Ch.1 SB
Which statements are true of survey research?
- A disadvantage is that people may not answer honestly. - People are asked to self-report.
What challenges can arise from relying on the media for information about psychological research?
- Journalists frequently lack the knowledge to evaluate psychological research. - Due to time and space limitations, media reports frequently omit important details about research studies.
Which of the following are types of psychological research?
- correlational - experimental - descriptive
Which of the following are characteristics of a placebo?
- harmless, inert substance - given instead of a presumed active agent to participants of a study - has no specific physiological effect
Which of these are examples of mental processes?
- solving a math problem in your head - remembering the past weekend - daydreaming - worrying
For what reasons might researchers use correlational research?
- to investigate real-world events - to conduct research in situations in which it would not be ethical to carry out an experiment - to work with variables that can only be measured or observed
When you are doing observational research, you must know_____
- whom you are observing. - how you will make the observations. - when and where you will make your observations.
You find that there is no correlation between time spent studying and time spent taking a shower. Which of the following values is probably closest to the one you obtained?
0
If two variables are correlated, then one of them must cause the other.
False
Survey research is the preferred method for studying socially undesirable phenomena such as holding racist attitudes.
False
The dependent variable is the manipulated experimental factor in an experiment.
False
Which of these is a limitation of the case study?
It can be difficult to generalize from one person to the larger population.
Functionalism had its roots in the views of _____
James
Who was the major proponent of the functionalist movement?
James
A behaviorist might study _____.
Learning through environmental determinants
What is the difference between a behavior and a mental process?
Only behaviors can be directly observed.
What is the correct interpretation of the statement "Extroversion and attending parties are positively correlated"?
People who go to parties tend to be extroverted.
Which of these is an advantage of the case study?
Researchers can gain a richer level of detail about an individual person.
Which of the following is an example of correlational research?
SAT scores are related to GPA.
What does it mean that the hours a child spent watching TV and the total number of discipline problems the child has in school are correlated +.45?
The more hours a child spends watching TV, the more likely it is that the child will get into trouble at school.
Psychological research at colleges and universities must be approved by an institutional review board (IRB).
True
Psychology has its roots in both philosophy and the natural sciences.
True
What does it mean if the hours a child spent watching TV and the total number of discipline problems the child has in school are correlated 0?
Watching TV and disciplinary problems are not related.
Psychology
____ is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
validity
____ is the soundness of the conclusions that can be drawn from an experiment.
Variable
_____ is a broad term for any characteristic that can change in some way.
Functionalism
_____ is a historical approach advocated by William James that concentrated on mental processes and the purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual's adaptation to the environment.
Structuralism
_____ is the name of the approach to psychology endorsed by Wilhelm Wundt.
Descriptive
_____ research serves the purpose of determining the basic dimensions of a phenomenon and defining what it is or how often it occurs, but it cannot provide causal information.
descriptive research
_____ serves the purpose of determining the basic dimensions of a phenomenon and defining what it is or how often it occurs, but it cannot provide causal information.
An in-depth investigation of an individual person is referred to as ____
a case study.
Arjun is answering a telephone survey about marital satisfaction in the United States. When asked about his own marital satisfaction, he doesn't tell the researcher the truth because he worries that his marriage is worse than many other marriages. Instead, he says what he thinks other recipients might say. This behavior is considered
a drawback to the survey method.
Researchers studying the long-term effects of an antidepressant have asked participants every six months of the past decade to undergo blood work, a physical, and a short mental status exam. They are now compiling their research. What type of research have they been conducting?
a longitudinal design
When researchers study the effects of a particular drug, the control group might receive _____
a placebo.
Scores in bowling go up as ability goes up. This is an example of _____
a positive correlation.
Scores on an exam go down as the time spent studying goes down. This is an example of ____
a positive correlation.
What is survey research?
a standard set of questions used to obtain people's self-reported attitudes or beliefs about a particular topic
Which of the following is an example of a case study?
a study of one person to determine how experience has affected their behavior toward people of different ethnic groups
Critical thinking is a(n) _____ process that involves engaging with ideas and not settling for simple answers.
active
What is a variable?
anything that can change
Psychologists study _____
behavior and mental processes
Experimenter _____ refers to a situation in which the expectations of the experimenter influence the outcomes of the research being conducted.
bias
Experimenter and participant expectations are two types of experimenter _____
biases
Which approach to psychology emphasizes the role of physical processes such as brain and nervous system functioning?
biological
A(n) ____ study is an in-depth analysis of an individual or a small group of people.
case
Mark wants to become a successful businessperson. He studies how Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft, became wealthy. This is an example of a(n) _____
case study.
A researcher wants to know if giving students chocolate before an exam will improve their scores. Two groups of students take the exam, but only one group gets chocolate first. What is the independent variable in this experiment?
chocolate
Journalists are often not trained in psychological research; therefore, they frequently have issues presenting material appropriately. One of the better sources for learning about research is
college professionals.
Social psychologists often manipulate situations by employing an assistant to play a role. This assistant is known as a(n) ____
confederate
In an experiment, the group that receives no treatment is referred to as the ____ group.
control
Research that involves determining the relationship between variables and whose purpose is to examine whether and how two variables change together is called _____ research
correlational
Researchers may choose to use ___ research when they want to use one variable to predict another or if they want to do research in a situation in which they cannot ethically conduct a true experiment.
correlational
The degree of relationship between two variables is expressed as a numerical value called a(n) ____
correlational coefficient
The degree of relationship between two variables is expressed as a numerical value called a(n) _____
correlational coefficient.
Your roommate tells you that he spent four hours at Starbucks this week and his GPA is a 3.1. You spent six hours at Starbucks this week and your GPA is 3.5. You have started collecting data in which type of research?
correlational research
In an experiment, the ____ variable is expected to change as a result of the experimental manipulation.
dependent
In an experiment, which variable is measured by the experimenter?
dependent
The ___ method involves gaining knowledge by collecting data and thinking logically about the findings.
empirical
When researchers gather evidence and examine it logically, they are using the _____ method.
empirical
Critical thinking is the practice of evaluating _____
evidence
A(n) _____ is a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more variables believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while all other variables are held constant.
experiment
In an experiment, the group that receives the treatment the researchers want to study is known as the ____ group.
experimental
In an experiment, the group that receives the treatment the researchers want to study is known as the _____ group.
experimental
When a male experimenter interacts differently with female participants than he does with male participants, the situation is an example of _____ bias.
experimenter
An experimenter provides hints as to the preferred responses. The result is that the study produces results consistent with the hypothesis. However, the results may reflect ____
experimenter bias.
A(n) ____ variable is the manipulated experimental factor in an experiment.
independent
In an experiment, which variable is manipulated by the experimenter?
independent
Random assignment reduces the odds that something other than the _____ is responsible for differences between the treatment and control groups.
independent variable
A(n) _____ design is a method used to confront the problem of causation, because we can assume that if variable X causes changes in variable Y, then X ought to, at least, precede Y over time.
longitudinal
One way to get around the problem of causation in research is to use a _____ method, on the assumption that if variable X causes changes in variable Y, then X ought to, at least, precede Y over time.
longitudinal
An experiment involves _____ one variable and observing the effect on another variable.
manipulating
The functionalists focused on _____.
mental processes and the purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual's adaptation to the environment
The biological approach to psychology focuses on the brain and _____ system.
nervous
Nancy is doing a research project next week at a shopping center. She's worried about being systematic and whether she should bring someone along to make sure she is being accurate. She's concerned about technology and whether she should record her research in writing, by sound recording, or by video. What type of research is she conducting?
observational
Random assignment is a procedure in which _____ are assigned to either the treatment or control group on the basis of chance.
participants
The field of psychology has its roots in
philosophy, biology, and physiology
If two variables have a correlation of +.98, the two variables have a strong, ___ relationship. In other words, as the value of one variable increase, the value of the other also increases.
positive
The practice of _____ assignment in experimental research is used to make sure that experimental and control groups are equivalent.
random
The five steps of the ___ method are reflected differently in three types of research commonly used in psychology.
scientific
In social psychology research, the term confederate refers to ____
someone who plays a specific role that helps the researcher manipulate the social situation.
Which approach to psychology did Wilhelm Wundt endorse?
structuralism
The behavioral perspective_____
suggests that observable, measurable behavior should be the focus of study.
What is a longitudinal design?
systematic observation that involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time
What is random assignment?
the assignment of participants to research groups by chance
In psychological research, the population is ____
the group about which the researcher would like to draw conclusions.
Research participant bias is ______
the influence of research participants' expectations on their behavior within an experiment
A researcher finds that the more hours partied per week, the lower a student's GPA. The researcher questions whether there may be other issues affecting GPA that were not taken into account, such as hours studied, whether the student is attending classes, or whether the student is working as well. What are these additional issues called?
the third variable problem
Some researchers have found increased risk of delinquency among children of single parents. However, this might be due to other issues, such as the fact that single parents may have fewer opportunities to supervise their children. This illustrates
the third variable problem.
A relationship between two variables is due to an extraneous variable that has not been measured. This is known as the ____ variable problem.
third
An extraneous variable that has not been measured and that accounts for the relationship between two other variables is known as a(n) _____.
third variable problem
The soundness of conclusions that can be drawn from an experiment is known as _____
validity
Correlational research involves studies that are concerned with identifying the relationships between two or more ____ in order to describe how they change together.
variables