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77 views

1.5.3

Uploaded by

wilsonh21
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.5.

3 Test (TST): Psychology as a


Test
Science
Psychology Name: Hadley Wilson
Points Possible:50 Date:

Short Answer

For each short-answer question, be sure to fully answer what the question

asks, and answer in complete sentences if possible.

1. What is psychology, and what is the basis for all perspectives of

psychology? (5 points)

Psychology is the study of the brain, its behavior, and the way things are

perceived through it.

2. What can an experiment prove that an observational study cannot?

Give a reason why this is true. (5 points)

It shows less biased information. Observational studies could change

depending on the day.

3. For each item in the list below, name which perspective in

psychology is most closely related to the question. (10 points total, 2 points

per item)

i. How can hatred between different groups of people be reduced?

Social

ii. How can people change their thinking and behaviors to have better

relationships?
Cognitive/ behavioral

iii. What do people need in order to be who they most want to be?

Humanistic

iv. Does exercise improve memory?

Biological

v. Do early interactions with parents affect people’s ability to learn

language?

Nature/ nurture

Application and Critical Thinking

For these questions, answer all parts of the question completely. Use

complete sentences.

4. Imagine that you are conducting an observational study to see if

getting less sleep correlates with more or less happiness during the day.

You use a group of 10 close friends as subjects for the study. You design a
Web-based application that allows volunteers to track the amount of sleep

they get each night and to rate their happiness three times during the

day. Your friends are interested in your study and want to see it succeed,

so they are willing to answer all survey questions when they are supposed

to answer them. You find a strong positive correlation between the hours

of sleep and self-reported happiness.

i. Name one example of bias that might be at work. Explain how this

hidden variable could affect the results. (5 points)

There might be something that happened to make them less happy.

ii. Does the study prove that getting more hours of sleep will make

people happier? What principle of science proves your answer, and

what is one reason why this principle is true? (5 points)

Yes. There is a strong correlation between sleep and happiness.


iii. Imagine a scatterplot of the data from this study, showing hours of

sleep across the bottom (0 – 10), and happiness scores on the right (0

– 10).

Draw and label two scatterplots, one that shows a weak positive

correlation and one that shows a strong positive correlation. Use 10

data points in each of your plots. (5 points)

N/A

5. Imagine that you are conducting an experiment to prove that the

correlation in the previous question is a causal relationship. You recruit 10

friends, and randomly assign them to two groups: One group will keep

their normal schedule and the other group will be excused from their

morning class so that they can sleep an extra hour in the morning. Using

the same Web application, you ask the subjects to report the number of

hours they slept, along with how sleepy they feel three times during the

day.

You find a weak negative correlation between the hours of sleep and self-

reported sleepiness.

i. Explain what a negative correlation is, and if you found this in your

experiment, what would it mean? (5 points)


When the variables/data decrease. As one goes up, the other goes down.

ii. Explain what a hidden variable is. What is a hidden variable that

might be at work in this study? How could it have affected the results?

(5 points)

A variable that is not taken into account but still changes the experiment.

iii. If the hypothesis for this study was “Increased sleep will decrease

absences,” does this experiment clearly prove or disprove the

hypothesis? Explain why. (5 points)

Disproves. It is making the kids miss class by participating in the study.

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