Experimental Psych Chapters 9-13

Kiko is a researcher who is interested in examining the effects of caffeine on driving performance. To rule out a change in behavior brought about by participants' expectations about the effect of caffeine, she should use a(n)

balanced placebo design.

A researcher who measures the speed of helping in response to a request is using a ________ measure.

behavioral

A researcher is interested in knowing whether responses to lowering the legal age for drinking alcohol varies by gender. Which statistical test would be most appropriate for this type of data?

chi-square test

If both the independent and dependent variables use nominal scale properties, the most appropriate statistical test would be the

chi-square test.

In a cross-sectional study, a difference among groups of different ages may reflect developmental age changes; however, these differences may result from ________ effects.

cohort

After establishing that there is a reasonably high correlation between two variables, a researcher can utilize a regression equation to make predictions about the ________ variable from the ________ variable.

criterion; predictor

Any feature of an experiment that might inform participants of the purpose of the study is called a(n)

demand characteristic.

A researcher conducted a study to analyze the effect of gender bias on company recruitment. Participants were told that the purpose of the study was something different than it actually was. This deception was most likely implemented to avoid

demand characteristics.

Single-case experiments were developed from a need to

determine whether an experimental manipulation has an effect on a single research participant.

What does the electroencephalogram (EEG) measure?

electrical activity of brain cells

Regression toward the mean refers to the fact that

extreme scores tend to change toward the mean.

A restaurant is interested in examining the effect of increasing the price of hamburgers on its sales. During the first six months of the year, it measures the number of hamburgers sold each day. It then increases the price and records the number of hamburgers sold each day for the last six months of the year. This quasi-experimental design is an example of a(n)

interrupted time series design.

A multiple baseline design is often used when

it is impossible or unethical to effect a reversal of treatment.

What physiological measure is used to compare brain images of individuals with and without schizophrenia?

magnetic resonance imagery

The interrupted time-series design involves

making observations over an extended period of time before and after a treatment is instituted.

A ________ is an attempt to directly measure whether an independent variable manipulation has the intended effect on participants.

manipulation check

A simple main effect analysis examines

mean differences at each level of the independent variable.

A study is conducted in which the attitudes of the staff of a rehabilitation center are assessed. The staff is then exposed to an attitude change manipulation, and attitudes are assessed again. Another rehabilitation center of similar size is also chosen; the attitudes of the staff there are measured and then assessed again after manipulation. This quasi-experimental design is called a(n) ________ design.

nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest

A researcher wants to test a hypothesis according to which the mean rating of guilt will be higher for unattractive defendants than for attractive defendants. The appropriate statistical test would be the

one-tailed t-test.

In the context of one-group pretest-posttest design, maturation effects occur when

participants change systematically over time.

In the context of effect size, the r2 value is sometimes referred to as the

percent of shared variance between the two variables.

To analyze the effects of a new drug for anxiety developed by Solvit Wellness Inc., researchers conduct a study on two groups. Both the groups are informed about the usefulness of the drug in treating anxiety. However, only group A receives an injection of the actual drug, while group B receives an injection containing an inert substance. In this scenario, group B is known as a(n)

placebo group.

A desired probability of correctly rejecting the null hypothesis is the

power of the test.

A regression equation is used to

predict a score for Y from a known score of X.

The advantage of reporting effect size is that it

provides a scale of values that is consistent across all types of studies.

Selection differences are less likely to occur when researchers

randomly assign participants to groups.

In a shopping mall, a marketing researcher asks customers if they would prefer soda in a bottle or in a can. Their responses would be an example of a ________ measure.

self-report

With a(n) ________, the results for the independent variable are analyzed as if a researcher had separate experiments at each level of the other independent variable.

simple main effect

Matt, a researcher, employs a confederate to drop a stack of papers in front of a person and a group of people. He then measures the amount of time it takes for the confederate to receive help in picking up the papers. This scenario best exemplifies a ________ manipulation.

staged

Ralph, a researcher, employs a confederate to push into a queue at a grocery store checkout counter in front of a person who is second and then another person who is ninth in line. He then records the number of verbal responses toward the confederate at each instance, as a measure of aggression. The manipulation employed in this scenario is an example of a ________ manipulation.

staged

Presenting participants with different versions of a videotaped confession to study their perceptions is an example of a(n) ________ manipulation.

straightforward

Which of the following describes a sequential design?

studying groups of 10- and 15-year-olds and then studying these individuals again 2, 4, and 6 years later

What is a research proposal similar to?

the introduction and method sections of a journal article

When analyzing the difference between two means, Professor Angus obtains the effect size as .85 using Cohen's d. In this case, Professor Angus can conclude that

the means are separated by a .85 standard deviation.

In a multiple baseline design, in order to conclude that a treatment is effective, a behavior change must be observed

under multiple circumstances.

How many participants are required in a repeated measures design with 10 participants per condition in a study with manipulated variables?

10

A researcher examined judgments of responsibility for an automobile accident by manipulating the type of injuries received (none, mild, or severe) and the time of the accident (7 a.m., 12 p.m., 6 p.m., or 3 a.m.). How many main effects are possible in this study?

2

In a 2 × 3 factorial design, there are ________ main effect(s) and ________ interaction effect(s) possible.

2 main effects; 1 interaction effect

A researcher is interested in variables that may affect an individual's driving ability. He has people drive a course in wet, dry, and icy conditions. In addition, he has them drive a vehicle with or without power steering, and with an automatic or a manual transmission. This design is an example of a ________ factorial design.

3 × 2 × 2

A researcher designs an experiment in which the following are manipulated: the age of an applicant (young, middle, old), the gender (man, woman, nonbinary), and the type of job applied for (blue collar, white collar). Identify the type of design this experiment represents.

3 × 2 × 2 design

A researcher examines the effect of the physical attractiveness of a driver involved in an automobile accident (unattractive, average, or attractive) and the severity of damage caused ($500, $1,500, or $2,500) on judgments of responsibility assigned to the driver. Which of the following represents the factorial design?

3 × 3

How many participants are needed in a 2 × 2 factorial design with completely independent groups and 20 participants per group?

80

A researcher wants to study the effect of weather on college students' study habits. On a sunny day, the researcher sits in the quad and records the number of minutes of study per student. Identify the crucial element missing in this design.

A control group.

What is missing in the researcher's design studying the effect of weather on study habits?

A control group.

What is a quasi-experimental design?

A design that lacks random assignment to conditions.

What is a balanced placebo design?

A design used to rule out changes in behavior due to participants' expectations by using a combination of actual and placebo treatments.

What is a placebo group?

A group that receives an inert substance or treatment to serve as a comparison to the actual treatment group.

What is a generally inexpensive measure of a dependent variable?

A paper-and-pencil questionnaire.

What is a significant result?

A result with a very low probability of occurring if the population means are equal.

A researcher had young or middle age participants watch a PG-13 or an R-rated film. After viewing the film, the participants rated the amount of violence in the films—the higher the assigned rating, the more violent the film. The mean results in the four conditions were: Young Middle Age PG-13 3.1 3.2 R 3.8 8.5 Which of the following statements is LEAST likely to be true?

A simple main effect of participant age does not exist when the movie is rated PG-13.

The grades received by 10 college students on a test are A, B, D, A, A, A, C, B, C, and A. From this data, it can be inferred that the mode is

A.

To examine how a reward influences a desired behavior, a mother first counts the number of times her son makes his bed over a two-week period. For the next two weeks, she gives him a reward every time he makes his bed. Following this period, she stops rewarding him and again counts the number of times he makes his bed. This procedure is an example of a(n) ________ design.

ABA

What is a variation of the multiple baseline design?

Across subjects.

What is true of factorial designs?

All levels of each independent variable are combined with all levels of the other independent variable.

A researcher finds that for female applicants, the likelihood of being hired for a job increases as their work experience increases. However, for male applicants, the likelihood of being hired decreases as their work experience increases. This finding suggests

An interaction between gender and work experience.

What is a similarity between demand characteristics and experimenter expectancy?

Both involve expectations that may influence participant behavior.

________ in quasi-experimental designs is more difficult than in true experiments because quasi-experimental designs lack the important features of true experiments such as random assignment to conditions.

Causal inference

When an independent variable appears to have no effect on a dependent measure only because participants quickly reach the maximum performance level, it is known as a(n) ________ effect.

Ceiling

What are cohort effects?

Differences among groups of different ages.

What is causal inference?

Drawing conclusions about cause and effect relationships.

A science test was given to boys and girls from three different schools. Rudolph, a junior researcher, wants to analyze the difference in the variability of the mean scores among the three schools. The appropriate statistical test would be the

F test.

Internet research by Strassberg and Holty (2003) compared responses to women's Internet personal ads. The researchers presented participants with an ad focusing on different characteristics such as (1) slim and attractive, (2) sensual and passionate, (3) painting and hiking, or (4) financially independent and ambitious. This is an example of a ________ design.

Factorial

In a study with a 2 × 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design, it can be inferred that there are

Four variables, each with two levels.

A researcher assesses participants' attitude toward marijuana, presents them with a persuasive seminar favoring liberalization of marijuana laws, and then reassesses their attitude toward the drug. However, between assessment 1 and assessment 2, the President also advocates liberalization of marijuana laws. If the researcher does not use a control group, it will be impossible to discount that the changes were caused by ________ effects.

History

In a factorial design, a main effect is the effect each ________ variable has by itself.

Independent

When interpreting research findings, which term means essentially the same thing as moderation?

Interaction

Which of the following is true of propensity score matching?

It allows individuals in the treatment and the control group to be matched on multiple variables.

Which of the following is true of error variance?

It is the variability of scores within a group.

In which of the following ways does restricting the range of a variable affect the correlation coefficient?

It reduces the magnitude of the correlation coefficient.

To study personality development, a researcher studies the same individuals at 11, 14, 21, and 30 years of age. In this case, the researcher is using the ________ method.

Longitudinal

A researcher designs a study in which participants are randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Each participant is then measured under two different circumstances. This is an example of a(n) ________ design.

Mixed factorial design

In the context of physiological measures, the electromyogram is used to measure

Muscle tension.

Jaquan examines the effect of different genres of music, such as jazz, rock, and rap, on task performance. Which type of measurement scale do the genres of music represent?

Nominal scale

What type of measurement scale lacks numerical properties?

Nominal scale

What is the interrupted time-series design?

Observations made before and after a treatment is implemented.

Variables with ________ scale levels exhibit minimal quantitative distinctions.

Ordinal scale

The ________ is a measure of variability.

Range

In a flight simulation test, a particular pilot among a group of pilots receives a very low score. However, when he takes the test after six months, he performs considerably better and his scores are closer to the average of the group. Which of the following is most likely to account for the higher scores?

Regression toward the mean.

A compromise between the longitudinal and cross-sectional methods is the ________ method.

Sequential

What is a sequential design?

Studying groups of individuals at different time points.

Which of the following is a common manipulation used by scientists and advertisers when representing data on a bar graph?

The distance between points on the measurement scale is exaggerated to make the results appear more dramatic than they really are.

In the general form of a regression equation given by Y = a + bX, the letter X represents

The known score

What measure of central tendency is exemplified in the scenario of automobile repair shop workers?

The median.

Workers at an automobile repair shop report that half of the automobiles they repair have a resale value below $8,000. Which measure of central tendency is exemplified in this scenario?

The median.

Anastasia finds the relationship between alcohol consumption and reaction time to be −.63. However, the relationship between coffee consumption and reaction time is +.52. What can she conclude from these data?

The relationship between alcohol consumption and reaction time is stronger than the relationship between coffee consumption and reaction time.

Which of the following is true of a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design?

There are four possible interactions.

What is least likely to be true of a 2 × 2 factorial design?

There is always a significant interaction between the independent variables.

What is true about staged manipulations?

They can be used to involve participants in an ongoing social situation that is perceived as a real experience.

Which of the following is true of path coefficients?

They indicate the strength of a relationship on the −1.00 to +1.00 scale.

Which of the following is true of frequency polygons?

They use a line to represent the distribution of frequencies of scores.

Why might a researcher use deception in a study?

To avoid demand characteristics and ensure participants' genuine responses.

A correlation coefficient is used

To describe the strength of the relationship between two variables.

What is a regression equation used for?

To predict the value of one variable based on the value of another variable

What are confounding effects?

Uncontrolled factors that may influence the results.

A measure of ________ is a number that characterizes the amount of spread in a distribution of scores.

Variability

When does an interaction occur in a factorial design?

When the effect of one independent variable changes across levels of a second independent variable.

In the context of staged manipulations, what is a confederate?

a person who appears to be another participant in an experiment

Dunn et al. (2005) conducted an experiment of the relationship between exercise and depression. Participants were randomly assigned to either a low or a high intensity workout regime. Some were assigned to work out three days a week, while other participants worked out five days a week. Identify the independent variable(s) in this study.

amount of exercise and frequency of exercise

A professor at a university ranks subjects based on students' preferences identified through a survey. Science is ranked first, mathematics second, and management third. In this scenario, which of the following types of measurement scale has the professor employed?

an ordinal scale

During the debriefing session of an experiment, the participants are

asked about their thoughts during the experiment.