Quiz 2 Sources of Info

Which of the following statements are reasons why basing one's conclusions on research is superior to basing one's conclusions on personal experience?

Conclusions based on experience can have alternative explanations. Research involves systematically comparing conditions. Experience does not involve systematic comparisons. Not Reason(s) Experience is probabilistic. Research definitively proves theories.

A school district decides to compare a new math textbook with the textbook that has been used for the past few years. Each of the fourth graders in one school is randomly assigned to be in one of two classes, one in which a teacher continues using the old book and another in which a new teacher uses the new book. The school administrators compare the average scores of the two classes on a mathematics standardized test at the end of the year and find that the class with the new textbook performed better on the test. Which of the following, if they occurred, could be potential confounds in the study?

Confound(s) The class using the new textbook is smaller than the class using the old textbook. The teacher using the new book has more teaching experience. Not Confound(s) There are different children in the fourth grade this year than there were last year. Both classes have children who report that they do not like math.

What does it mean to say that research is probabilistic?

In behavioral research, results explain a high proportion of possible cases, but they are not expected to explain all cases all the time.

Seattle libraries were interested in the effectiveness of summer reading programs in improving the reading ability of elementary school students. The libraries near the city center were all selected to implement a 2-week camp. Those on the outskirts of the city were all selected to implement a longer program that lasted the entire summer. One year later, city officials compared reading abilities using standardized tests of all the elementary schools in Seattle. They found that elementary schools whose students had attended the longer summer reading programs and thus read more books boasted higher reading comprehension. Which of the following, if they occurred, could be potential confounds in the study?

Confound(s) The libraries were located in areas whose populations differed in socioeconomic status. The elementary schools were of different qualities. Not Confound(s) The students in the longer program read more books. The standardized tests were scored incorrectly. The completion of each program resulted in a free book.

Which of the following statements are ways to identify high-quality scientific journals?

Correct Answer(s) Utilize online reports of exploitative journals. Find out whether the impact factor of the journal is at least 1.0. Incorrect Answer(s) Check to see that the name of the journal is scientific and legitimate. Make sure that the journal is charging researchers fees in order to publish their research.

JaTonya comes across a questionable news report stating that horns are growing on young people's skulls. She wants to be a critical consumer of research and carefully considers what elements of the report might be due to flaws of the original scholarly article and what might be due to flaws of the news report. Identify the problems as either flaws of the scholarly article or flaws of the news article.

Flaw(s) of Scholarly Article did not disclose a conflict of interest studied only a small portion of the general population Flaw(s) of News Article used a sensational title rather than one that truly represents the findings misrepresented the results due to lack of training

Identify the sources as either reliable or unreliable.

Reliable Source(s) open-access scientific articles Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, an APA journal Handbook of Emotion Regulation, edited by James J. Gross Unreliable Source(s) a scientific study reported by NBC information from your uncle Bob who was once a participant in a psychology study scientific evidence found in the magazine Psychology Today

Identify the following behaviors as examples of either scientific thinking or intuitive thinking.

Scientific Thinking collecting data using a comparison group seeking potentially disconfirming evidence Intuitive Thinking strongly believing that we are not personally biased seeking information that confirms our ideas basing our beliefs on information that seems to be reasonable

Jayla comes across a celebrity's website promoting the healing power of crystals. Which of the following should Jayla do to determine that the claim about crystals is trustworthy?

She should find out whether the celebrity is basing the claim on empirical evidence. She should find out whether there is research comparing the effectiveness of crystals with the effectiveness of other treatments. Incorrect Answer(s) She should find out whether the celebrity has any personal experience with the healing power of crystals. She should find out whether the celebrity has a scientific degree.

Identify the true and false statements about the differences between scientific research and personal experience.

True Statement(s) A comparison group allows experimenters to show that a treatment is effective. Even if a research study finds an effect the majority of the time, there is no guarantee it will happen to you. Using multiple groups allows researchers to isolate potential confounds. false If the results from a study do not apply to every case, that research should not be taken seriously. Personal experience can be as scientifically valid as research if you document your experiences properly.

Identify the true and false statements about good stories.

True Statement(s) Falling for untested good stories can have physically harmful effects. false Doctors and authority figures are not susceptible to good stories. People often base their actions on good stories while knowing they are false. Good stories are rarely accurate.

Identify the true and false statements about authorities.

True Statement(s) It is possible for an expert to be wrong. Sometimes authorities present only their side of an argument. False Statement(s) Authorities who have researched a certain area should not be questioned. Authorities cannot fall victim to the same biases that other people do.

Identify the true and false statements about meta-analyses

True Statement(s) Meta-analyses summarize the magnitude of a relationship between variables. Meta-analyses do not allow cherry-picking of certain studies. Meta-analyses are a type of review journal article. False Statement(s) Meta-analyses do not need to go through the peer-review process. Meta-analyses have less accurate results than empirical journal articles.

Identify the true and false statements about reading empirical journal articles.

True Statement(s) Reading only certain parts of an article can be helpful. It can be effective to focus only on the theoretical parts of the argument being made. False Statement(s) If you do not understand the Results section, you should ignore it. The abstract repeats the rest of the article and does not need to be reviewed.

Place the parts of a typical journal article in order from first to last.

abstract, intro, method, results, discussion, refrences

errance has had a difficult time dealing with stress lately because of past traumatic experiences that have been bothering him. He goes to see a therapist and tells her his problem. His therapist, Janice, recently read an article about adjustment disorder. She suggests that Terrance may have this disorder and diagnoses him accordingly. Janice's diagnosis is not purely based on her client's symptoms but is partially influenced by the (blank). . Because as a trained psychologist Janice should be aware of her susceptibility to faulty thinking, her mistake is an example of the (blank)

availability heuristic, bias blind spot

Sana reads a post on Facebook about the health benefits of dark chocolate. The report mentions that dark chocolate has more antioxidants than fruit and claims that it would be perfectly healthy to consume every day. Sana concludes that it makes sense that dark chocolate would be healthy to eat frequently if it has antioxidants; this conclusion is an example of (blank) Later at the grocery store, the Facebook post comes to Sana's mind while she is walking by the candy aisle, so she purchases a large bag of dark chocolate. This is an example of (blank) When she gets home, Sana looks up research on dark chocolate and ignores the studies showing that dark chocolate should be consumed only in moderation because of its calorie content. She is engaging in (blank)

being swayed by a good story, the availability heuristic confirmation bias

Lethabo's psychology professor tells him that people are likely to be swayed by a story that sounds good or makes sense. Later, Lethabo begins experiencing stomach pain and thinks he may have a stomach ulcer. His girlfriend suggests that the pain must be from all the spicy food he likes to eat. Lethabo believes he is objective and finds his girlfriend's point to be reasonable, so without doing any research, he avoids spicy food in an attempt to help his stomach pain. What type of faulty thinking is Lethabo displaying?

bias blind spot

Riaan is designing a study in which he combines the findings of (blank) and calculates the magnitude of all the combined results, otherwise known as (blank). Research like this can combine the statistical findings of individual studies to identify a(n) (blank)

empirical articles, metaanalysis, effect size

Hilda is studying the effects of a major earthquake on people living nearby. She finds that many of the victims are depressed and show stress-related symptoms. Why can't Hilda conclude that the earthquake caused the depression and stress-related symptoms?

no comparison group

the tendency to ignore what is absent

present/present bias

Overestimating the percentage of shark attacks that occur each year due to recent news reports about a particular shark attack is an example of (blank) Failing to consider all of the times you went to the beach and didn't see anyone get attacked by a shark is an example of (blank)

the availability heuristic the present/present bias

being swayed by a good story

the tendency to accept ideas that feel natural

bias blind spot

the tendency to ignore the fact that you are vulnerable to biases

confirmation bias

the tendency to seek out information that supports your beliefs

availability heuristic

the tendency to think the first thing that pops into your head is correct