First Half of Data and Analysis
Explain how the concepts of validity and reliability differ.
Validity of a study is how much the study measures or tests what the researcher intends to test. Reliability of scores is how much the scores are consistent, either for an individual participant or across participants. Cognitive domain: Comprehension; Answer location: Validity and Response Scales;
A reporter who is writing an article on an important issue may only interview experts that support her or his views on the issue. This is an example of
confirmation bias
Seeking only evidence that supports our beliefs and ignoring evidence that contradicts those beliefs is
confirmation bias
A variable that affects the results of the study, but is not a variable of interest in the study, is called a(n) _____________ variable.
confounding
"I want to know which direction I am facing. The sun is setting to my right, and I know the sun sets in the west so I know that west is the direction where the sun is setting." is an example of
deduction
Deciding it must be raining because you hear thunder is an example of which method of knowing?
deduction
Predicting that a dog should breathe because all mammals breathe and all dogs are mammals is an example of __________ reasoning.
deductive
Theory-driven hypotheses rely on _______ reasoning, whereas data-driven hypotheses rely on _______ reasoning.
deductive; inductive
A source of bias that can occur in a study due to participants changing their behavior based on their perception of the study and its purpose.
demand characteristics
Are women who are pregnant depressed?" is an example of a ________ research question.
descriptive
A research question that asks about the presence of behavior, how frequently it is exhibited, or whether there is a relationship between different behaviors is a
descriptive research question
An introduction section contains all but which
design, materials, and procedure
The solution to experimenter bias is to use a(n) ____________ design.
double-blind
In a __________, both the participants and the researchers who interact with the participants do not know which participants are assigned to the different groups.
double-blind design
When we ask people to complete a survey we are using __________ to learn about behavior
empiricism
The research design that allows researchers to answer causal questions about manipulated and measured variables is a(n)
experiment
A researcher who examines the causal relationship between amount of exercise (randomly assigned as 30 minutes per day or none) and memory abilities is using the ___________ research design.
experimental
The testability canon of the scientific method states that
explanations of phenomena should be able to be falsified if they are incorrect
A researcher conducted a study to examine the effect of number of tasks on performance accuracy. Participants were randomly assigned one or three tasks to perform simultaneously. Accuracy on the target task (the task performed by both groups) was measured for both groups. Accuracy was found to be similar for the two groups. What is the independent variable in this study? What are the levels of the independent variable?
The independent variable is number of tasks assigned with levels of one task or three tasks. Cognitive domain: Application; Answer location: Independent Variables;
The degree to which the behavior observed in the study is realistic, would occur naturally, and can be generalized beyond the boundaries of the study to other individuals and situations is _____________ validity.
external
A study that investigates behavior as it naturally occurs in individuals would have a high degree of
external validity
Convenience samples make it more difficult to generalize the results of the study to the population, lowering its
external validity
validity means that on the surface, a study or scale appears to be intuitively valid.
face
A mono-blind design is used to combat effects of subjects' knowledge of their group assignment.
false
A theory-driven hypothesis involves inductive reasoning in that a researcher is taking a general statement about behavior (the theory) and making a specific prediction (the hypothesis) about the study from this general statement.
false
All sampling error can be removed from a study if the appropriate sampling technique is used.
false
An introduction is a short summary of the study that allows readers to decide if the article is relevant to their literature review without their reading the entire article.
false
An operational definition is a definition of a concrete concept that makes it abstract for the purpose of the research study.
false
Analyzing the data from a closed-ended response scale would also require the development of a coding scheme because the responses are qualitative rather than quantitative.
false
Due to their exploratory nature, case studies never focus on rare or unusual cases.
false
Empirical journal articles are considered secondary sources for research information because they are written by the researchers who conducted the research and details of the study are provided.
false
Experimenter bias occurs when in a study a researcher inadvertently treats groups the same due to knowledge of the hypothesis for the study.
false
If a predictive relationship is examined, the variable that is used to make the prediction is called the outcome variable, and the variable that is being predicted is called the predictor variable.
false
In a scatterplot, one variable is placed on the x-axis, and the other variable is placed on the r-axis.
false
Internet samples are typically less representative of the population of interest than samples that are collected fact-to-face.
false
It is usually possible to test the entire population in a research study.
false
Placebo effects can be an issue when multiple testing sessions occur in a study.
false
Relying on an authority to learn about behavior gives researchers a more accurate understanding of the causes of behaviors than other methods of gaining knowledge.
false
Research questions are never descriptive.
false
Some behaviors, such as mental processes, can be directly observed.
false
The goal of applied research is to understand the most fundamental processes of behavior and how they operate.
false
The methods section provides a summary of the data (often in tables or figures) and information about the statistical tests that were performed to analyze the data.
false
The only goal of psychological research is to be able to explain behavior by understanding the causes of different types of behavior.
false
There are six primary facets or canons (i.e., rules or principles that guide a field of study) that define the scientific method.
false
Volunteer samples are uncommon in psychological research.
false
When the effectiveness of a drug is tested, the treatment group typically receives a placebo to equate beliefs of effectiveness of treatment across groups.
false
Disadvantages of using archival data include all but which
few resources are needed
An experiment conducted in the participants' natural environment is called a
field experiment
Choosing a research question is the ________ step in the research process
first
Who was an influential scientist who used observations to understand the world?
galileo
Which of the following is a not a good operational definition for "hunger"?
general feeling of emptiness in ones stomach
The most common type of convenience sample used by psychologists is the ____________ sample.
haphazard sample
Which of the following sampling techniques involves choosing individuals from the population such that individuals from the population who volunteer are selected?
haphazard sample
Which one is not a probability sample?
haphazard sample
Individuals are selected from a participant pool made up of students at a university who volunteer for the study. What type of sampling is being utilized?
haphazard/volunteer samples
Sampling error will _____ whenever observations differ greatly from participant to participant in a sample.
increase
Predicting that all dogs can run because one was dog was seen running is an example of ___________ reasoning
inductive
"How does work environment affect job stress?" is a research question from what area of psychological research?
industrial-organizations
A study is conducted to examine the effect of instruction type on test scores. Participants in the study are asked to complete a simple math test with either time limit instructions (i.e., the participants are told they must complete the test within 3 minutes) or no time limit instructions (i.e., the participants are not given a time limit for the test). Participants are randomly assigned to one of the instruction types. The independent variable in this study is
instruction type
Students are selected at random from lists of students at a university organized by class level such that the proportion of individuals at each class level in the population of students matches the proportion selected for the sample. What type of sampling is being utilized?
stratified random samples
Observing behaviors as they occur in an individual's natural environment uses the __________ observation technique.
naturalistic
Videotaping individuals at work to look for off-task behaviors is an example of which observation technique?
naturalistic observations
A ________ relationship indicates that as values on one variable increase, the values on the other variable decrease.
negative
A ________ relationship means that the values on the variables change in the same direction (up and down) at the same time.
negative
The simplest scale of measurement is a
nominal scale
A survey response scale that involves pictorial response categories for participants with low verbal skills is called a
nonverbal scale
The parsimony canon of the scientific method states that
the simplest explanation of a phenomenon is most likely to be correct
One reason that Freud's theories of personality have not been more influential in the field of psychology is that
the theories are difficult to falsify
Explanations of behavior that need to be tested are called
theories
A hypothesis for a study that is based on a theory about the behavior of interest is a
theory-driven hypothesis
"Regression toward the mean" means that extreme scores are not likely to recur.
true
A common interval scale is the Likert Scale, where respondents are asked how much they agree or disagree with a statement on a 1 to 5 or a 1 to 7 scale.
true
A disadvantage of cluster sampling is that a portion of the population may be missed in the sample, giving the researcher a sample that is not fully representative of the population.
true
A negative relationship indicates that as values on one variable increase, the values on the other variable decrease.
true
All studies, regardless of sampling technique, are subject to sampling error.
true
Amount variables involve a manipulation of the amount of a factor in each level.
true
As you encounter descriptions of psychological research, you may find that not all research fits neatly into basic or applied categories.
true
Conducting a literature review will ensure that a new study will add to the knowledge in an area without duplicating what is already known.
true
Demand characteristics can affect the validity of a study.
true
External validity of a study should be considered when conclusions are drawn from results collected with a convenience sample.
true
Google Scholar will search the Web for academic journals and books to find articles relevant to a topic or written by a specific author.
true
If participants behave in a research study the way they would in their everyday lives, then the study has good external validity.
true
In convenience samples the probability of an individual being chosen from the population cannot be determined, because individuals are not chosen randomly.
true
It takes many studies conducted in many different contexts that produce results consistent with an explanation of behavior to support it.
true
Many researchers have argued that results from psychological studies using volunteer college students for samples are not informative about the behavior in the general population.
true
Observation is really what sets scientific fields apart from other fields of study.
true
Quota samples are similar to stratified random samples without the random selection from subsets of the population.
true
Research is the foundation of the field of psychology.
true
Researchers should consider how appropriate their question is for both scientific methods and the specific field of study before moving on to designing a study.
true
Some examples of common quasi-independent variables used in psychological research include gender, age, personality types (e.g., introverts and extroverts), and ethnicity.
true
Some of the observation techniques and research designs that psychologists use tend to allow for higher external validity than others.
true
The Beck Depression Inventory-II and Beck Anxiety Inventory are two commonly used surveys in psychological research on mood
true
The applications of basic research may not be obvious when it is initially conducted.
true
The review process for book chapters is variable and may not be as rigorous as that for journal articles
true
Theory-driven hypotheses are made from the predictions of a theory.
true
To increase the internal validity of a study, a researcher controls for extraneous factors that can affect the observations.
true
Using a validated survey typically gives a researcher observations of behavior that are a step ahead of the other techniques discussed because the validity and reliability of a survey will already have been tested and the survey revised (if necessary) to maximize its accuracy.
true
Presence/absence of variables typically includes
two levels
Which of the following likely cannot help a researcher conduct a literature review?
typing your topic into Google
"I want to know how much sleep on average Americans get per night. I determine this by conducting a survey of Americans to learn that most Americans get an average of 6 to 8 hours of sleep per night" is an example of
observation
Deciding it must be raining because you look out the window and see rain falling is an example of which method of knowing?
observation
The method of gaining knowledge that is most likely to yield accurate information is
observation
The scientific method involves gaining new knowledge through
observation
The empiricism canon of the scientific method states that new knowledge is gained from
observations
People in a grocery store are asked to sample three types of energy drinks and then indicate which one they liked best and which they liked least (i.e., they rank ordered the drinks). The dependent variable in this study is measured on a __________ scale.
ordinal
What helps scientists test their ideas more easily, because it is easier to develop a study that might falsify a simple explanation than to develop a study that might falsify a more complex explanation?
parsimony
The determinism canon of the scientific method states that
phenomena have observable causes
A sugar pill given to the control group in a drug study to allow all groups to believe that they are receiving a treatment. This is called
placebo
The _________ is the group of individuals a researcher wants to learn about in a study, whereas the _______ is the group of individuals tested in a study.
population sample
A sample chosen such that individuals are chosen with a specific probability is called
probability sample
It is important to use a ________ sample when sampling error is likely to be large.
probability sample
require access in some way to the entire population to select individuals according to a predetermined probability value.
probability samples
Convenience samples are also called:
purposive samples
Nominal scales are considered __________ data.
qualitative
Nonnumerical participant responses are considered
qualitative data
Numerical data is considered to be
quantitative data
The research design that allows researchers to compare groups of individuals on a measured variable based on characteristics of the individuals is a(n)
quasi-experiment
A researcher who examines the difference in anxiety level between individuals who smoke and those who do not smoke is using the ___________ research design.
quasi-experimental
Unlike a stratified random sample, the _______ sample will make use of convenience sampling techniques such as recruiting participants from a participant sign-up pool or asking students sitting in the library to fill out the survey.
quota sample
Volunteers are selected from students such that the proportion of students in each age range in the sample matches the proportion in the population. What type of sampling is being utilized?
quota samples
The difference between an independent variable and a quasi-independent variable is that the quasi-independent variable lacks
random assignment
Time measured in minutes is an example of a(n) _______________ scale.
ratio
Probability samples can ________ the amount of sampling error that exists in a study.
reduce
Suppose that on average, you tend to score about 83% on exams in your courses. Scoring a 95% on the first exam in a course and 84% on the second exam in that course is an example of
regression towards the mean
How consistent the measurements are is called
reliability
Making sure observers are categorizing behaviors the same way increases
reliability
If I set my alarm to read 8:10 when it is really 8:00 (i.e., it is 10 minutes fast) and the alarm goes off each day when it reads 8:10, it will be ___________ but not ___________.
reliable, valid
These are all ways to use empiricism to learn about behavior except
relying on common sense
The percentage of people out of the total number available who respond to a survey is called the:
response rate
The difference between nominal and ordinal measurement scales is tha
responses on ordinal scales can be rank ordered and responses on nominal scales cannot be rank ordered
In what section of a published journal article will you find graphs or tables of the summary data?
results
Information about the statistical tests that were performed to analyze the data is included in which section
results
The difference in scores that occurs when we test a sample drawn out of the population is:
sampling error
A graph showing the relationship between two dependent variables for a group of individuals is called a
scatterplot graph
Research questions for psychological studies
should be important for understanding behavior in a particular area
Which of the following sampling techniques involves choosing individuals from the population at random where each individual has an equal chance of being selected?
simple random sample
Which of the following sampling techniques is likely to create the smallest amount of sampling error?
simple random sample
Individuals are selected at random from a list of phone numbers to be called for a survey. What type of sampling is being utilized?
simple random samples
A procedure used to hide the group assignment from the participants in a study to prevent their beliefs about the effectiveness of a treatment from affecting the results is called
single-blind design
"How does an authority figure influence behavior?" is a research question from what area of psychological research?
social
Participants who want to portray themselves more positively to the researcher and intentionally respond in a way that achieves that goal biases the results of a survey and is called
social desirability
Which of the following sampling techniques involves choosing individuals from the population at random where the proportions of members of different groups are the same in the population and the sample?
stratified random sample
The primary disadvantage of using surveys to collect data is that
the observations are considered self-reports
Which of the following describes a quota sample?
60% of the population is left handed; so 60% of the participants chosen are also left handed
In a simple random sample, if a population has 100 individuals, the chance of any one individual being selected for the sample is
1 in 100
A researcher conducted a study to examine the effect of number of tasks on performance accuracy. Participants were randomly assigned one or three tasks to perform simultaneously. Accuracy on the target task (the task performed by both groups) was measured for both groups. Accuracy was found to be similar for the two groups. Describe two possible sources of bias in this study and explain how each source of bias could have caused the results reported.
Answers will vary, but some examples are differences in multi-tasking abilities across groups (if there is an effect, the difference in abilities may be masking the effect) and importance given to tasks in the three task group (if participants believe the target task is most important, they may have ignored other tasks masking effect of independent variable).
Explain the difference between construct validity and face validity. Please provide examples.
Construct validity indicates that a survey measures the behavior it is designed to measure. Face validity means that on the surface, a study or scale appears to be intuitively valid
If you are conducting a literature review on topics such as standardized testing, you may want to search for articles in
ERIC
The best database to use to find journal articles in the area of physiological psychology is
PubMed
When one encounters reports of research in the media, all but which question should you be asking yourself?
What is the gender of the researcher(s)?
When surveys are used, participants are often asked to use a response scale (e.g., 1 to 5 or 1 to 7) or response category (e.g., often, sometimes, not very often, never) that matches how they feel about a behavior or how likely they are to exhibit the behavior. This is called
a closed-ended response scale
A literature review is
a detailed review of past research in a topic area
Systematic observations are often collected in
a lab setting
A quasi-independent variable is the same as
a subject variable
Which of the following lists sections of an APA style article in the correct order of appearance in the article?
abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion
An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that exercise affects memory in the elderly. Participants aged 60 and older who responded to an ad in the local newspaper were recruited for the study. All the participants were presented with the same study list. Then half of the participants were asked to walk on a treadmill for 20 minutes, while the other half of the participants were asked to complete Sudoku puzzles for 20 minutes. Then all the participants were given a recognition test for the items in the study list. The treadmill exercise group scored significantly lower on the recognition test than the Sudoku puzzle group. What is the most likely population for this study?
all adults over age 60
Peer review is a process where
an article is sent out to several reviewers who are experts on the general topic of the article
Measuring intelligence using the score on an IQ test is an example of:
an operational definition
A psychologist investigating the research question "What type of work environment increases productivity of employees?" is most likely conducting __________ research.
applied
A psychologist investigating the research question "Which type of therapy most effectively reduces depressive behaviors?" is most likely conducting __________ research
applied
Knowledge gained in ________ studies can also help basic researchers refine their theories about how behavior works.
applied
External validity is typically more important for ________ research than for research
applied; basic
Looking up records of behaviors that have already occurred uses the __________ observation technique
archival
Using records of car crashes where individuals were not wearing seatbelts to measure use of seatbelt behavior is an example of which observation technique?
archival observations
Popular magazine articles
are considered secondary sources for research information
To get the most up-to-date information on research being conducted in an area of psychology one should
attend a conference
Deciding that it must be raining because the weather person said it would rain today is an example of which method of knowing?
authority
I want to know what my pancreas does. I know that my pancreas produces hormones important for digestion because that is what my high school biology teacher told me." is an example of
authority
Relying on the works of Plato and Aristotle for knowledge about the world is an example of what way of knowing?
authority
A psychologist investigating the research question "How much information can we store in short-term memory?" is most likely conducting __________ research.
basic
A psychologist investigating the research question "Which neurotransmitters affect depressive behaviors?" is most likely conducting __________ research.
basic
Applications of __________ research may not be obvious when it is initially conducted
basic
Early neuroscientists (e.g., Santiago Ramón y Cajal, Meyers, 2007) conducted _______ research studies to understand how neurons function.
basic
research investigates fundamental aspects of behavior, whereas _______ research investigates solutions for real-world problems.
basic;applied
In this design each participant experiences only one level of the independent variable.
between-subjects
"What are the effects of amphetamine on the brain?" is a research question from what area of psychological research?
biological
An independent variable that includes two levels is called a(n) ___________ variable.
bivalent
Which of the following cannot be used to conduct a search in PsycINFO
book title
The ____________ provide(s) a general "how to" guide for psychologists designing research studies, because they help us conduct good tests of our explanations of the causes of behaviors and further our understanding of why certain behaviors occur.
cannons of science
Studies of the amnesiac H.M. used the ___________ research design
case study
The research design that allows researchers to gain a lot of descriptive information about a single individual or institution is a(n)
case study
"Is anxiety in college students caused by a lack of confidence in their abilities?" is an example of a ________ research question.
causal
Does lack of sleep cause depression?" is an example of a ________ research question.
causal
A research question that asks what causes specific behaviors to occur is a
causal research question
What types of people benefit most from cognitive behavioral therapy?" is a research question from what area of psychological research?
clinical
Which of the following sampling techniques involves choosing individuals from the population such that individuals are chosen from a pre-existing group?
cluster sample
Individuals are selected at random for a study from a list of members of Girl Scout troops to represent the population of girls aged 813. What type of sampling is being utilized?
cluster samples
"What types of memory decline as people age?" is a research question from what area of psychological research?
cognitive
Suppose a psychologist developed a test to measure intelligence, but this test was poorly developed and really only measured how well people perform on standardized tests (in other words, it doesn't actually measure intelligence). This test would lack
construct validity
A sample chosen such that the probability of an individual being chosen cannot be determined.
convenience sample
A researcher who examines the relationship between individuals' tooth flossing frequency and the incidence of heart disease in these individuals is using the ___________ research design.
correlational
The research design that allows researchers to answer descriptive and predictive questions about the relationship between different measured variables is a(n)
correlational study
Having different participants in a study experience conditions in different orders is called
counterbalancing
If a researcher makes a hypothesis for a study based on results that were reported in previous studies, they are making a __________ hypothesis
data-driven
Inter-rater reliability is also known as
inter-observer
A measure of the degree to which different observers rate behaviors in similar ways is called
inter-rater reliability
When different observers of behavior record the behavior in a similar way, the measure is said to have good
inter-rater reliability
Convenience samples will likely increase the amount of sampling error in the study, lowering its _________ validity by making a test of the hypotheses less accurate.
internal
Ruling out alternative explanations for results increases the _________ validity.
internal
Confounding variables primarily threaten the __________ of a study.
internal validity
Convenience samples likely increase the amount of sampling error in the study, lowering its
internal validity
Temperature measured in Fahrenheit or Celsius is an example of a(n) _________ measurement scale.
interval
"I want to know if my phone is on. I decide that it is because my phone is always on." is an example of
intuition
Deciding it must be raining because you felt it would rain today is an example of which method of knowing?
intuition
a theory
is an explanation of a behavior
An abstract of a journal article that adheres to APA guidelines
is typically no more than 150 words
Simple random samples can be difficult to obtain for _______ populations.
large
Articles that have not been peer reviewed are typically
less reliable sources of information
Independent variables can be manipulated according to all but which
level of treatment
According to APA guidelines, the participants section is a subsection of the ____________ section.
method
Which section of an APA style article should provide enough information about the way the study was conducted to allow researchers to replicate the study if they wish?
method
An independent variable that includes three different types of treatments is called a(n) ___________ variable.
multivalent
Which of the following describes a cluster sample?
subjects are selected from a local preschool class to represent preschoolers who live in the area
Asking individuals to respond to questions or rate items according to their attitudes or behaviors uses the __________ observation technique.
survey
Asking individuals to rate how often each of 20 items related to depression symptoms occurs in their daily lives is an example of which observation technique?
survey observations
The Beck Anxiety Inventory is an example of
survey research
Asking individuals to complete a task under controlled conditions uses the __________ observation technique.
systematic
Measuring how quickly individuals can perform a scrambled sentence task is an example of which observation technique?
systematic observations
The __________ population is the population to which the researcher wishes to generalize the results of the study.
target
All are ways to minimize the Hawthorne Effect except which
tell participants you will be observing them
For the study in (19), what is the dependent variable?
test scores
Getting better on a task in a study with practice can cause a source of bias called
testing effects
Suppose that a participant completes a task in a research study faster than he or she would have completed the task outside the study (i.e., in their natural surroundings). This would be an example of:
the Hawthorne effect
External validity is
the degree to which a study's results can be generalized to individuals and situations outside of the study
A researcher conducted a study to examine the effect of number of tasks on performance accuracy. Participants were randomly assigned one or three tasks to perform simultaneously. Accuracy on the target task (the task performed by both groups) was measured for both groups. Accuracy was found to be similar for the two groups.
the dependent variable is task performance. Cognitive domain: Application; Answer location: Dependent Variables; Question type: ESS
An experiment was conducted to test the hypothesis that exercise affects memory in the elderly. Participants aged 60 and older who responded to an ad in the local newspaper were recruited for the study. All the participants were presented with the same study list. Then half of the participants were asked to walk on a treadmill for 20 minutes, while the other half of the participants were asked to complete Sudoku puzzles for 20 minutes. Then all the participants were given a recognition test for the items in the study list. The treadmill exercise group scored significantly lower on the recognition test than the Sudoku puzzle group. Which sampling technique was used for this study?
volunteer sample
Which of the following sampling techniques is likely to create the largest amount of sampling error?
volunteer sample
In this design each participant experiences all levels of the variable.
within-subjects
Testing effects are particularly problematic for ___________________ designs.
within-subjects
participants may be more likely to respond to e-mail contacts, whereas __________ participants may be more likely to respond to phone contacts.
younger, older
