Psych 7A Cht. 2

. Which of the following correlations has the strongest predictive value? A) +0.50 B) +0.30 C) 0.00 D) -0.75

A) +0.50

Scientific investigation of Clever Hans revealed that A) Hans's owner was a con artist. B) Occam's razor is far from infallible. C) horses respond to unintended cues from their owners. D) horses are capable of simple arithmetic.

A) Hans's owner was a con artist.

Which of the following research methods would be most appropriate for investigating the relationship between political orientation and belief in climate change? A) Survey research B) Case study research C) Naturalistic observation D) Experimental research

A) Survey research

A meta-analysis is A) a combination of results from many related studies. B) an alternative to the strong inference approach. C) the most common analysis in correlational research. D) the most common analysis in experimental research.

A) a combination of results from many related studies

In a depression-treatment study, neither the participants nor the researcher know who is taking medication and who is taking a sugar pill. This is an example of a A) double-blind trial. B) confound. C) research design with low validity. D) research design with low reliability

A) double-blind trial.

The principle of Occam's razor compares _______ in terms of the _______. A) hypotheses; assumptions they make C) experiments; potential to replicate results B) hypotheses; observations they predict D) experiments; handling of dependent variables

A) hypotheses; assumptions they make

To learn more about the gaming habits of teenage boys, a professor randomly selected fifty boys from various high schools for a video game study. In this study, "all teenage boys" make up the A) population. B) representative sample. C) independent variable. D) control group.

A) population.

Reliability refers to whether your measurement tool _______ and validity to whether it _______. A) produces repeatable results; measures what it is supposed to measure B) measures what it is supposed to measure; produces repeatable results C) produces statistically significant results; controls for confounds D) controls for confounds; produces statistically significant results

A) produces repeatable results; measures what it is supposed to measure

. In an experiment, the variable that is expected to differ across the experimental and control groups is the _______ variable. A) dependent B) independent C) experimental D) confounding

B) independent

. Ethical principles require researchers to A) explain the hypothesis they will be testing before participants begin a study. B) provide information about potential risks to participants before they begin a study. C) refrain from conducting research on animals. D) have their research design approved by a group of people similar to the proposed participants.

B) provide information about potential risks to participants before they begin a study.

If heavy snowfall in Alaska has a correlation of -0.78 with the consumption of ice cream and a correlation of +0.78 with the sale of boots, you can predict that for a snowy January in Alaska, the store will A) sell more boots, but ice cream sales will be unchanged. B) sell more boots and ice cream sales will be lower. C) sell slightly more ice cream and significantly more boots. D) see equal increases in sales for both ice cream and boots.

B) sell more boots and ice cream sales will be lower.

As the number of pirates in the world has decreased, the mean global temperature has increased. This is an example of a A) non-linear relationship. B) spurious correlation. C) strong inference. D) meta-analysis.

B) spurious correlation.

A cross-country runner wants to know how consistent her race times have been this season. The most useful measure of her race times would be the A) range. B) standard deviation. C) mode. D) difference between the median and the mode.

B) standard deviation

In an experiment treating spider phobia, half of the participants get eight hours of cognitive-behavioral treatment. The other half get eight hours of attention from a therapist but no active treatment. Both groups report a statistically significant reduction in their fear of spiders. This is evidence that A) cognitive-behavioral therapy has no effect. B) the placebo effect can be significant. C) participants' expectations have no effect. D) control groups are a waste of resources.

B) the placebo effect can be significant.

Although very few people would admit to a belief that men make better hires than women, several experiments show that men are more likely to be hired than women with identical résumés. This is an example of A) explicit bias. B) unconscious bias. C) poor validity. D) negative skew.

B) unconscious bias

Which of the following research methods would be most appropriate for exploring whether childhood emotional abuse predicts higher levels of adult depression? A) Naturalistic observation B) Experimental research C) Correlational research D) Case studies

C) Correlational research

A research team wants to know if sugar consumption is related to hyperactivity. Researchers give fifty children cupcakes made with real sugar and another fifty children cupcakes made with zero-calorie sugar substitutes. They then observe each child individually to assess his or her level of activity after eating the cupcakes. This is an example of A) a case study. B) naturalistic observation. C) experimental research. D) correlational research.

C) experimental research.

Refer to the set of numbers below. 2, 8, 3, 4, 8, 10, 0 In the set of numbers, the median is _______ than the mean and _______than the mode. A) greater; greater B) greater; less C) less; less D) less; greater

C) less; less

A college professor testing two different study-skill interventions tosses a coin to decide which type of training each student will get. The professor does this to A) make it more likely that participants will be representative of the broader population. B) make statistical analyses easier by guaranteeing the same number of participants in each group. C) make it less likely that there will be pre-existing differences between the groups. D) avoid the confound of participants knowing other people in their group.

C) make it less likely that there will be pre-existing differences between the groups.

. Effect size A) is typically identical to statistical significance. B) is typically identical to sample size. C) refers to the magnitude of the difference between groups. D) refers to the variance within the control group

C) refers to the magnitude of the difference between groups.

. A measure of conscientiousness produces very similar scores each time a person repeats the exercise, but it doesn't predict whether a person is reliable in everyday life. This measure appears to be A) reliable and valid. B) valid but not reliable. C) reliable but not valid. D) neither reliable nor valid.

C) reliable but not valid.

The Tuskegee syphilis study is famous because A) it was the first use of randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled research. B) it demonstrated the psychological effects of syphilis infection. C) researchers failed to inform participants that they had a treatable disease. D) measures were so low in reliability and validity that the data had no value.

C) researchers failed to inform participants that they had a treatable disease.

On an intelligence test, Group 1 has a mean score of 96 with a standard deviation of 13. Group 2 has a mean score of 105 with a standard deviation of 8. On this test, _______ scores were higher on average and _______ spread out than _______ scores. A) Group 1; more; Group 2 B) Group 1; less; Group 2 C) Group 2; more; Group 1 D) Group 2; less; Group 1

D) Group 2; less; Group 1

. A meta-analysis of published and unpublished tests of SSRI medications revealed that A) SSRIs are effective for all levels of depression. B) published and unpublished trials have similar findings. C) people in placebo groups became even more severely depressed. D) SSRIs beat placebos only for severe levels of depression.

D) SSRIs beat placebos only for severe levels of depression

You accept a job selling high-end knives door-to-door on commission because you were informed that company employees, on average, earn $60,000 a year. After three months of making less than $1,000 a month, you learn that most other salespeople are making less than $20,000 a year. If the company has 20 sales people, two managers, and one president, how can the company's claim still be correct? A) The median salary is higher than the mean salary. B) The modal salary is higher than the mean salary. C) The median of all salaries is $60,000 because the managers and the president earn huge salaries. D) The mean of all salaries is $60,000 because the managers and president earn huge salaries.

D) The mean of all salaries is $60,000 because the managers and president earn huge salaries.

To better understand aggressive behavior toward strangers, a psychologist gathers all available information about a man who threatened random people in a mall with an automatic weapon. This is an example of A) correlational research. B) experimental research. C) naturalistic observation. D) case study research.

D) case study research.

The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee is responsible for all of the following except A) evaluating the rationale for a proposed study. B) ensuring researchers have minimized animal stress and pain. C) inspecting animal care facilities. D) collecting blood and tissue samples from research animals.

D) collecting blood and tissue samples from research animals.

A study that looked at hiring of male and female musicians who sat behind a screen when auditioning for an orchestra is an example of _______ research and revealed _______. A) experimental; no change in hiring rates for women B) experimental; an increase in hiring rates for women C) descriptive; no change in hiring rates for women D) descriptive; an increase in hiring rates for women

D) descriptive; an increase in hiring rates for women

. The main purpose of inferential statistics is to A) adjust analyses to improve validity. B) account for variability within a population. C) decide whether the standard deviation is skewed by outliers. D) estimate a characteristic of a population based on a sample

D) estimate a characteristic of a population based on a sample

Research that involves intentional manipulation of variables is called _______ research. A) correlational B) case study C) descriptive D) experimental

D) experimental

To decide whether first-year students given study skills training have a better grade point average (GPA) at the end of the year than students without training, researchers will need to determine the _______ of GPA differences between the two groups. A) statistical significance B) standard deviation C) variance D) frequency distribution

D) frequency distribution

A researcher would be most likely to find a positive correlation between A) optimism and depression. C) illness and school attendance. B) ocean temperature and auto sales. D) height and weight.

D) height and weight.

3. Research has shown that social exclusion activates the same brain regions as physical pain. A researcher wants to test the hypothesis that over-the-counter pain relievers will also reduce the pain of social exclusion. She gives half of her participants ibuprofen and half a placebo, then has them play a game in which other players ignore them. Participants who take the ibuprofen are the _______ and participants who take the placebo are the _______. A) experimental group; control group B) randomly assigned group; blind group C) representative sample; random sample D) independent sample; dependent sample

D) independent sample; dependent sample

"The death penalty is immoral" is a _______ hypothesis because it _______. A) good; has been shown that many people agree C) poor; is not true B) good; can be proven D) poor; is not testable

D) poor; is not testable