Research Methods Exam 3 Practice Test

What is one concern when you have more than one dependent variables?

Order Effects

Olivia finds that learning is greater following spaced practice vs. cramming, p =.03, d = .47. Which of the following statements are true

-Her finding is statistically significant -The probability of her sample coming from a population in which there is no difference for massing versus spacing is about 3% -Practice has a medium effect on learning

Which of the following involve coercion?

-Telling a student they will receive thousands of dollars for participation in a study -Telling a student that they will fail out of college if they do not participate

You submit a study for approval by the institutional review board (IRB), and they tell you that written informed consent is required. Which of the following can be EXCLUDED from your informed consent document?

A description of the study's predictions

Dr. Amy Cuddy ran a study at Harvard that found certain poses (termed 'power poses') increase concentration of certain hormones in one's blood stream leading to increased feelings of power. Dr. Cuddy decided to run a similar study examining power posing but using a different measure of perceived power. What type of a study is this?

Conceptual Replication

We use what type of statistics to summarize the observed sample data?

Descriptive Statistics

Dr. Morris decides to use deception in his study and is thinking about a debriefing session. Which of the following is true of the debriefing?

During the debriefing, Dr. Morris needs to tell participants that there was deception and why

Within the field of psychology, what is the basic approach to deciding whether a study is ethical?

Having a review board evaluate the potential benefits and costs associated with the study

Erin conducts a study for her research methods class to determine if consuming caffeine causes people to perform better on cognitive tasks. In her study, he gives half of his participants a glass of water and half of his participants a glass of cola and then has them attempt to solve 15 math problems. She finds that people who drink caffeine beforehand solve more math problems than those who drink water beforehand. Erin decides to conduct a conceptual replication. Which of the following could be in the study to make it this type of replication?

Having participants drink a caffeinated energy drink rather than a caffeinated cola

Dr. Amy Cuddy ran a study at Harvard that found certain poses (termed 'power poses') increased the concentration of certain hormones in one's blood stream leading to increased feelings of power. Dr. Joseph Cesario decided to try to redo the same study at Michigan State University with his research team. What type of a study is this?

Independent Replication

We use what type of statistics to make inferences from the observed data about a population?

Inferential Statistics

What is the definition of "minimal risk"?

Minimal risk = risk no greater (in probability or severity) than ordinarily encountered in daily life or during routine physical or psychological tests

What tells us the extent to which the result matters?

Practical Significance

What are some pros and cons of using a small-N design?

Pros: -Can investigate new things -Typically have strong, controlled conditions Cons: -May not be representative of population -Requires a lot out of the few participants

What makes a study quasi experiment?

Researchers do not have full experimental control over one or more of their independent variables

In 1932, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS), cooperating with the Tuskegee (Alabama) Institute, began a study of 600 Black men. About 400 were already infected with syphilis, and about 200 were not. The researchers wanted to study the effects of untreated syphilis on the men's health over the long term. The men were recruited in their community churches and schools, and many of them were enthusiastic about participating in a project that would give them access to medical care for the first time in their lives. The study lasted 40 years. During that time, infected men were told they had 'bad blood'. They were told they were being treated medically. In contrast, they actually were undergoing sometimes painful (and potentially dangerous) tests. When an effective treatment became available in 1943, it was not provided to those in the study. Widespread outrage against this study contributed to the push for an increase in ethical regulations in human research. Today this study would be considered unethical. Describe how this study violated the three principles of the Belmont report from 1976. - The Three Principles are: Respect for Persons, Beneficence, and Justice.

Respect for Persons: Because the researchers lied to them about their illness, they could not make an informed decision about their participation. Beneficence: The participant were subject to harm in several ways (the painful procedures, the untreated illness even when medicine became available, and emotional harm of infecting loved ones) and this pain outweighs the benefit of understanding progression of syphilis (epically after the cure was known) Justice: The study targeted a disadvantaged group even though syphilis could be contracted by anyone of any background

Dr. Thompson plans to assign some participants to take the drug, others to take a lower dose of the drug, and finally a third group of participants take none of the drug. She will measure their rate of learning by recording how long it takes participants to complete a series of sequences. Is this study a simple experiment or a complex experiment?

Simple Experiment

What tell us the extent to which we can be confident the result is not due to chance?

Statistical Significance

Dr. Harris decides to conduct a meta-analysis examining the relationship between daily stress and cardiovascular health. Dr. Harris contacts several researchers in this field to ask if they have outcomes from any studies that were not published and/or that found null effects. Doing this will address which of the following?

The File Drawer Problem

Amanda wants to know if NeuroIgnite increases productivity. She runs a study on 5 participants: half take NeurIgnite, half don't. 15 minutes later, she gives her participants a test to measure productivity. They're asked to complete as many puzzles as they can (out of 10) within 5 minutes. She finds a null effect. She also notices that she obtained a ceiling effect---most people completed all 10 of the puzzles. -What could Amanda's null effect mean?

These are all possible reasons why Amanda found a null effect: -It's possible that there is no real effect of NeuroIgnite pills on productivity in the population of interest -It's possible that her measure of productivity lacks construct validity -It's possible that her manipulation of neuro-ignite pills was weak -It's possible that her measure of productivity had so little variability that she couldn't detect a difference between her groups

Which of the following describes an invasion of privacy?

When people are observed in places that they could reasonably expect to be private

When might a small effect size still be important?

When the effects are very consequential (for instance lives saved) or when the cost of implementation is low

Dr. Jasnow (a professor at Kent state) plans to run a study examining the effect of a specific drug on rats ability to learn new sequences. Does he need to get approval before he runs this study on rats? If so, who would need to provide this approval?

Yes! He needs approval from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee

After running this study, Dr. Thompson (another professor here at Kent State) sees the results and decides she wants to follow them up with a human sample. Does she need to get approval for this study? If so, who would need to provide this approval?

Yes! She needs approval from the Institutional review board

If a research influences their study results to be more consistent with their predictions, this is know as what?

falsification

If a research invents data to support their prediction, this is know as what?

fraud

Which of the following is a Descriptive Statistic ?

mean median mode standard deviation

Which of the following is an Inferential Statistic?

p value x value

Amanda wants to know if NeuroIgnite increases productivity. She runs a study on 5 participants: half take NeurIgnite, half don't. 15 minutes later, she gives her participants a test to measure productivity. They're asked to complete as many puzzles as they can (out of 10) within 5 minutes. She finds a null effect. She also notices that she obtained a ceiling effect---most people completed all 10 of the puzzles. -What can Amanda conclude from her findings?

she can fail to reject the null

Which of the following is a measure of variability?

standard deviation

What does the notation "d = .86" indicate?

the researcher found a large effect size