PSYC 224 Exam 1 Questions with Correct Answers Latest Update 2025/2026
Observation has _________, but cannot _________. - Answers ecological validity (naturalistic
setting and low interference); determine causation
Compared to observation, experiments provide more ______, but less _______. - Answers
reliability; validity
In experimental research, the factor that the experimenter manipulates is the ________ variable,
while the response of the subject is the _________ variable. - Answers independent; dependent
Lisa wants to know whether words will be easier to remember if they can easily be visualized
(pictured). She creates two lists of words: List A consists of easily visualized words like "cat"
and List B consists of words that are difficult to visualize like "justice." Each list contains 15
words, with an average word length of 5 letters for list A and 10 letters for list B. She presents
the two lists to two different groups of subjects and records how many words they recall
correctly from each list and how rapidly they recall them.
The independent variable(s) in this study are:
The dependent variable(s) are:
That confound is: - Answers list A (easily visualized) vs list B (not easily visualized); how many
words recalled and how fast they are recalled; word length
Suppose I wanted to look at the effect of memory instructions on people's memory for words of
different types. I decide to present 20 concrete (e.g., boat) and 20 abstract (e.g., honesty) words
to everyone. For half of the participants, I'll have them form a visual image of the word, and for
the other half, I'll have them repeat the word over and over to themselves.
How many independent variables are in the design?
How many main effects would be assessed using this design?
Suppose these are my findings (level of recall for each group): Imagery/concrete: 90%;
Imagery/abstract: 65%; Repeat/concrete: 70%; Repeat/abstract: 20%. Is an interaction apparent
, in the data? - Answers 2; 2; yes
Dr. Diaz believes that the pitch and tempo of sounds are recognized by different processes in
the brain. She is able to find patients with a certain kind of brain damage who can identify
tempo but not pitch. Why is it important for her to also find patients who can identify pitch but
not tempo? - Answers so she can compare the data and see what areas of the brain are
recognizing pitch and tempo separately
Describe a double dissociation. - Answers patients can perform task A but not task B
Dr. Lucas' lab has run many experiments in which people read a list of words and are later asked
how many words they can remember. Upon hearing that Dr. Lucas' lab has consistently found
that older adults remember fewer words than college students, Donald (one of the older
participants) becomes angry and insists that even though he can't remember a list of
unimportant words too well, he never forgets his grandchildren's birthdays, can remember the
names of everyone he meets, and can readily recite autobiographical stories with impressive
detail. In saying that Dr. Lucas' methods fail to capture normal memory abilities, Donald has
criticized the _____________ of Dr. Lucas' - Answers generalizability (experimental findings are
harder to generalize into everyday life)
The use of reaction time to study cognitive processes is based upon the assumption that
cognitive processes ____________. - Answers differ in time based on difficulty
In an experiment, if the researcher is paying particular attention to pupil size, heart rate, sweat,
etc, then he/she is using _________. - Answers psychophysiological measures/autonomic
measures
fMRI uses _______ to track blood flow in the brain. - Answers levels of oxygen in blood
Relative to event related potentials, functional magnetic resonance imaging has _________
temporal resolution and _________ spatial resolution. - Answers poor; good
The ERP technique uses _________ to obtain good __________ information, whereas fMRI
uses___________ to obtain good __________ information. - Answers EEG; timing; levels of oxygen
in blood; spatial
Techniques that are commonly used to determine if two processes use similar or different brain
areas, include: - Answers response times, ERP, fMRI
Theories play an important role in science because: - Answers provide data and facts about the
world
what common assumptions about theories are NOT true? - Answers they are opinions, they are
a "collection of facts"
The IP model is inspired by an analogy between the brain and computers. What assumptions
Observation has _________, but cannot _________. - Answers ecological validity (naturalistic
setting and low interference); determine causation
Compared to observation, experiments provide more ______, but less _______. - Answers
reliability; validity
In experimental research, the factor that the experimenter manipulates is the ________ variable,
while the response of the subject is the _________ variable. - Answers independent; dependent
Lisa wants to know whether words will be easier to remember if they can easily be visualized
(pictured). She creates two lists of words: List A consists of easily visualized words like "cat"
and List B consists of words that are difficult to visualize like "justice." Each list contains 15
words, with an average word length of 5 letters for list A and 10 letters for list B. She presents
the two lists to two different groups of subjects and records how many words they recall
correctly from each list and how rapidly they recall them.
The independent variable(s) in this study are:
The dependent variable(s) are:
That confound is: - Answers list A (easily visualized) vs list B (not easily visualized); how many
words recalled and how fast they are recalled; word length
Suppose I wanted to look at the effect of memory instructions on people's memory for words of
different types. I decide to present 20 concrete (e.g., boat) and 20 abstract (e.g., honesty) words
to everyone. For half of the participants, I'll have them form a visual image of the word, and for
the other half, I'll have them repeat the word over and over to themselves.
How many independent variables are in the design?
How many main effects would be assessed using this design?
Suppose these are my findings (level of recall for each group): Imagery/concrete: 90%;
Imagery/abstract: 65%; Repeat/concrete: 70%; Repeat/abstract: 20%. Is an interaction apparent
, in the data? - Answers 2; 2; yes
Dr. Diaz believes that the pitch and tempo of sounds are recognized by different processes in
the brain. She is able to find patients with a certain kind of brain damage who can identify
tempo but not pitch. Why is it important for her to also find patients who can identify pitch but
not tempo? - Answers so she can compare the data and see what areas of the brain are
recognizing pitch and tempo separately
Describe a double dissociation. - Answers patients can perform task A but not task B
Dr. Lucas' lab has run many experiments in which people read a list of words and are later asked
how many words they can remember. Upon hearing that Dr. Lucas' lab has consistently found
that older adults remember fewer words than college students, Donald (one of the older
participants) becomes angry and insists that even though he can't remember a list of
unimportant words too well, he never forgets his grandchildren's birthdays, can remember the
names of everyone he meets, and can readily recite autobiographical stories with impressive
detail. In saying that Dr. Lucas' methods fail to capture normal memory abilities, Donald has
criticized the _____________ of Dr. Lucas' - Answers generalizability (experimental findings are
harder to generalize into everyday life)
The use of reaction time to study cognitive processes is based upon the assumption that
cognitive processes ____________. - Answers differ in time based on difficulty
In an experiment, if the researcher is paying particular attention to pupil size, heart rate, sweat,
etc, then he/she is using _________. - Answers psychophysiological measures/autonomic
measures
fMRI uses _______ to track blood flow in the brain. - Answers levels of oxygen in blood
Relative to event related potentials, functional magnetic resonance imaging has _________
temporal resolution and _________ spatial resolution. - Answers poor; good
The ERP technique uses _________ to obtain good __________ information, whereas fMRI
uses___________ to obtain good __________ information. - Answers EEG; timing; levels of oxygen
in blood; spatial
Techniques that are commonly used to determine if two processes use similar or different brain
areas, include: - Answers response times, ERP, fMRI
Theories play an important role in science because: - Answers provide data and facts about the
world
what common assumptions about theories are NOT true? - Answers they are opinions, they are
a "collection of facts"
The IP model is inspired by an analogy between the brain and computers. What assumptions
