by discrimination against LaPiere's Chinese travel companions
B. the Chinese travel companions were often offered jobs in the kitchen
C. Chinese couples wanting accommodation were favoured by Chinese managers, although LaPiere got good service as well
D. generalised prejudice towards Chinese was matched by discrimination against LaPiere's Chinese travel companions

Answer: A

Automatic judgements are to attitudes as is/are to .

A. unconscious; conscious
B. introversion; extraversion
C. implicit measures; explicit measures
D. the observer; the actor

Answer: C

Arthur's attitude towards binge drinking is accessible if he:

A. is not sure of reasons why it is a good or a bad thing.
B. can retrieve his attitude towards binge drinking from memory.
C. is sure of reasons why it is a good or a bad thing.
D. once told Bill what he thinks about binge drinking.

Answer: B

In Petty and Cacioppo's (1986) elaboration-likelihood model:

A. a peripheral route is used when elaboration is high and information processing is high.
B. a central route is used when the message is delivered in visual form.
C. a central route is used when elaboration is low and information processing is low.
D. a peripheral route is used when attention to the argument of a message is low.

Answer: D

Brett was listening to his favourite rock band while reading a magazine advertisement for a new body lotion 'designed to make your partner crazy for you!' Sonia read the same advertisement in a quiet corner of the room. Brett thought he had better check out this new body lotion, but Sonia had forgotten about it as she turned the next page. This sounds very much like the effects of:

A. the mere exposure effect
B. classical conditioning
C. instrumental conditioning
D. observational learning

Answer: B

In the literature dealing with persuasive communications, relates to the source of a message, whereas relates to aspects of the message.

A. status; order of arguments
B. type of appeal; trustworthiness
C. race; intelligence
D. appeal; gender of audience

Answer: A

You are relaxing at the beach when a young guy races noisily past you into the water. He is tanned, skinny with frizzy blond hair. You shrug your shoulders and, using the ________ heuristic, you just 'know' that he is an immature 'surfie'.

A. regression
B. anchoring
C. availability
D. representativeness

Answer: D

Heidi is an exchange student from Sweden. Her host family told her to avoid the central city park 'because last week a weird-looking man was seen hanging around there'. Heidi, in her final year majoring in psychology, reasons that this advice is an instance of the:

A. availability heuristic.
B. fundamental attribution error.
C. self-serving bias.
D. representativeness heuristic.

Answer: A

Cognitive misers' are people who

A. think that everyone is after their possessions.
B. are short on brain power.
C. do not make much effort when they make judgements.
D. have great difficulty in relating emotionally to others.

Answer: C

The term 'self-handicapping' refers to:

A. a form of mental 'self-mutilation'.
B. consciously sabotaging yourself by not performing up to your potential.
C. seeking some cause other than yourself to account for an anticipated failure.
D. underperforming to gain sympathy and affection.

Answer: C

Which of the following is NOT a self-serving bias?

A. Self-satisfaction
B. Self-handicapping
C. Self-protection
D. Self-enhancement

Answer: A

People use schemas to process information. Schemas function to:

a. encode new information to fill in the missing gaps
b. encode old information and fill in the missing gaps
c. encode old information and find missing gaps
c. encode new information to find missing gaps.

Answer: B

According to Heider (1958), an example of a dispositional factor is:

a. ability
b. a transient emotion
c. a group norm
d. situations

Answer: A

Joy has just unexpectedly scored a ticket to Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' performed at the Vienna State Opera—a very posh affair! However, it is now 7.30pm following a hot summer's day of serious sightseeing, and Joy is dressed in T-shirt and shorts. The event starts at 8pm, so Joy has no time to get changed. To others in the audience, Joy is:

A. an outcast non-vividness stimulus
b. a subversive non-salient stimulus
c. a socially salient stimulus
d. a prototype vividness stimulus

Answer: C

People make a(n) ________ attribution for a person's behaviour when the behaviour is consistent, distinctive and when consensus is high.

a. external
b. internal
c. personal
d. none, they discount

Answer: A

Prototypes of social groups (e.g., teachers) that are shared by members of a social group (e.g., students) can be considered:

a. social beliefs
b. social attitudes
c. social stereotypes
d. group think

Answer: C

In Simons and Chabris's (2011) study on people's beliefs about memory, agreement with which of the following statements was not significantly influenced by level of education?

a. In my opinion, the testimony of one confident eyewitness should be enough evidence to convict a defendant of a crime.
b. Hypnosis is useful in helping witnesses accurately recall details of crimes.
c. People suffering from amnesia typically cannot recall their own name or identity.
d. People generally notice when something unexpected enters their field of view, even when they're paying attention to something else.

Answer: D

Which of the following statements is most true about evaluating evidence for a new policy?

a. Studies should use reliable and valid measurement.
b. It does not matter whether the study shows statistically significant results (p < .05).
c. Studies are invalid if they only use WEIRD participants.
d. Policies should only be based on studies with large standardised effect sizes (Cohen's d ≥ 0.8).

Answer: A

Which of the following would be considered an applied psychology research question?

a. Can humans complete two tasks simultaneously without cross-task interference?
b. Does listening to music interfere with studying?
c. What is the shortest duration of a visual stimulus that can be perceived?
d. Which area of the brain is responsible for colour perception?

Answer: B

Which of the following is not a limitation of incident databases such as the Aviation Safety Reporting System?

a. Not all incidents are reported.
b. Large qualitative databases are difficult to search and analyse.
c. Report writers may not provide adequate details.
d. The characteristics of each event differ.

Answer: D

Which of the following research questions would be best suited to using a 2x2 factorial design?

a. Does using a cell phone while driving affect standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP)?
b. Do older adults find banking easier in person, on the phone, on computer, or using a tablet?
c. Does using cannabis have a larger impact on driving speed or standard deviation of lateral position (SDLP)?
d. How do cannabis and alcohol affect driving performance, separately and together?

Answer: D

Thinking about Geissler's (1917) discussion of pure vs applied psychology, a commonality between the two is:

a. Both are seeking to demonstrate objective, universally valid scientific laws
b. Both focus on isolating key variables in the abstract
c. Both focus on extending knowledge for its own sake
d. Both can involve observation, measurement, comparison and experimentation

Answer: D

In which branch of applied psychology would you be most likely to find someone who evaluates the mental health status of people involved in legal proceedings?

a. Forensic psychology
b. Educational psychology
c. Clinical psychology
d. Health psychology

Answer: A

Which Division of the International Association of Applied Psychology would likely be most relevant to a researcher who is interested in how the built environment influences poverty and crime?

a. Division 3 - Psychology and Societal Development
b. Division 4 - Environmental Psychology
c. Division 9 - Economic Psychology
d. Division 10 - Psychology and Law

Answer: B

Which of the following would be considered an applied psychology research question?

a. Can humans complete two tasks simultaneously without cross-task interference?
b. Does the movement or positioning of our body affect the way we think?
c. How many items can we retain in our working memory?
d. Do computer users prefer using a traditional mouse, trackpad, keyboard shortcuts, or tablets?

Answer: D

Which Division of the International Association of Applied Psychology would likely be most relevant to an educator wanting to teach at a primary school?

a. Division 1 - Work and Organizational Psychology
b. Division 3 - Psychology and Societal Development
c. Division 4 - Environmental Psychology
d. Division 5 - Educational, Instructional and School Psychology

Answer: D