Chapter 6 Psych 226

In which research situation below would an extraneous variable become a confounding variable?

An extraneous variable varies systematically along with the two variables being studied.

Which research strategies attempt to address the same question about the relationship between variables?

Correlational and nonexperimental

Which question is best addressed with the experimental strategy?

Does increasing the hours of sleep college students get each night cause an increase in GPA?

Which research strategies produce similar data structures that use similar statistical analyses?

Experimental, quasi-experimental, and nonexperimental

Which question is best addressed with the correlational strategy?

Is there a relationship between the amount of sleep that college students get each night and the GPA of those college students?

A researcher designs a study to determine whether female preschoolers prefer sweetened or unsweetened cereal. The researcher first presents the children with the sweet cereal and measures how much they ate. Later, during the same session, the researcher presents the children with the unsweetened cereal and measures how much they ate. The research finds that the group of preschoolers ate more of the sweetened cereal and therefore prefers the sweetened cereal. Is this conclusion justified?

No; this conclusion is not justified. Time-related variables could threaten the results

Which question can be addressed with a descriptive strategy?

What is the average number of hours of sleep that a typical college student gets each night?

Experiments allow researchers to ____.

answer cause-and-effect questions about the relationship between two variables

Demand characteristics can threaten internal validity because the results ____.

can be explained by reactivity instead of the treatment conditions

A study examining the percentage of children age 3-5 who are enrolled in preschool is an example of what research approach?

descriptive

Which research strategy is least concerned with examining relationships between variables?

descriptive

A research ____ is a general plan for implementing the research strategy.

design

Deciding whether a study will compare different groups of individuals or examine changes within the same group of individuals involves a decision about the research ____.

design

The results of a study may be influenced by the experimenter's expectations regarding the outcome of the study. This artifact is known as ____.

experimenter bias

A researcher is concerned that experimental results obtained with college students may not apply to adults in the general population. This illustrates a concern with ____ validity.

external

A researcher finds that a particular medication causes rats' memory to improve. A second researcher plans to test this medication with humans diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The second researcher is addressing the problem of ____.

external validity

Any factor that limits the ability to generalize the results of the study is a threat to ____.

external validity

Sensitization can threaten external validity because the results obtained in a study may be limited to ____.

individuals who have experienced a pretest

A research study finds that a group of participants who received relaxation training had lower exam anxiety scores than a group who did not receive training. However, the researcher suspects that the difference between groups may be caused by the fact that the participants in one group are generally smarter than those in the other. This study has a problem with ____.

internal validity

When research is conducted in a ____, participants may be particularly influenced by ____.

laboratory; reactivity

A scatter plot showing the relationship between two variables shows data points that form a straight-line pattern. What kind of relationship is indicated by this pattern?

linear

A researcher finds that room color influences the mood of 45-year-old women in a sample. To preserve external validity, the researcher should generalize these findings to which group?

middle-aged women

As the values for one variable increase from one person to another, the values for a second variable tend to decrease. This is an example of a(n) ____ relationship.

negative

The individual differences between participants, such as age, gender, height, strength, intelligence, etc., are known as ________.

participant variables

As the values for one variable decrease from one person to another, the values for a second variable also tend to decrease. This is an example of a(n) ____ relationship.

positive

Which research strategy attempts to address questions about cause-and-effect relationships but fails to produce an unambiguous answer because the study contains a flaw?

quasi-experimental

A research ____ is a general approach that is intended to address a specific question.

strategy

Variables related to ________ are potential threats to the internal validity of every study.

the environment of the study

Susan is a participant in a research study. She has never participated in a study before, and she is excited and a little nervous, so she unintentionally behaves differently than she normally would. Susan's situation is an example of which threat to external validity?

the novelty effect

A study examining the relationship between humor and memory compares memory performance scores for one group presented with humorous sentences and a second group presented with nonhumorous sentences. The participants presented with the humorous sentences are all males. The participants presented with the nonhumorous sentences are all females. In this study, gender (male/female) is best characterized as a(n) ____ variable.

confounding

A research study records a score measuring Facebook use and a score measuring happiness level for each individual in a group of 20-year-old women. The study intends to determine whether there is a relationship between the two variables. This study is best characterized as ____ research.

correlational

The degree to which your research results generalize beyond the specific characteristics of your study refers to ____.

external validity

A study examining the relationship between humor and memory compares memory performance scores for one group presented with humorous sentences and a second group presented with nonhumorous sentences. The participants in both groups consist of a mixture of males and females. In this study, gender (male/female) is best characterized as a(n) ____ variable.

extraneous

A(n) ____variable is a variable in a study that is not being directly studied.

extraneous

A researcher who is studying methods of decreasing test anxiety decides to measure anxiety in a group of volunteers both before and after an experimental intervention. He finds that anxiety levels are lower after the intervention. However, when reviewing his results, the researcher notes that the first test occurred about a week before midterm exams and the second test occurred two weeks after the exams. This study appears to have a problem with ____.

internal validity

The ____ of a research study is concerned with factors in the study that raise doubts about the interpretation of the results.

internal validity

When participants in one treatment condition have characteristics that are different from the characteristics of participants in another treatment condition, then ____ may be threatened.

internal validity

A study is ____ if it produces only one explanation for the results.

internally valid

A research study attempts to describe the relationship between self-esteem and birth order position by measuring self-esteem for each individual in a group of first-born boys, and then comparing the results with self-esteem scores for a group of later-born boys. This study is an example of the ____ strategy.

nonexperimental

A research study begins by separating a sample of 20-year-old women into two groups: a high Facebook use group and a low Facebook use group. A score measuring happiness is then obtained for each woman. The study intends to determine whether there is a relationship between Facebook use and happiness. This study is an example of the ____ research strategy.

nonexperimental