Term
The most important step when evaluating psychological research reported in the media is to:
(a) determine whether the research was reported both on television and in printed material
(b) go to the original source in which the research was reported.
(c) search the psychological literature for related information.
(d) decide whether the report describes a survey or an experiment. |
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Definition
| (b) go to the original source in which the research was reported. |
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Term
Factors that are controlled or manipulated in order to determine their effects on behavior are called
(a) independent variables.
(b) dependent variables.
(c) intervening variables.
(d) relevant variables. |
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Definition
| (a) independent variables. |
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Term
A study examined the number of proofreading errors students made while reading under bright versus dim lighting, the number of proofreading errors represents the:
(a) independent variable.
(b) dependent variable.
(c) control variable.
(d) individual differences variable. |
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Definition
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Term
The term scientists use to refer to a psychological concept is:
(a) validity.
(b) variability.
(c) construct.
(d) operational definition.
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Definition
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Term
The definition of “intelligence” as “the ability to understand logical relationships” is an example of a(n):
(a) empirical definition.
(b) validated definition.
(c) operational definition.
(d) construct definition. |
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Definition
| (c) operational definition. |
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Term
When using a psychological measurement of a dimension such as aggression, psychologists base their measurements of people’s aggressiveness on:
(a) consensus among researchers in the field of aggression as to the theoretical definition of aggression.
(b) consistency across operational definitions of aggression.
(c) agreement among independent observers regarding their ratings of events on an aggressiveness scale.
(d) availability of a precise measuring instrument, preferably based on a physiological response. |
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Definition
| (c) agreement among independent observers regarding their ratings of events on an aggressiveness scale. |
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Term
A newly proposed measure of intelligence would be a valid measure of intelligence if scores on the new measure were
(a) unrelated to scores on other accepted measures of intelligence.
(b) more varied across people than scores on other accepted measures of intelligence.
(c) more precise than scores on other accepted measures of intelligence.
(d) related to scores on other accepted measures of intelligence. |
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Definition
| (d) related to scores on other accepted measures of intelligence. |
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Term
A researcher’s hypothesis predicts that people are more aggressive following exposure to media violence because they find the violence disturbing. A potential problem with this hypothesis is:
(a) it appeals to forces not recognized by science.
(b) it is circular: “aggression” and “disturbing” refer to the same thing.
(c) the concept “disturbing” is not adequately defined.
(d) all of the above |
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Definition
| (c) the concept “disturbing” is not adequately defined |
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Term
| The four goals of research in psychology are: |
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Definition
| description, prediction, explanation, and application. |
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Term
The criteria used to classify and define mental disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders represent an illustration of which of the following goals of the scientific method?
(a) description
(b) prediction
(c) explanation
(d) integration |
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Definition
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Term
When using the nomothetic approach, researchers are likely to make:
(a) many observations of only one individual.
(b) observations of many individuals and focus on extreme scores.
(c) few observations of a few individuals and focus on the scores that occur most often.
(d) observations of many individuals and focus on the average (typical) score. |
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Definition
| (d) observations of many individuals and focus on the average (typical) score. |
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Term
When researchers observe a correlation between two variables, such as between the amount of time spent studying and test scores, they know that:
(a) the first variable causes the second variable.
(b) the second variable causes the first variable.
(c) both (a) and (b)
(d) neither (a) nor (b) |
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Definition
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Term
What does the following definition refer to? A logically organized set of propositions that serves to define events, describe relationships among these events, and explain the occurrence of these events:
(a) Causal inference
(b) An independent variable
(c) A theory
(d) All of the above
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Definition
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Term
Which of the following is/are necessary in order to make causal inferences from experimental outcomes?
(a) correlation
(b) time-ordered relationship
(c) elimination of alternative explanations (confounds)
(d) All of the above |
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Definition
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Term
The goal of sampling is to identify a _______ that will be representative of the ________ of interest.
(a) population; sample
(b) sampling frame; survey set
(c) sample; population
(d) sample; sampling frame |
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Definition
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Term
Which of the following is true?
(a) A sampling frame usually includes fewer individuals than the population at interest.
(b) An element (or unit) always includes more individuals than a sample.
(c) A sampling frame usually includes more individuals than the population at interest.
(d) A sample must include more individuals than its respective sampling frame. |
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Definition
| (a) A sampling frame usually includes fewer individuals than the population at interest. |
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Term
The ability to make generalizations from a sample depends most critically on a sample’s:
(a) correlations
(b) representativeness
(c) stratification
(d) homogeneity
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Definition
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Term
Which element of good research most often comes into direct conflict with Validity.
(a) Empirical Observation
(b) Control
(c) Reliability
(d) Prediction |
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Definition
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Term
Olympic medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) are an example of a(n):
(a) ordinal scale
(b) nominal scale
(c) ratio scale
(d) interval scale |
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Definition
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Term
The influence of demand characteristics is one example of:
(a) reactivity
(b) inactivity
(c) independent variable manipulation
(d) sample homogeneity |
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Definition
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Term
Of the following observational methods, which one does not use intervention by the researcher?
(a) naturalistic observation
(b) participant observation
(c) structured observation
(d) field experiment |
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Definition
| (a) naturalistic observation |
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Term
In a field experiment, the investigator:
(a) never manipulates an independent variable, but observes behavior in a natural setting.
(b) always manipulates an independent variable in a natural setting.
(c) always uses narrative records for recording behavior.
(d) always uses qualitative data analysis. |
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Definition
| (b) always manipulates an independent variable in a natural setting |
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Term
The three steps of data analysis are to
(a) calculate the standard deviation, find the effect size, and do null hypothesis testing.
(b) find any outliers, identify confidence intervals, and do null hypothesis testing.
(c) find Type I and Type II errors, compute means, and compute inferential statistics.
(d) check the data, summarize the data, and confirm what the data reveal. |
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Definition
| (d) check the data, summarize the data, and confirm what the data reveal. |
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Term
According the text, Cohen’s d measure of effect size is best used for:
(a) Determining statistical significance
(b) Summarizing the variance of the scores in a condition
(c) Making comparisons across studies that use different types of measures
(d) Computing confidence intervals for differences between means |
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Definition
| (c) Making comparisons across studies that use different types of measures |
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Term
Which is the best way to determine whether the differences in means obtained in an experiment are reliable?
(a) perform an inferential statistics test (null hypothesis testing).
(b) replicate the experiment.
(c) use confidence intervals to compare the means.
(d) rely on the size of the mean difference itself. |
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Definition
| (b) replicate the experiment. |
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Term
________ refers to the researcher’s ability to make causal inferences regarding an experimental outcome and _________ refers to the researcher’s ability to generalize the findings beyond the scope of the specific experiment.
(a) Replication; confounding
(b) Reliability; sensitivity
(c) External validity; internal validity
(d) Internal validity; external validity |
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Definition
| (d) Internal validity; external validity |
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Term
Subject loss (attrition) poses a problem for a random groups design because
(a) extraneous variables are always more likely to affect those who stay in.
(b) participants may inadvertently change their natural group designations during testing (i.e., implicit designated group migration, or “IDGM”).
(c) group equivalence established at the sample selection stage may be lost.
(d) participants may no longer be blind to the manipulations (i.e., acquired manipulation blindness atrophy, or “AMBA”). |
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Definition
| (c) group equivalence established at the sample selection stage may be lost. |
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Term
According to the text, two types of inferential statistics are:
(a) error variation and effect size
(b) null hypothesis testing and confidence intervals
(c) meta-analysis and cross-product testing
(d) delta-squared and Halmert-Kreuger S analyses. |
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Definition
| (b) null hypothesis testing and confidence intervals |
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Term
We can be more confident that the means of two conditions are significantly different when their confidence intervals
(a) overlap
(b) do not overlap
(c) are of a different size
(d) are the same size and overlap |
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Definition
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Term
Which of the following is not one of the reasons why researchers choose to use the repeated measures design?
(a) Repeated measures designs are generally less sensitive than are independent groups designs.
(b) Repeated measures designs require fewer subjects.
(c) Repeated measures designs are more convenient and efficient.
(d) Repeated measures designs are needed when the experimental procedures require participants to compare two or more stimuli. |
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Definition
| (a) Repeated measures designs are generally less sensitive than are independent groups designs. |
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Term
The need to balance practice effects in the repeated measures design is analogous to the need to balance ________ in the independent groups design.
(a) individual differences
(b) order effects
(c) reactivity
(d) subject loss |
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Definition
| (a) individual differences |
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Term
Which of the following concerns leads researchers to balance practice effects in repeated measures designs?
(a) Balancing practice effects allows researchers to determine the sources of systematic error variation in repeated measures designs.
(b) Balancing practice effects allows researchers to account for individual differences variables in repeated measures designs due to participants' prior experience.
(c) Balancing allows researchers to control changes participants undergo with repeated testing in repeated measures designs.
(d) Balancing allows researchers to ignore sources of confounding that cannot be balanced in repeated measures designs. |
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Definition
| (c) Balancing allows researchers to control changes participants undergo with repeated testing in repeated measures designs. |
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Term
A market researcher wants to test the effectiveness of three different types of advertisement. Participants will respond to many examples of each type of advertisement so that the researcher can determine each person’s preference. What type of design is this researcher using?
(a) replicated repeated measures design
(b) partial repeated measures design
(c) complete repeated measures design
(d) incomplete repeated measures design |
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Definition
| (c) complete repeated measures design |
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Term
Compared to random starting order with rotation, an advantage of the Latin Square technique for selecting orders in the incomplete repeated measures design is that in the Latin Square
(a) each condition is presented to each subject several times.
(b) practice effects are balanced within each individual.
(c) a random order of conditions is generated for each participant.
(d) each condition precedes and follows each other condition exactly once. |
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Definition
| (d) each condition precedes and follows each other condition exactly once. |
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Term
The problem of _____ occurs when the effects of the manipulation for a condition persist or carryover into the subsequent conditions in a repeated measures design.
(a) sensitivity
(b) counterbalancing
(c) anticipation effects
(d) differential transfer |
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Definition
| (d) differential transfer |
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