Chapter 13 -InQuizitive

1. maturation threat 2. testing threats 3. placebo effects 4. selection effects 5. attrition threat 6. history threat

1. Participants show spontaneous change. 2. Participants change their responses based on past assessment. 3. The thought of treatment, rather than the treatment itself, causes participants to report changes. 4. Groups vary systematically on traits other than the levels of the independent variable. 5. Participants leave a study in a systematic way. 6. An external event, rather than the independent variable, changes scores of the dependent variable.

True Statement(s) Researchers collect a lot of information on relatively few cases. They are almost always repeated-measures designs. False Statement(s) Researchers present the data as group averages. Researchers analyze the results with traditional statistics, such as the correlation coefficient r.

Identify the true and false statements about small-N designs.

Reason(s) The results were replicated in other participants. The study involved multiple measurements of behavior before the introduction of the intervention. Not Reason(s) The baseline was a single, extreme low point which improved after the intervention was introduced. The introduction of the intervention was staggered across different groups.

Which of the following statements are reasons we can rule out alternative explanations for the results in a stable-baseline design?

1. experiment 2. quasi-experiment 3. nonequivalent control groups

While a(n) ___1___ includes a manipulated independent variable in order to see the change in a dependent variable, a(n) ___2___ includes an independent variable that cannot truly be manipulated by the experimenter. Because participants cannot be randomly assigned to levels of the independent variable, this type of research has ___3___.

1. instrumentation threat 2. regression to the mean 3. demand characteristics 4. testing threat 5. selection threat

1. Researchers can use the same questionnaire multiple times to ensure that the standard is the same across measurements. 2. Researchers can make sure to avoid selecting participants who produce extreme scores. 3. Researchers can use a double-blind study design. 4. Researchers can use a different test for the pretest and posttest to make sure that participants' change in performance is not due to practice or fatigue. 5. Researchers can make sure that participants in the control and treatment groups are matched on an important factor.

1. quasi-independent variable 2. participant variable 3. participant variable 4. independent variable 5. independent variable 6. quasi-independent variable

1. Researchers study the difference in binge-drinking episodes between cities with football teams that win and cities with football teams that do not win each weekend. 2. Researchers look at the difference between introverts and extroverts in displaying aggressive behavior after experiencing ostracism. 3. Researchers examine cultural differences in the expression of emotion between North Americans and the Japanese. 4. Researchers have some college students go through a mindfulness exercise while other college students watch a nature documentary. 5. Researchers examine the difference in behavioral problems between children whose parents were told to give positive reinforcements only and children whose parents were told to give punishments only. 6. Researchers examine the difference in protective face mask-wearing behavior between states that have made mask-wearing mandatory and states that have not during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. multiple-baseline design 2. stable-baseline design 3. reversal design

1. Teachers introduce four different third-grade classrooms to longer recess periods starting at different time points, to find out whether longer recess will help decrease classroom misbehavior. 2. A therapist studies a patient with obsessive-compulsive disorder for several weeks before initiating treatment. 3. Therapists introduce a patient with antisocial personality disorder to an intervention involving the reinforcement of positive behavior; then, the therapists remove it several weeks later to see how it affects the patient's behavior.

1. nonequivalent control group posttest-only design 2. nonequivalent control group pretest/posttest design 3. nonequivalent control group interrupted time-series design 4. interrupted time-series design

1. a quasi-experiment with one treatment and one control group that measures the dependent variable only once 2. a quasi-experiment with a treatment and a control group that measures the dependent variable before and after the treatment 3. a quasi-experiment with two groups that are measured repeatedly before, during, and after some event 4. a quasi-experiment with a single group of participants that is measured repeatedly before, during, and after some event

nonequivalent control group interrupted time-series design

A company that owns several hospitals in rural areas of the South goes bankrupt and closes all its hospitals. Researchers become aware of this situation and use public health records to document the average age at death of residents in communities where the hospitals closed, and in other communities that were matched on several variables but did not lose their hospitals. The researchers collect death records in the two communities for several years before and after the closure of these hospitals to investigate the effect the closures had on life expectancy. What type of design are the researchers using?

1. multiple-baseline 2. external

A drought in California created the opportunity for a study on the effectiveness of fines in promoting water conservation (Agras et al., 1980). Researchers studied three comparable California cities—two that imposed fines at different times and a third that did not impose fines at all. Researchers used the water consumption data from the 3 years before the onset of the fines as a baseline and then gathered subsequent consumption data through the end of the drought. They assessed the effectiveness of fines by examining water consumption the month following the end of the drought. In regard to the monitoring of water consumption, this study was a(n) ___1___ design. In the study, researchers capitalized on real-life circumstances to study water conservation, which demonstrates the prioritization of ___2___ validity.

history threat Feedback: The change in the dependent variable could be explained by an external variable: the buses of children. The presence of all the schoolchildren may be increasing traffic in the new area, which might not happen otherwise.

A group of researchers is measuring foot traffic in a museum. Recently, one half of the museum was redone in order to encourage more foot traffic. Researchers are counting the number of attendees in this new zone versus other zones that have not been redone. On the first day that researchers are recording foot traffic, several buses of schoolchildren arrive at the museum unexpectedly for a field trip. After a day of testing, the new zone appears to be getting just as much foot traffic as the other zones. What problem is most likely affecting this quasi-experiment?

1. stable-baseline 2. multiple-baseline 3. reversal

A(n) ___1___ design monitors a small number of participants for a long period of time before a treatment begins in order to learn what behaviors are typical without treatment. A(n) ___2___ design staggers the start time of an intervention across different individuals. Finally, a(n) ___3___ design introduces a treatment and then removes it to see whether the previous behavior will return.

1. interrupted time-series design 2. menu labeling 3. sales of high-calorie menu items

After a new city law goes into effect, a restaurant chain begins displaying the nutrition information for its menu items. The restaurant owner records the sales of the 15 highest-calorie menu items on three occasions: once a month before the change in menu display, once the week of the change, and once a month after the change. The owner observes that the sale of the high-calorie menu items dropped, while overall sales remained steady. This study uses a(n) ___1___. The quasi-independent variable is ___2___ and the dependent variable is ___3___.

demand characteristics

Asher is recording children's playground behavior to investigate the differences between third, fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. For each session, he sits on the swings with a notebook and counts the sizes of groups and types of activities for each grade. Asher notices that several children in each grade come over to the swings, but then walk away once they notice him sitting there. Because they walk away, they are not counted in the study. Asher finds that the younger grades tend to do more group activities, while the older grades tend to engage in more individual activities. What problem is affecting Asher's quasi-experiment?

True Statement(s): Liu Wei is utilizing a stable-baseline design. Liu Wei's study involves a within-groups design. False Statement(s) Liu Wei's study design has high external validity. Liu Wei's study is a quasi-experiment.

Grimstvedt and colleagues (2010) examined the effect of placing signs encouraging the use of stairs near elevators. Based on their design, Liu Wei designs a study for his campus. He selects four buildings and starts by measuring elevator and stair use in those buildings for a month. He then posts signs encouraging the use of stairs near the elevators and measures elevator and stair use in the buildings for another month. Identify the true and false statements about Liu Wei's study.

Small-N Design(s): Researchers administer 50 trials of a memory task to a patient with anterograde amnesia. Researchers give patients with dissociative identity disorder different treatments; then they take the treatments away to see how effective they were. Large-N Design(s): Forty participants complete 25 trials of a "go/no-go" task designed to measure decision making. Researchers compare the average performance of 15 early-decision college students to the average performance of 15 typical students.

Identify the following examples as either small-N or large-N designs.

True Statement(s) Many quasi-experiments would be unethical if treated as true experiments. Quasi-experiments allow scientists to study real-world phenomena in real time. False Statement(s) Researchers conducting quasi-experiments are not trying to make causal claims. Correlational studies and quasi-experiments are identical designs.

Identify the true and false statements about quasi-experiments.

True Statement(s): Reversal designs require careful consideration of research ethics. Reversal designs generally do not work for educational interventions. False Statement(s): Reversal designs work best for situations in which the treatment causes lasting change. Reversal designs are a type of quasi-experiment.

Identify the true and false statements about reversal designs.

Quasi-Experiment: Researchers examine bad classroom behavior following recess at a school that has one recess period versus another school that has two. Researchers track sick days taken at a company after each occasion that the company assigns mandatory overtime. Researchers look for differences in texting behavior between baby boomers and members of Generation Z. True Experiment: Researchers randomly assign volunteers for a video game study to play either a violent game or a nonviolent game for 6 months. Researchers randomly assign two separate groups to complete two different mindfulness strategies to see which strategy results in less stress.

Identify whether each example is either a quasi-experiment or a true experiment.

1. single-N designs 2. small-N designs 3. large-N designs

In ___1___, researchers study one participant extensively in order to extract as many data as possible. ___2___ are similar in that they treat each individual as a separate experiment, but instead of one participant, they use a few. Finally, large-N designs recruit many participants and are concerned with the data of the sample as a whole.

1. internal 2. external

Many people question the validity of small-N designs. However, if small-N studies are carefully designed and rigorously conducted, they are often very strong in ___1___ validity. The ___2___ validity of small-N studies can also be strengthened by combining the results with other studies on animals or other groups.