psych test 2

of the following, the correlation coefficient that indicates the weakest relationship between two variables being measured is

+0.01

of the of the following, the correlation coefficient that one would yield the least accurate predictions of one variable based on the other variable would be

0.00

the final step in a scientific investigation is to

Report the findings

which research method involves an in-depth investigation of an individual subject

a case study

Dr. Malm predicts that if teachers ignore students who act up in class, fewer students will act up in class. Dr. Malm's prediction is an example of

a hypothesis

Dr. Marqueta believes that "misery loves company." Based on this belief, Dr. Marqueta predicts that people who have received bad news will seek out other people. Dr. Marqueta's belief is an example of ____, and her prediction is an example of ____.

a hypothesis

Laura answered a series of written questions that asked about her attitudes and opinions on a number of current issues. The method of data collection that was being used in this case was

a questionnaire

in an investigation of the effects of caffeine on concentration, half the participants were given regular colas which contained caffeine and half were given decaffeinated colas. In this study, the decaffeinated colas are being used as

a random factor

One of your friends is writing a research paper and wants to obtain information about the depth of personal information people typically reveal during a first date. Directly observing a large number of people during a first date will be difficult, so your friend asks for your advice on the best way to collect this type of data. The best suggestion would be for your friend to use

a survey

By definition, an extraneous variable is

a variable, other than the independent variable, that may influence the dependent variable

A researcher is measuring the heart rate of subjects as an index of anxiety. In this study, heart rate is

an operational definition of anxiety

which of the following techniques is most likely to prove useful in determining why one particular child is afraid to go to school

case study

inferential statistics help us determine whether_______played a role in an experiment

change

The experimental group

consists of the subjects who receive some special treatment in regard to the independent variable

A researcher wants to see if a protein-enriched diet will enhance the maze-running performance of rats. One group of rats is fed the high-protein diet for the duration of the study; the other group continues to receive ordinary rat chow. In this experiment, the rat's maze-running performance is

dependent variable

An operational definition

describes the actions and procedures used to measure or control a variable

the two basic types of statistic are

descriptive and inferential

statistics that are used to summarize and organize data called

descriptive statistics

A researcher is interested in examining whether relaxation techniques help decrease the perception of anxiety in subjects. The second step in this scientific investigation would be to

design the study and select research method

Two of the data collection techniques that are most likely to involve direct contact between the researcher and the research participant are

direct observation and interviews

the experimental procedure in which both the experimenter and subject are unaware of who is in the experimental and who is in the control group is referred to as the

double-blind procedure

experimenter bias occurs when

experimenters' beliefs in their own hypotheses affect either the subjects' behavior or their observations of the subjects.

Dr. Dobbins wants to study attachment patterns in single-parent families. The first step in her scientific investigation would be to

formulate a testable hypothesis

A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables is a(n)

hypothesis

In an experiment, the variable that is controlled or manipulated by the researcher is called the

independent variable

If we view an experiment as an attempt to establish a cause-effect relationship, the ____ variable would be the cause, and the ____ variable would be the effect.

independent; dependent

statistics that are used to interpret data and draw conclusions are called

inferential statistics

by definition, a sample

is a subset of the population who actually participate in a research study

The purpose of the control group is to

isolate the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable

Publication of research findings is extremely important to the scientific method because

it allows for critique and self-correction

Your grade point average is an example of which measure of central tendency?

mean

The score that falls exactly in the center of a distribution of scores, such that half the scores fall below that score and half the scores fall above it, is the

median

You are sitting on a park bench in a major metropolitan area from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and you note the number of people who walk by, whether or not they litter, and their gender. You are engaging in

naturalistic observation

which research method involves a researcher engaging in careful observation of behavior without intervening with the subjects

naturalistic observation

mice who recieved gingko biloba in their diets made fewer errors in maze running task than mice who had not received gingko biloba. This suggests that, in mice, the use of gingko biloba and errors in maze running

negatively correlated

placebo effects occur when

people's expectations lead them to experience some change, even though they receive a fake or ineffective treatment.

If we were to measure the height and weight of 100 adult women, we would find that these two measures are

positively correlated

the fact that many times researchers unintentionally influence the outcome of their studies implies the existence of

social desirability

A scientific theory has to be

testable

A dependent variable in an experiment refers to the variable

that changes value because of the systematic manipulation in the experiment

the correlation coefficient is a measure of

the degree of relationship between two variables

Manipulating a variable under carefully controlled conditions and observing the changes in a second variable defines

the experimental approach

In a study designed to test the effects of a new drug developed to treat Alzheimer's disease, half the patients were given the actual drug while the other half of the patients were given a placebo(sugar pill). In this study, the experimental group is

the group who received the actual drug

a correlation coefficient of zero describes

the lack of a relationship between two variables

Carla earned 78 points on her statistics exam. Ten of the students in her class earned higher scores than she did, and ten students earned lower scores than she did. Based on this information, you can conclude that Carla's score of 78 points is

the median for her class

Charley tells you that 17 out of the 30 students enrolled in his English class scored exactly 62 points on the last exam. Conceptually, this is the same as saying

the mode for that particular English exam was 62 points

Researchers studying the effects of sleep deprivation tested the physical coordination skills of 25 year old males who had been sleep deprived for either 24, 36, or 48 hours. In this study the dependent variable would be

the physical coordination skills of the men in the study

A group of researchers is investigating the effects of gingko biloba on memory. During the first part of the study the animals learn to run a maze while they are not receiving the supplement; in the second part of the study the animals learn to run a different maze while they are receiving the supplement. In each case the researchers count how many trials it takes before the animals can run the maze pattern without making any errors. In this study, the independent variable is

the presence or absence of the food supplement in the animal's diet.

A researcher has children watch 30 minutes of violent television, and then counts the amount of times they hit each other afterward in one-hour play period as a measure of aggression. The researcher concludes that television violence causes aggression.However, this conclusion may be invalid because

there was no control group

Any measurable conditions, events, characteristics, or behaviors that are controlled or observed in a study are called

variables