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PSEB SS Psychology study materials
PSEB SS Psychology study resources

PSEB SS Psychology practice questions

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Question 1Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

The word 'psychology' is derived from the Greek roots 'psyche' and 'logos'. In this derivation, what does 'psyche' refer to?

  1. Brain tissue
  2. Accurate measurement
  3. Observable behaviour
  4. Soul or mind Correct answer.

Explanation

The term psychology combines two Greek roots: 'psyche', meaning soul or mind, and 'logos', meaning study or knowledge. Early definitions therefore described psychology as the study of the soul, and later definitions shifted towards the study of mind and behaviour.

Question 2Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Who established the first formal experimental psychology laboratory at Leipzig in 1879?

  1. William James
  2. Sigmund Freud
  3. John B. Watson
  4. Wilhelm Wundt Correct answer.

Explanation

Wilhelm Wundt set up the first laboratory devoted to experimental psychology at Leipzig in 1879, and this date is conventionally treated as the birth of psychology as a separate science. He also trained many early psychologists and promoted introspection as a research method.

Question 3Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which school of thought attempted to analyse conscious experience into its basic elements using trained introspection?

  1. Functionalism
  2. Behaviourism
  3. Structuralism Correct answer.
  4. Gestalt psychology

Explanation

Structuralism, developed by Titchener from Wundt's ideas, tried to analyse conscious experience into basic elements such as sensations, images and feelings. Its main method was introspection, in which trained observers reported their inner experiences under controlled conditions.

Question 4Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

William James described consciousness as a continuous stream that helps people survive. Which statement best expresses the functionalist view?

  1. Only observable behaviour can be studied scientifically.
  2. Conscious experience can be reduced to basic elements.
  3. Unconscious conflicts are the main cause of behaviour.
  4. Consciousness serves to help the organism adapt. Correct answer.

Explanation

Functionalists such as William James were influenced by Darwin and asked what consciousness is for. They argued that mental processes are adaptive, helping the organism adjust to its surroundings, rather than being mere elements to be dissected.

Question 5Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

John B. Watson objected to introspection and proposed a new direction for psychology. What did he argue psychology should study?

  1. Psychology should describe the whole pattern of experience.
  2. Psychology should analyse immediate conscious experience.
  3. Psychology should study only observable behaviour. Correct answer.
  4. Psychology should explore unconscious motives and conflicts.

Explanation

Watson argued that introspection was subjective and unreliable, and that psychology would be scientific only if it studied observable behaviour along with the stimuli and responses that produce it. This position became the core of behaviourism.

Question 6Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which Gestalt principle states that perceptual experience cannot be explained by adding up separate sensations?

  1. Unconscious wishes shape perception and behaviour.
  2. The whole is more than the sum of its parts. Correct answer.
  3. Mental contents can be split into basic elements.
  4. Behaviour is shaped mainly by its consequences.

Explanation

Gestalt psychologists such as Wertheimer, Koffka and Köhler argued that perception is organised into whole patterns. A melody, for example, is heard as a pattern rather than as a list of separate notes, so the whole cannot be reduced to the sum of its parts.

Question 7Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which school of thought emphasises free will, personal growth and reaching one's full potential?

  1. Psychoanalytic school
  2. Humanistic school Correct answer.
  3. Behaviourist school
  4. Structuralist school

Explanation

Humanistic psychology, associated with Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers, emphasises free will, self-actualisation and the person's capacity for growth. It arose partly as a reaction against the determinism of psychoanalysis and behaviourism.

Question 8Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

A researcher investigates how group membership and conformity influence an individual's behaviour. Which branch of psychology does this work belong to?

  1. Clinical psychology
  2. Developmental psychology
  3. Industrial psychology
  4. Social psychology Correct answer.

Explanation

Social psychology examines how the actual, imagined or implied presence of others influences an individual's thoughts, feelings and behaviour. Studies of conformity, group membership and prejudice belong to this branch.

Question 9Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Modern psychology is often described as eclectic. What does this mean?

  1. It treats all schools as equally unscientific.
  2. It draws on several schools and methods. Correct answer.
  3. It relies only on psychoanalytic case studies.
  4. It rejects every school except behaviourism.

Explanation

Eclecticism means that contemporary psychology does not restrict itself to a single school. Psychologists select and combine concepts, methods and techniques from several perspectives, such as behavioural, cognitive, psychodynamic and humanistic, according to the problem being studied.

Question 10Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which school of thought is correctly paired with a psychologist associated with it?

  1. Humanistic – Carl Rogers Correct answer.
  2. Psychoanalysis – B. F. Skinner
  3. Structuralism – William James
  4. Behaviourism – Wilhelm Wundt

Explanation

Carl Rogers is a leading figure of humanistic psychology, along with Abraham Maslow. The other pairings are incorrect because Skinner is associated with behaviourism, Wundt with structuralism and experimental psychology, and James with functionalism.

Question 11Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which statement best describes the current scope of psychology as an academic discipline?

  1. It is limited to diagnosing and treating mental illness.
  2. It covers behaviour together with mental processes such as memory and emotion. Correct answer.
  3. It is confined to the study of unconscious drives and early childhood.
  4. It is restricted to the biological study of the nervous system and its chemical activity.

Explanation

Modern psychology is defined by the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes, so it includes both observable actions and internal events such as memory, emotion and thought. Clinical and biological work are parts of this wider discipline, not its whole extent.

Question 12Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

A student wants to work with people who have anxiety disorders, administering psychological tests and therapy rather than medication. Which subfield is the most direct preparation for this work?

  1. Developmental psychology
  2. Experimental psychology
  3. Clinical psychology Correct answer.
  4. Industrial–organizational psychology

Explanation

Clinical psychology trains practitioners to assess and treat psychological disorders using interviews, tests and psychotherapy. Medication is normally prescribed by medically qualified psychiatrists, so the described role fits clinical rather than experimental or organizational work.

Question 13Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which feature is most central to the psychoanalytic school founded by Sigmund Freud?

  1. Conscious reasoning is the main determinant of behaviour.
  2. Unconscious conflict and early childhood shape behaviour. Correct answer.
  3. Perception organises separate sensations into meaningful whole patterns.
  4. Observable responses to stimuli form the only legitimate subject matter.

Explanation

Psychoanalysis treats unconscious conflict, repressed impulses and early childhood relationships as the main sources of personality and behaviour. Conscious reasoning, observable responses and perceptual organisation belong to other schools of thought.

Question 14Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Psychologists debate whether differences in aggression are mainly inherited or mainly learned from family and culture. Which enduring issue does this debate illustrate?

  1. Stability versus change
  2. Mind versus body
  3. Nature versus nurture Correct answer.
  4. Conscious versus unconscious control

Explanation

The nature–nurture issue concerns the relative contribution of heredity and environment to behaviour and mental characteristics. The other options name different debates, such as the relation between brain and experience, or whether traits persist across the lifespan.

Question 15Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

During the 1950s and 1960s, psychologists increasingly compared the mind to an information-processing system and studied memory, attention and problem solving. This shift is known as:

  1. the psychoanalytic turn
  2. the Gestalt revolt
  3. the behaviourist manifesto
  4. the cognitive revolution Correct answer.

Explanation

The cognitive revolution reintroduced internal processes such as attention, memory and problem solving, often modelled on computer information processing. It displaced the behaviourist ban on studying mental events as the dominant approach in psychology.

Question 16Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

A psychologist explains a client's low mood mainly by referring to irregular levels of serotonin and activity in the frontal lobes. Which perspective is being applied?

  1. Psychodynamic
  2. Behaviourist
  3. Biological Correct answer.
  4. Humanistic

Explanation

The biological perspective explains behaviour and mental disorder through physiology, brain structures and neurotransmitters. It contrasts with perspectives that emphasise learning, unconscious conflict or personal growth.

Question 17Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

A psychologist is hired to redesign a factory's shift system and to help managers select applicants with the right skills. Which branch of psychology does this work belong to?

  1. Educational psychology
  2. Comparative psychology
  3. Industrial–organizational psychology Correct answer.
  4. Health psychology

Explanation

Industrial–organizational psychology applies psychological principles to hiring, training, motivation and working conditions in organizations. Educational, health and comparative psychology address different settings and questions.

Question 18Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Why did early behaviourists such as John B. Watson reject introspection as a scientific method?

  1. It assumed that unconscious forces caused all behaviour.
  2. It depended on statistical techniques that had not yet been invented.
  3. It produced reliable results only when large samples of animals were tested.
  4. It studied private experience that others could not observe or check. Correct answer.

Explanation

Behaviourists demanded publicly observable data that other scientists could replicate. Introspection produced reports of private experience that could not be independently verified, so it was rejected as unscientific.

Question 19Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which contrast between a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist is stated correctly?

  1. A psychiatrist treats only mild adjustment problems, whereas a clinical psychologist treats only severe psychotic disorders in hospital settings.
  2. A psychiatrist is medically qualified and may prescribe drugs, whereas a clinical psychologist usually holds a psychology doctorate. Correct answer.
  3. A psychiatrist works only in universities, whereas a clinical psychologist works only in general hospitals.
  4. A psychiatrist relies only on talk therapy, whereas a clinical psychologist relies only on medication.

Explanation

Psychiatry is a medical specialty, so psychiatrists complete medical training and can prescribe medication. Clinical psychologists typically complete doctoral training in psychology and specialise in assessment and psychological therapy.

Question 20Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Three researchers study the same aggressive act: one examines testosterone, another examines peer reinforcement, and a third examines cultural norms about honour. What does this scenario best illustrate about psychology's scope?

  1. That findings from different levels of analysis cannot be compared
  2. That behaviour can be analysed at biological, behavioural and social levels Correct answer.
  3. That trained introspection is the only method capable of explaining behaviour
  4. That only biological explanations of behaviour can be considered truly scientific

Explanation

The same behaviour can be investigated at biological, psychological and social levels, and modern psychology treats these as complementary rather than competing. The scenario shows this multi-level scope rather than loyalty to a single method.

Question 21Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which statement best describes the modern academic definition of psychology?

  1. The analysis of society and group institutions
  2. The scientific study of behaviour and mental processes Correct answer.
  3. The medical treatment of mental illness using drugs
  4. The philosophical study of the soul and its moral purpose

Explanation

Modern psychology is defined as the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes. It relies on systematic observation and evidence rather than philosophical speculation, social analysis or medical treatment alone.

Question 22Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

A researcher compares how children of ages 2, 6 and 12 solve puzzles in order to identify typical changes that occur with age. Which branch of psychology does this work belong to?

  1. Personality psychology
  2. Industrial and organisational psychology
  3. Health psychology
  4. Developmental psychology Correct answer.

Explanation

Developmental psychology studies changes in behaviour and mental processes across the lifespan, including cognitive changes in childhood. Comparing age groups to identify typical patterns is a standard developmental approach.

Question 23Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

A psychologist argues that people's tendency to fear snakes and spiders more readily than harmless objects reflects an inherited advantage that helped ancestors survive. Which perspective is being used?

  1. Evolutionary Correct answer.
  2. Psychodynamic
  3. Humanistic
  4. Behaviourist

Explanation

The evolutionary perspective explains psychological tendencies in terms of adaptive value and natural selection. A rapid fear response to dangerous animals would have increased survival chances, so the tendency is interpreted as inherited.

Question 24Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

Which topic would a cognitive psychologist be most likely to investigate?

  1. How attention and working memory limit problem solving Correct answer.
  2. How observed consequences change the frequency of a behaviour
  3. How unconscious childhood conflicts shape adult personality
  4. How natural selection shaped cooperative behaviour

Explanation

Cognitive psychology focuses on mental processes such as attention, memory, thinking and problem solving. It asks how these processes operate and constrain performance on tasks.

Question 25Introduction to Psychology (nature, scope, schools of thought)

A critic argues that psychoanalytic ideas about unconscious conflicts cannot be tested because they can explain any outcome after the fact. Which issue is the critic raising?

  1. Whether psychoanalysis relies too heavily on laboratory experiments
  2. Whether psychoanalysis ignores the role of early childhood
  3. Whether psychoanalysis is falsifiable as a scientific theory Correct answer.
  4. Whether psychoanalysis rejects the existence of the unconscious

Explanation

A scientific theory must make predictions that could be shown to be wrong. If psychoanalytic claims can accommodate any result, they are difficult to falsify, which is a central criticism of the school.

Question 26Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher sits in a classroom and carefully records how often students raise their hands, without changing anything about the lesson. Which goal of psychological enquiry is being served most directly?

  1. Description Correct answer.
  2. Control
  3. Explanation
  4. Prediction

Explanation

Description is the first goal of enquiry: the researcher records behaviour as it occurs, without altering conditions. Prediction and explanation require showing how variables are related or why events happen, and control involves deliberately manipulating conditions. Simply recording hand-raising frequencies therefore serves description.

Question 27Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In an experiment testing whether classroom noise affects reaction time, the noise level is best described as the:

  1. Extraneous variable
  2. Dependent variable
  3. Independent variable Correct answer.
  4. Confounding variable

Explanation

The independent variable is the condition the experimenter deliberately varies, while the dependent variable is the behaviour measured. Because the researcher sets different noise levels to observe their effect on reaction time, noise is the independent variable.

Question 28Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

Before a study begins, participants are given a written account of its purpose, procedure and risks so they can decide freely whether to take part. This practice illustrates:

  1. Confidentiality
  2. Debriefing
  3. Deception
  4. Informed consent Correct answer.

Explanation

Informed consent requires that participants receive adequate, understandable information about a study before agreeing to participate, and that their agreement is voluntary. Debriefing occurs after the study, deception involves withholding or misleading information, and confidentiality concerns how data are stored and reported.

Question 29Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher draws a sample by taking every tenth name from an alphabetically arranged list of 500 students. Which sampling technique is this?

  1. Snowball sampling
  2. Systematic sampling Correct answer.
  3. Purposive sampling
  4. Quota sampling

Explanation

Systematic sampling selects cases at a fixed interval from a prepared list, so choosing every tenth name is the textbook case. Quota and purposive sampling depend on the researcher's judgement about categories or typical cases, and snowball sampling relies on participants referring further participants.

Question 30Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

Which of the following statements qualifies as a testable research hypothesis?

  1. Sleep is the most important factor in a happy life.
  2. Students should sleep for eight hours every night.
  3. Why do students sleep less before examinations?
  4. Less than six hours of sleep lowers memory test scores. Correct answer.

Explanation

A hypothesis is a tentative, testable statement that predicts a relationship between two or more variables, which the statement about sleep duration and memory scores does. Value judgements, recommendations and open questions cannot be confirmed or refuted by data, so they cannot serve as hypotheses.

Question 31Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher joins a community group for several months, takes part in its activities and records observations. Which limitation is most closely associated with this strategy?

  1. Requirement of a matched control group
  2. Inability to yield qualitative data
  3. Loss of objectivity through emotional involvement Correct answer.
  4. Inability to study behaviour in natural settings

Explanation

Participant observation gives rich insider information but places the observer inside the group's emotional life, which can bias recording and interpretation. It is usually conducted in natural settings and commonly produces qualitative records, so the other objections do not fit.

Question 32Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

What is the main advantage of an unstructured interview over a structured one?

  1. It eliminates interviewer bias completely.
  2. It guarantees standardised answers that are easy to score.
  3. It can be posted to thousands of respondents at low cost.
  4. It allows follow-up probing of unexpected answers. Correct answer.

Explanation

An unstructured interview has no fixed schedule of questions, so the interviewer can pursue new leads and ask participants to elaborate on unexpected responses. Standardised scoring, low-cost mass distribution and freedom from interviewer influence are features of other tools or are simply unattainable in interviews.

Question 33Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A weighing scale in a clinic gives a reading that is always exactly 2 kg more than the person's true weight. The scale is:

  1. Valid but not reliable
  2. Neither reliable nor valid
  3. Both reliable and valid
  4. Reliable but not valid Correct answer.

Explanation

Reliability refers to consistency of measurement and validity to measuring what is intended. A constant error of 2 kg produces stable, repeatable readings, so the scale is reliable, but every reading is wrong, so it lacks validity.

Question 34Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In a experiment on the effect of praise on task persistence, participants are randomly assigned to a praise or a no-praise condition. The main purpose of random assignment is to:

  1. remove the need for a control group
  2. rule out pre-existing individual differences between the groups Correct answer.
  3. increase the ecological validity of the setting
  4. make the sample representative of the wider population

Explanation

Random assignment distributes participant characteristics such as motivation or ability evenly across conditions, so the groups are comparable before the treatment is introduced. Representativeness concerns how the sample is drawn from the population, and ecological validity concerns how lifelike the setting is.

Question 35Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A psychologist intensively studies one child's language development from age two to six, using interviews with parents and repeated recordings. Which criticism applies most directly to this work?

  1. The method cannot be used to generate new hypotheses.
  2. The method requires a sample of at least several hundred cases.
  3. The findings may not generalise beyond the single case studied. Correct answer.
  4. The method produces too little detail about the individual.

Explanation

A case study offers depth about one person or setting, and its central weakness is that unique features of the case may make generalisation to other people unsafe. Its strengths include rich detail and the generation of hypotheses, and it does not depend on large samples.

Question 36Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A psychologist wants to determine whether a new study technique causes better exam performance than the usual method. Which method is designed to support a causal conclusion?

  1. Experiment Correct answer.
  2. Case study
  3. Naturalistic observation
  4. Correlational survey

Explanation

An experiment manipulates an independent variable and controls extraneous influences, so changes in the dependent variable can be attributed to the manipulation. Observational and correlational methods describe what occurs or how variables co-vary without establishing cause and effect. A case study gives detailed description of one case but does not provide controlled causal evidence.

Question 37Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In a study of stress, the researcher defines stress as the score on a 20-item self-report checklist. This statement is best described as:

  1. A correlational coefficient
  2. A representative sampling method
  3. A testable hypothesis
  4. An operational definition Correct answer.

Explanation

An operational definition specifies exactly how a variable will be measured or manipulated in a particular study. Here the abstract concept of stress is defined through a concrete checklist score, allowing other researchers to replicate the measurement. It is not a prediction, a sampling technique or a statistic.

Question 38Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

After a study that temporarily misled participants about its true purpose, the researcher explains the deception, gives the reasons for it and offers support. This ethical procedure is called:

  1. Informed consent
  2. Random assignment
  3. Debriefing Correct answer.
  4. Confidentiality

Explanation

Debriefing occurs after the study and involves explaining the true purpose, revealing any deception and addressing participants' questions or distress. Informed consent occurs before participation, while confidentiality concerns protecting participants' data. Random assignment is a design procedure, not an ethical safeguard.

Question 39Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher wants a sample of 200 students that reflects the college's proportion of first-year, second-year and third-year students. The researcher randomly selects students within each year group in proportion to its size. Which sampling method is used?

  1. Snowball sampling
  2. Quota sampling
  3. Systematic sampling
  4. Stratified random Correct answer.

Explanation

Stratified random sampling divides the population into relevant subgroups and then randomly selects participants from each subgroup in proportion to its size. This ensures the sample reflects the year-group composition of the college. Quota sampling also uses subgroups but relies on non-random selection.

Question 40Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher observes children on a playground and records every instance of hitting, kicking or pushing as each occurs. Which observational procedure does this illustrate?

  1. Random sampling
  2. Time sampling
  3. Event sampling Correct answer.
  4. Situational sampling

Explanation

Event sampling records each occurrence of a predefined target behaviour whenever it happens, which fits the researcher's recording of every aggressive act. Time sampling instead records behaviour only during specified intervals. Random sampling concerns participant selection, not observation recording.

Question 41Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

Two trained observers independently score the same set of video-recorded parent-child interactions. Their scores are highly consistent with each other. This consistency demonstrates:

  1. Test-retest reliability
  2. Internal validity
  3. Inter-rater reliability Correct answer.
  4. Content validity

Explanation

Inter-rater reliability is the degree to which different observers agree when scoring the same behaviour or material. Because the two observers independently produced consistent scores for the same recordings, this is evidence of inter-rater reliability. Test-retest reliability concerns consistency over repeated occasions, and validity concerns whether a measure assesses what it claims to assess.

Question 42Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In an experiment comparing two teaching methods, the researcher states that there will be no difference between the groups' mean scores. This statement is the:

  1. Alternative hypothesis
  2. Null hypothesis Correct answer.
  3. Directional hypothesis
  4. Operational hypothesis

Explanation

The null hypothesis predicts no difference or no relationship between the variables being compared. A statement that the two teaching methods will produce equal mean scores is therefore a null hypothesis. The alternative hypothesis predicts a difference, and a directional hypothesis predicts the specific direction of that difference.

Question 43Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A questionnaire asks students to respond to the statement 'I enjoy psychology classes' by choosing one of: strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, strongly agree. This item is best described as:

  1. A projective test item
  2. A forced-choice question
  3. An open-ended question format
  4. A Likert-type item Correct answer.

Explanation

A Likert-type item presents a statement and asks respondents to indicate their degree of agreement on an ordered response scale. The five choices from strongly disagree to strongly agree form exactly such a scale. Open-ended questions allow free responses, and forced-choice items require choosing between alternatives without a degree-of-agreement scale.

Question 44Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In an experiment on mood, participants notice the music and infer that the study is about relaxation. They then report feeling calmer than they actually do. This influence on the results is called:

  1. Order effect
  2. Sampling error
  3. Demand characteristics Correct answer.
  4. Experimenter bias

Explanation

Demand characteristics are cues in a study that allow participants to guess the researcher's hypothesis and change their behaviour accordingly. Here the music and setting lead participants to infer the purpose and report greater calmness. Experimenter bias refers to the researcher's expectations influencing results, not the participants' interpretation of the study.

Question 45Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher reports a correlation of r = -0.82 between hours of sleep and self-reported anxiety. Which interpretation is most appropriate?

  1. A strong negative association Correct answer.
  2. Anxiety causes sleep loss in every participant
  3. Longer sleep causes lower anxiety
  4. The relationship is weak and unreliable

Explanation

A correlation of -0.82 indicates a strong negative association: as one variable increases, the other tends to decrease. Correlation alone cannot establish that sleep causes anxiety or that anxiety causes sleep loss. The size of the coefficient is far from zero, so describing the relationship as weak is incorrect.

Question 46Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In an experiment on the effect of sleep deprivation on memory, every participant is tested at the same time of day, in the same quiet room, with the same instructions. The time of day, room and instructions are best described as:

  1. The dependent variable being measured
  2. The independent variable being manipulated
  3. Control variables Correct answer.
  4. Extraneous variables deliberately left free to vary

Explanation

Variables that the researcher deliberately holds constant, so that they cannot affect the outcome, are called control variables. Here the time of day, setting and instructions are fixed for all participants, so they cannot explain any difference in memory scores. They are neither manipulated by the researcher nor measured as an outcome.

Question 47Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

Before a study on exam anxiety begins, participants are told that they may stop answering at any point and leave without losing their course credit. This instruction mainly safeguards the ethical principle of:

  1. Keeping participants' data confidential
  2. Obtaining informed consent to the procedure
  3. Debriefing after the use of deception
  4. The right to withdraw Correct answer.

Explanation

The right to withdraw means participants may discontinue participation at any time, for any reason, without penalty or loss of expected benefits. Telling them explicitly that course credit is not forfeited makes this right meaningful. Informed consent concerns agreeing to take part after being informed, not the option of leaving later.

Question 48Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher studying aggression in a preschool watches each child for 20 seconds, then moves to the next child, repeating this cycle throughout the two-hour free-play period. This observation procedure is best described as:

  1. Time sampling Correct answer.
  2. Situational sampling
  3. Ad libitum sampling
  4. Event sampling

Explanation

Time sampling divides the observation period into fixed intervals and records whether the target behaviour occurs, or how often, within each interval. Moving from child to child on a set 20-second schedule fits this procedure. Event sampling instead records every occurrence of the behaviour as it happens, regardless of a fixed interval schedule.

Question 49Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

In a study of competitive anxiety, a researcher records each participant's finishing position in a puzzle contest (1st, 2nd, 3rd and so on). These positions constitute which type of measurement scale?

  1. Nominal
  2. Ordinal Correct answer.
  3. Ratio
  4. Interval

Explanation

Finishing positions indicate rank order, so a 1st place is better than a 2nd place, but the gaps between adjacent ranks are not guaranteed to be equal. A scale that orders categories without assuming equal intervals is ordinal. Nominal scales only label categories, while interval and ratio scales require equal units.

Question 50Methods of Enquiry in Psychology

A researcher compares reading comprehension in two existing Grade 9 classes: one class is taught with a new method and the other with the traditional method. Students were not assigned to classes by the researcher. This design is best described as:

  1. A quasi-experimental design Correct answer.
  2. A correlational design with no manipulated variable
  3. A single-case experimental design
  4. A true experimental design using random assignment

Explanation

The researcher manipulates the teaching method, but assigns participants to conditions using intact classes rather than random assignment. A design with a manipulated independent variable and non-random assignment of participants is quasi-experimental. Because the groups may differ in prior ability or other characteristics, causal conclusions are weaker than in a true experiment.