PSYC 1111 Study Questions with 100%
Correct Answers
A - ✔✔Which approach to scientific hypothesis testing was advocated by Karl Popper?
a) falsification
b) qualification
c) validation
d) demonstration
C - ✔✔Tony is convinced that he was visited by fairies last night. He is telling you about the
experience and shows you a picture of a fairy on his phone. Why are you unlikely to be
convinced by this evidence?
a) there is no empirical evidence
b) there is empirical evidence so you should be convinced
c) the empirical evidence is not strong enough to support the claim
d) because you know fairies don't exist and refuse to believe otherwise
C - ✔✔Which of these is a major goal of science?
a) empiricism
b) falsification
c) description
d) determinism
C - ✔✔Which of the following is not a characteristic of pseudoscience?
,a) pseudoscience often involves no serious effort to conduct research
b) conflicting evidence is usually ignored
c) psuedoscience progresses by investigating solvable empirical problems
d) pseudoscience makes claims that are inconsistent with well-established scientific truths
C - ✔✔Your friend is trying to convince you to take some amazing brain improving vitamins.
They tell you that they decided to truth them because they read one review talking about how
great they were. You explain to your friend that this is testimonial evidence and it is not very
trustworthy. Which of the following is NOT a problem with testimonial evidence?
a) normally only positive testimonials are advertised
b)testimonials are based on individual cases and can't be generalised
c) testimonials can NEVER be verified
d) testimonials are subjective not objective
A - ✔✔The idea that a scientific theory must be stated in such a way that it is possible to
refute or disconfirm is known as the principle of ____________.
a) falsification
b) systematic empiricism
c) public verification
d) pseudoscience
B - ✔✔Chester has a theory that he has magical powers and can fly. However, he can only fly
when no one is looking including himself. Which of the principles of science is impossible for
Chester's theory to meet?
a) determinism
b) verificationism
,c) falsification
d) parsimony
A - ✔✔Jenny has a strong belief in fate, so she believes that her life is following a plan that
was set in motion when she was born. Every action is leading to another event and this
sequence is unchangeable. Which of the following best explains this belief?
a) determinism
b) positivism
c) parsimony
d) astrology
C - ✔✔Which of the following is the ultimate goal of scientific research?
a) evidence
b) prediction
c) explanation
d) description
D - ✔✔You have always had a theory that vitamin C cures the common cold and provides
people with energy. You have recently been shown strong evidence that actually indicates
vitamin C has no benefits at all for either of these things. According to the scientific method
what should you do now?
a) accept that vitamin C does nothing
b) throw away all your vitamin C
c) ignore the new evidence and keep taking vitamin C
d) update and test this claim with the new evidence
, A - ✔✔Population validity and ecological validity are different forms of:
a) external validity
b) internal validity
c) criterion validity
d) construct validity
D - ✔✔Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the independent variable?
a) it is manipulated or controlled by the experimenter
b) it is independent of the measured variables
c) it can affect the dependent variable
d) it can be used to measure the experimental manipulation
B - ✔✔Joshua has conducted a study looking at the influence of alcohol on aggression. The
study only included female participants with a mean age of 20. Joshua found that alcohol did
not increase aggression in this group and has concluded that there is no relationship between
alcohol and aggression. This study is low in _______ validity.
a) ecological
b) population
c) construct
d) internal
B - ✔✔My set of scales at home always tells me that I am 65kg. I weigh myself three times a
week and this is always the measurement. When I weighed myself at the GP's today I was
actually 62kg. What does this say about the reliability and validity of my home scales?
a) they are high in validity and low in reliability
Correct Answers
A - ✔✔Which approach to scientific hypothesis testing was advocated by Karl Popper?
a) falsification
b) qualification
c) validation
d) demonstration
C - ✔✔Tony is convinced that he was visited by fairies last night. He is telling you about the
experience and shows you a picture of a fairy on his phone. Why are you unlikely to be
convinced by this evidence?
a) there is no empirical evidence
b) there is empirical evidence so you should be convinced
c) the empirical evidence is not strong enough to support the claim
d) because you know fairies don't exist and refuse to believe otherwise
C - ✔✔Which of these is a major goal of science?
a) empiricism
b) falsification
c) description
d) determinism
C - ✔✔Which of the following is not a characteristic of pseudoscience?
,a) pseudoscience often involves no serious effort to conduct research
b) conflicting evidence is usually ignored
c) psuedoscience progresses by investigating solvable empirical problems
d) pseudoscience makes claims that are inconsistent with well-established scientific truths
C - ✔✔Your friend is trying to convince you to take some amazing brain improving vitamins.
They tell you that they decided to truth them because they read one review talking about how
great they were. You explain to your friend that this is testimonial evidence and it is not very
trustworthy. Which of the following is NOT a problem with testimonial evidence?
a) normally only positive testimonials are advertised
b)testimonials are based on individual cases and can't be generalised
c) testimonials can NEVER be verified
d) testimonials are subjective not objective
A - ✔✔The idea that a scientific theory must be stated in such a way that it is possible to
refute or disconfirm is known as the principle of ____________.
a) falsification
b) systematic empiricism
c) public verification
d) pseudoscience
B - ✔✔Chester has a theory that he has magical powers and can fly. However, he can only fly
when no one is looking including himself. Which of the principles of science is impossible for
Chester's theory to meet?
a) determinism
b) verificationism
,c) falsification
d) parsimony
A - ✔✔Jenny has a strong belief in fate, so she believes that her life is following a plan that
was set in motion when she was born. Every action is leading to another event and this
sequence is unchangeable. Which of the following best explains this belief?
a) determinism
b) positivism
c) parsimony
d) astrology
C - ✔✔Which of the following is the ultimate goal of scientific research?
a) evidence
b) prediction
c) explanation
d) description
D - ✔✔You have always had a theory that vitamin C cures the common cold and provides
people with energy. You have recently been shown strong evidence that actually indicates
vitamin C has no benefits at all for either of these things. According to the scientific method
what should you do now?
a) accept that vitamin C does nothing
b) throw away all your vitamin C
c) ignore the new evidence and keep taking vitamin C
d) update and test this claim with the new evidence
, A - ✔✔Population validity and ecological validity are different forms of:
a) external validity
b) internal validity
c) criterion validity
d) construct validity
D - ✔✔Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of the independent variable?
a) it is manipulated or controlled by the experimenter
b) it is independent of the measured variables
c) it can affect the dependent variable
d) it can be used to measure the experimental manipulation
B - ✔✔Joshua has conducted a study looking at the influence of alcohol on aggression. The
study only included female participants with a mean age of 20. Joshua found that alcohol did
not increase aggression in this group and has concluded that there is no relationship between
alcohol and aggression. This study is low in _______ validity.
a) ecological
b) population
c) construct
d) internal
B - ✔✔My set of scales at home always tells me that I am 65kg. I weigh myself three times a
week and this is always the measurement. When I weighed myself at the GP's today I was
actually 62kg. What does this say about the reliability and validity of my home scales?
a) they are high in validity and low in reliability
