AP Psych 1.3 Formative - 4/16/2022

Participants were asked to rate the importance of achieving honor-roll status. Researchers found that students from smaller families rated the importance more highly than students from larger families. The research team concluded that a student's attitude toward school achievement is the result of family size. Which of the following is the most important error made by the research team?

Assuming that correlation proves causation

Dr. Patel is conducting a study to test a hair-growth shampoo she is developing. She instructs fifty participants to use the hair-growth shampoo once daily for a month and another fifty to use a regular shampoo once a day for a month. Dr. Patel measures the participants' hair length at the beginning and the end of the thirty days. Which of the following is the dependent variable?

Change in hair length

Which of the following is a term for a variable that researchers do not control and that can affect the results of a study?

Confounding variable

The next question(s) are based on this scenario: A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. What is the dependent variable in this study?

Incidence of aggressive behavior

Research participants are randomly assigned to one of three groups. One group listens to a list of words, another group reads a list of words printed on paper, and the remaining group hears and reads the words. The researcher then tests the participants' memories to see how many words the members of each group can recall. The modality in which the words are presented (i.e., auditory, visual, or both) is which type of variable?

Independent

Professor González is interested in evaluating the ability of a new method of note-taking to improve student grades. Group A is trained in the new method and group B uses the traditional outline method of taking notes. What is Professor González' independent variable?

Method of note-taking

Which of the following is used to reduce the effects of confounding variables in experiments?

Random assignment

Which of the following methods best limits the influence of unknown variables in an experiment?

Random assignment

Which of the following procedures is intended to control for preexisting differences between the groups of participants in an experiment?

Random assignment

The next question(s) are based on this scenario: A researcher randomly assigned boys and girls to each of two groups. One group watched a violent television program while the other group watched a nonviolent program. The children were then observed during a period of free play, and the incidence of aggressive behavior was recorded for each group. What is the independent variable in this study?

Type of television program viewed

Marjorie's little brother tends to bother her when he is bored. Marjorie wants to figure out which toy will keep her brother occupied the longest so he will not bother her. She conducts a study where each day at 6P.M. for a week she gives her brother a different toy and on one of the days she gives him no toys to play with. She measures the amount of time he spends playing with each toy before he comes to bother her. Which of the following is the independent variable in this example?

Type of toy

In experimental psychology, a significant difference refers to a

difference not likely due to chance

Drawing a random sample of people from a town for an interview study of social attitudes ensures that

each person in the town has the same probability of being chosen for the study

An illusory correlation is best defined as a

perceived relationship where one does not exist

The most distinctive characteristic of the experimental method is that it

seeks to establish cause-effect relationships

Researchers find that there is a significant, positive correlation between the number of hours students sleep and their grades. The researchers would be justified in concluding that

students who earn good grades tend to sleep more than those who do not

A research group involved with advertising is conducting a study to investigate whether shoppers are more likely to engage in impulse buying at the checkout than at any other place in the store. For the results of the study to be generalizable, the researchers should

use a representative sample