GRE Psychology: Measurement and
Methodology UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Who founded the first psychology research lab? - CORRECT ANSWER - William Wundt
(1879); move from psychology as a philosophy to a science; however, Wundt thought systematic
study of some psych principles (i.e. higher order mental processes) was limited; also did not
think there could be imageless thought
Who showed that higher mental processes could be studied using experimental psych? -
CORRECT ANSWER - Hermann Ebbinghaus (see cog-- memory using nonsense
syllables)
Oswald Kulpe - CORRECT ANSWER - Performed experiments showing that there could
be imageless thought
James McKeen Cattell - CORRECT ANSWER - introduced mental testing in the US
Binet and Simon - CORRECT ANSWER - published the first intelligence test (Binet-
Simon test) used with French schoolchildren; Binet also introduced "mental age" (vs.
chronological age) to show intellectual functioning
hypothesis - CORRECT ANSWER - a tentative and testable explanation of the
relationship between two or more variables
variable - CORRECT ANSWER - a factor that varies in amount or kind and can be
measured
operational definition - CORRECT ANSWER - how the researcher will measure the
variables
, independent variable - CORRECT ANSWER - variable whose effect is being studied
dependent variable - CORRECT ANSWER - variable expected to change due to variations
in the independent variable
independent vs. dependent - CORRECT ANSWER - X depends on Y
x=dependent
y=independent
number of IVs vs. levels of IV - CORRECT ANSWER - number=performance on test
depends on 1. breakfast 2. ADD/No ADD
levels=performance on test depends on 1. breakfast --a. high protein breakfast vs. b. low protein
breakfast
correlational study - CORRECT ANSWER - IV not manipulated
quasi-experiment - CORRECT ANSWER - IV is manipulated; subjects are not randomly
assigned to groups
true experiment - CORRECT ANSWER - IV is manipulated; subjects are randomly
assigned to groups
naturalistic observation/field study - CORRECT ANSWER - researcher does not
intervene; measures behavior as it occurs naturally
comparing types of design: example - CORRECT ANSWER - hypothesis: performance
depends on breakfast
correlational: go into a school and poll students on what they had for breakfast
true: go into a school; randomly assign to breakfast vs. no breakfast; administer test
Methodology UPDATED ACTUAL
Questions and CORRECT Answers
Who founded the first psychology research lab? - CORRECT ANSWER - William Wundt
(1879); move from psychology as a philosophy to a science; however, Wundt thought systematic
study of some psych principles (i.e. higher order mental processes) was limited; also did not
think there could be imageless thought
Who showed that higher mental processes could be studied using experimental psych? -
CORRECT ANSWER - Hermann Ebbinghaus (see cog-- memory using nonsense
syllables)
Oswald Kulpe - CORRECT ANSWER - Performed experiments showing that there could
be imageless thought
James McKeen Cattell - CORRECT ANSWER - introduced mental testing in the US
Binet and Simon - CORRECT ANSWER - published the first intelligence test (Binet-
Simon test) used with French schoolchildren; Binet also introduced "mental age" (vs.
chronological age) to show intellectual functioning
hypothesis - CORRECT ANSWER - a tentative and testable explanation of the
relationship between two or more variables
variable - CORRECT ANSWER - a factor that varies in amount or kind and can be
measured
operational definition - CORRECT ANSWER - how the researcher will measure the
variables
, independent variable - CORRECT ANSWER - variable whose effect is being studied
dependent variable - CORRECT ANSWER - variable expected to change due to variations
in the independent variable
independent vs. dependent - CORRECT ANSWER - X depends on Y
x=dependent
y=independent
number of IVs vs. levels of IV - CORRECT ANSWER - number=performance on test
depends on 1. breakfast 2. ADD/No ADD
levels=performance on test depends on 1. breakfast --a. high protein breakfast vs. b. low protein
breakfast
correlational study - CORRECT ANSWER - IV not manipulated
quasi-experiment - CORRECT ANSWER - IV is manipulated; subjects are not randomly
assigned to groups
true experiment - CORRECT ANSWER - IV is manipulated; subjects are randomly
assigned to groups
naturalistic observation/field study - CORRECT ANSWER - researcher does not
intervene; measures behavior as it occurs naturally
comparing types of design: example - CORRECT ANSWER - hypothesis: performance
depends on breakfast
correlational: go into a school and poll students on what they had for breakfast
true: go into a school; randomly assign to breakfast vs. no breakfast; administer test
