Question 1

Cognitive psychologist Stephen M. Kosslyn wrote about three interrelated principles describing how the brain perceives and processes visual information. These three principles can be described as which of the following?
A) 1. to perceive is to immobilize; 2. mind over matter; and 3. the mind judges a book by its cover.
B) 1. the spirit is willing, but the mind is weak; 2. mind over matter; and 3. those who exert the first influence upon the mind, have the greatest power
C) 1. the mind is not a camera; 2. the mind judges a book by its cover; and 3. the spirit is willing, but the mind is weak.
D) 1. mind over matter; 2. to perceive is to immobilize; and 3. the mind is not a camera.

Accepted Answer

Kosslyn's principles focus on the active, interpretative nature of perception and cognition, emphasizing that the mind is not a passive recorder of reality (the mind is not a camera), that initial impressions influence perception (the mind judges a book by its cover), and acknowledging the limitations and biases of mental processes (the spirit is willing, but the mind is weak).

Question 2

Data sets that contain two scores that occur with the highest frequency are considered to be
A) symmetrical.
B) asymmetrical.
C) bimodal.
D) normal.

Accepted Answer

Bimodal data sets have two scores that occur with the highest frequency, indicating that there are two modes in the data. Symmetrical data sets have a balanced distribution of scores around the mean and do not necessarily have a mode. Asymmetrical data sets have an uneven distribution of scores and may have one mode, but not two. Normal distribution refers to a specific type of symmetrical data set in which the scores follow a bell-shaped curve.

Question 3

Eli wants to visually display how student absences fluctuate over the course of the semester. Which type of visual display should Eli use?
A) stem-and-leaf chart
B) bar graph
C) frequency distribution
D) line graph

Accepted Answer

A line graph would be the best choice for showing how student absences fluctuate over time. The x-axis can represent the different time periods (weeks, months, etc.) and the y-axis can represent the number of absences. The line can show the trend of absences over time, making it easy to identify any patterns or changes.

Question 4

In order to describe the typical score, Shellie sums all of the scores and divides that number by the number of scores. Which measure of central tendency has Shellie calculated?
A) mode
B) median
C) arithmetic mean
D) mean square

Accepted Answer

Shellie has calculated the arithmetic mean, which is also commonly referred to as the "mean."

Question 5

A point in a data set which indicates that a known proportion of the data falls above that point and a known proportion of the data falls below that point is called a
A) mean.
B) percentile.
C) histogram.
D) mode.

Accepted Answer

A point in a data set indicating known proportions above and below the point is a percentile. The mean is the average of the values in a data set. A histogram is a graph showing the distribution of data. The mode is the most frequently occurring value in a data set.

Question 6

Which of the following is NOT a measure of spread?
A) crude range
B) standard deviation
C) standardized range
D) interquartile range

Accepted Answer

The standardized range is not a common measure of spread. The other options are all measures of spread in a data set.

Question 7

A visual display that preserves the original numbers while still providing a visual summary of the data is the
A) frequency polygon.
B) stem-and-leaf chart.
C) histogram.
D) frequency distribution.

Accepted Answer

A stem-and-leaf chart displays the original data values while also providing a visual summary of the distribution of the data. It lists each unique value in the dataset in order, with splits between the tens digit and the ones digit of the values. This preserves the original numbers while allowing for easy comparison between values and identification of any outliers or unusual patterns in the data. The other options (frequency polygon, histogram, and frequency distribution) do not show the original data values directly, instead summarizing the data in different ways.

Question 8

Which measure of central tendency is most affected by outliers?
A) range
B) median
C) mode
D) mean

Accepted Answer

The mean is calculated by adding up all the values and dividing by the sample size. Outliers, which are values that are significantly higher or lower than the rest of the data, can greatly impact the mean by pulling it towards the extreme end of the data. Therefore, the mean is the measure of central tendency that is most affected by outliers.

Question 9

Which of the following measures of spread is intended to take into account the possible imprecision of the measurement instrument?
A) the crude range
B) the interquartile range
C) the variance
D) the extended range

Accepted Answer

The extended range is designed to account for potential imprecision in measurement instruments by considering the possible error margins in the measurements.

Question 10

The measure of central tendency that is determined by identifying the midmost score in a data set is the
A) mean.
B) mode.
C) percentile.
D) median.

Accepted Answer

The median is the measure of central tendency that represents the midmost score in a data set. The mean is the average of all scores, the mode is the most frequently occurring score, and the percentile is the value below which a certain percentage of data falls.

Question 11

Chris calculates the distance between the 25^th and 75^th percentile in a data set. Chris is interested in identifying the A) interquartile range. B) standard deviation. C) crude range. D) extended range.

Accepted Answer

The 25th and 75th percentiles correspond to the first and third quartiles, respectively, which make up the interquartile range (IQR). Therefore, Chris is calculating the IQR. The other choices are not relevant to the calculation of the IQR.

Question 12

Which of the following is NOT a measure of central tendency?
A) mode
B) variance
C) median
D) mean

Accepted Answer

Variance is not a measure of central tendency, it is a measure of dispersion or spread of data. Mode, median, and mean are all measures of central tendency as they represent the central or typical value in a set of data.

Question 13

Which measure of spread represents simply the difference between the highest score and the lowest score?
A) standardized range
B) crude range
C) extended range
D) interquartile range

Accepted Answer

Crude range represents the simple difference between the highest score and the lowest score in a dataset. The other options, standardized range, extended range, and interquartile range, all involve additional calculations or adjustments to the data.

Question 14

As he calculates the measures of central tendency for his data set, Andrew notices the mean is substantially higher than the median. Andrew concludes that the distribution is most likely
A) symmetrical.
B) positively skewed.
C) negatively skewed.
D) bimodal.

Accepted Answer

A significantly higher mean than the median suggests that there are some high outliers in the dataset, which pulls the mean towards the right or positive direction. This type of distribution is known as a positively skewed distribution.

Question 15

A professor is interested in the overall pattern of the scores from an exam he recently gave. Which of the following would be most useful to him?
A) the mean exam score
B) the frequency distribution of the exam scores
C) the range of the exam scores
D) the variance of the exam scores

Accepted Answer

The frequency distribution of the exam scores would be the most useful for understanding the overall pattern of scores. This would show the number of students who received each score, providing insight into the distribution of scores and potentially identifying any outliers or clusters. The mean exam score would provide a general idea of the average performance, but would not provide enough detail into the patterning of scores. The range of the exam scores would only provide information on the spread between the highest and lowest scores, and the variance of the exam scores would provide information on the variability of scores but may not be as useful in identifying the overall pattern.

Question 16

Using a trimmed mean to measure central tendency may be appropriate when the distribution of the scores is
A) symmetrical.
B) normal.
C) standardized.
D) asymmetrical.

Accepted Answer

Trimmed mean is used to measure central tendency when the distribution of scores is asymmetrical, has outliers, or has extreme scores that may bias the mean. When data is symmetrical and normal, using the arithmetic mean is more appropriate. Standardization is a transformation of data and is not directly related to the choice of measure of central tendency.

Question 17

The score that occurs with the greatest frequency in a data set is the
A) mode.
B) median.
C) mean.
D) variance.

Accepted Answer

The mode is the score that appears most frequently in a data set.

Question 18

A stem-and-leaf chart showing the data points from two different sets of data is called a __________ stem-and-leaf.
A) back-to-back
B) normal
C) frequency
D) comparison

Accepted Answer

A back-to-back stem-and-leaf chart allows for easy comparison between two different sets of data by placing the stems of each set of data side-by-side, with their corresponding leaves displayed accordingly. This makes it easy to compare the distribution, shape, and central tendency of both data sets.

Question 19

In the data set consisting of 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 9, what is the mode?
A) 3
B) 4
C) 4.67
D) 6

Accepted Answer

The mode is the most frequently occurring value in a data set. In this case, the value "3" appears three times, which is more than any other value, making it the mode.

Question 20

To visualize the overall pattern of the data, it is often useful to create a
A) frequency distribution.
B) measure of location.
C) measure of spread.
D) standardized score.

Accepted Answer

A frequency distribution provides a visual summary of the data by showing how often each value or range of values occurs. This allows for easier identification of the overall pattern and any potential outliers or skewness in the data. Measures of location, spread, and standardized scores can be useful for further analysis, but are not as effective in visualizing the overall pattern.

Quiz 10: Summarizing the Data

Cognitive psychologist Stephen M. Kosslyn wrote about three interrelated principles describing how the brain perceives and processes visual information. These three principles can be described as which of the following?

Data sets that contain two scores that occur with the highest frequency are considered to be

Eli wants to visually display how student absences fluctuate over the course of the semester. Which type of visual display should Eli use?

In order to describe the typical score, Shellie sums all of the scores and divides that number by the number of scores. Which measure of central tendency has Shellie calculated?

A point in a data set which indicates that a known proportion of the data falls above that point and a known proportion of the data falls below that point is called a

Which of the following is NOT a measure of spread?

A visual display that preserves the original numbers while still providing a visual summary of the data is the

Which measure of central tendency is most affected by outliers?

Which of the following measures of spread is intended to take into account the possible imprecision of the measurement instrument?

The measure of central tendency that is determined by identifying the midmost score in a data set is the

Chris calculates the distance between the 25th and 75th percentile in a data set. Chris is interested in identifying the

Which of the following is NOT a measure of central tendency?

Which measure of spread represents simply the difference between the highest score and the lowest score?

As he calculates the measures of central tendency for his data set, Andrew notices the mean is substantially higher than the median. Andrew concludes that the distribution is most likely

A professor is interested in the overall pattern of the scores from an exam he recently gave. Which of the following would be most useful to him?

Using a trimmed mean to measure central tendency may be appropriate when the distribution of the scores is

The score that occurs with the greatest frequency in a data set is the

A stem-and-leaf chart showing the data points from two different sets of data is called a __________ stem-and-leaf.

In the data set consisting of 3, 3, 3, 5, 5, 9, what is the mode?

To visualize the overall pattern of the data, it is often useful to create a

Chris calculates the distance between the 25^th and 75^th percentile in a data set. Chris is interested in identifying the