Q&A Hero

Q: Our ability to draw appropriate conclusions based on the results of an experiment depends most of all on the A. external validity of the experiment. B. internal validity of the findings. C. amount of variation in the experiment. D. statistical significance of the findings.

Q: Which of the following is a measure of the strength of the relationship between the independent and dependent variables that is independent of sample size? A. t-test B. standard deviation C. mean difference score D. effect size

Q: A researcher conducted an experiment in which participants played either a violent or a nonviolent video game. After the game, the researcher measured hostile cognitions. The effect size, Cohen's d, for the difference in mean hostile cognition between the violent and nonviolent conditions was .83. Based on this, it is possible to state that the video game independent variable had a _______ effect on hostile cognition in this experiment. A. nonsignificant B. small C. medium D. large

Q: Which of the following is not an advantage of using measures of effect size? A. Measures of effect size provide information about the strength of the relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable. B. Measures of effect size provide the best information about whether the effect of the independent variable is statistically significant. C. Measures of effect size can provide an estimate of the overall effect size for an independent variable by averaging effect sizes across a series of experiments. D. Measures of effect size can be used to make quantitative comparisons of the different outcomes found in a series of experiments involving the same independent variable.

Q: The statistical technique that is used to analyze the results of several independent experiments is called A. F-test. B. central tendency. C. meta-analysis. D. Cohen's d analysis.

Q: Two statistical methods that researchers use to determine whether an independent variable has a reliable effect on a dependent variable are A. null hypothesis significance testing and confidence intervals. B. statistical significance and odds-likelihood analysis. C. analysis of error variation and effect size. D. Cohen's d and alpha.

Q: If participants know they have been given alcohol in an experiment, they may expect certain effects such as giddiness or relaxation. The general term for such cues that guide participants' behavior in a study is A. double-blind effects. B. self-inflicted characteristics. C. expectation effects. D. demand characteristics.

Q: When observers have biases regarding what they expect participants' behavior to be like in an experiment, the observations may be influenced by A. placebos. B. demand characteristics. C. experimenter effects. D. selective subject loss.

Q: Placebo control groups and double-blind procedures are typically used to control for A. individual differences variables and matching variables. B. demand characteristics and experimenter effects. C. selective subject loss and mechanical subject loss. D. manipulated variables and extraneous variables.

Q: Which of the following is the best way to determine whether the differences in means obtained in an experiment are reliable? A. Replicate the experiment. B. Use confidence intervals to compare the means. C. Perform an inferential statistics test (null hypothesis significance testing). D. Find the difference between two sample means.

Q: The three steps of data analysis are A. find any outliers, compute confidence intervals, and do null hypothesis significance testing. B. check the data, summarize the data, and confirm what the data reveal. C. find Type I and Type II errors, compute means, and compute inferential statistics. D. calculate the standard deviation, find the effect size, and do null hypothesis significance testing.

Q: After checking the data for errors and outliers, the next step in analyzing the data from a research study is to use A. confidence intervals. B. meta-analysis. C. descriptive statistics. D. inferential statistics and null hypothesis significance testing.

Q: In order to conduct an experiment more efficiently, a researcher tests groups of participants in several small groups. The number of participants in each group differs because of participants' availability at different times. The different number of participants in each group represents a potential A. intact group problem. B. selective subject loss problem. C. experimenter effect. D. extraneous variable problem.

Q: Four students plan to conduct an experiment with four conditions (A, B, C, and D) during one semester. Each student will serve as an experimenter. The best way to control for the extraneous variable of having four experimenters test participants in the study is to A. make sure each experimenter tests only one of the conditions. B. have the first experimenter test a random order of conditions during the first two weeks of the semester, the second experimenter test a second random order during the next two weeks, and so on. C. have each experimenter test randomized blocks of conditions. D. have each experimenter test condition A during the first two weeks of the semester, condition B during the next two weeks, and so on.

Q: When participants begin an experiment but fail to complete it, the internal validity of the experiment can be threatened. Which of the following types of subject loss poses the most serious threat to internal validity? A. the loss occurs because of an error by the experimenter. B. the loss leads to different numbers of participants in the groups in the experiment. C. the loss occurs because of equipment failure. D. the loss occurs because of some characteristic of the participant that is related to the outcome of the study.

Q: Subject loss (attrition) poses a problem for a random groups design because A. extraneous variables are more likely to affect subjects who drop out. B. group equivalence established at the beginning of the experiment may be lost. C. participants may respond to demand characteristics. D. participants may change their natural group designation.

Q: One preventive step researchers can take when they suspect selective subject loss might occur in their experiment involves using a pretest to screen out participants who may drop out of the study. The disadvantage of this method is decreased A. external validity. B. internal validity. C. statistical significance. D. all of these

Q: The most common solution to the problem of forming comparable groups in the random groups design is A. random-digit dialing. B. random assignment. C. random selection. D. matching participants on the dependent variable.

Q: Which of the following arises when the independent variable of interest and an unintended independent variable are allowed to covary? A. contamination effect B. decrease in external validity C. illusory correlation D. confounding

Q: A researcher examined participants' memory following emotionally shocking events by manipulating whether participants viewed a violent or a nonviolent version of a video. The video in the two conditions was identical except for two seconds in which the violence variable was manipulated. That the video was identical except for the manipulation represents the control technique of A. balancing the individual differences across the groups of the experiment. B. holding conditions constant in the experiment. C. a time-order relationship between the independent and dependent variables. D. confounding the independent variable.

Q: Individual differences among participants in a random groups design are controlled by A. eliminating the individual differences from the experiment. B. ignoring the individual differences because they cannot confound the experiment. C. balancing the individual differences across the conditions of the experiment. D. holding the individual differences constant in the experiment.

Q: Random assignment to conditions works to balance participants' individual differences across conditions of the experiment by A. matching individuals on key variables. B. asking individuals to participate in each condition of the experiment. C. forming groups based on an individual differences variable the researcher selects. D. generating groups of participants that are equivalent, on average.

Q: Researchers manipulated exposure to body images by randomly assigning young girls to one of three conditions. They observed that young girls' body dissatisfaction was greatest after viewing very thin images of a Barbie doll compared to normal-weight images ("Emme" doll) or neutral images. The alternative explanation that girls in the Barbie condition might have weighed more prior to exposure to body images can be ruled out because the researchers A. held constant the amount of time girls looked at images. B. manipulated the type of exposure with three conditions. C. randomly assigned girls to the different exposure conditions. D. all of these

Q: A researcher interested in young girls' exposure to thin images of Barbie dolls compared to normal-weight images ("Emme" doll) wanted to make sure girls in the two conditions (Barbie, Emme) did not differ in the number of Barbie dolls they own at home. The best way to do this would be to A. hold conditions constant by making sure each girl in the experiment only had three Barbie dolls. B. randomly assign girls to the two conditions of the experiment. C. give each girl in the experiment a Barbie doll and an Emme doll. D. none of these

Q: The procedure for using block randomization in an independent groups experiment with three conditions (A, B, C) and 60 subjects is to generate twenty random orders of the conditions (e.g., ACB, BAC) and assign subjects one block at a time (i.e., 3 subjects in the first block, 3 in the second block, and so on). B. generate one random order of conditions (e.g., ACB) and test the first 20 subjects in condition A, the second 20 subjects in condition C, and the last 20 subjects in condition B. C. select intact groups of 20 subjects each and randomly assign the groups to condition A, B, or C. D. generate sixty random orders of the conditions, one for each subject.

Q: In addition to creating groups of equal size, an advantage of block randomization is that it A. decreases the number of participants needed in each condition. B. averages the effect of the dependent variable across the conditions of the experiment. C. holds constant the time in which an experiment is run. D. balances potential confoundings that occur during the time in which an experiment is run.

Q: A researcher randomly assigns one classroom to a new teaching method and a second classroom to the control condition (the regular teaching method). This researcher faces the potential problem of confounding due to A. experimenter effects. B. selective subject loss. C. intact groups. D. extraneous variables.

Q: An instructor randomly assigns two sections of his course to an experimental condition (new teaching method) or control condition (regular teaching method). Students in the 9:30 section receive the experimental treatment and students in the 1:30 section participate in the control condition. At the end of the semester the instructor's tests reveal that students in the 9:30 section had significantly higher test scores than students in the 1:30 section. Based on this summary, we can state that A. the results are uninterpretable because of intact groups. B. the findings have external validity across two times of day. C. the experiment has internal validity. D. all of these

Q: In a study that investigates the effects of two different doses of a drug on memory performance, memory performance represent the ____ variable and doses of the drug represent the ____ variable. A. correlational; confounding B. experimental; control C. dependent; independent D. independent; dependent

Q: When the three requirements for causal inference are met, an experiment is said to be A. balanced. B. internally valid. C. an independent groups design. D. held constant.

Q: Two control techniques that allow researchers to rule out alternative explanations for an outcome are balancing and A. holding conditions constant. B. establishing a time-order relationship. C. validation. D. establishing a covariation.

Q: A researcher has manipulated only one independent variable at two levels, has held constant as many other variables as possible and has balanced individual differences by using random assignment. The researcher is likely to be able to claim that the independent variable caused the observed changes in the dependent variable because the experiment is A. externally valid. B. internally valid. C. a natural groups design. D. statistical.

Q: The goal of a random groups design experiment is to establish the independent variable as the cause of any differences in the dependent variable. The logic of accomplishing this involves A. beginning with comparable groups, treating them differently, and ending with differences among groups. B. beginning with comparable groups, treating them the same, and ending with no differences among groups. C. beginning with noncomparable groups, treating them differently, and ending with differences among groups. D. beginning with noncomparable groups, treating them the same, and ending with no differences among groups.

Q: One major purpose of conducting experiments is to decide whether a treatment or program effectively changes behavior. A second major purpose for doing experiments is to provide A. definitive answers to theoretical questions. B. simple and relatively quick ways of testing and revising hypotheses. C. methods to obtain results that confirm our hypothesis. D. an empirical test of hypothesis derived from theories.

Q: The factors that researchers control or manipulate in order to determine their effect on behavior are called the A. intervention variables. B. dependent variables. C. independent variables. D. confounding variables.

Q: Describe how partial replications can be used to establish both experimental reliability and the external validity of research findings.

Q: (p. 209-210, 212) Explain how the procedures for conducting a matched groups design and a natural groups design differ from the random groups design. A matched groups design often is used when the number of participants available for an experiment is too few for random assignment to balance effectively individual differences across conditions of the experiment (as in the random groups design). Instead, the researcher chooses a matching variable preferably the dependent variable measure or a similar variable and matches participants who have the same or similar score on the measure. Once matched, these pairs (triplets, etc.) of participants are randomly assigned to the conditions of the experiment. In a natural groups design, researchers select an individual differences variable for comparing groups of participants (e.g., male, female). Thus, rather than attempting to balance these individual differences (as in the random groups design), the researcher examines participants' responses on the dependent variable as a function of the individual differences independent variable.

Q: A researcher was interested in whether divorce and remarriage influence the extent to which children are sociable. At a nearby school, the researcher classified 5th-graders into one of three groups: intact parents (no divorce), divorced (single-parent families), and remarried parents. The researcher interviewed the 5th-graders and rated their sociability, and also asked them to complete a questionnaire that assessed their level of comfort in different social situations. Suppose that the researcher finds that the 5th graders in the divorce (single-parent) group are less sociable than are 5th graders in the intact and remarried groups. The researcher concludes that divorce and living in a single-parent home causes children to be less sociable, and that remarriage causes improvements in sociability. Do you accept this researcher's conclusions? Why or why not?

Q: A researcher tested whether exposure to images of very thin fashion models causes young women to be dissatisfied with their own body, compared to exposure to athletic body images or neutral (non-body) images. She randomly assigned 120 women from an introductory psychology course to one of three exposure conditions: very thin female images, athletic female images, or neutral images (e.g., household objects). Each condition had 10 images, projected individually on a large screen. The young women participated in small groups. Each image was displayed for 1 minute, for a total of 10 minutes of exposure. After viewing each image, participants wrote for 30 seconds a description of the image (the participants were led to believe their memory was being tested). After viewing the images, the women completed a questionnaire about satisfaction with their body. Negative scores indicate body dissatisfaction and positive scores indicate satisfaction with their body. The mean scores for each condition were as follows: Suppose the .95 confidence interval (CI) for the very thin condition is -1.75 to -2.50; the CI for the Athletic condition is -.75 to -1.25; and the CI for the neutral condition is 0 to .50. What claim would you make based on the estimates of the population means for the three groups in the experiment based on a comparison of these confidence intervals?

Q: When researchers use the multimethod approach they can reach comparable conclusions about a research question after using different methods to study it. Our confidence in these conclusions increases and the conclusions are said to have A. convergent validity. B. concurrent validity. C. multiple validity. D. correlational validity.

Q: A researcher identifies a potential mediating variable in the pattern of correlations among variables in a path analysis. If the researcher seeks to make a causal inference about the mediating variable, the suggested next step would be to A. manipulate the variable as an independent variable in an experiment. B. conduct a successive independent samples survey to measure the variable. C. observe different levels of the variable as part of naturalistic observation. D. determine whether a representative sample was used.

Q: Identify and briefly define the three primary types of control used in experiments.

Q: Clearly and concisely describe how a researcher could minimize the likelihood of selective subject loss in an experimentbe sure to include in your answer any risks that the researcher would be taking in trying to prevent the selective loss.

Q: Briefly outline the steps involved in order to make an inference about the effect of an independent variable using null hypothesis significance testing; be sure to indicate the conditions in which an independent variable is judged to be nonsignificant and when it is statistically significant.

Q: Describe briefly how confidence intervals can be used to determine if the means for the two conditions of an experiment differ.

Q: Correlational research is potentially limited when it comes to A. applying the results of correlational studies to predict such issues as physical and psychological health-related problems. B. establishing quantitative relationships between two sets of responses obtained in a survey. C. interpreting causal relationships based on correlational studies alone. D. using sophisticated statistical procedures in analyzing correlational studies.

Q: There is a reliable correlation between being outgoing and being satisfied with one's life. One possible way to account for this relationship is that a third variable (number of friends) leads people to be more outgoing and more satisfied with their lives. A correlation that can be accounted for by a third variable such as number of friends is called a A. chaotic relationship. B. spurious relationship. C. causal relationship. D. co-dependent relationship.

Q: Using path analysis, the correlation between poverty and psychological distress can be partially explained by the level of chaos in the home. The chaos variable in this example represents a(n) A. mediating variable. B. moderator variable. C. proxy variable. D. spurious variable.

Q: If the relationships between measures of poverty, chaos, and psychological distress differed depending on whether families lived in rural or urban areas, this variable of population density (rural vs. urban) would be considered a A. spurious variable. B. mediating variable. C. causal variable. D. moderator variable.

Q: A respondent completes items on a closed-response survey by agreeing with each statement on the survey. This might represent a problem of A. loaded questions. B. selection bias. C. filter questions. D. response bias.

Q: A researcher develops a measure of the "self-esteem" construct. One item on the questionnaire states, "I generally feel good about myself." Another item states, "I think I'm not a very good person." The researcher likely uses these two items to protect against possible problems associated with A. response bias. B. leading questions. C. selection bias. D. the order of questions.

Q: Survey questions that are ordered from the most general to the most specific are A. filter questions. B. funnel questions. C. double-barreled questions. D. leading questions.

Q: A survey on consumer products asks questions regarding automobile repair, home electronics, and travel destinations. Allowing respondents to skip the section on automobile repair if they don't own a car is an example of using a A. leading question. B. loaded question. C. funnel question. D. filter question.

Q: Which of the following standards is typically applied when judging the truthfulness of the responses people make to survey questions? A. generally be skeptical of people's responses as probably not truthful unless there is strong evidence that they are truthful B. generally be skeptical of people's responses as probably not truthful and statistically adjust the responses C. generally accept people's responses as truthful unless there is reason to do otherwise D. generally accept people's responses as not truthful

Q: A student is asked in a survey question about whether he would help another person who is in trouble. The student thinks that he probably would not help because he would be hesitant to get involved in a potential dangerous situation. The student decides, however, to respond that he would help. The student is likely responding to the pressure of A. social desirability. B. convergent sensitivity. C. response bias. D. discriminant responding.

Q: When individuals report on a questionnaire that their behavior is more favorable than is actually true, researchers need to be concerned about the ______________ of the responses. A. morality B. selection bias C. social desirability D. reliability

Q: Research findings indicate that people's verbal reports of their behavior and observations of their actual behavior do not always match. These findings provide a good rationale for a(n) __________ approach to psychological research. A. correlational B. observational C. survey D. multimethod

Q: A researcher wants to assess the construct validity of a measure of life satisfaction. Which of the following dimensions would likely be most useful to assess when determining the discriminant validity of the measure? A. happiness B. well-being C. spatial reasoning ability D. self-esteem

Q: A researcher's new measure of "friendliness" correlates strongly with a measure of agreeableness, and demonstrates a very low correlation with a measure of intelligence. This pattern of correlations indicates the researcher's measure demonstrates good A. reliability. B. social desirability. C. causal relationships. D. construct validity.

Q: An important initial step when developing a questionnaire is to A. avoid "expert" opinions about the topic because they may bias the survey. B. test only one or two items and then add more for the final survey. C. pretest the questionnaire using a sample similar to the planned survey. D. all of these

Q: The primary advantage of free-response compared to open-ended questions is that free-response questions A. are easier to score and code. B. offer the respondent greater flexibility. C. minimize the problem of expressiveness and spontaneity. D. provide greater comparability of answers across respondents.

Q: The primary disadvantage of closed-response questions is that A. respondents may be forced to choose among response alternatives that don't describe their true opinion. B. responses are very difficult to code and to summarize. C. they allow respondents too much flexibility in their responses. D. all of these

Q: A survey question that asks, "Are you worried about global climate change and nuclear weapons?" is an example of a A. funnel question. B. loaded question. C. leading question. D. double-barreled question.

Q: When a questionnaire item implies a preferred response within the wording of the question, it is called A. a loaded question. B. a leading question. C. a double-barreled question. D. a filter question.

Q: One way to minimize the likelihood that respondents might view questions as "loaded" for a survey on controversial topics is to A. use funnel questions to direct people to survey questions that are not controversial. B. use leading questions first to make sure the respondents agree with the survey topic. C. ask people with a range of perspectives on the topic to review and edit the questions for potentially offensive wording. D. use emotional words that represent both sides of the controversial topic so that the survey is not biased.

Q: Which of the following factors is not likely to increase the reliability of a test or questionnaire? A. a testing situation free of distractions B. clear instructions for completing the test C. Little variability among individuals on the factor being tested D. more items on a test

Q: The reliability of a survey or test will likely be low when A. asking people to answer a small number of questions about the concept of interest. B. asking people to respond to a many questions about the concept of interest. C. identifying a sample of individuals who are very different from each other in terms of the construct of interest. D. none of these

Q: Construct validity can be assessed by determining the degree to which similar measures of a construct A. demonstrate correlations near zero. B. are correlated. C. show consistency over time. D. all of these

Q: Convergent validity in survey research, used to establish the construct validity of a measure, is similar to the use of _________ to establish the validity of findings from research employing unobtrusive measures. A. archival data B. spurious relationships C. natural treatments D. converging evidence

Q: Researchers have studied changes in the values and goals of college freshman from 1966 to the present by drawing random samples from each year's incoming class. Which survey research design describes this research? A. stratified random sampling design B. cross-sectional design C. successive independent samples design D. longitudinal design

Q: A major threat to the interpretation of results from a successive independent samples design is A. interviewer bias. B. attrition from the study. C. stratified random sampling from the population. D. noncomparable successive samples.

Q: The potential problem of noncomparable successive samples can arise in the successive independent samples design. Samples are considered noncomparable when A. they are not representative of the same population. B. they differ in sample size by more than 50 respondents. C. there is a large difference among the samples on the average survey response. D. there is no standard value in the population on which the different samples can be compared.

Q: A university alumni office conducted a survey of their alumni to assess changes in attitudes toward the university over time. In the first year of the survey, the alumni office surveyed graduates from the year 2009. In the second and third years of the survey, graduates from the years 2011 and 2013 were surveyed, respectively. When examining the results of the survey to determine whether attitudes of the alumni changed over time, the alumni office should consider A. the likely problem of attrition in their sample. B. only the results of the 2013 sample. C. the potential problem of noncomparable samples. D. all of these

Q: The distinguishing characteristic of the longitudinal design is that A. samples from several population are tested once. B. the same sample of respondents is surveyed more than once. C. a sample of individuals is asked to complete an especially long survey. D. different samples from a population are compared over time.

Q: A researcher wants to study the developmental changes in social and political attitudes that occur during the time a person is in college. The researcher is interested in both overall trends and in the changes that individual students undergo. Which survey research design will this researcher need to use? A. observational design B. cross-sectional design C. successive independent samples design D. longitudinal design

Q: Which of the following is not a potential limitation of the longitudinal design? A. It is difficult to pinpoint the exact causes for any changes in individuals' attitudes using a longitudinal design. B. It can be difficult to obtain a sample of respondents willing to participate in a longitudinal design. C. It is not possible to determine whether the final sample is comparable to the original sample in a longitudinal design. D. It takes a massive effort to complete a longitudinal design successfully.

Q: Unless all the respondents in the original sample complete all phases of a longitudinal design, there is a possible problem due to A. selection bias. B. attrition. C. extrapolated data. D. social desirability.

Q: Attrition in survey research corresponds most closely to which of the following problems in the use of unobtrusive measures (physical traces, archival records)? A. selective survival B. selective deposit C. spurious relationships D. natural treatments

Q: Reliability refers to the ______ of a measure, and validity refers to the ______ of a measure. A. consistency; design B. truthfulness; design C. truthfulness; consistency D. consistency; truthfulness

Q: In order to assess the test-retest reliability of a measure, the researcher should A. administer the measure at two different times to different people and compute the correlation between the two sets of scores. B. administer the measure at two different times to the same people and compute the correlation between the two sets of scores. C. correlate individuals' scores on the measure with a different measure designed to measure the same construct. D. ask two people to complete the measure several times and compute the correlations across the many time periods.