Science Inquiry Skills Revision Test/Questions

Stage 1 Psychology
Name SUGGESTED ANSWERS TOTAL - / 42

Science Inquiry Skills

1. The definition of psychology is the study of

A thoughts
B feelings
C behaviour
D All of the above

Questions 2 and 3 refer to the following information.

A researcher was interested in the effects of a new drug to improve memory. He obtained a random sample of 30
male and 30 female students. First he gave all participants the memory test. Three days later, the students were
allocated to two groups where only one of the groups received the new drug. A week later he gave all the participants
the memory test again.

2. The independent variable in this experiment is

A whether or not the students have good memory skills

B whether or not the students receive the new drug
C performance on the memory test.
D gender of the students

3. The dependent variable in this experiment is

A whether or not the students have good memory skills

B whether or not the students receive the new drug
C performance on the memory test.
D gender of the students

4. Which of the following is NOT an ethical consideration when choosing participants?

A the participants are volunteers

B the participants have been informed of the purpose of the research
C the participants have been drawn from the undergraduate population of a university
D the participants will be deceived by the researcher and will be debriefed immediately after the experiment

5. A major difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist is that

A there are fewer areas of specialisation in psychology than there are in psychiatry
B a psychologist is allowed to perform medical procedures whereas a psychiatrist is not
C a psychologist is allowed to prescribe certain types of drugs only whereas a psychiatrist can prescribe all types of
drugs
D a psychiatrist is allowed to perform medical procedures whereas a psychologist is not – psychologist not allowed
to prescribe medication, psychiatrist can.
6. In psychology a population is considered to be?

a. The same as a sample

b. An entire group of people a researcher is interested in researching
c. All the people in Australia
d. Only participants in the control group

7. A prediction based on a theory that is tested in psychological research is known as a

a. sample
b. hypothesis
c. observation
d. replication

8. A relatively small group of participants studied in the hope of learning something that applies to every being or animal
is known as the

a. research method
b. hypothesis
c. sample
d. replication

9. The careful observation and recording of behaviour in real-life settings is known as

a. quantitative observation
b. replication method
c. survey method
d. correlation method

10. Ann has decided to study psychology at university. She is particularly interested in directly helping people with
psychological disorders. Which speciality in psychology will she be most likely to study in post-graduate work?

a. educational psychology
b. clinical psychology
c. research
d. forensic psychology
SHORT ANSWER SECTION:
1. Psychology can be broadly defined as:
Systematic study of thoughts, feelings and behaviour and the factors that influence these.

(2 mark)

2. Psychology is a science because it collect empirical evidence through scientific research methods. Explain what
you understand about this sentence and how telepathy, clairvoyance, astrology are not real sciences.
Psychologist design experiments using different designs in order to obtain valid and reliable data, whilst
controlling as many extraneous variables as possible. Telepathy etc. are not sciences, as they do not follow the
scientific method to obtain empirical evidence.

(2 marks)

3. Experimental research is to identify causal links between variables. That is, experimental researchers manipulate
and control one variable and observe the effect it has on the other variable. The manipulated variable is known
as the
Independent variable (1 marks)

4. Name one difference between experimental and observational research designs.

5. Any one of the following:
Experimental:
 IV is manipulated
 Controlled setting i.e. lab
 Randomly allocated groups
 Correlations/explanations between variables
Quantitative observational
 IV is pre-existing/not manipulated
 Natural setting of participants
 Groups are pre-existing i.e. males vs females
 Associations between variables
(2 marks)

6. A researcher may be interested in the effects of smoking during pregnancy on the birth-weight of infants. What
type of research design would they use and why?
Quantitative observational – find mothers who already smoke during pregnancy vs. mothers who do not. Too
unethical to manipulate this variable.
(2 marks)
7. Identify the IV and the DV in the following hypothesis

a) People who use marijuana will have impaired average performance scores on a memory task .

IV: Marijuana use DV: scores on memory task

(2 marks)

b) Listening to music while studying increases performance on a school test.

IV: Listening to music DV: performance on school test

(2 marks)

c) Drinking red cordial increases hyperactivity in children

IV: drinking red cordial DV: hyperactivity

(2 marks)

8. List the three methods for assessing psychological responses.

Objective quantitative Subjective quantitative Qualitative

(3 marks)

9. An experiment was conducted on the effect of sleep deprivation on children aged between 10 and 15. Children
were allocated to Group A or Group B. Group A were allowed to sleep normally. Group B were kept awake all
night doing a variety of tasks. The next morning each group did a series of tests and were asked to rate their own
performance.

(a) Identify a possible extraneous variable in this experiment.

Any one of the following:
 Pre-existing sleep disorders
 How much sleep an individual can cope with
 Performance of the task regardless of sleep
 Time of morning task is performed
 What the tasks are
 Many more
(2 marks)

b) What method is being used to assess the psychological responses?

Subjective quantitative (rating)

(2 marks)

c) Explain two ethical concerns associated with this experiment.

Ethical issue 1:
Any two of the following:
 General wellbeing – deliberately depriving sleep, cause more stress, lack of concentration etc.
 Informed consent – children used – need parental consent
 Voluntary participation – may have felt coerced due to age
 Right to withdraw – should be able to withdraw at any time
  Debriefing – make sure participants welfare is looked after, arrange sleep treatment if necessary.

(2 marks)

d) It was found that the members of Group A performed better on the series of tests but the members of Group
B rated their performance better.
State one conclusion about the effects of sleep deprivation on children.
 Sleep deprivation effects performance and judgement on tasks in children (or something similar)

(2 marks)

9) Match the area of specialisation in psychology with the correct description.

1 Counselling psychologist 2 Sport psychologist

3. Clinical psychologist 4. Organisational psychologist

a) Specialise in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and mental illness 3

b) Seek to understand complex relationships in the work place 4

c) Assists in persons in areas of person well being, relationships, work, recreation and health 1

d) Assist athletes with preparing for competition 2

[2 marks]

10) A study was performed to examine the effect of alcohol consumption on reaction time in healthy 20-40 year old
males. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups of 20 subjects. Group A was given raspberry cordial,
group B was given raspberry cordial with a flavourless alcohol added. Subjects were not told which group they
were assigned to. Blood tests were taken to detect blood alcohol readings. Reaction rate was measured by timing
how long it took to press a button in response to a beep.

Write a hypothesis for the above study

Participants who consume alcohol will have slower reaction times compared to those participants who do not
consume alcohol. (or something similar)
(2 marks)