MS MS in Psychology 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which research design randomly assigns participants to conditions to establish cause-and-effect relationships?
- Randomized controlled experiment (Correct answer)
- Correlational study
- Case study
- Naturalistic observation
Correct answer: Randomized controlled experiment
A randomized controlled experiment (RCT) uses random assignment to control and experimental groups, allowing researchers to infer causation rather than mere correlation.
Question 2: What term describes the tendency to seek information that confirms pre-existing beliefs?
- Confirmation bias (Correct answer)
- Fundamental attribution error
- Availability heuristic
- Anchoring bias
Correct answer: Confirmation bias
Confirmation bias is the cognitive tendency to search for, interpret, and recall information in a way that confirms one's prior beliefs or hypotheses.
Question 3: Which neurotransmitter is primarily associated with reward, motivation, and pleasure pathways in the brain?
- Dopamine (Correct answer)
- Serotonin
- GABA
- Acetylcholine
Correct answer: Dopamine
Dopamine is the primary neurotransmitter in the mesolimbic reward pathway, playing a central role in motivation, reinforcement learning, and the experience of pleasure.
Question 4: In Piaget's theory, which stage (ages 7–11) is characterized by logical thinking about concrete objects?
- Concrete operational stage (Correct answer)
- Preoperational stage
- Formal operational stage
- Sensorimotor stage
Correct answer: Concrete operational stage
During the concrete operational stage, children develop logical reasoning abilities but apply them primarily to tangible, concrete objects rather than abstract hypotheticals.
Question 5: What is the independent variable in a psychology experiment?
- The variable manipulated by the researcher (Correct answer)
- The variable measured as the outcome
- The variable held constant across conditions
- The variable used to control for extraneous effects
Correct answer: The variable manipulated by the researcher
The independent variable is the factor that the researcher deliberately manipulates to examine its effect on the dependent (outcome) variable.
Question 6: Which statistical value indicates the probability of obtaining results at least as extreme as observed, assuming the null hypothesis is true?
- p-value (Correct answer)
- Effect size
- Confidence interval
- Standard deviation
Correct answer: p-value
The p-value is the probability of observing data as extreme as the sample results if the null hypothesis were true; values below .05 typically indicate statistical significance.
MS MS in Psychology 1
Which research design randomly assigns participants to conditions to establish cause-and-effect relationships?