Psych 7A Midterm 1 Chapter 2

Which of the following correlations has the strongest predictive value? A) +0.50 B) +0.30 C) 0.00 D) -0.75

-0.75

Which of the following numbers represents a statistically significant p-value? A) -0.900 B) 0.002 C) 0.750 D) 1.800

0.002

In a phobia treatment study, the participants spend three hours facing their fears. Post-treatment scores show significant improvement in overall distress levels when handling the feared objects, so the treatment is judged as effective by the researcher. To improve the study's design, the researcher can A)increase the length of time for the treatment component. B)repeat the study with a new set of participants for a more representative sample. C)include a control group, which would receive some supportive counseling but not the actual treatment. D)change to a correlational design since it is unethical to have participants experience fear as part of a study.

include a control group, which would receive some supportive counseling but not the actual treatment.

In an experiment, the variable manipulated by the researcher is the _______ variable. A) dependent B) independent C) experimental D) confounding

independent

Deception in psychological research A)has never been considered ethical B)has not been allowed since the Tuskegee study. C)is not possible because it interferes with the legal requirement of informed consent. D)is occasionally allowed but must be followed by a thorough debriefing.

is occasionally allowed but must be followed by a thorough debriefing.

2, 8, 3, 4, 8, 10, 0 In the set of numbers, the median is _______ than the mean and _______than the mode. A) greater; greater B) greater; less C) less; less D) less; greater

less; less

A psychologist administered a test that was designed to measure intelligence. Individuals taking the test on multiple occasions were found to achieve similar scores over time. Another psychologist used the same test to evaluate subjects' memory capacity, and these results were strongly correlated with those of other memory tests. As an instrument designed to measure intelligence, the test has _______ validity and _______ reliability. A) low; low B) high; high C) low; high D) high; low

low; high

A college professor testing two different study-skill interventions tosses a coin to decide which type of training each student will get. The professor does this to A)make it more likely that participants will be representative of the broader population. B)make statistical analyses easier by guaranteeing the same number of participants in each group. C)make it less likely that there will be pre-existing differences between the groups. D)avoid the confound of participants knowing other people in their group.

make it less likely that there will be pre-existing differences between the groups.

A researcher hoping to identify autism's early warning signs collects home videos of autistic teens. She uses these videos of their formative years to identify atypical movements as they learned to crawl and walk. This is an example of A) a case study. B) survey research. C) naturalistic observation. D) an experiment.

naturalistic observation

"Green is the prettiest color" is a _______ hypothesis because it is _______. A) poor; not true B) poor; not testable C) good; testable D) good; true

poor; not testable

To learn more about the gaming habits of teenage boys, a professor randomly selected fifty boys from various high schools for a video game study. In this study, "all teenage boys" make up the A) population. B) representative sample. C) independent variable. D) control group.

population

Reliability refers to whether your measurement tool _______ and validity to whether it _______. A)produces repeatable results; measures what it is supposed to measure B)measures what it is supposed to measure; produces repeatable results C)produces statistically significant results; controls for confounds D)controls for confounds; produces statistically significant results

produces repeatable results; measures what it is supposed to measure

Ethical principles require researchers to A)explain the hypothesis they will be testing before participants begin a study. B)provide information about potential risks to participants before they begin a study. C)refrain from conducting research on animals. D)have their research design approved by a group of people similar to the proposed participants.

provide information about potential risks to participants before they begin a study.

Treatment-outcome researchers attempt to prevent initial differences between treatment and control groups by using A) statistical inference. B) placebo controls. C) randomization. D) double blinding.

randomization.

Effect size A)is typically identical to statistical significance. B)is typically identical to sample size. C)refers to the magnitude of the difference between groups. D)refers to the variance within the control group.

refers to the magnitude of the difference between groups.

The presence of adoring groupies at a small local club make a rock band confident they will become world famous. They should probably pay more attention to the importance of A)reliability. B) frequency distributions. C) effect size. D) representative samples.

representative samples.

The Tuskegee syphilis study is famous because A)it was the first use of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled research. B)it demonstrated the psychological effects of syphilis infection. C)researchers failed to inform participants that they had a treatable disease. D)measures were so low in reliability and validity that the data had no value.

researchers failed to inform participants that they had a treatable disease.

If heavy snowfall in Alaska has a correlation of -0.78 with the consumption of ice cream and a correlation of +0.78 with the sale of boots, you can predict that for a snowy January in Alaska, the store will A)sell more boots, but ice cream sales will be unchanged. B)sell more boots and ice cream sales will be lower. C)sell slightly more ice cream and significantly more boots. D)see equal increases in sales for both ice cream and boots.

sell more boots and ice cream sales will be lower.

Results from a recent experiment are consistent with a researcher's expectation that exposing people to unfamiliar groups reduces prejudice. This means that the researcher A)has proven her theory. C)should retain her hypothesis for now B)has proven her hypothesis. D)needs to follow up with correlational studies.

should retain her hypothesis for now

A researcher would be most likely to find a negative correlation between _______ and _______. A)shyness; party attendance C)conscientiousness; grade point average (GPA) B)hopelessness; depression D)occupational success; self-esteem

shyness; party attendance

As the number of pirates in the world has decreased, the mean global temperature has increased. This is an example of a A) non-linear relationship. B) spurious correlation. C) strong inference. D) meta-analysis.

spurious correlation.

Refer to the graph below. Scores for Group 1 differ most dramatically from scores for Group 2 in their A) mean. B) mode. C) standard deviation. D) median.

standard deviation

A psychological test designed to measure creativity is considered a reliable tool based on whether A)the same subjects would score consistently over time. B)it accounts for different concepts of creativity. C)subjects who attain lower scores are actually less creative. D)testing conditions affect the performance of subjects.

the same subjects would score consistently over time.

Researchers are testing the hypothesis that high levels of carbon dioxide in the blood trigger panic attacks. Half of the participants breathe carbon dioxide-enriched air, and the other half breathe normal air, then measured panic attack symptoms. In this study _______ is the independent variable and _______ is the dependent variable. A)carbon dioxide-enriched air; regular air C)type of air; panic attack symptoms B)regular air; carbon dioxide-enriched air D)panic attack symptoms; type of air

type of air; panic attack symptoms

Which of the following research methods would be most appropriate for exploring whether childhood emotional abuse predicts higher levels of adult depression? A) Naturalistic observation B) Experimental research C) Correlational research D) Case studies

Case studies

Research that involves intentional manipulation of variables is called _______ research. A) correlational B) case study C) descriptive D) experimental

D) experimental

Which of the following choices requires inferential statistics?A)Determining the class average on an exam B)Determining whether the exam scores of one fourth-grade classroom reflect how all fourth-graders would score C)Identifying the most common grade on a test D)Calculating the difference between pre-test and post-test scores after administration of a specialized learning module

Determining whether the exam scores of one fourth-grade classroom reflect how all fourth-graders would score

Which of the following samples would produce a nearly normal distribution? A)The number of men and women in the country B)Incomes in a small company with many low-level employees and two high-paid executives C)Heights of all adult men in America D)Scores on a very easy test

Heights of all adult men in America

A recent study found that married people are less likely to have personality disorders than unmarried people. The news reporter covering the study advised people to get married to improve their personalities. You know this recommendation is not warranted because A)correlational research is invalid. B)It is possible that personality disorders keep people from marrying C)these findings are unlikely to be replicated. D)Occam's razor rules out a relationship between marriage and personality disorders.

It is possible that personality disorders keep people from marrying

Which of the following investigation types does not represent the descriptive method of scientific inquiry? A) Surveying B) Case study C) Naturalistic observation D) Laboratory experimentation

Laboratory experimentation

A meta-analysis of published and unpublished tests of SSRI medications revealed that A)SSRIs are effective for all levels of depression. B)published and unpublished trials have similar findings. C)people in placebo groups became even more severely depressed. D)SSRIs beat placebos only for severe levels of depression.

SSRIs beat placebos only for severe levels of depression.

A research team is investigating the impact of stereotypes on performance. In one group, women read an article about why the structure of men's brains makes them better at math. In the second group, women read an article saying there are no biological differences in the mathematical abilities of men and women. Then all women in the study take a challenging math test. Researchers time the test and score the number of items women answered correctly. In this study, which of the following is the independent variable?A)Women's scores on the math test B)Women's beliefs about their math abilities C)Which article the women read D)How long it takes women to complete the math test

Which article the women read

A meta-analysis is A)a combination of results from many related studies. B)an alternative to the strong inference approach. C)the most common analysis in correlational research. D)the most common analysis in experimental research.

a combination of results from many related studies.

A hypothesis is A)a testable prediction about the relationship between variables. B)a simple explanation for a psychological finding. C)an observed relationship between independent and dependent variables D)an unprovable assumption about psychological processes.

a testable prediction about the relationship between variables.

Professor Durkin predicts that because we attribute positive qualities to attractive people, attractive children get away with misbehaving more often than unattractive children do. This is an example of A) a theory. B) a hypothesis. C) Occam's razor. D) a spurious correlation.

a theory

In a depression-treatment study, neither the participants nor the researcher know who is taking medication and who is taking a sugar pill. This is an example of a A)double-blind trial. C)research design with low validity. B)confound D)research design with low reliability.

double-blind trial.

In a test of a new medication for schizophrenia, doctors allow patients to decide if they want to take the new medication or stick with their current medication. This is problematic because it creates an issue with A) frequency distributions. B) effect size. C) informed consent. D) group equivalence.

effect size

The main purpose of inferential statistics is to A)adjust analyses to improve validity. B)account for variability within a population. C)decide whether the standard deviation is skewed by outliers. D)estimate a characteristic of a population based on a sample.

estimate a characteristic of a population based on a sample.

Research has shown that social exclusion activates the same brain regions as physical pain. A researcher wants to test the hypothesis that over-the-counter pain relievers will also reduce the pain of social exclusion. She gives half of her participants ibuprofen and half a placebo, then has them play a game in which other players ignore them. Participants who take the ibuprofen are the _______ and participants who take the placebo are the _______. A)experimental group; control group C)representative sample; random sample B)randomly assigned group; blind group D)independent sample; dependent sample

experimental group; control group

A research team wants to know if sugar consumption is related to hyperactivity. Researchers give fifty children cupcakes made with real sugar and another fifty children cupcakes made with zero-calorie sugar substitutes. They then observe each child individually to assess his or her level of activity after eating the cupcakes. This is an example of A) a case study. B) naturalistic observation. C) experimental research. D) correlational research.

experimental research

In taste tests, people prefer Coke to Pepsi when they drink labeled samples but prefer Pepsi to Coke when they drink unlabeled samples. This is an example of A) explicit bias.B) unconscious bias. C) the placebo effect. D) poor measurement validity.

explicit bias

The principle of Occam's razor compares _______ in terms of the _______. A)hypotheses; assumptions they make C)experiments; potential to replicate results B)hypotheses; observations they predict D)experiments; handling of dependent variables

hypotheses; assumptions they make