Behavioral PSY Final Exam Review chapters 1-14
Behavioral research is probabilistic what is probabilistic?
conclusions meant to explain a certain proportion of possible cases
three criteria for causation claim
1. covariance 2. temporal precedence 3. internal validity
RESEARCH STUDY 5.1: Dr. Rodriquez is considering conducting a study examining whether narcissistic people have poorer romantic relationships than those who are not narcissistic. One of her first tasks is to determine which of her participants are narcissistic and which are not. She decides to use the scale created by a colleague, the Donalscale. Question 1 reads, "I tend not to think about other people as much as I think about myself." Question 2 reads, "I do not have a high opinion of myself." Question 3 reads, "I think other people think I am really special."•Before using the measure in her study, Dr. Rodriquez gives the measure to a group of participants on the first day of the semester and again on the last day of the semester. Dr. Rodriquez is examining the scatterplot of the data she collected on the first day of the semester and the last day of the semester. On the scatterplot, she sees that the dots are very close to forming a diagonal line. This indicates which of the following? •a.A strong relationship •b.A nonrelationship •c.A valid finding• d.A negative finding
A
Which scale of measurement would eye color require? •A. categorical •B. ordinal •C. interval •D. ratio
A
stratified sampling
A multistage technique in which the researcher selects specific demographic categories (example. ethnicity, gender) then randomly selects individuals from each of the categories.
Does volunteering keep you young?"76% of people who volunteer feel younger than their age," Crandall, "Six weeks to a younger you," Ladies' Home Journal, 2011 What would best help you evaluate this argument? A.knowing the percentage of people who volunteer but don't feel younger than their age B.knowing the percentage of people who don't volunteer but feel younger than their age C.knowing the total percentage of people who volunteer
B
It has been reported that half of Americans show road rage. For this claim to have strong external validity, which of the following would have been the best sample for the researcher to have used? -students from Intro to Psych courses who are earning extra credit -a cross-section of American drivers representing men and women; people from the city, suburbs, and farms; and people of all ages -young men from ages 20 to 30 years; because they are the group most frequently charged with road rage, they should be the focus -a random sample of people from a Los Angeles telephone book
B
RESEARCH STUDY 5.1: Dr. Rodriquez is considering conducting a study examining whether narcissistic people have poorer romantic relationships than those who are not narcissistic. One of her first tasks is to determine which of her participants are narcissistic and which are not. She decides to use the scale created by a colleague, the Donalscale. Question 1 reads, "I tend not to think about other people as much as I think about myself." Question 2 reads, "I do not have a high opinion of myself." Question 3 reads, "I think other people think I am really special."•Dr. Rodriquez is concerned whether her measure will really measure narcissism or if it will measure some other related concept. She is concerned about the scale's . •a.operational definition •b.validity •c.reliability •d.convenience
B
Which of the following is an example of applied research? -a. A social psychologist who is interested in the components of self-concept -b. An educational psychologist who looks for a way to increase math skills in 8-year-olds -c. A personality psychologist who studies the difference between introverts and extroverts -d. A cognitive psychologist who looks at the difference in problem-solving abilities of men and women
B
what are three types of research?
Basic, applied, translational
ways intuition is biased: Availability Heuristic
Being persuaded by what easily comes to mind
Which of the following is an example of an association claim? a."41% of people surveyed reported that they were having a good day." b."Guzzling a 20-ounce bottle of soda ramps up cellular aging." c."People who sit within two tables of the bartender have three more alcoholic drinks, on average, than those who sit three tables away." d."Viewing a recent conflict as it would look one year in the future led to increased feelings of forgiveness."
C
Which of the following phrases would NOT indicate that a researcher is making a causal claim? •a."curbs" •b."seems to decrease" •c."suggests a change" •d."is at higher risk of"
D
biased sample
Not all members have an equal probability, does not fairly represent the population (sample)
ordinal scale
Ranked order example •Rank in a race
internal validity
a study's ability to eliminate alternative explanations (confounds)
manipulated variable is
controlled (independent)
If we use the availability heuristic, we are basing our beliefs on
what comes to mind easily.
empirical journal articles
Report (for the first time) result of an empirical research study
self-selection
Sampling those who only volunteer
For her research methods class, Serena plans to interview several teachers about their attitude toward teaching children who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This is an example of what type of measurement?• a.Self-report measurement •b.Observational measurement •c.Physiological measurement• d.Archival measurement
Self report
Sample
Smaller focused set of people or things taken from a population ( smaller focus group of a population)
Types of Quantitative Variables
ordinal, interval, ratio
good scientific theories have
parsimony; all other things being equal the simplest solution is the best
internal reliability
participant provides consistent pattern of responses, regardless of how the researcher has phrased the question •Only for self-report scales
Covariance
as A changes, B changes. two variables go together
simple random sampling
assign number to each member of population then use a table of random numbers to select sample.
criterion validity
A property exhibited by a test that accurately measures performance of the test taker against a specific learning goal.
convergent validity
A self-report measure should correlate more strongly with self-report of similar constructs.
Which of the following is NOT part of the CRAAP test? -Identifying the purpose of the information -Seeking information that fits with your hypothesis -Finding out if the information has been reviewed or refereed -Identifying the author's credentials
-Finding out if the information has been reviewed or refereed
How do scientists share the results of their research with the scientific community?
-Submit it to a scientific journal -Peer-review
good scientific theories don't
-prove anything -evaluate theories based on weight of the evidence•"the data support or are consistent with the theory"
"Ugh, There are far more dogs than cats in this city. That's all you see in the parks—dogs, dogs, dogs!" This person appears to be basing a belief on A.a good story. B.availability. C.confirmation bias. D.a bias blind spot.
B
face validity
Measures whether a test looks like it tests what it is supposed to test.
Beware the "Freshman 15"? "Studies show that students on average gain 3 to 10 pounds during their first 2 years of college. Most of this weight gain occurs during the first semester of freshman year." Which question would best help you evaluate the validity of this argument? A.How many freshmen do not gain weight? B.How much weight do people gain after freshman year? C.What kinds of foods are freshmen most likely to eat? D.How much weight do people of the same age gain who don't go to college?
D
Hosea is studying the relationship between caffeine consumption and problem-solving ability. Which of the following is a categorical way to operationalize caffeine consumption?•a.The number of cups of coffee consumed in a day •b.The number of milligrams of caffeine consumed during the study •c.The frequency of buying energy drinks •d.Whether the participant drank a soda in the 24 hours
D
Census
EVERY member of a population.
Population
Entire set of people or things you are INTERESTED in.
A researcher finds that BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) scores (higher score = more symptoms of depression) and a survey of psychological well-being (higher score = higher well-being) have a correlation coefficient of -.65. What is the conclusion? •Evidence of good convergent validity •Evidence of good discriminant validity •Evidence of poor convergent validity •Evidence of poor internal reliability
Evidence of good convergent validity
construct validity
How well a conceptual variable is operationalized; how well the variable is manipulated/measured -Ex: "80% of college students have been depressed during the last year."
External validity (generalizability)
How well the results of a study represent the people or contexts besides those in the study itself -"72% of the world smiled yesterday"
RESEARCH STUDY 5.1: Dr. Rodriquez is considering conducting a study examining whether narcissistic people have poorer romantic relationships than those who are not narcissistic. One of her first tasks is to determine which of her participants are narcissistic and which are not. She decides to use the scale created by a colleague, the Donalscale. Question 1 reads, "I tend not to think about other people as much as I think about myself." Question 2 reads, "I do not have a high opinion of myself." Question 3 reads, "I think other people think I am really special."•Before using the measure in her study, Dr. Rodriquez analyzes the data she gets from her students. She looks at the relationship between each of the individual questions. She sees that participants who agree with Question 1 also agree with Question 3 and disagree with Question 2. This is a test of which of the following? •a.Interrater reliability •b.Internal reliability •c.convergent validity •d.discriminant validity
Internal reliability
Professor Lee is curious if there is any pattern to who earns extra credit in her course. She examines this question by graphing a scatterplot of her students' exam grades and the number of extra credit points earned. She finds that the students with the lowest exam grades tend to have the most extra credit points. What type of association is this? •Causal •Zero •Positive •Negative
Negative
ratio scale
Numerals represent equal intervals and there is a true zero
observational measure
Operationalize by recording observable behaviors •Ex: record number of times a person smiles
self-report measures
Operationalize by recording people's answers to questions about themselves in questionnaire/ interview
Reading the news on the Internet, Johan comes across the headline, "When Stress is Increased, Men Rush Ahead, Women More Cautious." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Lighthallet al., 2011.) In this study, men and women were asked to perform a decision task as many times as possible in a set period, in either a stressed or unstressed condition. In the unstressed condition, men and women performed similarly. However, in the stressed condition, the number of decision tasks performed by men increased while the number performed by women decreased. Which of the following is a constant in this study?
The amount of time to perform the decision task
statistical validity
The extent to which the study's conclusion are reasonable and accurate.
basic research
The goal is to enhance the general body of knowledge about a particular topic.
content validity
The measure contains all the parts that your theory says it should contain (subjective)
multistage sampling
Two random samples are collected. Stage 1: random sample of clusters is selected from population of interest. Stage 2: From those clusters, a random sample of people is chosen
frequency claim
a claim that describes a particular rate or degree of a SINGLE variable
Deci and Ryan (1985, 2001) 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. Susan's prediction that students who have all three needs met will experience greater satisfaction with their psychology class is an example of which of the following?
a hypothesis
Reading the news on the Internet, Johan comes across the headline, "When Stress is Increased, Men Rush Ahead, Women More Cautious." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Lighthallet al., 2011.) In this study, men and women were asked to perform a decision task as many times as possible in a set period, in either a stressed or unstressed condition. In the unstressed condition, men and women performed similarly. However, in the stressed condition, the number of decision tasks performed by men increased while the number performed by women decreased. In this study, the number of decision tasks performed is best described as which of the following?
a measured variable
meta-analysis
combines results of many studies and gives a number that summarizes magnitude of relationship
applied research
conducted in order to solve practical problems
test-retest reliability
consistent scores every time use the measure
interrater reliability
consistent scores no matter who does the measuring
Of the following validities, what would the researcher likely rank as most important?•Convergent validity •Criterion validity •Face validity •Discriminant validity
criterion validity
Generalizability
does the sample represent the population?
ways intuition is biased: CONFIRMATION BIAS
focusing on evidence we like best
What kind of a claim is the following headline making? "You Gotta Have Friends? Most Have Just Two True Pals."
frequency claim
Three types of claims
frequency, association, causal
good theories that are falsifiable must...
lead to hypotheses that, when tested, could fail to support the theory.
translational research
research that uses knowledge derived from basic research to develop and test solutions to real-world problems" bridge from basic to applied research"
Oversampling
researcher intentionally over represents one or more groups
Deciand Ryan (1985, 2001) 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.•Susan's hypothesis was not completely supported by her data. What does this mean?
the theory may need to be amended
Operationalize
to turn a conceptual definition of a variable into a specific measured variable or manipulated variable in order to conduct a research study
Reliability is necessary but not sufficient for validity.
true
•Reading the news on the Internet, Johan comes across the headline, "When Stress is Increased, Men Rush Ahead, Women More Cautious." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Lighthallet al., 2011.) In this study, men and women were asked to perform a decision task as many times as possible in a set period, in either a stressed or unstressed condition. In the unstressed condition, men and women performed similarly. However, in the stressed condition, the number of decision tasks performed by men increased while the number performed by women decreased. In this study, gender:
two levels
Empiricism
using evidence from the senses or from instruments that assist the senses as the basis for conclusions
Ways that intuition is biased
•Being swayed by a good story •Being persuaded by what easily comes to mind •Failing to think about what we cannot see •Focusing on the evidence we like best •Being biased about being biased
ways intuition is biased: BIAS BLIND SPOT
-belief we are unlikely to fall prey to the biases described; others are more biased than us -Makes it difficult to initiate the theory-data-cycle
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: •a.bias blind spot •b.confirmation bias •c.present/present bias. •d.asking biased questions.
C
cluster sampling
Clusters of participants within population of interest are randomly selected, then all individuals in each selected cluster are used. •Ex: -Population of interest: CA community college students -114 colleges. Randomly select 50. (cluster) -Of 50, ALL students.
Angela reads about a study in which cell phone use is associated with migraine headaches. She says, "Well, that study is not valid because I use a cell phone more than anyone I know and I never get migraines." Based on her comment, Angela may be forgetting which of the following?•a.Science is based on empiricism.• b.The study has been replicated. •c.The study did not properly define cell phone use. •d.Science is probabilistic.
D
RESEARCH STUDY 5.1: Dr. Rodriquez is considering conducting a study examining whether narcissistic people have poorer romantic relationships than those who are not narcissistic. One of her first tasks is to determine which of her participants are narcissistic and which are not. She decides to use the scale created by a colleague, the Donalscale. Question 1 reads, "I tend not to think about other people as much as I think about myself." Question 2 reads, "I do not have a high opinion of myself." Question 3 reads, "I think other people think I am really special."•Dr. Rodriquez is concerned about the validity of the measure of narcissism recommended by her colleague. She sends a copy of the measure to the faculty members in her psychology department to look at, and they all tell her it looks like it will measure narcissism. She now has evidence of which of the following? •a.Content validity •b.Face validity •c.Discriminant validity •d.Concurrent validity
Face Validity
RESEARCH STUDY 5.1: Dr. Rodriquez is considering conducting a study examining whether narcissistic people have poorer romantic relationships than those who are not narcissistic. One of her first tasks is to determine which of her participants are narcissistic and which are not. She decides to use the scale created by a colleague, the Donalscale. Question 1 reads, "I tend not to think about other people as much as I think about myself." Question 2 reads, "I do not have a high opinion of myself." Question 3 reads, "I think other people think I am really special."•Before using the measure in her study, Dr. Rodriquez gives the measure to a group of participants on the first day of the semester and again on the last day of the semester. She then compares the scores between the two time points. This is a test of which of the following? •a.convergent validity •b.Internal reliability• c.Test-retest reliability •d.Construct reliability
Test retest reliability
interval scale
a scale of measurement in which the intervals between numbers on the scale are all equal in size, Numerals represent equal distances between levels and there is no true zero
Deci and Ryan (1985, 2001) 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
unbiased sample
all members of the population have an equal chance of being included in the sample (population)
convenience sampling (a biased sampling)
choosing individuals who are easiest to contact
Being a Consumer
evaluate news stories based on research and understand psy research studies
probability sampling
every member of the population of INTEREST have an equal chance of being selected for the sample
ways intuition is biased: PRESENT/PRESENT BIAS
failing to think about what we cannot see
Professor Nakumdesigns a memory experiment to test the effect of word familiarity on memory. Three lists of words are created: common words, uncommon words, and made-up words. Participants are randomly assigned to study one of the lists of 30 words for 5 minutes, do math problems for 5 minutes, then write all the words they recall from the list. Their score is the number of words correctly recalled. The use of random assignment of participants increases which of the following? the temporal precedence of the study the strength of association of the study internal validity of the study external validity of the study
internal validity of the study
A measure can be less valid than it is reliable but
it cannot be more valid than it is reliable.
discriminant validity
measure should correlate less strongly with other measures of different constructs Ex. If you are a psychologist trying to develop a screen instrument for generalized anxiety disorder, what measures would you want to show correlate less strongly?
Which of the following is an operational definition of stress? feelings of anxiousness and pressure a measurement of the amount of a "fight or flight" hormone in saliva mental tension worry about school
measurement of the amount of a flight or flight
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?
my data provides support for my theory
measured variable is
observed and recorded. (dependent)
association claim
one level of a variable is likely to be associated with a particular level of another variable (involves at least two measured variables)
causal claim
one of the variables is responsible for changing the other ( one manipulated, one measured)
temporal precedence
one variable comes BEFORE the other variable
physiological measures
operationalize by recording biological data •Ex.: record muscle movements of the face using EMG
Three types of measures
self-report, observational, physiological
review journal articles
summary of all published studies in the research area
good scientific theories
supported by data, falsifiable, reproduce, variety of evidence
Three types of reliability
test-retest, interrater, internal
Reading the news on the Internet, Johan comes across the headline, "When Stress is Increased, Men Rush Ahead, Women More Cautious." (This headline is based on a study conducted by Lighthallet al., 2011.) In this study, men and women were asked to perform a decision task as many times as possible in a set period, in either a stressed or unstressed condition. In the unstressed condition, men and women performed similarly. However, in the stressed condition, the number of decision tasks performed by men increased while the number performed by women decreased. Which of the following is a variable in this study?
the amount of stress
