PSYC 330 S vs. L Data
________ data derive from the researcher's direct observation of what the subject does.
B
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of B data?
Direct observations require little in the way of psychological interpretation.
Which type of data is likely to be the most subjective and judgmental?
I
What is the big disadvantage of the case study method?
It is not generalizable.
Records of employee absenteeism are what type of data?
L
Which of the following types of personality data is the most objective and verifiable?
L
________ data are fairly easily verifiable, concrete, real-life outcomes of possible psychological significance.
L
According to the text, what is the central principle behind the use of S data?
People are the best experts on their own opinions and behaviors.
According to the text, which of the following would NOT be a threat to the generalizability of personality research? Select one:
Personality researchers strive to study multiple cohorts.
What is the best way for a researcher to judge the face validity of items on a measure?
Read and consider the content of the items.
To assess the personality traits of a group of 5-year-olds, researchers use puppets to illustrate different personality traits. Children are then asked to pick the puppet that best matches their personality. This is an example of ________ data.
S
When someone is high in narcissism, what type of data about this person might be the LEAST trustworthy?
S
Which kind of data is the LEAST expensive to collect?
S
Which kind of data would be the easiest way to obtain information about the content of dreams?
S
________ data are the most frequently used basis for personality assessment.
S
A behavioroid measure is a combination of which two types of data?
S and B
In order to examine the relationship between early life experiences and adult criminality, Dr. Robbins asks his research participants to fill out questionnaires describing their early life. He then obtains copies of their arrest records from the county courthouse. The questionnaires used in Dr. Robbins's study would be ________ data, whereas the arrest records would be ________ data.
S; L
Which of the following is a disadvantage of I data?
Their accuracy is limited because individuals often behave differently in different contexts.
Validity can most simply be defined as the degree to which
a measurement actually reflects what it is supposed to be measuring.
Reliability is ________ for validity.
a necessary but not sufficient condition
Which of the following is LEAST likely to be considered B data?
a psychologist's interpretation of a participant's responses to an unstructured clinical interview
Validity is the degree to which a measurement ________.
actually reflects or measures what you think it does
The most important and generally useful way to enhance reliability is to ________.
aggregate your measurements
Dr. Grant is creating a new measure of shyness, and she decides to include more than one item in her scale. She believes that using multiple items will lead to a more reliable measure. Dr. Grant is following which principle of measurement?
aggregation
Which of the following is NOT likely to undermine the reliability of a survey?
aggregation of responses to different items
What term describes computer-assisted methods to measure thoughts and feelings that occur during normal daily activities?
ambulatory assessment
What kinds of behaviors by an acquaintance would most likely be remembered?
an atypical behavior that was emotionally evocative
Generalizability allows us to do what?
apply our results to populations or situations outside of an experiment
The goal of the dissertation in the process of scientific education is to demonstrate that the future scientist ________.
can contribute something new to the field
Narrative psychology is an example of the ________ method.
case study
The judgments that others make of your personality affect your opportunities and expectancies. Thus, these judgments have ________.
causal force
When gathering data or clues about personality, the best policy is to ________.
collect as many clues as possible
In simple language, questions about reliability concern ________, whereas questions about validity concern ________.
consistency; accuracy
A research strategy that involves gathering as many different measurements as you can of a particular construct and determining if those measurements correlate is called ________.
construct validation
The most important advantage of B data is that they are based on ________.
direct observations of behavior, so they are more objective and quantifiable
According to the text, accidental mistakes in judging personality are considered ________, whereas inaccurate judgments that are influenced by prejudices are considered ________.
errors; biases
The tendency for us to become what other people believe us to be is called an ________ effect.
expectancy
Dr. Low is interested in studying the effect mood has on the willingness to help a stranger. She randomly assigns half of her participants to the pleasant mood condition and shows them funny film clips. The other half of her participants is assigned to the unpleasant mood condition and is forced to watch boring film clips. She then gives every participant an opportunity to donate money to a homeless stranger. Dr. Low is using a(n ) ________ design.
experimental
Which design is best suited for addressing the third-variable problem?
experimental
A researcher asks participants to imagine that they have been excluded from their circle of friends and then takes images of their brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning technology. The images generated in this study would be considered ________ data.
experimental B
In a priming study, participants solved puzzles that included words such as gray, wise, retired, and Florida. After solving these puzzles, participants were observed as they walked down a hallway. The observation of participants' speed of walking would be considered ________ data.
experimental B
There is a possibility that individuals are so accustomed to certain aspects of their personality that they might not be aware of those traits. This is called the ________ effect.
fish-and-water
Because each kind of data has limitations, personality psychologists should ________.
gather as much data as possible
Reliability and validity are actually both aspects of a broader concept called ________.
generalizability
The fact that much of modern empirical research in psychology has been based on white, middle-class college sophomores may reduce the ________ of psychological research.
generalizability
The fact that women are more likely than men to sign up for a study affects the __________ of the study.
generalizability
According to the textbook, there are no perfect ________ of personality, only ________.
indicators; clues
The strongest advantage of the experimental method is that ________.
it allows the assessment of causality
Different informants may not agree about the personality of a common target individual because ________.
judges may form a mistaken impression based on the recollection of a single, uncharacteristic behavior; each judge may see the target person in only a limited number of social contexts; some informants may have biases that affect the accuracy of their judgments
Informant-report data can best be defined as
judgments by knowledgeable human informants of general attributes of the individual's personality made through observation.
I data are ________.
judgments made by knowledgeable observers
Reliability is important to successful research, but every measurement involves a certain amount of error. Which of the following lists describes some factors that commonly undermine reliability?
low precision, variation in the participant and environment, state of the experimenter
The major difference between the experimental and correlational methods is that in the experimental method the presumed causal variable is ________, whereas in the correlational method the same variable is ________.
manipulated; measured
Linda is taking an intelligence test. During the test, the teachers walk through the halls and chat loudly with each other. Due to these distractions, Linda scores lower on the test than she would have if she had been able to concentrate fully. The influence of the teachers' chatting is an example of ________.
measurement error
A researcher can increase the reliability of a personality test by ________.
measuring something important
Because any piece of L data can have many different causes, it is extremely difficult to directly connect life outcomes with specific personality traits. This key disadvantage to L data is referred to as
multidetermination.
According to the text, what simple example of L data is considered by clinical psychologists to be a potential indicator of psychopathology?
never being married by age 40
According to principles described in the text, it would be relatively difficult to create a reliable measure of attitudes toward ________.
paper clips
What term is sometimes used to describe instruments like the Rorschach and Thematic Apperception Test (TAT)?
performance-based personality tests
Researchers must use clues to personality in their research because________.
personality is something hidden that resides inside an individual
According to the text, a ________ would receive technical training, whereas a ________ would receive scientific education.
physician; biologist
At the heart of aggregation is the idea that ________.
random errors cancel each other out
To conduct an experimental study of the causal effect smoking has on physical health, we would have to ________.
randomly assign some people to a smoking condition and some others to a control condition
On Friday, Terence completes the Self-Monitoring Scale and receives a score of 49. On the following Tuesday, he fills out the scale again and receives a score of 28. Terence's scores on the Self-Monitoring Scale do not appear to be ________.
reliable
Jane recently completed a new test that was designed to measure her IQ. She took the test twice and each time received the same score. The test administrator told her that her scores indicate she is extremely intelligent. However, Jane scored well below average when she completed the Stanford-Binet and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS), two well-established intelligence tests. Based on this pattern of results, it appears that the new measure of IQ was a ________.
reliable but not valid measure of intelligence
The main difference between state and trait reliability is that
states lack consistency across time and situations, whereas traits produce reliable measures across time and situations.
If test scores decrease as anxiety increases, then ________.
test scores and anxiety are negatively correlated
Many psychologists tend to use college students as participants in their research and then assume that what they learn applies to people in general. However, this common practice may limit ________.
the generalizability of their findings
Both experimental and correlational methods assess the relationship between variables. The two methods are different in that
the variable that is thought to be causal is manipulated in the experimental method, whereas it is measured without being manipulated in the correlational method.
What is the minimum number of informants that Funder recommends for each person in a study?
two
