psych 203 exam 1
. "Electrical brain stimulation may alleviate obsessive-compulsive behaviors." This headline makes a(n) _________ claim a) frequency b) association c) causal d) reliable
C - "Alleviate" is an active verb suggesting causation. Hedging with "may" doesn't change this.
You read a news article about a recent scientific study titled, "New Drug Reduces OCD Symptoms in Mice." To evaluate whether the title's claim is supported, you should a) ensure that the authors operationally define OCD b) research the frequency of OCD in mice c) check whether the authors performed a true experiment. d) ask whether the implication makes intuitive sense.
C - This is another causal claim, so we need an experiment as support.
The extent to which a measure captures all parts of a defined construct.
Content validity
The study's results show that as A changes, B changes; e.g., high levels of A go with high levels of B, and low levels of A go with low levels of B.
Covariance
An empirical form of measurement validity that establishes the extent to which a measure is associated with a behavioral outcome with which it should be associated.
Criterion validity
A correlation-based statistic that measures a scale's internal reliability
Cronbach's alpha
A variable whose levels are categories (e.g., male and female)
categorical variables
these are examples of: Mothers' Friendships Are Good for Babies' Brains Family Meals Curb Eating Disorders To Appear More Intimidating, Just Tilt Your Head Down Pretending to Be Batman Helps Kids Stay on Task
causal claims
A group in an experiment whose levels on the independent variable differ from those of the treatment group in some intended and meaningful way.
comparison group
A researcher's definition of a variable at the theoretical level.
conceptual definition
A variable of interest, stated at an abstract, or conversational, level.
conceptual variable
An actor who is directed by the researcher to play a specific role in a research study.
confederate
A given range indicated by a lower and upper value that is designed to capture the population value for some point estimate (e.g., percentage, difference, or correlation); a high proportion of CIs will capture the true population value.
confidence interval
An attribute that could potentially vary but that has only one level in the study in question.
constant
An indication of how well a variable was measured or manipulated in a study.
construct validity
A variable of interest, stated at an abstract level, usually defined as part of a formal statement of a psychological theory.
constructs
people who read about research so they can later apply it to their work, hobbies, relationships, or personal growth.
consumers of research
theory that is that babies are attached to their mothers because of the comfort of their warm, fuzzy fur.
contact comfort theory
A psychotherapy technique whose effectiveness has been supported by empirical research.
evidence based treatments
A study in which at least one variable is manipulated and another is measured.
experiment
The extent to which a measure is subjectively considered a plausible operationalization of the conceptual variable in question.
face validity
these are examples of: Thirty-nine Percent of Teens Admit to Texting While Driving In the U.S., 71% Support Transgender People Serving in the Military Screen Time for Kids Under 2 More Than Doubles, Study Finds Most Students Don't Know When News Is Fake
frequency claims
The extent to which the subjects in a study represent the populations they are intended to represent; how well the settings in a study represent other settings or contexts
generalizability
A scholarly article that reports for the first time the results of a research study.
empirical journal article
a comprehensive tool for sorting through the vast amount of psychological research
PsycInfo
The study's method ensures that A comes first in time, before B.
Temporal precedence
Provide two distinct operational definitions for each of the following constructs. For each definition, state whether the measure involved is self-report, behavioral, or physiological. a) academic motivation b) physical fitness
There are LOTS of possibilities here. A good operational definition provides a specific way to measure the construct and has at least face validity (i.e., it appears to be tied to the construct. Some examples: ACADEMIC MOTIVATION: • self-reported time spent studying per week (self-report) • response to the question "On a scale of 1-10, how much do you prioritize your school work over other activities in your life?" (self-report) • average response to 10 questions probing motivation, such as "How likely are you to submit all of your assignments by the deadline?" (self-report) • percentage of classes attended, as determined through official attendance records (behavioral) • number of answers volunteered in a 1-hour class period, based on direct observation (behavioral) PHYSICAL FITNESS: • Self-reported number of hours per week spent working out (self-report) • Observed amount of time a person can jog on a treadmill at 6 mph without stopping (behavioral) • Total number of sit-ups a person can complete before muscle failure, defined as the person being unable/unwilling to complete another sit-up without a break (behavioral) • Change in heartrate, as measured with a finger monitor, when an individual walks up 50 stairs at a pace of 2 stairs per second (physiological) • Difference between a person's body mass index, calculated based on weight and height measured on a medical-grade equipment, and the standardized "ideal" (physiological)
a monthly or quarterly periodical containing peer-reviewed articles on a specific academic discipline or subdiscipline, written for a scholarly audience
journal
News and commentary published or broadcast in the popular media and produced for a general audience.
journalism
contains a full bibliographic listing of all the sources the authors cited in writing their article, enabling interested readers to located these studies
references
The process of conducting a study again to test whether the result is consistent.
replication
describes the quantitative and, as relevant, qualitative results of the study, including the statistical steps the authors used to analyze the data. Usually provides tables and figures that summarize key results.
results
An article summarizing all the studies that have been published in one research area.
review journal articles
A process in which scientists make their research available for peer review, replication, and critique, with the goal of identifying and correcting errors in the research
self correcting
A method of measuring a variable in which people answer questions about themselves in a questionnaire or interview.
self-report measure
The upward, downward, or neutral slope of the cluster of data points in a scatterplot
slope direction
typically do not include footnotes, or a list of sources, though they may mention the original researchers and include links to their published journal articles
sources of popular articles (journalism)
always include sources and full reference lists
sources of scholarly articles (journals)
A description of an association indicating how closely the data points in a scatterplot cluster along a line of best fit drawn through them.
strength
One of three criteria for establishing a causal claim, stating that the proposed causal variable comes first in time, before the proposed outcome variable.
temporal precedence
Dr. Pennington uses findings from memory research to design new study programs for college students. Dr. Pennington is conducting ___________ research. a) translational b) applied c) basic d) exploratory
A - They're using basic research results to solve a practical problem.
Dr. White reads about a new theory that states that postpartum depression is caused by increased levels of estrogen in the womb. To test this theory, she conducts a study comparing the level of estrogen in amniotic fluid in pregnant women who were later diagnosed with depression with the level of those who did not develop depression. Dr. White finds no differences between the groups in estrogen levels in the amniotic fluid. Dr. White's next step should be to a) evaluate her operational definition of "estrogen level" and other differences from previous studies. b) work with a journalist to publicize the fact that her work has disproved the previous theory. c) start altering treatments for postpartum depression. d) develop a new theory of what causes postpartum depression.
A - When our results are inconsistent with theory or previous research, we first examine our approach
concise summary of the article. It briefly describes the study's hypotheses, method, and major results. Can help you quickly decide whether each article describes the kind of research you are looking for, or whether you should move on to the next article.
Abstract
Course grade (A, B, C, D, or F) is measured on a(n) ________ scale. a) nominal b) ordinal c) interval d) ratio
B - Even though there are no numbers here, there is a meaningful order: A>B>C>D>F
Dr. Rodriquez is a health psychologist who is interested in studying the effects of cannabidiol (CBD) oil on perceptions of pain in college student athletes with sports injuries. She became interested in studying this topic after hearing multiple claims by the media that CBD oil was effective in treating pain. However, she could not find any empirical studies that reported findings of the effectiveness for CBD oil for sports injuries. Her decision to conduct a study to test the media claims is an example of Merton's scientific norm of a) universality b) communality c) disinterestedness d) organized skepticism.
D - Organize skepticism involves always looking for scientific evidence to support beliefs.
The study's method ensures that there are no plausible alternative explanations for the change in B; A is the only thing that changed.
Internal validity
the first section of regular text, and the first paragraphs typically explain the topic of the study. The middle paragraphs lay out the background for the research. What theory is being tested? What have past studies found? Why is the present study important? Pay special attention to the final paragraph, which states the specific research questions, goals, or hypotheses for the current study.
Introduction
Diego is interested in examining the relationship between a person's attachment style and his or her relationship satisfaction. He finds 65 studies that have examined this topic. He combines the results of all these studies and calculates an effect size. His work is most accurately described as a) a meta-analysis b) a review journal article c) a chapter in an edited book d) an empirical study.
a
In your introductory psychology class, you learn that sleep quality is associated with academic performance. Which of the following questions would help you to evaluate the construct validity of this claim? a) How did the researchers measure academic performance? b) What is the strength of the relationship? c) Was the research done just with college students, or with students at all levels? d) Did the researchers rule out stress level as a possible third variable?
a
Melanie believes that reading in the dark will damage her vision because her mother told her so when she was a child. Melanie's belief appears to be based on a) authority b) common sense c) rationalism d) tenacity
a
Consider the following belief: "Driving with children leads to more car accidents." a) I believe this because it follows logically from the notions that (1) children cause distraction, and (2) distracted drivers get in more accidents. What way of knowing am I using? Name and briefly define it. b) What is the main limitation of this way of knowing?
a) The way of knowing involved in this example is rationalism. This involves using logical reasoning (typically deduction) to reason from premises to a conclusion. b) With rationalism, if the premises are false then the conclusion will also be false, even if correct logic is used.
If a hypothesis is not supported, they might say that data ___________ with a theory.
are inconsistent
these are examples of: Speech Delays Could Be Linked to Mobile Devices Girls More Likely to Be Compulsive Texters Suffering a Concussion Could Triple the Risk of Suicide Countries with More Butter Have Happier Citizens
association claims
general public
audience of popular articles (journalism)
scholars and researchers within a specific field of study
audience of scholarly articles (journals)
journalists, who are often unnamed
authors of popular articles (journalism)
Scholars, always named, and often identified by the institution by which they work
authors of scholarly articles (journals)
A bias in intuition, in which people incorrectly estimate the frequency of something, relying predominantly on instances that easily come to mind rather than using all possible evidence in evaluating a conclusion.
availability heuristic
A measure of internal reliability for a set of items; it is the mean of all possible correlations computed between each item and the others.
average inter-item correlation (AIC),
"Poor sleep tied to Alzheimer's risk." This headline makes a(n) _________ claim. a) frequency b) association c) causal d) reliable
b
Angelina, a school psychologist, does a study to determine the impact of various disciplinary techniques (redirection, time out, reward) for children with ADHD. In this study, "disciplinary technique" is a ________ whereas "redirection" is a ________. a) measured variable; level b) manipulated variable; level c) manipulated variable; measured variable d) measured variable; constant
b
Deci and Ryan (1985, 2001) have proposed that three fundamental needs 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 necessary only when people are in situations in which they are not being evaluated. This prediction is an example of a) a theory b) a hypothesis c) data d) research.
b
I give all of you the same PSYC 203 exam twice in Japanese. The results regarding your PSYC 203 knowledge will likely be a) both valid and reliable b) reliable, but not valid c) valid, but not reliable d) neither valid nor reliable.
b- You would do about the same every time (poorly!), so your score would be consistent. However, we would not get a sense of your knowledge of research methods.
. For his research methods class, Felipe plans to watch how students treat other children in their classrooms who have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He will evaluate how positively or negatively the children are treated by their classmates. This is an example of __________ measurement. a) archival b) self-report c) behavioral d) physiological
c
Empiricism refers to the practice of relying on __________ to draw conclusions. a) statistical divergence b) expert opinions c) systematic observation d) logical reasoning
c
In her study, Mandy has each participant fill out a personality questionnaire and then fill out the same questionnaire one week later. Mandy is likely trying to determine the questionnaire's a) internal reliability b) internal validity c) test-retest reliability d) test-retest validity.
c
An empirical test of the extent to which a self-report measure correlates with other measures of a theoretically similar construct
convergent validity
To occur or vary together (covary) systematically, as in the case of two variables.
correlate
A single number, ranging from -1.0 to 1.0, that indicates the strength and direction of an association between two variables.
correlation coefficient (r)
A study that includes two or more variables, in which all of the variables are measured; can support an association claim.
correlational study
theory that a mother is valuable to a baby mammal because she is a source of food.
cupboard theory of mother-infant attachment
. Dr. Hadden wants to conduct a study that will allow him to make claims that apply to all college students. In her research, she is prioritizing ____________ validity. a) statistical b) construct c) internal d) external
d
Angel reads about a study in which smartphone use is associated with migraine headaches. He says, "Well, that study is not valid because I use a smartphone more than anyone I know, and I never get migraines." Based on his comment, Angel appears to be forgetting that a) science is based on empiricism b) the study has been replicated c) the study did not properly define smartphone use d) science is probabilistic.
d
Dr. Cohen develops an IQ test for children that is related strongly to their eventual GPAs in college. It appears that Dr. Cohen's test has good ____________ validity a) content b) discriminant c) convergent d) criterion
d
Score on an exam (out of 100) is measured on a(n) __________ scale. a) nominal b) ordinal c) interval d) ratio
d
A set of observations representing the values of some variable, collected from one or more research studies.
data
An empirical test of the extent to which a self-report measure does not correlate strongly with measures of theoretically dissimilar constructs.
discriminant validity
summarizes the study's research question and methods and indicates how well the results of the study supported the hypothesis. Then the authors will discuss the study's importance.
discussion
A method for establishing criterion validity, in which a researcher tests two or more groups who are known to differ on the variable of interest, to ensure that they score differently on a measure of that variable.
known-groups paradigm
can be understood by most people
language of popular articles (journalism)
highly specialized and/or technical, and often uses professional jargon not easily understood by the general public
language of scholarly articles (journals)
One of the possible variations, or values, of a variable.
levels
A variable in an experiment that a researcher controls, such as by assigning participants to its different levels (values).
manipulated variable
In the context of a percentage estimate, an inferential statistic providing a range of values that has a high probability of containing the true population value.
margin of error of the estimate
A variable in a study whose levels (values) are observed and recorded
measured variable
A way of mathematically averaging the effect sizes of all the studies that have tested the same variables to see what conclusion that whole body of evidence supports.
meta-analysis
explains in detail how the researchers conducted their study. usually contains subsections such as participants, materials, procedure, and apparatus. gives enough detail that if you wanted to repeat the study, you could do so without have to ask the author any questions
method
A method of measuring a variable by recording observable behaviors or physical traces of behaviors.
observational measure
Term referring to a peer-reviewed academic journal that anyone, even the general public, can read without paying for access.
open access
The specific way in which a concept of interest is measured or manipulated as a variable in a study.
operational definition/variable
To turn a conceptual definition of a variable into a specific measured variable or manipulated variable in order to conduct a research study.
operationalize
Term referring to a peer-reviewed academic journal that the general public must pay to access; only people who are members of subscribing institutions can access the content.
paywalled
A method of measuring a variable by recording biological data.
physiological measure
A single estimate of some population value (such as a percentage, a correlation, or a difference) based on data from a sample.
point estimate
people who get a job studying brain anatomy, documenting the behavior of dolphins or monkeys, administering personality questionnaires, observing children in a school setting, or analyzing data.
producers of research
summarize research that may be of interest to the general public
purpose of popular articles (journalism)
report the results of the research after it has been peer-reviewed. Discuss ongoing research in detail
purpose of scholarly articles (journals)
A variable whose values can be recorded as meaningful numbers.
quantitative variables
An attribute that varies, having at least two levels, or values.
variable
