PSY100 Midterm #1 UofT Exam Questions and Answers 100% Pass

PSY100 Midterm #1 UofT Exam Questions and Answers 100% Pass Empiricism - Answer- The view that knowledge comes from observed/sensory experience Empirical evidence - Answer- Refers to the data that has been collected (or the knowledge that has been gained) by scientific observation What is the role of theories? - Answer- Scientific theories typically explain the relationship between two or more variables. What must scientific theories be? - Answer- Testable, falsifiable, parsimonious What is the intergroup contact theory by Pettigrew? - Answer- That under certain circumstances, positive intergroup contact can reduce prejudice toward the outgroup What is the social comparison theory by Festinger? - Answer- When more objective measures are unavailable, people will evaluate their own abilities/qualities by comparing themselves to similar ones What is an Operational definition - Answer- Definition of theoretical constructs that are stated in terms of concrete, observable procedures What is a construct? - Answer- Internal attributes or characteristics that cannot be directly observed but are useful for describing and explaining behaviour such as intelligence and anxiety What are the different types of research? - Answer- Descriptive research - involves observations and case studies, and may result in claims regarding the frequency of some behavior. Correlational research - May lead to claims regarding the association between two variables and looking at the relationships between two things Experimental research - May lead to claims regarding the causal relationship between two variables and finding out what causes what What is a confound? - Answer- Anything that may unintentionally vary along with the independent variable, they limit our ability to make causal claims. For example if the independent variable is amount of caffeine and the dependent variable is how well students perform on test, a confound could be amount of time preparing for test, or amount of classes attended that would affect the results. What is Random assignment? - Answer- Each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each experimental condition. It ensures groups are equivalent on average. What is a random sample? - Answer- Each member of the population you are interested in has an equal chance of being chosen to participate What is a population? - Answer- The group that you want to be able to generalize your findings to What is a sample? - Answer- The group of individuals from this population who are actually a part of your study Discuss Quasi-Experiments - Answer- Look a lot like "real" experiments, but they have no random assignments to conditions and the risk of potential confounds limits the claims that a researcher can make. However they can be very useful for studying variables where manipulation isn't possible or ethical. Discuss correlational studies - Answer- They tell us about relationships between variables. For example " There is a relationship between academic success and self esteem" or " There is a relationship between outdoor temperatures and ice cream sales". These are positive examples meaning both variables change in the same direction. However remember that Correlation is not causation. There could be a third variable problem or a directionality problem. What are the different types of data collection methods? - Answer- Observational technique, Self report method, Response performance. What are the different types of observation? - Answer- Naturalistic observation: Passive, observers do not change or alter anything intentionally. Participant observation: Active observation. The researcher is actively involved in the situation. Laboratory observation: Systematic observations are made within a laboratory setting rather than in the real world. Discuss Self-Report bias - Answer- People will respond in a socially desirable way, what they think others would want to hear instead of how they actually feel. People will also rate their abilities to do something if asked, better than average. Discuss response performance. - Answer- Things are tested like reaction time, response accuracy and stimulus judgements. These things are used to quantify perceptual or cognitive processes in response to a specific stimulus. For example how long does it take you to name the colour of a word? What is the stoop effect? - Answer- Words that spell out a different colour than the colour of the font are presented and you are asked to name the colour of the font. However your responses are delayed because we automatically read the words and this causes a mismatch of information in our brains. How do we know that we have good data? - Answer- Good date must be: - Accurate - Valid - Reliable Discuss the accuracy of data and the two different types of error that can occur. - Answer- Accuracy refers to the extent to which an experimental measure is free from error. Random error: Statistical fluctuations in either direction from the precision limitations of whichever measurement device you are using. They usually come from the experimenters inability to take the same measurement in the exact sam