EXAM 2--Practice Questions

the external validity of the report

A journal article reports that a new teaching strategy is very effective for first-grade students. A teacher wonders if the same strategy would be effective for a class of third-grade students. What is the teacher questioning?

Nonexperimental

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. Which research strategy is being used?

Sweetness of the oatmeal and organicness of the oatmeal.

A researcher designs a study to determine whether female undergraduates prefer organic or inorganic oatmeal. The researcher uses a box of organic sweetened oatmeal and a box of inorganic unsweetened oatmeal. The researcher finds that the group of female undergraduates ate more of the organic sweetened oatmeal and therefore concludes that they prefer the organic oatmeal. Which two variables are likely confounding in this experiment?

it is a manipulation check

A researcher exposes people to a stressful situation (such as public speaking) to examine the effect of stress on depressed mood. Why would the researcher also include a measure of stress?

the third-variable problem.

A researcher has observed that teenagers who exercise more tend to show a higher level of activity than teenagers who exercise less. However, the researcher suspects that the apparent relationship may be explained by the fact that some teenagers are student athletes, which causes them to exercise more and to be more active compared to teenagers who are not student athletes and exercise less and are less active. This is an example of ____.

1, 5

A researcher is conducting an experiment comparing five treatment conditions. If the researcher uses a between-subjects design, there will be ____ score(s) for each participant, but if a within-subjects design is used there will be ____ score(s) for each participant.

internal validity

A researcher measures mood for a group of participants who have listened to happy music for 20 minutes and for a second group who have listened to sad music for 20 minutes. If different mood scores are obtained for the two groups, the researcher would like to conclude that music influences mood. However, the happy music group was tested in a room painted yellow and the sad music group was in a room painted dark brown and the researcher is concerned that the room color and not the music may influence mood scores. What kind of validity is being questioned?

a field study

A researcher moves an experiment out of the laboratory and into the real world. This type of research is called

check the manipulation.

A researcher systematically varies people's happy mood levels to examine the effects of happy mood on performance. The researcher also includes a measure of happiness in order to...

confounding

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 one group are primarily 8-year-old students and those in the second group are primarily 10-year-old students. In this study, age is potentially a(n) ________ variable.

lower internal validity

Although field studies tend to have higher external validity than traditional laboratory studies, what risk do they tend to have?

placebo vs treatment

An experiment includes a treatment condition, a no-treatment control, and a placebo control. Which two conditions should be compared to determine the size of the effect that is actually caused by the treatment?

demand characteristics

Cues given to participants about how they are expected to behave define which of the following terms?

1

Dr. Jones is interested in studying how indoor lighting can influence people's moods during the winter. A sample of 100 households is selected. Fifty of the homes are randomly assigned to the bright-light condition where Dr. Jones replaces all the lights with 100-watt bulbs. In the other 50 houses, all the lights are changed to 60-watt bulbs. After two months, Dr. Jones measures the level of depression for the people living in the houses. In this example, how many dependent variables are there?

high; low

Experimental research studies tend to have very _______ internal validity but often have relatively _______ external validity.

the risk that individual differences may exist between treatment conditions

For a between-subjects experiment, one of the primary threats to internal validity is...

individual differences that exist between treatments

For a between-subjects experiment, which of the following is a possible threat to internal validity?

scores in treatment A for half the participants and scores in treatment B for half the participants

For a within-subjects study comparing two treatments, A and B, a researcher expects that practice in the first treatment will improve the participants' scores in the second treatment. If the order of treatments is counterbalanced, then what scores will be influenced by the practice?

within-subjects design

For an experiment that compares two treatment conditions with ten scores in each treatment, which design would require fewer subjects?

internal validity, external validity

Holding a variable constant is a technique for removing one threat to ________, but it can limit the ________ of an experiment.

the results may be limited to individuals who have experienced a pretest

How can sensitization threaten external validity of a study?

only experiments can demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between variables

How do studies using the experimental research strategy differ from other types of research?

it eliminates the possibility that the variable will be substantially different from one group to another

How does holding a variable constant prevent the variable from becoming a confound?

20

How many participants would be needed for a within-subjects experiment comparing four different treatment conditions with a total of 20 scores in each treatment?

100 participants

If a between-subjects experiment produces 50 scores in treatment 1 and 50 scores in treatment 2, then how many participants were in the entire experiment?

internal validity

In a between-subjects experiment, if the participants in one group have characteristics that are different from the participants in another group, then which of the following is threatened?

individual differences are not a problem in a within-subjects design.

In a within-subjects design, individual differences are a problem because...

internal validity

In a within-subjects research study comparing different treatment conditions at different times, what kind of validity is threatened by factors that change over time, such as history and maturation?

maturation

In a within-subjects study that extends over a relatively long time, it is possible that there will be systematic changes in the participants' skills or knowledge during the time of the study. If these changes influence the participants' scores, causing scores at the end of the study to be different from scores at the beginning, then what is the effect is called?

matching

In an experiment comparing two treatments, the researcher assigns participants to treatment conditions so that each condition has fifteen 7-year-old children and ten 8-year-old children. For this study, what method is being used to control participant age?

it helps establish the direction of the relationship and it helps eliminate the third-variable problem

In an experiment, what is the purpose for manipulating the independent variable?

confounding variables

In order to establish an unambiguous relationship between two variables, it is necessary to eliminate the possible influence of which of the following variables?

no, it is a correlational research strategy. looking at relationship

Is the following example using a research strategy? A random sample of 50-yr.-old men are asked to keep a daily journal for 2 months detailing stressful events. After 2 months, a doctor examines each participant and records and overall health rating to see if stress influences health.

yes, it is a research strategy. involves control and manipulation.

Is the following example using a research strategy? A sample of 50-yr.-old men is randomly separated into 2 groups. Each group eats exactly the same diet for 2 months, except one group also gets 2 cups of oatmeal per day. Cholesterol level is measured after 2 months to see if there is a difference between the groups.

no, it is nonexperimental (NEO research strategy comparing 2 groups

Is the following example using a research strategy? College students are given a self-esteem questionnaire that is used to separate them into a high self-esteem group and a low self-esteem group. At a later date, cheating behavior is measured while students correct their own exams to see if there is a difference between the groups.

external validity

Is this Internal or External Validity? A researcher conducts a study w 6 yr.-olds at a summer computer camp for gifted children. However, the researcher suspects the results may be different if conducted w regular 6 yr.-olds.

internal validity

Is this Internal or External Validity? A researcher finds that college students are more anxious near final exams in December than at the beginning of the semester in September. However, it is not clear whether the anxiety is caused by exams or by the change in season.

treatment conditions at the end of the series are affected differently than conditions at the beginning.

Order effects can become a confounding variable because...

the directionality problem

Research indicates the people who suffer from depression also tend to experience insomnia. However, it is unclear whether the depression causes insomnia or the lack of sleep causes depression. What problem is demonstrated by this example?

internal validity, external validity

Researchers often use simulation experiments in an attempt to obtain the _________ of an experiment and still keep much of the _________ of research conducted in the real world.

external validity

Results from a research study suggest that a stop-smoking program is very successful. However, the participants who volunteered for the study were all highly motivated to quit smoking and the researcher is concerned that the same results may not be obtained for smokers who are not as motivated. What kind of validity is being questioned?

external validity

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

internal validity

What aspect of a study is threatened if the participants are tested in one treatment condition at one time and then tested in a second treatment condition at a different time?

the individual differences

What is measured and removed to reduce the variance in within-subjects design compared to a between-subjects design

a repeated-measures analysis of variance

What is the appropriate hypothesis test for a within-subjects design comparing mean differences for three treatment conditions?

it decreases the threat of the order effect fatigue

What is the effect of increasing the time between treatment conditions in a within-subjects experiment?

it provides a baseline that can be used to evaluate the size of the treatment effect

What is the purpose for using a control condition in an experiment?

experimental research (randomly separated)

What type of research strategy is the scenario below describing? Dr. J conducts a study examining the rel'p btwn viewing violent TV & aggressive behavior in 5 yr.-old boys. A group of boys is randomly separated; half the boys are shown violent TV programs for 30 mins and the other half are shown nonviolent TV programs for 30 mins. Then aggressive behavior is measured by observing the children during an outdoor play period to determine if there is any difference between the groups.

QE research

What type of research strategy is the scenario below describing? Dr. J conducts a study examining the rel'p btwn viewing violent TV & aggressive behavior in 5 yr.-old boys. Aggressive behavior is measured by observing children during 2 outdoor play periods: once before watching violent TV for 30 mins and again afterwards. A 2nd group from a different school watches nonviolent TV and is also measured twice. This is done to determine if there is any difference in behavior after being exposed to violent (vs. nonviolent) TV in 5 yr.-olds in both selected schools.

descriptive research

What type of research strategy is the scenario below describing? Dr. J conducts a study examining the rel'p btwn viewing violent TV & aggressive behavior in 5 yr.-old boys. Each afternoon for one week, a group of boys in a child-care center is observed during a 30-min. period while they play outdoors. Aggressive behavior is recorded.

NE research (pre-existing traits)

What type of research strategy is the scenario below describing? Dr. J conducts a study examining the rel'p btwn viewing violent TV & aggressive behavior in 5 yr.-old boys. TV preferences are obtained by interviewing each child. Based on interview responses, the children are separated into 2 groups: those preferring violent TV and those preferring nonviolent TV. Then aggressive behavior is measured by observing the children during an outdoor play period to determine if there is any difference btwn the groups.

correlational research

What type of research strategy is the scenario below describing? Dr. Jones conducts a study examining the relationship between viewing violent TV and aggressive behavior in 5 yr.-old boys. TV preferences are obtained by interviewing each child and aggressive behavior is measured by observing each child during an outdoor play period.

One group demands the same benefits received by another group

Which of the following accurately defines compensatory equalization?

One group works extra hard to make up for not receiving the benefits received by another group

Which of the following accurately defines compensatory rivalry?

Elements of the treatment in one group have spread to another group

Which of the following accurately defines diffusion?

Only one score is obtained for each participant

Which of the following accurately describes the scores in a between-subjects experiment?

it must change systematically when the IV is changed

Which of the following characteristics are necessary for an extraneous variable to become a confounding variable?

a series of treatments is presented in every possible sequence

Which of the following describes a completely counterbalanced within-subjects experiment?

extraneous

Which of the following describes a variable that exists in a study but is not being directly examined?

randomizing the variable across treatment

Which of the following does not guarantee that a specific participant variable will not become a confounding variable?

a research design

Which of the following is a general plan for implementing a research strategy?

matching requires another measurement procedure

Which of the following is a limitation of using matching rather than random assignment to form groups in a between-subjects experiment?

it threatens the external validity of the study

Which of the following is a potential problem with holding a participant variable constant?

-there is a reduced risk of participant attrition -there is a reduces risk that time-related factors influences the data -it is easier to counterbalance a design with only 2 treatments

Which of the following is an advantage of a two-treatment within-subjects design compared to a multiple-treatment design?

it eliminates the risk of order effects

Which of the following is an advantage of the between-subjects design versus the within-subjects design?

hold a participant variable constant

Which of the following is an option for limiting the variance within treatment conditions?

Between-subjects designs are more effective in demonstrating cause-and-effect.

Which of the following is not a factor that differentiates within-subjects and between-subjects designs?

minimize the likelihood that a participant variable (such as age or gender) becomes a confounding variable

Which of the following is the primary goal for randomly assigning participants to treatment conditions in an experiment?

increase the differences between treatments and decrease the variance within treatments

Which of the following maximizes the likelihood of a successful research result?

What is the average number of text messages that a typical adolescent sends in a month?

Which of the following questions can be addressed with the descriptive strategy?

Is there a relationship between the number of movies watched by undergraduates each month and the number of pages of homework reading done by undergraduates?

Which of the following questions describes a correlational research strategy?

each participant is assigned to one condition of the experiment

Which statement best characterizes a between-subjects experimental design?

holding constant, randomization

Which technique is being used? (randomization, holding constant, or matching) Andrew is testing the relationship between parent-child bonding and coping mechanisms. He thinks men and women will experience bonding in different ways, so he tests mothers and fathers separately. Within each sex, participants are randomly allocated to one of two coping-technique training programs or receive no training.

randomization, matching

Which technique is being used? (randomization, holding constant, or matching) Jane is testing the relationship between sex drive and testosterone level. she has two treatment conditions: one where participants will place bets on sporting events to raise testosterone level, and another where participants watch video clips of cats doing funny things (control group). Because men have much higher levels of testosterone than women, she randomly allocates half of the men and half of the women to each treatment condition so that each group has the same number of men and women.

randomization

Which technique is being used? (randomization, holding constant, or matching) Kim is testing the relationship between carbs and alertness. She collects a sample of 80 people and draws names out of a hat to see who will be in the high carb diet group and who will be in the low carb diet group.

To eliminate systematic differences between the groups.

Why is random assignment used in between-subjects experimental designs?