Module Quizzes

Which of the following is TRUE? a) A valid measure is always reliable. b) A reliable measure is never valid. c) A valid measure is never reliable. d) A reliable measure is always valid

a) A valid measure is always reliable.

Dr. Haynes finds that in her laboratory, bacterium X can be killed with antibiotic Y. However, Dr. Swensson does not observe this same result in her laboratory. What is the most plausible explanation for why this happened? a) Dr. Swensson did not use the exact same procedure as Dr. Haynes. b) Dr. Swensson made mistakes analyzing the data. c) The results of biomedical experiments are often random, so this is not unusual. d) Dr. Haynes made up the results to survive in a publish-or-perish academic setting.

a) Dr. Swensson did not use the exact same procedure as Dr. Haynes.

Which of the following measurement scales is accurately paired with an example? a) Ordinal—a professor listing his students from the best to worst b) Ratio—zip codes c) Interval—rankings of tennis players d) Nominal—test scores on an exam

a) Ordinal—a professor listing his students from the best to worst

According to the textbook, a scientist must be a) all of these b) creative c) systematic d) skeptical

a) all of these

Non-random sampling techniques typically produce ______ samples. a) biased b) representative c) random d) systematic

a) biased

The _________ variable is the presumed cause of another variable while the ________ variable is the presumed effect. a) independent; dependent b) dependent; mediating c) dependent; independent d) independent; extraneous

a) independent; dependent

Tom was experiencing dizziness just before he ate his lunch and noted that after he started eating his dizziness disappeared. From this he inferred that dizziness was due to a lack of nutrition and whenever someone complained of dizziness he encouraged them to eat. His inference that dizziness is due to lack of nutrition demonstrates what reasoning process? a) induction b) deduction c) hypothesis testing d) naturalism

a) induction

The Tuskegee syphilis study violated the ethical principle of a) informed consent. b) plagiarism. c) fraudulent results. d) confidentiality.

a) informed consent

What does it mean to say that an observation is "objective?" a) it is unaffected by the observer's personal biases b) the observation is empirical c) it is done by professional d) the observation has an intuitive basis

a) it is unaffected by the observer's personal biases

Dr. Prentice, principal of an elementary school, instructs her teachers to employ a new aggression-reduction program with the second graders, and to keep using it on that group of students for the next three years. She finds that relative to the start of the program, aggression in that group of students is down 35%. This example illustrates the possibility of ________________ as a plausible rival hypothesis. a) maturation b) attrition c) selection d) history

a) maturation

Ramon determines that in his neighborhood "amount of ice cream consumed" and "number of violent crimes" are positively correlated -- the more ice cream consumed, the more crimes are committed. He concludes that something in ice cream leads people to commit violent crimes. What has Ramon overlooked? a) the "third variable" problem as some other variable could lead to an increase in both ice cream consumption and violent crime b) he collected his data only after-the-fact c) his observations are qualitative and therefore inappropriate d) the reactive effect as the people in his neighborhood were probably aware that he was observing them, and altered their behavior toward what they thought he wanted to see

a) the "third variable" problem as some other variable could lead to an increase in both ice cream consumption and violent crime

Jenna would like to establish the reliability of a new measure of self-esteem but she doesn't have enough time to administer her test more than once. Which of the following methods of establishing reliability would you suggest to Jenna? a) Multidimensional b) Internal consistency c) Concurrent d) Equivalent forms

b) Internal consistency

We can not use the scientific method to determine some questions like "Is there a God?" But an interest in religious belief can lead to ideas that can be translated into researchable questions. Which of the following is NOT a researchable question related to religion? a) Do couples with a serious commitment to their religion have less marital conflict? b) Is prayer heard by God? c) Does meditation reduce stress better than prayer? d) Does daily social prayer influence recovery rate among surgery patients?

b) Is prayer heard by God?

Which of the following illustrates reliability? a) Fred scores poorly on one school's entrance exam but does better on another. b) Jacquie takes three practice GRE verbal exams and scores 300, 299, and 301. c) Dean takes an IQ test and scores at the 60th percentile. d) Scores on a new test of reading comprehension correlate highly with scores on well established reading comprehension tests.

b) Jacquie takes three practice GRE verbal exams and scores 300, 299, and 301.

If you accept your physician's explanation for your illness without researching your condition or asking how she came to her conclusion, you are relying on ___________ as a source of knowledge. a) reason b) authority c) intuition d) science

b) authority

According to your text, what is probably the most commonly cited disadvantage of using laboratory experiments to learn about human behavior? a) operational definitions reduce the abstract concept to a trivial level, making broad interpretations difficult at best b) because they tend to be done in highly controlled settings, their results may not be generalizable to the real world c) with their mechanistic approach to human behavior, they ignore the participants' thoughts and emotions d) because they tend to use other species, the results are usually irrelevant to human behavior

b) because they tend to be done in highly controlled settings, their results may not be generalizable to the real world

Gerald is developing a measure of shyness and he determines that students scoring high on the measure also score high for introversion on a well-known introversion-extraversion scale. The outcome best illustrates a) discriminant validity. b) concurrent validity. c) face validity. d) predictive validity.

b) concurrent validity.

There is frequently a trade-off between increasing either internal validity or external validity in an experiment. Which of the following may weaken internal validity while strengthening external validity? a) testing all participants in the same room b) conducting the experiment in the students' high school rather than a university laboratory c) testing all participants at 10:00 a.m. d) using a standardized set of instructions that are given by a tape recording

b) conducting the experiment in the students' high school rather than a university laboratory

Random assignment of participants to the various groups in an experiment a) is very difficult to do and is therefore not commonly done. b) increases the probability that the groups are equivalent. c) is essential if you want to generalize your results to the population. d) makes it more likely that extraneous variables will impact the experiment.

b) increases the probability that the groups are equivalent.

In a study designed to assess the effectiveness of a new therapeutic technique to help patients stop smoking, research participants are asked to record in a diary each time they smoke a cigarette. At the beginning of the two week experiment participants are very careful about noting every time they smoke a cigarette. However by the end of the two weeks they often forget to record each cigarette they smoke making it appear that they smoked less at the end of the experimental treatment. The results in this study are confounded by a) history. b) instrumentation. c) maturation. d) attrition.

b) instrumentation

For her senior thesis, Nancy surveys fellow students about cheating. Her findings suggest that cheating is virtually non-existent on her campus. This is not consistent with the fact that, in the past semester, two dozen students have been found guilty by the Honor Board of cheating. Which of the following explanations would fall under the heading of "reactivity?" a) Nancy's data were a "one shot" picture, and therefore could not be too accurate b) it is known that participants in research like to present themselves as positively as possible, so students that cheated probably lied and did not report their cheating on the survey c) the questions on Nancy's survey probably were not phrased well enough to collect accurate data d) Nancy's survey was confounded by being too demanding

b) it is known that participants in research like to present themselves as positively as possible, so students that cheated probably lied and did not report their cheating on the survey

As a member of the IRB you have received a research study to review and report on at the next IRB meeting. In reviewing and considering all aspects of the study you focus on the aspect of how the benefits of the study should be distributed. Should the research participants benefit most and should the research participants in the control group benefit as much as those in the experimental group. Such deliberations involve the moral principle of a) beneficence. b) justice. c) integrity. d) nonmalefience.

b) justice.

Dr. Nettles conducts a literature review in the area of cognitive behavioral therapy and then decided to quantitatively combine and integrate multiple research studies on this topic. This technique is called a) operationalism b) meta-analysis c) multiple operationalism d) replication

b) meta-analysis

Dr. Nettles is interested in determining the factors that increase productivity in the workplace. After reading the section in your book on sources of research ideas, which source is Dr. Nettles drawing from? a) past research b) practical issues c) theory d) everyday life

b) practical issues

Dr. Konrad contacts the registrar at his university to get a complete list of students enrolled. He wants to draw a simple random sample from the entire population. He does this to make sure he is creating a a) stratified sample b) representative sample c) cluster sample d) framed sample

b) representative sample

A sports psychologist develops a new technique that might improve accuracy in shooting free throws in school children. To test her technique she arranges to give the new program to a girls' physical education class and the standard technique to the boys' physical education class. She finds that indeed the girls' accuracy in shooting improved more than the boys' accuracy. A colleague correctly points out a) that as this was an experiment the new technique caused the observed differences. b) that the experiment is confounded by gender and is therefore inconclusive. c) that the results were actually caused by gender and not the technique. d) that gender was an extraneous variable that was held constant.

b) that the experiment is confounded by gender and is therefore inconclusive.

In a study designed to identify factors involved in helping behavior, a man on a crowded bus clutches his chest and falls to the floor. In one of the conditions of the study the man is clean shaven and wearing a suit; in the other condition he has a scraggly beard and is wearing a dirty t-shirt and jeans. The amount of time it takes for someone to help the man is recorded. In this example the dependent variable is a) how crowded the bus is. b) the amount of time it takes someone to help. c) the appearance of the man. d) the participants in the study.

b) the amount of time it takes someone to help.

An informed consent form would likely contain all of the following statements EXCEPT? a) if you have any questions you should contact Dr. X at xxx-xxxx. b) you are not required to participate, but if you begin the study you are required to finish it c) this research has been approved by the university's Institutional Review Board d) your information will remain confidential and if the research is published all of youridentifying information will be removed

b) you are not required to participate, but if you begin the study you are required to finish it

Which of the following is an example of a quantitative variable? a) religion b) gender c) College GPA d) relationship status

c) College GPA

Which of the following is the best example of an operationalization of the construct of "hunger"? a) a desire to eat brought about by an intense image of the taste and smell of a favorite food b) realizing it's been a long time since one has eaten anything c) a child asking his mother whether supper is ready more than 5 times in a 15 minute period d) feeling of emptiness or growling in the stomach

c) a child asking his mother whether supper is ready more than 5 times in a 15 minute period

In the past there were a group of psychologists that were known as behaviorists because the approach they advocated was bound by a set of beliefs regarding the way behavior or responses are acquired and changed. These psychologists took the position that the responses we learn are a function of the consequences of our behavior. This position or set of beliefs would represent ___________. a) the period in time in which intuition was the dominant mode of thought b) a rigid approach to science c) a paradigm d) reliance on authority

c) a paradigm

When preparing to conduct a literature review for your research idea, it is a good idea to do which of the following? a) define your topic area and keywords for your search b) define your objectives during the search c) all of these d) familiarize yourself with the campus library

c) all of these

What is meant by "informed consent?" a) only people over 18 years of age should participate in psychology experiments b) participants must approve the results before they are published c) before they agree to take part in an experiment, participants must be informed of all aspects of the study that may influence their decision to participate d) agreement to participate in a psychological experiment forms a binding contract; the participant cannot back out once he or she consents

c) before they agree to take part in an experiment, participants must be informed of all aspects of the study that may influence their decision to participate

One way to assess construct validity is to establish that scores on the test in question do NOT correlate with established scales that are dissimilar or conceptually unrelated concepts. (e.g, a scale to measure depression would likely not correlate with scales designed to measure happiness). This type of validity is called a) predictive validity. b) convergent validity. c) discriminant validity. d) concurrent validity.

c) discriminant validity.

A psychologist is watching her children play in their backyard. She observes one child sharing a toy with the other. This sparks an idea to investigate the factors involved in sharing in children. Which of the following sources of research ideas does this example fall under? a) past research b) practical issues c) everyday life d) theory

c) everyday life

What is the main difference between experimentation done in a field setting and experimentation done in a laboratory? a) in field experimentation, variables are not manipulated b) in field experimentation, one can study only a small number of people c) in field experimentation, the setting is "real life" and not contrived d) in field experimentation, no attempt is made to control extraneous variables

c) in field experimentation, the setting is "real life" and not contrived

Research misconduct includes all of the following. Which is considered to be the most serious? a) overlooking others' use of flawed data b) not presenting data that contradicts one's own work c) presenting fraudulent results d) changing the design of a study in response to pressure from a funding source

c) presenting fraudulent results

Audrey is completing her required undergraduate research project for her honors thesis in psychology. Her research involves surveying college students on their safe-sex practices. Before asking each student to complete the survey, Audrey tells them exactly what the survey is about and what they are expected to do. She then informs them that, while she would like to have them volunteer to participate, they are free to decline to participate with no negative or adverse consequences. In following this procedure, Audrey has met the moral principle of a) nonmaleficience b) justice c) respect for people's rights and dignity d) beneficience

c) respect for people's rights and dignity

An increasing number of researchers are conducting experiments over the Internet because of the advantages it affords. Which of the following is NOT a disadvantage of using the Internet to conduct and experiment? a) there is a greater probability of self-selection b) there is a greater probability of dropout of participants c) the experiment is brought to the participant instead of the participant coming to the experiment d) there is a less experimental control

c) the experiment is brought to the participant instead of the participant coming to the experiment

Dr. Kenji wants to determine whether his new phonics program helps children's reading comprehension. He gives a fifth grade class the program and also studies a second grade class that does not go through the program. He finds that the fifth graders read with better comprehension. Identify the confounding variable in this research design. a) not giving one group the program b) reading comprehension scores c) the grade the students are in d) the phonics program

c) the grade the students are in

Which of the following would represent scores on a nominal scale? a) Attractiveness ratings on a scale of 1-5 b) Temperature on a Celsius scale c) Exam scores d) Coding religion as protestant = 1; catholic = 2, etc.

d) Coding religion as protestant = 1; catholic = 2, etc.

Experimental research, as opposed to nonexperimental research, allows us to make statements about cause-and-effect relationships. Why is this so? a) Experimental research uses objective observations. b) Experimental research uses statistical analysis. c) Experimental research involves studying only how two variables covary. d) In experimental research, we can observe the effects of manipulating variables under controlled conditions.

d) In experimental research, we can observe the effects of manipulating variables under controlled conditions.

In order to isolate the cause of a behavior, research psychologists rely primarily on being able to _________. a) communicate their findings b) get authoritative advice. c) do statistical testing. d) control the environment

d) control the environment

Roberta is interested in whether people communicate differently when utilizing technology (e.g., online chatting or e-mail) than in face-to-face conversations. She begins by simply observing conversations that occur in the two environments to get a better sense of the variables that should be investigated. This initial step of simply observing behavior would correspond to which of the following objectives of psychological research: a) replication b) prediction c) explanation d) description

d) description

After every trip Pete takes to the automatic carwash he finds a new ding in his car. He concludes that this automatic carwash damages cars. He is relying on what source of knowledge? a) science b) intuition c) rationalism d) empiricism

d) empiricism

Sanjay is studying whether his racism awareness program increases people's awareness of issues of race and ethnicity in his city. On Monday, he gives an attitude survey to his participants to gauge their awareness. On Tuesday through Thursday, he puts them through his program. On Wednesday, a local predominantly black church is firebombed and the KKK claims responsibility. On Friday, Sanjay gives his awareness survey again and finds awareness of racial issues has increased dramatically. This example illustrates the possibility of ________________ as a plausible rival hypothesis. a) selection b) maturation c) regression artifact d) history

d) history

Which of the following may compromise the statistical conclusion validity of an experiment? a) if the researcher does not have a Ph.D. in statistics b) if the research participants have a positive self-presentation motive c) if the experimental findings are limited to a particular group of participants d) if the experiment has too few participants, thus reducing power

d) if the experiment has too few participants, thus reducing power

A(n) ___________ variable specifies how a causal relationship between two variables is different depending on a particular situation or circumstance. For example, if a researcher finds that a new experimental drug is effective in alleviating depression in young adult but not older adults. a) independent b) dependent c) mediator d) moderator

d) moderator

Janice is taking the SAT to meet an entrance requirement for a college. On her first attempt she scores way below average. She decides to review and then take the test again to see if she can improve her score. She then scored higher the second time she took the test. This example illustrates the possibility of ________________ as a plausible rival hypothesis. a) selection b) maturation c) history d) regression artifact

d) regression artifact

"External validity" of an experiment refers to the extent to which a) we can be confident that the experiment is testing the hypothesis we think it is testing. b) we can make causative statements about the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. c) the operational definitions of variables really do represent the concepts they are meant to capture. d) the results of an experiment can be generalized across people, settings, times,treatments, and outcomes.

d) the results of an experiment can be generalized across people, settings, times,treatments, and outcomes.