Psychology is defined as the scientific study of 

A. human nature. 

B. behavior and mental processes. 

C. groups of people. 

D. theories and research methods.

The two academic disciplines that contributed most to the birth of scientific psychology were

A. chemistry and physics.

B. astronomy and astrology.

C. biology and philosophy

D. literature and theology.

___ is usually credited with the founding of the first psychological laboratory.

A. Wilhelm Wundt

B. Hermann Hesse

C. Benjamin Franklin

D. B. F. Skinner 

The behaviorists got their name because they

A. specialized in teaching children good “behavior.” 

B. believed that behavior could only be studied in animals.

C. believed that the mind could not be observed; only overt behavior could be observed.

D. only studied their own behavior

Which of the following was NOT one of the goals of all science (as described in lecture)?

A. Describe

B. Control

C. Explain

D. Reject

The average cost of buying a house in southern California is usually expressed as a ___  because it is 

___ affected by a few multimillion dollar sales.

A. mean; not 

B. mean; strongly 

C. median; not

D. median; strongly

Mr. Graham gave a spelling test to his third grade class. The girls all tended to score about the same 

but the boys tended to score either very high or very low. From this you can conclude that the ___ had 

a higher ___ .

A. boys; mean

B. girls; mean 

C. boys; standard deviation

D. girls; standard deviation

The distribution of scores on the California High School Exit Examination is best described as

A. symmetrical.

B. positively skewed.

C. negatively skewed.

D. bimodal.

Researchers in Europe found that the number of storks found in a village was positively correlated 

with the number of people who live there. From this finding we can conclude that

A. storks bring babies (increasing the population).

B. babies bring storks.

C. neither of the above.

A district sales manager notes that her best salespersons make the fewest sales calls. In other words, 

there is ___ correlation between number of calls and the number of sales.

A. a positive

B. a negative

C. no

D. causative

Which expresses a stronger correlation, +.2 or -.7?

A. +.2

B. -.7

C. They express equally strong correlations.

D. It is impossible to say from the information given

Frederick’s weight is one standard deviation below the mean for boys his age. Therefore, ___% of the 

boys his age weigh more than Fredrick does.

A. 84

B. 50

C. 34

D. 16

According to the SQ3R method, the best way to begin studying a new chapter is to

A. reading it slowly, taking careful notes

B. think of as many questions as you can that relate to the subject matter.

C. wait until the movie comes out.

D. move quickly through the chapter, reading the headings and looking at the illustrations.

The “nature-nurture” problem refers to the question of 

A. whether it is better to become a doctor or a nurse.

B. whether it is safe to eat food that has been left uncovered.

C. whether we should spay or neuter our pets.

D. the contributions of maturation and experience to the analysis of behavior. 

Human height and weight are negatively correlated

T/F 

The probability of being dealt a spade royal flush in poker (the best possible hand) is the same as 

being dealt a seven of clubs, a 2 of spades, a 6 of hearts, a jack of diamonds and an ace of clubs.

T/F

It is possible that not a single score in a distribution falls exactly on its mean.

T/F

Random assignment to groups minimizes the effects of preexisting differences between the treatment 

group and the control group, helping to detect a cause-and-effect relationship between the treatment 

and the resulting value of the dependent variable.

T/F

Only a corrrelational study can demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between two factors.

T/F

the dominant approach to American experimental psychology from the 1920s to the 1950s that 

rejected introspection and the study of consciousness as being unscientific. (B)

a statement (often coming from a theory) that can be demonstrated by controlled observation to be 

either true or false (H)

the standard method of choosing individuals from a population and placing them into groups so that 

every member of the population has an equal chance of being placed in any group (R)

a method of studying behavior in which the subjects of the study are observed in their natural setting 

without disturbing them (N)