Psych 302 Exam 1
Translational research is best thought of as ________ basic research and applied research.
A bridge between
Benjamin is a social psychologist who studies marriage. He believes that marital satisfaction has two components: the ability to trust one's partner and a belief that one can be a good spouse. This is known as:
A theory
Deci and Ryan (1985, 2001) have proposed that there are three fundamental needs that 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 only necessary when people are in situations in which they are not being evaluated. Deci and Ryan's general statement of how the three needs are related to growth and fulfillment is an example of which of the following?
A theory
What does it mean to have a producer and consumer role in psychological science?
As undergraduate students, some psychology majors work alongside faculty members as producers of information. You will need to develop the ability to read about research with curiosity, to understand it, learn from it, and ask appropriate questions about it.
Why do we want to base knowledge on research?
Base them on scientific sources, they will be peer-reviewed. Journal articles (empirical articles or review articles), chapters in edited books, or full-length books.
Your friend Gaby loves reading articles about psychology studies in her monthly women's magazine. Which of the following would you tell her?
Be careful about reading those articles as they may not present accurate findings.
When reading an empirical journal article "with purpose," why should you read the abstract first?
Because it provides an overview of the article
What are some concerns when basing your belief on authority?
Before taking advise of authorities, ask yourself about the source of their ideas. Did they systematically and objectively compare different conditions, as a researcher would do? Maybe they have read the research and are interpreting it for you; they might be practitioners who are basing their conclusions on empirical evidence.
After reading the chapter, Cyril says to himself, " I am sure other people might engage in faulty thinking but I never would." What is Cyril experiencing?
Bias blind spot
Sasha believes that she is a nice person. To confirm this, she asks all her friends whether she is a nice person; 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?
Cherry-picking evidence
Asking questions to get the answers we want is known as:
Confirmatory hypothesis testing
How does Harlow's research on monkeys demonstrate the theory-data cycle?
Cupboard theory vs. the Contact comfort theory. Experiment offered three possible outcomes. Contact comfort theory supported, cupboard theory supported, neither theory supported.
Lana is writing her first empirical journal article. Although she thinks she knows why she found the results she did, she also wants to mention some alternative explanations for her findings. In which section will she mention these alternative explanations?
Discussion
Of the options listed below, which of the following is the last section of an empirical journal article?
Discussion
How do empirical journals differ from review journal articles?
Empirical journal articles report the results of an empirical study, review journal articles provide a summary of all published studies that have been done in one research area.
Which of the following people will likely NOT find it important to be a consumer of psychological research professionally?
Gardeners
Elliott is double majoring in English and psychology. He plans on being a high school English teacher and is only majoring in psychology because he finds the classes interesting. All of the following are important reasons for him to be a good consumer of research EXCEPT:
He will likely need to be a producer of researcher as well
Both James and Thomas have theories that explain why listening to classical music while reading is associated with increased recall of the material. James' theory is much simpler than Thomas'. Thomas created his theory a few months before James did. Which of the following is true?
James' theory would be considered better because it is parsimonious
What clues did you look for in the methods section to determine that a study was indeed using an experimental design?
Looking for two definitive groups - one control and one experimental
Consider the discussion regarding research on self-handicapping. Students who were told they succeed on a text they actually thought they failed where given the option to take the same test again along with a drug that would enhance their performance or decrease their performance. What did the majority of students decide to take? Why? How does it go against intuition?
Majority of students decided to take the drug that was self-handicapping, so that if they did not perform well on the test they had something to blame for it their ill performance
What constitutes experimental research?
Must be a control group and an experimental group. Independent and dependent variable that are tested.
What is the peer review process?
Peer reviewers are kept anonymous, ensure that articles published contain innovative, well-done studies, research with major flaws does not get published.
Psychological scientists may choose to publish their work in all of the following EXCEPT:
Popular magazines
How is research better than your personal experience?
Research experiment done on venting and anger - consistent results fro several similar studies mean that scientistic will feel confident in the findings.
Which of the following sources is most likely to contain only information that has been rigorously peer-reviewed?
Review journal articles
Which of the following is true of the distinction between scientific journals and popular magazines?
Scientific journals are peer-reviewed; popular magazines are not
What are the sources for "acceptable knowledge"??
Scientific sources, journal articles, chapters in edited books, full-length books
What is the difference between basic and applied research?
Sherif's work on auto kinetic effect demonstrates basic research. Applied research is done with a practical problem in mind; the researchers hope their findings will be directly applied to the solution of that problem in a real-world context. Basic research is not intended to address a specific, practical problem; the goal is to enhance the general body of knowledge.
Benjamin is a social psychologist who studies marriage. He believes that marital satisfaction has two components: the ability to trust one's partner and a belief that one can be a good spouse. He conducts a study to test his ideas. Assuming that his data match his theory, which of the following statements should he make?
The data provide support for my theory
How did the rationalization theory v. rational gain-loss theory also illustrate the Theory-Data cycle?
The matrix theory, participants were given $$ for number of correct responses. Cheating occurred - was more likely to occur if someone was noticeably cheating. More $$ did not increase the likelihood of cheating.
What is the theory-data cycle?
Theory leads researchers to pose particular research questions, which leads to an appropriate research design. In the context of the design, researchers formulate hypotheses. Researchers then collect and analyze data, which feed back into the cycle (either supporting data strengthen the theory or nonsupporting data lead to revised theories or improved research design).
How does the research by Dr. Rush on bloodletting and Dr. Bushman on catharsis help illustrate the limitations of research experience and strength of experimental designs?
There was no comparison group in the bloodletting group
Research studies are superior to personal experience because:
They include at least one comparison group
All of the following are reasons psychological scientists publish their research EXCEPT:
To get money from the journals where their work appears
Failing to think of things we cannot see?
When stating things about a certain population, "76% of people who volunteer feel younger" there is not a group with information regarding how one who does not volunteer might feel younger. There could be other confounding things for those who feel younger.
What is a confound?
alternative explanations for results
How can personal experience be useful in quantitative research designs?
can help you get an "in" with a particular population
What three things do experimental researchers try to incorporate in their work?
comparison groups, control for confounded experience, evaluate information without bias
How is research better than intuition?
intuition is biased simply because the human mind works imperfectly. (availability heuristic)
What do we mean by empirical research?
involves using evidence from the sense (sight, hearing, touch) or form instruments that assist the senses (such as thermometers, timers, photographs, weight scales, and questionnaires) as the basis for conclusions.
What is the role of journal editors?
turns the research into a news story by summarizing it for a popular audience, giving it an interesting headline, and writing about it using nontechnical terms.
