Lesson 9.3.1

9.3.1 Ethics, practical issues, reductionism and psychology as a science Quiz: Pearson Edexcel Psychology, Unit 9

20 questions

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Lesson 9.3.1, Ethics, practical issues, reductionism and psychology as a science: 20 multiple choice questions for the Pearson Edexcel Psychology (9PS0), Unit 9: Psychological skills, written with Revision Ninja.

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The 20 questions

  1. Which issue is raised when a study that is ethically acceptable in design still causes distress during data collection?

    • Reductionism of the explanation
    • Ethical issues in research, where the design must be revised to protect participants
    • Psychology as a science
    • The practical issue of sampling only

  2. Which practical issue concerns the difficulty of ensuring that participants in a field experiment are not aware they are being studied?

    • Use of a control condition
    • Normal distribution of scores
    • Covert observation and the need for ethical justification
    • Reliability of a questionnaire

  3. What is reductionism in psychological explanation?

    • Explaining behaviour using many interacting social, cultural and biological factors
    • Explaining complex behaviour in terms of simpler components, such as neurochemistry or single variables
    • Explaining behaviour by measuring the size of the brain only
    • Explaining behaviour only through religious belief

  4. Which of the following is an example of biological reductionism?

    • Explaining aggression through social learning and culture together
    • Explaining addiction through a combination of genes, learning and social factors
    • Explaining addiction purely in terms of dopamine release in the brain
    • Explaining conformity with reference to group norms and identity

  5. Which statement about psychology as a science is most accurate?

    • Psychology cannot use any scientific methods
    • Psychology uses scientific methods such as controlled experiments, though human behaviour is harder to control than in natural sciences
    • Psychology is a science only because it uses no statistics
    • Psychology is identical in method to physics in every respect

  6. Which practical issue is most likely in a study that uses a questionnaire in a school with a short time limit?

    • The study cannot use any statistics
    • The questionnaire will always produce identical answers
    • The study will have no ethical issues
    • Limited time may reduce the quality of responses and the amount of data collected

  7. Which ethical issue is most relevant to a study using a placebo that participants may believe is a real drug?

    • Operationalisation of the dependent variable
    • Deception, which must be justified and followed by debriefing
    • Counterbalancing of conditions
    • Reliability of the placebo

  8. Why is it important to consider both ethical issues and practical issues when designing a study?

    • Because practical issues are always more important than ethical ones
    • Because ethical issues do not affect validity
    • Because practical issues only concern cost
    • Because ethical acceptability and practical feasibility both affect whether a study can be carried out and whether its findings are valid

  9. A researcher argues that reducing aggression to a single hormone level is an example of reductionism. Which evaluation point supports this view?

    • The explanation has no empirical support at all
    • The explanation is entirely social and never mentions biology
    • The explanation ignores social and situational factors that also influence aggression
    • The explanation uses too many variables to be tested

  10. Which evaluation point is most valid for the claim that psychology is a science?

    • Psychology's methods are scientific, but the extent of control and replicability can be limited for human behaviour
    • Psychology cannot be scientific because it involves people
    • Psychology is a science because it is always certain
    • Psychology is scientific only when it uses animals

  11. Which practical issue is raised when researchers try to replicate a laboratory finding in a different country?

    • Replication always gives identical results
    • Replication is never possible in psychology
    • The laboratory equipment will always be identical
    • Differences in samples, procedures and translation may affect whether the findings replicate

  12. Which statement about the ethics of animal research is most consistent with current guidance?

    • Animal studies need no review because animals cannot report
    • Animal studies should always be done in public
    • Animal studies should use the fewest animals and minimise harm, and must be justified by likely benefit
    • Animal studies may cause unlimited harm if the results are important

  13. Which practical problem arises when an observation study requires observers to agree on how to code behaviour?

    • Coding removes all ethical issues
    • Observations cannot produce any data
    • Inter-rater reliability may be low if observers interpret behaviour differently
    • Coding is always objective

  14. Why is a biological explanation of addiction sometimes criticised as being deterministic?

    • It suggests that addiction has no biological basis
    • It may suggest that brain chemistry leaves little room for individual choice or social influence
    • It suggests that addiction is caused by random chance
    • It suggests that addiction can only be explained by culture

  15. Which statement about the relationship between ethics and validity in research is most accurate?

    • Ethical restrictions can limit designs and sometimes reduce the control and realism needed for valid findings
    • Ethics always increases validity
    • Ethics has no relationship with validity
    • Validity is more important than all ethical guidelines

  16. A researcher uses a laboratory experiment to study stress. Which practical issue should the researcher consider in evaluating the findings?

    • Laboratory experiments cannot measure stress at all
    • Stress can only be measured in animals
    • Artificial stressors may not reflect real-life stress, limiting ecological validity
    • Laboratory experiments always have perfect ecological validity

  17. Which issue is raised when a psychologist claims that a single cause explains a complex disorder such as addiction?

    • Gender bias, because the claim is about one gender
    • Reductionism, because a complex phenomenon is being simplified to one explanation
    • Cultural bias, because the claim is about one culture
    • Ethical issues, because the claim involves human participants

  18. Which statement best expresses the 'psychology as a science' debate in relation to the use of statistics?

    • Statistics are only used in physics
    • Statistical methods help show objectivity and replicability, although statistics cannot fully capture human experience
    • Statistics remove the need for any empirical data
    • Statistics show that psychology is not a science

  19. Which practical problem is most likely when a field study on social behaviour takes place in real public spaces?

    • Researchers can control every variable in a public space
    • Researchers have little control over extraneous variables such as weather, crowds and interruptions
    • Public spaces remove all ethical issues from the study
    • Public spaces make random sampling impossible for all studies

  20. A critic says that a theory of stress which uses only heart rate to measure distress is reductionist. What is the strongest reason for this criticism?

    • Heart rate cannot be recorded in a laboratory
    • Heart rate is always identical for all people
    • Heart rate data are always qualitative
    • Heart rate is one physiological indicator, which may miss the psychological, social and cognitive aspects of stress

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