Exam 1

Candidates listed on a ballot first get a 2.5% boost in votes among undecided voters. What is this an example of? Select one: a. A context effect. b. An environmental effect. c. Overestimation. d. Sampling Bias.

a. A context effect.

Imagine you want to compare the effects of two different types of approaches for managing anxiety. One of the approaches involves learning skills to face anxiety-provoking situations and the other approach involves learning relaxation strategies without approaching anxiety-provoking situations. What would be the best type of research design for this study? Select one: a. Between-subjects experiment b. Within-subjects experiment c. Correlational study d. Observational study

a. Between-subjects experiment

Laboratory experiments typically have _____ internal validity. a. High b. Low c. Non-Existent d. Uncertain

a. High

What is one way that a researcher can take steps to maintain confidentiality? Select one: a. Keep signed consent forms separate from any data that is collected. b. Use a pre-screening procedure. c. Maintain all data and personal information collected about a participant in a single location. d. Adapt a sample consent form from their university.

a. Keep signed consent forms separate from any data that is collected.

A researcher is assigning participants to categories by occupation. Which level of measurement is he using? Select one: a. Nominal level b. Ordinal level c. Interval level d. Ratio level

a. Nominal level

Dr. Rodante is conducting an experiment to examine the effect of caffeine on rat behavior. He administered caffeine to rats at either 5mg, 50mg, or 100mg doses, then measured their speed as they navigated a rat maze. How many independent variables (IVs) does this study include? Select one: a. One IV with three levels (5mg, 50mg, or 100mg dose). b. Three IVs (5mg, 50mg, or 100mg dose). c. One IV (speed through the rat maze). d. Two IVs (caffeine and speed through the rat maze).

a. One IV with three levels (5mg, 50mg, or 100mg dose).

A researcher is testing out a new personality measure. He administers the measure to a group of 500 people, then administers it again one week later to those same 500 people and compares the scores. What feature of the measure is the most likely evaluating in this scenario? Select one: a. Test-retest reliability b. Interrater reliability c. Face validity d. Content validity

a. Test-retest reliability

According to the Belmont Report, the principle of justice refers to: Select one: a. conducting research in a way that distributes risks and benefits fairly across different groups in society. b. respecting all people's rights and dignity as human beings. c. maintaining privacy and confidentiality equally across participants. d. maximizing benefits and minimizing harms to participants.

a. conducting research in a way that distributes risks and benefits fairly across different groups in society.

An experiment examining the effect of a sad mood on problem-solving ability involved having participants watch a sad video. Afterwards, the researchers had participants watch a happy video with the goal of returning their mood to normal. In this example, watching a happy video would be part of: Select one: a. debriefing b. the independent variable c. manipulation d. deception

a. debriefing

A psychologist is measuring an individual's working memory capacity as part of a neuropsychological exam. To do this, she reads a list of digits to the individual then asks them to repeat the list back to her in reverse order. She repeats this several times, increasing number of digits each time until the individual makes a mistake. The individual's score on this task is the longest length of digits the person can remember and repeat back correctly. This score is an example of a(n): Select one: a. operational definition b. conceptual definition c. self-report measure d. construct

a. operational definition

Conducting a "sham surgery" would be an example of a(n): Select one: a. placebo control condition. b. wait-list control condition. c. active treatment condition. d. confounding variable

a. placebo control condition.

Sally is a writing a research paper for a class and she comes across an interesting idea in a published paper that she would like to include in her Introduction section. What is her best course of action? Select one: a. Directly quote the entire section of the paper that discusses the concept and provide a citation. b. Describe the concept in her own words, use quotation marks around any direct quotations, and provide a citation. c. Describe the concept in her owns words and do not provide a citation. d. Not include it in her paper at all because that would constitute plagiarism

b. Describe the concept in her own words, use quotation marks around any direct quotations, and provide a citation.

Computing Cronbach's alpha is one way to determine... Select one: a. Test-retest reliability b. Internal consistency c. Cohen's kappa d. Inter-rater reliability

b. Internal consistency

A thermometer consistently measures the temperature to be about 4 degrees colder than it actually is. This thermometer's measurement would be considered: Select one: a. Valid but not reliable. b. Reliable but not valid. c. Neither reliable nor valid. d. None of the above.

b. Reliable but not valid.

Demand characteristics refer to: Select one: a. Responses that are socially appropriate but may not be accurate. b. Subtle cues that indicate to the participant how the researcher wants them to respond. c. Survey questions that are very demanding of the participant. d. Psychological variable that are not directly observable.

b. Subtle cues that indicate to the participant how the researcher wants them to respond.

You are planning to conduct a study that tests out a new medical treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. After your study receives institutional approval from the IRB, what are your ethical responsibilities as the study is underway? Select one: a. You should mostly follow the protocol you submitted for institutional approval and only make changes to the protocol if your results are not consistent with your hypotheses. b. You should follow the protocol you submitted for institutional approval and monitor your participants for unanticipated reactions. c. You should create a detailed consent form. d. None; once the study receives institutional approval, only the institution has ethical responsibilities.

b. You should follow the protocol you submitted for institutional approval and monitor your participants for unanticipated reactions.

Varying the order of the conditions in which participants are tested is called: Select one: a. the order effect. b. counterbalancing. c. random assignment. d. variation.

b. counterbalancing.

The mean and mode are examples of: a. inferential statistics. b. measures of central tendency. c. measures of variance. d. statistical significance.

b. measures of central tendency.

When running an experiment, a researcher must use ________________ to decide which participant is tested in which condition. Select one: a. random sampling b. random assignment c. participant choice d. researcher choice

b. random assignment

When using inferential statistics, an effect is usually considered to be statistically significant if it has a less than ____% chance of being due to random error. a. 1% (p < .01) b. 2% (p < .02) c. 5% (p < .05) d. 10% (p < .10)

c. 5% (p < .05)

Which of the following is NOT a true statement about the steps involved in measurement? Select one: a. A benefit of using an existing measure is that there is likely already evidence of its validity. b. If you want to create your own measure for a study, a good strategy may be to modify an existing questionnaire for your own purposes. c. After you operationally define a construct, you must conceptually define the construct. d. One way to minimize socially desirable responding is to guarantee participants' anonymity.

c. After you operationally define a construct, you must conceptually define the construct.

In what section of a scientific paper will you find a description of the study's limitations? Select one: a. Introduction b. Method c. Discussion d. Scientific papers rarely include study limitations

c. Discussion

A graduate student is conducting a survey study on risky sexual behavior, but he does not have enough funding to pay all of his participants for their participation. What is his best course of action? Select one: a. He should recruit participants from the local prison because they will be more likely to participate without compensation. b. He should run his study on teenagers because they will likely be willing to participate in an interesting study for free. c. He should find some other way to compensate his participants (e.g., offering participants the option of entering a raffle to win a gift card). d. He should not conduct the study unless he can find some other way to pay all of his participants.

c. He should find some other way to compensate his participants (e.g., offering participants the option of entering a raffle to win a gift card).

The mean, median, and mode can be computed for which types of measurement? Select one: a. Nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio b. Nominal and ordinal only c. Interval and ratio only d. None of the above

c. Interval and ratio only

What is one reason that scientists avoid the word "prove" when talking about theories: a. The result supporting the hypothesis may reflect a Type II error. b. One can only prove hypotheses, not theories. c. It is always possible that another test of a hypothesis derived from the theory will be disconfirmed. d. There is no such thing as scientific proof, there is only hypothetical proof.

c. It is always possible that another test of a hypothesis derived from the theory will be disconfirmed.

Which of the following is true about ethical issues in psychological research? Select one: a. Psychological research should be entirely risk-free. b. Researchers must be completely truthful with participants about all aspects of the study so that participants can decide whether they would like to participate. c. Psychological research must be carried out in ways that maximize benefits and minimize risk. d. Psychological research should be fully anonymous so that personally identifying information is never collected.

c. Psychological research must be carried out in ways that maximize benefits and minimize risk.

The purpose of informed consent is to: Select one: a. provide legal protection to the researchers. b. ensure that the participants read and sign a consent form. c. ensure that participants genuinely understand what the study entails, including risks, costs, and benefits. d. ensure that the participants understand which parts of the study include deception and which do not.

c. ensure that participants genuinely understand what the study entails, including risks, costs, and benefits.

A researcher is examining how different forms of news media affect people's anxiety levels. Participants in the study will view three different forms of news media (a TV clip, a newspaper article, and a socialterm-0 media post), and their anxiety level will be measured after viewing each one. In this example, _______ is the independent variable and ________ is the dependent variable. a. the participant; anxiety level b. anxiety level; the participant c. form of news media; anxiety level d. anxiety level; form of news media

c. form of news media; anxiety level

Intelligence quotient (IQ) is an example of what type of measurement? Select one: a. nominal b. ordinal c. interval d. ratio

c. interval

When conducting an experiment, researchers ___________ the independent variable by systematically changing its levels and ___________ other variables by holding them constant. Select one: a. manipulate; isolate b. measure; control c. manipulate; control. d. measure; isolate.

c. manipulate; control.

A psychologist would like to assess the prevalence (frequency) of mental health disorders resulting from a recent natural disaster in her community. She contacts local mental health counselors and asks them to pass along information about her study to their clients. This method of sampling is most likely going to __________ the prevalence of mental health disorders in the community due to ____________: Select one: a. accurately estimate; probability sampling. b. overestimate; probability sampling. c. overestimate; sampling bias. d. underestimate; sampling bias.

c. overestimate; sampling bias.

Which of the following is true of the Tuskegee Syphilis study? Select one: a. The subjects were not given enough information prior to the study to give truly informed consent. b. The study is a major example of injustice as an ethical violation in research. c. It contributed to the development of regulations regarding the protection of human research subjects. d. All of the above

d. All of the above

Recruiting introductory psychology students to participate in a study is an example of which type of sampling? Select one: a. Probability sampling b. Snowball sampling c. Simple random sampling d. Convenience sampling

d. Convenience sampling

A researcher wants to know whether consuming fish during pregnancy leads to increases in children's IQ. What type of research design should she use? a. Convenience sampling b. Non-experimental method c. Field research d. Experimental method

d. Experimental method

What is the primary role of an institutional review board (IRB)? Select one: a. To evaluate the quality and value of a proposed scientific study b. To discipline researchers who break ethical codes. c. To review research protocols for flaws in study design. d. To review research protocols for potential ethical problems.

d. To review research protocols for potential ethical problems.

Which term describes the extent to which the scores from a measure represent the variable they are intended to measure? Select one: a. Control b. Reliability c. Reactivity d. Validity

d. Validity

An extraneous variable that varies systematically with the independent variable is called: Select one: a. a single factor. b. a manipulation. c. a conditional variable. d. a confounding variable.

d. a confounding variable.