Select Questions

Chapter 1

1. The term "operational definition" was coined by __________.

B.F. Skinner

Ivan Pavlov

Percy Bridgeman

Wolfgang Kohler

2. Hullian theory hypothesizes that rates of behavior will increase directly as a function of increased motivational states. The following statement is an example of __________. If hours of food deprivation are increased (an increase in motivational state), then the rat will run the maze more quickly.

the test implications of a hypothesis

the evaluation process

the inductive process

the discovery process

3. A __________ is a tentative answer to a research question - a statement of expectation that, given certain conditions, certain other events or conditions also will hold true.

hypothesis

deduction

replication

happy guess

4. Presenting a paper at a conference or submitting it for publication are activities in __________.

the cycle of discovery

professional research

the cycle of validation

hypothesis testing

5. Science avoids errors and biases in making observations or in making conclusions by systematically checking and repeating work. This process is known as __________.

deduction

repetition

evaluation

replication

6. Which of the following does NOT represent a variable that could be tested using experimentation?

illumination level

drug dosage

intensity of visual imagery

gender

7. A neuropsychologist hypothesized that the occipital cortex is involved in vision. He examined the brains of stroke patients (after death) and discovered that most of those with blindness had stroke damage in their occipital cortex. His approach is best described as __________.

hypothesis testing through observation

hypothesis testing through validation

hypothesis testing through experimentation

manipulation

8. The observation that newcomers to a field often become innovators is most clearly explained by which of the following people?

Paul Feyerabend

Thomas Kuhn

Jean Piaget

B. F. Skinner

9. Induction refers to the process of:

observing particular events and then formulating a generalization to explain them.

deriving predictions about what will happen in an experiment from a theory.

evaluating findings in the cycle of validation.

generalizing from the results of an experiment to situations outside the laboratory.

10. __________ refers to the process of reasoning from particular facts or individual cases to a general conclusion.

Validation

Deduction

Evaluation

Induction

11. An animal psychologist believed that animals were unable to learn a maze unless stimulus-response connections were stamped in by the animal receiving a food reward. His position is most similar to that of __________.

Feyerabend

Piaget

Thorndike

Kohler

12. The aspect of scientific work that most clearly demonstrates its collective nature is:

the cycle of validation.

its focus on reliable and valid measures.

its empirical nature.

operational definitions.