Chapter 1 - PSYCH 301W

Match each research question to the type of research it falls under. 1. How quickly can the human eye switch between targets? 2. Do tablet computers increase the productivity of nurses in an emergency room? 3. Can laboratory studies on empathy's linked to racism be used to develop a new program for elementary schools? 4. Do farm safety days increase accidents among rural children? 5. Can the previously documented persuasive effects of scarcity be used to increase recycling? 6. What are the effects of cocaine on the sociability of rats?

1. Basic 2. Applied 3. Translational 4. Applied 5. Translational 6. Basic

Match each of Merton's scientific norms to the correct definition. 1. Scientific knowledge is created by and belongs to the community. 2. Scientists are not swayed by profit or idealism but rather strive to discover the truth. 3. Scientific claims are evaluated based on merit, and not by the researcher's reputation. 4. Scientist question their own theories and even widely accepted ideas.

1. Communality 2. Disinterestedness 3. Universalism 4. Organized skepticism

Identify each type of person as either a research producer or a research consumer. 1. Someone who takes research and applies it to their career or daily life. 2. Someone who facilitates the research process in order to increase knowledge.

1. Consumer 2. Producer

Keyanna is thinking of marketing consulting as a potential future career. Identify each task associated with consulting as either producing research or consuming research. 1. Keep up-to-date on current product trends. 2. Test different marketing strategies to identify the best one. 3. Look at analyses conducted by other firms, and inform clients of the findings. 4. Collect and analyze data, and present the results to clients.

1. Consuming 2. Producing 3. Consuming 4. Producing

Junto is conducting a scientific study on elevator size and interpersonal interactions. Match each step Junto takes to its corresponding step in the theory data cycle. 1. Junto records the participants' awkwardness ratings and analyzes them to see if there's a difference among the different sized elevators. 2. Junto wonders if a different sized elevator would change the level of awkwardness people feel in an elevator. 3. Junto believes that participants will feel less awkward in a larger elevator than a smaller elevator. 4. Junto creates a plan to test participants' level of awkwardness and different sized elevators to understand what effective elevator size may have on awkwardness. 5. Based on previous data, Junto believes that most people do not interact in an elevator because it is a combined space and they feel awkward.

1. Data 2. Research question 3. Hypothesis 4. Research design 5. Theory

Empirical approach or not empirical approach? Dimitri is interested in understanding the effects of sleep deprivation on short-term memory. Which of the following actions are empirical approaches Dimitri could take to research this topic? 1. He could design an implement a study that measure short-term memory function following different amounts of sleep. 2. He could consider his own experiences with sleep and memory. 3. He could conduct a study looking at whether number of hours of sleep is associated with memory function. 4. He could ask his psychology professor for her opinion on the effects of sleep deprivation on short-term memory. 5. He could watch several movies about sleep deprivation and make a strong, logical argument about the effects of sleep deprivation on short-term memory based on the films.

1. Empirical 2. Not empirical 3. Empirical 4. Not empirical 5. Not empirical

Identify the true and false statements about the characteristics that differentiate scientific journal articles from news stories. 1. Scientific journal articles have multiple contributors, while news stories do not. 2. Scientific journal articles usually exaggerates their findings, while news stories do not. 3. Scientific journal articles are pure reviewed, while news stories are not. 4. Scientific journal articles are generally read by scientist and students, while news stories are read by the general public.

1. False 2. False 3. True 4. True

Identify each statement as either a reason to know how to be a research producer, or a reason to know how to be a research consumer. 1. You may work as an assistant in a psychology lab. 2. You may pursue a career where is important to have a critical eye. 3. You may encounter a mix of high-quality information and false information on social media. 4. You may need to write a paper following the guidelines of the American psychological association (APA).

1. Producer 2. Consumer 3. Consumer 4. Producer

Identify the true and false statements about scientific research. 1. Multiple replications of the same study provide strong support for theory. 2. If a result does not support a theory, that theory should be discarded. 3. Every theory should be falsifiable. 4. If a researcher test their hypothesis and the results are as predicted, this proves their theory.

1. True 2. False 3. True 4. False

Identify the true and false statements about the features that are characterized by a good theory. 1. Falsifiable 2. Intuitive 3. Supported by data 4. Proven by data

1. True 2. False 3. True 4. False

Consuming research or producing research? Reporting current trends in biology research in a news article.

Consuming

Consuming research or producing research? Using research findings to update patients' treatment plans.

Consuming

A scientific _____ is a periodic publication that is ____________ and contains articles written by qualified ________.

Journal Peer-reviewed Researchers

Consuming research or producing research? Creating and testing a hypothesis on sexuality and teenagers.

Producing

Consuming research or producing research? Using previous studies to create a new study that analyzes all of those previous findings.

Producing

Zanna is a high school teacher. After reading a headline in the newspaper that states, "Scared Straight program sets teens on straight path," she considers implementing this program in her classroom. But when Zanna digs deeper to look at published studies with randomized, controlled groups, she sees that teens who were in a Scared Straight program actually committed more crimes that teens who were not. What key point does Zanna's experience best illustrate?

The importance of being a smart consumer of research

After reading about Harlow's contact comfort theory, Dr. Borden wonders if Harlow's findings would apply to premature babies in a neonatal intensive care unit. He designs to study to test whether touching cuddling could speed up weight gain and premature babies. What type of research does Dr. Borden's study fall under?

Translational resesrch

Yara tells a few of her friends about a study that, she heard, showed that being less motivated to succeed can improve test performance. Yara, however, did not fully understand the study's finding, which was that being overly motivated can hinder test performance. What is the consequence of Yara's being a poor research consumer?

Yara and her friends could potentially adopt a practice that hurts, rather than helps, their test scores.