Research Methods-Exam 2

The three criteria for a causal claim are:

Covariance, temporal precedence, and internal validity

Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. Based on his study, Dr. Kang can make what claim?

Emotion enhances memory

When conducting research in ____ mode, investigators attempt to apply their findings to a broad population.

Generalization mode

"Hypothesizing after results are known" is commonly referred to as....

HARKing

When generalizing the results of a sample to a population, which of the following is the most important question?

How were the participants sampled

What does it mean that behavioral research is probabilistic?

Inferences drawn from behavioral research are not expected to explain all cases.

A ____ variable impacts the relationship between two other variables.

Moderating

_____ occurs when a researcher's expectations about the results of a study influence the interpretation of results.

Observer bias

A confound that keeps a researcher from finding a relationship between two variables is known as a ______ confound?

Reverse

What threat to internal validity would result in group differences prior to the start of the study?

Selection effect

What is true of ceiling and floor effects?

They can be caused by poorly designed dependent variables

When a double-blind study is not possible, an acceptable alternative may be_____.

a masked design

_____ is a study, completed before conducting the primary study, to confirm the effectiveness of a manipulation.

a pilot study

Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Imagine that Dr. Kushner is a clinical psychologist who volunteers his time at a local prison counseling several inmates. Because of his connections there, he is considering using prisoners as his participants. Why is this choice potentially problematic?

according to the Belmont Report, prisoners are entitled to special protection

Which of the following is the "file-drawer problem" in psychology? a. famous psychologists are more likely to be published b. significant relationships are more likely to be published than null effects c. research in areas of public interest are more likely to be published d. studies done by friends of journal editors are more likely to be published

b

Which of the following events did NOT occur in the Tuskegee Study? a. Researchers told participants they were receiving treatment even though they were not. b. Participants in the study were given/infected with the disease. c. Participants were not told they had been infected with the disease. d. Researchers prevented participants from seeking treatment.

b.

Anton and his friends are discussing a study he read about in his developmental psychology class. In the study, the researcher made the claim that most middle school students who are bullied have low self-esteem. Why should Anton NOT interrogate the internal validity of the study?

because the study's claim is an association claim

Which of the following is an example of a field setting? a. psychology lab with EEG apparatus b. neuropsychological lab with an MRI machine c. preschool playground with video cameras d. biology lab with galvanic skin-response detectors

c

Benjamin is a social psychologist who studies marriage. He believes that marital satisfaction has two components: the ability to trust one's partner and a belief that one can be a good spouse. He conducts a study to test his ideas. Assuming that his data match his theory, which of the following statements should he make? a. "The data prove my theory." b. "My theory is generalizable." c. "The data provide support for my theory." d. "The data complicate my theory."

c.

In which of the following scenarios should you be skeptical of an authority? a. When they present all the evidence on a topic b. When they have a scientific degree c. When they based their opinions on their intuition d. When they have conducted scientific research on the topic

c.

Jenny reads the following headline on an online article: "If You're Sexist, People Will Think You're Racist, and Vice Versa." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Sanchez and colleagues, 2017.) This study found that members of stigmatized groups are threatened by prejudice directed at other stigmatized groups. Their results showed that White women can be threatened by racism, and men of color threatened by sexism, and that these perceptions made participants expect unfair treatment. Which of the following questions assesses the construct validity of this study? a. Would this research generalize to children? b. Did the researchers establish temporal precedence? c. How did the researchers measure expectations of unfair treatment? d. How big was the effect of perceived discrimination?

c.

Which of the following is a limitation of Google Scholar compared to PsycINFO? a. Google Scholar does not provide PDF versions of articles. b. Google Scholar is not free to use. c. Google Scholar is not limited to just psychology and related fields. d. Google Scholar can only be accessed from certain computers.

c.

Which of the following is an example of being a consumer of research? a. administering a questionnaire of PTSD symptoms b. consenting to participate in a research study c. attending a psychological conference d. measuring dopamine levels in patients with schizophrenia

c.

What is the difference between data that is collected anonymously and data that is collected confidentially?

confidential research collects participants' names but separates them from eh data; anonymous research does not collect participants names.

To evaluate how well a study supports a frequency claim, you need to focus most on evaluating which validities?

construct and external

What is the name for a variable the experimenter holds constant on purpose?

control variable

_____ is used to control order effects in an experiment.

counterbalancing

The ____ is the measured variable.

dependent

How can you ensure that a popular media article accurately reflects the original research of a scientific study?

find and read the original scientific article

Which claim is always researched in generalization mode?

frequency claims

Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. What makes Dr. Kang's study an experiment?

he manipulated one variable and measured another

If everything else is equal, what method can help increase power in a study?

increase sample size

The _____ is the manipulated variable

independent

Which validity is important to interrogate for causal claims, but not association claims?

internal

Which research design is used to address possible selection effects?

matched-group designs

What can direct replication studies change?

participants

James is asked about the best way to study for an exam. He responds that the best way to study is by making flash cards. He easily thinks of all the times he used flash cards and he made As. However, he fails to take into consideration all the times he made As and did not use flash cards and the times he used flash cards and did not do well. His faulty thinking is an example of:

present/present bias

A study finds a correlation coefficient of r = .52 and reports p < .05. The p is a ____

probability estimate

identify the moderate negative correlation a. r = -.67 b. r = -.48 c. r = .22 d. r = .67

r = -.48

Identify the strong positive correlation a. r = -.67 b. r = .48 c. r = -.10 d. r = .67

r = .67

What strategy do psychologists use to determine a study's replicability?

repeating the study

Which aspect of the peer-review cycle allows for the greatest amount of honesty in reviews?

the anonymity of peer reviewers

While reading about a research study, what would tell you that an association claim is being made?

the measurement of two variables

Dr. Kang, a cognitive psychologist, conducts an experiment examining the effect of emotion on memory. He provides lists of 15 words to two groups of participants at his university. He puts the names of all the participants in a hat. The first 20 names he assigns to Group A and the last 20 he assigns to Group B. Group A is given a list of words that are very emotional in content (e.g., passion, murder). Group B is given a list of words that are neutral in content (e.g., houseplant, desk). He then measures how many words each group is able to remember after being distracted for 5 minutes by watching a video about the history of the university. He finds that Group A remembers 15% more words than Group B. What is the dependent variable?

the number of words remembered

Anderson is reading his morning paper and sees the following headline: "Men Should Avoid Rock Music When Playing Board Games." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Fancourt, Burton, & Williamon, 2016.) In the study, men and women played the game "Operation" when listening to different types of music. Male participants performed worse when listening to AC/DC than when listening to Mozart, but female participants' performance did not differ based on music. What is the constant in this study?

the type of game

How many levels of the independent variable were there in your Psych 300 research study?

two

What is a problem that may contribute to a null effect in a study?

weak manipulations

Dr. Ramon makes the following claim: "Watching television leads people to spend less time communicating with their spouses, study says." Dr. LaSalle makes the claim: "Research shows that making more money correlates with spending less time talking with your spouse." Which of the following statements is true of Dr. Ramon's and Dr. LaSalle's claims? a. Dr. Ramon's claim goes further than Dr. LaSalle's claim. b. Dr. LaSalle's claim goes further than Dr. Ramon's claim. c. Dr. LaSalle's claim is the same as Dr. Ramon's claim. d. Dr. Ramon's claim involves more variables than Dr. LaSalle's claim.

a.

Deci and Ryan (1985, 2000) have proposed that there are three fundamental needs that are required for human growth and fulfillment: relatedness, autonomy, and competence. Susan predicts that students who have these needs met in their psychology class feel happier and more satisfied with the class. She collects data and finds that students who feel more related and competent do feel happier but that feeling more autonomous does not seem to matter. Susan thinks that maybe autonomy is only necessary when people are in situations in which they are not being evaluated. Deci and Ryan's general statement of how the three needs are related to growth and fulfillment is an example of which of the following? a. theory b. hypothesis c. data d. research

a. theory

Dr. Kushner is planning on conducting a study next semester. He is curious as to whether sleep deprivation is associated with poorer cognitive performance. For example, if you sleep poorly the night before a big exam, will you do worse? Dr. Kushner is especially curious about selective sleep deprivation, where people are kept from entering REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. Using an electroencephalograph (EEG) to monitor brain waves, he plans to let participants sleep until they enter REM sleep and then wake them. After the participants are awake for one minute, Dr. Kushner plans to let them return to sleep. As they enter REM sleep again, he will wake them again and follow the same procedure. He plans to do this through the entire eight-hour sleep session. The following morning, participants will be asked to take a sample SAT test. Dr. Kushner is deciding whether he needs to give participants a reason for waking them up several times during the night. He knows that he cannot tell them the real reason, but he is unsure whether he should deceive them (give them a false reason why he is waking them up) or provide them with no cover story at all. Which of the following issues should be considered most heavily when deciding whether to use deception? a. Whether his institutional review board (IRB) will approve the use of deception b. Whether he can create a convincing story that his participants will believe c. Whether he can conduct the study just as well without deception d. Whether his participants will be angry when they find out he used deception

c.

What types of replication investigates the same research question but uses different procedures?

conceptual replication

Which of the following phrases would indicate that a researcher is making an association claim? a. "curbs" b. "seems to decrease" c. "suggests a change" d. "is at higher risk of"

d

When researchers conduct an experiment comparing two different treatment conditions, they are likely to be more concerned with __________ validity than ___________ validity.

internal; external

Javier wants his lab partner to tell him if he thinks the article he found for their project is appropriate. Rather than have him read the article, which two parts of the paper could Javier have his lab partner read to get a summary of the article?

the abstract and the first paragraph of the discussion