All Free Psychology MCQs with Answers

• A. identifying the group to be questioned
• B. obtaining a representative sample of subjects to be questioned
• C. obtaining enough information in a short amount of time
• D. that it cannot reveal very much about signification psychological events in the lives of the people Try Science Kits

Explanation: Survey results can be distorted when the sample is not representative of the population being studied.

• A. clinical method; naturalistic
• B. correlational method: survey method
• C. experimental method: naturalistic observation
• D. clinical method; survey method

Explanation: A clinical method examines an unusual individual or event in depth, whereas a survey collects information from many people, usually…

• A. observer bias
• B. that it sets up an artificial situation
• C. that replies may not be accurate
• D. the self-fulfilling prophecy

Explanation: Survey respondents may forget, misunderstand, or deliberately misreport information, so their replies are not always accurate.

• A. double-blind
• B. single-blind
• C. self-fulfilling prophesy
• D. representative sampling

Explanation: In a single-blind procedure, participants do not know which treatment or method they receive, while the experimenter does know.

• A. he could do math
• B. he could add. but he could not subtract
• C. he was cued by the owner looking up or down
• D. none of these could be determined by observation

Explanation: Careful testing showed that Clever Hans was responding to subtle cues from his owner, such as changes in posture or gaze, rather than…

• A. acts out the proper behavior for the subjects
• B. deceives the subject as to the real purpose of the experiment
• C. unknowingly hints to subjects what is expected of them
• D. overtly tells the subjects how to respond

Explanation: An experimenter effect occurs when the researcher's expectations unintentionally influence participants, for example through hints about…

• A. All subjects get the experimental procedure
• B. Half the subjects get the experimental procedure, half the placebo, which they receive is known only to the experimenter
• C. Half the subjects get the experimental procedure, half the placebo; which they receive is not known to subjects or experimenter
• D. All subjects get the control procedure

Explanation: In a double-blind experiment, neither the participants nor the experimenter dealing with them knows who receives the treatment and who…

• A. there was no control group for comparison
• B. he has not calculated a correlation coefficient
• C. of the effect of the observer on the observed
• D. he does not specify his dosage of vitamin

Explanation: Without a control or comparison group, the friend cannot know whether his lack of colds resulted from vitamin C, chance, or other factors…

• A. the subject himself
• B. a measure of the subject's behavior
• C. the variable that the experimenter chooses to manipulate
• D. any unwanted variable that may adversely affect the subject's performance

Explanation: The independent variable is the factor deliberately changed by the experimenter to observe its effect on another variable.

• A. hypotheses
• B. experiments
• C. surveys
• D. theories

Explanation: A theory organizes related observations and explains how they fit together, often generating predictions for further testing.

• A. scientific observation
• B. the scientific method
• C. defining a scientific problem
• D. hypothesis generation

Explanation: The scientific method relies on observable evidence, precise operational definitions, and replicable procedures so that findings can be…

• A. independent
• B. extraneous
• C. dependent
• D. control

Explanation: If practice is manipulated and performance is measured as its outcome, performance is the dependent variable.

• A. He incorrectly inferred correlation from causation
• B. He incorrectly inferred causation from correlation
• C. He failed to measure the gravitational pull to test his hypothesis
• D. He has overlooked the placebo effect

Explanation: The researcher observes that two variables vary together and then concludes that one causes the other, which is an inference from…

• A. a negative correlation
• B. a zero correlation
• C. a positive correlation
• D. a perfect correlation

Explanation: The two measures move in the same direction: higher high-school performance is associated with higher college performance.

• A. -0.98
• B. 0.90
• C. 0.00
• D. 1.20

Explanation: Correlation strength is determined by the absolute value of the coefficient, so -0.98 is stronger than 0.90 because it is closer to either…

• A. private funding can never be obtained
• B. APA Ethical Review committees often do not approve of the research techniques.
• C. there is a certain amount of artificiality attached to it
• D. subjects are difficult to find for research projects

Explanation: Experimental research often uses highly controlled settings and procedures that differ from everyday life, creating artificiality and…

• A. allows mathematical relationships to be established
• B. provides a point of reference against which the behavior of the experimental group can be compared
• C. balances the experiment to eliminate all extraneous variables
• D. is not really necessaryTry Prep Courses

Explanation: A control group provides the baseline needed to judge whether the independent variable caused a change in the experimental group.

• A. clinical study
• B. experiment
• C. survey
• D. correlational study

Explanation: An experiment is the most powerful tool for testing cause and effect because the researcher manipulates an independent variable while…

• A. experimental correlation
• B. statistical linear analysist
• C. meta-analysis
• D. hypothetical analysisEnroll In Courses

Explanation: Meta-analysis statistically combines findings from many separate studies to estimate the overall strength and consistency of an effect.

• A. the presence or absence of music
• B. the students test scores
• C. the amount of time allowed the studying
• D. silence

Explanation: The amount of study time is extraneous because it could affect test scores without being the factor under investigation.