PSYCH 1X03 | QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS | 2026
UPDATE WITH COMPLETE SOLUTION
1. Which of the following statements is correct regarding the practice effect?
A) Practice effects reduce control because it becomes difficult to separate
natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the dependent variable.
B) Practice effects enhance control because it becomes difficult to separate
natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the dependent variable.
C) Practice effects reduce control because it becomes difficult to separate
natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the independent
variable.
D) Practice effects enhance control because it becomes difficult to separate
natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the independent
variable. Answer - C) Practice effects reduce control because it becomes
difficult to separate natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the
independent variable.
Correct! When participant performance improves over the course of a within-
subjects experiment simply because they have become more experienced, the
practice effect is said to have occurred. This confound reduces the control of
the experiment because a variable other than the independent variable has
had an effect on the results.
,1. Why would an experimenter use the median instead of the mean to report
information about a data set?
A) If the data set is non-numerical.
B) If there is high variability in the data set.
C) If there is low variability in the data set.
D) If there are extreme data points in the data set. Answer - D) If there are
extreme data points in the data set.
Correct! Often extreme data points can skew the mean in one direction or
another and because these data points are often extreme and unlikely cases,
the effect they have on the mean turns it into a measure that is not truly
representative of the central tendency of the data set. The median, however, is
unaffected by extreme data points.
1. Garrett believes that financial rewards can be used to motivate chimpanzees.
Which of the following best outlines a good potential hypothesis?
A) If chimpanzees perform better tricks when rewarded with food, fed
chimpanzees will be more successful.
B) If chimpanzees are given financial rewards, they will become successful
circus entertainers.
C) If chimpanzees performed well in past circus shows, they were likely given
financial rewards.
,D) If chimpanzees are financially rewarded, they will perform more circus tricks
than unrewarded chimpanzees. Answer - D) If chimpanzees are financially
rewarded, they will perform more circus tricks than unrewarded chimpanzees.
Correct! Hypotheses are testable statements based on theories that make
specific predictions.
1. Why are inferential statistics useful?
A) Inferential statistics allow researchers to calculate measures of central
tendency in different experimental groups.
B) Inferential statistics allow researchers to prove whether their hypotheses are
correct.
C) Inferential statistics allow researchers to evaluate whether experimental
manipulations had effects on the data.
D) Inferential statistics allow researchers to organize data so that it may be
evaluated more efficiently. Answer - C) Inferential statistics allow researchers
to evaluate whether experimental manipulations had effects on the data.
Correct! Inferential statistics allow researchers to determine whether
differences between experimental groups are significant and in support of their
hypothesis or not.
1. Which of the following statements about confounding variables is most
correct?
, A) To avoid the placebo effect, the experimenter should not know which
participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group.
B) To avoid experimenter bias, the study should have the same number of
participants in the experimental and control groups.
C) To avoid subject bias, participants should not know what condition of the
experiment they are in.
D) To avoid sampling bias, the experimenter should allow all participants to
sample all the treatments in the experiment. Answer - C) To avoid subject bias,
participants should not know what condition of the experiment they are in.
Correct! To avoid subject biases, including the placebo effect, the experiment
should be conducted blind.
1. Which of the following measures of central tendency is most strongly
influenced by outliers?
A) Mean
B) Median
C) Standard deviation
D) Mode Answer - A) Mean
Correct! The mean is strongly influenced by outliers, which are numbers that
are very different from the rest of the numbers in the group.
UPDATE WITH COMPLETE SOLUTION
1. Which of the following statements is correct regarding the practice effect?
A) Practice effects reduce control because it becomes difficult to separate
natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the dependent variable.
B) Practice effects enhance control because it becomes difficult to separate
natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the dependent variable.
C) Practice effects reduce control because it becomes difficult to separate
natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the independent
variable.
D) Practice effects enhance control because it becomes difficult to separate
natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the independent
variable. Answer - C) Practice effects reduce control because it becomes
difficult to separate natural improvement from the effect of manipulating the
independent variable.
Correct! When participant performance improves over the course of a within-
subjects experiment simply because they have become more experienced, the
practice effect is said to have occurred. This confound reduces the control of
the experiment because a variable other than the independent variable has
had an effect on the results.
,1. Why would an experimenter use the median instead of the mean to report
information about a data set?
A) If the data set is non-numerical.
B) If there is high variability in the data set.
C) If there is low variability in the data set.
D) If there are extreme data points in the data set. Answer - D) If there are
extreme data points in the data set.
Correct! Often extreme data points can skew the mean in one direction or
another and because these data points are often extreme and unlikely cases,
the effect they have on the mean turns it into a measure that is not truly
representative of the central tendency of the data set. The median, however, is
unaffected by extreme data points.
1. Garrett believes that financial rewards can be used to motivate chimpanzees.
Which of the following best outlines a good potential hypothesis?
A) If chimpanzees perform better tricks when rewarded with food, fed
chimpanzees will be more successful.
B) If chimpanzees are given financial rewards, they will become successful
circus entertainers.
C) If chimpanzees performed well in past circus shows, they were likely given
financial rewards.
,D) If chimpanzees are financially rewarded, they will perform more circus tricks
than unrewarded chimpanzees. Answer - D) If chimpanzees are financially
rewarded, they will perform more circus tricks than unrewarded chimpanzees.
Correct! Hypotheses are testable statements based on theories that make
specific predictions.
1. Why are inferential statistics useful?
A) Inferential statistics allow researchers to calculate measures of central
tendency in different experimental groups.
B) Inferential statistics allow researchers to prove whether their hypotheses are
correct.
C) Inferential statistics allow researchers to evaluate whether experimental
manipulations had effects on the data.
D) Inferential statistics allow researchers to organize data so that it may be
evaluated more efficiently. Answer - C) Inferential statistics allow researchers
to evaluate whether experimental manipulations had effects on the data.
Correct! Inferential statistics allow researchers to determine whether
differences between experimental groups are significant and in support of their
hypothesis or not.
1. Which of the following statements about confounding variables is most
correct?
, A) To avoid the placebo effect, the experimenter should not know which
participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group.
B) To avoid experimenter bias, the study should have the same number of
participants in the experimental and control groups.
C) To avoid subject bias, participants should not know what condition of the
experiment they are in.
D) To avoid sampling bias, the experimenter should allow all participants to
sample all the treatments in the experiment. Answer - C) To avoid subject bias,
participants should not know what condition of the experiment they are in.
Correct! To avoid subject biases, including the placebo effect, the experiment
should be conducted blind.
1. Which of the following measures of central tendency is most strongly
influenced by outliers?
A) Mean
B) Median
C) Standard deviation
D) Mode Answer - A) Mean
Correct! The mean is strongly influenced by outliers, which are numbers that
are very different from the rest of the numbers in the group.
