Research Methods exam 2

APA in the reference list

-alphabetical order according to the last name of the first author -same authors in same order -order arranged chronologically starting with earliest -same authors +same year - alphabetically by title

2 x 2 design

-two factors -both factors have 2 levels -8 potential outcomes

scales of measurement

1. Nominal 2. Ordinal 3. Interval 4. Ratio ranked from least to most informatation given

a treatment caused an observed change when:

1. a change in the level 2. a change in the trend

to minimize threats to internal validity

1. control order (counterbalancing, partial counterbalancing) 2. control timing

how to minimize experimenter bias

1. get a second opinion 2. standardize the research procedures 3. conduct a double-blind study

threats to internal validity

1. history and maturation 2. regression and testing effects 3. instrumentation and measurement 4. heterogeneous attrition 5. environmental factors

Advantages of Changing Criterion Design

1. it does not require a reversal to baseline of an otherwise effective treatment 2. enables experimental analysis of a gradual improving behavior

how to maximize the sensitivity of a measure and to minimize the range effects.

1. perform a thorough literature review. 2. conduct a pilot study. (a preliminary study) 3. include manipulation checks. (to check/confirm that a manipulation in a study had the effect intended) 4. use multiple measures.

how to minimize participant reactivity

1. reassure confidentiality. (minimizes evaluation apprehension) 2. use deception when ethical. (minimizes participant expectancy and reluctance) 3. measure less obvious variables. (minimize participant reactivity) 4. minimize demand characteristics.

types of single case designs

1. reversal design 2. multiple-baseline design 3. changing-criterion design

purpose of descriptive statistics

1. to clarify what patterns were observed in a data set at a glance. 2. to be concise.

If the number of treatment groups (i.e., within-subjects factors in a study) is 3, one can determine the number of order sequences by using which of the following formulas?

3 x 2 x 1

If the number of treatment groups (i.e., within-subjects factors in a study) is 3, then the possible number of order sequences is

6.

Hawthorne effect

A change in a subject's behavior caused simply by the awareness of being studied Hawthorne Electric Plant (1920s)

Nominal scale of measurement

A measurement in which a number is assigned to represent something or someone. examples: zip codes, license plate number, credit card numbers, country codes, telephone numbers, social security numbers etc...

Counterbalancing

A method of controlling for order effects in a repeated measure design by either including all orders of treatment or by randomly determining the order for each subject

survey

A series of questions or statements, called items, used in a questionnaire or an interview to measure the self-reports or responses of respondents.

Changing Criterion Design

A type of single-case experiment design in which a baseline phase is followed by successive treatment phases in which some criterion or target level of behavior is changed from one treatment phase to the next. A (baseline)-> B1 (treatment 1)-> B2 (treatment 2)-> B3 (treatment 3)

multiple-baseline design

A type of single-subject design in which a treatment is successively administered over time to different participants, for different behaviors, or in different settings.

Reliability and validity are terms we have used over and over across the session. Which of the following is an accurate statement?

A valid measure must also be reliable

In some of my classes, I sometimes have my students implement an 8-week study in which they attempt to change a specific target behavior. They must collect baseline data for 2 weeks, followed by a 4-week period of intervention in which the participant must use reinforcers and/or punishers, then a 2-week period of return to baseline. Students must then analyze the data in order to determine if the intervention phase was effective. This type of study involves an

ABA design.

APA in-text citation

APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005)

A therapist desires to test a particular behavior modification technique with a single client. One way to test that any change in behavior is due to treatment and to ensure that the client ends the study with the effects of treatment in mind is to use

An ABAB design.

multiple baseline design

An Experimental design that begins with the concurrent measurement of two or more behaviors in a baseline condition, followed by the application of the treatment variable to one of the behaviors while baseline conditions remain in effect for the other behavior(s). After maximum change has been noted in the first behavior, the treatment variable is applied in sequential fashion to each of the other behaviors in the design.

A researcher is conducting a longitudinal study about the effects of watching violence on television. She starts her study with 1059 first graders. By the time she concludes her study, the children are seniors in high school and she has 27 of the original children left in the study. This researcher is experiencing which of the following problems that threatens the internal validity of her study?

Attrition

A researcher wants to determine if music (or no music) and /or noise (or no noise) affect recall ability. In a repeated measures design, participants will

Be exposed to all four conditions.

Which of the following is not an accurate statement?

Because of the importance of scientific work, there are no laws that prevent using telephone surveys and calling people in the general public.

Sandra Bem (1974, 1975) created the Bem Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) designed to assess gendertyping and/or the presence of (what she believed to be more psychologically healthy) androgyny. However, other researchers questioned the validity of her measure. Which of the following is accurate about validity?

Construct validity involves the extent to which an operational definition of a construct (e.g., androgyny) is actually measuring that construct.

APA Reference Page

Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented speech. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23(4), 245-259.

mixed factorial design

Different participants are observed at each level of a between-subjects factor and repeatedly observed across the levels of the within-subjects factor.

The author of your text uses one of his previously published scales as an example of items that may be included in survey research. The scale (Privitera & Wallace, 2011) has 11 items and is entitled

EDIS.

A researcher wanted to determine whether people would rate the same soft drink differently, depending upon the brand name. He used the exact same cola, all from the same bottle, but poured the cola into four different brand name bottles (one popular brand and three generic brands). He then poured two ounces from each bottle, in the presence of participants, and asked participants to rate how much they liked each cola on a Likert-type scale. He made sure that all the colas were poured into the same type of cup, including color and size, and that each participant drank each cola in a randomly assigned order. He found that people preferred the cola from the popular name brand bottle, in spite of the fact that all the soda was exactly the same. He concluded that advertising has an effect on people's preferences for cola. In this example, the researcher used the same cola, the same amount of cola, the same cup color and size, and randonly assigned the order of the colas in order to

Ensure that the internal validity of the study would not be threatened.

We have discussed a variety of issues that distinguish basic research from applied research. Regardless of the purpose of the study, which of the following is the type used if one wants to identify causal factors?

Experimental

Experimental vs. Control Group

Experimental is the group that has the variable being tested. The control group doesn't received the variable (is compared to the experimental group)

This type of research is conducted in order to get an idea about an area that is not well understood. Such research often involves "what if" questions. This type of research typically involves what type of focus?

Exploratory

A researcher tests a new therapy technique with her client. She treated the client who had been diagnosed with a social phobia. At the end of the therapy sessions, the client showed improvement on a number of different dimensions, using a variety of measures, and was able to give a required speech in her communication course. The client stated, "Wow! This is something that will work for everyone, given how well it worked for me." From a scientific standpoint, this inference involves a problem with

External validity.

In some of my classes, I sometimes have had my students implement an 8-week study in which they attempt to change a specific target behavior. They must collect baseline data for 2 weeks, followed by a 4-week period of intervention in which the participant must use reinforcers and/or punishers, then a 2-week period of return to baseline. According to the author of your text, the most frequent criticism of such designs involves low population validity, which is a subcategory of

External validity.

A Type 2 error is never a problem in psychological studies.

FALSE

Contruct validity issues in a multiple baseline may be resolved by using a case study.

FALSE

Correlational studies allow us to infer causation.

FALSE

Counterbalancing for ONE factor with three levels would involve a minimum of 24 Participants in order to include all potential orders of the IV.

FALSE

If one graphs data and finds parallel lines, it means there is an interaction between independent variables.

FALSE

In Bickman's study, everyone refused to pick up the trash.

FALSE

In Psychology, we always randomly choose our participants.

FALSE

In an observational study, the researcher must constantly go interrupt the participants and ask questions.

FALSE

In psychology we almost always randomly choose our participants.

FALSE

In the AB design, the B stage involves collecting baseline data for a specific target behavior.

FALSE

Most all studies that include children will fall under the exempt category.

FALSE

The National Research Act was signed into law in 1950.

FALSE

The simplest design to control for order effects involves the ABA design.

FALSE

humans find the same things to be reinforcers or punishers.

FALSE

A 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 between -subjects design would have 10 conditions.

FALSE; 3 x 3 x 2 x 2 = 36

Age of participants is considered a "true" independent variable.

FALSE; a "true" IV must be one that can be manipulated by the researchers

Bickman (1974) conducted an observational study in a local restaurant.

FALSE; local streets

A simple experiment has two independent variables, each with three levels

FALSE; one IV, with two levels

Correlational studies are the only ones that can tell us about cause and effect.

FALSE; only experimental studies allow us to draw conclusions about cause and effect

Hazan and Shaver's (1987) Adult Attachment Scale was considered highly effective by everyone in the field.

FALSE; reliability was problematic for some researchers

The following is an effective survey question: Should the University cut costs and should they build new parking facilities on campus?

FALSE; should include one question at a time

Psychology frequently uses a ratio scale as a type of measure.

FALSE; use interval scales far more

The Mozart effect has been proven to apply to babies in prenatal development stages.

FALSE; we can never "prove" anything in science

In psychology, we use only true independent variables in experimental studies.

FALSE; we frequently use subject variables (age, gender, income) and call them "independent variables"

Random sampling means asking anyone who is willing and available to participate in answering survey questions.

FLASE; this is convenience sampling

Based on the examples used by the author of the text, which of the following would be considered an effective survey item?

I enjoy the time I spend with my partner.

practice effects

Improvements in performance resulting from opportunities to perform a behavior repeatedly so that baseline measures can be obtained.

experimental group

In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, manipulation, or level of the independent variable, that is believed to cause a change in the dependent variable.

You decide to conduct a study to determine student drivers' opinions of the parking situation on the campus of the University of Arkansas. You use a 7-point Likert-type scale and ask: "Don't you agree that parking at the University of Arkansas needs to be improved?" The problem with this question is that it

Is a leading question.

Understanding the meaning of items on a survey is imperative to obtaining accurate results. What vocabulary level does the author of the text suggest for writing survey items?

Less than high school level

You happen to receive a questionnaire in the mail that includes a $1.00 bill as an incentive to reduce non-response bias. The researchers are attempting to establish views about building more parking decks on campus. Which of the following is typically not a major concern for this type of research?

Mail surveys should never be used in the 21st century, given they are less reliable and given the convenience allowed by online surveys.

A researcher is conducting a mail survey for all university students in order to determine attitudes about a week-long fall break, similar to spring break. In order to enhance the effectiveness of the questions asked, she will need to do all but which of the following?

Make the questionnaire long and difficult so as to actively engage the respondent.

When the ABA design cannot be used because the behavior of interest does not return to baseline after intervention, a good alternative is to use the

Multiple baseline design.

A researcher administers a treatment to four children in succession and monitors whether each child's target behavior (staying on task) changes with the onset of treatment. The researcher is using a(n)

Multiple-baseline design.

A researcher wants to determine differences in attitudes between men and women about whether hair color is related to perceived intelligence. She is trying to decide what type of scale to use in order to address the research question. Which is correct order of scales, from the least sophisticated to the most sophisticated?

Nominal, ordinal, interval, ratio

Which of the following is not accurate with regard to open-ended responses in survey data?

Open-ended responses are always the favored method for all quantitative data and, thus, they are used frequently by researchers.

Researchers decided to measure aggression in children. They have decided that aggression in children includes biting, hitting, kicking, and screaming. Defining aggression using such behaviors involves

Operationalization.

One of the advantages of a (pure) repeated measures design is the fact that

Participants are observed in all conditions; thus, individual differences will be the same in each group.

A researcher is interested in how (natural) eye color (brown, blue) impacts ratings of attractiveness for members of both the same and opposite sex. Thus, the researcher will use a 2 (Eye color) x 2 (Sex of participants--as self-identified) x 2 (Sex of Model) mixed-factorial design, with sex of model being the within-subjects factor. This study will involve a

Quasi-experimental design

A researcher plans to conduct a study using 3-year-old children as participants. Using a 2 x 3 factorial design, the children will be exposed to 8 age-appropriate cereal commercials (4 of each type: with a well-known character; with new, unknown characters) in order to test memory for the content (immediately after; 1 week later; 1 month later). The researcher will need to do all but which of the following?

Randomly assign one child to each of the 6 conditions

independent random assignment

Randomly determining for each individual participant which condition he will be in. For example, you might flip a coin for each participant to determine to what group he will be assigned.

Which of the following scales must include a true zero (i.e., the absence of a factor)?

Ratio

The author of the text provides examples of analyzing data from a variety of studies by using which of the following statistical software programs?

SPSS

A researcher sent out 1000 questionnaires designed to investigate attitudes about sexual behaviors. She has a response rate of only 3%. Non-response creates which of the following problems?

Sample size is not representative.

A "true" independent variable is one that can be manipulated by the researchers.

TRUE

A 2 x 2 factorial design as 8 potential outcomes.

TRUE

A Type 1 error is also known as a False Positive.

TRUE

A control group receives NO exposure to the IV.

TRUE

A major advantage of a completely repeated measures study is that it requires fewer participants.

TRUE

A ratio scale must have an absolute zero point.

TRUE

A valid measure must also be reliable.

TRUE

Asch (1955) challenged the findings of Sherif (1935) relative to conformity in groups.

TRUE

Basic research is conducted to advance knowledge in science.

TRUE

Bem's (1974, 1975) Sex Role Inventory (BSRI) was controversial once she published it.

TRUE

Earlier in the semester we discussed a researcher whose studies were questioned because of the validity of the construct being examined. The researcher was Sandra Bem, a developmental psychologist.

TRUE

Hazan and Shaver's (1987) Adult Attachment Style questionnaire is known as a "single-item" scale.

TRUE

If a researcher asked all participants to respond to the orienting task (Describes you, Count the vowels) but presents trait adjectives to half in green text and half in black text, this would involve a mixed-factorial design.

TRUE

If a study involves drugs, it is important to lengthen the time of the study in order to avoid carryover effects.

TRUE

If counterbalancing is used, the data will be examined with ANOVA.

TRUE

If members of a vulnerable group are to be included in a study, then it must go to Full Review.

TRUE

If there are problems with internal validity issues using a multiple baseline design, an ABAB design my address the problem.

TRUE

In order to test for differences in a simple experiment, researchers will use a t-test.

TRUE

Levels of Practice can potentially lead to problems with the data due to order effects.

TRUE

Most surveys typically fall under the "exempt" category by the IRB,

TRUE

Observational studies and surveys are types of descriptive studies.

TRUE

Observational studies take place in a naturalistic habitat.

TRUE

Power involves the ability to detect differences between groups.

TRUE

Random assignment is an important control strategy in experimental studies.

TRUE

Some measures may not be sensitive enough to detect differences between groups in a simple experiment.

TRUE

Testing is one of the potential threats to internal validity according to Campbell and Stanley.

TRUE

The ABA design is also known as the reversal design.

TRUE

The Dependent Variable will measure change in behavior/attitude after exposure to the IVs.

TRUE

The company, e-harmony.com is based on scientific principles.

TRUE

The least sophisticated type of scale is the nominal scale.

TRUE

The null hypothesis means that we expect no differences between groups after some are exposed to the experimental factor.

TRUE

To be considered for expedited review, the study must involve no more than minimal risk for the participants.

TRUE

We sometimes conduct surveys in order to obtain information about topics for which we have limited knowledge.

TRUE

When there are potential for maturation or testing effects using an ABA design, one solution may be to use a multiple baseline design.

TRUE

When using scales in science, it is important to make sure the scale is both reliable and valid.

TRUE

In behavioral or cognitive-behavioral treatment, reinforcers are often used to increase desired behaviors.

TRUE; reinforcers are species and person specific

ANOVA assumptions

Technique in which we compare 3 or more population means to determine whether they could be equal. ASSUMPTIONS: 1) The populations follow the normal distribution. 2) The populations have equal variances. 3) The populations are randomly and independently drawn. (the occurrence of any individual value does not the affect the probability that any other observation will occur.) 4) Measurement level is interval or ratio. (Using the t-distribution leads to a buildup of Type I errors.)

You happen to receive a questionnaire in the mail. The researchers are attempting to establish views about the cost of higher education. The researchers ask the question: Do you think higher education is necessary and affordable? Because you have read the assigned material for this quiz, you know that

The question is an ineffective one.

In an ABA design, the point of the first A in the design is

To determine what the level of the behaviors was before intervention.

Hazan and Shaver (1987) designed a measure to examine attachment style in adults. Critics questioned the reliability of the scale. This means that they were concerned about

Whether the scores on the test would consistently be the same.

Type 2 error (beta)

a "false negative" finding. it is the probability of retaining a null hypothesis that is actually false. this means the researcher is reporting no effect in the population, when in truth there is an effect.

Type 1 error (alpha)

a "false positive" finding. it is the probability of rejecting a null hypothesis that is actually true. researchers directly control for this error by stating the level of significance.

true independent variable

a "true" IV must be one that can be manipulated by the researchers

regression toward the mean

a change or shift in a participant's performance toward a level or score that is closer to or more typical of his or her true potential or mean ability on some measure, after previously scoring unusually high or low on the same measure

rage effect

a limitation in the range of data measured in which scores are clustered to one extreme.

Interrater Reliability (IRR)

a measure for the extent to which two or more raters of the same behavior or event are in agreement with what they observed.

internal consistency reliability

a measure of reliability used to determine the extent to which multiple items used to measure the same variable are related.

ordinal scale

a measurement that conveys order or rank only. example: finishing order in competition, grade level, ranking.

interval scale

a measurement that has no true zero and are distributed in equal units. example: rating scale

heterogeneous attrition

a possible threat to internal validity in which rates of attrition are different between groups in a study.

internal validity

a research design includes enough control of the conditions and experiences of participants that it can demonstrate a single unambiguous explanation for a manipulation - that is cause and effect. (experimental research designs have highest control and highest internal validity; non experimental research designs have lowest control and lowest internal validity)

reversal design (ABA design)

a single-case experimental design in which a single participant is observed before (A), during (B), and after (A) a treatment or manipulation

participant fatigue

a state of physical or psychological exhaustion resulting from intense research demands typically due to observing participants too often, or requiring participants to engage in research activities that are too demanding

null hypothesis

a statement about a population parameter, such as the population mean, that is assumed to be true. the null hypothesis is a starting point.

correlation coefficient

a statistic used to measure the strength and direction of the linear relationship or correlation, between two factors. the value of r can range from -1.0 to +1.0

ANOVA (analysis of variance)

a statistical procedure for testing the equality of means using variances.

A researcher wants to use a between-subjects design to test whether exposure to music impacts ability to recall information. Using random assignment, half of the participants will encode trait adjectives while listening to a Mozart concerto; the other half will encode the same list of trait adjectives in silence. Which of the following will be used to test for differences between the two goups.

a t-test

maturation

a threat to internal validity in which a participants physiological or psychological state changes over time during a study.

history effect

a threat to internal validity in which an unanticipated event co-=occurs with a treatment or manipulation of the study. (9/11)

Instrumentation

a threat to internal validity in which the measurement of the dependent variable changes due to an error during the course of a research study

on exam

a valid measure must be reliable, but a reliable measure is not necessarily valid

quasi-independent variable

a variable with levels to which participants are not randomly assigned and that differentiates the groups or conditions being compared in a research study

Single-N designs (case studies)

an experimental research design in which a participant serves as his or her own control and the dependent variable measured in analyzed for each individual participant and is not averaged across groups or across participants

repeated measures design

another name for a within-subjects design; participants are tested in each of the experiment's conditions

applied vs. basic research

applied research is the scientific study that aims to solve practical problems; basic research is the pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base and is not intended to have immediate application

For a parametric test, the Pearson correlation coefficient is used (with no adjustments needed) when the data involved are based on

at least an interval scale

Muzafer Sherif (1935)

auto kinetic effect: a small spot of light in a dark room will appear to move, even though it is still ambiguous stimuli

main effects and interactions

both use the assumption of a second independent variable. on a graph main effect looks like two parallel lines while lines that aren't parallel suggest an interaction

advantage of multiple-baseline design

can be used when we expect a treatment will not return to baseline

placebo control group

control group in which some participants believe they are receiving the experimental treatment, but they are not

statistical significance

describes a decision made concerning a value stated in the null hypothesis. when the null hypothesis is rejected, we reach significance. when the null hypothesis is retained, we fail to reach significance.

The group that is exposed to one level of a manipulated independent variable is referred to as the

experimental group

sensitization effect

increase in the vigor of elicited behavior that may result from repeated presentations of the eliciting stimulus or from exposure to a strong extraneous stimulus

internal validity vs external validity

internal validity is higher with greater control; external validity is higher with fewer constraints

In order to use ANOVA with a factorial design, the data set must be at least

interval in nature

advantage of quasi-independent design

it allows researchers to study factors related to the unique characteristics or demographics of participants

Advantage of Reversal Design

it can be used to apply treatments that are beneficial to participants

advantage of nonexperimental research design

it can be used to make observations in settings in which the behaviors and events being observed naturally operate.

disadvantage of nonexperimental research design

lacks the control needed to demonstrate cause and effect.

Solomon Asch (1955)

line judgements non-ambiguous stimuli 75% conformity

ratio scale

measurements that have a true zero and are equidistant. example: height, length, weight, time

external validity

observations made in a study generalize beyond the specific manipulations or constraints in the study.

carryover effects

occur when participation in one group "carries over" or causes changes in performance in a second group

simple experiment

one IV with 2 or more levels

expanded simple experiment

one IV with 3 or more levels

attrition or experimental mortality

participant does not show up for a study at scheduled time or fails to complete the study

control group

participants are treated the same as the experimental group, except the participants are not treated

participant reluctance

participants can be overly antagonistic by behaving in ways that they think contradict how the researcher wants them to behave.

evaluation apprehension

participants can be overly apprehensive and withhold information the researcher is trying to study.

participant expectancy

participants can be overly cooperative by behaving as if they are trying to please the researcher by acting in ways they think are consistent with how the researcher wants them to behave

Expectancy effects (experimenter bias)

preconceived ideas or expectations regarding how participants should behave or what participants are capable to doing. can lead to experimenter bias.

inferential statistics

procedures that allow researchers to infer or generalize observations made with samples to the larger population from which they were selected

descriptive statistics

procedures used to summarize, organize, and make sense of a set of scores or observations, typically presented graphically, in tabular form (table), or as a summary statistic (single value).

Hazan and Shaver (1987)

quiz about attachment styles as adults. single-item questionnaire. reliability: getting the same answers problem: can one item be a reliable measure?

In a memory study, all participants receive the same list of trait adjectives. All participants are asked to respond to "Does this word describe you?" for some words and "Count the vowels in this word." for other words. It is expected that the participants will recall "Describes you" words more frequently. The researcher has used what type of design?

repeated-measures design

disadvantage of quasi-independent design

researchers do not manipulate the characteristics of the participants and thus cannot demonstrate cause and effect.

ceiling effect

scores clustered very high

floor effect

scores clustered very low

experimenter bias

the behavior of the researcher or experimenter intentionally or unintentionally influences the results of the study.

disadvantage of reversal design

the change in a dependent variable in a treatment phase must return to baseline levels when the treatment is removed. however, a return to baseline is often not possible.

reliability

the consistency, stability or repeatability of one or more measures or observations

normal distribution

the distribution of scores under the normal curve

sensitivity of a measure

the extent to which a measure can change or be different in the presence of a manipulation.

test-retest reliability

the extent to which a measure or observation is consistent or stable at two points in time.

validity

the extent to which a measurement for a variable or construct measures what it is purported or intended to measure.

construct validity

the extent to which an operational definition for a variable or construct is actually measuring that variable or construct.

criterion-related validity

the extent to which scores obtained on some measure can be used to infer or predict a criterion or expected outcome

content validity

the extent to which the items or contents of a measure adequately represent all of the features of the construct being measured.

testing effect

the improved performance on a test or measure the second time it is taken due to the experience of taking the test

Early in the session, we discussed the Strack et al. (1988) study in which some participants were told to hold a pen between their teeth, whereas some of were asked to hold a pen between their lips. They were then all asked to rate the humor relative to a series of five cartoons. In this example, the independent variable involves

the instructions regarding how to hold the pen

correlational research design

the measurement of two or more factors to determine or estimate the extent to which the values for the factors are related or change in an identifiable pattern

face validity

the most basic type of validity is to make a judgement as to whether a measure "looks like" it is measuring what we think it should be measuring.

A researcher wants to conduct a 3 (level of self-esteem) x 3 (attractiveness of potential mate: high, moderate, low) x 2 (meeting method: online; in a coffee shop) factorial study in order to determine if people would be willing to ask a stranger on a date. One major disadvantage to conducting this between-subjects study would involve

the need to recruit a large number of participants

Yerkes-Dodson Law

the principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases

power

the probability of rejecting a false null hypothesis. specifically, the power is the probability that we will detect an effect if an effect actually exists in a population.

participant reactivity

the reaction or response participants have when they know they are being observed or measured.

research design

the specific methods and procedures used to answer a research question. 1. experimental research 2. quasi-experimental research 3. nonexperimental research

quasi-experimental research design

the use of methods and procedures to make observations in a study that is structured similar to an experiment, but the conditions and experiences of participants lack some control because the study lacks random assignment, includes a preexisting factor, or does not include a comparison/control group.

nonexperimental research design

the use of methods and procedures to make observations in which the behavior or event is observed "as is" or without an intervention from the researcher

experimental research design

the use of methods and procedures to make observations in which the researcher fully controls the conditions and experiences of participants by applying three required elements of control: randomization, manipulation, and comparison/control

dependent variable

the variable that is believed to change in the presence of the independent variable. it is the "presumed" effect".

independent variable

the variable that is manipulated in an experiment

Early in the session, we discussed the Strack et al. (1988) study in which some participants were told to hold a pen between their teeth, whereas some of were asked to hold a pen between their lips. They were then all asked to rate the humor relative to a series of five cartoons. In this example,

there was no control group

environmental factors

things outside the system that can impact the operation of the system. (time of day, location, etc.)

Reliability and Validity

two factors that make up a good psychological test

complex designs

two or more IV; 2 levels of each; 4 conditions (multiply 2 x 2)

Bem's (1974,1975) sex role inventory

undergrads rated 400 items as M of F

individual differences

unique characteristics of participants in a sample that can differ from one participant to another.

true zero

when the value 0 truly indicates nothing on a scale of measurement. example: temperature