Practice Exam

Question 1

Which of the following is the MOST relevant to Psychology about Popper’s
principle of falsification?
a. It explains why psychological researchers are always happy to falsify
their own theories
b. It explains why psychological theories must be testable empirically
c. It explains how swans can be black in Australia
d. It shows that Freud’s theories are falsifiable.

Answer 1

b. It explains why psychological theories must be testable empirically

Question 2

Suppose variables A, B, and C are positively inter-correlated. A researcher
believes that B is an underlying construct in the relationship between A and C.
Variables plausibly exemplifying this relation are:
a. A = imagery ability, B = verbal ability, C = musical ability
b. A = career success, B = sex-role socialisation, C = age
c. A = weight, B = clothing size, C = exercise duration
d. A = weight, B = food intake, C = clothing size.

Answer 2

d. A = weight, B = food intake, C = clothing size.

Question 3

Mice who have learned the location of a safety platform in a water maze show
forgetting 30 minutes but not 2 hours or 2 minutes afterwards, in line with a
temporary increase in blood corticosteroids at the 30 minute test. A viable
interpretation is
a. The corticosteroid release blocks the ability to learn new information
b. The corticosteroid release interferes with memory retrieval processes
c. A physiological process that increases blood corticosteroids interferes
with memory retrieval processes
d. b or c.

Answer 3

d
b. The corticosteroid release interferes with memory retrieval processes
c. A physiological process that increases blood corticosteroids interferes
with memory retrieval processes

Question 4

In a study by a group of economists, participants get educational material about
national debt or a topic unrelated to economics, and then indicate the party they
would vote for (Labor vs. Liberal vs. Green vs. Other), and rate their agreement
on a 20-point scale with views expressed in a position statement by the Liberal
party. In this study
a. Voting intention is a categorical dependent variable and the agreement
score approximates an interval-scale dependent variable
b. Voting intention approximates an interval-scale dependent variable and
the agreement score is a categorical dependent variable
c. Voting intention should be correlated with other measures by assigning
a score to each category (e.g., 1 for Labor, 2 for Liberal, and so on).
d. The educational program and voting intention are independent
variables.

Answer 4

a. Voting intention is a categorical dependent variable and the agreement
score approximates an interval-scale dependent variable

Question 5

A researcher assesses whether distraction is a significant factor in industrial
accidents. Which are possible operations for the independent construct?
a. the number of work accidents, and working with others vs. working alone
b. a questionnaire measure of distractibility, and working with others vs.
working alone
c. working with others vs. working alone, and an easy vs. a difficult task
d. the number of work accidents, and time taken to complete work tasks

Answer 5

b. a questionnaire measure of distractibility, and working with others vs.
working alone

Question 6

A researcher investigates how identity with a social group affects attitudes. She
measures group identity in members of the Australian Conservation Foundation
and their attitudes to a Carbon Tax (CT) on Likert rating scales. In this study:
a. the CT scale is the independent variable and the group identity scale is
the dependent variable
b. there is no independent variable because nothing is formally varied in
the study
c. the group identity scale is the independent variable and the CT scale
is the dependent variable
d. the group identity scale and CT scales are dependent variables because
both are measured

Answer 6

c. the group identity scale is the independent variable and the CT scale
is the dependent variable

Question 7

A researcher in the psychology of music has music teachers comment on errors
DURING a student’s instrument playing in three lessons, and AFTER the
student has played in three other lessons. The error-correction variable is:
a. a manipulated, within-participants, independent variable
b. a manipulated, between-participants, independent variable
c. a categorical dependent variable
d. a PAV independent variable.

Answer 7

a. a manipulated, within-participants, independent variable

Question 8

In a study of how actions of others affect the activity in the motor region of the
brains of the observers, participants in an MRI scanner observe videos of
people moving cups, plates, bananas and apples. The crockery and fruit stimuli
a. are levels of a PAV independent variable (IV)
b. may improve the generality of the results over object types
c. are not levels of an IV if the researcher does not compare them
d. b. and c.

Answer 8

d

b. may improve the generality of the results over object types
c. are not levels of an IV if the researcher does not compare them

Question 9

If A & B are IVs, X is a DV, and A & B interact, then

a. the effect of X on A is conditional upon B.
b. the effect of A on B is conditional upon X.
c. the effect of A on X is additive with the effect of B on X.
d. the effect of A on X is conditional upon B.

Answer 9

d. the effect of A on X is conditional upon B.

Question 10

In line graphs of an A x B interaction, the interaction cannot be classified as
ordinal or disordinal if
a. the lines of the graph cross when A is on the X axis but not when B is
on the X axis
b. the lines of the graph cross in both graphs
c. the lines of the graph do not cross in either graph
d. the lines of the graph diverge from parallel in both graphs.

Answer 10

a. the lines of the graph cross when A is on the X axis but not when B is
on the X axis

Question 11

In a study of eye witness memory, members of an identification line-up are
shown simultaneously vs. sequentially (one at a time) to the witness, and within
each of these conditions, either wearing a hat like that worn by the perpetrator,
or without a hat. Which of the following results indicates an ordinal interaction?
a. more false positives with a hat (vs. no hat) and more false positives in
sequential (vs. simultaneous)
b. more false positives with a hat than no-hat in both presentations, and a
larger increase for hat over no-hat in the simultaneous than the
sequential condition
c. more false positives with a hat and no difference in false positives
between sequential and simultaneous
d. more false positives with a hat in the simultaneous condition and no
difference in the sequential condition.

Answer 11

b. more false positives with a hat than no-hat in both presentations, and a
larger increase for hat over no-hat in the simultaneous than the
sequential condition

Question 12

In a face recognition experiment, there is no overall advantage for photos
showing smiling faces over non-smiling faces. However, for smiling poses,
famous individuals are recognised more readily than (non-famous)
acquaintances from the participants’ university class, whereas for non-smiling
poses, acquaintances are recognised more readily than famous individuals.
This result indicates:
a. a disordinal interaction between fame and pose in their effects on face
recognition
b. additive effects of fame and pose on face recognition
c. an effect of fame of individual but no effect of pose on face recognition
d. an ordinal interaction between fame and pose in their effects on face
recognition.

Answer 12

a. a disordinal interaction between fame and pose in their effects on face
recognition

Question 13

In a study demonstrating the effect of having to remember digits while
performing a speeded word vs. nonword classification task (lexical decision,
LD), the digit task had a main effect that did not depend on whether participants
were currently classifying a word or a nonword. So the results for LD latencies
might have been
a. a main effect of digit task vs. no task and a main effect of word vs.
nonword, and no interaction
b. a main effect of word vs. nonword and no other effects
c. a digit task vs. no task x word vs. nonword interaction and no other
effects
d. a main effect of digit task vs. no task and a main effect of word vs.
nonword, and a significant interaction.

Answer 13

a. a main effect of digit task vs. no task and a main effect of word vs.
nonword, and no interaction

Question 14

Which of the following are most likely to have interpretational problems due to
person variable confounds in a mixed design with a PAV between participants
IV (A) and a manipulated within participants IV (B)?
a. the main effect of A
b. the main effect of B
c. the main effect of A and the A x B interaction
d. the main effects of A and B.

Answer 14

c. the main effect of A and the A x B interaction

Question 15

In a study on bystander intervention, in which helping is expected to be
inversely related to the number of bystanders, scripted medical emergencies
occur in a cafe with the independent variable being the number of customer
“bystanders” (many vs. few). Unfortunately, the emergency is much less visible
in the crowded cafe, and the sounds made by the “victim” are drowned out by
ambient noise. Consequently:
a. the experiment is likely to suffer from design-related confounds (e.g.,
person variables)
b. the experiment is likely to be confounded by procedural factors
c. the experiment is likely to have greater generality because of the
ecological validity of the emergency
d. the experiment is likely to be uninterpretable because of ceiling effects in
the helping measure.

Answer 15

b. the experiment is likely to be confounded by procedural factors

Question 16

Participants are assigned to a treatment or wait list group in a pre vs. post test
evaluation of therapy. It is predicted that the treatment groups will show a
greater improvement on the dependent measure from pre to post test than will
the wait-list group. Maturation could confound the evaluation if:
a. the pre- and post-test scores are correlated with age
b. there is non-random assignment of participants to groups and a
maturational process that could cause improvement on the dependent
variable
c. there is random assignment of participants to groups but a maturational
effect on the dependent variable is greater for the treatment group
d. participants are very young or very old.

Answer 16

b. there is non-random assignment of participants to groups and a
maturational process that could cause improvement on the dependent
variable

Question 17

Suppose that researchers ask participants to perform an attentional task after
manipulation of a happy vs. sad mood through different samples of music.
Variation of the mood IV in a within-participants design may be a problem
because
a. there may be generality limitations
b. participants may work out the hypothesis
c. there may be persistent carry-over effects
d. b and c.

Answer 17

d

b. participants may work out the hypothesis
c. there may be persistent carry-over effects

Question 18

Suppose that 12 boys name words presented in the left visual field and 12 girls
name words in the right visual field. A language laterality effect (difference
between left and right presentation in response latencies)
a. can be calculated by finding difference scores (average left minus right
average latency) for the first child from each group, the same for the
second child, and so on
b. can be tested for an interaction with gender in a visual field x gender
ANOVA
c. is confounded with left-right orientation of words
d. is confounded with gender.

Answer 18

d. is confounded with gender.

Question 19

Regression artifacts are likely to confound results when
a. groups are selected on the basis of their extreme scores on a
somewhat unreliable variable which is correlated with the dependent
variable
b. a group of children selected for behaviour problems is measured on
behaviour four times before a treatment program and four times after the
program
c. a control group is selected for people in rural communities by matching
to each person a city-dweller of the same age and socio-economic
status
d. groups are selected to be within .5 standard deviations of the mean of
an ability test.

Answer 19

a. groups are selected on the basis of their extreme scores on a
somewhat unreliable variable which is correlated with the dependent
variable

Question 20

In the Brandimonte paper from the PSYC3042 class discussion papers
a. the concurrent articulation manipulation caused a general deterioration in
performance
b. the means for many individual items suggested a different conclusion
from the means for participants
c. the two studies together illustrate the converging operations approach
d. the researches erred in not randomly assigning shapes to conditions.

Answer 20

c. the two studies together illustrate the converging operations approach

Question 21

In the Petty et al. paper from the PSYC3042 class discussion papers
a. the use of deception invalidated the results
b. the composite dependent variables decreased the efficiency of the
analyses
c. the manipulation of the expertise of the message source may have
introduced constructs other than expertise
d. the study has no external validity because it was conducted with
students.

Answer 21

c. the manipulation of the expertise of the message source may have
introduced constructs other than expertise

Question 22

Experimenters employ raters to classify conversations of autistic children before
and after an intervention designed to enhance communication skills. Raters are
instructed to develop scoring criteria for key behaviours during the pre-test. A
risk of this instruction is that:
a. the study will be confounded by rater differences.
b. the study will be confounded by floor effects.
c. the study will be confounded by instrumentation change
d. the study will be confounded by person variables.

Answer 22

c. the study will be confounded by instrumentation change

Question 23

Which of the following would be a drawback to running all members of one
between-participants condition in a single morning session and all members of
the other between-participants condition in a single afternoon session?
a. one participant’s responses may affect other participants’ responses
b. differences in the results between the groups might be due to time of
day rather than condition
c. chance differences between testing sessions would not have an
opportunity to even out
d. all of the above

Answer 23

d
a. one participant’s responses may affect other participants’ responses
b. differences in the results between the groups might be due to time of
day rather than condition
c. chance differences between testing sessions would not have an
opportunity to even out

Question 24

Researcher Bloggs evaluates the effect of working memory on reading skill by
testing working memory and reading in a sample students and calculating a
correlation between the scores. Researcher Smart performs a t test to compare
reading scores of two groups, one high and the other low in working memory
scores. IN TERMS OF INTERNAL VALIDITY (allowing causal inferences):
a. Bloggs’ design is inferior because correlation does not show causation
b. Bloggs’ design is superior because it includes the whole range of scores
on working memory
c. Smart’s design is superior because it is possible to control person
variables by random assignment to groups
d. none of the above.

Answer 24

d. none of the above.

Question 25

In terms of INTERNAL VALIDITY, which of the following is NOT a problem with
matching of groups on person variables as a substitute for random assignment
to groups?
a. it is not possible to find participants who are identical in every respect.
b. it is unlikely that researchers can measure and match participants on
every single potentially relevant variable
c. it is necessary to exclude participants who can’t be matched, resulting
in attrition
d. it is unlikely that researchers will identify all the variables on which
participants should be matched.

Answer 25

c. it is necessary to exclude participants who can’t be matched, resulting
in attrition

Question 26

A researcher administers a picture naming test with 20 animals, 20 foods, and
20 mixed-category trials. The researcher averages the time to respond over the
correct responses in each set of 20 per condition. This averaging procedure
a. improves sensitivity by increasing the reliability of the DV
b. improves internal validity by increasing the reliability of the DV
c. improves sensitivity by allowing for dependent variable patterning
d. improves internal validity by allowing for dependent variable patterning.

Answer 26

a. improves sensitivity by increasing the reliability of the DV

Question 27

Highly controlled laboratory experiments often have high ____________, but
they may not have high _______________.
a. internal validity; external validity
b. internal reliability; external validity.
c. external precision; internal generality.
d. external applicability; internal applicability.

Answer 27

a. internal validity; external validity

Question 28

Suppose that researchers discovered a variable that interacted with perceived
threat in its effects on aggression. The interacting variable challenges the
___________ of the threat-aggression association.
a. criterion validity
b. generality
c. internal validity
d. reliability.

Answer 28

b. generality

Question 29

Researchers assess their dependent construct in attention by measuring the
time taken for the participant to respond to a target. Variation in this DV within
conditions can be expected from the effects of
a. error and treatment
b. error and individual differences
c. treatment and construct invalidity
d. construct invalidity and individual differences.

Answer 29

b. error and individual differences

Question 30

A training program improved numeracy skills in disadvantaged children. An
analysis of children high vs. low in general intelligence (IQ) showed an
advantage for the high-IQ group. Also, the low-IQ group showed a significant
improvement from pre-test to post-test, but the high-IQ group showed no
change. The researchers would be advised to consider whether:
a. there is some way of randomly assigning children to intelligence groups
b. the significant program x intelligence interaction was disordinal
c. the high-IQ group was near ceiling at pre-test and thus could not show
a benefit of the program
d. the training program was too difficult for the high-IQ group.

Answer 30

c. the high-IQ group was near ceiling at pre-test and thus could not show
a benefit of the program

Question 31

In a study of “theory of mind” in children, there is a concern that superior
performance in a hidden-toy task may reflect children’s superior verbal ability
rather than the ability to understand another point of view. Children assessed
on the hidden toy task are also assessed on verbal ability, so that the
researchers can check whether verbal ability does predict performance on the
hidden toy task. This strategy illustrates:
a. convergent validation
b. a detection strategy for a potential confound
c. statistical correction
d. validation through parallel DVs.

Answer 31

b. a detection strategy for a potential confound

Question 32

In a study of arousal and attention, participants receive a mild tranquiliser or
placebo before they perform an attentional task. They also perform a visual
perception test to check that the drug does not affect visual acuity for the
attentional task. The perception test illustrates:
a. a benchmark check
b. a manipulation check
c. a dependent variable patterning control
d. increasing the number of observations to increase reliability.

Answer 32

c. a dependent variable patterning control

Question 33

A researcher investigating the effects of a new drug on social anxiety shows
that her social anxiety measure is positively correlated with number of words
spoken in a social situation and not correlated with a measure of introversion.
These correlations
a. support internal validity
b. constitute a manipulation check
c. support construct validity
d. constitute a benchmark check.

Answer 33

c. support construct validity

Question 34

In a study of arousal and memory, each group received one of 6 caffeine doses
(0, 80, 160, 240, 320, and 400 mg) to manipulate arousal. Performance was
best at intermediate doses of caffeine and worst at the lowest and highest
doses. The range of doses was useful because:
a. it helped to determine the form of the IV-DV relationship
b. it improved the sensitivity of the study to find an effect
c. it provided a manipulation check
d. both a and b.

Answer 34

d

a. it helped to determine the form of the IV-DV relationship
b. it improved the sensitivity of the study to find an effect

Question 35

A researcher adds years of education at the first step in a hierarchical multiple
regression analysis in which she will predict attitudes to refugees from
personality variables. The inclusion of the education variable in this way:
a. controls a potential confound
b. shows the relative importance of education and the personality variables
c. provides at the first step of the regressions the unique variance explained
by education
d. would not be possible if the IVs were manipulated.

Answer 35

a. controls a potential confound

Question 36

In a study of two methods of foreign language teaching, the participants are
identical twins. One member of each twin pair is assigned at random to one
training method, and the other twin is allocated to the other method. The use of
twins
a. is an effective control against procedural confounds
b. may allow researchers to reduce variance on the DV due to individual
differences
c. eliminates the need for random assignment because it controls person
variables
d. improves the external validity of the study.

Answer 36

b. may allow researchers to reduce variance on the DV due to individual
differences