PSYC 1F90 MIDTERM EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE
2026/2027
uncritical acceptance - Answers a failure to evaluate claims with sufficient logical
rigger/accuracy. we accept our personal beliefs as logical when there just our opinions not facts
- believing claims without evidence
- wanting the claims to be true
conformation bias (cherry picking) - Answers deliberate selection of evidence and arguments to
support ones own beliefs
phineas gage - Answers - construction accident: rod through is frontal lobe
outcome:
- Language, movement, senses, memory was fine
-Change in his personality
-He was no longer gage
-Used to be smart, engaged in his plans, organized
-Trouble with self-control, swore, lashed out in anger, start plans but never completed them
superstition - Answers unfound belief held without objective evidence of in the face of falsifying
evidence
pseudoscience (false science) - Answers unfound belief system that seems to be based on
science
- franz gulls Phrenology believed that the shape of ones skull revels personality traits
work that psychological scientists preform - Answers employed full time at universities
- psychological tests, research in other settings or serve as consultants to business, industry,
government or the military
2 main categories of research - Answers basic, applied
basic research - Answers seek knowledge for their own sake
applied research - Answers to solve immediate practical problems
areas psychologists carry out research - Answers cognitive - studies human thinking and
information processing abilities
,educational - investigates classroom dynamics, teaching styles, develops educational tests
how can research carried out with animals be helpful - Answers - use animal model to discover
principles that can be applied to humans
-animal studies have helped us understand stress, aging, sleep, etc.
clinical psychologists - Answers does research on therapy and mental disorders or treats
psychological problems
counseling psychologists - Answers treats milder problems, such as troubles at work or school
scientific observation - Answers systematic (planned) and intersubjective (many observers can
confirm what been seen).
causal observation - Answers one persons observation
introspection - Answers the personal observation a=of mental events such as thoughts, feelings
and sensations
structuralism - Answers the study of sensations and personal experience analyzed as basic
elements
introspections limitations - Answers everyone has a different mind, ones persons perspective is
different from anothers
wertheimer - approach to psychology - Answers gestalt psychology - studied experiences of
thinking, learning, personality and perception as while units
james - approach to psychology - Answers functionalism - considers behaviours in terms of
active adaptions
watson - approach to psychology - Answers behaviourism - the study of the mind/conscious
experience. emphasizes study of observable actions over study of the mind
skinner - approach to psychology - Answers radical behaviourist - rejects both introspection and
any study of mental events, such as thinking, or scientific psychology
freud - approach to psychology - Answers dynamic unconscious - our behaviour is deeply
influenced by unconscious thoughts, impulses and desires
cognative - approach to psychology - Answers the study of people as inherently good and
consciously motivated to learn and improve
Maslow - approach to psychology - Answers humanistic psychology - the study of people as
inherently good and consciously motivated to learn and improve
3 perspectives - Answers biological, psychological, social
,biological perspective - Answers seeks to explain behaviour in terms of biological principles
such as genetics, brain processes and evolution
psychological perspective - Answers views behavior as the result of psychological processes
within each person
social perspective - Answers stresses the impact that social contexts, such as crowds, groups
and cultures, have on human behaviour
limitations that were associated with early research in psychology that prevented a full
understanding of human diversity - Answers gender bias - most early researchers were men and
didn't let women do anything
WEIRD science - western educated industrialized rich and democratic societies, most human
participants were WEIRD and puts limitations on the results
cultural relativity - Answers the idea that behaviour must be judged relatively to the values of the
culture in which it occurs can gratly affect our understanding of other people
psychologies goals - Answers description, understanding, prediction and control
critical thinking principles - Answers few truths transcend the need for logical analysis and
empirical testing, claimed expertise does not make an idea true, judging the quality of the
evidence is crucial, requires an open mind, wonder what it will take to show a truth that is false
scientific method - Answers 1. examine past research
2. define the question
3. propose a hypothesis
4. gather evidence/test hypothesis
5. build a theory
6. publication and replication of results
qualitative - Answers descriptive data (words/pictures)
quantitative - Answers numbers
3 types of evidence - Answers self report, observational , physiological
self report evidence - Answers surveys - ask a group of people specific questions
observational evidence - Answers 2 kinds
naturalistic - takes place in a natural setting, without interference from the researcher
, structured - put each participant in the same position and then watch their behaviour
physiological evidence - Answers quantitative and can be gathered using tools that map brain
activity, the functioning of the heart, the tension in our muscles and the dilation of our pupils
variable - Answers any factor or characteristic that can change across people, situations and or
time
independent variable - Answers the suspected cause of differences in behaviour
dependent variable - Answers measures any effect of manipulating the independent variable
extraneous variable - Answers factor that a researcher wants to prevent from affecting the
outcome of the experiment
experimental group - Answers the group that receives the treatment that the study is designed
to test
control group - Answers includes the subjects who do not receive the treatment being
investigated. this groups is essential because you are able to compare both groups and see
what the experiment has done
defining feature of an experiment - Answers random assignment - use of chance to place
subjects in experimental and control groups
statistically significant - Answers the obtained results would occur rarely by chance alone
meta-analysis - Answers can be used to combine the results of many studies as if they were all
part of one big study
research participant bias - Answers changes in participants behaviour caused by he influence of
their expectations
placebo - Answers an inactive substance or treatment that looks the same as the real, active
substance or treatment
palcebo effect - Answers a change in experience or behaviour due to a participants expectation
that a drug or treatment will do something
self fulfilling prophecy - Answers prediction that prompts people to act in ways that make the
prediction come true. if you want someone to be something and they catch on, then they will act
a certain way to be the person you want them to be
double blind study - Answers research is conducted so that neither the researcher or the
participants know which subjects revived which treatment
3 main types of nonexperimental methods - Answers quasi, correlational, case
2026/2027
uncritical acceptance - Answers a failure to evaluate claims with sufficient logical
rigger/accuracy. we accept our personal beliefs as logical when there just our opinions not facts
- believing claims without evidence
- wanting the claims to be true
conformation bias (cherry picking) - Answers deliberate selection of evidence and arguments to
support ones own beliefs
phineas gage - Answers - construction accident: rod through is frontal lobe
outcome:
- Language, movement, senses, memory was fine
-Change in his personality
-He was no longer gage
-Used to be smart, engaged in his plans, organized
-Trouble with self-control, swore, lashed out in anger, start plans but never completed them
superstition - Answers unfound belief held without objective evidence of in the face of falsifying
evidence
pseudoscience (false science) - Answers unfound belief system that seems to be based on
science
- franz gulls Phrenology believed that the shape of ones skull revels personality traits
work that psychological scientists preform - Answers employed full time at universities
- psychological tests, research in other settings or serve as consultants to business, industry,
government or the military
2 main categories of research - Answers basic, applied
basic research - Answers seek knowledge for their own sake
applied research - Answers to solve immediate practical problems
areas psychologists carry out research - Answers cognitive - studies human thinking and
information processing abilities
,educational - investigates classroom dynamics, teaching styles, develops educational tests
how can research carried out with animals be helpful - Answers - use animal model to discover
principles that can be applied to humans
-animal studies have helped us understand stress, aging, sleep, etc.
clinical psychologists - Answers does research on therapy and mental disorders or treats
psychological problems
counseling psychologists - Answers treats milder problems, such as troubles at work or school
scientific observation - Answers systematic (planned) and intersubjective (many observers can
confirm what been seen).
causal observation - Answers one persons observation
introspection - Answers the personal observation a=of mental events such as thoughts, feelings
and sensations
structuralism - Answers the study of sensations and personal experience analyzed as basic
elements
introspections limitations - Answers everyone has a different mind, ones persons perspective is
different from anothers
wertheimer - approach to psychology - Answers gestalt psychology - studied experiences of
thinking, learning, personality and perception as while units
james - approach to psychology - Answers functionalism - considers behaviours in terms of
active adaptions
watson - approach to psychology - Answers behaviourism - the study of the mind/conscious
experience. emphasizes study of observable actions over study of the mind
skinner - approach to psychology - Answers radical behaviourist - rejects both introspection and
any study of mental events, such as thinking, or scientific psychology
freud - approach to psychology - Answers dynamic unconscious - our behaviour is deeply
influenced by unconscious thoughts, impulses and desires
cognative - approach to psychology - Answers the study of people as inherently good and
consciously motivated to learn and improve
Maslow - approach to psychology - Answers humanistic psychology - the study of people as
inherently good and consciously motivated to learn and improve
3 perspectives - Answers biological, psychological, social
,biological perspective - Answers seeks to explain behaviour in terms of biological principles
such as genetics, brain processes and evolution
psychological perspective - Answers views behavior as the result of psychological processes
within each person
social perspective - Answers stresses the impact that social contexts, such as crowds, groups
and cultures, have on human behaviour
limitations that were associated with early research in psychology that prevented a full
understanding of human diversity - Answers gender bias - most early researchers were men and
didn't let women do anything
WEIRD science - western educated industrialized rich and democratic societies, most human
participants were WEIRD and puts limitations on the results
cultural relativity - Answers the idea that behaviour must be judged relatively to the values of the
culture in which it occurs can gratly affect our understanding of other people
psychologies goals - Answers description, understanding, prediction and control
critical thinking principles - Answers few truths transcend the need for logical analysis and
empirical testing, claimed expertise does not make an idea true, judging the quality of the
evidence is crucial, requires an open mind, wonder what it will take to show a truth that is false
scientific method - Answers 1. examine past research
2. define the question
3. propose a hypothesis
4. gather evidence/test hypothesis
5. build a theory
6. publication and replication of results
qualitative - Answers descriptive data (words/pictures)
quantitative - Answers numbers
3 types of evidence - Answers self report, observational , physiological
self report evidence - Answers surveys - ask a group of people specific questions
observational evidence - Answers 2 kinds
naturalistic - takes place in a natural setting, without interference from the researcher
, structured - put each participant in the same position and then watch their behaviour
physiological evidence - Answers quantitative and can be gathered using tools that map brain
activity, the functioning of the heart, the tension in our muscles and the dilation of our pupils
variable - Answers any factor or characteristic that can change across people, situations and or
time
independent variable - Answers the suspected cause of differences in behaviour
dependent variable - Answers measures any effect of manipulating the independent variable
extraneous variable - Answers factor that a researcher wants to prevent from affecting the
outcome of the experiment
experimental group - Answers the group that receives the treatment that the study is designed
to test
control group - Answers includes the subjects who do not receive the treatment being
investigated. this groups is essential because you are able to compare both groups and see
what the experiment has done
defining feature of an experiment - Answers random assignment - use of chance to place
subjects in experimental and control groups
statistically significant - Answers the obtained results would occur rarely by chance alone
meta-analysis - Answers can be used to combine the results of many studies as if they were all
part of one big study
research participant bias - Answers changes in participants behaviour caused by he influence of
their expectations
placebo - Answers an inactive substance or treatment that looks the same as the real, active
substance or treatment
palcebo effect - Answers a change in experience or behaviour due to a participants expectation
that a drug or treatment will do something
self fulfilling prophecy - Answers prediction that prompts people to act in ways that make the
prediction come true. if you want someone to be something and they catch on, then they will act
a certain way to be the person you want them to be
double blind study - Answers research is conducted so that neither the researcher or the
participants know which subjects revived which treatment
3 main types of nonexperimental methods - Answers quasi, correlational, case
