PSYC 360 ch.2

identify the false statements about correlational research.

-A correlation of 0 means that there is a perfect correlation between variables. -In correlational research, researchers almost never determine the cause of behavior.

Identify the true and false statements about statistical significance in a study.

-A study's finding has statistical significance when the probability of achieving the result by chance is less than some specified quantity. -If the probability of achieving a finding by chance is less than .05, or 1 in 20, the finding is considered to have statistical significance. -The number of cases upon which a study is based affects statistical significance.

Which of the following are examples of hypotheses?

-Children who fail to exercise regularly are likely to become obese. -More students will experience illness during final exams than during any other period. -If person A likes person B, who dislikes person C, person A will either come to dislike person C or begin to dislike person B.

Identify the false statements about the experimental element known as the control condition?

-It differs from the experimental condition in that it lacks the one ingredient hypothesized to produce the expected effect on the independent variable. -The more ways it differs from the experimental condition, the better it works.

Which are not accurate statements about the value of social psychology research?

-It helps us understand why other people behave as they do, but not why we ourselves behave the way we do. -It teaches us how to understand behavior that is the result of a psychological disorder.

Which of the following are necessary conditions for a study to have internal validity and which are not?

-It involves debriefing participants in the pilot study to gain some insight on their understanding of the experimental design. -There is random assignment. -It has an experiment setup that is realistic and believable by participants.

which are not necessary conditions for a study to have internal validity?

-It involves more than one variable that produces the results. -It is conducted using a field experiment.

Which of the following are accurate statements about the value of social psychology research?

-It shows us that some of our everyday ideas about how other people behave are mistaken. -It provides us with practical information that can help us better navigate everyday situations such as dating and interviews. -It helps us understand how our beliefs about why we behave as we do can be mistaken.

Which of the following are NOT accurate statements about the debriefing procedure?

-Researchers do not need to explain why participants may have been made to feel uncomfortable. -Institutional review boards have no authority to grant permission to deceive.

identify the true statements about correlational research.

-Researchers look at degrees of relationships between variables. -Correlation does not establish causation. -The media often reports correlational research findings.

Which of the following are accurate statements about the debriefing procedure?

-Researchers must explain what the experiment was intended to evaluate. -Debriefing is especially important when participants have been deceived or felt uncomfortable. -Researchers are obligated to explain what aspects of the research involved deception.

Which of the following are possible explanations for why the results of an original study are not replicated in a subsequent study?

-The fact that the original result was not replicated was a fluke; the finding is actually valid. -The original research design was faulty. -The replication attempt was faulty. -The original result was a fluke.

Which are NOT possible explanations for why the results of an original study are not replicated in a subsequent study?

-The researcher followed the same procedures used in the original study. -The original result was not a fluke. -The researcher used a sample of participants similar to the one used in the original study.

Which are not examples of hypotheses?

-The universe began with the Big Bang. -People like to believe that they think like everyone else does.

Identify the true statements about reflection exercises called thought experiments used by social psychologists.

-They are critical-thinking exercises in which researchers think through how they would test particular hypotheses before testing them or instead of testing them. -They can be useful in situations in which testing propositions or ideas would be too expensive or unethical. -They can allow researchers to form new hypotheses that are preferable to their initial speculations.

Identify the false statements about reflection exercises called thought experiments used by social psychologists.

-They are not useful tools to assess the underlying logic of research methods used to test propositions and ideas about social behavior. -They are useful tools in avoiding hindsight bias.

Identify the true statements about the experimental element known as the control condition?

In the study by Cohen, Nisbett, and others (1996) involving some students getting shoved in a narrow hallway, the control condition was that a second group of students were not subjected to getting shoved.

This is the correlation between some measure and some outcome the measure is supposed to predict. -For example, this is determined in IQ tests by comparing IQ scores with performance in jobs.

Measurement Validity

You hear a news report on the radio that indicates there is a strong correlation between ice cream consumption and the number of deaths from drowning. You decide there must be some other factor that connects the two, as a causal connection would be nonsensical.

Third Variable

This is the degree to which a measure gives the same result on repeated occasions, or the degree to which two measuring instruments yield the same result -For example, you take an IQ test twice, and you get roughly the same score.

Reliability

You have often heard the concern that stress causes cancer, but you also understand that the opposite could also be true (that having cancer can cause stress).

Reverse Causation

You read a report that those who have sex more frequently with their partners are more satisfied with sex, but you also suspect that those who are satisfied with sex may seek it more often from their partners.

Reverse Causation

Identify false statements about statistical significance in a study.

The difference between groups in a study has no impact on statistical significance.

You have heard the grave concern about a relationship between exposing children to violent forms of media and their own aggressive behaviors. But you realize that if the two were causally connected, we would all be violent, and so you begin to list factors that might explain why some act violently but most do not.

Third Variable

_____refers to the tendency for _____scores to be followed by, or to accompany, _____extreme scores.

aggression to the mean, extreme, less

conducting research to determine how to counter the effects of tobacco company efforts to encourage people to smoke

applied research

Although it is perhaps more intuitive to appreciate that the findings of basic research can fuel efforts at applied research, it is also true that the findings of ______ research can fuel efforts of ______ research.

applied, basic

researching what motivates teenagers to engage in unhealthy activities

basic research

Scientific researchers use ______ research to learn about some phenomenon in its own right, with the goal of using those findings to build valid theories about some aspect of the world; whereas _____ research is used in attempts to directly solve a real-world problem.

basic, applied

____ research can help build theories that result in ______, which are direct efforts designed to target and change a person's behavior.

basic, interventions

can produce proportions that are severely skewed away from the actual proportions in the population as a whole

convince samples

Students may experience different levels of happiness at the end of the semester.

dependent variable

threat to internal validity? A researcher wants to determine which of two therapies would be most helpful to those diagnosed with PTSD. Over a three-year period, one group of patients is told to meditate weekly, while the other group must attend intense therapy sessions weekly to relive their traumatic experiences.

differential attrition

threat to internal validity? A research assistant informs participants they are going to be observed in a study of helping behavior across a variety of situations. After she finishes explaining the procedures, she leaves the lab room and apparently forgets to take her cell phone with her.

expectancy

threat to internal validity? A pharmaceutical researcher has developed a new drug to treat migraine headaches, and he randomly assigns participants to either a drug or placebo condition, measuring the number of headaches reported. He knows which are taking the drug and acts more concerned towards them versus those taking the placebo

experimenter bias

threat to internal validity? A pharmaceutical researcher has developed a new drug to treat migraine headaches, and he randomly assigns participants to either a drug or placebo condition, measuring the number of headaches reported. He knows which are taking the drug and acts more concerned towards them versus those taking the placebo.

experimenter bias

Students who complete social psychology will be happier.

hypothesis

Students may or may not take social psychology.

independent variable

making an effort to try to stop young people from smoking by coming up with a public service advertisement

intervention

group you want to know more about (us college students)

population

are likely to capture the proportions of given types of people in the population as a whole

random sampling

threat to internal validity? A therapist wants to test if a new behavioral treatment will reduce depression in her patients, and she decides to only include patients who have the highest level of depression in the study.

regression to the mean

following up a study on how to counter tobacco company efforts with another study to make sure the results can be reproduced

replication

As a consumer of research reported by the media, you are aware that such reports often suggest causal connections between variables where there are none. You are less susceptible to these implied causal connections because you are aware of the problems of _____ reverse which creates ambiguous variables that could be either causes or effects, and _____factors, in which an outside factor has a significant influence upon the two variables that appear to be strongly correlated.

reverse causation, third variable

Identify the members of a university institutional review board (IRB).

scientist, non-scientists, one person not affiliated with the institution

threat to internal validity? A researcher wants to test the effectiveness of a new teen pregnancy prevention program, and he decides to do so by implementing the program in a local high school and then comparing pregnancy rates to a high school in the neighboring town.

selection bias

Taking college courses can produce emotions in students.

theory