Chapter 2 Questions

Suppose a researcher spends time observing children's behavior on a playground. What kind of measures would that be?

the researcher is engaged in naturalistic observation of children's behavior

What are the three Rs of animal research?

the three Rs are reduce, replace and refine.

You ask people to respond to scenarios that describe the risk associated with excess cell-phone usage. You expect people to give the highest risk estimates when they read that "_______________ people suffer serious vocal chord damage".

20 of every 100

What is the relationship between theories and hypotheses?

Theories attempt to explain phenomena. those explanations should generate new hypotheses--testable consequences of a theory

Why does correlation not imply causation?

a correlation coefficient indicates the extent to which two variables are related--it does not give any indication of why that relationship exists

Always search for ___________ explanations to the obvious ones proposed

alternative

Andrew wishes to test the hypothesis that people give more freely to charities when the weather is pleasant. To test this hypothesis, Andrew is likely to make use of

archival data

Rahul is serving as a research assistant. In the first phase of the experiment, Rahul gives each participant a can of cola or a can of caffeine-free cola. In the second phase of the experiment, Rahul times the participants with a stopwatch while they play a video game. It sounds like this study is lacking a(n)

double-blind control

What is the purpose of debriefing?

during debriefing, participants have an opportunity to learn something new about the psychological phenomena that were the topic of the study. in addition, through debriefing researchers can ensure that participants do not leave the study upset or confused.

Why can some measures be reliable but not valid?

if a measure is reliable, it means that it yields a comparable value when researchers use it repeatedly. however, that value might still not accurately reflect the psychological variable that the researcher is after. that's why shoe size would be reliable but not a valid measure of happiness

professor Peterson is testing the hypothesis that people will cooperate less when a lot of people are in a group. In the experiment he plans, he will vary the number of people in each group. That will be his

independent variable

Before you participate in an experiment, the researcher should provide you with information about procedures, potential risks and expected benefits. This process is called

informed consent

Why is it important for interviewers to establish rapport?

interviewers seek to create a context in which people are willing to provide information through self-reports that might be highly personal or sensitive

Ben believes that men are more likely to arrive late to classes than are women. To test this hypothesis most effectively, Ben should use

naturalistic observation

Shirley visits an antique store. The owner explains to her that the smaller an object is, the more he can charge for it. This is an example of a

negative correlation

when articles are submitted to most journals, they are sent out to experts for detailed analyses. This process is known as

peer review

Which one of these is not among the three Rs that ethicists suggest should guide research using nonhuman animals?

relate

What is the purpose of informed consent?

research participants must have the opportunity to understand their rights and responsibilities before they chose to engage in an experiment

What steps can researchers take to overcome observer bias?

researchers can standardize their procedures and provide operational definitions for their variables

Why do researchers use double-blind controls?

researchers use double-blind controls so that the expectations they bring to the research setting cannot have an impact on their their studies' results

Giovanna is worried that the results of her experiment may be affected by her participants' desire to provide favorable impressions of themselves. It sounds as if she might be using_____________ measures.

self-report

A(n)_____________ is an organized set of concepts that explains a phenomenon or set of phenomena.

theory

Dr. Paul is developing a new measure of hunger. He says, "I need a measure that will accurately predict how much food people will eat in their next meal." Dr Paul's statement is about the________________ of the measure.

validity

What is it meant by within-subjects design?

when an experiment has within-subjects design, each participant serves as his or her own control

Sally is about to travel from New York to Chicago. Although she prefers to drive, she has decided to get on an airplane. Sally reads a pair of articles about the relative safety of the two types of travel. She concludes that the one that favors air travel is considerably more valid. This sounds like an example of

wishful thinking

Matt is participating in a two-day experiment. On Day 1 he takes a memory test after running on a treadmill for 2 minutes. On Day 2, he takes a similar test after running for 10 minutes. The experimenters plan to compare Matt's performance on the two tests. This sounds like a

within-subjects design