Psych Quiz and Test Yourself
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Dr. Darling designs an experimental test of his theory of aggression against a competing theory. After conducting the appropriate statistical tests, he finds that the data are better explained by the competing theory. His willingness to accept the evidence that another theory is superior is a characteristic of which of the following?
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scientific skepticism
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Sarah, a graduate student in psychology, just heard about a five-year-old child who has already learned calculus. She is thinking about doing an in-depth study of the child for her dissertation because such early-life math skill is so rare. Sarah is considering which research method?
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case study
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Luis believes in an old tradition that eating clay will help his wife deliver a healthy baby. Which of the following describes Luis' tendency to believe he sees the world correctly, and that the exists precisely as we see it?
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naive realism
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Eila is participating in a psychological experiment for one of the grad students at her university. She is pretty confident that she knows the true intent of the study and is trying to answer the questions accordingly. A common pitfall in experiments, Eila is falling prey to which of the following?
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demand characteristics
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Dr. Simmons teaches philosophy and discusses several topics in the course, including religion. Paulo, a student in the class, believes that when he dies, he will be resurrected. Paulo's claim falls under which of the following areas?
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metaphysical claim
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Mistakenly assuming that the popularity of a theory is in some way indicative of a theory's correctness or accuracy is the definition of which logical fallacy?
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bandwagon
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Dr. Rashad offers the class an explanation for an extensive group of research findings connecting emotionality and nonverbal communication. Her explanation for this group of findings represents which of the following?
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a scientific theory
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_____ research examines how the mind works, then _____ research examines how we can use the former to solve real-world problems.
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basic, applied
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Who is engaged in abstract thinking?
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Benito, who says the sun might explode one day
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According to Spearman, it's one's ___ intelligence that produces the positive correlations found between vocabulary, spatial ability, and verbal reasoning tests.
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general
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Because Ken's history professor was a college student during the 1970s, he has extraordinary insight and knowledge of facts concerning the Vietnam War era. Which of the following best characterizes this knowledge?
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crystallized intelligence
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What 3 types of intelligence constitute Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence
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analytical, creative, and practical
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What is a dominant characteristic of culture-fair IQ tests?
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minimal verbal skills are required
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Which of the following is true concerning 'twin study' research findings?
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identical twins have more similar IQ scores than fraternal twins
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Which of the following best describes the \"Flynn effect\"?
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the finding that IQ scores have steadily increased over the last decade
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_____ thinking refers to the capacity to generate many different solutions to a problem, _____ thinking refers to the capacity to generate the single best solution to a problem.
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divergent, convergent
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Which of the following emotions would be most difficult to read from facial expression alone?
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envy
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You are sitting in the living room of your girlfriend's house when you notice that your hands are perspiring. What theory of emotion suggests that you will now decide that you are nervous about meeting her parents?
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James- Lange
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Which theory of emotions best describes why the girl Ben saw on his way into the gym seemed more attractive to him while he was leaving the gym?
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two factor
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The test is based on the assumption that criminals usually possess concealed knowledge about the crime is
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guilty knowledge test
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Which of the following is NOT one of the charges detected by a polygraph?
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mood
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Ken and Daniel are totally immersed in their video game. Their mom has been calling them to dinner for 5 minutes, but they have not responded. Based on our class discussions, how would you describe their mental state?
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immersed in flow
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Hanging out with friends with the same hobbies can best be explained by the ___ principle of relationship formation.
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similarity
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Among the major principles guiding attraction and relationship formation, _____ plays a more important role when a relationship moves to deeper levels.
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reciprocity
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Byron is going on a blind date. His friend has told him all about Rebecca and he is excited to meet her. Based on the work of Hatfield and colleagues regarding initial attraction, what will be the best predictor of Byron's attraction toward her?
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how she looks
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According to the triangular theory of love proposed by Sternberg, _____ love is the ultimate love.
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companionate
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Eric was recently fired from his job. His response to this stressful event was to take charge of the situation and look for a new job. He applied for open positions for which he was qualified, in order to reduce the impact of the situation. This active type of coping is known as
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behavioral controls
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Cognitive control is the ability to
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mentally reconstruct or think differently about negative emotions that steam form stressful events
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After he asked Rachel to be his girlfriend and she declined his request, Trey spent the next several days recounting the rejection in his mind. He thought about different ways he might have asked, reasons why she might have said no, and felt sure that everyone would be talking about him behind his back. Each time he thought of these unpleasant things, he got a little more upset. Trey is engaging in a practice called _____.
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rumination
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According to discrete emotions theory, emotions
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exist to serve evolutionary functions
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Joe received an e-mail about getting a 50% payroll increase this year. He had been expecting this moment for eight months. After hearing the news, he felt extremely happy. However, he went back to his typical level of happiness in just one day. Joe's reaction could best be explained by the _____.
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hedonic treadmill
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As Stella watches the TV lotto drawing, she realizes she has the winning combination. If her heart starts to race at the same instant that she feels euphoria over winning, her response pattern would tend to support
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Cannon-Bard theory
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People who are more likely to attempt and stick with new challenges usually have _____ self-esteem.
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high
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Pam just set up her best friend Olivia on a blind date with her brother. According to the two-factor theory of emotion, what might she do to enhance the likelihood that Olivia will find her brother desirable?
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give them tickets to a scary movie
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Studies have suggested that personal space in many Middle Eastern countries is ____ than in the US, and women, in general, tend to have a ____ personal space than men.
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closer, closer
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Before entering first grade, little Mina used to love to read books. Once school started, her teacher began a program to motivate her students to read. She began to give stars to those children who finished a new book. As a result, Mina no longer reads while she is at home. What has likely occurred?
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Mina's intrinsic motivation decreased.
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Jenny has an intense interest in food but eats sparingly and with disgust. She has an intense fear of becoming obese, and even though she looks emaciated, she still claims she \"feels fat\" and refuses to eat enough to maintain even a minimal normal body weight for her frame. She is most likely suffering from
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anorexia nervosa
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Stress is a(n) ____ while a stressor is a(n) _____.
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response, stimulus
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The stress-response pattern proposed by Hans Selye that consists of three stages— alarm, resistance, and exhaustion—is called the _____ syndrome.
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general adaptation
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According to the stress as a transaction approach, when encountering a potentially threatening event, people first decide whether the event is harmful; this is known as _____. Then, a(n) _____ is made about how well one can cope with that event.
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primary appraisal; secondary appraisal
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Jamie has worked for the Jones & Miller law firm for the past five years. The firm is in the process of downsizing and laying off employees. Jamie is afraid that she may lose her job. To help deal with this stressful situation, Jamie tends to rely on her social contacts for support, in addition to nurturing those around her. This is known as
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tend and befriend
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_____ is the term used to describe illnesses in which emotions and stress contribute to, maintain, or aggravate the physical symptoms.
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psychophysiological
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Joanna has a Type A personality. Which of the following traits are descriptive of her personality?
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competitive and driven
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Which of the following is TRUE regarding coping strategies?
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Eric engages in problem-focused coping when he faces the challenges of life head-on.
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What is the term for the people and groups that can provoke emotional comfort and personal and financial resources during times of need?
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social support
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Cailee and Rick's parents take them to church every week. What type of influence on personality is being exhibited?
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shared environmental
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Dylan believes that his hard work, rather than luck or chance, resulted in his promotion at work. Dylan probably has
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an internal locus of control
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The _____ seeks to find a resolution between the competing demands of the _____.
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ego; id and superego
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According to humanistic theories of personality, expectations we place on ourselves for appropriate and inappropriate behaviors are called
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conditions of worth
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After a day when all of his students complained about the way he graded their papers, his boss doubled his workload, and he got a speeding ticket on his way home, Nick yelled at his wife for leaving her toothbrush on the bathroom counter. This is an example of which defense mechanism?
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displacement
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A key point from the research on individualism-collectivism is that
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there are consistent differences between and within cultures on these personality styles
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According to psychoanalytic theory, sexual impulses are submerged into the unconscious during the ___ stage
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latency
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Tests consisting of ambiguous stimuli that examinees must interpret are called
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projective tests
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One oft-cited criticism of the DSM-5 is that many illnesses seem to occur at the same time; that is, a specific set of symptoms could qualify an individual for more than one diagnosis. This phenomenon, called _____, raises the question of whether the DSM is truly identifying independent conditions as opposed to slightly different variations of the same problem.
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comorbidity
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Overmier and Seligman have described the phenomenon of learned _____ as the tendency to feel powerless in the face of events that we can't control. They have also argued that it provides an explanation for many cases of major depressive disorder.
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helplessness
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Doreen is giving a presentation in her abnormal psychology class on the prevalence of psychological disorders. If you were a student in that class, what general category of disorders would you expect her to mention as one of the most prevalent psychological disorders?
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anxiety disorders
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Kayla has experienced a decrease in the need for sleep for the past three nights, is extremely talkative and creative, and has been very irresponsible with money during this time. Kayla is in the midst of a(n)
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manic episode
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During the day, Barb suffers from frequent, unwanted thoughts that she has left her front door unlocked and recurrent images that all her belongings have been taken. These thoughts and images are what psychologists refer to as a(n)
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obsession
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Major changes in sleep patterns, weight level, and a loss of interest in pleasurable activities characterize
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major depressive disorder
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A person who has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder is most likely to exhibit
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impulsitivity and unpredictability in his or her interactions with others
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A patient in a psychiatric hospital exhibits disordered thinking, bizarre behavior, and hallucinations. This person is probably suffering from ____
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schizophrenia
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____________ approaches to studying personality focus on identifying general laws that govern the behavior of all individuals. ____________ approaches to studying personality focus on identifying the unique configuration of characteristics and life history experiences within a person.
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nomothetic, idiographic
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Which of the following represents a shared environmental influence?
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Todd and Vie both live in a home with many books
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A statistical technique that analyzes the correlations among responses on personality inventories and other measures is called
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factor analysis
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Darcy is sitting at her desk in her office one day when, without warning, her heart begins racing rapidly, she starts sweating profusely, and she is gripped with a terrifying fear that she is about to go crazy. She thinks she is having a heart attack. Nothing she is doing seems to have caused such an episode. Her symptoms most resemble _____.
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panic attack
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According to cognitive models of depression, people with this condition focus on the negative cognitive triad. This triad includes all but WHICH of the following?
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negative views of one's past
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As psychological scientists, we are skeptical of claims that suggest
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a particular behavior is determined by a single factor
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Dr. Garonski is testing his hypothesis that people use hand gestures more in communication when emotionally aroused than when calm. When his results were reviewed, it was noted that Dr. Garonski sometimes missed seeing small gestures in the calm condition. This is an example of
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confirmation bias
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Garry reports that he can see ghosts in haunted houses. When you accompany him to a haunted house, Garry does not see any ghosts. When you ask him about this, he says that he could not see them because your negative energy got in the way of his ghost vision. Which of the following best describes Garry's explanation?
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ad hoc immunizing hypothesis
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If a scientific finding has been replicated, it demonstrates that it was
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capable of being consistently duplicated
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Drs. Sheridan and Kwon are psychologists. Dr. Sheridan works with teachers, parents, and children to help alleviate children's behavioral problems. Dr. Kwon works with individuals experiencing life problems such as marital conflict, career uncertainty, or job stress. According to what you have learned about psychologists, which of the following best characterizes Drs. Sheridan and Kwon?
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Dr. Sheridan is a school psychologist, Dr. Kwon is a counseling psychologist
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The extent to which it is possible to draw cause-and-effect conclusions from a given research project describes the study's _____ validity.
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internal
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What is the main difference between an experiment and a correlational study?
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An experiment involves the manipulation of variables, while a correlational study does not
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Which of the following is an example of 'stereotype threat'?
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Julie becomes anxious when told that women perform worse than men on standardized math tests, and even though she is a gifted mathematician, she performs below average on the SAT math section.
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The end of the germinal stage of prenatal development is marked by
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the attachment to the uterine wall
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Which of the following is true of all critical periods in prenatal development?
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Teratogens have the most serious effect on prenatal development immediately before an organ's critical period.
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Which of the following is true of motor development?
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There is variability in both the age children reach motor milestones and the progression of motor milestones.
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Which of the following is an example of centration?
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Andrew thinks that a big empty box is heavier than a small box full of rocks