SAURYA INTERNATIONAL H. S.

SCHOOL/COLLEGE
Sinamangal, Kathmandu

First Terminal Examination

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PSYCHOLOGY 9698
Paper 1 Core Studies September 2016
1 hour 30 minutes
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Attempt any 3 the questions (question no. 1 is compulsory)

1. In our daily life, we often associate heat with aggression. [5x8=40]
a. Suggest a research design for testing the theory that heat makes people more
aggressive.
b. What kind of research method is it? What are its merits and demerits?
c. State your hypothesis. What would be your operational definition?
d. Which variables in the experiment would be independent and dependent? How
would you control extraneous variables?
e. What kind of correlation do you expect to exist in between the variables? Show
its direction and strength using a scatterplot.
f. In the experiment, what would you do to avoid observer effect and observer bias?
g. In the experiment, how would you create an experiment group and a control
group? Why are they important?
h. What ethical guidelines should you follow during the research?

2. Compare and contrast the behaviorist and the psychodynamic perspectives. [5]
3. Why is peer review an important part of psychological research? [5]
4. Does correlation prove causation? Justify your answer. [5]

Hypothesis - Theory-based predictions stated in a way that allows them to be tested

Operational definition - The translation of a hypothesis into specific, testable procedures that
can be measured and observed.
Correlation - The strength and direction of the relationship between the two variables are
represented by a mathematical statistic known as a correlation, which can
range from +1.0 to –1.0.
Observer effect - tendency of people or animals to behave differently from normal when they
know they are being observed.
Observer bias - tendency of observers to see what they expect to see.
Experimental group - subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent
variable.
Control group - subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable
and who may receive a placebo treatment (controls for confounding
variables).
Pseudopsychologies - Systems of explaining human behavior that are not based on or
consistent with scientific evidence.