Chapter 1- Research Basics

Salma conducts a study and finds that her data do not completely support her theory. Which of the following statements should she avoid saying? a. "My data is inconsistent with my theory." b. "My theory needs amending." c. "My data disproves my theory." d. "I may need to collect more data."

"My data disproves my theory."

Which of the following is an association claim? a. "Owning a dog related to higher life satisfaction" b. "A majority of Americans like dogs" c. "Dog traveled 500 miles to find its owners" d. "Being visited by dogs in the hospital causes decreases in recovery time" e. None of the above are association claims

"Owning a dog related to higher life satisfaction"

Which of the following phrases would indicate that a researcher is making a causal claim? a. Curbs b. Seems to decrease c. Suggests a change d. Enhances e. All of the above would indicate a causal claim

All of the above would indicate a causal claim

Which of the following is the difference between anecdotal claims and frequency claims? a. Anecdotal claims are less interesting than frequency claims. b. Anecdotal claims are not based on scientific studies, but frequency claims are. c. Anecdotal claims appear in newspapers, but frequency claims appear in journals. d. Anecdotal claims involve a single variable, but frequency claims involve two variables.

Anecdotal claims are not based on scientific studies, but frequency claims are.

Sasha believes that she is a nice person. To confirm this, she asks all her friends whether she is a nice person and they all agree that she is. Sasha concludes that she is a nice person and says she has evidence of it. However, she does not ask any of her enemies whether they think she is a nice person. This is an example of which of the following? a. Cherry-picking of evidence b. Availability heuristic c. Fourth cell reasoning d. Overconfidence e. All of the above are examples of "thinking what we want"

Cherry-picking of evidence

A psychiatrist is testing a drug that treats depression. He has given the drug to all his patients and all of them have experienced a decease in depressive symptoms. Although this is interesting, his experience is limited because he does not have a: a. Reliable way to measure depressive symptoms b. Comparison group that did not receive the drug c. Hypothesis d. Psychotherapy to supplement the drug

Comparison group that did not receive the drug

Asking questions to get the answers we want is known as: a. The pop-up principle b. Availability heuristic c. Cherry-picking of evidence d. Confirmatory hypothesis testing

Confirmatory hypothesis testing

An alternative explanation for an outcome is known as a/an: a. Confound b. Alternative c. Confederate d. Secondary explanation

Confound

What is one way to avoid being misled by journalism reports on scientific research? a. Consult the source of the article — the original scientific findings. b. Use your own gut feeling to decide whether what you read in a popular press article is true. c. Accept that everything you read in a popular press article is true. d. Don't believe anything you read in journalism reports — assume the journalist's report is completely wrong.

Consult the source of the article — the original scientific findings.

Daniel's teacher tells him that his theory about dating is not strong because it is not falsifiable. What does she mean? a. Daniel's theory cannot be disproven. b. Daniel's theory has already been tested, and the evidence did not support the theory. c. Daniel's theory has already been put forth by another psychologist. d. Daniel's theory is too complicated.

Daniel's theory cannot be disproven.

If a finding is statistically significant, this means which of the following: a. The finding is important b. The statistical test was done properly c. It was unlikely that the result happened by chance d. Both a and b

It was unlikely that the result happened by chance

The traditional value that determines whether a result is statistically significant is a. .50 b. 1.00 c. .25 d. None of the above

None of the above

Another word for data is a/an ________. a. Prediction b. Theory c. Outcome d. Observation

Observation

Dr. Ellison finds a relation between the amount of sleep and problem solving. Specifically, having a higher amount of sleep the night before an exam is associated with higher scores on two measures of problem solving. This is an example of which type of association? a. There is not enough information to answer this question b. Positive association c. Negative association d. Zero association

Positive association

Another word for hypothesis is a/an a. Observation b. Theory c. Prediction d. Outcome

Prediction

Which of the following is true of operational definitions? a. Conceptual definition and operational definition mean the same thing b. Popular press descriptions of research usually refer to the operational definitions c. Some psychological concepts are more difficult to operationally define than others d. Some psychological concepts cannot be operationally defined e. Operational definitions answer the question "Why did the researchers measure this variable?"

Some psychological concepts are more difficult to operationally define than others

Which of the following is NOT a research claim? a. Texting interferes with driver's ability to pay attention. b. A majority of drivers have reported texting while driving. c. Texting while driving is associated with poor impulse control. d. Teens spend too much time texting and driving.

Teens spend too much time texting and driving.

Dr. Hadden wants to conduct a study that will allow him to make claims that apply to all college students. Which of the following validities is he prioritizing? a. The statistical validity of the study b. The internal validity of the study c. The construct validity of the study d. The external validity of the study e. He is not prioritizing any of the validities

The external validity of the study

A common finding in the study of aggression is that exposure to television is associated with increased aggressive behavior in children. You know this relationship may not be causal because you are not sure which occurred first--watching television or being aggressive. You are questioning which of the following rules of causation? a. The rule of covariance b. The rule of temporal precedence c. The third -variable rule d. All of the above rules e. None of the above rules

The rule of temporal precedence

The two biases of intuition discussed in the text are: a. Thinking the easy way and thinking what we want to think b. The present-present bias and the confederate bias c. Probabilistic thinking and nonintuitive thinking d. Overconfidence bias and oversimplification bias

Thinking the easy way and thinking what we want to think

According to the text, the bridge between basic and applied research is known as: a. Empirical research b. Practical research c. Translational research d. Compound research

Translational research

Dr. Sinclair divided her experimental research participants into two groups (those who received a drug and those who received a placebo). She measured the effects of this drug on memory for a list of 20 word-pairs. In statistical terms, _____________ is the independent variable and ______________ is the dependent variable in this study. a. Memory, type of drug b. Placebo, real drug c. Type of drug, memory d. Being divided into groups, memory

Type of drug, memory

The problem with the pop-up principle is which of the following? a. We do not examine all of the evidence, only what we can quickly think of b. We rely on the opinions of others rather than on our own opinions c. It keeps us from examining our own experience d. We will never be right in our conclusions

We do not examine all of the evidence, only what we can quickly think of

Which of the following could be considered a source of empirical evidence? a. a thermometer b. common sense c. an expert opinion d. a logical argument

a thermometer

. What type of research is done with a practical problem in mind? a. exploratory research b. basic research c. translational research d. applied research

applied research

If an experiment is high in internal validity, then you can feel confident that a. most extraneous variables were identified and controlled b. no independent variables were actually manipulated c. the same results would occur if you altered the setting and ran the study again d. differences in the independent variable caused differences in the dependent variable

differences in the independent variable caused differences in the dependent variable

Psychological scientists base their conclusions on the evidence. They collect data and use it to develop, support, or challenge a theory. This approach is known as a. the peer-review process b. falsifiability c. parsimony d. empiricism

empiricism

Which research method is most appropriate if you are looking for a causal relationship? a. correlational study b. naturalistic observation c. archival study d. experimental study

experimental study

The best synonym for external validity is a. specificity b. generalizability c. coherence d. suitability

generalizability

"All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." Which principle does this describe? a. weight of the evidence b. parsimony c. translational research d. evidence-based treatment

parsimony